Keeping Kuzushi

So generally speaking, kuzushi means to off-balance your opponent. On Saturday just gone, we were practising body throws, the kind you might see executed by a judo player. As with everything in TSYR, things are a bit more subtle than you first expect. You are not just hauling someone over your shoulder or hip. In the first instance we are supposed to make kuzushi. That is, take our opponent's balance from them. However, we are then supposed to keep kuzushi through the whole movement, at no time is uchitachi supposed to regain their base. This is very hard to achieve. We all struggled to keep a constant feeling of kuzushi through the whole movement. One way to think about the throw is to think of a spooling motion whereby uchitachi is drawn into uncontrollable forward momentum by shitachi's movement. The result being an easy throw to the mat. We are fortunate to have many different body types in our dojo. I am tall and light - very easy to throw, and at the opposite end of the spectrum we have a guy who is short and heavy - like trying to throw a small boulder. In an ideal world with perfect technique we can be thrown with equal ease. It is not an ideal world.

If we look deeper into kuzushi we see that breaking someone's balance becomes an intricate art. In which way do we want uchitachi's balance broken? If I create kuzushi so that he is falling away from me, the throws I mentioned above would not work. They require uchitachi to be falling forward. Kuzushi 'sets up' a technique so the next step is ensuring I create useful kuzushi. I'm sure there is even more to this but I'm still figuring it out. I'll get back to you in 10 or 20 years.

Keep training!

Dean.

Internal Strength Training – what’s the big deal?

Some of you might know of an author by the name of Ellis Amdur. He writes books and articles on the martial arts, the Japanese ones in particular. In one of his articles he asks, “What is natural movement?” then goes onto talk about how the primitive rage-terror that resides in all of us kicks in when we are panicked or sense immediate serious danger and we try to defend ourselves. He says, “When anyone, even a trained professional fighter, is in panic, one tends to grab and/or flail in downwards strikes, whether armed or unarmed.”

So as martial artists we may be trying to establish a ‘new’ way of reacting in those critical moments. Ellis again, “The trained fighter is someone whose retraining of the nervous system extends deep into the more primitive areas of the nervous system. Adrenaline no longer activates chaotic or panicked response – instead, it is the “on-switch” for a calm, exquisitely focused state, functioning at tremendous speed and power.”

One way of trying to re-wire the fight/flight response is internal strength training. What exactly are we training? Is it Ki? Is it mind-body connection or is it simply re-wiring the nervous system in conjunction with the muscles and surrounding tissue? It could be any or all of the above. Whatever the reasoning, the outcomes certainly draw people in (me included). The martial artists who spend hours and hours training in internal skill can maintain their balance in very awkward positions, can throw others with the slightest of movements, or in some cases no noticeable movement and redirect incoming force without losing their own base/centre.

It appears like the stuff of martial arts movies but by itself is only a part of the whole. Superimposed on top of this ‘budo body’ must be the waza, the techniques that we can apply in martial situations. This is still not enough. Finally, and I think, most importantly, a serious martial artist must uphold a personal integrity second to none. What good is a person who has internal skill and wonderful technique but still beats his wife? I was drawn to TSYR because I had heard of what Toby Threadgill could do, that was the internal skills stuff. However, once I started to read into koryu and had spoken to my current instructor, it became clear that personal integrity and duty were highly valued. I train alongside some very honest and genuinely pleasant people at the dojo. They are there for the training and are committed to each other, the instructor and the Ryu. This is the glue that holds me there.

So, internal strength. Necessary? Sure. Hard work? You bet. The be-all and end-all of martial arts? I don’t think so.

Have Faith in the Training.

I haven’t written for some time, but that doesn’t mean I have stopped training. However, you guys don’t know that and one of the readers of this blog has recently reminded me I should still be writing, so, I am.

What has martial arts taught me? Well, many things, but one thing that is helping me a lot with coming to grips with TSYR training is this. I will get better.

There is a particular kumitachi kata that I can never get my head around and it is a simple kata, the first in the second set we have to learn in the Shoden Mokuroku. Every now and again I do it correctly. But those times are few and far between. It is an extremely frustrating experience, usually sensei will critique my technique, suggest changes and I change accordingly. However, with this technique I am simply not improving in a gradual sequence, but rather haphazardly getting it right occasionally and I often fall back on an old habit that refuses to let go. Here is the point, I will get better. I have faith in that statement. Years of aikido training has taught me this. I will get better.

Once a martial artist has found a competent teacher in a legitimate art, then he or she must have faith that through mindful training, he or she will get better. I watch my fellow students working their way through the curriculum and they too have certain techniques that aren’t sticking yet. We all do and for me it is a sword kata, for another it may be a particular taijutsu technique. It doesn’t matter, we will get better.

Our sensei often comments on trusting in the kata. The kata was designed by someone many, many years ago that knew what they were talking about. Trust in the kata, let it condition the body and make connections that need strengthening and in time we will see a bigger picture and realise why the kata is important. We learn its applications and we will be better martial artists for it. We will get better.

The body conditioning and subtlety of TSYR is flowing over into my aikido and improving my structure, my base and the overall power of my techniques. I am really enjoying my aikido by being able to look at it from a fresh perspective. Training in a koryu allows some of the aikido techniques to make more sense. I will get better.

Thanks for reading and I will make an effort to keep this blog more current.

Yours in training,

Dean.

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!