Masakatsu Agatsu

Lately, I have been thinking about a quote from Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido.

He once said, "masakatsu agatsu or "true victory is victory over oneself."

Like many of his quotes, this can be interpreted in many ways. I often find my self thinking about this quote in my own training.
During my aikido practice I often thought of the quote to mean if I had control of myself emotionally and had a calm approach to an assailant, then I could control the situation. In other words, if I had self-control then I could control others. This is of course true in a verbal confrontation, in fact I use this idea everyday in my job. I'm a high school teacher in a state-funded school and staying calm with teenagers is very important. Teenagers will often resort to verbal abuse like put-downs and swearing to disrupt your influence. Being able to use body language, precise wording and a calm demeanor is important.

I find one flaw in my own logic here. Even if I could be calm under a physical assault I would still have to be technically proficient to survive such a confrontation. Just because I could be calm under pressure does not guarantee success. 

When I began practicing Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin Ryu an important aspect of the training focused on correct alignment of my body, 'structure' is the term we use often. The more I train, the more I realise that without proper structure I cannot possibly control others. If my structure is not correct, then it becomes more difficult for me to take control of my opponent. So on a simple, physical level masakatsu agatsu applies. 

While in the draft stages of this post I came upon this blog:

Predator or Protector?

In this blog the author talks about how anyone who studies martial arts, studies violence. There is no other way to look at it. We can wrap it up in soft fluffy philosophy but at the end of the day, the definition of martial arts is forms of self-defence or attack. We learn how to use physical violence to get an end result. So the author then goes on to say, "How does this make us any different to bad guys?"  

It is an interesting point. People who rob, rape, assault or kill use violence or at least the threat of violence. How do we differ? The author's point? We use violence to protect while the bad guys use violence to prey on others.  He then goes on to say that in order to protect we must be better at violence than the bad guys. What a thought.

A quote from the blog:

"So it is imperative that GOOD people be skilled at violence.

What does that mean?For the most part it is helping good people give themselves permission to do what is necessary.
Unless they are competing for the same resources, it is rare for a predator to hunt another predator.
So protection can also be achieved by helping folks remember that they are also predators.  The confidence that brings can remove someone from some victim profiles."

The author continues to say that should you allow yourself permission to do what is necessary and be violent, then how much is too much? When do you turn the violence off? How do you turn the violence off? Masakatsu agatsu. True victory is victory over oneself. This mental level is something I have been chasing all of my martial arts journey. As I have trained I have pushed myself out of my comfort zone, then once that was comfortable I looked for more discomfort. The problem I had was if the people around me didn't want to amp things up like that I was left with no one to train with. When I started aikido, taking a physical risk might mean taking a high break fall or letting someone twist on my arm. As that fear disappeared, I wanted faster attacks and to dance more on the edge of what I was capable of. Unfortunately for most of my training partners, they weren't interested after a certain level of stress. 

Then I started TSYR. Here my training colleagues were more capable and used to higher levels of stress in the dojo. The training involved committed attacks often with wooden training weapons. I know at even higher levels of training, shinai and armour are used and permission is given to move away from kata and really try to make the hits land. Sensei has a systematic approach to amping up training and getting the adrenal dump to occur in the participants. I am not at this point and Threadgill Sensei has said that not everyone wants to go there. I want to go there. 

One of my TSYR buddies is an Air Force Medic. He had the opportunity to train with the Australian Special Forces at one point. Members of the Armed Forces were asked if they would play the part of terrorists on a Special Forces exercise. My friend put his hand up. One thing he noted when he meet these men is the absolute confidence they had in their abilities. It was a quiet confidence, no bravado what-so-ever. The exercise simulated a takeover of a bus. The Special Forces guys were to storm the bus and take down the 'terrorists'. My fiend said he had never experienced anything like it. The Special Forces guys went from quiet, confident men to aggressive, violent soldiers in a second. They moved with absolute precision, with calculated violence. My friend found himself taken to the ground with a knee on is chest in seconds. He said there was nothing gentle about how they dealt with the situation. He said these men carried  a presence that none of the other soldiers carried. One of utmost confidence in their abilities in moments of high stress. They had gained victory over themselves. Masakatsu agatsu.

I have read many articles by Ellis Amdur. He wrote this one:

Hiding in the Shadows of the Warrior

How can I, a civilian studying martial arts ever get to the level of calm efficiency that the Special Forces guys get to? Should it even be a goal for me? A part of me wants to find out what I am capable of. What happens to me, psychologically if I really feel threatened? Ellis Amdur's article addresses his own training under stress and one of the outcomes for him. It is sobering reading. 

Part of me wants to go into this psychological space. To see where my breaking point is. To see what demons lurk within. And then quell them. 

Then, and only then do I think I will have achieved masakatsu agatsu.

A Little Perspective.

At the moment, my sensei, Chris is overseas at the TSYR instructor seminars in Colorado, USA.

I have been asked to teach in his absence. I thought I would share a few thoughts I have had during this time. On Thursday I rocked on up to the Hamilton Dojo for the usual Tanto training session. As it turned out it was just me and one other student. He had driven in especially from out of town so was glad to see me walk in. 

I decided to work through the Mae Aku set of the Kumitanto. We took our time with each kata, highlighting main points and refining technique. Then we moved to a type of free form practice where the uchitachi will say an attack height e.g. chuden, and then thrust with the tanto. The shitachi responds with an appropriate technique. I really enjoy this type of training as you quickly work out what has been internalised. Hybrid techniques often pop up at this point and uchitachi is not quite sure what he or she is going to get!

We then did the same with the Gyaku Aku set. Slowly at first, kata by kata, then semi-freestyle with named attacks. 

We ended the training session with two kata from the Idori Te Hodoki.

For today's (Saturday) training I invited the other students to the Te Miro Dojo. None of them had been out yet and I saw this as an opportunity to let them see what I had built. Nat and Michael said they could make it and we kicked off at the normal 9 am start. After warm ups, Nairiki No Gyo and some kunren we settled into the Idori Te Hodoki. 

We were so busy with the finer points of these kata that we spent the entire hour and a half working from our knees. It wasn't until a text message from my wife reminded us it was time to stop...20 minutes after we were supposed too. 

During one of the kata Nat asked if what she was doing was right. I was uchitachi at the time and Michael was watching on. Michael laughed and said "If you could see what I could see you wouldn't need to ask that."  So I suggested we do the technique again and Michael take a picture from my phone. This is what he got.

Natalie demonstrating Morote from Idori.

As you can see Nat's posture is unbroken and I'm a twisted mess. This is why Michael was laughing. It was obvious that the technique was working. But until Nat saw the photo she was unconvinced of her ability. Isn't it funny how we can have different perspectives on the same thing? 

We made some great progress on five of these kata today. Everyone walked off the mat feeling like they had made an insight. I call that a successful lesson.

I next teach on Wednesday, that is kenjutsu night. I'm looking forward to it. 

The Dojo is open!

I have recently had the privilege of hosting Marco Pinto from Portugal. Marco is licensed to teach the Shoden Mokuroku of TSYR and is one of the senior members of the Kai. It was with great pleasure and pride that Marco was the first to bow in and train on the mats of my newly-built personal dojo here in little ol' New Zealand.

Te Miro Dojo

Marco came down from Auckland with Jules (a friend and fellow TSYR member) on Wednesday afternoon to see the dojo and get some extra training in between seminars. We spent the afternoon working through the tachiai tanto toriageru (standing tanto disarms). Marco is an excellent teacher and a powerful technician of the art. It was an honour to have one-on-one instruction with him.

Wednesday evening is the Hamilton dojo's normal training time, so we headed into training after dinner to join Chris and Pete on the mat. Wednesday nights are traditionally sword-work so Marco took us through the batto kata and aspects of one of the kumitachi kata. He made some great technical points and he worked on refining our technique.

It was then home to bed.

The next morning Jules and Marco trained some more in the dojo. They worked on the Gyakute kata from the Tachiai Kansetsu (standing joint locks) forms. I was a bystander for this session as I had my two daughters to look after but I still managed to observe and ask questions from time to time. I said it earlier but I must mention just how polished Marco is as a teacher. I would ask him for the main lessons of a particular kata and his answers were succinct and confident. His understanding of the waza is obvious in his movement and explanations.

Marco demonstrating waza.

The dojo held up admirably. The robust sprung floor and new tatami handled the impact of thrown men with ease. For us the falls were comfortable. Considering the size of Marco and Jules (I was the light-weight) it was a good test and both men agreed that the floor was great for TSYR.

The three of us after the Wednesday afternoon session.

I am very happy with the outcome of the visit. It was exciting to have Marco be the first to teach and train on my mats and I am thankful to Jules for providing the opportunity. I hope this is only the beginning. The dojo is open to any TSYR members and my wife and I have plenty of room for people to stay over. I see the dojo as part of my contribution to TSYR and it provides another place in the world where we can come together and enjoy this koryu bujutsu.

Dojo Build - Into the New Year!

After a great holiday with my wife and girls it was back to working on the dojo. Needless to say I was really excited based on what Andy and I achieved in the few days leading up to Christmas.
The very first thing we did was take off the tilting garage door. I wanted to replace this with a wall and window to allow more light into the space.

Not long after we had removed the door, my friend Jules turned up with another person, Kate. They dedicated a day of their holiday helping out. Andy got them onto lining the internal wall with 9 mm plywood. The plywood I used here was non-structural and only had one 'good' side. This kept the cost down.

Jules and Kate on the job.

You can see in the picture that we had to build the internal wall out to go around one of the trusses, this will turn out to be quite a cool design feature later on. 

The external wall is built, cladding underway.

Andy spent most of this day building the external wall and putting on the cladding. I managed to find the exact same cladding that is on my house. It is a cement-based hardyboard with a 'rustic' finish. Basically it gives the appearance of wood grain. 

The window is in!

I sourced the window from a demolitions place. It is an aluminium sliding window with tinted glass. It is 2850 mm x 1200 mm. I am very happy with the size and the tinted glass helps reduce heat inside as the window is north-facing. You can see in the picture the smaller side door that will become the main entrance. 

We were lucky with our timing as no sooner had the window been installed than we experienced heavy rain for the next day! 

The rest of the time Andy was with me he taught me how to put in studs (vertical framing) and nogs (horizontal timber blocking between studs) and measure and cut plywood for the lining of the walls. 

This left me with enough knowledge to carry on by myself. 

So I carried on lining the walls. Needless to say this was a slower process by myself. 

During this time I got an electrician in to sort out my lighting. The original lighting was simply two standard light sockets in the shared space of the shed. They were powered by one switch. This was now a problem as I had put an internal wall between the two lights. Also one of the lights had been hanging on the truss Andy removed!  

Here is my solution...

New lights.

I bought three low profile LED batons. I had two placed in the dojo space. They were connected to the original switch. The third baton was put on the other side of the internal wall and connected to a different switch. I am very happy with the LEDs as they are very bright and energy efficient. 

Looking North.

 Jules came back again to help me with lining the truss above the internal wall and as you can see, the majority of the matted space is now complete. I have decided not to line the ceiling at this stage to keep costs down and it doesn't effect my ability to train. The genkan (reception area) will be stage two of the project when I can afford to do it. I have the paint for the external and internal walls and I have started the external painting at the time of writing this. 

Looking South

I plan on painting the internal walls with a bleached timber stain (like a white wash) so that the grain of the ply shows through. I will post more pictures once I have finished the matted area. The tatami are due to arrive in about 7 weeks. 

I am very happy with the outcome. But I wouldn't have got very far without Andy's expertise and Jules and Kate giving their time.

However, my biggest thanks must go to my wife, Ricci. The money for the build came from her father's inheritance and when we had people over she put on some splendid meals as well as keeping the children entertained!

Without her giving me the money and time, there was no way the build could have got off the ground. 

Dojo Build - Days Before Christmas.

Well, I have spent a good part of my summer holiday building a private dojo on my property. I am happy with the progress knowing that I am back to work this week.

In this blog I'm going to take you through the process from start to the current situation (or close too, I'm always out there painting or nailing). 

In the beginning...

The above photo is what I started with, this is approximately a 5 m x 7 m area of my shed. It has a concrete floor with a mechanic's pit covered by boards. As I am not a huge car enthusiast, I was happy to build over the pit and leave it there for resale in the future (in a good 17 years or so). I sealed the concrete to reduce moisture coming up. The pit was already painted on the inside. 

The first step was designing and building a sprung floor. I asked my wife's cousin to help with the dojo build as he was a professional builder. Needless to say, without Andy on board, I wouldn't have got nearly as far so quickly. 

I had some plans given to me from a training colleague at the Hamilton dojo but I modified them as I went based on cost and the space I was working with. 

Laying the framing for the sprung floor.

The floor is composed of 45 mm x 70 mm joists sitting on pads of high density EVA foam, 100 mm x 100 mm x 40 mm. The original plans had 45 mm x 45 mm joists but Andy was concerned with the wood warping and twisting so, taking his advice we went wider by 25 mm (1 inch). The pads are glued to the joists but not to the concrete. The floor wasn't perfectly level in places and you can see in the picture below we added expanding foam in places to make up for this. A solid timber frame sits around the outside to stabilise it. 

Putting on the plywood flooring.

Over the joists we laid 19 mm flooring plywood. These sheets fit with a tongue and groove system and are screwed down with 150 mm centres. Usually the screws would be 300 mm a part but we didn't glue the sheets to allow for the floor to be lifted if maintenance is required. This took over 700 screws to do! The end result is a solid floor that provides some 'give' with hard impact. I am very pleased with this result as the design is original and Andy had never built anything like it before. With judo tatami on top it will be great.

The internal wall goes up.

While I was busy screwing in 700 or more screws, Andy put up the framing for the internal wall. We left a space for a door in that wall to give access to the rest of the shed. You can see also at this stage that access to the shed is through a tilting garage door. That was destined to disappear!

Truss removed.

The next thing we did was to remove the middle truss of the training area. I wanted this done to increase head height and allow for weapon practice. Andy reinforced the remaining rafters and trusses with extra timber. By the way, the pink building timber is typical here in NZ. It is painted to show that it is chemically treated against insects and moisture. Pink signifies H1 treatment. Untreated timber is not coloured.

By this stage we had built a sprung floor, the internal wall framing and increased the head-height. This happened in about 2 and a half days just before Christmas. 

To be continued...

The next step...

I find myself at an interesting time in my martial arts journey. Tomorrow, I begin building my private dojo at my home. In April this year my wife and two girls moved into a new house. This property has a 90 metre square shed as well. At about the same time as the move, my father-in-law passed away. It was a difficult time for us but 7 months on we are settled and moving on with our lives. My marvelous wife donated a proportion of her father's inheritance to allow me to build a dojo in part of the large shed. She also has a cousin who is a builder and after having a discussion with him he was happy to help with the build. He arrives tomorrow to begin on the sprung floor. 

A view from the Japanese Contemplation garden in Hamilton.

I am documenting every step of the build and will blog about the details in future posts. 

When people heard I was building a private dojo some started to ask if I would begin teaching Aikido again. I have agreed to teach one boy and his friend once the dojo is functional. I will see how this goes but at this stage I do not want to commit to scheduled classes as I have to balance my work and family as well as my own training. Although the small amount of money I get from teaching I will put into pursuing my own training. 

This brings me to my next point. My Aikido training and credentials. When I passed my Nidan grading I did not receive a certificate. I have no documentation to say what I have achieved and I feel that those who wish to have tuition from me are owed at least that. So, I will be talking with my Aikido teacher over the next month or so and re-establishing ties and working out what I need to do to consolidate my Aikido rank. It may mean re-grading or joining an organisation for credibility in the eyes of the public. I certainly believe I am a better martial artist since my transition to TSYR. The 'engine' has been refined and is ready to power Aikido techniques. However, the public do not know this, so time to get some documentation. 

Having a private dojo also allows other training opportunities. I will be welcoming any TSYR member to come and train. There is a loft area for bedding so staying over is not a problem. I can also train more often without compromising time with my family. I can simply walk out of my house and into my dojo for an hour of solo training whenever it fits with family life. Now, that is exciting!

So in the meantime I have an exciting project that will change the direction of my training for good.

One discipline or many?

How many styles?

What is the best? Training in one martial art or many? If more than one is of a benefit then how many more? In my opinion, there is not one good answer.

I train in TSYR and prior to that aikido. At one point I was doing both. I remember asking my aikido instructor what he thought of cross-training and he said that was fine as long as you have a foundation in one martial pursuit first.

I have met some people on that mat that have studied many martial arts through their lives but not necessarily at the same time.

What are the challenges? First there is the issue of available training time. If you have a family and a job then your time will be limited. You will have to work around those important commitments. You will need to find a club or dojo that fits in with your lifestyle. A club that trains on Saturdays is no good if you have to take your daughter to her soccer games on that day. 

If you are single with flexible working hours then things open up for you. So you have time? How do you use it? You will need to find clubs that train on alternate days so you can get to the training times. Perhaps an aikido dojo trains three times a week, on the alternate days you train in karate. 

Even if you have plenty of time to give to martial arts you have to have access to dojo or training halls nearby. Your time disappears quickly if you are travelling two or three hours to get to your training every time. It may mean moving to a larger town or city where more clubs are available. In New Zealand most towns have a Judo or Tae Kwon Do club but you need to move to a bigger place to get the variety of styles. 

Training in different martial arts certainly gives an insight into how each style trains and focuses on and you can quickly make a comparison but I'm not sure you progress as a quality martial artist as quickly. 

What is the advantage to training in one martial art? Well, if you spend all your available time on that martial art, you will get good at it sooner than a person who is spreading time across two or three martial arts (or do you?). Even here I find myself thinking of exceptions. Some people find different martial arts that compliment each other and training in one may help your technique in another. Sometimes people are just talented and pick up body mechanics and movement much easier than others so find training in more than one martial art easy.

For now let us assume we are doing one martial art and training as often as we can. What does this do for us? Firstly you are taught some fundamental skills in that martial art. Depending on that martial art you will be developing cardiovascular fitness, balance, timing and speed. As you progress you will become better and better at the different waza or kata. You will learn more waza and kata. Over time your training will take on new levels as you look more deeply into principles and ways your body has been trained to move. Hopefully you will internalise the movements that make up your martial art. They will become second nature and others will see you as being very good.

I trained in aikido for about 9 years and a large part of this training included taking ukemi. Without a doubt, that aspect of my training has been internalised and even though I train in another budo, the skills I learned before are well ingrained. There is certainly an advantage to sticking at one martial art for a long time.

What are the advantages to training across more than one martial art? Well, first of all you get to see the differences and similarities of two or more fighting systems. Maybe a technique common to both is applied differently. You get a lot of information in a shorter amount of time while you learn the basics of two or more disciplines.

The downside, and I see it as a major downside, is that this information overload can be conflicting or confusing for complete beginners. If you have never done martial arts before then you have no point of reference. You can start blurring techniques and trying things that are complete rubbish and not found in either art you are training in.

From my personal experience and from what others have told me, it would seem the safest route would be to get a grounding in one martial art first. Once you think you are at least competent in that martial art then start considering your next path.

When choosing another martial art you should either train in a complimentary art or one that has a completely different focus.

For example, Aikido is a Japanese martial art that focuses on joint locks and throws. Training in solid striking with hands and feet is not paramount. A complimentary martial art to take up would be a karate style. It is still a Japanese martial art so many terms are similar but there is a heavy focus on doing a good kick or punch. In this way you develop a more holistic approach to your training. Western Boxing would also develop good striking but due to its very different background could cause a student to develop the wrong body mechanics or mindset.

Most people I have met who have trained in more than one martial art appear to have progressed from one to another in a natural sequence. They have become better and better martial artists as they have transitioned, learning what each art had to offer. Many still have a core martial art they have their base movements in.

My current instructor trained for many years in Goju Ryu Karate. This style of karate has strong Okinawan influences and practices. He then moved into Wado Ryu karate which has Okinawan and Japanese influences. While still training in this style he began training in TSYR. This progression actually has a nice continuity about it. He started with a purely Okinawan martial art, then to a martial art with both Okinawan and the more subtle Japanese Jujutsu elements and finally to a classcial Jujutsu school. He now presents as a very proficient martial artist who can inform his current practice based on years of studying earlier arts.

Even my own less lofty journey makes sense in a way. Aikido training has elements of the more traditional jujutsu way of training and when I began training in TSYR I found some familiar elements within. I was familiar with joint locks and wearing a hakama and some of the Japanese terminology. There were certainly differences (sword work being one of them) but overall learning aikido certainly prepared me for training in TSYR.

Training for a long time in one martial art also teaches other things. One learns perseverance. To never give up and to move through frustration in yourself and your progress. You learn to trust that you will get better in time. When you take up another discipline you are familiar with starting again, learning basics and being patient with yourself and others. You also learn what your limits are in those early years. You learn to listen to your body and understand when to push through discomfort but not to push on to a point of harming yourself. Long time practitioners of the martial arts also learn how to teach themselves, how to use their time off the mat to further their training. It might be practicing sword cuts in your garage or going through rolling drills. In this way when you start a new discipline you know what it takes to progress quickly.

In conclusion, I would have to say that getting a strong foundation in one martial art and then trying others is my preferred way to train. In this way you can make better decisions in choosing your next path and making sure it is a logical progression in your martial arts journey.