Ambitious Training to Start the Year.

Despite what I said in my last blog, I did train one more time after writing it. 

Pete and I had been talking about going through the whole shoden curriculum in one session. Just straight through the waza. Not concerning ourselves with the finer details of the technique but rather could we remember them all, at least, in their outer, basic form. So as it turned out, Pete did stop by and train at the Te Miro dojo before New Year's. Despite only doing the technique three times each and then moving on, we only managed the Buki no Maki in that session (about two hours). We squeezed in the Kuzushi no Kata and Tachiai Te Hodoki as well.

Jujutsu in 1922

So it was, that Pete was back today for my first session of training in 2017. We dived right into the Idori Te Hodoki then the 5 Idori kata before moving onto the Tai Nage and tanto disarms. We eventually moved into the Kansetsu Waza of the Katate set and then ran out of time. 

So despite our best intentions, trying to go through the whole shoden curriulum would take a good eight hour day I would think. We still have most of the Betsuden sets to do and the sword disarming waza. 

Now that my body has cooled down, I feel aches and pains creeping in. It was good to get some serious keiko in with Pete. We were happy with what we did despite not finishing the whole curriculum. As it was we completed at least 32 different kata (keeping in mind we repeated many of them three times as well) today and a further 39 in the earlier session. That in itself is a good effort.

Something we worked on was honest attacks from the uchitachi role. Some of the techniques (especially the idori) require a sincere attack to develop the correct dynamic for the waza. There is plenty to learn just in giving a good attack and Pete and I worked on this all through the session. 

So now I will bask in the knowledge that I have trained hard today, my aching muscles and joints testament to it. 

Enjoy 2017 everyone and train safe!

The next steps!

Training is going well. 

Good session on Thursday with kumitanto. Refining the techniques. Slice and dice!

Saturday was great with good numbers. A couple of members showed up that we hadn't seen on the mat for a while. Sensei took us through the nairiki no gyo then some kunren. After that it was into the katate set of the tachiai kansetsu waza. (Standing joint locking).

I really enjoy this set. It was the first set of unarmed kata I was introduced to when I first started TSYR. Externally they look a bit like aikido techniques such as ikkyo, nikyo and sankyo. However, as some of you may know, they are far more complicated than that. They are considered betsuden, which means they are applications of TSYR principles and are not part of the classical syllabus. My understanding is that Takamura Sensei added these kata in order to cater to the change of the times. They contain an assortment of strikes, different joint locks and take downs. In other words, lots of fun!

One of the guys I train with likes to increase the intensity and when we pair up we do a few slowly then get into it. Often this results in quick decisive movements that slams the other chap into the mats. I get a buzz off this kind of training because I can gauge my progress. If the elements of the technique are not internalised then things get messy pretty quick and the other guy lets me know about it. There is something exciting about executing a technique cleanly at speed.

We spent most of the session on these kata. In the last 5 or 10 minutes we looked at the tachiai tai nage (body throws). There are five and we do them most Saturdays so we know them well. Although there is always plenty to work on. I'm very happy with my progress in this area because my exposure to body throws was limited to koshi nage and seio nage in aikido and even then I did not execute them very well. I am tall and lean so you can imagine my difficulty in getting my hips low enough with correct technique to pull them off. Nowadays, I think I'm getting the hang of these throws.

So overall it was a great session.

On the aikido front, I caught up with my old teacher after 4 years!  He still trains in the same place at the same time so I popped in before training to chat with him. It was great to see him and the other seniors who are still training. I went to ask him about getting certification for my dan grade in aikido. Since I stopped training in aikido he had affiliated with a larger organisation. As I am starting to teach aikido again I thought it prudent to be under the umbrella of this organisation as well. I was asking for his endorsement. He was more than happy to do this. So the cogs are turning and in due time I will have certification of my grade through this organisation. I think it is important for my credibility when dealing with the public.

Next week I begin training a boy in aikido at my personal dojo and I am excited about delving back into my original martial art. I will head back to my original aikido dojo as well from time to time to knock off any 'rust' in my techniques as well. 

Exciting times ahead.

Teaching and Learning

I've had a good week of training and teaching. 

On Wednesday evening I lead the class through all four battojutsu kata at the Hamilton Dojo. We spent the whole session on just those four. I figured that when our sensei came back from the instructor's seminar, he would have lots of new information for us so let's nail our basics. 

Drawing the sword. 

Starting with the first of the kata, I asked everyone to work very slowly but smoothly. While we did this I looked for one or two points each person might need to fix or refine. Sometimes everyone had the same problem so I would stop everyone and just clarify a point. Once everyone had slowly teased out some problems then we would speed up the kata to see how things looked.

We did this for each kata. 

The great thing about teaching is that I learn as well. When I take the time to consider how to explain a concept or share an analogy to help someone through a problem, it clarifies the movements of the technique in my mind also. It can be challenging to come up with a way of describing an idea that the other person understands. Some of the body dynamics we deal with in TSYR are quite subtle and require minute changes in body position or muscle tension. It can be a matter of millimeters between correct and incorrect sometimes. So coming up with a good way of describing movement is very important. Despite only covering four kata, everyone said they enjoyed the training. 

The Saturday morning session was held at my dojo as only one person could make it. It is a long weekend so many people are out and about making the most of the extra day off work. After warming up and going through the Nairiki No Gyo, we decided to quickly work on one of the Idori Te Hodoki that the other guy had not practised for a long time. We then worked through all of the Katate set from the Tachiai Kansetsu Waza (Standing joint locking techniques). 

Rather than just a teacher-student dynamic, here we gave each other feedback as to when we felt our balance was taken and when we didn't. This way we could tweak our techniques as we went. It was a good session with both of us making some progress. It also solidified what we were doing correctly. 

Next we looked at the Tachiai Tai Nage (Body throws). I'm really enjoying these throws at the moment. I had not done much of these sorts of techniques in aikido so I always struggled a bit with them. However, in the recent months something has clicked and I am much more confident in my ability. Just as before, we talked to each other and gave honest feedback to help the other person improve. 

To finish the session off we went back to idori and worked on gaining the centre of the other person while they held both wrists. I find this training fascinating because something like this occurs in aikido training and I knew it as suwari waza kokyu ho. With my TSYR perspective on the exercise I see the value of it much more. 

So that's it. My sensei is back next week and I go back to being the student. I have fulfilled my duty to the dojo by maintaining a training regime while the teacher is away but it will be nice to go back to simply being one of the crowd again. 

Until next time...

Dean.