Theme of the month February 2009: Juicy Kuzushi

This year my first theme of the month is "Juicy kuzushi".   Kuzushi is the art of disrupting your opponent's balance.  Even if (s)he is stronger,  faster, and/or swifter, once balance is broken these advantages evaporate, and resistance becomes negligible. The "juicy"-ness refers to my ambition to squeeze a lot out of the kuzushi concept.  Plus: It rhymes.

I have written about the broader concept of kuzushi before, and intend to explore all of the aspects of  kuzushi that I listed in that post:

Looking more broadly at the problem of "leveling" an aggressor, any or all of the following means can contribute to the cause:

• Unbalancing: Bringing the aggressor's center of gravity beyond his or her base of support
  
• Mis-alignment: Moving parts of the aggressor into an awkward configuration
  
• Distraction
  
• Pain (which can also be a distraction)
  

All of these measures help to reduce the aggressor's ability to resist the remainder of the technique. However, for subtle kuzushi, it is best when there is neither too much nor too little of the contributing components. Too little, and there is no effect. Too much, and your intentions are telegraphed.

These seem like a fine four points to look at over each of the next four weeks.

Some more specific ideas:

• The kuzushi exercise: Use of the hands, role of the elbows, weight distribution
• Same throw / multiple kuzushi
• The base of support; the dead angle
• Misaligning the hips and shoulders
• Twisting in restraint and control
• Combining unbalancing and misaligning
• Examples of distractions: kiai, feints,  strikes, annoyances
• The effects of pain; a few pressure points

* * *

The next time we revisit kuzushi as a monthly theme, I might use another decomposition.  For example:  The role of kuzushi in:

1. Throwing techniques
2. Groundwork
3. Restraint and control
4. Striking techniques
5. Day-to-day life

Also: The flip-side of applying kuzushi is establishing, maintaining and recovering balance and alignment.

Urban Training: Part II

I would love to train every day, but at the moment my life is very full, with a young family and career taking up the majority of my waking hours.  Martial arts is what I do in "my time" and other interests take a back seat.

While I am working on breeding my own regular training partners they are both still too young for serious practice.

So what to do?  

Most weekday mornings I get up at 5.30 am and practice some of my hung gar kug fu sets (kata), before breakfast and work.  But I am also on the lookout for mini-training opportunities throughout my work-day.  This has the following benefits:

• It's exercise, fun and relaxing
• It offsets an otherwise sedentary chunk of the day, giving me energy and de-stressing
• It helps me in my quest to apply what I learn in the martial arts elsewhere in my life
• It helps me to rack up more "training hours"

How I do it

Each morning I drive to the local train station.  If I have to wait a while I get to do some loosening exercises.  Alternatively, if I haven't done my early morning work out I might wait until the train comes in horse stance.  Then I take the morning train into town:

I like to catch an early train so that I can get a seat and do some reading, but if I miss out on a seat standing up on the train is a good way to test my balance.  Inside the 7.10 am train:

I always walk up the long escalators from the underground city loop.


I have read that some of the Olympic Judo guys find themselves compelled to  go up the down escalator, but that's a bit demonstrative for me!  Stairs are also good:

There's also a pleasant walk to the office, downhill in the morning, but pleasingly uphill on the way home:

Because I get in so early I rarely have to share the lift (elevator in American) to the 9th floor:


I am in the habit of using the 40 seconds of privacy to practice either horse stance punching or circular punching. The mirrors help me to check my alignment.

But wait, there's more ...

Roof-top practice

Withour doubt, the training highlight of my day is roof-top practice.  Having obtained the code for access to the roof of the office building:

I was delighted to find an area ideal for a spot of lunchtime practice:

The views of the city of Melbourne are terrific:



so on most days I take 10 minutes before my lunch-break to do a couple of runs through the 1st set of hung gar kung fu, plus a few minutes of standing relaxation.  Some more views / stances: 

These photos were taken on a hot sunny day, hence the sun-glasses, shorts, sandals, and shadows.  

Among my colleagues this time when I disappear is known as "going off to fight ninjas on the roof".  Actually I am yet to spot any ninjas, or Spiderman, for that matter.  Occasionally I have also had resting window-cleaners as an (appreciative) audience.

I find that doing the set in the middle of the day results in extra energy in the early afternoon, where in the past I found I would often find my energy levels flagging.

Also: Before I go to bed at night I also try to do this set two more times.  The routine suits me, and adds up to a little bit of extra training every day, in addition to formal training in-class, even on those days when I sleep in and miss my morning work-out.

Over to you

So that's how I do it.  What do you do to weave some extra training into your day?

Neighbour jailed for sword death

"A man who killed his neighbour with a samurai sword in a row over a football has been jailed for 11 years for manslaughter."

Mr Martin died when one of his major heart blood vessels was cut.

Kelly told the court he acted in self-defence.

Judge Christopher Moss said to Kelly: "You had lost your self-control by reason of provocation.

"Your use of the sword was quite deliberate."

BBC site.

The Telegraph's view.

Note the use of the word 'samurai' in this piece's header.

While this may be seen as fodder for the ban the sword lobby (see the Mail article below) I see it more of a case to keep one's level-headedness and cool approach to conflict. Don't lose your cool! (or bring out the 'samurai sword' to settle domestics...!)

Whilst digging around for references to this article I came across another sword related death. This time (unsurprisingly in the Daily Mail) more samurai scare-mongering over this sword. Samurai sword mentioned in headline and in the image caption.

This is the sword.

Martial Arts Festival UK

Will it be worth the trip along the A14?

I'd like to think so, plus if we get booked into some seminars then it's more likely to be useful.

http://www.maf-uk.co.uk/

I would snip in a synopsis of the site but ALL of the text is saved as images..

DOH!

and

(sigh)

Free fighting

Last night I was struck how little of interest is on telly these days. Granted I don't watch a lot of tv (I have two young kids!) but a couple of times a week I want to sit down for an hour after all the chores are done and absorb something. As I said-nothing doing on tv so I rooted around and found a DVD about martial arts I'd forgotten I had! Smashing-beer and martial arts documentary...

The blurb on Deadly Arts (it was first shown on National Geographic) says:

"A martial artist with over 25 years of experience, black belt Josette D. Normandeau sets out to uncover the history and culture of six martial arts. At the same time she will train under each art’s top masters… to the very limits of her endurance and ability. Her goal: to win what the masters possess: a touch of invincibility"

Hmmm. I won't be too disparaging. If you can't say something nice...!

Despite some small annoyances the capoeira episode I watched was very well produced and gave a great insight into this martial art (I thought it was more dance-like than this show illustrates) and made me think about the different aspects of free fighting (sparring or randori ). Quite timely as Mokuren Dojo has a thread about kata and Dan Praeder makes an interesting insight in the comments. Plus I had a frustrating randori session the other day...

So what did I see in capoeira? an immense amount of focus and control. What seems to me as a dance interspersed with kicks is much more aimed at a flow back and forth of energy between the players. There is definitely an aim to trick the opponent and 'win' but there also seems an implicit rule of respect and 'conversation' within the fight. Each player gives and takes taking care not to crush the other's techniques but allowing free movement and expression. It doesn't seem to me that the players want to oppose their will or their crushing force onto each other but there is a level of playful deceit too: all done with a smile.

Following is a clip of the show with some controlled 'sparring':

This brings me to my frustration with my recent randori session: there are many (unofficial) levels of randori ranging from non-contact learning skills, to competitive point scoring or even full contact. At the more sedate end of skill learning in free sparring there needs to be this sort of precision and mutual respect. At that level it certainly is more of a conversation! Give and take is essential. Unfortunately it doesn't gel sometimes. Your opponent and you end up striking mid technique, neither gets into the swing of the conversation and you tend to stifle each others techniques. It becomes difficult and staid. When this happens I try and slow it all the way down and highlight each technique or string of techniques that I'm making-this way there's more a chance of a flow to develop. Sometimes junior grades go at it full pelt, thrashing away at you. Everyone wants a piece of the black belts. But I just don't think this is so constructive at an early stage of randori development. Slow and steady then building up the speed makes for solidand more accurate fighting. When this is achieved you can then vary the pace according to the situation.

Much like the player in the clip above sparring can be intensely accurate and controlled in slow motion, stretching and reaching for the opponent in an unrushed and mutual way.

William E. Fairburn and close combat fighting...

I read with interest an intriguing blog article over at Just a Thought about early 20th Century Jiu jitsu showing men in bowler hats attacking each other. What a fascinating thought! Here's me thinking self defence was a thoroughly late 20th Century concept but apparently not only was making sure your bowler hat was 1 inch above your ears and your collar clean and starched a main preoccupation for the well-dressed man of 1904, so was the issue of personal safety. 

I also mistakenly made the assumption that the author of the book, a certain captain H. H. Skinner, was the same military man who had learned jiu jitsu whilst in the Singaporean police force then came to the UK and instructed special forces during the second world war. I was wrong! The man who did this was called William E Fairbairn who developed the killing commando knife (along with Eric Sykes - the military man, not the comedian!) also known as the Fairbairn Sykes.

Fairbairn served in the army and as a police officer in Singapore. He attended the Kodokan and was awarded a 2nd dan black belt from Kano himself! Ref here. He was well known for his ruthless efficiency in fighting and killing which is epitomised in his handbook,written during the Second World War for servicemen called: 'Get Tough!'.

In his foreword he says: "I should like in conclusion to give a word of warning. Almost every one of these methods, applied vigorously and without restraint, will result, if not in the death, then certainly in the maiming of your opponent".

Not traditionally the idea of a fair play gentleman, Fairbairn had a reputation:

"British Major Fairbairn, who had been chief of police in Shanghai before the Japanese capture of the city, taught the Fairbairn method of assault and murder. His course was not restricted to Camp X, but later given at OSS camps in the United States. All of us who were taught by Major Fairbairn soon realized that he had an honest dislike for anything that smacked of decency in fighting" [Dunlop, Richard (1980). Behind Japanese Lines. US: Rand McNally & Co. ISBN 0-52881-823-6.]

In 'Get Tough!' he often talks about hits and knee strikes to the testicles. This, after all, was war. It was produced at a time when there was a real threat to the UK of a German invasion and the civilian population was being prepared for all-out war. The Home Guard was mobilised even having secret squads trained in Fairbairn's techniques ready to infiltrate behind the enemy lines and wreak havoc. Ref. If ever there were a time to 'get tough', now was it...

The techniques which he taught during the war were from his own style of self defence called Defendu.

Interestingly there is a separate jiu-jitsu based martial art called Defendo (apparently unrelated to defendu) developed by Bill Underwood who, while working in theatres in Liverpool in the early 1900s, saw and trained in Judo and Jiu jitsu. He subsequently moved to Canada where Defendo and the curiously named British Jiu jitsu still exist: a style with roots in ancient Asian martial arts but with a realistic modern edge.

References.

http://www.britishjiujitsu.com/history.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Underwood

http://stickgrappler.tripod.com/ug/mtcombat2.html

Urban training: Part I

I plan to do a little photo article about how I incorporate incidental training into my otherwise sedentary work day.  The photos are ready, but I don't have time to do it right now.  

In the meantime, here's how Christopher Walken and Fatboy Slim do it*:



Enjoy!

*Thanks to my colleague Ben Loft for showing me this.

Bag work

Regardless of what some people might think about me as a martial artist, I don't go around beating people up on a regular basis! I do often work with a partner and this is essential for timing, distance and striking points (vital areas) and of course feeling the dynamic of different people. What you can't really do with your training partner is whack them really hard, as you might in a real fight or defence situation. So it was with some pleasure that the teacher got some focus mits and pads out the other night. I knew we were in for a punishing session as Master Campbell had a glint in his eye-lots of aerobic and lots of thwacking!

As well as a great feeling of energy I found that the bag work helped me focus on how I hit correctly. The parts of my hand (in this case) which made contact with the pad sort of worked itself out on its own! As I was half way through 30 kap kwon (back fist or uraken) strikes I realised I was connectnig with the wrong part of my hand. How did I know? The back of my hand was starting to smart and the hit felt 'flat' without a cutting sharpness I expected. I had to work on angling the fist outwards slightly in order to connect with the knuckles. This worked better and was less painful. I also had to check I wasn't damaging my elbow by over extending. All this together made for what I thought was a powerful back fist and I appreciated the feedback the bag gave me.

Of course just because it smarts a bit doesn't mean that you're striking with the wrong part! My knuckles did redden (you can also use bag mits for this sort of training and certainly juniors shouldn't attack bags without adequate protection on their hands and feet and then again only lightly: their bodies are still growing and forming!) but this coupled with my own knowledge of how to strike made for a good exercise.

Strike well!

Putting martial arts training to use

Where is martial arts training useful?

1. On the battlefield (warfare)
2. In "the street" (self-defence)
3. In sporting contest (competition)
4. At work (leadership, teamwork, strategy, negotiation)
5. At "school" (learning, teaching, making friends, dealing with authority)
6. At home (interacting with partner, children, parents, siblings)
7. Everywhere (maintaining or improving health, movement, and attitude)
8. Etc!

Can anyone reasonably say that any one arena is more important than all the others?  Maybe for a particular individual at a particular time in their life. But this will vary from person to person, and will change over time with situation and priorities.

The martial arts started with direct application of technique to dangerous situations.  The martial ways were developed to bring broader benefits to their practitioners.  

Skill and character are both valuable.

For example: Here is a report and commentary  about a nine-year-old boy with limited training who showed courage and skill to save a friend and her chihuahua from an attacking pit bull. 

Not even professional dog-catchers train specifically for that!

Tow path run

Along the tow path of the river Cam.

View Larger Map

Shirou Ietaka Kaneko

Shirou Ietaka Kaneko is head of the Takeda school of horseback archery the sport which, in Japanese, is called yabusame and which this article calls the sport of the samurai. 

Kaneko, riding since he was 10 and shooting since he was 17, grew up with horses aruond him in his parents stables. Reading about him and this interesting 'sport'. I find it hard to call it a sport, but as Kaneko himself states "In our school, it is our earnest desire to connect [with the target]." It certainly seems to require great skill to keep the steed steady and stable in order to provide a platform from which to shoot accurately then one needs to ensure archery skills are mastered before getting anywhere near the target. 

"When people think of the samurai, they don't realize that in the old days, archery was more important in battle than swords," said Hisashi Yoshimi, a competitor at a recent beach event.

Check out the video and you'll see the skill required- they don't half belt along!

Also a good photo gallery on the Takedaryu page.

Pyrrhic victory

A Pyrrhic victory is a hollow one. One which is gained at such a great cost that the original victory's value is debased. King Pyrrhus of Epirus (an area of Greece) won a major battle against the Romans during the Pyrrhic War of 280-275 BC but his losses were so great it prompted the king to bemoan that another such victory, "and we are undone".

Another way to say this might be that we should choose our battles in life. I've been thinking of this recently as I've always had to battle with my rising anger. I don't think I'm an angry person but every now and then, and I suppose it's inevitable, ire swells within me and I feel miffed off by something. Occasionally I can rationalise that I'm in a bad mood for some other reason and that the immediate source of my anger is not the reason why I'm angry, so I can swallow it. It's no big deal- the kids wind me up but I'm tired and grumpy anyway and as long as I understand this I can rationalise and move away. But occasionally some guy cuts me up in traffic and I feel real hurt! Flushed with rage I think about what I'd do to him but this helps nobody- I just end up simmering for ages. I need to get rid of that feeling rather than hold on to it. It happens. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose the battle with the black dog (Churchill called his depression 'black dog').

I sometimes excuse myself based on the curse of being a man (!)....you've guessed it: testosterone! Testosterone levels in men change throughout the day and I like to blame the 'ready-to-rut' levels:

"T levels fluctuate wildly. If you were to measure your Testosterone levels throughout the day, you'd likely be amazed. One minute you have the hormonal profile of a hyper-muscular bull ready to "fertilize" an entire herd of cattle… and the next minute your blood profile is that of a fully menstruating Martha Stewart intent on color coordinating your powder room."

But I'm a man, not a bull. I need to know myself and know that I'm not going to fly off the handle at short notice EVEN when I'm pumped full of testosterone :-)

This article was highlighted by Dan Praeder in his blog Martial Arts and Modern Life and is a great example of choosing the 'third way'. Nice story about how a Tai Chi master overcomes his base urges and dissipates a potentially aggressive situation.

Pay It Backwards: An Act Of Coffee Kindness by Arthur Rosenfeld.

"Paleoanthropologists tell us that our ancestors left the trees for the ground millions of years ago. Competing hypotheses attribute this shift from a predominantly arboreal to terrestrial locomotion on postural-feeding, socialbehavioral, or thermoregulatory pressures. In any case there is a strong consensus among scientists that our heritage is deeply rooted in both climbing and bipedalism, i.e., both swinging from the trees and functioning on two feet."

"In the broadest and most useful sense, the functional distinction between arboreal and terrestrial skills is that arboreal skills are rich in pulling movements whereas the bipedal movements mostly comprise hip extension and pushing movements. As a consequence of this

distinction and the dearth of climbing skills drawn upon in fitness programs, the pulling capacity of modern athletes is woefully deficient. Compare briefly the number of pushing to pulling movements available in the course of our normal training. Push-ups, dips, handstand push-ups, bench press, shoulder press, and jerks versus, what, pull-ups and maybe rope climb?"

" Even the bodybuilding repertoire, which includes seated cable rows, bent-over rows, one-armed rows, and curls, includes more pulling movements than more functional and developmental weight training like weightlifting and powerlifting, but the motivation and value behind these moves is somewhat more anatomical or cosmetic than functional."

Thanks Crispin for pointing this out. Although a piece of advertorial for some climbing equipment I thought it was interesting to examine where we came from and how this affects our range of movement, limitations and strengths.

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/18_04_Macroclimbing.pdf

Taking notes

It's an oldy, but a goody:  Make notes.

This year I have resolved that very soon after I attend any martial arts class run by someone other than myself, I will make notes.  In the past I have made notes, true, but only occasionally.  This year I will do it every time.

After class, usually when I get home, I jot down the main points.  Some nice aspects of this process are:

1. My attention is not split during class (unlike e.g. making notes during a lecture)
2. It sharpens my memory
3. It only takes a few minutes
4. It helps turn reflection into a habit
5. It is transferable to day-to-day life

Interestingly, every class so far has prompted me to make at least one small page of notes.  And seminars and advanced classes have me filling pages.

Naturally, reviewing the notes later also turns out to be really useful.

Theme of the month ideas

Over at the Mokuren Dojo blog instructor Patrick Parker has committed himself to "emphasizing a different broad principle each month" when teaching his judo and aikido classes, starting with relaxation in January 2009.

I think that this is a great idea, and for my jiu-jitsu and classical judo classes I plan to trial an explicit "theme of the month" starting in February, when I re-start my class after the summer recess.

Here are some ideas for candidate monthly themes:

• Juicy kuzushi
• Beautiful breakfalls
• Push and pull
• Minimum effort, maximum effect
• Divine alignment
• Whole-body power
• Sense and sensitivity
• Do try this at home!
• Come along, come along
• Wriggle like a piggle; squirm like a worm
• Groundhog month -- rejected: instead we occasionally have Groundhog day
• Combine and conquer
• Countermeasures
• Striking thoughts
• Distraction is a good thing
• Get smarter through kata
• Creative kata
• Mind and body
• Jiu-jitsu geometry: Circles, spirals and spheres
• Jiu-jitsu comes from the sword
• Ju, jitsu and do
• The higher goals of judo

Ok, at one a month those should keep me going for about two years!  So I'll try to rationalize, combine and prioritize.  And report back on what I do choose each month.

As always: Comments, suggestions and requests are welcome.

Was Elvis really any good at karate?

Really good artilce here: Was Elvis Presley a Paper Tiger? Did the King Get a Real Black Belt?

Thanks to John W Zimmer for pointing it out.

The above inspired by Dojorat and Dan Prager's comments...

What is the format of a typical Jiu-Jitsu class?

At Monash University Jiu-jitsu club the weekly class goes for two hours, including setting up and putting away equipment.  Most classes follow a format that is quite standard within our federation, and serves as a template for a typical class:

1. Set-up: Lay out the mats, roll out the mat cover, put up the shomen, etc.
2. Opening ceremony: Everyone sits on there knees in their official spots, ceremonial words are spoken in Japanese, there is bowing.
3. Warm-up: No calisthenics or running, instead multiple individual break-falling exercises, which also teaches the students how to fall safely.
4. Balance-breaking exercise (in pairs): Before you can throw someone easily, you must first break his or her balance.  This is a formal exercise that develops this capability.  A bit like dancing, but both partners get a chance to lead (and follow).
5. Throwing practice (in pairs): Students break off into pairs.  The instructor demonstrates a throw or series of throws.  The students engage in cooperative practice, alternating throwing and being thrown.  The instructor circulates around the class between demonstrations, helping pairs of students.
6. Restraint and control (in pairs): Similar to throwing practice, but the instructor demonstrates joint-locking and other standing grappling techniques.
7. Groundwork practice (in pairs): Similar to the previous paired practice, but now the action takes place at ground-level.
8. Groundwork randori (in pairs): Competitive practice in which each person tries to best his partner by applying immobilizations, arm-locks and strangulation techniques.  A double-tap indicates submission.
9. Cool-down: Students line up in order of grade and go through a sequence of rolling break-falls.
10. Closing ceremony: Similar to the opening ceremony, different Japanese words, more bowing.
11. Brief Q&A: Questions, answers, and announcements
12. Pack-up: Put everything away, get changed, go home.

Within this format there is opportunity to reinforce the foundations of the system through repeated practice, plus scope for variety and challenge.  The instructor will vary the techniques practiced in each section, and the duration of the sections from week-to-week.  

Sometimes particular training sections may be shortened omitted, so that others may be lengthened or included.  Sometimes special subjects are substituted. Examples of these include: 

• Self-defence applications
• Stand-up randori
• Striking techniques
• Pressure-point techniques
• Weapon defences
• Combination and counter techniques
• Preparation for contest
• Kata practice
• Preparation for gradings

So there you have it.  A flexible, yet powerful structure for teaching and training Jiu-Jitsu (and classical Judo).

Neil Adams, Putin and Judo

Broadcast on radio4 on 9th January 2009 at 11am.

Well sadly, this show is one of the very few that can't be listened to again on the BBC website. Tcha!

I only heard half of it too! What I heard of it I enjoyed: Mr Adams made a well structured plan of what he wanted to do: travel to Moscow to see how Judo is taught there in order to help him set up a dedicated facility on Wales to cater for judo which Mr Adams deems essential for the sport.

As a sideline he wanted to meet one of Russia's famous judo exponents and also one reason for the resurgence of the sport in that country, non other than Vladimir Putin. The first part of the programme (the bit that I caught) had an interview with Mr Adams and a biographer of Putin who outlined how he thought judo had an impact on Putin's character (he derived this through interviews with the Russian leader). He spoke of the fact that Putin is small and in judo needs to use canny thinking and intelligent use of levers to win matches, not brute force. The biographer then went on to draw parallels with the Georgia incursion which I thought weird as this seemed rather heavy-handed to me! I guess it depends on whether you think the Georgian conflict was staged by the US as Putin himself claims.

I digress. The radio show sounded great, apart from some cheesily voiced Kano quotes, and I'm sad to have missed the end. I met Neil Adams some time ago at a Judo workshop where I was demo-ing Tang Soo Do for some school children. I was pleased to be able to join in with some of the sessions and was tutored a little by him. I remember seeing his feet and being struck by how much I thought that they seemed articulated like hands! they could move in lots of different ways that my feet couldn't begin to try. Natural I suppose from a Judo Olympian. He seemed friendly and approachable but a little detached after he'd finished teaching. He did join in with our breaking demo (the kids always love some flying side kick breaks) and that was good of him. 

Good luck Neil Adams with the dedicated facility and good luck Wales!

Pob Iwc!

'tooned!

One of my new year's resolutions was to start reading more blogs as a way of getting inspiration for both my martial arts practice and my writing.  

In starting this I was particularly pleased to find the blogs of Mark Cook, who writes with verve and wit.  As a bonus, he is also a visual artist and adorns his posts with fun little cartoons.

Anyway, blow me down if he hasn't gone an done a cartoon of (or at least inspired by) me: 

and also added some kind words about this blog:

For those of you that don't know Daniel Prager he is a Jiu Jitsu instructor "Down Under". He was kind enough to leave a comment on my blog. This cartoon goes out to him and his crew. I don't think he can draw, but DANG the man can write. Talk about content!

Well! I am certainly flattered by the sentiment, and am honored to be the subject of a cartoon (a first for me!), but who told Mark about our secret Aussie training methods?

Anyway, I recommend stopping by Mark's blogs:

• Oldman's Boobishi, and
• The RDA PMA experiment

And it seems that if you leave comments, there's a chance that you too may be 'tooned.

Read this blog like a book

Here's my reading guide / table of contents for my more substantive articles:

Martial Arts and Modern Life

a blog by Dan Prager

Welcome to Martial Arts and Modern Life

1. Getting started in the martial arts

• What's your motivation?
• Great advice for beginners
• You can start at any time
• You can stop at any time
• A bit about my class...
• A solid foundation
• Putting martial arts training to use
• The dojo, its purpose and meaning
• Cool stuff in the martial arts
• Do try this at home!
• A great groundwork game to play with kids
• The "Steven Seagal" technique

2. Introducing Jiu-Jitsu and Judo

• Flying practice
• Jiu-Jitsu in pictures
• Jiu-Jitsu is adaptable
• What is the format of a typical Jiu-Jitsu class?
• A Jiu-jitsu demo from the 1980s
• What is Jiu-Jitsu good for?
• FOOSH!
• Jiu-jitsu according to Wordle
• Self-defence technique meets 1920s chic
• E.J. Harrison on Judo
• What is Classical Judo?
• Judo as organized by Kawaishi
• Kyuzo Mifune: God of Judo
• More Mifune
• Captain Kirk teaches Judo
• Sword vs stick, fists vs throws
• The Three Levels of Judo
• Is there such a thing as a complete martial art?
• Defending the cows - with judo
• A fun judo kata
• Bartitsu: Sherlock Holmes's martial art

3. Super-efficient learning

• There's more to it than that
• What is Super-Efficient Learning?
• An example from Jiu-jitsu and Judo
• Short course: Super-efficient learning and application (December 2006)

4. Comparisons and contrasts

• From Karate to Jiu-Jitsu
• Japanese Jiu-Jitsu or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?
• Brazilian Jiu-jitsu from the 1950s looks like ...
• Mastery Learning or Spiral Learning?
• Where does Jiu-jitsu come from?
• Jiu-jitsu vs Aikido terminology and techniques
  
• What's Om got to do with it?
• Elite selection or elite training?
• What on earth is that technique?
• Slow, like a snake
• Female exemplars in taijiquan
• Do black-belts have to start their own class?
• Wax on, wax off
• Hip throws or loin throws?
• Complexity vs Simplicity
• Body skill
• Cross-training in multiple martial arts?
• A few reliable techniques, or a smorgasbord?
• How do we defend against kick-boxers and armed attackers?
• Wushu vs Chen village
• Throw or takedown?

5. Personal development

• Mindset
• Resilience
• Self-discipline
• Lessons in character
• Hard stuff
• What I look for in gradings

6. Social Development

• Trust
• Cooperation
• Compassionate thinking
• What is the ideal gender balance for a martial arts class?
• Dealing with conflict
• Getting things done

7. Teaching and Training tips

• The broader meaning of kuzushi
• Cooperative combinations
• Evening up
• Some notes on come-along techniques, and a follow-up
• Smile, breathe and go slowly
• Taking notes
• Are there any questions?
• Creating a Kata
• Influx! (When lots of newbies turn up)
  
• Patrick Parker's teaching tips (and more)
• Bored!
• Left-handed training
• Groundhog day
• Short-term vs long-term thinking
• Efficient use of strength
• Heard around the dojo
• Do what I do, not what I say
• Oh for the springiness of a flea or kangaroo!
• Kuzushi with an invisible partner
• A sneak technique
• Go slow vs The need for speed
• You don't have to be great all the time
• Superficial teaching, Real teaching, and Inspired teaching 
• How mixed level practice can work in judo
  
• Big class / hard mats
• If it doesn't work ... change it
• Hooray for hip throws
• Variations
• Don't do this (Kani basami) in a judo competition
• One of my kung fu teachers is nine feet tall
• The secret of a great turn-out?
• Evolutionary movement

8. Theme of the month

• Theme of the month ideas
• February 2009: Juicy kuzushi, First class back
• March: Beautiful breakfalls, How to develop them, Do they work?, Tips from throws, Don't drop people on their heads
• April: Push and Pull, Ways to push and pull, Tips on learning to throw, Small circles - all in the wrist?
• May: Minimum effort, maximum effect, Don't just crank it on!, Distract, distract, distract!
• June: Chaos and Control
• Theme of the month is making a comeback
• October: Handy hand throws, Some Judo hand-throws and their Jiu-jitsu relatives, Hand-y hints
• Ideas for theme classes

9. Inspiration

• Mastery and practice
• Wise words
• The power of example
• Trying to do great things?
• Urban training: Part I, Part II
• Structure and chaos
• Feldenkrais's recipe for genius
• If you could choose just one technique ...
• Mastery is ...
• Humor: Ti Kwan Leap / Boot to the Head!
• Stay out of trouble ...
• Beyond technique
• Chess!?
• Kate's Martial Arts Journey
• Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful
• Seminar Reactions
• Go on: Put me in a lock!
• The road to wisdom
• Pushing your boundaries
• The only comparison that matters
• An amazing transformation
• Astonishing tiger footage
• 10 favorite sayings of Confucius
• Practice
• Coach Wooden: Definitions of Success
• RIP Kancho

10. Demonstrations and outreach

• Introductory self-defence class
• What appeals to you about Jiu-jitsu?
• Where to train in Perth?
• Tans' Unite and Fight Cancer (2009 footage)
• Australian Martial Arts Hall of Fame (August 2009, in Melbourne)
• Self-defence Kata (December 2009)
• The Kata of Possibility (December 2008)
• Monash Open Day (August 2008)

11. Appreciations

• Leonard Kong (former student)
• Mark Cook (martial arts blogger and cartoonist)
• Featured in Aikido Journal Blog

12. But wait, can there possibly be more?

• Ideas for articles

Appendix

• How to add a table-of-contents like this one to your blog

Cold, hard dojo floors

Cwor it's cold! Cold by Cambridge standards anyway which I realise isn't particularly 'arctic'-despite what the press in this country might have us believe-but to me it's damn cold. This makes for stiff pre-session groanings when pulling on dogi/dobohk... Dammit the material's not quite dry! Brrrr. So moaning aside, what does this mean for the martial artist? Long, steady and even warm ups! Gradually increasing aerobic to get us going. I admit that I felt like a wooden mannequin at first. I think I'm getting old. I still had enough desire to get to training though and this helped warm me up. A little of my belly-fire gently simmered from within and before I knew it I was practicing kihon almost forgetting the 'nibbling' cold. The soft clicking of my teeth soon abated and thankfully sensei kept us moving. 

Oh yeah, the gas heaters helped too...

Compassionate thinking

One of my principal teachers, Kyoshi Adam Bradshaw, teaches that the martial arts can and should develop critical, creative and compassionate thinking.

• Creative thinking engages the imagination to see more than one option (most of the time)
• Critical thinking includes dispassionate evaluation when choosing a course of action
• Compassionate thinking biases us to prefer actions that prevent or reduce pain in others and ourselves

If it seems paradoxical that martial arts, whose subject matter include detailed and systematic study of methods of violence and inducing pain and injury can teach compassionate thinking, read on!

At one extreme consider the compulsively angry person who, when provoked, responds violently. Not many options there, and not much compassion either. This person is failing to use all three forms of thinking; (s)he is merely reactive.

At the other extreme is the avowed non-violent person who believes that violence is unacceptable, always. Such a person is not prepared to use violence to stop a violent aggressor even to stop serial acts of violence, and must find other means, or be reduced to being a victim or by-stander. If other means are found all is well and good, but if there is an insufficiency of creative thinking, or simply no viable alternative, (s)he may hold true to non-violence yet greater evils may result.

By contrast, the trained martial artist, familiar with the ways of violence has the option of using it as a positive action, as when Vladimir Putin -- Russian Prime Minister and 6th dan in Judo -- saved a camera crew from a charging tiger by nonchalantly picking up a tranquilizer gun and shooting it. Sure, the tiger felt some pain, but far greater suffering was averted.

Here's another story: Tai Chi instructor Arthur Rosenfeld explains how he neutralized his own road-rage by doing something nice for a guy who was stupidly honking him in a take-out line. Instead of getting into an altercation and teaching the guy a (painful) lesson, he simply paid for the guy's coffees (without telling him), and drove off. The feel-good bit is that the guy then paid for the next customer, clearly prompted by Rosenfeld's creative and compassionate action, and from there the chain continued for several hours, cheered up a lot of people, and even got reported in the media.

* * *

By training in the martial arts we can lessen the negative effects of fear and anger on our actions. We train to enable us to perform at our best -- in every sense -- in difficult and even life-threatening situations.

Australian Martial Arts Hall of Fame event 2009

This year the Australian Martial Arts Hall of Fame (AMAHOF) annual event is coming to Melbourne!

For your diaries:

7-9 August 2009

Bayview Eden Hotel
6 Queens Road
Melbourne VIC 3004

More details will be forthcoming from the AMAHOF website later in the year.

This event offers an opportunity to meet with martial artists from all around Australia (and often beyond) and to honor exceptional achievement in the martial arts.

I had meant to attend in 2007 and 2008, but each time other responsibilities conspired to stop me. Last year my master, Kancho Barry Bradshaw, was honored as the first person to be awarded Legend status (a new category in 2008) by AMAHOF, so I was extra-sorry to miss.

It will be the first time for AMAHOF in Melbourne and I will definitely be attending. It is being organized by Kancho Bradshaw -- we are hosting! -- so expect an outstanding event and awards ceremony.

See you in August!