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).