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.

Weapons as training aids

This short video clip shows TO and MH using weapons to see how classical techniques feel when 'extended'. I found this particularly useful in training as it made us work harder at the technique but also gave back some insight into the inner workings of body mechanics and tai sabaki. Foot work became essential as feedback from touch on our arms was taken away. Despite this we could 'feel' with our bodies in 'cutting' into the technique.

Science of Kensetsuwaza – Joint Locks

Science of Kensetsuwaza – Joint Locks

Know your joints: don't panic, don't crank it on. Increase your knowledge.

Nice post.

Kata, Hyung tonifies the body

I was asked to do Pyung Ahn Oh Dan yesterday. In fact, I offered as it's a hyung I need to practice, so I executed it three times: once to the count, twice without a count and boy did I know about it! I'd forgotten how many different stance changes there were, and of course...the jump.

In any case, I felt like I'd had a real workout by the end of it! A martial arts lesson for us all I think: kata or hyung can really tone up our bodies if practised assiduously.

As I searched for Pyung Ahn Oh Dan I came across the shotokan equivalent (or vice versa you may argue!) pinan godan and found it interesting to juxtapose the videos of the forms.

The first one is classical Tang Soo Do hyung. The second one seems almost shotokan in its delivery but still intended as Tang Soo Do. And the third one is definitely karate Japanese (Okinawan) style kata. But all in all, similarities run through them all I find.

Sparring

Good sparring session last night so I came away tired and feeling good, having dispensed of some energy and learnt a lot. As we don't use sparring gloves my knuckles came away a bit red and sore but this, at least meant I scored a few hits and blocked what otherwise would have knocked seven shades of stuff out of me.

The sparring session was built up well by sensei TO and we investigated some key points of distance and timing and assessing how your sparring partner reacts to your movement. In addition I was prompted by MH to relax more (easy for him to say: he's bigger, stronger and more experienced!), but I don't think he meant for me to stop being more jittery. I took from this remark that in order to move in sparring with speed and deliver meaningful and strong attacks, this has to be done from a fluid and relaxed state (with obvious power at the end of the technique).

Point duly noted.

I wish we had worn sparring gloves though...ouch!

Don't just sit there...do it!

As I'm sat here, skipping Kempo class, I feel...well, relaxed. I need a night off to crack this cold I have and hopefully I'll be back on form soon and training with gusto. I need to as the only way to learn a martial art is by doing it. Learning the key principle behind techniques is useful but it's in no way a replacement for doing it.

Knowing that martial arts training techniques are governed by principles such as "changing a small force into a larger one", "applying rotational motion", "transmit more force by adding momentum" are pretty fundamental when studying a martial art. Put another way, using some principles of physics and knowledge of the human anatomy including vital points can go a long way but it just can't replace feeling it.

I often read the mantras spun out by teachers about this principle or that and I understand it. They are often well put and I have no problem grasping the base idea of how to move a person in a certain way or how to immobilise a joint because of this or that physiological principle but really the only way to learn and appreciate is to do it. This means feeling your opponent and sensing where the right spot is to plant a fulcrum, or move them to the floor. Don't be mistaken though, this is in no way magical or mystical. It's sheer hard work and perspiration. Trying the technique on others (lots of others), and experimenting in a dynamic way is the only way to true mastery of a technique. I say this not as a master but a student who keeps trying.

I once made, what I thought, was a compliment to a super skilled, guitar-playing friend of mine saying, "Wow, you're really talented! You've got a gift!". Instead of delight, though, he replied in a level voice that it wasn't down to talent but sheer hard work; trial and error and hours and hours of practice. You can understand how to read music and how it's supposed to work but without hearing it, playing it, practising it, it's just theory!

Don't let your martial arts become a theoretical past-time... feel it!

Techniques and principles

Shorinji Kempo ended up being a thoughtful, but tiring and (for my wrists) painful lesson. It was interesting as sensei TO took us through a series of fundamental techniques but executing them in a slightly different manner. Sometimes this can lead to confusion as the new ideas might clash somewhat with the official technique. This time it seemed different though and I felt we were exploring the core principles in each technique rather than walking through the movements step by step. For example gyaku gote (the mother technique) can be executed against most people by following a series of steps: take preparation stance, feel for the off balance, take up wrist, release, press down on back of hand and turn. That's pretty much how a beginner might learn it. Last lesson sensei TO emphasised more the result which was needed: attacker needs to be dispatched to the floor in this direction. Go...play.... It was much more instructive than this but we certainly had food for thought and were less concerned about the 'mechanics' and more about the feeling which is also an important aspect in learning martial arts techniques.

Gyaku gote-the mother technique.

Okuri gote-the tough nut to crack...

Both killers on the wrists.

Funky ass martial art video of the week: Kali

Check out the funky moves n music...

I studied Eskrima for a while and, interestingly, they give you sticks straight away and you progress to empty hand techniques which, I was told, are loosely based on the stick versions (if you can handle the sticks, you can do the empty hand techniques, goes their reasoning).

Classic Duel between two warriors

I read this amazing account of a duel between two warriors. See what you think then read my notes at the end.

*****************************

He was someone trying to kill me, that's all.

He addresses me and aims at me and he is ready to kill me. This is frightening but I have no time to be frightened. Later on you may perspire about it but at that moment in the heat of the battle you're too focused.

If he turns quickly I'll be dead-cut down but I'm closing up quickly on him and suddenly we're right back where we started.

All of this is just instinct now. Things are happening too fast to think everything out.

I've had enough of this so I roll the dice. I turn inside of him and prepare to strike. My opponent senses this and tries to evade.

I have him. He knows that I have him.

I strike at him and he falls away. Have I killed him? I do not particularly want to fight this man again.

*****************************

I have paraphrased this to try and hide the time of this duel and the weapons used but what struck me was the grim focus on an act of killing the opponent. This sort of sharpened 'fear' must make your awareness keen and your actions take on a life of their own as your will is clear but your body acts automatically. This is down to an intimate knowledge of your arsenal and abilities in moving, turning, brandishing weapons, using your hands and feet. When the chips are down it seems it's best not to 'think' too much. By this I don't mean seek openings and create opportunities, but if your mind is clouded by thoughts of which technique to use here or there then your body and mind can't act as one unit, seamlessly. Often my Shorinji Kempo teacher says when I ask if the technique was correct, "He's on the floor and you're standing-it worked". I can see what he means.

But within this tale are lessons for us all: work out and train the basics and fundamentals diligently and consistently so that when they are needed you're body feels how to move. Be clear and decisive and don't think that fear is something you shouldn't be feeling: this great warrior did. Your mind should be clear. Maybe it will be clear in any case! Body and mind acting together for a sole purpose.

The duel above is a modern one and sees how a man and his weapon can come together as one unit in the extreme battle between two warriors intent on killing each other. The victor above was a P-51D pilot over Europe in the Second World War, shooting down and killing a German in a Bf109.

Bassai Dai with explanation by Sadashige Kato, 9th dan.

Brief bio of Sadashige Kato here.

Hitting stuff

Our Tang Soo Do lesson last week was pretty high tempo as Master C obviously wanted us to burn off some of those Christmas calories. Joy...!

So we started off with some bruising shuttle run combinations which had us all gasping for breath and followed that up with some stretching. After this we then started hitting stuff which is always satisfactory: focus pads and bagwork was the order of the day. In kempo pairwork is essential and this is very good for seeing how bodies interact and work and feeling where to strike but you can't, obviously, go at it full pelt or you'd soon run out of training partners. It's good to thwack a bag occasionally to get feedback as to how a full power kick feels.

There is other martial arts equipment that can be used too. Paddles give a good focus workout for turning and spinning kicks: strikes that aren't possibly as powerful but require a degree of skill and accuracy when turning. Straight kicks and punches are much better done on a shield or heavyweight held bag. In fact we have a pretty old shield which has softened somewhat so it has a good feel to it without crumpling your hands into a bag of bones!

On that note: I do seem to be having some trouble with my wrists these days and I think it's the increased training I've been doing at Shorinji kempo. Lots of juho techniques attack the wrists and hands (from grabs and holds by the opponent) and mine seem to be especially vulnerable. I'll have to see how things progress but am worried that it might cause long term damage.

Then again, I worry too much!

Clearing the car of snow

I experienced an interesting snippet of body movement plus snow the other day when I was clearing the car before setting out. As I pushed the snow off with my arm my body twisted and slipped backwards. This is a fairly normal reaction to pushing but the snow made me realise I was weighted backwards on my heels and imbalanced.

As I pushed hard forward with the arms my heels went forward too, effectively toppling myself backwards.

Check out a Professor's solution to slipping on ice:Try

"For example, if you were on ice and starting to fall forward, you

would instinctively try to push backward on the ice.  If you do not  slip, by Newton's Third Law (action = -reaction), the ice will push  forward on your feet, helping you to regain your balance.  If your  feet slip, you could lose your balance and fall forward.  If you are stationary, you can stay upright as long as your center  of gravity is directly above the area on the ice defined by your  feet and the space between them.  By pressing on your toes or heels  and/or your left or right foot, you can keep yourself balanced.  If  you take small steps, it is easier to keep this balance and the  corrective forces will be smaller, making it less likely that you will slip.  Keeping your balance is not an easy problem as small children  quickly learn. For example if you are walking on a railroad track  and start to fall to the right, you can regain your balance by  bending the top part of your body to the right or the bottom part (a  foot and attached leg) to the left.  Try it!  Dick Plano, Professor of Physics emeritus, Rutgers University" (http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/phy05/phy05103.htm)

Try the exercise he prescribes: stand feet shoulder width apart, 'slip' your right foot forward (on imaginary railway lines)-if you endeavour to keep your weight where it was you feel unstable so lean into it to regain your balance. Best done in socks on a wooden floor.

And hey presto: front stance! Our sturdy everyday practice stance. As endorsed by professors!

The Use of Weapons

After a few repeats of kesa giri I made it my learning point to look at losing the tension in my hands and arms. I needed to make the cut flow naturally and fluidly. I was minded that the fencing tutors told us to hold the foil handle like it were a small bird: too tight and we'd crush it, too lightly and it'd fly away. For the next ten or so repetitions of kesa giri I just concentrated on that and loosing my shoulders which led to some improvement but still not the lightness of touch I wanted or expected. The sword and I were two different processes and I was starting to experience a certain level of discomfort and unease. Relaxation of the grip and arms eluded me so I eased off, stood there and waited. It was cold but I took the time to breathe and waited for the draw to begin which it did. I drew and cut and re-sheathed in one (fairly) smooth line.

And then I waited.

Another draw with less tension- without focusing on the problem areas I was allowing the sword to follow its path more 'naturally' and inhibiting it less in it's flow. De-focusing or working on the core element of relaxation helped me connect better with the nature of the sword and of the cuts.

Following from this I took up the bo to continue training with this relaxed attitude which had worked just fine with the sword. I have a beautiful, traditional red oak bo staff which, while not being heavy as such, is substantial enough to lead to tight forearms after a while of training. I was looking for this lightness that I had found in the iai practice. It followed on nicely while executing simple low blocks, turns and strikes. Not grasping at the technique helped me flow and integrate better with the movement rather than fighting against it with my mind.

Pro Am Fight Centre flyer

Ok, so it's flyer season and I'm helping Pro-Am Fight Centre out with some marketing communications so here's the second flyer in the series.... :)

They do pretty much what it says on the tin..er I mean flyer. MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) training in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, boxing, muay thai as well as full on weights gym and training cage, all in the centre of Cambridge!

Go...fight!

Teaching at Tang Soo Do

Tuesday night's Tang Soo Do was less sweaty and more cerebral. It's good to explore lesser taught aspects of the art and tonight meant much in-depth teaching of forms and one steps. I love to teach forms and their applications: it's somewhere you can find real depth in karate so needless to say I had a fun time and loved grilling students to make sure stances were in order. I enjoyed seeing a beginner react to my tuition and 'get it'. She was executing movements in the last phase of the step and from the elbow. A step through and punch should be one fluid movement starting from the front stance, flowing through with the step, arms engaging and body weight and momentum adding power to the torquing punch. Once I'd explained that this step and punch was one movement she stopped prodding the air and got it together! Fantastic. I hope she gets more from her forms now. Hyung is a connected and organic entity not really a series of movements. Describing it as a series of movements almost implies that the movements are disparate. It really shouldn't be considered as 35 moves nor should it be thought of as one 'process'. Usually forms can be conceptualised as 4 or 5 grand processes within one entity. (See also Rhythm in Hyungs)

On that note I am pleased to say that I learned a new form. Something I haven't done in years so it was a pleasant experience. It seems a completely different process from when I was a white belt. Back then I struggled with basic concepts such as low block or front stance or (as above) dealing with chunks of form rather than piecemeal. Now I know how to execute a low block so I don't need to expend energy on that but I do need to dig deeper into the application and rhythm (or punctuation) which is challenging but in a different way!

This is not the style of Rohai I learned but this is beautiful to see:

Sine wave in forms/hyung/poomse

I'm currently reading a fascinating book by Alex Gillis regarding the history of Tae Kwon Do which is called 'A Killing Art-The untold history of Tae Kwon Do'. This is an excellent read, if somewhat dry in parts, and reveals some interesting facts about this very modern art.

I often thought that certain Korean Tae Kwon Do practitioners had a certain bobbing up and down feel to their forms somewhat and reckoned this was due to stylistic or cultural differences. I've always been told to move through from one technique to another aspiring to keep the head as level as possible and to minimise 'bobbing'. Gillis says that General Choi introduced what he called a 'sine wave' to his forms when he was introducing Tae Kwon Do to North Korea in 1980. This, maintains Gillis, "distinguished it from Karate and Kim Un-yong's Tae Kwon Do".

This sine wave relies therefore on gravity for power and not a hip rotation and as Gillis writes, "gave Choi's...patterns a distinct style-slower, more rhythmic".

Whether or not this is more powerful I cannot say as I have never practiced the sine wave but it helped concretise the schism within Tae Kwon do and meant Choi could claim the North Koreans were practicing "pure Tae Kwon Do" and that other instructors were "fakes".

Here's an interesting video showing the diminuative Choi himself emphasising the 'big' sine wave:

And this other video shows 'Choong Moo' hyung being performed showing this chracteristic bobbing motion:

Applications within Pyung Ahn Ee Dan

I needed to move.

I'd missed Shorinji Kempo on Monday and despite an energetic session on Tuesday at Tang Soo Do I felt like I'd missed out tonight so I headed for the garden once my chores were done...

After having warmed up with a bit of skipping and burpees I decided to start close to the beginning and examined Pyung Ahn Ee Dan in detail particularly working through the applications therein.

The mirrored blocking and striking sequence has a lot of variety in application here but I'm of the feeling that this is most probably a block, arm lock and throw combination rather than a block and 'uppercut'-way too facile. Interestingly within Tang Soo Do there seems to have been preserved a head wrench one way then the other as we step across and up into a prepared stance for the block and kick.

I also enjoyed working through the soo do or spear hand at one extremity of the form. This is preceded by a parry (not just a flop down from the mah ki - it must be a parry) then strike.

From the strike through to the next block there is a turn involving the spear hand to be opened out and twisted behind the block to facilitate a release.

There's a lot within this form and I still need to work on it...

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!

How to teach martial arts

That's a bit of a sweeping statement to live up to isn't it?

Maybe I should say that I took a 'Teaching' course over the weekend. Interestingly we covered some great techniques including chunking (breaking down long concepts into digestible chunks) a little bit but some of the other concepts that were covered I thought could be relevant for teaching martial arts.

Concept checking

Constantly check with the students they have understood by asking them questions, making them demonstrate to see they've got it! If not, more coaching and partner work might help lick them into shape. How to tell? Check!

Drilling

Yup there's no getting away from it kids. We have to drill....and frequently. You know the old adage about doing something seven times in order for it to really sink in? Well I'd say seven times for it to sink in, seven hundred to really get on top of it...

Praise

Make sure the students (children?) get to know when they've done something well. Positive affirmation will help in the learning process.

Error Correction

Sounds a no-brainer, right? But it's easy to let those tiny things slip but error correction is essential if the student is to make good progress in a timely fashion. I detest correcting a green belt's front stance, but I have to sometimes because somebody has either not picked up on this or feels as if it's 'good enough'. Good enough is just not good enough in martial arts.

Start off simple then move to complex

As I mention above it's pointless learning Bassai if you're front stance is ropey. This aligns with chunking: assess the student's level and tailor the right amount of 'chunks' to this and also choose a relevant level of expertise. Teach at a level the student(s) can understand and relate to.

Four Shades of Black

I'm reading it now and LOVING it! It's beautifully laid out and makes a lot of sense, written by a guy with plenty of experience.

Just check out the typography:

(Cwooooar!)

The photos are wonderful, powerful pieces on black backgrounds which enhance the body movement. I have some design issues with it such as certain photos are laid in the centre of the full spread and as such are lost when the book has been bound. This is probably because the gutter width is too tight (10mm I think) so I have to bend it out uncomfortably to read the text. Having said that, it's generally well designed and a nice book to look at (which is not the case for a lot of books on the martial arts).

Never mind though because Mulholland writes well about the kata applications, history and deeper techniques of Goju ryu. For all Okinawan practitioners it's a must but traditional karateka will certainly get off on this too (I am!).

Interestingly Mulholland puts forward the idea that karate 'lost' some of it's grappling elements at a time when it was carving out a niche in Japan where Ju jitsu and aikido had already taken this ground. In fact Mulholland bemoans the fact that many karateka no longer practice bunkai and he gives this much attention in the book-no wonder then that the foreword is by Iain Abernethy (a leading exponent of karate application). 

Fantastic.

And as a bonus I found it from my local library!