Peeling the onion...

This week, my Intel class only had a couple people in it. Both guys are shodans and both have been in their current rank for over a year. So, I decided to put my attention on what they needed to do in order to reach the next level - nidan.

What is interesting is that both these guys are exact opposite from each other in their strengths and challenges (I hate using the work 'weaknesses'). One is a long time karate veteran who has about as much experience with his shotokan than I do with the Bujinkan! The other is a professional mountain climber with no prior martial arts experience.

The karate veteran struggles with transitioning past his motor skill habits. He has a hard time opening up his hips and legs when moving and tends to turn his feet inward in his usual karate posture. This causes him to lose the essential fluidity, balance and power needed to make our techniques work the way they do. He doesn't bend and move his knees enough and simply has a hard time 'letting go'. Karate is a very powerful art, but their power base is in their posture, rooted in a twisting action of the hips. Our power base is in our fluidity and movement, with the emphasis on using the legs. Posture is important, but the current flavor of Bujinkan techniques doesn't rely on the rigidity of posture, but more on flow, timing and position. In a nutshell, karate deals with the body of the attacker, where our art is dealing with the spaces around the attacker - if that makes sense.

The other guy is good with his movement, but lacks the structure of his posture. He tends to lean off his base, his elbows float out away from their natural line of support, and he is often off balance very easily. But, he gets flow and has excellent ukemi, even with hard, fast techniques.

So, this night I decided to dissect each of their own level of taijutsu. I chose movements which put much emphasis on knees and footwork, but also on correct posture and balance. One of our techniques is called Juji Aruki, which is basically a cross stepping motion. But, this involves specific angles of the knees and feet, where you actually 'drop' into this movement. Then, you 'uncoil' from this posture to continue moving, kicking, striking, etc. If done correctly, it is very powerful. Done incorrectly, balance becomes difficult and the uncoil weak.

I also took apart their basic back shift into a kamae called Bobi no Kamae. We did this as a response to a shoulder grab, where the pull back of the right foot, hip and shoulder either off balanced the grabbing attacker or dislodged the grab altogether. The rear hand moves to the rear hip and the lead hand forms a fist and drives up into the upper ribs under the grabbing arm.

The fun part was watching them turn this into a jerking motion where the emphasis was on the upper body yanking backwards. If the attacker held his grip tightly, the person doing the technique stumbled because they weren't strong enough to jerk themselves back.

I explained how this isn't about jerking the body backwards, because this would fuel a forward movement of the attacker and create opportunity for a follow up punch. Instead, I showed them that you have to first drop the weight down by bending both knees, then 'roll' the weight backwards using the legs. If done correctly, the person actually allowed gravity to pull them back and down. Their leg swung back in correct posture as a means to catch and support the falling weight. When done correctly, the grabbing attacker was pulled off balance or couldn't hold the grip - and the defender didn't exert any force to do it.

This was a good fix to some bad movement and both of them really understood the benefits. This same principle then was used in many other examples, where the movement initiated from a drop in weight, then 'rolling' the balance in the direction desired. Every time they did that, techniques worked with much less strength needed.

So, for my karate guy, he learned to rely more on the use of his knees and footwork and the other guy learned to keep himself more over his knees and footwork.

I continued to peel away the onion of their taijutsu, pointing out areas which needed fine tuning. This also included explaining how they needed to be aware of where their noses pointed. Both would point their noses away from their attacker, even when in kamae. This level of fine tuning is what will take them into the next level, so my hope is that this class afforded them a valuable 'prescription' of what they need to focus on in their future training.

Based on the level of satisfaction they displayed by the end of class, I assume it did.

'Nuther class update...

Tuesday's class went well, as usual. I spoke a bit about some of the things I picked up at Dale's "Back from Japan" seminar I attended last Saturday. Then, I started off with a basic Kukishinden Ryu kata from that seminar, which began with the attacker doing a right punch, right kick, and right punch sequence. I explained that in Feudal Japan, especially on the battlefied, your sword hung at your left hip. So, you became efficient at being able to fight from the right side of the body while protecting the left side where your swords hung. Thus, the attack sequence being limited to the right side of the body is a logical approach to being able to attack your opponent without putting yourself at risk of having your weapons grabbed.

This attack sequence could very well be used as a 'breaking down', prepatory move designed to create proper distance and put the defender in a weakened position for an eventual draw and cut with the sword.

However, the kata is in response to such a tactic. So, the defender blocks the attacks, shifting positions each time to control the distance and angle. Once the final punch is completed, the defender then slips in and does a throw. In this case, the throw was either a Koshi Nage (hip throw) or toppling move like Ganseki Oshi, where you off balance them over their far leg, then step through (buckling their outside knee) and they fall away.

At Dale's seminar, he talked about how Nagato Shihan (during Dale's recent Japan trip) said the densho version of many kata are dangerous to memorize exactly as they are recorded. Many things are purposely left out that, without them, make the person doing the kata vulnerable. This kata was a perfect example. If you just did what was written for the kata, you would have to enter and throw an attacker who only has had their limbs blocked. They easily would be able to counter the forward motion of the defender and the attempted throw would leave a very easy vulnerability, especially since the defender's back would be against the attacker.

So, I showed many of the things Dale taught which make the throw possible - and safe - to execute. Some of this involved using initiating strikes before moving in, but others had more to do with 'drawing out' the attacks so that the attacker would be off balance. The moving in action to throw would occur as the attacker was attempting to 'right themselves' from their off balanced position. This was something you wouldn't see on paper or even video, unless you felt it yourself or someone actually pointed it out to you. Thus, the importance of training with the right people firsthand.

I tied some of this feeling with our current direction of exploring the Kumi Uchi. As the attacker would come in with a committed attempt at Kumi Uchi, you would move in such a way to control the space and angle so that they would still get the Kumi Uchi, but be terribly off balanced. From this position, the attacker has nothing left to do any follow up technique, so they have to move in to recapture their balance. Of course, while they move in, you change direction to where they have no balance again and they often will fall on their own. Throw in some juicy strikes during all this interplay and you have a great technique!

Notice I mentioned the strikes come after you establish all the other base elements and effects on the attacker. This is where people misunderstand kata. They see them in reverse. They see the strikes, or any physical 'thing', as the catalyst to getting that effect. But, in actuality, those are just decorations...

One of the things noted was that when the space (or "kukan") was controlled correctly and the attacker achieved getting the Kumi Uchi applied, their loss of balance caused them to use the Kumi Uchi as their support. So, instead of using the Kumi Uchi to take balance, they used it to try and recapture their own! If they tried to remove a hand to strike, for instance, they would fall because their hand was their support.

I spoke about how you want to be in a position where they rely on you for their security, or you control that which they are using for their security. You have the choice to take that away at any point and leave them completely disrupted and confused. This puts you in complete control. Psychologically, if they 'feel' secure with something, they won't be trying to change it. So, they will actually work to maintain that security, even if it continues to put them in your control. The subconscious mind works that way. All it knows is what it feels. So, if it feels safe, it will try and control the person to maintain that safety - even if the reality is not so 'safe'.

Another more fundamental lesson that came out of the class was the importance of doing things correctly at every point. When doing long sequences, especially with counters, every point has to be done correctly or the end result won't happen or it won't make sense. We were doing counters to Kumi Uchi and other attacks and at some point, suddenly the counters began failing to work. I watched them struggle for a while, then I had them stop and go back to the beginning. The conclusion was they were not doing the initial attack correctly, because that was no longer the 'technique'. This is a common mistake I see all the time with many people. You go through the attack pattern so many times, you get used to having it be countered, that you let up on the intensity or foundational skills in that initial attack. Then, the subsequent counter fails because the conditions are no longer appropriate for that counter. Such was the case here.

So, every time a part of the technique wasn't working, I had them stop and back up to the beginning. Every time I did that, suddenly everything worked! The counter itself was never really the problem. It was all the actions which make the counter logical!

All in all, it was a great class.

This Saturday I am planning on going to Alex's class and train with his guys. Most of my Intel group is planning on going, too. This should be a great opportunity to get in some foundational training before heading off to Japan in 3 weeks!

What a seminar!

Wow, what a great time I had Saturday at a seminar with Dale! This was his "Back from Japan" seminar and I was really looking forward to getting some good training with him before I head to Japan myself in 3 weeks. Because so many people had said they would be there, he changed the location from the typical Buyu Center to a park just south of the Golden Gate Park in north San Francisco. It was easy for me to find, since it was just on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge, by the Presidio military installation (which I am VERY familiar with).

The park is actually somewhat 'hidden' behind the row of housing along the north side of Lake Street and I didn't find any actual main entrance. But, all the intersecting streets ended at Lake street and became walk-in entrance points to the park, which ran along the north side on the other side of the houses. So, I found a place to park a few streets away and walked through one of the entrances. I was instantly amazed as the entrance opened up to a panoramic view of a beautiful park landscape, complete with an immense lake, groves of thick trees and well manicured grassy fields. I walked down the winding path and easily found 'the group', which wasn't hard considering they were all wearing black dogi.

What struck me right away was the relatively low number of people - only about 10! There were a few familiar regulars, plus some newer guys I had never met before. It seemed so many people had sudden things come up and had to cancel! At first, I felt bad because we could have used the Buyu Center. But, as I breathed in the wonderful ocean air (we were just off the entrance to the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean) and felt the cool wind and warm sunshine, I felt that we were in the perfect training environment.

A few more people showed up and Dale began his teaching by going over some things he experienced in Japan. One of the things he emphasized was the feeling of 'no-attachment' to any part of the technique. This was important in order to create the effect of not giving your attacker anything to work with, or counter against, yet they are defeated. He also talked alot about breaking down your attacker, which reminded me of a great quote from one of our Japanese Shihans, Nagato sensei, who said "this is not judo. We are not throwing people. We break people and they fall". Although a funny quote, it really defines the root of what this year's training is like. Dale did a great job in showing that very same thing.

We did the usual long sequenced Kukishinden Ryu kata, using the typical right punch, right kick, right punch attack pattern. He talked a bit about how these long sequences were often written down as attacks from multiple attackers, but since training is typically with one partner, they appear like this. The feeling of the techniques had to do almost entirely with taking space, or shape, so that the attacker cannot continue. There were alot of hits, but mostly to only affect the position of the attacker. We did many gyaku waza, primarily wrist or arm controls, but this wasn't the goal of the techniques.

We even did some techniques with the 3' hanbo stick, just to show the continuity of the same principles.

I was fortunate to train with some great people and we learned just as much from each other as we did from Dale. I was feeling very good and I seemed to really catch on quickly to whatever we were doing. It was a good feeling to just 'get it' and do things right, especially when I hear Dale say "good job!" or give me the 'thumbs up'.

One interesting factor in the training was the terrain we were on. The grove we were in had nice, thick green grass, but it was sloped and full of small dips and lumps. This made training interesting, since every move was effected by the varied terrain features. At one point, we laughed at how much 'air' we were getting by throwing our uke downhill! Then, there was the comedy of stepping into a dip and stumbling to catch balance, while still trying to do the technique. It was a safe and challenging environment, but the lessons it provided were invaluable.

It was actually very cool to have such a small number of people. I got to work very closely with Dale. As in previous seminars, I was his uke most of the time and the experience was very rewarding. I really learn by feeling, so to have him use me as his attacker afforded me learning opportunities I would have missed by just watching. Then, to be able to have him spend time correcting my mistakes and pointing out things I missed made for a very productive time for me!

We took several breaks and had some great personal talks. Dale and I walked to a local market and I bought his lunch, which is always something I like to do. The first time I met Dale, I was financially challenged and was not going to be able to afford to come to his seminar. He told me not to worry about paying and just come train. I have never forgotten that and, now that I'm doing comfortably well for myself, am happy to buy his lunch as an expression of my gratitude. With him being a gojudan (15th degree black belt), he certainly doesn't 'need' to be that way, but his spirit of buyu (warrior friendship) and love of budo is stronger than what status he holds within our Bujinkan organization. It is because of this that I am proud to call him my teacher and my friend.

So, now I look forward to sharing what I've learned tomorrow night with my Intel guys. I only hope I can somehow transmit even a small sample of Dale's energy and taijutsu.

Wow... All I can say is wow...

Entering and taking control...

Well, it was another Black Belt Club class again! Training was great! I started off class with a little drill where I did a controlled stomp kick to their chest while they stood, eyes closed, directly in front of me. Upon taking the hit, they were supposed to release their breath and shift back into a Koho Kaiten, or backwards roll. This loosened up their bodies well!

Next, we did some pivot and roll away drills as a response to a Jodan Tsuki, or punch to the head. They would simply pivot away and do a forward shoulder roll, then come up facing me in kamae (fighting posture). Part of the drill was to find points in the roll where they could see me and it was great to watch them find the point when they were upside down in their roll, but could still look up at me. If they made eye contact with me, then they got it. Next time, I might test them to tell me how many fingers I'm holding up!

The theme of the night was still revolving around Kumi Uchi. In my last blog entry, I described this as being the typical starting point for judo/jujutsu, where you have your left hand on their right elbow and your right hand grabbing their left upper lapel at the shoulder. This tends to be glossed over alot, so I wanted to really focus on the importance of Kumi Uchi as a technique, just like any other technique. I explained how clothing is unreliable for grabbing and, in the event of the opponent having a light shirt or no shirt, you could slide your right hand up into their arm pit and grab the outside of their pectoral (breast) muscle, just as you would grab the lapel. The same emphasis was applied, where exact positioning of the grabbing hand on the shoulder would put leverage against any punching actions the opponent may take with that arm.

With the left hand grabbing the elbow, the direction was important. In the context we were exploring, the angle needed to be an inward, trapping motion of the opponent's elbow. They needed to pull the elbow directly into the center mass of their body to lock it in place. When done in time with the control and leverage with the right hand, they could really gain control and dominance of their opponent.

And, the theme of the night was about entering and taking control with authority.

We explored entering the center space as a response against a right punch and many times they kept leaving their trail leg outside the center space. I pointed out how this is like busting in with your entry team but leaving some of your guys outside - it creates a liability and you aren't using all your resources. They started getting it and moving both legs into the opponent's center space, taking the space well and finding it enabled them to establish the Kumi Uchi relatively easily without putting themselves in danger from subsequent attacks.

Once entry and control was obtained, they took the balance to the outside rear and finished with an outside leg leverage in following with the Kukishinden Ryu kata of Seion.

I showed a variation involving the situation where the opponent, in feeling their balance being pulled over to one side, tries to upright himself. The uprighting action is the timing for the tori (person grabbing) to simply let go of the shoulder and drive his hand up, slapping the uke's (the one grabbed) face. This causes the uke to jerk back and off their balance again. The tori then moves his slapping hand across and to the right shoulder of the uke, while still pulling in their right elbow. The tori then turns his body counter clockwise into the center of the uke, then uses his right leg to kick out the uke's left leg. The subsequent loss of balance by the uke is enough for them to simply drop to the ground.

We then explored this Kumi Uchi against a knife wielding attacker, where the uke stabs at the tori's neck with their knife and the tori responds by slipping past the thrust and moving into the center space, taking up the Kumi Uchi. What was important was how they controlled the elbow in their center body so that the uke couldn't pull back their knife wielding hand and cut the tori. In addition, proper control of the uke's right shoulder meant they couldn't strike the tori to open up space for another stab. Then, they could perform either takedown from the variations above.

We then looked at a "what if" scenario from a punch defense, where the Tori applied the Kumi Uchi. In this scenario, the uke responded by trying to force their right hand in an attempted grab to the tori's face and the tori would have trouble leveraging the forward motion of the uke's shoulder and arm. At that moment, the tori was instructed to let go of the shoulder and use their forearm to raise and parry the grabbing arm as they pivoted to the outside. The sudden lunge of the uke's arm allowed for the tori to not only parry it, but extend it to their outside. This set up an extended arm bar across the tori's body, held by the tori's left hand, and the tori used a right fist to smash the uke in the side of the head. Then, the takedown was a simple extension and leverage of the outstretched and locked arm.

This was a valuable lesson in being able to evacuate from the Kumi Uchi, like evacuating your entry team when resistance is overwhelming. But, more than just evacuating, this tactic causes the uke to pursue and expose themselves to a counter attack (i.e. the arm bar). They loved this variation and spent alot of time playing in an "aliveness" feeling, really trying to 'get' each other. From there, we looked at the counter to the counter, where the uke dips their shoulder under the pressure of the arm bar to be able to slip out and into a fighting posture (kamae). If done right, they actually become the tori, finding their opponent's arm/wrist easily caught in their forward hand. Then, they could do a simple takedown.

We played with similar techniques, but while wearing bokken (wooden training swords). This provided valuable lessons in controlling necessary space to allow for the handles and scabbards to move freely to avoid snagging. Also, protecting both weapons from being deployed by the uke added to the increased awareness during the technique.

We finished the night looking at the concept of dipping the shoulder to take the leverage out of arm locks. We played with this as a response to Hon Gyaku, which is a technique involving a straight arm, bent wrist, pain control. We also looked at this as a response to Han Gyaku, which is similar to Hon Gyaku, but you bend or put pressure on the elbow in a bent and downward angle to create instant pain compliance. Getting under such leverage using the shoulder in time with proper use of the legs allowed for many throws and such. It was a fun way to end the night.

We were all sweaty and satisfied in another successful night of training.

Putting a little realism in it...

In last night's class, I had my black belt guys working on various techniques from the Kumi Uchi hold (the classic judo starting hold - one hand lapel, the other on the elbow). I had them first practice just getting the Kumi Uchi on a backpeddling uke, so they really had to put intent on securing a good hold. This was valuable, since most of the time Kumi Uchi is learned as a static, walk up and gently grab them attitude. Once they got proficient at getting the hold on, then we worked on some responses to this hold. This included a third person coming in from the flank with a sucker punch to the held person's head. This led into controlling the space and balance of both attackers while moving out of their 'control space' and into the outer spaces around the Kumi Uchi hold. If balance was not taken on either attacker, the attackers were allowed to continue with another attack or re-establish the Kumi Uchi hold.

This led into working with responding against just the Kumi Uchi by being able to draw a concealed knife from their waistband. If the Kumi Uchi was employed correctly, the control of the shoulder and opposite elbow made it difficult to just reach down and draw the knife. But, if they moved correctly, they had relative freedom of movement and could draw the knife in a way that the holding opponent couldn't see or feel. Then, they were allowed to stab or cut as they wished.

This led into an ura version, where the person doing the Kumi Uchi now had to adapt and evade the knife attack. They first were told to try and prevent the knife draw with the Kumi Uchi hold, which essentially made them commit to the holding attack. This made it realistic in having to evac the hold and evade the knife, but since they couldn't see the knife, they had to 'feel' the change and the knife attack. Once they got it, the taijutsu opened up and they really went after each other! It was great to see it and the whole thing carried incredibly realistic energy to it. They even cranked it up a notch and tried to really stab or cut each other with intent. Every point in the technique was a blur as to who the uke and tori were, since each phase for each person was about trying to really control the other's actions. They made many mistakes and were stabbed and cut (hypothetically, of course) at various points, but still kept going. This was an important point I discussed at the end of class - most knife victims suffer many, many cuts and stab wounds and still fight, still live. So, just because they get stabbed or cut doesn't mean the technique is over. Same for the attacker, too. Just because they may score a cut or stab doesn't mean they stop.

There were other things we did, which continued in the same format. What was most valuable wasn't the things they did correctly - it was the making of mistakes, the exploration of possible solutions and having the right spirit to keep going. That attitude, to me, is the most powerful of all techniques and something that will carry them farther in their martial arts path than anything else. It's not something I can teach, only inspire them to discover for themselves. Yet, without it, they would never be true budoka, real martial artists, no matter how much they train.