Ending 2011

Where to start? I started this blog this year in an effort to describe my transition from aikido to Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin Ryu. In this time I have met some fantastic martial artists, some genuinely good people and I have been given access to opportunities in both arts that make me excited for the future.

Let’s start with the high-lights.

Meeting and training under Robbie smith. First of all, I became interested in TSYR after I had been reading about a push towards internal strength in aikido circles in the States. Following this line of inquiry allowed me to stumble upon Toby Threadgill (TSYR) and more importantly, Robbie Smith (my TSYR instructor). Not only is Robbie an exceptional martial artist he is also an incredibly decent guy.

Meeting Toby Threadgill. During my year training with the NZ TSYR group, I was told many stories and anecdotes about Toby Threadgill and how important it was to feel what he can do in person. I had that opportunity recently in a seminar he instructed. That experience reinforced for me that I had made a wise decision studying TSYR.

Building up a budo body. I have mentioned in earlier blogs that the internal strength exercises and the principles of movement in TSYR have started to condition my body by strengthening my posture and body alignment. These benefits have flowed over into my aikido technique as well.

My aikido sensei lifting his game. Clyde has been at the aikido game for years but has only just recently started travelling to other clubs and training with other instructors more often, just like in his good ol’ days. He is re-establishing old ties and this can only be good for our aikido club.  His whole family even planned a holiday to Australia to train with an instructor there.

Gaining my nidan. Very recently (in the last week) I gained my 2^nd degree black belt. I list this as a highlight mainly because Clyde invited me to take this test as I had started teaching aikido at the school that I work at. He told me that aikido is about giving back and he saw this as part of my growth and it deserved a grading attempt. Due to Clyde’s recent networking I had the honour of testing in front of a 5^th dan from a mainline aikikai dojo.

Now for the challenges. For those of you reading this, I feel it important to discuss the obstacles or issues that have arisen since I took on TSYR training while still practising aikido.

Splitting my time between family, work and martial arts. Easily the biggest challenge I faced this year. It is ongoing. There were times when time or money did not permit me to train as often or as hard as I would have liked.

Gaining my nidan. Although I listed this as a highlight, I also felt it was one of my worst gradings. I felt rusty and under-prepared. I did pass, but I was not as sharp as I had been in past gradings. Splitting my time between aikido and TSYR (and family commitments) had taken its toll on how polished my techniques were.  Looking back on the video footage of my shodan and earlier I can see I have certainly improved from those days. However, I am more critical of myself now and it did affect my attitude toward the end of the grading. I have learned plenty of lessons from that grading.

Confusing myself. As I began to internalise some of the TSYR techniques, I found some of the footwork or sword work creeping into aikido and vice versa. A very frustrating experience, I can tell you. It is slowly working itself out though.

Those are the main highs and lows I can think of right now. It has been an exciting and rewarding experience thus far and I look forward to 2012 eagerly.

Have a great Christmas and keep safe over New Year’s.

You, the audience and body throws

At the recent seminar, I met some of you (the audience) that read my blog. I was happy to find out the blog is read and people have an interest in what I write. I checked the stats on my page and it appears at least five people have viewed my most recent blog. So here is my request. If you have read one of my posts then please leave a comment or add yourself as a follower so I stay inspired to continue writing. I’m extremely happy to hear that some of you enjoy reading my posts, so please let me know.

Now, for a completely different topic. Last time I wrote, Toby Threadgill had been visting. However, we had one more session with him last night. The theme – body throws. You know, the typical throws you might see in judo. I have said before that the martial arts I training in are body arts. Nowhere is this truer than in body throws. Where you take the structure of your opponent, break his balance so that he depends on you to stay upright, and then you take that support away. I have much to learn in this area. The most important lesson I took away is to not apply more force than necessary. Provided I create the right, connected shape, the technique will happen. Some of the breakfalls occurred so fast that neither the thrower or uchitachi knew how it happened.

Ok, my brain is at information overload and I’m very tired from about 17 hours of intensive training so I’ll write more soon.

Enter the Kaicho

I have just spent a weekend attending a small seminar with Toby Threadgill, the Kaicho (head of the school) of Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin Ryu. As I only started training in February this year, it is the first time I had meet this man in person. I had viewed some video footage of Toby prior to the seminar and heard accounts by other members of our group as to what to expect. However, actually meeting and training with the head of our school was an exciting and eye-opening experience.

Training began on Friday evening and was open to the wider martial arts community. I was honoured to have my aikido instructor attend as one of those outside the normal training group. All other attendees had a background in aikido, karate or jujutsu. Some people had flown in from Australia. The theme was internal strength and Toby took us through some of the conditioning exercises that help align and build the body. He then asked us to partner up and try some pushing exercises that help explore the application of correct structure and internal strength. Now, I have been exposed to these exercises for most of the year, I find them challenging and yet, have noticed how they are affecting my posture and how I generate power. What was really fascinating was when Toby demonstrated applications of this stuff on volunteers. As Toby manipulated and off-balanced people with what appeared to be little or no effort, the look on their faces was priceless. In fact from now on I will call it, ‘the face’. Time and time again he would get people looking at him in disbelief or amazement as they tried to work out how he took them off balance.

We started a full day of training on Saturday at 9am. Some people from the night before were allowed to stay on even though it was a closed session. They had flown from another country after all. The first half of the day was working on our knees practising escapes from holds or strikes. After lunch we switched to kumitachi (paired sword kata), those not from TSYR were split from the rest of us to work on some sword basics while we went through the first two basic sets of sword kata (note, I use the word basic very lightly – these kata have few movements but are hard to get the subtleties of). When Toby wasn’t with the visitors, he was walking among us critiquing and slowly breaking down what we were doing wrong in each kata. At one point he had us all sit down and called me and another member up to demonstrate one kata. He then proceeded to explain how wrong it was. It was a humbling experience but an important one. That night was a BBQ and then into Sunday.

9am start again on Sunday starting with more knee work, we did this until the lunch break. I had an opportunity to take ukemi from my instructor as he showed Toby what he knew of some of the kata. Great fun. The visitors were taught more of the internal strength exercises and applications. After lunch was kumitachi again. This time more advanced sets. For me and some of the others, these sets were unfamiliar and started to tax our mental stamina. By about 4pm some people started to make more mistakes, were tripping and their timing was going. We were getting tired. During this time, of course I got to see ‘the face’ from some of the visitors again. I never tired of it. At one point Toby was showing how he can take a sword from someone’s hands no matter how hard they try to stop him. He systematically let each person have a go and each time he would whip the sword away leaving them with ‘the face’.

Sunday evening involved some official TSYR events and then farewells. I believe that those who came to see us from outside the Kai (school) went away feeling they had been part of some quality budo training. Personally, I met some great people, experienced some amazing things and feel inspired to dive into my own training harder.

Stay tuned for more blogs as I break down the seminar some more.

Kaeshiwaza

The name 'kaeshiwaza' translates roughly as reversed technique. Basically, counters. In aikido we are practising these techniques often in preparation for a grading some time near the end of this year. The cool thing about kaeshiwaza is that you must remain relaxed and sensitive to the movements of your training partner so that you find the opportunity to exploit a weakness in their technique and reverse it. Kaeshiwaza also relies on your partner not executing a perfect technique. If it was perfect there would be no 'holes' to exploit. This can create an interesting game of cat and mouse between uke and nage as each person has a turn at trying to reverse the other's technique. 

It is a dynamic and very enjoyable type of training. I'm noticing that as I concentrate on trying to reverse a technique, I can lose my posture and therefore my centre. 

Training between aikido and TSYR is now starting to blur a little. I'm finding the TSYR stuff starting to influence my aikido in a negative light. For example, when pinning a partner in aikido I have quite the urge to finish with a strike. The technique feels unfinished otherwise. I'm starting to break down my aikido technique to see if I can instill internal power into what I'm doing, but this requires me to go very slowly, and some of the kyu grades are looking at me puzzled, like "Doesn't this guy know what he is doing yet?"

I have to be careful to balance the point of the aikido lesson with what I'm playing around with in my head.

Happy training out there!

Back into training.

So I haven't posted for a while. I apologise. I am a father of two young children and recently illness has swept through the family. 

One of my first sessions back saw a guy came across from Australia to train with us on Saturday. All but one of us was there so the atmosphere was great. Plenty of people to train with. However, being away from the dojo took its toll. I certainly felt my legs after training the next day. The body conditioning exercises are merciless if you don't keep up the practise. We did some balance-breaking stuff, taijutsu and tanto work. All stuff I had done before so it was a good opportunity to refine and correct my technique. 

Unfortunately I couldn't stay for the extended training session but I hear that our visitor enjoyed himself.

I was back at the aikido dojo for the first time in a while on Tuesday. My sensei wasn't there so as 2IC it falls to me to run the class. A regular visiting black belt from another club also arrived so I asked him to take fifteen minutes of the lesson as well. He is from a different style of aikido and I always enjoy his perspective on things. He has finished his contract here in the North Island so we won't be seeing him for a long while now, unless we venture to Christchurch. He will be missed at the dojo, he bought a great energy and experience to the place.

I decided to centre the lesson around entering the attacker's space. So we did techniques that required nage to 'steal' space from uke and get close. The visiting black belt followed this theme with the techniques he showed. 
This article relates nicely to the idea of 'closeness'. Irimi in aikido


Now that I'm back into practice again, I should have more to write about.

Body Skills

I sit here today, reflecting on body skills. I can't remember where I heard or read this, but I was once informed that aikido is a body art not a hand art. This had a profound influence on how I continued my study of aikido. It took my concentration from that getting my hands right for a technique to getting my body in the right place at the right time and letting the hands be the vehicles for connection to my partner rather than the parts of my body that did the technique. I had been told many times that power comes from the hara (centre) and that you must keep the shoulders relaxed. However, as I was learning the technique my concentration would move back to what my hands were doing and this would naturally cause my shoulders to tighten and I would forget proper hanmi etc.
So I am studying a body art. Technique is done with the body. Not the hands, not the feet. The body.
 This idea is reinforced in TSYR. Connect to your adversary with your hand, hip, shoulder, whatever. Then apply the technique with the body. Thinking this way will ensure that the hara comes into play and to fully harness a soft power, the body must be relaxed.
The struggle I have now is with the sword work. How to get the connection through the sword? It is challenging enough to try and form an integrated, aligned body. Now I add a piece of wood to the mix.
But that is a story for another time.
Back to practising both my body arts!

Techniques and Principles

Often during my training, I find myself being caught up in the finer details of getting a technique right. At this time my sensei, whoever it may be (aikido or TSYR) will often mention a certain prinicple of the art that will correct the technique I'm struggling with. It is easy to forget that the techniques are merely a tool or medium through which to teach a principle. This has become clearer and clearer to me as I practise both arts. Principles are the underlying concepts that make an art what it is. The techniques are what we see, externally. Bend the arm this way, place your feet like this. The body moves a finite number of ways, many techniques are similar across different martial arts. However, the principle guides technique and the difference lies in how the technique feels when it is applied. Someone who is a good technician can get the same result on the surface but at a deeper level it feels hollow. Principles are applied to many techniques and a practitioner who grasps a principle will have stronger technique. Now, I often try to see the principle behind the technique that I am learning.
What is really intriguing is how many principles overlap in the two arts I study. Such things as moving from the centre, pushing (never pulling), upright posture and of course, timing and placement of one's body in relation to the opponent.

Young aikidoka

I recently had the privilege of inviting two of my own students to test for 5th and 4th kyu at my sensei's aikido club. I always enjoy the opportunity to see how the teenage students cope with the test conditions and it gives me an idea of how our little dojo is progressing. Both students are showing strength in the basics. They deliver such techniques as ikkyo and nikyo from katate tori with crispness and are well grounded. Their taisabaki is clean and strong. There are of course areas for improvement. As they perform more advanced techniques, especially from strikes, their under-confidence rattles their nerves and their posture suffers. They begin to move more from the shoulders and they lose their centre. This is to be expected and they still created the right shape for the technique. Overall, I am proud of their efforts and look forward to the next lesson I have with them. I have a clear direction to go in my teaching for the next little while.

Stepping stones in my training.

Two significant things have occurred in my budo training recently. The first moment happened at the end of an aikido training session. We had just bowed out for the night when my sensei walked over to me and said most casually "I think you should grade for your nidan at the end of the year."
Now, grades or rank have never been a driving force for why I train. I see rank as a side-effect of training. So I never ask to be tested and am always surprised when I am asked. I have been a shodan for four years and was happy with my lot. However, sensei has decided it is time I go for it. I am excited and honoured to have been asked.

The second occassion was a Tuesday night training session with the TSYR group. We were asked to bring our swords (not bokken) and wear our hakama. This is unusual for a Tuesday night as this training session is only an hour long, straight after an adult karate class. As most of the group are karateka they simply stay in their karate dogi and pick up a bokken. I travel across town from my aikido training so my hakama is always with me. Tuesday training is usually paired bokken kata. So to ask the group to bring their real swords and dress in hakama means we are to do something else. I do not have a sword so I just thought I would use my bokken as I have done before with live sword work. Upon arrival at the dojo I am told that two of the group have received their swords from overseas and the spare club one was now available for me to use until I get the money together for my own. So for the time-being I now have a sword to train with. As I have said before, it is nothing like using a bokken so I am quite excited.

The TSYR sensei is overseas at the moment at an instructors seminar so the study group is on its own for training. That is OK, it gives us an opportunity to practice the basics well.

My focus will be now on polishing up my aikido for the end of the year and at the same time remembering to clean and polish the sword I have in my possession.

Keeping on, keeping on.

It has been a while since my last post. I have still been training but haven't had time to sit at a computer and type. My basic knowledge of the first two paired sword kata is coming together in TSYR. Both sets have their challenges and principles I have yet to internalise. However, I can recall and perform all the kata at a rudimentary level now. The taijutsu is also feeling more natural and is more similar to aikido techniques but I am far from competent in any of those. I'm still eagerly awaiting more instruction in tanto work. We have not practised much of this but what I have experienced has been exciting. 

Of late we have been practising kneeling techniques from the Chuden scroll. Some of these are very old jujutsu techniques where both people kneel side by side rather than facing. Techniques are then executed from this position, with some wonderfully, surprising outcomes!

Aikido training continues as always and I am considering inviting my instructor from TSYR (who is also 7th dan Wado-Ryu karate) to come and demonstrate basic Wado strikes at our annual  aikido summer camp. We'll see how that goes.

Rolling and rolling and...

Just finished a Saturday training session. Often we finish with 30 breakfalls (rolls). I often train with sensei on these. However, as I reached my 30th roll today, he said "keep going". We get to 40 and I think my legs are going to give out, we keep going and get to 51. I am surprised but happy he pushed me today.

The internal strength exercises continue to haunt me and I will continue to practice them to get better. Today's training focused on the chuden level techniques most of them kneeling. Many were very similar to aikido.

I am thoroughly enjoying the training and the people I am training with.

Developing a budo body.

I've only been training in TSYR since February this year and I would like to take some time to describe how my body is changing due to this practice.
I have mentioned the internal strength exercises before. They are a series of exercises designed to strengthen and align the body to allow power to be generated through technique. They are hard to perform correctly and I'm making slight progress. However, the benefits are apparent already. I have always had loose flexible joints, to the detriment of my posture. These exercises are developing the muscles across my back especially the trapezius muscles, latissimus dorsi and deltoids. This has the effect of pulling the shoulders back and down and bringing my arms into correct alignment with my spine. The legs muscles are also getting 'tweeked'. While doing a squat type of movement we try and concentrate on tightening the hamstrings rather that tensing the quads to stand up. This causes the hamstrings and gluts to work harder but lifts the body straight up through the spine.
An application of these exercises is to teach the practitioner how to channel incoming force down through your own body and into the ground. Lots of neurological changes going on here. The body needs to 're-wire' muscle groups in order to coordinate the posture. I have a long way to go before I can say I can do these exercises with confidence. However, I am continually progressing and even the mother of my children has noticed a thickening of the muscles through my back. That has to be a good thing right?

Just to touch on the training.
We practised kneeling techniques on Saturday. Techniques from single and double hand holds as well as double grab to the front of the gi. I have slightly modified my bokken as TSYR swords have a longer handle than modern sword arts so I needed to place the tsuba (guard) further up the bokken. It will do for now until I can purchase a TSYR bokken.

The art of falling.

Saturday training at the TSYR dojo consisted of sword disarming techniques, then a whole lot of taijutsu. Here is where I feel the classical budo overlaps with modern aikido a wee bit. The techniques were against a wrist grab and I saw a variant of ikkyo, nikyo, sankyo, kote gaeshi and a kokyu nage sort of throw. However, imagine these techniques on steroids! The movement was much sharper and smaller often starting and ending with a strike. I enjoyed the fact that my breakfall experience in aikido came to the fore. It gave me and my partner the freedom to explore the technique without worrying about my welfare too much. Sensei mentioned utilising my skills in ukemi in future, not sure what that means, I guess time will tell.

All but one other student of the club has a background in karate and are still working on their ukemi so it was nice to feel competent for a change.

Substance.

I'm tired. On a Tuesday night I start a martial arts sojourn. At 4pm I teach teenagers aikido until 5:30pm. Then I drive to my own aikido training, 6pm - 7:30pm. I then throw down some high energy food and drink and drive to my final training location for the night. 8:30pm - 9:30pm Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin Ryu training.
As my night progresses, the training gets more difficult as I get more tired.

The subtle nature of TSYR training is difficult to grasp in a tired state but I also realise I am learning something new every time I step into that dojo. Last night I was shown the first two kata of the second sword kata series.
I'm still trying to get the simple mechanics of the movements and the internal power is not happening. Due to this my movements have no substance. One of my training partners said he had to pull back on his tsuki as he could feel that he was going to thrust straight through my defence even though I was doing my best to defend myself. I know in time as my confidence builds, I will be paying more attention to how I am powering my movements. In the meantime I will continue to have no substance, like a shadow of myself on a martial sojourn, every Tuesday night.

Bring on Saturday!

House of knives!

Saturday training was a blast.
We concentrated on just a few of the strengthening exercises and then got straight into some techniques where both opponents are on their knees. Some of it was very aikido-esque and it made my life a little easier. One technique are pretty much yonkyo.

After that we trained in tanto work. Now, the techniques taught in this martial art are nothing like what we do in aikido. They are nasty, nasty techniques, most have the neck as their target. I really enjoyed the effortless way that the knife winds around a limb or torso. Scary stuff! All the other practitioners have been studying these techniques for a while so they had plenty to teach me. I was taught five kata where both opponents have a knife. The person that receives the attack (and ultimately wins) holds the tanto in a reverse grip. There are five more kata where the tanto is held in a forward (normal?) grip. I am yet to see those.

What I am really enjoying about TSYR is how all the principles are clearly taught and applied in each kata. Be it a sword, tanto or unarmed. There is a consistency and martial viability that is lacking in some aikido.

I am also enjoying my aikido training in that, the body movement principals I'm picking up in TSYR are translating nicely into my aikido.

I can't wait until tomorrow (Tuesday). On this night I teach aikido to some teenagers at my school. Then I drive to my own aikido training. Finally after that I have one hour of TSYR training. A full but extremely exciting night.

Live sword!

The sword kata continue but I have had the opportunity to draw a live sword and strike with it!  Wow, there is nothing like a live blade to hone concentration. It is true what they say...putting the sword back into the saya (scabbard) is the hardest bit. I even managed to cut my finger with the steel point.

We continue to train with the paired sword kata and I now know the five kata from the first set. Knowing them, of course is one thing, knowing them well is another story.

In my own time I am practicing the internal strength exercises that will lead to a coordinated, strong body for budo. Some of the exercises are very challenging and I'm still trying to work out how to do them correctly.


It will take years before I feel I'm on top of this stuff.

Sword work

I have been away from a computer for a short time so the experiences I write about today have occurred over more than one training session.

Last Saturday started with the internal strength exercises, which I am still very bad at. Then we returned to a few taijutsu techniques I had seen before and a couple of new ones. We also  practised some judo-type throws. The really new stuff was the kenjutsu training. Part of the kenjutsu training is the etiquette that goes along with using a sword, it is very new and fascinating for me. I am learning the first set of kata in the shoden curriculum. They are short kata but there is plenty to learn within these seemingly simple movements. Timing, posture, breathing, grounding are all important. By the end of the Saturday training I had learned the first two kata to a rudimentary level.

I then turned up to the Tuesday training. Prior to the TSYR training is my own aikido training. Sensei was looking at initiating movement before connecting with uke. This way uke is caught up in your momentum at the moment they make contact. One of the kyu grades thanked me for my help with his Irimi Nage at the end of class. The TSYR training is giving me insights into relaxed movement and opportunities to exploit openings and this is turn is aiding my ability to teach better aikido technique. We also practised randori and I was uke for a lot of that. Good for my fitness level.

Now, onto the TSYR training for that night...
More kenjutsu. This time training along side another guy who has just started. We added a third kata to our small repertoire. I really like the third kata. It involves a block then a strike that traps the attacker's arm with your own blade. There is a feeling of winding the body tight during the block and then unwinding into the second movement. Very cool.

Tuesday night was a contrast of training experiences. The aikido training is familiar and has many teenagers training which makes it feel more casual. Compare this to the TSYR experience of every adult on the mat fully focused and more experienced than myself. Although sensei did mention that I was catching on quick. I feel I need to so I don't slow the progress of the others down.

The first step in a long journey.

I had my second, 2 and a half hour session of TSYR today. I was more relaxed and really enjoyed the training. The instructor said he was happy for me to continue as a student in this ryu and we discussed how often I would train and what costs I needed to pay to join up. I was given a copy of the first sets of kata I am to learn so that I can make notes as I go. So, I have begun my journey into this martial art.

Today we looked at techniques against strikes to the face. There are three. Some of them require good ukemi skills to fall out of safely and, once again, I am thankful for my eight years of aikido. Unlike aikido, both sides of the body are not practiced. These techniques assume that the person is right-handed and must be able to clear their sword whenever possible.

We then moved into sword disarming techniques. Some were similar to what I have done in aikido. However, it is how the techniques are powered and the suddenness of the movements that differentiate the two arts.

 I am getting to know my fellow practitioners as well. We all have families and range in age from 30s upwards. A serious, mature group who can laugh at themselves.

I have decided to train on the Saturday mornings and the Tuesday evenings to keep up with the rest of the group. As it is, I'm one of the newest members and I have plenty to learn.

Very exciting times lie ahead.

My first training session.

Hello all.

I had my first session of Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin Ryu (TSYR) today. It is a classical Japanese fighting art that is practiced by only a few groups world wide. I heard about the ryu through an aikido forum, as the headmaster of this style has been invited by some aikidoka to teach the internal skills from the ryu.

As it turns out, there is a group licensed to teach in good ol' Hamilton. The instructor is a 7th dan in wado-ryu karate and has taken an interest in this older art and learned enough to teach the first level.

So, first impressions? Well, the training was for two and half hours straight. No stops. They start with conditioning exercises, not the 'make your muscles bigger' conditioning, but the 'is my body moving efficiently and from the spine?' kind of conditioning. Let's just say those exercises are HARD. Of course I'm relying on old muscle habits so by the time I've finished that my legs are a quivering mess. All the others training today had been training for at least a year, so they are looking in much better shape at the end of it.

Then we move into some taijutsu (empty hand) paired kata. Now, the techniques are similar to aikido, except, everything is very precise and VERY subtle. Mind-blowing subtle. They knew when my body had lost posture before I did half the time. AND I have 8 years of aikido behind me! Granted, I was not as relaxed as I could be because I was new and nervous. If I did aikido the way I did my techniques today, it would be ugly.

The first set of techniques was from one wrist grab, same side. Then we moved into both wrists grabbed. All these kata are far more violent than in aikido, which I expected, this is more like battlefield jujutsu, you're were expected to finish the other guy off. My ukemi training was valuable, in fact the 4 other students were from karate background, and they found the ukemi the hardest. Not an issue for this fella. It was about the only thing I could get right.

We finished off with 30 breakfalls on each side. Tested the lungs but do-able. However, right at the end, as I was doing the throwing I got told again for the umpteenth time "Keep your back straight, don't round your shoulders."

Now I'm back at home with a body that feels like a train has hit it and a brain that is mush.

I'll be going back again next week!

Training Resolution Two.

I wish to continue to work on relaxed power in my techniques. I guess this is an ongoing goal of mine and is not new to this year alone. However, 2010 was the year I really started to understand how to use my body completely and not rely on individual muscle groups. This is a continuum, where some techniques I feel like I am driving effortlessly from the ground up while others I catch myself focusing on certain parts and my body falling back on more forceful ways. As an indicator I am watching my uke carefully by looking to disrupt their posture with as little movement or effort from my own. Again, varying degrees of success here.

The trick with this is to try and avoid an uke who is too cooperative, otherwise I am just fooling myself into thinking I'm getting anywhere. I trained with a friend of mine a little while ago BECAUSE he did not practice aikido. He has a background in stick fighting arts. I asked him to grab me in common aikido holds while I performed the techniques. Although I took him off-balance often, the way he responded to that differed from a normal aikido training partner. It was interesting. I also asked how he was taught to attack in his art and tried to neutralize these attacks with the principles taught from aikido. All in all I found the techniques and principles learned in aikido are martially viable and it was reaffirming to see them work outside of a normal aikido dojo context.

So generating power through the center and the ground is foremost on my mind this year (again).

Aikido resolutions.

Below is a blog post that I wrote for my club's aikido website.

Training has began again with the dedicated few who have not disappeared for a long summer holiday.
This time of the year people often think about their goals for the year so I'm going to take the time to think about what I want out of my training this year. I will talk about one aspect of my training for each blog.

Resolution 1.
I wish to put some fire into my training. I would like to establish a senior training session where not only the physical attributes of the aikidoist is challenged but also the psychological aspects. It is widely known that when someone is involved in a violent, aggressive encounter, the fear associated with the moment can cause some people to freeze, cower, shut down and so on. All your techniques are next to useless as you lose fine motor control in that moment. 

So what can be done about this. You get together with people you trust and you push your limits. I have recently been reading an article from Toby Threadgill, a practitioner of a koryu (traditional Japanese Fighting Art) and this is what he suggests:
Increase the power and speed of the attacks to a level which is higher than you are comfortable with. Function at a purely defensive mode, use taisabaki, parrying and blocking to protect yourself but forget about techniques just now. You should get hit often during this exercise if the attacks are at the right level. You should be experiencing the adrenaline dump and finding things hard-going. However, over time you should find that the attacks have to be faster and stronger to throw you off your game.
The next level of training is where you start attempting technique against the aggressive attacks. This can be dangerous for uke as there is a higher risk of injury to him or her while you are in that fight or flight response mode. Protective gear would be useful. Keep the techniques limited to simple, safer techniques to protect uke. You are attempting to develop a calm mind during this process despite the violence placed upon you.

Obviously I am looking at this at a senior level. I'm not expecting a beginner to be exposed to this as I could see it being counter-productive. However, if we truly want to protect ourselves with what we are learning, at some stage in our training we must find out what we can handle. I did play around with this idea a while back with one of the other yudansha, We would choose an attack and a technique to deal with it so we had some parameters of safety, then one of us would attack the other as fast as we could, adding yelling as well to try and overwhelm the other person. It was insightful. At first we would hesitate, or muck up the technique but very quickly I found we could ignore all the noise and focus on meeting the speed and power of the attack.

Well, that is resolution one for 2011.

A change of direction.

I have started this blog due to a change in direction in my training. I have been training continuously in aikido over the last eight years. Having gained a solid foundation in this martial art I have started to feel unsettled. I am looking for something a little different. More serious maybe, more complete? I'm not sure. I have started to think about how to generate internal power. I have been playing around with ideas during training time on the mat and trying solo exercises I have discovered through Aikiweb forums. However, nothing beats having a teacher. Over the last one and a half years I have become interested in koryu (classical Japanese fighting arts) and as luck would have it, a study group exists not far from where I live. I only stumbled upon this fact recently. The more I read about this martial art, the more I am intrigued and fascinated. So I have contacted the instructor and he is to contact me shortly and have a chat about my possible acceptance into their training.

Up until now, I have been blogging on my aikido club's website. I feel that this is not appropriate to do so anymore if I am to practice another martial art. So "Budo Chronicles" was born. I may continue to train with my aikido dojo if it is possible but I'll keep you posted on that one. In the meantime I may post some of my blogs that I placed on the aikido site to give you an idea of how I think about budo.