Class Recap...

Last night's class was great. I decided we'd give the Rokushakubo stuff a rest for a couple weeks and just look at taijutsu. So, I spent the first part of the night touching on the Sanshin no Kata movement forms and how wearing armor affects how you move. Things like upright posture, keeping the shoulders back (centered over the hips), not over extending yourself, keeping the feet closer together (yet wide enough to provide a balanced base), use of the knees to roll the motions instead of start and stop actions, how the weight of armor will pull and plant your position if not moving properly and so on.

Next, I covered the unique dynamics of the Jodan and Gedan Uke blocking actions. The armored kote (armor worn on the forearm and back of hand) provides the striking surface for powerful blocks, usually done in an upward motion from Kosei no Kamae or in a downward motion by dropping the weight and bending the knees deeply. The arms don't fuel the action, the body does. This is due to the taxing effect of the weight of armor on the arms and shoulders.

Next, we looked at some basic kata, starting with some variations of Seion from Kukishinden Ryu. This is a basic takedown, shown in the densho as starting from the Kumi Uchi grappling posture. I showed it as a technique versus a two punch combination. Then, I followed it with a counter technique, which the students enjoyed very much.

I showed a few more techniques in this fashion, with the base form first then a counter technique. My guys like learning the base form, then exploiting all the holes in it. The point was clear that every technique has holes and knowing where they are makes the technique efficient and adapting.

For some new excitement, I brought a couple of padded soft hanbo and we played a bit with some randori (controlled sparring). It was fun to watch how quickly things like kamae, control of space, striking technique and such all broke down once the action was on. I found that most were afraid of really hitting their partner and, at the same time, afraid of the vulnerability that comes with opening up the posture to make 'realistic' swings with the hanbo. So, at many points the exchange became a game of light, jerky jabs and lots of reaching. But, soon it took on more realistic aspects as they started to take larger movements to simulate real intent, but with controlled speed. Unfortunately, one of my guys lost balance and did a side roll to recover, but broke the hanbo in the process. So much for that! I'll be reconstructing it over the weekend.

We ended the class with a few more basic techniques versus a two and three punch attack, with a counter technique thrown in each time. Eventually, we were all tired and ready to end class. So, with a satisfied bow to each other and a "domo arigato gozaimasu", we ended the evening and went home.

I like it when the guys walk away feeling like they've had their fair portion of budo training. It's like eating - too much and you feel bloated and miserable. Too little and you are unsatisfied and scrounging around later for snacks. Just enough and it just makes the evening 'just right'.