Power Not Strength

I have just finished reading a translation of Miyamoto Musashi’s, Five Rings. Something he mentions often in the book is using power not strength and quickness not speed. While training in the kenjutsu kata on Tuesday night it was becoming more and more apparent that it is easy to say, “Use power not strength, use quickness not speed.” And I can even understand it conceptually but putting into practice is a whole other thing. There is a kata in the second set called Yoko Ate. This translates roughly as Side Strike. The intention of this movement is to deflect an incoming strike with a strike of your own but at the same time clearing a line of entry to counter. I have not been able to perform this kata “with power” ever since I was taught it somewhere near the start of last year. However on Tuesday night I think I cracked it!

Of course I cannot guarantee that I will get it right every time, but at least I have an awareness of what I am supposed to feel when I get it right. You see, my understanding of the phrase “power not strength” means to move from your centre and do not rely of individual muscle groups to do the work. Not only does this generate a lot of power, it is an efficient way to move and you are less likely to have your arms or shoulders tire so easily. I knew I was doing Yoko Ate wrong because I was using my arms so much to whack the incoming strike away, due to the tension generated in my wrists I was often too slow to defend a fast, committed attack and my shoulders were getting tired. The trick is to generate tension in the hara and legs then suddenly release this in a whipping type motion to knock the attack away. I thought I was doing this but then sensei came over and specifically talked me through creating the tension in my lower body and legs. I had an ‘aha’ moment when I released this tension during the technique and it actually worked well.

This idea of generating power in the hara is not a new idea nor is it original to TSYR but it is the first time I have really got it.

Tools of the Trade.

Most people are aware of the two swords of the samurai, the long sword (katana) and the short sword (wakazashi). Up until now I had only ever trained with the bokken, in other words the wooden version of the long sword; first in aikido and now in TSYR. The way the bokken is used in my line of aikido is to enhance taijutsu technique by applying correct body alignment and positioning. The weapon work informs the empty hand waza. This could also be said to be true in TSYR except the attitude behind the sword work differs greatly. Aikido is about conflict resolution where both the attacker and defender are given the opportunity to reconcile their differences. In TSYR the philosophy is very basic – kill your opponent. These attitudes effect the kenjutsu. Aikido operates in large circles and attempts to place both the attacker and defender out of harm’s way. TSYR kenjutsu is far more direct and quick. The emphasis is on small deflections, direct strikes and one obvious loser. The thing is, TSYR technique is very circular or made up of spirals as well, but the movements are small, sometimes just a matter of millimetres. Now imagine the mental intensity this creates. After an hour of kenjutsu training in TSYR I get a good sweat going. Not because of the physical demand but because of the intense concentration that it requires. Attacks have to be strong and committed, deflections and counter attacks have to be timed well and precise.

Needless to say it has been a challenge switching mind-sets from one art to another for the sword work. Now our sensei has been exposed to some of the kata using other blades; the tanto (which we train with already), the O-tanto, and the wakazashi. With the introduction of these other weapons I get a feeling that we are really delving into an obscure, ancient tradition. Aikido has tanto practice, but nothing like the kata I’ve experienced in TSYR. I haven’t had the opportunity to see all the kata with these weapons but the rationale behind them appears to be that ultimately a warrior wants to fight with his long sword. However, there will be times when he has been disarmed or caught without his primary weapon and needs to know how to defend himself with the shorter blades.

The curriculum of TSYR appears to be vast, in fact it has some 135 kata, and things get complex. It is exciting to be venturing into this unique world where a person is assessed by their ability to maintain their posture and composure under ever-increasing physical and mental challenge.

Good fun!

Dean.

A slice of training life

On Tuesday my instructor had recently come back from his seminar in the USA with Toby Threadgill. There is a requirement in the ryu that the head of each study group/dojo travel to the States once a year for these seminars. So Robbie was back with renewed vigour and plenty to tell us. We spent the evening working on one of the Chuden level paired sword kata. I had only observed one of these kata before so I had plenty to see and learn. I have always used an old bokken that I bought for aikido. However the TSYR bokken are different. They are generally longer (especially the handle) and are more curved. So I am looking at getting one of these bokken as the frustration of essentially bringing a toothpick to a stick fight is starting to get to me.

I have been struggling with a knee injury for the last 6 weeks and Tuesday was the first time in that long that I could train in both aikido and TSYR without my knee giving out. The aikido club numbers have shrunk but maintains an average rank of shodan so the quality of training is good. Only two of the club members are kyu grades now. We had a great Tuesday night with good intensity and plenty of fun.

Only about a month to go before Toby Threadgill lands on our shores again and there is plenty to learn in that time. I can't seem to get enough training in at the moment. Either injury or family commitments tend to keep me away from the dojo. It might just be one of those years. I certainly haven't trained as much as I had at the same time last year. What is suffering most of all is my body conditioning due to the lack of internal strength training and in aikido, my sword work is becoming a confused mess as it seems to clash with the body habits of the TSYR sword movement. The only solution is to carefully nurse my knee back to health before the head of our school arrives and train on.

Yours on training.
Dean.

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.