Mindfulness: taking time out for you

A great TED talk here from a guy called Andy Puddicombe about how we can bring meditation into out lives. It just takes 10 minutes a day! For me I often feel I don't have time for meditation. This video tells of Andy Puddicombe's story and gives a few tips about how to appreciate life, the present moment and how to make time for those ten minutes a day.

Mindfulness and being in the present moment is essential for the martial arts practitioner. Martial arts training can be really good at bringing us into the moment. Thinking of nothing else. There is nothing else, just the technique. Just the breath. Just the movement. No thought or at least a clear and alert mind. No thought I suppose is brain death! In this video Puddicombe highlights that mindfulness is about stepping back, with a "relaxed, focus mind". Nothingness can be a void…next step: sleep!

This constant training in the martial arts helps to relax and focus.

KJK Annual Gathering 2013

For many years now, we have had an Annual Gathering of students who consider themselves part of my school, the Kyushojitsu Kenkyukai (or, KJK for short).  Credit for the origins of our Annual Gathering lie with Matt Hayat and Mark Gridley (so, ongoing thanks and gratitude go to them).

This year's gathering is scheduled for March 15-16, in Madison, WI.  We will engage in in much of the training that characterize our practice, including, body mechanics, randori, pressure point theory, tuite.  We will also have amazing instructors, including Grandmaster Dustin Seale, 9th dan.  Two special features this year: first, Sifu Miles Coleman will do a session on herbs (many of us use his iron palm formula).  Second, there will be a special session on the use of the sai.  If you have never trained sai-jitsu with me, you will be amazed at how the weapon is to be used.

For more information and to register, go to this link http://kjk-karate.com/

Also, for those eligible for sandan testing, be certain to fill out the test registration form at the kjk website.  Remember, the cost for the test is $300 for the first attempt, and $50 for subsequent testings.  Questions about testing can be addressed to me.

So, this time I can say, not only "Go train" but also, "Come train."  Hope you can join us.

CT

New Year, new resolutions...

Exercise more this year…But is it worth it?

This BBC article claims that not everyone appreciates what level of activity or how often they should be doing exercise in order to see health benefits.

It also touches on Jamie Timmons' research into high intensity 3 minute weekly workouts. (Can three minutes of exercise a week make you fit?).

Whatever the health benefit I know I'll be back to a regular workout regime this year...because I like it.

Ideas for visualisations

Lori O'Connell recently blogged on the value of visualization in martial arts training:

In one of the most well-known studies on creative visualization in sports, Russian scientists compared four groups of Olympic athletes in terms of their training schedules (as described in Karate Of Okinawa: Building Warrior Spirit by Robert Scaglione):

Group 1 = 100% physical training;
Group 2 - 75% physical training with 25% mental training;
Group 3 - 50% physical training with 50% mental training;
Group 4 - 25% physical training with 75% mental training.

Group 4, with 75% of their time devoted to mental training, performed the best.

Personally, I find mental practice more challenging than physical training: the mind wanders ... So
here are my top suggestions for mental training:

1. Go to class!  Training in the martial arts develops the mind and body from the get-go.   Once a technique is familiar, don't go on auto-pilot:
1. Observe: Notice fine details.
2. Experiment: Explore variations.
3. Reflect: Make notes, start a journal or a blog.
2. Practice with an imaginary partner.  [Your movement is real; your partner is visualised.]
1. Practice individual techniques.  Visualise fine details, but also practice the flow of the technique.
2. Alternate between regular (migi) and opposite-side (hidari) versions of a technique.  I quite like to do one rep migi, two reps hidari, three reps migi, etc. rather than one for one repetition.
3. Practice combinations of techniques: you attack, visualise your imaginary partner evading, you do a suitable follow-up.
4. Practice counters to techniques: your imaginary partner attacks, you evade and counter-attack.
3. Pure visualisation: exercises as per the imaginary partner.

At first the aim is to reinforce what you learn in class and achieve basic competency.  With regular imaginary practice deeper observations will arise: these can and should be validated in class.  Increased fluency is another benefit, again testable with real partners.

There's a saying that "perfect practice makes perfect".   Conversely there is a danger that poor practice can lock in bad habits.  For this reason it's important not to eschew regular training for pure visualisation: rather start slowly and go gently.

I should also mention that for the more advanced practitioners teaching, judging contests and assessing candidates are all great forms of mental training that have the bonus of helping out others.

We all have fighter's fists.

You might not consider yourself a fighter. More a lover perhaps? Well according to researchers at the University of Utah we may have fists which have evolved for fighting as well as loving.

"They found that the structure of the fist provides support that increases the ability of the knuckles to transmit "punching" force."

Not being a scientist myself I can hardly refute these findings but I must admit it seems a weird way of going about research. Is the University of Utah in need of some self-promotion? It seems to me from reading the article that they measured the force of a fist strike and a palm strike and conculded that the ….

"force per area is higher in a fist strike and that is what causes localised tissue damage [in the opponent]"

I could have told them that. In this article it states that the force delivered by the open palm and the punch were equal (or at least not greatly different), but that the buttressing of the fist and the boney knuckle protrusions caused the damage.

Surely this is a side-effect of having a fist which can manipulate tools. A serendipitous (well, not for the punched receiver) effect.

Can we deduce that elbows evolved for striking because they're hard and boney?

Promotions - December 2012

Congratulations to everyone on your hard work for the year, and for those who graded, well-deserved promotions:

Combined Monash Caulfield and Clayton recipients at Presentation Day

Well done to everyone at both Monash clubs, and at the Honbu.

Personally, I plan to enjoy the Summer holidays (including some training at the Honbu), and really looking forward to training in 2013.

JOHNNY TAI

NAME: Johnny Tai

HOMETOWN: Richmond, BC Canada.

TYPE OF DISABILITY: Totally Blind in both eyes, deaf in one ear.

AGE: 31.

OCCUPATION: Interpersonal/social Relation Specialist - Part-time self defense instructor.

MAIN STYLE OF MARTIAL ART: Krav Maga, Shorinryu Karate, Samurai Karate Counterattack and Taekwondo.

SCHOOL AFFILIATION: Krav Maga Force, and Counter Attack Fitness.

CURRENT RANK: Level2 Krav Maga, Brown Belt in Shorinryu Karate and Taekwondo, Instructor Level in Counter Attack.

TIME INVOLVED IN THE MARTIAL ARTS WITH A DISABILITY: 22 years.

WEBSITE: http://jstiger.over-blog.com/article-70937214.html
VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti2pRmB26Pc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFgXYTL6MiQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T38ceg9tTY&feature=youtu.be

Johnny Tai — who’s been completely blind since the age of three and is also deaf in one ear — learned the discipline of Krav Maga while training at Richmond Martial Arts.

Tai, 30, said many martial arts clubs in the area wouldn’t let him join up because they didn’t believe he could learn the technique.

He now features in a YouTube video shot at the club’s Coppersmith Way studio, which shows Tai disarming a would-be knifeman.

Now, with his new Krav Maga certification, he is aiming to arm fellow blind people with the self-defense tool.

“When I decided I wanted to learn this, I got turned down by a few places,” said Tai, who has been in love with martial arts for many years.

“But at Richmond Martial Arts, they said ‘if you’re brave enough to try it, we’re willing to teach you.’

“I was always able to do martial arts before. This (learning Krav Maga) was a way to get something on paper saying I could do it.”