More on breath

Top tip today is...breath naturally during technique and you'll have enough clout for the kihap. I was tired and breathing hard and when the teacher put a string of techniques together which seemed straightforward I experimented by breathing out gradually through the technique in order to build up to the kihap. Not such good idea as, by that time, I'd ran out of puff!

I think there may be some value in a long breathe out culminating with kihap but it would have to be on shorter technique 'strings': A rapid block or two building up to a powerful strike and kihap, maybe. But certainly not what I was attempting which was more like 3 blocks, a kick and a strike...

Ho hum.

Breathing naturally would have kept my energy up and helped me through the techniques. To kihap, you need air in the lungs!

Kiai in the zone

Check out this crazy kendoka who seems to be in the zone emitting some strange kiais and delivering one-handed cuts. I don't know how common one-handed cuts are in Kendo-certainly his opponent doesn't seem that bothered about it. Great example of aggressive focus though. Reminds me of a competition I had where, before the bout, I could see my opponent felt upbeat and dismissive of me. Actually though I was all over him. My kihaps were clear, strong and I dominated the match. Afterwards he was gracious enough to congratulate me and made particular note of the kihap usage. 

If anyone knows more about one-handed kendo strikes, please comment!

Clever Hans and observer expectancy effect

No this isn't a pun on hands it's actually the name of a horse. Called Hans. Who was...wait for it....clever! Yes a clever horse who could count and do simple arithmetic by tapping out numbers with his hoof. The case amazed all of Germany (and probably the world) in the early 20th Century. He amazed so many people that an eminent psychologist called Oskar Pfungst was called in to investigate Hans in 1907.

Pfungst's studies established that Hans was, sadly, unable to count or make simple sums. His gift was an uncanny ability to read the expectation on the face and in the body language of his owner who would ask him questions. When the answer was five (for example), the owner would (inadvertently) give off signals for the horse to stop tapping his hooves when five had been reached. He couldn't repeat this when the owner wasn't in sight. Hans seems to have had an ability to read these visual clues in order to please his owner (and possibly get a food reward).

I thought of this the other night in training because when we train in partners we tend to do this too. No, not tap our hooves to count but we do give off 'expectation' in our expressions. What is meant to be 'spontaneous' attack is sometimes telegraphed by these expressions or even simply an eyebrow raise! In Tang Soo Do a kihap is often performed by both attacker and defender to ensure everyone is ready and from that point onward the attack can be initiated at any moment. In practice the kihap is perfunctory and initiates the technique. This shouldn't be the case. We need to stay focused and ready to receive the attack at any time and without telegraphing by the attacker. No raised eyebrows, head lifting or hoof tapping.

So Hans couldn't count but he could read his owner's subtle body and facial language. We should train with this in mind.