The Dragon's Orb

Ohba Sensei

2012-01-26T20:18:00.001-08:00

Kenji Tomiki's friend and inheritor of the Shodokan lineage.

A lovely piece of Aikido calligraphy

2012-01-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

For some reason there are not very many versions of the word aikido written in calligraphy on the internet. A few of my friends in budo have been buying expensive pieces from Japan, that frankly are not composed well to my eye. Fear not reader, I will gather pieces for us to discuss and learn from so you too can have great taste in calligraphy.

The above piece is splendid to my eye. I am fond of the older styles, and this looks to me to be a bone script inspired piece. I love the writers use of the archaic 'DO' in the upper left corner.

bone script

The great thing is you can support the artist and buy it for yourself.
Ebay

Miyake Sensei Jū-no-kata 柔の形

2012-01-13T13:54:00.001-08:00

Tsunako Miyake (the lady in red) practicing 柔の形, Jū-no-kata, "forms of gentleness" This kata is from the Kodokan judo curriculum. Miyake Sensei is a giant in the field of martial art especially judo, Tomiki lineage aikido and tai chi. This film was possibly taken around 1989.

The name of Tomiki's art - Shodokan 昭道館

2012-01-10T16:47:00.000-08:00

I have been pondering the name of art use in the Tomiki lineage practice. Interesting that it is the only major branch of Aikido that got named after a teacher, rather than an organizational or art name. Apparently Kenji Tomiki 富木謙治 wanted neither his name or the word ryu attached to his art. Of course now we call it Tomiki Aikido as a blanket term, and some call it Tomiki Ryu when we mistakenly think of it as a koryu art form and misappropriate the term Ryu 流where it should not be used.

Nariyama Shihan recalls talking to Kenji Tomiki about the name of the system.

"The use of the terms Tomiki-ryu, Tomiki System, etc. prompted an austere look and resolute manner, “It was never my aim to create competitive aikido for only one specific group”. I can recall his politeness and the things he used to say about his cherished ideas. So why was Tomiki Sensei so strongly against having his name used? I think that this was because he had much more sincere and more noble ideas concerning aikido and budo. At that time he mentioned the name of Kano Shihan to use as an example, “Kano Sensei aimed at creating judo as a modernization of budo. Although he established judo, we never hear term Kano Judo.” Referring to own’s name in this way is shortsighted and won’t allow budo to change at all. Tomiki Sensei did not boast about competitive aikido belonging to him but believed it was connected to the development of aikido as a whole and for the benefit of everyone. He believed strongly that without this process aikido would not modernize. This way of thinking was perhaps why he was particular about the name."

-Tetsuro Nariyama Shihan

Kenji Tomiki clearly did not want his name to be used. But he did name his art. He called it Shodokan Aikido 昭道館合気道. After Tomiki Sensei's death the organization of dojos he created fractured into several pieces and Shodokan 昭道 became a political name of one organization rather than a term he apparently intended it for. It seems clear he meant it to be the name of his art.

So if Tomiki Sensei would have had the choice do you think he would have wanted all of the students in his lineage to say they study Shodokan Aikido? It seems from Nariyama's essay that seems to be the case. I don't expect this blog to change much of the name/political landscape but it is an interesting question to ask ourselves.

Anyhow, the name of Kenji Tomiki's art was/is Shodokan 昭道館

I would like to take a look at the word and see if Kenji Tomiki buried a gem of wisdom in the word she chose. Some of the masters of the brush I have met believe words and strokes contain ki. Tomiki was himself a calligrapher, so maybe a piece of his mind rests in the characters he chose. Fumiaki Shishida Shihan, the noted scholar and Tomiki lineage author wrote that Shodokan means 'place for identifying the way'. While I find it difficult to argue with such a respected researcher, he might have been translating a poetic interpretation rather than a literal translation to English. He goes on to write...

"The meaning of Shodokan is 'place for identifying the way'. The first character, 'sho' comes from the Showa period in which Shodokan was founded and is also found in the name of Uchiyama's company. The second character, 'do' comes from Kano's Kodokan. (clip) On 28th March 1976, Uchiyama provided a 70 tatami dojo with Tomiki as the head."

Fumiaki Shishida Article

While I find the insights Shishida writes about the name of the Shodokan fascinating, I want to dive deeper. Much of Tomiki's life was spent in the Showa era, Showa era (1926.12.25-1989.1.7)so I am inclined to believe it might not have been THAT special to him. The company that donated space was an interesting factor. What about this kanji resonated with Tomiki so deeply to name his headquarters and art this? Lets look at the literal translation.

Let's take a look at the word 'sho' 昭.

昭 - luminous

Some of the secondary or lesser used definitions in Japan are / clear / bright / plain / obvious / Showa era (1926.12.25-1989.1.7)

In Chinese definitions are bright / brightness / luminous / prominent / eminent / evident / obvious / to make open / to show / to display

Here are some ancient forms of the character.

The other part to the name Shodokan 昭道館 are the far more common budo characters (道館), same as seen in the name of Judo's headquarters Kodokan 講道館.

道 -ち - 1: (Archaism) way; road; (Noun suffix)2: way to ...; road to ...
館-かん-house; hall; building

Luminous. It seems to resonate with the poetic teaching of his aikido teacher Morihei Ueshiba. Indeed I have read, light or shine was one of Ueshiba's last calligraphy pieces he wrote before he passed. Even the symbol of the Shodokan is a centered by the sun/fire with a luminous halo - representing the balance of water.

So far what it is worth, it is this lowly blogger's opinion that Tomiki's art is the 'luminous way building/hall' or the 'luminous path building/hall'. I think all translations search a purpose to help guide us a little further down the path. Due to the modern political entanglements, I would not call my art Shodokan, but I respect the name and poetry that the founder of our style called his art.

As a final thought, there is a Tomiki website that states because Tomiki was a calligrapher and practiced shodo 書道 (brush-way) he named his art Shodokan 書道館. This is an understandable mistake for us English speakers, but it is absolutely incorrect. That being said calligraphers are often immersed in poetry and multi meanings, and I suppose this could be another layer behind the riddle of naming of the art of Tomiki Sensei.

Connection and Balance Breaking Practice

2012-01-08T19:00:00.001-08:00

Things I learned from Sensei

2012-01-07T09:07:00.000-08:00

The first week into the New Year and my mind has been reflective. I took time to wander the Earth and reconnect with all of the men I consider my teachers and friends on the path of budo.

In Lewisville I saw Waddell Sensei, my teacher over the past 17 years. He had a few guys over at his club and they were hard at work practicing kata and randori. Russell continues to be guiding light in my practice. The lesson I learned by watching Waddell Sensei is a reminder of the power of old friendships.

Then off to Oklahoma I went for the winter training session. Lowry Sensei was a gracious and kind host. A group was in from all over the south to exchange ideas and lay hands on each other. Nick continues to branch out in creative new directions. He also has been carefully analyzing the masters of old and noticing some really interesting aspects and influences of their art. I felt the gem I was looking for in one of his balance breaks that has set me off in a new direction for a while. The lesson I learned by watching Lowry Sensei is that he smiles and laughs constantly. Laughter seems to be the source of his power.

The cadre of teachers such as Greg, Brian, Kyle, John all were a joy to work with and there was a great sense of connection and free sharing of information. The lesson I learned by watching these Sensei is a reminder of the power of new friendships.

Bode Sensei joined us and was a blast. His work continues to be inspiration. He is warm and lights up the dojo with his presence and insights. He took time out of his schedule to connect with me and everyone who wanted learn with him. The lesson I learned from watching Bode Sensei - He cares deeply for the people around him. He tells everyone that is close to them that he loves them - and tells them often. One of my friends commented, "I have never been hugged by a sensei before." Apparently he had never met JW before. In my estimation the source of his power seems to be a deep love for the people in his life.

Back in Austin my group met for our New Year's workout. These are the people I train with and share space with the most. Looking around the room, I saw we have a collection of outstanding artists. Judo, karate, three styles of aikido, taijitsu and aikijujitsu are represented in the players that gather for our group. Although I often lead the exercises, there is no real leader. We are not the old model of martial arts were there is one artist and everyone copies. Everyone is an artist, and my feeble skills are humbled by the insights the artists have that make up our group. The lesson I learned from watching the group at Austin Budokan Aikibudo is that community and sharing defines our path.

Matl Sensei and I spent about 3 hours together a few nights ago. The complexity and simplicity of his art form keeps unfolding every time I spend time with the man. He is a rare genius. Together one year ago we started a new dojo under his guidance. He has shown me that together we can accomplish something I could have never done on my own. Budo is a collaborative process and we stand on each others shoulders to reach higher goals.

Last night I went to train with Hussey Sensei. Artists from clubs all over Austin come to learn and share in this group. Connection. That is what I feel there. Connection with other artists, and connection in the techniques. Hussey was teaching to accept others into your center so a deeper connection can take place. While this teaching was for a martial technique, all this aiki stuff is just analogy for strategies for living. The lesson I learned from watching Hussey Sensei is that connecting with people defines this art form.

This morning I found some biting and hateful comments on my blog from someone who apparently hates me, my art and my way. Apparently the gentlemen believes I am terrible person. The lesson I have learned from this is that this is why I surround myself with people who have trained hatred and venom out of their souls. I simply don't care about rank or ryu. I don't care about history or politics. Ego and power has no place in my way. I don't care about how much a black heart or a broken soul hates me. Indeed my place and path gets strengthened with every attack.

The path that I have learned from my teachers is about friendships, laughter, love, community, sharing, collaboration and connection.

Period.

Nervous System and Balance

2012-01-05T11:32:00.000-08:00

For an martial artist there are many deep wells of study to explore in the art of budo. For me, one of the critical studies has been to understand balance and what causes it, and ultimately what disrupts it. Most balance researchers seem to agree that there are three nervous system inputs that feed information to the brain's balance center. Vision is a major part of balance and it makes up about 40% of the information. The vestibular system contributes about 30%. Proprioception makes up another 30%.

Vision (from LiveStrong)

"Through peripheral and ambient vision, the brain senses the body's movement, orientation in space and relationship to objects in the environment. Vision also detects the stability of a surface or object. For example, seeing a swaying rope bridge causes a different response in the body than seeing a sturdy pillared one. When the eyes focus on a steady object, the vestibular system of the inner ear can orient the head vertically, horizontally and spatially. This helps stabilize the body."

Read more:

Proprioception (from a paper by Eric Pearson)

The nervous system has complex and vital functions. One of these functions is proprioception. Proprioception literally means "one's own perception”, or “sense of self.”. It is the sense of the relative position of one’s own neighboring parts of the body. (Mosby, 1994) Proprioception is the sense through which the body perceives its own motion and also gives the brain information about where parts of the body are located in relation to each other. (Proprioception n.d.) Proprioception provides information to the brain about the body’s movement, pressure, movement, weight acting on the limbs, and limbs’ complex interactions. The brain takes in the proprioceptive information and makes a current map of the body. The body’s self awareness maps derived from this proprioceptive input not only guide body movement, they also help sense the size and shape of objects and measure the shape of space surrounding the body. (Smetacek & Mechsner, 2004) During the learning of any new skill or activity that uses the body it is usually necessary to become familiar with new proprioceptive tasks. (Proprioception n.d.)

The proprioceptive awareness of the orientation of the body comes from sensory receptors in the joints, tendons, and muscles. The sensory receptors are called proprioceptors. Proprioceptors sense the status of physical reactions within the body, such as muscle length, deep pressure, joint angle or tendon tension. Signals from proprioceptors about the body’s condition are sent by nerves through the spinal cord to the brain. The proprioceptors send constant updates to the nervous system’s internal maps of body position. (Smetacek & Mechsner, 2004) Sensory information from proprioceptors, in muscles and tendons are used by the motor system as information to guide gait, postural adjustments and control of movements like walking.

Information from proprioceptors is normally combined with information from the vestibular system and its receptors. The vestibular system senses gravitational acceleration and changes in velocity from movements of the head, visual, auditory, and tactile receptors. Human orientation and coordination is managed and run by three independent sensory systems: proprioception, vision, and the vestibular system. Proprioception is sense of self, and vision gives us information about the world around us. The vestibular system, based in the organs of the inner ear, gives the body a sense balance, momentum, and it aids in guiding the eyes. The signals from these senses are tightly integrated that it is difficult to draw lines at their borders of function or even to separate them.

Vestibular (from Wikipedia)

"The vestibular system, which contributes to balance in most mammals and to the sense of spatial orientation, is the sensory system that provides the leading contribution about movement and sense of balance. Together with the cochlea, a part of the auditory system, it constitutes the labyrinth of the inner ear in most mammals, situated in the vestibulum in the inner ear (Figure 1). As our movements consist of rotations and translations, the vestibular system comprises two components: the semicircular canal system, which indicate rotational movements; and the otoliths, which indicate linear accelerations. The vestibular system sends signals primarily to the neural structures that control our eye movements, and to the muscles that keep us upright . The projections to the former provide the anatomical basis of the vestibulo-ocular reflex, which is required for clear vision; and the projections to the muscles that control our posture are necessary to keep us upright."

Wikipedia

References

Mosby’s Medical (1994) Nursing and Allied Health Dictionary, Fourth Edition, Mosby-Year Book, p. 1285

Proprioception (n.d.) Retrieved from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception

Smetacek and F. Mechsner (2004). Cognitive Science: On Proprioception. Retrieved from http://scienceweek.com/2004/sb041210-6.htm

Why we fall.

2012-01-04T12:04:00.000-08:00

I have been reading up on some kinesiology. I found this paragraph that clearly illustrates a deep area of what we should be studying. How do we stand and why do we fall over?

Full article by Barrett C. Miller

"To stand, walk, or climb without falling, we must maintain our center of mass over and within a base area. When someone is standing erect, the base can be considered the normal footprint. The shape, size, and position of the base changes depending on the pattern of movement and the activity. When walking, we constantly readjust our body segments over our base to maintain stability. The brain, vision, body condition, and the nature of the contact with the surface all contribute to the sensitive balance required to maintain walking stability. If a foot slips or is mispositioned, the center of gravity shifts outside the base area. When this happens, we shift our body parts in an attempt to regain equilibrium. If the center of mass cannot be shifted back over the base area, we fall."

Dragon Calligraphy oracle bone script

2011-12-24T05:46:00.000-08:00

Full article on Wikipedia

From Wikipedia: Oracle bone script (Chinese: 甲骨文; pinyin: jiǎgǔwén; literally "shell bone writing") refers to incised (or, rarely, brush-written[1]) ancient Chinese characters found on oracle bones, which are animal bones or turtle shells used in divination in Bronze Age China. The vast majority[2] record the pyromantic divinations of the royal house of the late Shang dynasty at the capital of Yin (modern Anyang, Henan Province); dating of the Anyang examples of oracle bone script varies from ca. 14th -11th centuries BCE[3][4] to ca. 1200 to ca. 1050 BC.[5][6][7][8] Very few oracle bone writings date to the beginning of the subsequent Zhou Dynasty, because pyromancy fell from favor and divining with milfoil became more common.[9] The late Shang oracle bone writings, along with a few contemporary characters in a different style cast in bronzes, constitute the earliest[10] significant corpus of Chinese writing, which is essential for the study of Chinese etymology, as Shang writing is directly ancestral to the modern Chinese script. It is also the oldest member and ancestor of the Chinese family of scripts.

Here is another large version of the bone oracle script dragon that I did on 3 foot by foot canvas.

Merry Tomiki Day

2011-12-24T05:09:00.000-08:00

As of December 25, it will have been 32 years since the passing of Kenji Tomiki in 1979. Every year here at my blog it has become a tradition to post this as a holiday oriented memory of the man that has touched so many of our lives through his work in education and budo. It intrigues me and makes me wonder the nature of budo to how in such a short time the art he taught and spread and morphed.

according to an aricle by Yoji Kondo

"Tomiki Shihan was planning an Aikido tour of the U. S. in 1978 when he was suddenly hospitalized for an operation. It was kept confidential but he had an intestinal cancer. On Christmas Eve of that year, a choir from a nearby church came to the hospital yard to sing carols for the bed -ridden patients. Master Tomiki appeared to be feeling better as he listened to the choir. Thanks to the dedicated and loving care of Mrs. Tomiki, it looked as though he would see the New Year of 1980. However, he did not live to see the sunrise of December 25; he passed away early that morning."

In memory of Kenji Tomiki on December 25 I would like everyone the take the day off work. Sit around with your family. Exchange a present to represent the present of Aikido and Judo he helped spread. You can put up a tree up in your house because the ki part of TomiKI is the Chinese character for tree 木. Maybe if you are a good little boy or girl Sensei Claus will come down your chimney and throw you like crazy.

Merry Tomiki Day everybody!!! Remember our great teacher. We stand on the shoulders of a giant.

Dragon Calligraphy pt3

2011-12-23T11:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a style of the dragon character that I modeled on one I found in my reisho 隷書 textbook. This style is known for having a strong keystroke in the characters.

Here is a little about the style from wikipedia.

Full article on Wikipedia

The clerical script (simplified Chinese: 隶书; traditional Chinese: 隸書; pinyin: lìshū; Japanese: 隷書体, Reishotai), also formerly chancery script, is an archaic style of Chinese calligraphy which evolved in the Warring States period to the Qin dynasty, was dominant in the Han dynasty, and remained in use through the Wèi-Jìn (晉) periods.[1] Due to its high legibility to modern readers, it is still used for artistic flavor in a variety of functional applications such as headlines, signboards, and advertisements. This legibility stems from the highly rectilinear structure, a feature shared with modern regular script (kaishu). In structure and rectilinearity, it is generally similar to the modern script; however, in contrast with the tall to square modern script, it tends to be square to wide, and often has a pronounced, wavelike flaring of isolated major strokes, especially a dominant rightward or downward diagonal stroke. Some structures are also archaic.

Dragon Calligraphy pt2

2011-12-22T18:04:00.001-08:00

This one is a flowing style. The brush I used was made from Mongolian horse hair. The wild spirit of the Mongol horse helps to capture the movement in this piece. My wife likes this one, but I prefer styles with more structure.

Dragon Calligraphy

2011-12-22T14:32:00.000-08:00

New Years is coming and we will be entering the year of the Dragon.

Here is an interesting and strangely balanced calligraphy piece I wrote. This piece was based off an example that was in a calligrapher's dictionary that my shodo sempai, Mashu, bought for me. It is a variation on the Chinese dragon character. The radical (part) on the right side really conjures the look of the dragon's tail.

Feel free to tell me what you think!

I love teaching

2011-12-21T19:59:00.001-08:00

I love teaching.

I was really blown away in class tonight.

I had an old tough karate guy, an 8th dan judoka, and 4th dan judoka, a 2nd dan Bujinkan student, and a ex-army scout/sniper-now corporate security training in my class tonight. The caliber of work was extremely high level and creative. I am honored beyond belief to have a group of such awesome individuals to play with and foolishly they let me shape the game.

All of these martial artists are skillful beyond me in their specialties. Despite my shortcomings, my ability to run a group shined tonight. I turned on all these varied artists on to novel problems and methods of solving them. I am not so vain to think I can or need to teach these artists technique. But using the Socratic Method the right questions lead the group to their own conclusions.

Tonight's class made me realize that I am now teaching beyond style. The background of all the artists was completely irrelevant. They all could bring all their skills to the table. I am not trying to make anyone practice my style. I am helping all of them refine THEIR style into whatever they want it to be.

I love the martial arts. But now maybe - even deeper than that, I love the art of teaching.

The Concept Of Love In Aikido

2011-12-20T09:07:00.000-08:00

THE CONCEPT OF LOVE IN AIKIDO

In seeking the Truth, both master and disciple must be modest in their Heart and also must love the Truth.

The Way starts from the original precepts set down by the founder and reaches the final goal through the achievement of the successors.

To treat those achievements of the founder as the base and go beyond it:

this is Creation.

To improve upon the achievements of the master and take them to a higher level by disciple's successive works though master's works sometimes being succeeded or denied:

this is Advancement.

Mutual Respect and Love exist here. To respect master and love disciple is no doubt to respect Love and Truth.

KENJI TOMIKI

(Translated by Mr Itsuo Haba)

dang I forgot to post the source to this. When I find it again, I will post it here.

New Martin Wheeler DVD

2011-12-17T10:07:00.001-08:00

Feints In Strategy

2011-12-16T13:35:00.000-08:00

兵者，詭道也 All warfare is based on deception.
-Sun Tzu

Arts that deliver attack (the subject of the post) must develop a methodology to connect the vehicle of energy (body part or weapon)to the opponent. Due to self preservation the opponents do not want to let that happen. Often in order to score a blow against a skilled opponent kuzushi, off balancing, must be performed. The human system of balance operates largely on three functions of the nervous systems; the proprioceptive, the vestibular and the visual systems. You can influence the operation of balance by working against these systems, together or individually.

Feinting is to deceive your opponent by reacting to motion. The reaction is designed to make the opponent shift his defenses, creating momentary opening. It is one of the aspects of disrupting your opponent and causing kuzushi largely through the visual response.

As an aiki artist one can look to the work of the old masters and see the extensive use of atemi as a feint. Ueshiba Sensei used feints as a method to create enough postural disturbance to convince his attackers to fall.

"Feints are not imperative versus an unskilled fighter as against a skilled one. Between two evenly matched fighters the one who is the master of the feint will be the winner."

-Bruce Lee

"Confusing the enemy is achieved by constantly forcing him to redirect his efforts. With proper feints you can get the enemy focused on where the attack will be coming from. Causing confusion in the enemy means making him unable to concentrate on his attack, permitting you to come in with a well executed killing strike."

-Miyamoto Musashi

"Tossing out a brick to get a jade gem" (拋磚引玉／抛砖引玉, Pāo zhuān yǐn yù)

"Disturb the water and catch a fish" (渾水摸魚／浑水摸鱼, Hún shuǐ mō yú)

-from the Thirty-Six Stratagems

Sun Tzu certainly valued deception, surprise, feints and illusion.

"In conflict, straightforward actions generally lead to engagement, surprising actions generally lead to victory."

-Sun Tzu

Feints are "the most important art in boxing"

-Jack Johnson (considered by many to be equally great a Mohammed Ali)

Problems in Aiki - The Attack

2011-12-13T11:33:00.000-08:00

Daito Ryu AikiJujitsu and Aikido have been at the core of my passion for martial arts for a good long time now. After having had trained in these systems for extended periods of time and continually cross trained in other arts, I have found some aspects of traditional training ultimately lacking for my needs as it is typically practiced.

The first and foremost problem I find in the way aiki arts are practiced is that we have ‘dumb’ attackers. Largely as an art form we program our partners to attack in predictable and illogical stylized fashion. On top of that we program them to react in over dramatic and unrealistic responses. Why? So we can make easy and pretty techniques on the attacker. I think many artists just want people to fall down, and not have to do the work of figuring out how to make them fall over.

To have simplified and stylized attacks has educational uses, but it must be seen as a tool to use and discard when the situation is appropriate. Rather than doing endless repetitions with a dumb attacker, it is far more valuable to exercise with an intelligent attacker who has permission to do smart reactions. We want to train the attacker to be doing aiki.

First and foremost as we advance we must make our partners better at attacking. It matters not if they are attacking with strikes, or entering in with throws. The attacks must be realistic and put into combinations. Why is it so rare to see an aiki artist’s deal with combinations of punches from a boxer? Why does the tanto attacker simply stick his knife into the air then cleanly take a fall?

In juggling there is a saying, “if you are not dropping the ball, you are not learning.” I think aiki is the same way, if you find you are being successful at a high ratio, it doesn’t mean to have found Ueshiba’s enlightenment. It might mean it is time to turn your attacker’s difficulty level up from stupid to moderate.

Do you know the craziest thing happens when you turn the attacks up to realistic and you take the time to solve the problems you encounter? You get better.

What are some things do to make our attackers better and more dangerous?

• Learn striking/attack combinations and entries.
• Add feints into the attackers skill sets
• Make sure the attacker is genuinely trying to get his prey.
• Develop the spirit of attack as a legitimate form of aiki practice.
• Give them a training weapon and give them permission to get to work. Most people will be able to bring even a skilled martial artist to a failure point. Then dial it back once you learn the edge educational and failure speed.
• Let them strike even when you are busy clumsily working on a wrist lock.
• As skills develop let the attacker take advantage of errors and create technique himself.
• Let your attacker continue to be dangerous when he is on the ground.
• Practice from less than ideal situations. You are not going to always be at the correct distance or even standing up.
• Learn to do aiki with other parts of your body. It isn’t confined to your hands while you are standing.
• Finally, stop being so damn stylized! Question what you have been taught and shown. Grow and develop. Don’t replace critical thinking and exploration with the idea repetitions of mindless kata will magically make you grow.

More Knife Work

2011-12-10T18:28:00.000-08:00

Hussey Sensei, Scooter and I did some knife randori today. I am enjoying the knife work more and more. It amplifies the problems.

New Kids On the Block

2011-12-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

There is a new Tomiki based blog on the blog-o-sphere. I have been chatting with them and I like them. They have all the attributes I like in an online group. They have a dojo, a blog, film themselves and are open for discussion about their work.

Stop by and say hi.

207Aikido

The Problems Of Aikido pt.1

2011-12-06T08:00:00.001-08:00

As a member of any particular community I feel it serves best to be more critical of one's own group than anyone else's. For example I feel it is far more important, constructive and patriotic to point out problems with my own country, than to mindlessly wave a flag and tow the line.

Over the past few years my practice of aikido has grown tremendously by critically questioning the practices we adopt as aiki artists. I have found over time many of the practices have a limited use, but eventually need to be discarded after the lesson to be learned in digested and generalized.

So here I will start a critical series about the art I love and what I think the problems are of the aikido approach to training as it is generally practiced. I am hoping my readers will participate in this series by weighing in with their opinion.

What problems do you see in the practice?

Thoughts On Uniforms

2011-11-23T10:08:00.000-08:00

I am just dropping this out as a conversation starter.

In my history in the martial arts I have worked out with quite a few groups and people. One of the topics that often comes up is uniform standards. I know a lot of artists get very up tight about this subject. I have felt people giving me the stink eye at seminars because I have a patch which their organization does not, or am not wearing a hakama.

On various aikido websites I have seen teachers discuss strict standards they set for uniforms in the dojo. It makes me often wonder why. The last thing I want to do is baby sit adults or tell other people what they should do. I often wear a uniform, but I often think they are silly.

In any exploration I like to start with words. Let us look at the word uniform.

u·ni·form
adjective
1.identical or consistent, as from example to example, place to place, or moment to moment: uniform spelling; a uniform building code.
2.without variations in detail: uniform output; a uniform surface.
3.constant; unvarying; undeviating: uniform kindness; uniform velocity.

Interesting. I would not use this word to describe any element of aiki practice as I personally see it. Aiki by it's very nature has no uniformity. Techniques are never identical. Consistency is an illusion we build in our communal physical culture by over conditioning partners to move the way our art form demands it.

In the old days people trained in their clothes. Karate men from Okinawa did not wear the white uniforms until the art began being dispersed in Japan. Kung Fu men from the days of old are seen in their street clothes, or their monastic clothing, which is really their daily wear. I have read in the early days in Ueshiba's aiki budo he insisted on hakama, but that was a fairly common piece of clothing, and people often borrowed their father's or grandfathers old formal wear. Strict uniform codes in civilian dojos doesn't seem to me to have ancient roots at all. Of course there is the flip side to this argument is that of course people wore uniforms when they trained in the martial arts, because they were soldiers. The martial arts are the art of war after all. Soldiers of course wear uniforms. A yin yang expression of the martial mind and the personalities that lie within it.

When I look at the modern dojos I see a lot of the character of the art they are forming by the way they wear their uniforms. If they have a strict uniform code they often have a military feel to the dojo. From my experience most of these dojos rank is followed and a strict curriculum is taught. Conformity is valued over creativity. Following example is valued over innovation. The martial form is to be learned by following and through example. Rank earned in other arts is not valued because it does not come from the dojos structure. Ritual tends to be enforced, even if it is exotic and from other cultures standards. The attacks are stylized, as well as the responses. Even randori, or free play, will have a lot of rules and be stylized.

After thinking about it for a while it struck my that often in groups that do have a uniform, the leader breaks the uniform code by wearing something different. Kano and Ueshiba Sensei both often are seen in demonstrations wearing clothing that no other person in their art seems permitted to wear. It strikes me as strange, what is good for the group doesn't apply to the head. There is something interesting to learn in that.

When I look at dojos with looser uniform I tend to see the opposite mentality of the players involved. Ritual breaks down into conversation. Senior/junior relationships come more from mutual understanding than from a system. Drills are often novel and may include influences from several styles. Creative novel movement is rewarded as long as it effective. The parameters of style of more for safety rather than passing on a perfect copy of an idea. Drills and exercises are preferred to precise kata work. Often there will be multiple instructors rather than a center standard of knowledge.

I am sure most dojos fall in between these two ideas I have laid out. I don't really care how you run your group or your school. For me though, I find telling adults how they must dress to be distasteful. I don't want you for your dress code, I want people to join our training for the shared experience of movement.

I am sure all educational models have their uses. Personal taste and artistry come into play. We have made our personal choice how to approach it as a group. Our group doesn't really have a uniform code. Most of us sport the judo jackets and the colored belts. I usually wear a rope with a kendo gi, because I find it fits nicer. Some of our members like t-shirts. One of our group doesn't like uniforms and doesn't wear it. I only ask everyone eventually get a white uniform for seminars if we travel to them, so we don't blunder through everyone else's game too much. I personally respect the color of belt anyone has earned in any school. I find the people that can move wear their belts, The people that have forgotten or never went high in the other art choose to start with white. Many teachers try to control the group with rules, I personally prefer to let people control themselves. For me, and my path it feels more like the free motion that is supposed to be aiki.

Whenever the topic of uniforms comes up, I like to pull out this classic film.

Our current knife practice

2011-11-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

At the Austin Budokan we are hard at work putting together a knife defense practice. It is still not where I want it to be, but we have made leaps and bounds advancing forward. We have graduated from suckitude to mediocrity. Tonight we were practicing our strips and keeping the flow with a partner that is a medium level pain in the butt. Watching the practice is kind of weird because the knife quickly bounces back and forth between the partners.

I wish I would have kept recording, because about a half hour later we hit some really nice stuff.

Teaching Japanese Calligraphy to the Blind.

2011-11-14T11:49:00.001-08:00

I have a deep respect for Asian culture and a passion for calligraphy from China and Japan. I am teacher of students with blindness and visual impairments. In order to share my interest in Japanese and Chinese calligraphy I have started a collection of tactile kanji. I photocopied calligraphy pieces onto a special piece of paper. After exposing it to heat, any part of the paper that is black puffs up and becomes different from the background. It looks neat too.

I started the project by showing the students s variety of pieces I found on the internet or wrote myself. I gave a brief background on Chinese writing. We took some time looking at and feeling the brushes, ink and ink stone. It got a tad messy.

After showing the students how to use a brush we traced the tactile calligraphy with a brush with no ink on it so they could feel how the bristles and brush moves on the paper.

I had some visitors from Japan, who were in to visit my art program. I had the Japanese teachers work with the students and help them write their names. The problem when doing art like this with a student with no vision is they cannot appreciate the end result. (I cut off the student's faces from the picture to protect their privacy.)

So we brought our calligraphy names to the library at our school. I had the students photocopy their name calligraphy onto the puff (piaf) paper. I also added black dots in braille onto the sheet with the students names. Then they lined up and fed their calligraphy through the machine. They all shouted Abracadabra as we did it, because this is where the magic happened.

Puff Paper Machine

Instantly after running the paper through the machine the black parts puff right up. They could now feel the calligraphy and the braille dots now.

Is it perfect? Will a blind student really understand the beauty and finesse of calligraphy? I don't know. Despite the difficulties I will try exposing my students to as much of the beauty that is in the world as I can. I just have to think outside the box and try showing them in different ways.

An interesting knife video

2011-11-11T16:33:00.000-08:00

In the aikido community Systema has gained a lot of respect in the past decade. In this video the head of Systema is showing some interesting knife work. I like it.

Tactile Japanese Calligraphy for the Blind

2011-11-07T13:42:00.001-08:00

Bio Mechanics of Tripping and Recovery

2011-11-05T13:38:00.001-07:00

Everyone was practices throwing or balance breaking should know this information on bio mechanics. I have long been searching for information like this. This is quite an interesting find.

Kano on Judo

2011-11-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

"I have been asked by people of various sections as to the wisdom and the possibility of Judo being introduced at the Olympic Games. My view on the matter, at present, is rather passive. If it be the desire of other member countries, I have no objection. But I do ...not feel inclined to take any initiative. For one thing, Judo in reality is not a mere sport or game. I regard it as a principle of life, art and science. In fact, it is a means for personal cultural attainment. Only one of the forms of Judo training, the so-called randori can be classed as a form of sport... [In addition, the] Olympic Games are so strongly flavored with nationalism that it is possible to be influenced by it and to develop Contest Judo as a retrograde form as Jujitsu was before the Kodokan was founded. Judo should be as free as art and science from external influences – political, national, racial, financial or any other organized interest. And all things connected with it should be directed to its ultimate object, the benefit of humanity."

-Jigoro Kano

Silat 2 man knife attacker drills

2011-10-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

I always learn something when I watch drills from this system of silat. They are always interesting and creative.

Ueshiba Ukemi

2011-10-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

I have long been disappointed that I have not seen any pictures or film of Ueshiba Sensei taking a fall and practicing ukemi. I had come to the conclusion that it was not much part of his practice. Finally I found a film, and took a still of it, of Ueshiba taking a fall for a boy practicing with him. I am still not convinced he took a lot of ukemi in his later years, but at least we see him doing it once.

Here is the film it came from. This still was taken at 7:13 in the video.

Tiger 虎氣 Calligraphy

2011-10-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

Black Widow

2011-10-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

It has been 4 weeks since the shoulder injury. Motion is back, but working out is still not a good idea. I have been playing around with the brush and magic again to get me through the injured time till I can hit the mat again. Doc says it might be as long as a year before everything is working right again.

I choose the Black Widow as a subject because, to me, they look the most like calligraphy of any creature. Yoshimitsu, the mythic founder of the aiki concept, learned his understanding of jujutsu from nature. He noticed that a spider making its web could catch its prey that was bigger than the spider itself. This gave him the idea that the small could defeat the large.

Etymology and Calligraphy for 合in Aikido 合気道

2011-10-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

Regular/Stiff Form script (Chinese: 楷書; 7th century)

et·y·mol·o·gy

1.the derivation of a word. Synonyms: word origin, word source, derivation, origin.
2.a chronological account of the birth and development of a particular word or element of a word, often delineating its spread from one language to another and its evolving changes in form and meaning. Synonyms: word history, word lore, historical development.
3.the study of historical linguistic change, especially as manifested in individual words.

Seal script (Chinese: 篆書)

Modern stiff form stroke order

The character 合 originally comes from from the Chinese mainland, and was much later adopted into Japanese (maybe 1500-1900 years ago.) Pictographically 合 is an inverted mouth 亼 talking to another mouth 口.

Let's start by taking a look at the pieces of the character.

An important radical (part) of this character is a the symbol for mouth/opening.

Oracle bone script (Chinese: 甲骨文;) from 14th -11th centuries BCE.

The meaning of 口 - the mouth / a person / a certain article ( as a cistern, a big jar, etc. ) / the edge or blade of a knife / an opening / a gate ( especially in the Great Wall or city walls ) / a crack

Now let's take a look at the second radical. 亼 - In most contexts represents an upside down mouth - a mouth talking to you. Another meaning of 亼 - to assemble. to gather together

Oracle bone script

In Chinese 合

to combine / to unite / to gather / to collect / to close / to shut / to suit

合 in Cursive/Grass script (Chinese: 草書)

In Japanese 合

fit / match / suit / join / combine / unite / coincide / agree

Clerical Script (Chinese: 隸書 Japanese: 隷書体, Reishotai)

Aiki 合気 defined

2011-10-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

Defining the martial arts term aiki 合気 is a tricky venture. In fact I will venture to say defining aiki is absurd. It is undefinable, but the journey of defining it IS the path and practice. It is my belief that essentially it is a word like 'magic' with multiple meanings, or even no real meaning. It is a word an artist adopts and spends their entire life rethinking the meaning of over and over.

First lets take a look at some common translation errors. Often 合気 is translated as harmony-spirit. Some translators have even called aikido the art of peace, again a poetic, but non literal translation. This character 和 means peace/harmony not 合.

'Ai' 愛 in Japanese is love, so again it is a common incorrect translation to call aikido the art of love. Aikido uses this 'ai' 合, not this one 愛.

合 - to fit

In our quest to understand this elusive term, let us look at the literal translation of 合. In most dictionaries the definition of 合 - to fit. To fit. I like that. It makes a lot of sense really. I can see how many translators want to layer their own poetry onto the definition, but I think 'to fit' works great.

That being said, kanji are quite complex, so sometimes other words are associated to make the meaning clearer.

合 fit, match, suit, join, combine, unite, coincide, agree

気 - atmosphere, spirit, will, intention

Now let us look at the second charecter in 合気 aiki, the 気. Spirit is a fair literal translation. But the BIG problem is that even in our native tongue of English this is not a clearly understood word. In Japanese there are a handful of characters meaning spirit. Let's look at the other characters so we can determine what spirit ki 気 is not.

精 - a spirit,a soul,energy,vigor,
霊 - the ghost, the departed soul, the soul, the spirit
魂 - a soul, a spirit, a ghost

So 気 is not soul kind of spirit. It is something different, really.

気 air, atmosphere, spirit, mind, heart, will, intention, feelings, a mood, nature, a disposition, attention, care, a sign

I suppose we could take a word from the first character translation and combine it with the second to begin to construct our own personal poetic translations.

合 fit, match, suit, join, combine, unite, coincide, agree
気 air, atmosphere, spirit, mind, heart, will, intention, feelings, a mood, nature, a disposition, attention, care, a sign

合気 is fit/mind, match/disposition, join/nature, unite/mind, fit/spirit

While hopefully the word soup gets us thinking about aiki in new and different ways, that fact is as artists we all begin to come to a personal understanding of what aiki is and what it isn't. Over the years I have heard many people give personal definitions of it and I would like to start collecting them here as the years progress. Following I will list personal definitions I have heard, or that readers submit.

合気 is

1. Accommodation to circumstance
2. Instant victory
3. Instantly penetrating the spirit of the opponent
4. Nonviolent action
5. Movement that is invisible to the tactile senses of the opponent
6. Teaching lineage from Takeda and Ueshiba
7. Fitting to energy
8. Sagawa reports that AIKI was defined by Takeda as a specific technique that could be taught quickly, therefore he was very careful about whom he showed it to.
9. Finding the fit
10. Confluence
11. Synergy
12. The skill of unifying yourself internally , both mentally and physically, as well as externally with space and change(opponent and with environment.)

What is yours?

As a final interesting note, Aiki 噫気 means burp.

The Myth of Invulnerability

2011-10-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

As a young child I stared at the silver screen in fascination of the Hollywood martial arts. The young, strong and muscled characters could dispatch a legion of people who stood in their way on their quest for righting wrongs and fighting evil. They gained their miraculous powers through the study of the martial arts - a form of magic it seemed. I think Hollywood advertises for the martial arts more than anything else. The message they sell on the behalf of martial artists is the myth of invulnerability. The martial path is a path of ultimate power - preserving one's own life and dispatching the life of another.

As I grew into my life in the martial arts, more legends were handed to me. I learned of the great teachers such as Ueshiba of aikido, Mifune of judo. A devoted cult of the faithful rise to support the exploits and legends of the greats. Here we go beyond Hollywood. Now we find the real men who were supposedly invulnerable. The stories of the great masters whose pictures are on the wall seem more credible to the young artist as now I found living proof. I found a man called sensei who had hints of these powers. He told stories of the greatness and invulnerability of the men he has met. Sensei assured that the masters before him out shined even the greatness of his own understanding. As I have grown I look back and see that these great men were no more invulnerable than anyone else. Now they are cloaked in myth, and their exploits border on legend and fact. The quest for invulnerability continued on.

Years of training turn into decades. But I look at myself and I find myself no closer to any form of invulnerability. My body still breaks, and I still feel fear. My maturity erases the the foolishness of youth. The myths a young man learns about the arts is the opposite to the martial reality. The martial path is NOT path of ultimate power, and no form of invulnerability is obtained. While yes, skills are developed, the deeper lesson that emerges from our training is our ultimate vulnerability. The myth was given to us only as a something to eventually disprove.

In opposition to the modern movies about the martial heroes, the writing and stories that came from the samurai shows a different view of the martial path. Typically the old stories of the samurai end in failure and tragic death. The hero fails and there is no happy ending. It seems to me that the traditional tales do not prop up the myth of invulnerability. Instead the old tales remind us that even though we walk the martial path there is only one destination and that is our ultimate mortality. Invulnerability is a myth. Accepting our vulnerabilities is truly one the deeper lessons we learn from the martial path.

Saturday Shiai

2011-09-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday I got invited to join an informal judo tournament between the major Austin clubs. Most were from Kokoro dojo's team, there was a judo/BJJ guy and a few from the old Round Rock martial arts.

My first three matches were uneventful. It ended being the mutual fall over to ground work sort of affair. I controlled my opponents fairly quickly. I scored an arm bar, pin and a choke.

The fourth match was with the BJJ/Judo guy. He was young and strong. He felt like a statue of rigidity. I slipped on a lovely standing choke and his face went purple. It took him about all he had, but he got out at the last second ad commented that he had never felt that before. After some balance breaking back and forth I drove him into the ground, and we entered the briefest ground work session I have ever been part of. He snapped in a arm bar that was pure art. It is lovely experiencing technique that clean. Hats off. It never bothers me losing to good technique.

The fifth match I found myself outclassed. He moved in a beautiful entry and lifted me off the ground. Sadly as I came down all of my weight was driven into my shoulder. I felt the snap. Shoulder separated. Damn.

No training for at least 2 months. Likely I am going to be feeling it for far longer. I have been on an odd emotional ride, knowledge that I will not be training along with sleepless nights have me feeling a tad off. I might not be able to take my braille final that I have been studying for since June.

But I am open to the new lessons. Time to learn to use my left hand. Time to see what life is like as a non-martial artist is like. A different path opens up as another one closes. Adventure ahead!

Kung fu lives in how we treat people

2011-09-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

The one gem of knowledge that came through in Jackie Chan's version of Karate Kid is found in the line "Kung fu lives in how we treat people." Good stuff.

I first joined the martial path as an 11 year old. I was tormented at school by a pack of bullies. Bullies by their very nature have power and use it to oppress and attack the weak and defenseless. I was an innocent child with no fighting spirit. I simply had no anger, I had no desire to hurt another. All I felt was fear. I was a punching bag for the other kids. Children outside the gaze of authority can be every bit as cruel as adults, maybe worse.

The past year has seen an interesting rise in aggressors in my life, from people who have never met me. I have weathered a storm storm of insults. But I am not the innocent child who will live in fear. My thoughts will not be hidden away. I have a voice and I have opinion. Despite how I am treated I will always treat everyone with courtesy and respect.

Following is an clip verse 27 from the Tao that has greatly influenced the way I interact with my fellow man.

Thus the Master is available to all people
and doesn't reject anyone.
He is ready to use all situations
and doesn't waste anything.
This is called embodying the light.

What is a good man but a bad man's teacher?
What is a bad man but a good man's job?
If you don't understand this, you will get lost,
however intelligent you are.
It is the great secret.

So despite being treated poorly, why would I not attack back? Like the 11 year old self I have no desire to harm another. Further I have no desire to waste my energy on people who treat me poorly. After a lifetime of experience I am not that defenseless 11 year old any longer. I have no need to feel fear. I will not be bullied again.

Jackie reminded us in his movie, kung fu lives in how we treat people. I choose to have good kung fu. I choose to treat people well. I choose to have positive kung fu where the world is full of friends, not enemies. I choose not to engage in battles where there is no positive outcome. My kung fu is to help protect the defenseless and never to attack and insult another. I choose to have a kung fu of creation and protection, not destruction.

A Pink Sticker

2011-09-10T16:16:00.001-07:00

I first wrote this on Thursday September 13, 2001

When I was 17 I used to borrow my mother's car. It was a 1986 Ford Taurus with a big pink sticker on the back that said "visualize world peace." To my 17 year old world nothing was cool about it. I used to carefully peel off the sticker from the bumper and attach it to the dashboard. I did not want anyone catching me driving around with such a lame sticker on the back of an already lame car.

In college I studied forensic anthropology under the professor that worked both the Oklahoma City bombing and the Branch Dividian fire. He said that whenever he worked a case the blood and bodies would never affect him. He could work on the body of a child that had been crushed by a bus and he would be OK. However, when he saw the crushed frame of a bicycle he would burst into tears.

Terrible things are unfolding in the world right now. I have been watching the news with shock and disbelief with the rest of the world. The images of planes and burning buildings are haunting. But when I watched it I was OK. Then on the news they showed a scene from Palestine. Old women were dancing and celebrating in the streets because they had heard the news of the attack.

I openly wept.

I wept for these people so full of anger and pain they relish in the misery and destruction of others. I wept because because this is the cause of the tragedies that humans purposefully inflict on one another. I wept because they are lost children. I wept because the this joy they felt was the reason so many others were hurting.

When a society makes enemies with another society an interesting process called dehumanization starts. Basically one group transforms the other group in their minds. They demonize them or make them less than human. During World War 2 the allies painted the Japanese as robots. The Japanese believed the Americans to be demons. The Nazis likened the Jews to a disease. This happens in every war.

It deeply saddens me to see another society viewing mine as demons.

Dehumanization happens because it is easy to kill a robot, demon, zealot, or animal. It is not easy to kill a human of equal value.

In the Tao De Jing:

"When it comes time to pick up the weapons of war, one should do so with a heavy heart."

...and so the kharmic wheel turns and the old hate creates new. Many people have died and many more will. The weapons of war are being readied, hopefully with the most heavy of hearts. I see the things that must be done, but I pray I never see in the streets of America what I saw in those streets of Palestine - celebration of the misery of others.

Now I wish to God I had never taken that sticker off my mother's car that said "Visualize World Peace." I don't just visualize it. I pray for it, I scream to the heavens for it. I feel a great sadness in its eternal absence. Maybe world peace is an impossible dream, but if we don't visualize it we never stand a chance of even tasting it.

Visualize World Peace

Walk In Peace

I wear a rope

2011-09-09T01:32:00.000-07:00

Although I had announced it several weeks ago on facebook, I had not gotten around to talking about it on the blog. Looking around the martial arts world I have become tired of people's politics over belts. It really is a silly game. The politics are not even my own, nor concern me, but I see how they make people all goofy. I decided to shed the politics of rank on the mat - I now wear a rope. Actually I wore no belt for a while, but people got tired of seeing my belly. So a rope it is, unless the gi covers my flab. Here is a photo of me at a workshop last weekend among judo, aikijujitsu and aikido practitioners. I am the ugly guy in the middle wearing a rope. My gi had just been torn off and shredded by the old guy to my left so I had to grab my old kendo one from the back room.

Why do I wear a rope? I give everyone who shares the mat with me the right to grade my according to whatever system they see fitting. While many teachers have granted me rank in the past few decades, that is between me and them. I don't expect anyone else to respect or care about that. I invite you to grade me according to your own system as we play. I have no intention of lording rank over you, that you probably don't respect anyhow. If I have something to offer I will teach. I you have something to offer I will listen. Likely I will listen even if you don't think you have anything to offer. I am done with the politics game, let's hit the mat.

In other news, and timely with my disgust in rank issues, Bullshido has gotten around to giving me the stink eye. I invite any of my readers to join in the fun and flogging me. I believe it is under the thread labeled - So American Judo doesn't totally fellate equine genitalia. I believe I was used as a counter argument to that thesis. I have little ego in the game, so have at it kids. I would especially like the guys who I work out with to take a look, as the fighters at Bullshido seem to have a serious problem with our methods. Listen to the criticisms and take a serious look at your training. Get a new workout group if you have questions about your training at all.

Patrick Parker sent me the following cartoon.

Flaming Jian 火劍

2011-08-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

Dr. Green stopped by this weekend and dosed with with some traditional Chinese medicine and internal arts. He introduced me to a Chinese weapon I had never seen. It is the straight sword with a flail off the handle. I found it impossible to use. Of course, he lit his on fire to increase the awesome factor of this difficult weapon.

That Guy

2011-08-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

Just back from the seminar in Seattle and Lowry Sensei and I had an interesting discussion about the interesting little egos battles you find on the mat at the big seminars. Of course in every seminar you find 'that guy' who simply doesn't want to play nice. That guy actively seeks to not let you work out in any way. That guy tends to be a brown belt, who knows just enough to have ego, but not enough to do the techniques correctly himself. This last seminar I went to was stocked with that guy.

I felt that guy wanting to ego battle me. I tried to diffuse him, "hey brother I am just learning this stuff, can we go slow and relaxed so I can feel it?"

That guy wanted to teach me a lesson. He resisted and flexed all he could, simply making the technique we were working on impossible.

I take a nice fall for him when he is ready.

"Hey you know you are resisting this motion, but it is just putting you into this I throw" (That guy falls over, upset that I changed the parameters to another throw)

I take a nice fall for him when he is ready.

Next round that guy is more ramped up. He is in shiai (fight mode) now That guy is determined not to be thrown. That guy resists my technique with all his might, but falls over to a foot sweep. He is frustrated that I am an aiki cheater. Yes I am.

I take a nice fall for him when he is ready.

Now he is ready this time. fight fight fight. I loop around behind him and put my fingers in his nose and guide him to the ground. I can be a real sonovabitch when you want to play like that. It was gentle but invasive.

I take a nice fall for him when he is ready.

After Sensei calls a halt, I look at that guy and thank him for giving me such hard puzzles to solve and tell him I loved working out with him. He seems confused that I am genuinely warm towards him.

Funny thing, the next lady I played with was a joy to touch, and we laughed the whole time. Oh ...that guy, you make training so hard on yourself.

Thanks That Guy for playing. Anytime you want to prove to me that I can't do that throw, please let me know! I know plenty more that will work instead.

Spooky Stuff

2011-08-24T19:14:00.000-07:00

My skills have amplified. No seriously. Some things from the seminar stuck, and my own experiments have yielded some killer results. I have have leveled up this week.

Tips that pushed me over the edge this week.

Absolutely no fear of falling, not clinging to the need to stand - any tension to fight to stand is a failure to do aiki
no thought of techniques
No tension in arm
connection
Breathing to create relaxation and weight drop
connection
deeper levels of dynamic relaxation
Circling around still point, or flanking the opponents attack in a neutral pivot point
Moving where I am told, then moving to places of freedom
Pulsing energy - use power to create connection, then drop power to zero creating a void
Entry focused on moving my hips into my partners structure
connection
Emotional intention dramatically affects results
becoming heavy and exhaling into the triangulation point
Never trying to throw or move my opponent - I only connect and move myself

Simply do all these at once and you too can create Aiki magic!

The Aiki Multi-Discipline Seminar Seattle 2011-2012

2011-08-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

A special event inspired by the successes of the Aiki Expo a decade ago was held on the weekend of August 19-21 2011. Many teachers and students of a variety of differing arts came together from across the united States to share and compare ideas.

George Ledyard was the man who I believed organized the event. His is a sixth dan in his organization, but I believe he shows talent and insight even above this rank level. I first heard of him when Nick Lowry sent me a few of his DVDs on Kaeshi Waza and Connection. Both DVDs are excellent and helped reframe the problems in Aikido. He touched on both of these issues at the seminar as well. I got to get my hands on him a few times and he masterfully controlled my balance and structure. He lessons on preconnection intention and irimi will take me a long time to truly understand, but rest assured there is truth in his practice. He was also very critical of the way most schools of Aikido train their uke’s to attack. I agree with his ideas on this front too. Thank you Ledyard Sensei for putting this valuable training together. I will defiantly support this man’s work in the future.

Kimberly Richardson played host to the event at her dojo Two Cranes Aikido in Seattle, Washington. The dojo was a sculpture of the Aikido aesthetic. The people who built this dojo and train there should be proud of their accomplishment. Richardson Sensei was the unexpected surprise of the event for me. I have never seen a powerful female teacher in martial arts. She filled the room with her presence. She moved like effortlessly on the mat like a ballroom dancer. She moved so well I started questioning the ukes in her demonstration, because they were being easy on her. I am pretty sure she read my doubts and grabbed me and started moving me around the mat in a way I have never felt before. Her explanations of her thoughts were on a different realm of any teacher I have heard. I told her I really liked her and that I didn’t understand a thing she was saying – BUT I want to understand. I plan on making contact with her regularly so she might push me in unexpected directions. She was awesome.

George Popkin was almost exactly the opposite personality from Richardson Sensei. Popkin Sensei is a fireplug of a man, with a thick New York accent. He moved in the tell tale signature of some of the lineages of Daito Ryu. I enjoyed his work, and I really think many of my friends in the arts would really dig this guy and his work. One of my regrets was that I did not get to connect with him, as I would like to have had some of the deeper Daito Ryu conversations with him. I hope to see more of him in the future.

Systema, one of my new favorite martial arts was represented by a teacher named Kaizen. He took us through a series of yoga-like breathing, stretching and relaxation drills. I will admit at the time I did not really enjoy these segments as much as some of the other teachers, but already I have found myself thinking about the drills many times since I got home. Perhaps the lessons will be slower to unfold in my practice, but they have merit.

Toby Threadgill is someone I have been looking forward to meeting for a while. He was a pleasant and humorous teacher. He emphasized the still point, but I forgot the word he used for it. He also emphasized the importance of relaxation. I enjoyed his work.

Nick Ushin Lowry was not a featured teacher, but he is one of my artistic influences, and good friends. Besides bringing me to the event, he showed me some tastes of the things he is working on. Good creative stuff. I learned many lessons in our few days exploring and training together. I am always grateful for his company while walking down the path of budo.

The Enso Center hosted Nic, my traveling partner, and me in their home. They are amazing people. If you live in the Redmond/Seattle area you should drop by and train with the 4 generations of martial artists training in one dojo. They were some of the kindest, generous and devoted artists I have met in a long time. There dojo was magnificent on a scale that makes most of us humble dojo owners feel impotent. It is a temple to the martial practice, and to education process itself. I fell in love with the Mix family and I plan on getting back up to the Enso Center as often as I can.

It was a great time, with great friends, in a great part of the world. The teachers guiding our experience were all wonderful, and all the participants were a blast to get to know. About 20 percent of the people could have been one the featured instructors in their own right. My only small disappointment of the event is that the featured instructors often sat on the side talking and joking when it was not their turn to teach. I found this disappointing because I traveled to work out with these folks and to watch them try to solve the puzzles that the other teachers offered. I would have preferred to have had to chance to play with them all, even if we were practicing something that was outside their comfort zone.

Bruce Lee's Grave

2011-08-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

When I was 19 I went through my Bruce Lee phase. I was determined that if I ever went to Seattle I would visit the humble shrine to his mortal shell. It took a few years, but with the help of Nick Ushin Lowry's Zen magic, and Jason Mix's knowledge of Seattle - the mission was accomplished

Myth - why people flip from kote gaeshi

2011-08-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

Kote Gaeshi, the wrist return is a classical aiki throwing form. The physics of it seems irrational to the new student. How could a person be thrown from a wrist connection into a head over heels flip?

The answer that is given by many Aiki teachers is

"People have to take the fall to avoid having their wrist broken."

In my humble opinion training with this view on the mechanics is a huge heap of manure. What they are really saying is, "I have not figured out the mechanics of the throw yet, so I conditioned this guy to jump over for me."

To be a real and effective technique kotegaeshi must affect uke's center, distort their structure and break balance. Any pain on the wrist comes from stylistic temperament and ethics, improper use of power, or flawed application of mechanics.

Application of the lock should transmit energy through uke's elbow, shoulder, and torso. Kote gaeshi is not a wrist break, it is a connection from one center of balance to another's. Pure and simply it is connection. The best artists can do this technique without any pain, and virtually no detectable pressure for the proprioceptive nervous system of uke to register. This, in my opinion should be the highest goal of all artists: no pain, minimal pressure.

So why do people flip out of the technique?

Simple answer is because they were told to. For the vast majority of kote gaeshi throws actually an easy back fall would suffice. In the past five years I have only been forced to choose a flipping break fall maybe twice. Sure I bet someone out there can really nail it, but for the several hundred thousand of other practitioners, we are playing make believe when we take these throws. Yes there is collusion in the way aikido is often practiced. It is ok, as long as you recognize it, admit it and are using it as a tool to get to the next level.

A few years ago I was at a dojo and a man was fervently arguing that a flip was the only proper and safe way to get out of kote gaeshi. He was upset that I could always take a easy back fall out of the technique. "Really? Ok I will tell you what, I will throw you ten times as hard as I can and you have to take the flip, and you can throw me ten times as hard as you can, and I will back fall. That way we can see which method of ukemi is superior" He agreed. I bowed off the mat, put on some slippers and walked outside into the parking lot. "Where are you going?" the man asked. I responded "We are doing it out here on the concrete." I casually kicked some broken glass, and sharp rocks out of the way as he declined the invitation to demonstrate the superiority of his technique in non ideal conditions.

Sure I know, your Sensei could throw me and make me flip. I know, I know. There are many circumstances were this condition happens, but the flipping ukemi is one possible falling reaction, not the rule.

So why do most aikidoka flip out of kote gaeshi? I believe it is the collusion that flaws much of our practice. There are artists that can make it happen, yes. So we, the humble students, try to copy the example without understanding the mechanics. We have to justify the flipping action great sensei got that alludes us so we rationalize an excuse. We tell people they better flip or their wrists will break, and we perpetuate a false myth about the practice. We then practice aikido that looks like the way the high level teachers do it, but it is a pale imitation. The collusion kote gaeshi techniques are a mere phantasm of aiki. They are a faux reflection lacking the substance and mechanics of a martially valid expression of principle.

You can probably write a book about what happens to a person going through a masterful kote gaeshi. "Flipping out to avoid the wrist breaking" would not be in it.

Merritt Stevens Video

2011-08-14T16:29:00.000-07:00

Meritt Stevens was one of the guys to bring Tomiki aikido to the USA.
A film has just been digitized of him teaching. This is another Tomiki lineage treasure to surface on YouTube. He brought the practice to Ohio and it spread. Ohio is one of the focal points of Tomiki aikido in the USA because of his work. The only two states with more Tomiki based dojos are Oklahoma and Texas.

This film was made in 1983.

no reload knife throwing

2011-08-05T07:32:00.001-07:00

I enjoy knife throwing. 15 years ago I was quite good at it.

What this guy demos here is pretty insane. as the video progresses he gets both knives to hit at once, then the second knife strikes before the first. Neat stuff. He has a cool target too.

Headlocks for Throws

2011-08-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

I have been having a conversation about headlocks on Rum Soaked fist the Chinese internal arts forum. Apparently a lot of artists don't use it, so I was exploring it.

Questions posed by member JohnWang

- How to break (or take advantage on) his strong body structure/alignment?
- How to take advantage on his waist wrapping arm?
- How to destroy his balanced horse stance?

My findings

- How to break (or take advantage on) his strong body structure/alignment?

I assume we are talking about when the opponent is standing before we lock happens. I used the model of head misalignment and spinal rotation. The entry into the head control rolls the head around, and I scoop the head to my shoulder, so it is connected to me. This moves the head away from its normal position on both the X and Y axis. Matl Sensei demonstrates this well. Now the opponents head is connected to my body as I rotate my body the opponents head-spine-hips are all misaligned robbing him of virtually all power.

The only problems I sometimes faced was the entry as my partners knew what I was shooting for. I found as long as I had a grip on their sleeve with my non head locking hand, I could manipulate their shoulders as I entered reinforcing and causing more structural distortion in my opponent.

- How to take advantage on his waist wrapping arm?

I did not find that is was a big issue - at least with the players I was with tonight. (of course there is always someone better out there) If the above step was done correctly. The two problems we found, was if you did not distort the posture correctly you found yourself in position for counter Tani Otoshi (valley drop) throw. If the head lock was performed well this was not an option, as the spine was too distorted to generate the counter.

The other issue I found once my partners saw what I was trying to work on, they predicted the entry and pushed away my hips with the "waist wrapping hand". This was difficult for them to do, but the times they were successful it propelled me into an outside reap or drop (osoto gari or osoto otoshi) yes it negated the headlock entry, but it fell well within the chain of renzaku (continuous attacks based of partners reactions)

As to issues of the kidney punch. With the twisted head a spine my partners could deliver virtually no energy.

- How to destroy his balanced horse stance?

I found this one was the easiest. Our conclusion - there is no balanced horse stance in a grappling situation if you are with people who understand triangulation and center drop who is holding a person with a misaligned head and twisted spine. Once the head lock (head misalignment and spinal twist) was in place the two partners have a shared center of balance. We were connected. If I moved my hips just a half inch it rocked my partners balance to his heels. Stepping through him caused structural collapse. Stepping behind either of his feet caused either a reap, or a trip with center drop. Stepping forward was a ashi guruma throw. Stepping to the sides caused versions of Tai Otoshi. As long as the head a spine misalignment happened at the first stages - you were pretty golden. When it didn't happen I had to go into a barrage of foot sweeps to make up for the mistake.

Conclusion

I am higher ranked in aikido than judo, so I prefer to deal with the problem before it gets to tight grappling and wrestling. If typical aiki strategies fail and the opponent gets close enough, moving in with the hips and feet are the way to go. Judo time! To insure the hip and foot attacks will be successful the structure of the person has to be broken. We have to bend the spine somehow. Controlling the head seems to be a good option. While there are problems and counters, it is the skill and talents of both participants that will shape the unknown future into a technique or failure. I personally will keep the headlock in my arsenal of tools to train with. A perfect tool, no - but in martial arts I haven't found one yet.

My recommendation is to train longer and be more skilled than your opponents.

The elements I felt tonight (but may change on my next practice)

Head control

1. the opponents head must be taken off its alignment in at least two dimensions
2. the opponents head should be embraced to your own body

Spine control
3. The head now off alignment and attached to another center. Now the body adjusts to continue the spinal twisting in the opponent, effectively robbing them of power and options.

Foundation Control - attack with the hips and feet.
4. Now that the two people's structured are attached and the opponents structure has been crumbled - there is an endless variety of angles to drop center, reap feet, trap feet preventing recovery. In my techniques the majority of opponents stance crumbling at this comes from hips moving in, or my opponents feet being moved by my reaps.

The most effective head locks I have thus far made seem to start with the head, move down the spine, affect the hips and then feet - then the whole structure comes crumbling down.

Impressive Move

2011-08-01T22:51:00.000-07:00

Here we see a fascinating conflict. A lady gets harassed on a train, and a really interesting move happens that totally breaks the spirit of the attacker. A lot to ponder here really.

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Homemade Training Dummy

2011-07-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

Look at the above picture. Ip Man is way cool. What do those Chinese artists have that I don't have?

Cool uniforms?...no I got them. Plus I have magician clothes.

Styles based on the animals?...no my wife says I have perfected Drunken Ass.

I know, the cool wooden dummy.

Wooden dummies are just plain neat. I have wanted one since I was 14. I got to play around on one when I was a Wing Chun student, but really I have not had the time to trance out on one.

A few years ago it occurred to me that I was never going to shell out the money to buy one. The traditional dummies do not move in a way that would be helpful to my current martial training anyways. Then a spark of inspiration hit. I have so much crap in the garage. I bet there is a training dummy in here somewhere. 3 hours later I had a pretty good workable first version. Cost - free. I worked out on it for about an hour. I gotta say it was nice getting back to some sweaty garage training. This was the way I used to train 12 years ago - just losing myself, by myself. My current art form has the nice space, the students and all that, but there is something cool about having a little space at the house you can go trance out at.

Here is a video and picture of mine. My dummy is quite versatile.

Here is a collection of photos and videos from the net of other artists dummies. You can do it!

Inspiration

Seminar in Oklahoma

2011-07-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

This past weekend the Windson Dojo in Oklahoma city hosted J.W. Bode to teach a session on aikido from his unique police tactical background. I was attended by many of the usual suspects of the growing Kaze Uta Budo Kai scene.

I just wanted to write a few quick notes about some of t he people and experiences, to start getting my head back into writing and blogging.

J.W. Bode

He was the featured presenter at the seminar. Much of the material he covered was the same as when he visited us in March, it was a good refresher. Basically he has shortened release motions, and ends them all in control positions. I feel that this slight shift in methodology is a good move for the kata. We also started exploring the notion that if you understand release motions, you have enough material to start doing some valuable randori. Bode Sensei was his usual charming self. Rather than saying he is a martial artist, I believe him to be a strategist, in the way Musashi viewed swordsmanship. Every release motion had correlations to arrest, squad movement and military strategy. Good stuff.

JW is a good friend.

Nick Ushin Lowry

Our host was laid back and chill this session. Often he shoulders much of the long session teaching. This time, he chilled out and did not even put a uniform on. He spent time filming and playing host. I feel the big lesson to learn from Nick is how to run a loose organization. He built a lovely dojo, and invited people to come play. He has a place where we come together, exchange and play. Minimal politics.

Nick did get into a conversation with Bode about Judo foot sweeps. Nick threw me a few times harder than I have been thrown in a good while. It felt like my feet were surprised by an ice patch. The throw wasn't hard, per se, but I accelerated towards the Earth due to gravity and girth. Bam. Nick has wicked sweeps.

Nick is one of my best friends. I love that guy.

Patrick Parker

Patrick Parker from the Mokuren Dojo and Blog drove 14 hours up to the session. I didn't get to play with him too much, but I love it when I see him at a session. For a fact he has a damn cool southern accent. It is not a yokel one either, seeing how he is a reader and all.

I did get to briefly show him a ukemi/sacrifice drill we have been working on in our dojo. He saw it and instantly did it better than me. He gots some skills that guy.

We did not get to have our second randori off for glory. I assume he backed down this time due to my awesome mohawk. He is often intimidated by stunning fashion and good looks.

Patrick is damn cool, despite being wrong about something he wrote one time. (I don't remember what) I consider him a good friend and a true scholar in our field.

Jack Bieler

Jack is the Kaze Uta Budo Kai sword and stick maven. He moves cool, with grace and poise. I watched him for a while teaching a separate iaido session and it made me envious of his skills with the art form. He looked exacting, focused, meditative and dynamic. Neat stuff.

We did a good long session of release motions where we gave each other a lot of problems. The one thing that stuck out as we got increasingly physical intense, we talked casually about topics. There was an odd separation of intensity that even thought there were difficult training problems going on, there was an over riding internal 'cool' going on. Physical training need not be an ego or stressful issue.

Jack is always fun, plus he has a cool mustache. Only regret this session with jack is that I did not get to drink a beer with him.

Jack is a great guy and I am looking forward to when he invites himself down for a seminar.

Damon Kornele

He attended this event.

George Spriggs

I had long heard of this man who I finally met just last year. He taught a interesting session with his friend Daniel about thinking about aikido differently. He was full of ideas, for sure. He is one man I wouldn't want to tangle with.

He tackled me when I was trying to to leave the mat. I was hoping he was going to teach me something, but much to my surprise he started picking my brain and stealing my secrets. I was impressed at how open this high ranked artist was to learning different ways of moving and thinking. Although he far outranks me he still is learning and I was honored that he enjoyed some of the strategies I have been developing.

I hope George can make it to Austin sometime this year. I am looking forward to making this guy a close friend.

John Boone

My long time friend, and new member of my dojo. We drove up to Oklahoma together and discussed strategy, military tactics and aikido. I laughed so hard and almost passed out on the drive back.

Missouri College guys

I loved meeting these guys. I had some nice randori with several of the guys and they were all nice and skilled. I hope to get invited out there sometime.

Right Here, Right Now

2011-07-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

I first encountered this poet and calligrapher when I lived in Japan. His name is Aida Mitsuo. Some of my Japanese friends introduced me to his work, and tried to convince me of his cleverness. Above we see a piece of his work. His calligraphy is child-like and almost burped out onto the page. He even childishly uses the kana or phonetic alphabet rather then the refined kanji, or Chinese characters. On the surface I do not like this piece. BUT, I have remembered it for ten years...I have recreated it, I have found it's wisdom. OK, I like it.

It says "Ima Koko" - Now, Here. In the English language it is often translated as 'Right Here, Right Now'. This is a Zen idea. I reminds us that the past is gone, the future is unknown, and truly all we ever have is the right here and now. All thought, action, change, and work only happens in the now. Living in the past or for the future is not the way, because we will never be in the past or future, only the now.

For those of into Zen or the martial arts, we like to build myths about teachers. Eventually the teachers that came before us become symbols of what we can achieve if we follow the way. Often the teachers take on a quality of purity and perfection. For those of in the martial arts they become enlightened or invincible.

Ima Koko - 'Right Here, Right Now' beckons us out of the fantasy and mythology. So what is Mr Monk or Mr Teacher was so great? That was their path. That was their practice. The only practice and person you can ever be responsible for is yourself. Budo, the martial way and Zen did exist in the past, but largely it is irrelevant to you and me practicing right now. We stand on the shoulders of the great teachers that came before us, not so that we can copy their art. We don't try to become them, or deify their lives. We stand on their shoulders so we can practice the art and spiritual paths, right here and right now and come to our own own conclusion. Nothing else matters except what you do this moment.

So remember fellow travelers on the path. Live in the now and seize the day. Make every encounter with your teacher, student, coworker, wife and child meaningful. Show them who you truly are, and what you are working on becoming. The teachers that came before are mere legends. The teachers that are to come have not been shaped yet. There is only you - and you perpetually exist in the here and now.

"Do not look back. And do not dream about the future, either. It will neither give you back the past, nor satisfy your other daydreams. Your duty, your reward--your destiny are here and now."

~Dag Hammarskjold

Below there is a song by my house music preacher Fat Boy slim. My Zen sempai introduced me to the trance inducing nature of English house music. This pieces never fails to help me have my moment of Zen.

Enso

2011-07-03T12:38:00.001-07:00

Zen teachers like to draw circles. Sometimes they draw them around from right to left, sometimes around from left to right. These circles can represent emptiness, fullness, or the moon. Or they can represent the practice. The circle that goes around from right to left-against the path of the sun on the sundial - represents the hard way of practice before any glimmer of understanding appears. When it goes around left to right, following the path of the sun, it represents the easier way of practice after a glimmer opens the Way. But both before and after glimmer, the practice requires investment and conscientious diligence.

-Robert Aitken

Here is one of my humble attempts. Again, photography cannot capture the 3 dimensional quality of this painting.

Budo in the Matrix

2011-06-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

Face it friends, things are changing out there. YouTube, FaceBook, online communities, cell phones, the blog-o-sphere are all now major tools in pushing forward martial arts in ways never imagined by the masters of old. Information is out there and easy to get at for the person willing to do some genuine searching and networking. People are coming together from styles around the globe that at one time had been fractured divisions. A new dawn of budo is here friends.

YouTube in and of itself is absolutely amazing. Artists from all over the world are posting lessons, demonstrations, form, tournaments, and lectures. I had been training for 6 years in Aikido before I ever saw a film of Ueshiba Sensei in action. I never saw his major students. Then, comes YouTube and it's all there and more.

In the Kaze Uta Budo Kai we are often filming entire seminars and posting them up. Our entire organization, and anyone curious to see what we are up to can keep updated with the latest trends.

Now much of this flies in the face of the old feudal system of budo. Secret clubs, all information coming from the master. People could be purposely not shown things, and secrets were kept. I know plenty of people who still train that way, but I am choosing to ride the information wave.

Social media like FaceBook is connecting people with budo interests from around the world. I know and communicate with the heads of systems and high ranked teachers from all over the world on my feed. We post videos, comment on each others works and write our inspirational and political thoughts to share. It is happening all the time. Many budoka are really plugged in to whats is going on with each other.

Online communities are continuously cropping up. Invariably you can find the biggest names in budo and martial academia on the big boards. You can correspond with people in China and Japan and get technical advice and translation work done.

The blog-o-sphere is another of the heavy hitting fronts in the new study of budo. Artists, newbies, thinkers, historians and dabblers are all out there publishing about niche arts and budo minutia around the clock. Bloggers to serve as net workers. Bloggers are a extended community anyhow that cross the martial arts boundaries. We are all watching each others arts and contributing to each others growth. I strongly feel my blog has brought me many of the important connections and relationships that now define my budo practice.

That ancient piece of technology the cell phone is now a cornerstone in my training regime. Nowadays there are no long distance charges, so I burn several hours a week talking in depth with teachers, students and fellow friends in budo. Though we are across the country, talking with top sensei is now a casual part of the day.

Like I said, times are rapidly changing friends. I think the next decades will bring an even greater wealth of budo knowledge to the fingertips of the students who genuinely want to learn. I feel we stand a shot, as long as we are still willing to put in the sweat work on making higher quality and more knowledgeable artists than have ever been before. There are no more secrets. LET THERE BE INFORMATION!

After analyzing youtube for hours, sometimes I return to the world feeling like Neo in the movie The Matrix after he was implanted with martial arts programs. I look up from the monitor and proclaim "I know kung fu."

Water Boxing Push Hands

2011-06-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

I really like soft, slow, balance break push hands like this. I hope to be practicing like this a lot, later on in my career.

The Wave

2011-06-28T20:31:00.001-07:00

Here is a painting I finally finished. It is probably 3 feet by 4 feet, and heavily textured. In person the thick paint leaps out of the canvas. Photography often cannot paintings well. I choose the wave, because I have always enjoyed Harakusai's painting. Waves are a pure expression of energy and motion. In fact my dojo symbol, the swirling spiral, is conceived after the wave. Of course there is a painful side to this too, now with the recent history of tragedy in Japan. All in all, the wave is an mandala for any student of aiki to lose themselves in.

Beyond the physical - Systema

2011-06-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

Lowry Sensei has recommended this video to me several times. I finally found it.

Ethics and Fatherhood

2011-06-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

Normally I would not use my martial arts blog to pontificate on my view of ethics, but on second thought, why would I not? The study of the martial path is really heavily layered in issues of honor, respect, morality and ethics. Budo, the martial way, is really the study of conflict and resolution and how to maintain harmony through our behavior and actions. In budo shouldn't we discuss the ideal roles we should play in life and follow the good examples of the wise people around us?

I came to learn yesterday that an casual acquaintance of mine has fathered a child. From what I have heard he has had nothing to do with the child since birth, and has not even taken the time to see the young one. I guess I had not really thought deeply on this topic before, as I have not been in proximity to this kind of behavior. I find today strong thoughts and feelings keep bubbling up about this.

What kind of human would casually dismiss a lover and not see an infant he sired? What sort of person would simply turn their back and ignore people like that?

The greatest person I know and love, was similarly dismissed by her father before her birth. We were just discussing it. She has never had the urge to go find him or see what he is like. I understand. What kind of person would abandon a lover expecting a child? What kind of person would dismiss the needs of an infant they are responsible for? Why would you want to meet a person like that, who deep down is so selfish the world is only about themselves? Why would you want to meet your first betrayer who refused to acknowledge your very existence?

So I draw a line. If a man could do that to a woman he shares a bed with and a helpless infant, what would a man do to a mere friend of casual acquaintance? If a man is willing to commit such an ethical crime to his lover and child, what vile act would he do to someone he doesn't know, or to someone he doesn't like?

So this goes to any man or woman that would abandon a child. If you are so selfish to an infant who needs help, I have to see you as a threat to my personal well being and the lives of the people I love. I want nothing to do with you.

In the martial arts we call this establishing maai - distance. Keep people at the appropriate distance so you can see them coming and have time to react. My maai, or distance, for the people unburdened by ethics is a wide wide circle. If you are the sort to dismiss responsibility for a child, please stay the hell out of my maai. I don't care about your story, your opinions or your beliefs while there is a child to be taken care of. Get your priorities straight.

Wrist Flow

2011-06-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

I have noticed most students are terrible at changing from one wrist connection to the next, so I put together this little flow sequence. Sadly I did it too fast to see all the techniques clearly, but there are 10. I now see techniques as connections and balance breaks, not these big cranky things. There is no pain in these techniques. Of course we work every technique to a throw or tap as well, but here is the whole sequence. If you want to see it slower let me know.

One of the things I really like about this sequence is that each technique builds from the failure of the previous technique. When it is done correctly your opponent almost throws himself into the next connection.

Martin Wheeler Systema Video

2011-06-14T13:15:00.001-07:00

After taking my first systema class I have been poking around youtube to get a deeper feel of some of the artists out there. I found this film and it is downright nifty.

Systema class through Aikido eyes

2011-06-12T21:25:00.001-07:00

More and more high level aikido people that I know are being influenced or dabbling in the Russian martial art called Systema. If you see it being performed it has a feel of aikido, and I feel it very much is an excellent art to stretch a aikidokas skill and understanding of body mechanics and motion. Mind you I am no real authority on this system, I only have observations from a 2 hour training session.

A film in case you have never seen it.

The teacher was relaxed and thoughtful. He had that look in his eyes like so many people I know in budo, someone in search for the next level. I could tell he is a hard trainer with a diverse background, but has chosen systema as his muse. I believe he is pretty serious about the Chinese internal work too.

When I began to move he looked at my personal guide/trainer and said, "He knows the combative stuff, work on softening him up and breathing." Indeed these are the two most important observations I made about systema today, softness and the breath.

We did not work on a single technique as the Japanese based martial artist would think about it. Everything was movement drills, relaxation drills, and moving what was free drills. Nothing about grips, nothing about turn the wrist. Everything that was talked about was in terms of structure. This mirrors my interests and thinking in my own practice, as I have been steadily moving in this direction. Indeed many of the drills reminded me a Hussey Sensei's innovative drills.

Relaxing is the key. I am usually a soft and relaxed artist, but there always tension that creeps into the equation. They literally massage the muscles with standard massage, muscle compressions, standing on the muscles and eventually striking the muscles. They literally beat the tension out of the system.

Striking seems to be a big key to the practice. It is one of their ukemi (energy receiving) practices. I have done loads of styles of martial arts in my day, and I can assure you they have a different system of striking going on. It was fascinating really. First we started standing. Our partner would come around and use the strike as a massage, targeting muscle groups. Again this seemed to reinforce the relaxation. Then the strikes got harder. If you remained relaxed they felt like massage. If you had any tension the strikes became unpleasant. It was a very fast negative reinforcement of tension. Relaxation was awarded, tension punished.

The strikes became very hard, targeted on the muscles. Eventually you were forced to take a fall or take the hit. It did not take me long to realize ukemi was the immediate answer. Fall man, fall. Literally beating resistance out of the system. It was not painful per say - but it was intense for sure. Another thing is that even though they were laying into each other, they were choosing appropriate targets and energy as to not really cause damage. Although I got wailed on for two hours I only have one sore muscle in my arm from the strikes.

One thing to note, the strikes were designed to alter your posture - true atemi waza. The instructor invited me up because I was not striking with adequate force. He had me wail away on his torso over and over - displeased with my poor showing. He literally relaxed and shrugged off every strike.

The next part was breathing. I did not get the direct lesson, but I saw the good technicians constantly going through breathing drills. Presumably this is part of the relaxation and sensitivity training. The teacher after class told me that he felt in aikido kokyu (breathing) was often just a theoretical term, and rarely is it practiced. I accept that criticism. While I am sure there are some aikido teachers out there focusing on it, in my 16 years of aikido I have never had an instructor really intensely focus on it.

Relaxation, atemi and breathing - three big lessons.

Another thing I discovered that I really liked was there intense knowledge of anatomy and nervous system terms. Some of the guys were serious about the study of the human body.

As a wind up of the class, we had to give a massage to our partner, again reinforcing relaxation and anatomical knowledge. It was fairly intense deep tissue work. Again my partner was labeling all my anatomical areas of pain and pointing out where I am storing tension. I have been wanting to incorporate massage into my own aikido practice, and this reinforced the wisdom of it for me.

Standard massage has never really worked for me. I have heard people talk about feeling released and wanting to cry after getting a intense massage. I will be honest with you I feel exhausted, like a beaten rug. All evening I have been getting waves like I want to cry, exactly the feeling people talk about when something gets released. Weird.

I really liked it. I liked the teacher, and I liked the students. The art I do not feel is for everyone. It is intense. Intense yet absolutely focused on relaxed and free movement. I myself have decided to return, to add yet another flavor to my practice.

Austin Systema website

Daito Ryu's dangerous irimi

2011-06-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

I have been turning my eye back to my Daito Ryu training to closely examine what I like and what I don't think is efficient enough for me to keep in my arsenal. Today I would like to take a critical look at the direct entering motion of one of Daito Ryu's signature movements, ippon dori. (effectively this is also called ikkyo or oshi taioshi in other systems) Here we see the attacker coming in and is received by the Daito Ryu irimi (entry). The Daito Ryu tori in one lunging linear step captures the elbow from a downward chop. He extends outward and causes the attacker's spine to bend and all the weight of the attacker is loaded onto his back foot.

Honestly I think this is a dangerous gambit. Let's take a look at the base or foundation that has been created here. The feet are way extended out from underneath the hips. While this gives a powerful drive at one singular point, he now finds himself at the edge of his power. His next step has to be an adjusting recovery step. Indeed what he does next while performing the technique is to withdraw the left foot 6 inches, so he can even move his right foot. He simply has put himself in a position where he cannot move without getting his posture and stance back first. It's all or nothing here.

Next we see the line where he has grounded himself. Rather than generating power through weight, or body drop, he is using a long muscular push. His back leg is grounded and he is strongly pushing down the line. His posture breaks due to over extension and muscular stretch. And despite this deep entry he only has connection at the very edge (possible past) his effective range. Only his palms connect here. Reach far out across a table for a quarter that is just at the edge of where you can reach. How effective are you at this range? The more I stand in this position testing out the stance the more I am convinced that he is setting himself up for a projection throw if uke counters.

What I see is dangerous over extension. All bipeds have a weak line running perpendicular between their legs. Feet that remain under the hips typically recover from any distortion in posture with ease. Feet out this wide make any balance break down the weak line virtually unrecoverable and catastrophic for stability.

So when I look at this entering strategy I see a system of martial arts that lacks a randori (free play)system to act as a check to a dangerous entering motion. You see, since the weight of the attacker has been pressed on his back foot, he should have the freedom to move his front foot. If the uke would step back he would move far past the Tori's effective range. If the uke were to move his foot to the right down the weak line he would cause a back step balance break in the man performing the technique, and maybe a corner drop technique. If uke would move his foot in front of tori he would likely throw him as well.

I would like some participation here. Get in this deep stance and tell me what you feel? I vote it is too deep a stance. I think he would get countered by anyone sensitive enough to move almost in any direction.

Oh by the way, the model in the photo here is a true master of budo. I met him twice in Japan, and he is a lovely fellow. While I am critical of this entry, by no means am I attacking him, the art form or anything really. This stuff is a science, and we all benefit from critical yet friendly discourse.

Interestingly in the description of the video he writes

"When you see them you will understand. Take, for example, the combative stance (kamae). In Daito-ryu there is in fact no kamae: it is rather a “kamae without kamae.” To be truly effective one must maintain a natural posture (shizentai) rather than assuming special right or left combative stances.

A natural posture is a form of kamae, but once you extend one arm in front of you, you become unable to use techniques. The techniques can be freely performed from the natural, most unfettered posture. In a real martial situation it would be foolish to offer your arm for someone to grab."

As a contrast here is a photo of Kono Sensei, who practices aikido, at about the same point in his version of the technique.

The Death of a Dojo

2011-06-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

Sad news friends. The temple dojo once known as KyuRyu Aikibudo Dojo in South Austin has passed on. On Sunday we were forced to strip it of the mats and artifacts that made it our home for so many years.

Our group started in fall of 2005. I had not found a dojo that I wanted to train at since I had returned from Japan. I was very poor, and could not afford the large membership fees other groups in town demanded. In my search I even considered doing a different art form. Eventually I decided to start a group. I knew I was not ready or worthy to start one, but I had no choice, I needed to train. My one car garage was set up nicely and we began training. A few people came and we were off. I had a dojo, God help us.

Eventually my old friend Glenn dropped in for a training session. He was quickly hooked. As the fates would have it he was in the middle of a break up and the pottery studio behind his house was being vacated by his ex. Although I am sure the lady was not to happy with me, within days of her moving out I had replaced the ceiling with reed mats, repaired and painted the walls and began hanging art. Thus the room was born.

Building a proper mat is a tremendous undertaking. We probably built 6 versions over the years. The first version was a simple carpet unrolled on some carpet padding. It was a humble beginning but we had a room, something to fall on, a few students and a half ass teacher.

I was proud of the little group that was coming together. I had the authority to do some kyu grading in Daito Ryu, so it was a start. I decided to get plugged back into the larger martial arts community so I could get the higher level teachers in to play. I wrote several martial arts teachers. Only one responded. It was my first aikido teacher, Russell Waddell, who was in retirement at that time. With a bit of begging I got him to come down and do a few gradings for us and to help us solve a few problems. I am eternally grateful that he accepted, and he is largely to blame for the Austin Tomiki group taking root. I brought him out of retirement, he expanded our horizons.

By 2006 we were rolling. We quickly hit our peak membership of 14 people at this time. That is a lot of people for a little space. Waddell Sensei donated some canvas that had covered his mats in Lewisville Texas. We raided the local carpet shop dumpsters and neatly stacked the carpet pieces in three layers and stretched the canvas over them. This gave us some decent mats for a time, but they slowly shifted giving us little peaks and valleys. I loved that crappy mat.

By the end of 2006 the dojo had become the center of my creative life. A crew of us dojo guys went out to Burning Man and built an art piece together under the leadership of Garreth. On October 28th 2006 I was married in front of the dojo.

For the wedding I had a very special guest. One of my best friends from my time in Japan came in for the wedding. We arrived to Japan together, we wrote our first kanji together at a JET program orientation. While in Japan I pursued the martial arts, he chose the path of the brush. We spent many nights up late drinking beer, wielding the brush, meditating to the rhythms of English dance music and contemplating the process of Zen. I love that man.

The calligraphy society that he eventually joined was called KyuRyu - which means to study the dragon. When he came to visit, I told him I wanted to name the dojo in honor of the time we trained together. I called our little room KyuRyu AikiBudo Dojo.

The next couple years ran eventfully. Waddell Sensei continued to run seminars and train. Parker Sensei joined us too. A few dynamic personalities bounced in and out of our dojo lives in this time. A few members of the online FA community joined us, and a few members of the Burn community did as well. Some stuck around, some went on their merry ways and we were all the richer for the time spent together.

Probably the most important connection we made at this time was with the American Tomiki Aikido Association. Jeff and Cleghorn Sensei were happy to recruit us. We are happy and love our growing aikido extended family.

2009 was a major transition year for us. I had made a New Years resolution to find some more teachers to play with. I had read that Nick Lowry had gone independent, and I wrote him asking about some aikido and judo stuff. We became quick friends, and he told me to look up Matl Sensei who is in the area. Matl Sensei sent me to Hussey Sensei - so eventually that one connection led me to three new teachers and great friends. Waddell Sensei told me everything was about to change in my practice, and he was right.

In 2009 we hosted Nick Lowry for the first time. I graduated my first two shodans that year, Scooter and Michael. They continue to be the backbone of my practice and my best friends. Nick brought his crew. The great men Greg Ables and Kyle Sloan entered our lives.

2010 was dominated by rethinking our practice, and a whole lot of filming. Hussey Sensei and Matl Sensei redefined the practice with us and they highlighted problems that we had to solve. Our dojos grew closer. I began studying judo at deeper levels that I had before. Waddell and Lowry continued to be a presence.

But alas 2011 brings the death toll for our little room. First we learned that it was no longer permissible to share names with our shodo brothers. Then our energies split into two groups and the numbers dwindled. Scooter took the reigns since February. Finally on Sunday, we went in to train and there was a bed in the middle of the dojo. Someone was living in the dojo. Apparently the landlord is not a communicator and rented out the room without informing us. Its cool, time to play in another playground.

The spirit was dead in there. The dragons had all left.

We tore up the mats, grabbed our art and headed out. It was a good run. Good times and good friends. Alas the room is just a vessel not the contents. Already the practice is growing at the new dojo. New fresh faces are pouring in and the same ole' ugly ones too. I was pretty gutted for the past few days. But like a phoenix from the ashes...hmm maybe a new dojo name is in there somewhere.

Aikido Versus Chair

2011-06-03T06:24:00.000-07:00

From the Vasser College club. I think playing with the art in different ways always has some measure of value.

The reality of attack

2011-05-16T13:28:00.001-07:00

So you train endlessly. So you break boards. You practice martial arts. The attackers, the professionally violent are not looking for a fair fight. Here is a film from my home city last week. The film is of a lady getting attacked. The film is rough, but not too brutal to watch. It is well worth it, because bad guys don't play fair.

The lady is a friend of one of my dojo guys.

Many lessons can be taken from this film.

My first thought is this is similar to the encounter I got in with the drug crazed maniac last year. I entered from behind like this as my tsukuri. Tough to fight the unseen opponent. My results were quite opposite though, but my intention was as well. Remember the first rule of realistic martial arts - if you find yourself in a fair fight your tactics suck. Criminals know this rule better than martial artists do I bet.

Another big lesson is in how we train. Lowry Sensei often talks about training from the failure position, like how aikido begins like in this film. Most start from a 'I am winning' or at least a hyper vigilant state. Training yourself in both conditions is likely the way to go. Randori helps with this.

I try not to ever let people walk behind me downtown - know I know why.

But good news, the guy was caught today.

Who Owns the Release Motions?

2011-05-15T15:14:00.000-07:00

Time to get attacked on the internet again! A few years back I shot some video notes of me doing the first release motion from a variety of positions and connections. The video was OK, not stunning work, but it was creative and fun to do. A fellow budoka decided to post on the video's comments. (I removed the organization name, as this was an individual's responses - not official beef from the organization) I also corrected the persons spelling, but not content.

"I found this video while checking for fraudulent and illegal use of people representing themselves as associated with (organization name) kata. I am a member of (organization name), and not only is this a pathetic attempt at replicating a portion of our syllabus, but let it be known this video and person has no association with or permission to attempt (organization name)'s Kata, no matter how badly and incorrect it may be...SHOW SOME COMMON RESPECT IF YOU CAN."

I think his statement brings up some interesting questions, so I will honor it, and become introspective as I blog about it. So what this gentleman is saying is that the organization he is a member of owns the kata, and it is illegal for others to practice it. While I respect this fellows integrity, and loyalty to his organization I feel like he has some baseless thoughts. I don’t care what he thinks about my skill level, but the idea that his organization owns a set of physical movements is ludicrous.

I wish to address these good fellows concerns. I have never claimed to represent or to be an associate of the organization in question. That was a false presumption on his part. I do have many good friends in the organization though. The reason this person decided to attack is because I used the name of the kata that his organization uses as a name for the kata. To be fair to me, certified teachers from that organization taught me the kata and taught me the name. It is the name I have always used. Whatever the name, it fundamentally is the same exercise performed in many organizations. I removed the name and any mention of any organization from the videos information because I am a nice guy, and I don’t want to ruffle people’s feather too much. Keep it. Peace man. I don’t care what it is called. Despite my apparent lack in skill in the exercises I have invested a great number of years into it, and I plan on continuing its practice until I do have some skill.

As far as calling me pathetic goes....“As soon as you concern yourself with the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ of your fellows, you create an opening in your heart for maliciousness to enter. Testing, competing with, and criticizing others weaken and defeat you.”
- Morihei Ueshiba

So as to the legal question, can I legally practice this kata? Let us look at it from a legal standpoint first. According to legal precedent - trademarks don't cover exercise methods.

Pilates Lawsuit

As an interesting sidenote I found with a little more research I found Aikido is indeed trademarked. It is an insecticide for agricultural use. Aikido® is a registered trademark used for Insecticide for Agricultural Use and owned by Helm Agro US, Inc…” Oh yeah, as I mentioned, you can’t trademark an exercise.

Where does the release motion exercise come from? Was this organization the aikidoka is a part of, invent this kata as he suggests? The answer is no. It comes straight from Tomiki Sensei who died before the organization the artist belongs to was formed.

The most popular name for the exercises in the American Tomiki world is the Hanasu No Kata, or the releases. I estimate that the kata is practiced in at least 100 dojos in the United States. But where are the roots of it? Let us return to cannon film of our lineage of aikido. The film that presumably was filmed in the mid to late 1950s as Tomiki Sensei was developing his book and lecture series 'Judo Taido'. Clearly we see the exercises being performed by Tomiki Sensei that would become the exercises we modern American aikidoka practice. Tomiki Sensei has a slightly different emphasis than many modern players have, but the root is obvious. He starts around the 1:30 mark.

Then there is the influence of Miyake Sensei on the transmission of the exercises. She was a student of Kenji Tomiki and extremely influential on Tomiki Aikido spreading to the United States. I have heard she was often in charge of teaching foreign students in Japan. She has also been to the United States many times to teach. As the lore goes she was largely responsible for teaching (and maybe formally organizing) the series of exercises.

Nick Ushin Lowry ,8th dan and head of the Kaze Uta Budo Kai recently wrote about his knowledge of the history of the practice.

"First -- the name-- as a name "Hanasu no kata" probably goes back to someone stateside (Merritt?? Geis??-- I dont know specifically) -- I am told that Ms. Miyake didn't name it Hanasu no Kata nor did she consider it a " formal kata" as such and was surprised to see it referred to in that way -- a little research reveals that we can find similar/ and near identical forms which are named (I think arguably more accurately) "shichihon no kuzushi" (seven forms of balance break--comprising the first seven of yon kata but without throws) and "musubi renshu" (connection practice-- emphasizing kuzushi and control mechanics) -- I like these other names because the term hanasu -- "to break free or to release" is a pretty limited context for all what goes on in these exercises -- also to delineate it as a kata rather than an informal practice form or exercise was probably a misstep somewhere along the way that took on a life of its own as such things sometimes do."

"As a form of practice I think historically what we see in the eight releases is pretty close to the first section of koryu dai yon and also to the "dynamic 11," a warm up exercise that Tomiki used at Waseda in the 50's and 60's that is like the "8 releases" with a few waza added but all of them terminating with falls -- I suspect that the "dynamic 11" was Tomiki's invention and it probably gave rise to both the early part of yon kata and the eight releases -- the codification of 8 waza or practice forms that came to be called Hanasu no Kata may be an adaptation of those exercises originating from either Mr. Kogure or Ms. Miyake most likely"

One interesting story recently came to light on the ‘Thoughtful Sensei ‘blog, L.F. Wilkinson Sensei 8th dan, recently wrote…

“When one of my Sensei's Sensei came over to the US on tour, my wife and I were tasked with escorting her from seminar to seminar while my wife acted as uke for her teachings; a great honor I might add. It gave us some behind the scenes on how high level Japanese Sensei view some things. We walked into a dojo while on the tour and on the wall the dojo proprietor, concerned about the proper Japanese names, had cobbled together Japanese names and had done poster boards with the names of The Walking (and every movement in it) and the 8 Releases (and every movement in that also). Sensei read the boards, turned away towards Lynn and I so no one could see and used her hand to hide her laughter before she said, "Walking and releases have no name. Not kata. Just walking and just exercise." She appreciated the sincere efforts but she said that Tomiki had never thought the exercises important enough for formal names; there are not being formal kata per se.”

So is this series of exercises widespread? I quick search I found films of three different organizations performing the practice.

Some students in Fugakukai recording their practice.

The head of Kaze Uta Budo kai teaching it for the whole world to steal!

American Tomiki Aikido Association dojo

Conclusion

Who owns the kata? Anyone who sincerely practices it owns it. As said before trademarks don't cover exercise methods. One might argue that it is their ‘name’. Fine keep it. It is all just movement anyhow.

Who invented the exercises? They are human principles of motion. It has been around in some form before any modern organization or teacher, but if you want to name a person I vote for Tomiki. The only organizations I am aware Tomiki Sensei was part of was Kodokan and Shodokan. Perhaps Kodokan and Shodokan are the rightful owners. Oh wait, you can't trademark an exercise.

Will I continue its practice? In some form of fashion I will be studying until I can no longer move. If people don’t want other people to study something, perhaps it should never be taught to anyone. I don’t care the name of it, or how teacher X,Y or Z does it. It is a gift to the world. As Ueshiba Sensei wrote, “Aikido has no form - it is the study of the spirit. Ultimately, you must forget about technique. The further you progress, the fewer teachings there are. The Great Path is really No Path.”

As to my critics final phrase, "SHOW SOME COMMON RESPECT IF YOU CAN" I would be happy to show respect. I never met a man I didn't like. I have harmed none in my walk through the world. Since I have shown respect by thoughtfully responding to your queries, please accept a word of advice. I have private email. Feel free to use it. People will find me friendly and willing to work with any concerns.

Walk In Peace,

Eric

An interview with Eric Pearson

2011-05-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

So a few months back I sent out interviews to a bunch of budo teachers.Some people were kind enough to write back. Yesterday it occurred to me that I had not tackled these questions myself, and likely no one will ever want to interview me, so I might as well do it myself. So there you go...

If you happen to read this and you are a teacher in any martial arts form, please shoot me an email with your answers to the questions to thedragonsorb@gmail.com. I would love to hear from more people.

Why did you start training?

I had been interested in the martial arts since I was around 7 or 8, but my mother refused to let me participate in fighting arts. I used to spend my Sundays watching Kung Fu theatre, a show which presented a different kung fu flick every week. After that the westerns would come on. Thinking back this is probably where much of my warped fascination with the martial arts stems from. I love both the sword and the six-shooter.

In the sixth grade my world starting turning upside down. The new middle school was infested with bullies. I was a small quite boy with not a lick of fighting sense. I was fresh meat. The bullying was terrible. Every day was full of fear and confrontation. Teachers and principals largely were ineffective at stopping the harassment. Eventually the problem got so bad my mother relented on letting me study martial arts. I believe at the age of 11 I was enrolled in Master Han’s tae kwon do in Carrollton, Texas.

I trained off and on throughout my teens. I did tae kwon do for several years, karate, ju-jitsu, fencing, Northern Shaolin, and some kick boxing. When I was twenty I finally met the man who I call teacher, Russell Waddell. He opened my eyes to what budo could be, and has helped me along my path of aiki-budo.

Why do you continue to?

Now I simply cannot stop. I feel like I am wasting time if I am not training. I feel weak if I don’t train. I feel emotional unbalanced. I feel sick after a while. It keeps me sane and healthy.

Also martial practice has become the focus of my artistic, creative, and even social experiences. My writing and painting is focused around budo and the Zen aesthetic. My evenings not training are spent writing and talking to some of the finest martial artists. My vacation time is planned around training. My teachers and students are my best friends and are some of the finest people I have ever had the privelage of spending time with.

I remember one of my early martial arts teachers talking about being a ‘budo man’. Somehow he always made it feel like BEING a budo man was something that I wasn’t. Well, guess what? I am one.

Do you have a phrase(s) that sum up your ideal of martial arts practice?

“The great way has no boundaries.” I firmly believe in the possibility of a great many things. If we shut down possibility through self imposed boundaries, then we are doing ourselves a great disservice. I choose to believe in possibility. I choose to believe I can always accomplish even greater understanding.

In the following picture I am at an art show with my favorite phrase. This is the largest piece of calligraphy I have ever done - 20 feet tall!

What do you like to see in a practice?

I like to see less lecturing and more people playing. I like to see one on one problem solving. I like to see an active dojo where everyone is teaching and everyone is learning. I like to see high level teachers playing with each other, because I find typically they don’t. I like a casual environment where a new student can comfortably talk to a high level teacher without dropping to his knees and bowing. I like ukes that ride that line of being a tough, yet achievable challenge. I like to see randori, free play, done thoughtfully.

I like seeing a strong sense of zanshin. Zanshin is connection. It is awareness. It is a burning stare and staying in the moment. Practice without it feels empty to me, like it is play rather than budo. Most martial artists do not have a sense of this concept yet, and I see it and feel the emptiness.

What do you not like to see in a practice?

I do not like seeing centralized power. I do not think there is one artist, and everyone is trying to copy the big dog’s system. I loathe seeing an abuse coming from teachers towards people. I hate seeing teachers that think they are better, or a higher social standing just because they have skill at throwing people. I do not like seeing teachers that demand a title be used with their name.

I hate seeing a skilled teacher with an empty dojo.

I do not like seeing systems with without a system of free play. I do not like systems where things are forbidden, like foot sweeps. As long as techniques are safe to practice, and they are done in the correct intent – everything should be on the table.

I do not like seeing stylized attacks from predetermined ranges with no room for spontaneous and creative movement.

I do not like seeing people waste time in the dojo. In many dojos I have been trained in, I see people sitting and talking for long periods of time. I talk in the dojo, but I do it while training!

How do you define 柔/合気 ju/aiki?

Aiki 合気 and Ju 柔 – mean 合気 ‘fitting to energy’ and 柔 ‘softness’ are strategies and philosophies in martial training and budo lifestyle. In China at the Taoist temples the internal artists postulated a theory that softness can overcome the hard. They believe that challenging the mind and spirit through internal work will reward the diligent student greater results that depending on strength and power. I believe the students of ju and aiki are inheritors of this philosophy.

Early in the development of judo, Kano Sensei penned the two most important phrases in budo practice. Students of 柔 ‘ju’ should strive for mutually beneficial training practices. Also our training at all levels should be infused with the strategy of maximum efficiency with minimum effort. These simple two phrases can, if studiously followed, totally change the practice and results of a sincere budo practice. We should be obsessed with the concept of efficiency and economy of motion.

Also, I think too a serious student of 柔 ‘ju’ should be infatuated with the word softness. It should be a mantra. It should be the self analysis grading rubric of each technique thrown. We must constantly ask ourselves how we can do these same motions with less energy.

合気 Aiki to me not only speaks of a strategy, it also speaks of a lineage. If you train and teach aiki it means you are from a family coming from Sokaku Takeda. What is aiki is something largely up to artistic interpretation, so it largely has little meaning beyond that. There are a great many artists from many different martial schools that achieve it. I sometimes equate aiki with the word kung fu – meaning great acquired skill. Aiki – or harmonizing with energy is not a unique strategy in our lineage. I do have my own constantly evolving definition of aiki, but looking out into the larger community I see that my interpretation is a personal one.

What adjective would you say your technique 'feels' like?

It depends on how much of a skill deferential there is between me and my partner. Most new people I can make dance around with no pain and very little pressure they can feel. I do not do techniques to these folks. I can keep it in the realm of pure balance breaking. In Lowry Sensei’s breakdown down of techniques according to elemental intent I would say my style is ‘air’. I imagine myself a cloud, intangible, yet rippling with small lightning strikes.

When does a practice become not-ju/aiki?

Exertion of anything is that is more than is needed is when it ju/aiki fails in practice. It could be MORE of anything. If you use more speed than needed, you are not using these strategies. If you are using more strength, more pain, more time, more space, and more motion you are doing too much. These art forms are supposed to be deep studies of efficiency.

Do you have a favored technique right now?

I have deeply exploring standing shime (chokes) in aikido and judo for a while now. I have been linking trying to do Tomiki’s seventeen with a different emphasis than what is taught standard. I might do a technique such as aigamae ate (irimi nage) with the main connection with my hand, my elbow, my hip, my knees or my feet. Then I work on rippling the connections down rapidly so there is not one throw, but a lightning fast transition of connections that a nervous system cannot respond to.

If I had to put it to words I do not believe aiki is in the techniques. Aiki lies in the changes between techniques.

In judo I am working hard on my ashi waza (foot techniques). I am taking the time to go back and explore ground work very slowly and with the minimal effort mindset that I approach standing work with.

I have been also developing a system of aiki tanto work for about 6 months now also.

What is your favorite practice related book?

‘The Book of Martial Power’ is probably one of the best written. The ‘Tai Chi classics’ is a must read. The Tao Te Ching is a constant source of inspiration. I enjoy ‘Book of 5 Rings’ by Musashi. Suzuki Roshi’s collection ‘Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind’ is a good one. The ‘Hagakure’ is an interesting view into the samurai mind. Saotome’s ‘Aikido and the Harmony of Nature’ is sometimes an interesting read.

To be honest I am a video junkie. I am blown away at the amount of information now available that until recently was unavailable. We has access to so much now. I love it.

What is rank? What does rank reflect?

It is an understanding between a teacher and student – going both ways. The rank system is a goofy ego trap. It as a ridiculous as it is useful.

I have successful thrown people that far outrank me, and I have been pinned by brown belts. While skill is a nice prerequisite I would say rank has to do more with knowledge of methods and strategy than it had to do with fighting ability.
I believe that people should not be ranked past 5th dan unless they show phenomenal skill, understanding, and they can articulate it well. I do not see any need for people to go much higher than that unless they are part of a large organization. To me a 7th or 8th dan rank is an indicator of leadership. By this point a person should have produced so many 5th dans that they are pushed up. I do not think a person should receive a 7th dan for being a good student alone. They should receive it for their ability to teach. Look at his students and you will know if the person is really a 7th dan. Their energy should have spread the art far and wide.

I have heard of some 9th dans that simply train in a dojo and have never taught. I do not think this is accurate portrait of rank. This would be a 5th dan with exceptional skill. The higher ranks are leadership and teaching ranks IMHO.

What principle have you been focusing on in your practice lately?

Connection or connectivity is my main principle of focus right now. For a long time I have connected then disconnected, making movements that do not have effect. In a good training session every movement should have effect. If you are connected to your opponent, you merely have to move yourself and your opponent has to move. With no connection you can really accomplish very little efficiently. Connect!

What is your relationship to kata?

When I studied Daito Ryu in Japan I did exacting formal kata every practice for three years. In my first aikido school they were big on kata and would run it over and over. I know kata. I can get a deep practice with it. It is no longer my focus.

Kata is great, but there is a point of diminishing returns in my own practice. I especially disapprove of kata if you are just trying to memorize how master _____ does it. Kata is not a static thing. It is a tool to engage and challenge. Every time you step up to a kata to explore eventually you will be brought to a place where you cannot answer the problem with your previous knowledge. Kata has a way of forcing the beginner’s mind. You must experiment from this point. I use kata as a launching point for experimentation. I do not try to fit my movement around someone else’s kata. Often know I use kata as an example of the way I don’t like the technique to be done. Nevertheless it is still a useful tool.

Rather than kata, I prefer flow drills, rezoku (continuous) attack exercises or balance breaking drills. I do not like training where the result is known. In real aiki the result can rarely be predicted, so that is why I have a hard time finding aiki in kata. I can find techniques, but no aiki. In my estimation aiki comes from an ever changing relationship that accommodates to the circumstances. Much of kata is trying to prescribe the circumstances – type of attack, range, technique...etc. For my current practice I feel that the prescription robs the interaction of life.

What is your relationship to a competitive feeling in training?

Budo is a combat art. In many aikido dojos people are not allowed to push themselves to a competitive level. I think aiki and ju tends to fail if the mind gets too competitive, but I feel it is important to let people go there when they need to. Sometimes they need to get to the frustration level where the strategy of aiki fails them. They need to tense and to struggle, so they can learn a more efficient way. Power and strength are often a valid answers in conflict. During randori I do not forbid my partners from using it. I do remind them that it is not a good aiki answer. More often now I can use that power to my own benefit to illustrate the point. Sometimes I still get hung up.

I love having judo guys shiai me. I don’t shiai back. I love the raw energy and tension of someone bent a determined to throw you. If you don’t feed into their game, if you just surf their energy I have found I can be a fearsome opponent by just going where they want me to go and doing what their body tells me to do, softness negating hardness.

I love randori (free play) I do not understand a martial arts practice that does not have it in some form. I similarly do not under how any artist can get to higher levels without spending a great deal of time in this zone. For me at least it is the place where aiki in it’s most beautiful and creative forms can be found and created.

How has your vision of practice changed as you have gotten older?

I get hurt less now than when I was younger. I tend not to take as much radical ukemi. My father is an expert billiards player. You never see him take a difficult shot. The better I get at budo I try to tailor my ukemi around what my body can safely and easily take.

The biggest difference in my art now as opposed to when I was younger is that it is entirely a creative process. I do not copy anymore. I find inspiration from nature or other artists, and then I go through a process of creative movement and thinking to solve novel problems. Many of my guys have commented that I often do not teach, instead I lead a laboratory. I make it up as a go along now, but I have a hefty tool box of experiences and principles to guide the way.

Do you have another hobby or art form that you think about in martial arts terms and ideas?

Performance magic, calligraphy, cooking, shooting, archery, and teaching children are the main ones. Really I never turn off my martial arts window in which I view the world. Principles tend to be universal. Often they work in the physical sense. More often they work conceptually, and poetically in other interactions and relationships around us.

Do you see any problems with the way aikido is practiced in the world at large, and do you have any recommendations for change?

The main problem I see is ego. Ego creeps in everywhere in the practice. For a supposedly Zen related art form ego seems to be one of the biggest traps, from the new students to the heads of systems. It truly poisons the practice.

There are many ways to practice. As long as it suits you, have fun! Remember to give other people space to practice their way. Don’t let that ego thing crawl in there.

What martial art besides the one you practice do you think is interesting?

I love so many arts. I can watch a good silat teacher for hours. I love sambo’s leg lock work. Wing chun is an art form I wish I studied deeply. Tai Chi push hands is lovely. The new wave of ground work submission wrestlers is inspiring. There are many geniuses at work pushing the envelope in this frontier. Knife and shuriken throwing is an amazing practice. A deep study of the sword is another aspect of budo I would love to have. Extreme long distance shooting is also so cool. Strategy games such as chess and go are well worth spending your life chasing after.

I just love all this stuff. I am a nut for martial study.

What inspires you?

Teachers that have attained great skill and use it to build communities and friendships inspire me. A passionate student that is absorbing as much as they can is a sight to behold. I find the images and avatars of the masters that have walked before us an interesting mythology to explore to find inspiration. Good art in general is very inspiring. Calligraphy is extremely inspiring to me. The Tao Te Jing and all those books I mentioned earlier. Of course YouTube, watching other people is great. Oh yeah, Star Wars. I like Star Wars.

Do you have any aspirations for your art, dojo or organization for the future?

I would like to continue with what I have. I like having a tight knit group of devoted teachers and students working together to create a healthy and dynamic practice.

Oh yeah, I would also like to be considered a force a nature.

Anything on your mind you would like to add?

The most important thing in budo is relationships.

Don’t get stuck in one way of thinking.

All arts have beauty. All artists are worthy of respecting, because at least they are out there practicing, which is better than most people.

The great path has no boundaries.

Be nice to your mother.

Choose to see beauty in the world.

Interview of Bieler Sensei

2011-05-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I did a series on interviews from various teachers. I managed to lose one of the responses, and I am late posting it. Jack Bieler Sensei from Denton Texas shared his views on the questions I sent out. Bieler Sensei is an excellent aikido, jyodo and iaido teacher. I always enjoy training with him and he is also excellent to share a beer with. I like Jack and I look forward to many years of training with him.

Why did you start training?

Actually, I was chasing a girl. Never saw her again, but I fell in love with the martial arts. You never know the right reason to start Aikido because you don’t learn what that is until you have trained for a while.

Why do you continue to?

There is always more to learn. Weaknesses to correct. Technique to improve.

Do you have a phrase(s) that sum up your ideal of martial arts practice?

Do not let mat time go to waste. Keep focus at all times. Consider every moment to be a life and death situation.

What do you like to see in a practice?

Lots of serious physical work. “One must strive for enlightenment with the same intensity as a man whose hair is on fire.” The attitude need not be grim or negative. There should be joy in practice, but the joy is emergent from the pleasure of concentrated study.

What do you not like to see in a practice?

Standing around talking, socializing. The skills are mastered in the body. Theory and history and politics can be discussed over pizza and beer.

How do you define ju/aiki?

I am starting to understand the difference between JU and AIKI. There are different flavors of AIKI – the invisible chasing form that leads and disappears, the rooted immovable form that feels heavy and breaks you like waves on a rock, the electric feeling that locks your body in a tight arc with an instant’s touch, the collapsing feeling that crumbles your posture as if you tried to grab sand. Usually we get stuck in one form or another, because it matches our teacher or personality or proclivities. JU seems to be one form of AIKI – specifically the invisible form that conforms like water to the other person’s movement. In JUDO this takes the form of soft entry, leading to the snapping of fully committed body power at the moment of the throw (IKIOI). In our AIKIDO this soft matching entry leads to throwing with a continuation, rather than blocking or pivoting of uke’s movement or power. There are other ways that are still transcendent. The common thread is to not use strength, which is inherently limited.

What adjective would you say your technique 'feels' like?

You tell me. At my best, I feel like I am loose & relaxed, disappearing, crisp, detached from my opponent’s power and attached to his movement. It’s hard to do all the time.

When does a practice become not-ju/aiki?

When strength becomes a substitute for body power and movement.

Do you have a favored technique right now?

Gedan-ate has become meaningful lately as a crumbling of uke’s posture, a “void” as Nick Lowry described, taking away the space uke needs to stand in. I’ve become very interested in Aiki-age, lifting the hands directly into the centerline without strength, which is the basis of Shomen-ate, Oshi-taoshi, releases and all of the kuzushi in the 17. Tsukizue in Jodo has become a study of continual attack, and a crucible for improving efficiency of the kihon, which fixes perceived weaknesses in the kata.

What is your favorite practice related book?

“Jonathan Livingston Seagull” is a great study of the issues of training and teaching.

One of the best books for the problems of aikido randori is “There are No Secrets” by Wolf Lowenthal, a student of Tai Chi master Cheng Man-ch’ing. Musashi is great for no-nonsense strategy. Pascal Krieger’s book “Jodo: Le Voie du Baton” has one of the best comprehensive discussions of budo principles and progression that you will find, as well as a good representation of about a third of the classical jodo system. Ellis Amdur’s work on Ueshiba is well-researched and thought-provoking. All of these inspire serious exploration.

What is rank? What does rank reflect?

In theory, rank is simply an indication of place in a particular organization’s curriculum or hierarchy. Kim Taylor has famously opined that the only meaningful ranks indicate some sort of concrete political privilege – such as the right to teach or promote. There is not an absolute scale, since different groups award rank differently and for different reasons. However, there are popular standards set by consensus based on the largest organizations – the Kodokan defined rank in Judo, and other empty-hand arts are expected to be comparable, whether they are or aren’t. The Kendo Renmei defined rank in weapons – so dan grades in Jodo and Iaido simply will be compared to them. Rank scale and meaning is therefore an organizational decision, and affects how outsiders perceive the group as a whole. Individually, it means nothing. You have to feel what someone can do.

What principle have you been focusing on in your practice lately?

Relaxing my shoulders into my center at all times, and using my hips efficiently to position my shoulders (and therefore arms) while using the simple walking step as a timer and form for directing power quickly and without effort. Following techniques to conclusion by sticking rather than projecting. Breaking out of kata to react to the real situation and connection – kata being an ideal response that would occur naturally given the exact prescribed actions of the attacker.

What is your relationship to kata?

Kata are a template that teaches internal and external principles within defined scenarios in a didactic progression. Some kata are designed to evoke questions that are answered later; for instance in Jodo the Omote (surface) kata give one answer, then later you study the Kage (shadow) of these kata that present different answers for the same scenarios. You have to go back continually and refine the earlier forms in light of your new perceptions or skills. The Shomen-ate of a Shodan is different from a Yonkyu because he has spent months studying Uki-waza, and is expected to apply the timing and rhythm and floating to improve his Atemi-waza. The Shomen-ate of a Sandan or Rokudan should be different as well. So the forms are not static, but evolve with the practitioner. Also movements that have one meaning in one kata may have different application in another kata or in randori. Mistakes in kata should produce kae-waza, not freezing; this approximates the function of randori in some arts that don’t have it.

What is your relationship to a competitive feeling in training?

Training against resistance validates technique. However people usually react negatively, in terms of principle, getting lost in the struggle. There is always competition in partnered practice, necessarily and realistically, whether by design or not. The key is to maintain victory over self, insisting that you win only by really using the skills you are trying to develop. You may lose, but lose better each time. Loss is inoculation, in small non-lethal doses. You have to lose thousands of times, and the Dojo is a safe place to do it. We must train to never give up, and to use strategy at all times. Competition does bring a vital immediacy, but entails problems including poor technique, ego and injuries.

How has your vision of practice changed as you have gotten older?

Saotome-sensei said he requires hard practice of young people to wear them out, so they can eventually do techniques without strength. However the tempering of strenuous practice while young is a foundation that lasts when youth fades. I wish now that my training in youth had been more vigorous, but we were doing “old man’s Aikido” from the start. Ueshiba, Takeda and other “supermen” started with very harsh training in their youths, and maintained their strength even when using no-strength exclusively.

Do you have another hobby or art form that you think about in martial arts terms and ideas?

Probably driving my car, since it really is the most serious life-and-death situation we put ourselves in every day. Politics, in terms of strategy, whether at work or relationships or government. Cooking.

Do you see any problems with the way aikido is practiced in the world at large, and do you have any recommendations for change?

No. It’s a big world and people do what they will. It would be nice if everyone recognized each other and there was no politics, but that isn’t realistic. Some people are more brutal than I would prefer, and some are more airy-fairy. The key to failure is trying to please everybody.

What martial art besides the one you practice do you think is interesting?

Nei gong, a type of qi gong that is the internal practice of Tai Chi, is interesting because it seems to build a place to put power, which enables you to relax the body. Ueshiba practiced internal focus and strengthening exercises like furitama to forge a strong center. These are organized tools to remove strength from elsewhere in the body, and unblock the real flow of power and movement.

What inspires you?

My teachers, who display the goals I work towards. My students, who I see grow and who keep me honest. Their efforts obligate me to do my best.

Do you have any aspirations for your art, dojo or organization for the future?

To improve myself, to give that to my students, to repay my teachers’ effort and faith with my own.

Anything on your mind you would like to add?

Thank you, Eric, for asking these questions and sharing everyone’s thoughts. “Everyone except myself is my teacher.” My dojo is always open for sincere people to visit and train.

Aikido is not a throwing art

2011-05-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

Often in the martial arts we categorize art form by the desired result. We call karate a striking art, and judo a throwing art. Several of my teachers and I seem to be growing in a direction away from the traditional view of aikido. I believe many in the art would consider aikido a throwing art, or maybe a joint locking art. In these narrow views of results a great many tools get ignored or left out from the martial artist’s tool set. Very few aikido artists include ashi waza, foot sweeps into their practice of aikido. Similarly shime waza and quality atemi waza are often disregarded. Ground work is also ignored. Throws and pins are the vast majority of the curriculum.

Perhaps I would like to redefine my own art. It is not a throwing art – though I do use a lot of throws. Aiki, in my vision, is an art form where is the result is a crumbled structure of the opponent. Kuzushi, or structure crumbling is the primary goal. Throws happen because a structure is broken. Control happens when a structure is broken. Good atemi needs not cause percussive damage; it should cause the structure of the person to break down. Chokes and foot sweeps are also great ways to cause misalignment in an opponent’s structure. The deeper I explore the challenges of ground fighting, all I see is a direct correspondence to structure breaking.

Aikido is not a throwing art. Aikido is a structure breaking art with varied results happening from kuzushi. Redefining the goal is important. Many of the great teachers say that kake, or the execution of technique happens on its own if the structure is correctly broken. Maybe that is the result we should label our practice as. I know that is my current practice.

Introspection

2011-04-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been full of self introspection. An old classmate gave me some candid evaluations, and some unique insights into my practice and how it is viewed among his teachers and peers. Even in the harmony I continue to look within.

How do view my own training and my relationship with the arts?

Honestly I continue to be happy with my slow development, my relationships, my techniques, my students and my teachers. I enjoy my expression of the arts.

First to my development as a martial artist. I mean here the nitty gritty technique part. I am not super human, that much is for sure. In judo shiai I get really bogged down with 4th and 5th dans. In aikido shiai I have traded some great techniques with people that far outrank me. In the grand scope of things that doesn't seem so bad. I tend to be terrible with kata, but I am strong at creativity, and randori. I see relationships in body dynamics that not many people can see.

I love randori. Some days I am a force of nature. Other days my ass gets served to me. I am not afraid to lose or take ukemi. I have far less ego in technique than I have had before.

Kuzushi, breaking the structure of an opponent using their energy, or minimal energy of my own is my obsessive pursuit.

My techniques continues to get softer and more effective. I do still have some muscly and pain hot spots, but I feel them coming on and now I abandon them. I tend to practice against people who are resistive or have poorer ukemi. This has made my approach more pragmatic, and I chose safer throws that I can safely control the decent of almost any opponent, no matter their skill level. It makes the aiki a little less flippy and graceful, but I don't require people to 'go with the flow' in order to gain the controls I am after.

I am now teaching at two schools. Since I have started the second school I am beginning to take on a few shodan and above level students from a variety of clubs from around town. The new guys seem to appreciate I don't control them with rules, and I let them explore their training in a principled yet non limited way. I really get along well with my guys. There is a lot of laughter. On the horizon a third club is forming that I will be teaching at as well.

I have solid relationships with other oddballs, eccentrics and wise men in the arts. My evenings not training are often spent bloggin and on the phone, laughing about the way and sharing life with my fellow budoka.

I have been training very close with my some of my teachers lately. They have out poured generosity in their time spent with me. Matl Sensei has been giving me a couple hours a week. Hussey Sensei has been coming down and working with small groups. Bode Sensei and Lowry Sensei have kept their presence and influence active through the internet and phone. Waddell Sensei is who I take my trips to meet. We speak of God, whiskey and the way. I realize I don't fit with all people in the world, but I have found a few who seem to like me.

I continue to enjoy the martial arts. I am putting in 5-7 hours on the mat and another couple at the range every week. It keeps me happy, fulfilled and constantly striving for improvement. My body is strong, largely pain free and healthy. My relationships are solid and deep. I try to be respectful and kind in all my dealing in the arts and in life. I feel I am reaping the rewards of the practice. I have a long way to go and much to learn. Hopefully I will be blessed with a long life and the health to train till the very end of it.

It is entirely possible that I have my head up my ass.

Walk In Peace

Tai Otoshi 体落 Henka

2011-04-21T16:22:00.000-07:00

I got the chance to get another private lesson with Matl Sensei this week. He went over many of his favorite variations on the 体落 Tai Otoshi (body drop) idea. He is very clever with his adjustments on the classic ideas. He does not follow the classic form when he finds a better way to do them. He has slowly carved away inefficiencies from classical judo ideas, until they have become softer, safer and more efficient.

Usually I cut out me doing the throws in my films with Sensei. I kept them in because he is always correcting my mistakes. Keeping in my clumsy version will probably be useful to understand the sequence of teaching.

Hagakure on training

2011-04-20T12:27:00.000-07:00

"A man who gains a reputation due to a technical perfection in martial arts is an idiot. Out of his foolishness he focuses all his force on one thing and in order to succeed at it forgets to think about anything else. Such a man is not properly prepared."

"A man's training is endless. Sometimes, you start to feel that you have reached perfection at something, so you stop doing what you were doing. Whereas, he who wishes to reach perfection must always remember that he is very far from it. Only he who is not satisfied with just being an achiever and always striving for new achievement can consider himself to be a great man."

from Hagakure ("Hidden in the leaves") by Yamamoto Tsunatomo 1716

Matl Sensei ground work

2011-04-19T16:35:00.000-07:00

I shot some video notes of a few ground work sessions with Matl Sensei. He has a very different feel to his ground work. He floats above his opponent taking up space for them to move. He believes that if you put weight on your opponent, that you are resting on unstable ground. If they move - you move. This idea is contrary to many ground work artists. Hussey Sensei on the other hand feels like the heaviest man in the world when he pins your ribs down. Different strategies, I like them both - no one person has all the answers.

By the way, I am a big believer in having video notes now. I will review these time and time again, picking up small details. Even if you don't want to share your training on youtube - I highly recommend you video and watch your practice as often as you can.

More structure breaking

2011-04-10T07:25:00.000-07:00

This is the second shot that Mike (white pants)and I (black pants) took this week. We are working slow, minimal energy and relaxed. We are giving each other a pretty tough puzzle though - the constantly recovering person. Here mostly we are focusing on breaking the person down their weak lines and when they make a recovery step to correct for the distortion in their balance, we break them again. We find 2-4 decent balance breaks makes an unrecoverable kuzushi (structure crumbling) chain.

Another point of interest to look for is the difference in Mike's and my foot techniques. Mike's strategy is not to throw with the sweeps, but to change my recovery of few inches from where I am expecting to have my feet land. That caused enough postural distortion that the next movement was a structure collapse. My sweeps tended to be a bit more decisive towards the tsukuri-to-kake idea, but looking at it, Mike's strategy seems to maintain a softer edge.

Watching the film, another thing I would like to point out is the relaxed zanshin - or remaining energy. Notice how even between throws we are keeping an eye on each other and moving in a way to always face each other. Zanshin does not always have to burn a hole in each other, but this is one long engagement. We never disconnect our focus. There are a few times we almost turn our backs to our partner, but you will notice we are watching intently from the corner of our eyes. Also notice how me manage distance as our partners are getting up. We are playing loose and relaxed here, but the attention does not lag. We are monitoring at all times.

Unless we are working on something specific in our dojo, we do not have any stylized attack or beginning attack distance. It is an interaction of management of one another. Nothing is prescriptive, only reaction to circumstance. An attacker tries to come up with novel problems. The receiver of the attack merely moves and connects, and starts working angles. A partner has permission to attack at any time during practice, which is why me maintain focus. In our films you will regularly see people getting attacked while standing back up if they are not paying attention. Even in this film, Mike thought an engagement may have been over, so he stood back up right into a foot technique trap. Any time we see a hole in focus we always continue to work a connection.

A final thing to point out, which is related to zanshin. Notice how we monitor our position after the throw. As the guy on the ground we have permission to continue the attack from the ground if we can. If we can grab our partner's legs, or entangle him in some way, we almost always do. If you build these factors into your play, you will find that students will use better strategies, distances and angles naturally.

Tueller Drill

2011-04-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

A bunch of the blogs are posting information about the 21 foot rule. Basically a man can sprint and stab 21 feet before an officer can draw a weapon. Check out this video.

Kuzushi practice

2011-04-07T04:31:00.000-07:00

Grad school has killed my urge to type, but I am still shooting video! Here Mike and I are working on multistage balance breaks. In my mind this is what kuzushi looks like, a crumbling of the structure with every step.

I was talking with Hussey Sensei about this last night, and it feels like swimming in mud and being overwhelmed with problems. Looking at the film though, it looks like we are just falling over for each other. The camera caught a valuable view.

Internet Budo

2011-04-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

Just saving this for future reference.

Matl vs Mike

2011-04-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

My student goes against my teacher in some fun randori.

Ashi Waza lessons

2011-03-29T19:16:00.000-07:00

Matl Sensei took Mike and I through a related chain of related judo techniques - some foot and then the related hand versions. It is a funny thing with Sensei's judo - every technique feels the same. The more I watch his work the more I see the same 3 or 4 motions express themselves over and over. These are what I must learn!

Matl Sensei versus me.

2011-03-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

Ever want to see your favorite blogger get his butt kicked? Well I talked Matl Sensei into giving me a few minutes of randori.

Tai Otoshi 体落 - Zdenek Matl - Austin Judo

2011-03-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

Zdenek Matl teaching his soft judo version of Tai Otoshi. His technique is small, soft and will put you on your rear end!

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Austin Judo - Morote Gari 双手刈

2011-03-25T06:15:00.000-07:00

Zdenek Matl Teaching us his minimum energy version of morote gari 双手刈 at the Austin Budokan.

If any of my readers have any requests of throws to see, please comment and I will get it filmed for you.

Austin Judo - Sumi Otoshi 隅落

2011-03-24T15:42:00.000-07:00

Zdenek Matl working with us on his version of the sumi otoshi 隅落 corner drop.

Austin Judo - Uki otoshi 浮落

2011-03-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

Austin Judo - Uchi Mata 内股

2011-03-22T16:40:00.000-07:00

Zdenek Matl teaches his minimal effort version of uchi mata, 内股 - inner thigh throw at the Austin Budokan in Austin Texas.

Austin Judo - O Soto Gari 大外刈

2011-03-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

Zdenek Matl teaching his soft judo version of O Soto Gari 大外刈, the major outside reap at Austin Budokan, in Austin Texas.

Kalama Sutta

2011-03-19T15:54:00.000-07:00

The people of Kalama asked the Buddha who to believe out of all the ascetics, sages, venerables, and holy ones who, like himself, passed through their town. They complained that they were confused by the many contradictions they discovered in what they heard. The Kalama Sutta is the Buddha's reply.

The following is a reader's digest version. This applies to martial study as deeply as it does any other course of spiritual endeavor.

– Do not believe anything on mere hearsay.
– Do not believe in traditions merely because they are old and have been handed down for many generations and in many places.
– Do not believe anything on account of rumors or because people talk a a great deal about it.
– Do not believe anything because you are shown the written testimony of some ancient sage.
– Do not believe in what you have fancied, thinking that, because it is extraordinary, it must have been inspired by a god or other wonderful being.
– Do not believe anything merely because presumption is in its favor, or because the custom of many years inclines you to take it as true.
– Do not believe anything merely on the authority of your teachers and priests.
– But, whatever, after thorough investigation and reflection, you find to agree with reason and experience, as conducive to the good and benefit of one and all and of the world at large, accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it.

The same text, said the Buddha, must be applied to his own teachings.

– Do not accept any doctrine from reverence, but first try it as gold is tried by fire.

Training Montage

2011-03-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

Hey, I cut this together for some promotional stuff, and as my own video photo album. My own training montage! What you don't have a montage? ...And you call yourself a martial artist. Sheesh.

I recommend turning up the volume.

Zdenek Matl's 小内刈 ko uchi gari

2011-03-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

As seen at the Austin Budokan!

Interesting Ashi Waza - Sapu

2011-03-08T12:18:00.000-08:00

I have been working the ashi waza (foot sweeps) obsessively lately. While I enjoy doing it from judo connections, I have been finding aikido connections lend themselves brilliantly as entry in displacing your opponents foot.

Here is a silat teacher showing some ideas of foot techniques with a very different flavor - yet so familiar. i enjoyed this and I look forward to meshing these ideas into my work.

Fitting before gripping - Cichorei Kano

2011-02-28T20:24:00.000-08:00

So I was reading JudoForum, and my favorite anonymous Judo guru, Cichorei Kano posted on a topic that I thought was worth spreading.

Postfelixzog wrote -

I'm not sure I fully understand this part of the article on Tokio Hirano on the JudoInfo site:

"Traditional nage-waza (throwing techniques) were taught in the following sequence: kumu (gripping), tsukuru (the entry and proper fitting of your body into position taken just before the movement required for completion of your throwing technique), kakeru (completing), and nageru (throwing).

Hirano revolutionized the order to tsukuru, kumu, kakeru and nageru."

Does this mean that he would fit-in as he was establishing a grip so as to telegraph less? Comments?

Cichorei Kano spoke:

In the traditional judo sequence there is critical chance for acting very judo-unlike. Many people who establish a certain grip do so with a certain throw in mind. That in itself really is entirely judo-unlike, just like 'setting-up' a throw. The only people who 'set-up' throws are people who are clueless about what judo is. The throw and what grip you will end up with, should be a consequence of the opponent. Battling an opponent's grip (in most cases) is absurd and contrary to the idea of judo. A grip by your opponent if imposed on you means that it includes force. Judo requires that you use that force, not that you counter that force. The grip which your opponent establishes and what he does IS the tsukuru or a throw. Tsukuru should not be something you do yourself, but something that too really is done by the opponent. As tsukuru established by your opponent unfolds, the grip that follows by you is the natural consequence of the mistakes in the action of the opponent, hence why kumu should follow tsukuru and not the other way around.

The problem is that to succeed this one needs to have achieved full understanding of what judo works, and what principles it is subject to. You need to be able to sense, and let everything that happens be a natural reaction to the action initiated by the opponent. Essentially that is what Mifune also did, although Mifune did not go so far as to convert this into an entirely new approach to judo, by challenging the traditional sequences of a throw. Mifune felt he could sufficiently explain judo by emphasizing action/reaction and by postulating ōmyō. This latter concept implies a mysterious quality, sensing, sourcing and understanding that exceeds what the average mind can perceive by using just your eyes, or explanations of physics. This includes part such as control with the hara by manipulating center of gravity without changing body position, or the ability to ability to completely anticipate what it is you are going to do long before you have completed that action, as well as many other things. To some extent Mifune's ōmyō and Hirano's nami (waves of water) converge. Hirano postulated that every action in judo functions like a wave in water. He identified that there are 7 different types of waves in water. For example, whirlpool is an entirely different type of wave than a traditonal wave arriving the beach. If you produce a wave in water, you can anticipate its evolution. Hirano used the system as a sonar from a whale. By sending out 'pulses', he knew the opponent had to do something with it (resist, accept, deviate. By linking the type of wave that would be produced, he could anticipate the proper kuzushi, as all he needed to do was to amplify the returning wave and position his body so that the mass of the opponent would by toppled. The wave itself would have a momentum an direction, and position his body specific to that wave allowed him to achieve maximal efficiency at minimal effort.

Original Thread

Tegatana Dosa - The Walk

2011-02-27T11:18:00.001-08:00

In this article I will be taking a detailed look at the history and evolution of aikido taiso in the Tomiki lineage. This has been a difficult project, piecing together the history for video records and information collected in interviews and internet documents. I highly encourage people to participate and add any information they may have about this topic. Simply comment on the blog or email me at thedragonsorb@gmail.com

Kenji Tomiki demonstrating tegatana in Judo Taiso

Aikido Taiso in the Tomiki Lineage

Most schools in lineages stemming from Kenji Tomiki 富木謙治 practice a form of solo aiki based movments. These movements are variously called judo taiso,budo taiso, tegatana dosa, tegatana no kata, unsoku, or tandoku undo, aiki taiso no tandoku undo, the walk, the walking, the walking ways, the handblade forms. Whatever the modern organizations call the collection of movements, it seems clear that the exercises were from a group of exercises originally called ‘Judo Taiso’, which translates to ‘judo calisthenics’. Judo taiso is a series of drills developed by Kenji Tomiki as part of his style that incorporates Judo teaching methodology into Aikido practice –and vice versa. Although time has formed many variations of the practice, it is composed of Unsoku or taisabaki (body movement) and the tegatana dosa (hand blade exercises).

History

In 1944 Kenji Tomiki 富木謙治 was living and teaching in imperial Japan’s occupied Manchuria. With the surrender of Japan, the occupying army fell and the Russian army rolled in to take control of Manchuria. Kenji Tomiki was captured as a consequence of his involvement. Tomiki sensei developed a series of exercises during his three year imprisonment 1945-1948, and based them on the basic movements that compose efficient budo movement. They are different from the general warm-up exercises in that they offer a variety of deeper meanings and insights into the execution of basic movements. According to the verbal lore, he continued to practice and during his three years of captivity developed what he called the Judo Taiso. In 1953, he was appointed to full professorship at Waseda University – the place where Judo Taiso became widely distributed. The blanket term Judo Taiso includes both the solo exercises and paired work called Judo Taiso Sotai Dosa. During this time he toured extensively and wrote several publications on the topics of Japanese martial arts. He published a book in 1956 with the name Judo Taiso.

A picture from Judo Taiso. Kenji Tomiki showing his preference for large circular movement.

jūdō 【柔道】taisō 【体操】- judo calisthenics

Kenji Tomiki’s practice

In the first minute and twenty seconds of the classic film of Tomiki’s practice we find him demonstrating the exercise that would come to be performed around the world by the students from his lineage.
The first film of the frame reads “Judo Taiso”
The second frame says…

Transcription:「合氣の技」の基本となる動作を体操の形式にまとめて練習し易しくした。

「あいきのわざ」のきほんとなるどうさくをたいそうのけいしきにまとめてれんしゅうしやさしくし。

“When the basic movements of “Aiki no waza” are brought together through formal exercises, practice becomes easy”

I have not been able to accurately date this film, but I surmise he probably filmed it around the time the book was being published in the mid 1950’s. Tomiki shows, at least in this stage of his training, a strong preference for large sweeping tegatana motions. He performs the exercises quite briskly, especially the unsoku stepping motions.

Next we see some clips of Kenji Tomiki Sensei practicing his tegatana dosa around 1975. I think this film is intensely interesting - especially since I have not seen anyone from any of his various student lineages perform it in this way.

Nick Ushin Lowry of the Kaze Uta Budo Kai did a detailed study of the evolution of Tomiki's own practice of the exercise. I applaud his work. It is of great value in looking at the subtle changes that happened through time in Kenji Tomiki's work. (edit) I just attended a workshop with Lowry Sensei on the evolution of the tegatana dosa. He has uncovered some fabulous insights.

Full Lesson of Lowry Sensei's Analysis

The Senta Yamada Film

Senta Yamada studied under Kenji Tomiki. In 1959 he went to England and brought Judo and Aikido with him. He did a taping at the BBC studios and one of the things they filmed was his solo Judo Taiso, although I do not know what he called the exercises at the time. The Yamada film and the Tomiki film are the two true treasures in the historical study of the exercises. I feel that Yamada’s demonstration is probably the clearest remaining representation of the work that was coming out of Waseda University in the late 1950’s.

I personally feel any student of Tomiki aikido taking a deep look at these exercises should take a long look at the oldest examples we have, Tomiki and Yamada's. My analysis of other examples of the exercise are to be compared with these oldest two. The purpose is to highlight the evolution that has naturally happened over time.

Tegatana 手刀 Dōsa 動作 (Handblade Movements)

At some point the solo exercises began to be known as the tegatana dosa. In the formal syllabus of Shodokan, and the Tomiki Aikido of the Americas they list Unsoku, Tegatana dosa along with basic breakfalls as the first requirements for grading and advancement.

tegatana ・ shutō 【手刀】-hand used like a sword in striking

te 【手】-hand; arm
katana・ tō 【刀】-(single-edged) sword; katana

The Nariyama Line

It seems the J.A.A. under Nariyama Sensei has moved the exercises in a different direction. One of the readers of the blog recommended this as a good example of what they are doing at the Shodokan in Japan.

British Aikido Association - B.A.A.

In the B.A.A. or the British Aikido Association knowledge of unsoku is required for for 6th kyu and complete knowledge of tandoku undo for 4th kyu. In this film we see a group from London Aikido Dojo, I believe a dojo in Yamada's line, practicing the exercises. They do a few repetitions of sections demonstrating more of a exercise over kata feel to the motions.

In the next nice example we see Adrian Tyndale's group performing at an exhibition the exercises. I believe this would be another B.A.A. example. Although much slower and timed to music, it looks they have remained true to the example that Yamada handed down.

Tomiki Aikido of Americas, formally J.A.A.

Next let's hop over the pond and take a look at an American version from the J.A.A. - Tomiki Aikido of the Americas. This presentation of the tegatana dosa is by Ash Morgan. The first major change we see from Tomiki and Yamada's work is that he drops the turning motions. Everything is performed moving straight ahead.

Michael Gelum from the TAA wrote a criticism of this film.

"Flow and movement are correct, but the tying to the center/hip movement is out of synch. The movements are sword cuts and we all know that the sword is fueled by body movement not arm. If your knot of your obi is leading your exercise, then you are executing good technique. As a suggestion to great technique, practice should be slow...speed will come with proficiency, not the antithesis."

手刀の型– Tegatana No Kata

During the 1970s Tomiki aikido began to take root in the United States. Two major branches formed. One remained close ties to Japan (J.A.A. then later Tomiki Aikido of the Americas). These groups continue to call the exercises Tegatana Dosa. Another branch of the lineage centered in Houston began under the teaching of Kogure, Miyake, Inoue and Geis. This lineage has gone on to spawn organizations that include the Fugakukai, Jiyushinkai, the International Aikido Alliance, the American Tomiki Aikido Association, the Zan-Totsu Kai, and the Kaze Uta Budokai. In this lineage the Tegatana Dosa usually became known as Tegatana no Kata – hand blade kata. Thus far I have not seen any groups outside this lineage calling the exercises by this name. Despite the name ‘tegatana no kata’ the actual use of the hand blade became less emphasized as compared to Tomiki Sensei. Likely instructor preferences started moving towards a palm connection as opposed to the hand blade that Tomiki Sensei seemed to prefer in publications. Many people in this lineage casually refer to the exercise as the “walk”, or “walking”.

kata・ gata 【型】model; type (e.g. of machine, goods, etc.), - type; style; pattern; mold; template; model - kata (standard form of a movement, posture, etc. in martial arts, sport, etc.)

Tegatana no Kata

1) Shomen Ashi - forward step
2) Waki Ashi - side to side step
3) Tenkan Ashi - step feet
4) Shomen Te Gatane - straight hand blade
5) Uchi Mawashi - inside sweep hand blade
6) Soto Mawashi - outside sweep hand blade
7) Uchi Soto Gaeshi - forward block & side push
8) Uchi Mawashi Gaeshi - inside sweep & turn
9) Soto Mawashi Gaeshi - outside sweep & turn opposite
10) Ude Goshi Gaeshi - arm & hip turn opposite
11) O Mawashi - major circle opposite
12) Yoko O Mawashi - side major circle both hands

Fugakukai

An example of the exercise done from a young member of Fugakukai practicing. We are beginning to see a bit of drift from Tomiki's example. The contact point has moved away from the original hand blade. There are a few palm up lifting motions that I have not seen in other examples. Also in this lineage we see the final motions of the exercises, Yoko O Mawashi, shift far away from the ideas presented in the Tomiki/Yamada model.

I found another example of a Fugakukai / Kihara student demonstrating the walking kata.

American Tomiki Aikido Association

Here we see Jeff and Gail Duncan at Full Circle Aikido in Killeen, Texas

Kaze Uta Budo Kai

Nick Ushin Lowry the head of the Kaze Uta Budo Kai demonstrates his version of the Tegatana No Kata. Interestingly enough, he emphasizes a return to the actual use of the tegatana in his version.

Windsong Online Lesson

The Tsunako Miyake Connection

Over my years of training I have heard many high level teachers attribute the ‘walk’ to the influential teacher Tsunako Miyake Sensei. Unless there is any evidence of her practicing it before the 1950s Tomiki film, I feel that it might be a false rumor. I am sure she was pivotal in distributing the exercise to a great number of influential teachers and she might have aided in refining the movements. At this time it seems clear that the movements came from Tomiki’s direct work with the Judo Taiso.

One interesting story recently came to light on the thoughtful Sensei blog. L.F. Wilkinson recently wrote on his blog - http://aikibudokan.typepad.com/

“When one of my Sensei's Sensei came over to the US on tour, my wife and I were tasked with escorting her from seminar to seminar while my wife acted as uke for her teachings; a great honor I might add. It gave us some behind the scenes on how high level Japanese Sensei view some things. We walked into a dojo while on the tour and on the wall the dojo proprietor, concerned about the proper Japanese names, had cobbled together Japanese names and had done poster boards with the names of The Walking (and every movement in it) and the 8 Releases (and every movement in that also). Sensei read the boards, turned away towards Lynn and I so no one could see and used her hand to hide her laughter before she said, "Walking and releases have no name. Not kata. Just walking and just exercise." She appreciated the sincere efforts but she said that Tomiki had never thought the exercises important enough for formal names; there are not being formal kata per se.”

合氣体操の単独運動 – Aiki Taiso No Tandoku Undo

In the 1980s some ex members of the Fugakukai lineage formed their own Tomiki based organization called the Jiyushinkai. This organization continued the practice of the solo exercises that originated from Kenji Tomiki. Like the previous teachers in this line, the emphasis moved away from hand blade work. Instead it took on an emphasis of steady center motion, weight dropping, palm connection and biomechanically efficient pushes. Perhaps for the reason of the de-emphasis on the hand blade the organization changed the name of the exercise to Aiki Taiso No Tandoku Undo (aiki calisthenics – solo exercise). This change must have occurred sometime before 1995, as this is when I first heard the name and began exploring this exercise.

Here is a film from what appears to be a mid 1990's version of the Aiki Taiso No Tandoku Undo. It was practiced by Aaron Clark at the Jiyushinkan in Tempe, Arizona.

A YouTube poster who is apparently part of their system writes, "This looks like the *old* kata video, because Aaron is still going up on his toes without flexing his knees and dropping down, i.e. the way we used to do it, in that one swing-around movement in the latter half of the kata. Sheesh, this takes me back..."

I would love to see a new version, but members of this lineage seem to not like putting practice to film at this time.

aiki【合気・合氣outdated kanji】
ai 【合い】joint; associate; to come together; to merge; to unite; to meet
ki 【気】spirit; mind heart, nature; disposition, mood, feelings,atmosphere;essence

taisō 【体操】gymnastics; physical exercises; calisthenics
tai 【体】 body; physique; posture
ayatsuru 【操る】 to manipulate; to operate; to pull strings

tandoku 【単独】sole; independence; single; solo (flight)
hitoe 【一重・単】one layer; single; onefold
doku 【独】By itself - In combination - walking alone; walking unaided; going alone; standing on one's own

undō 【運動】motion; exercise
un 【運】fortune; luck
dō 【動】motion; change; confusion

The Definitive Shomen Ate 正面当て

2011-02-20T11:53:00.000-08:00

正面当て

Shomen Ate 正面当て is the first movement of the Tomiki 17 kata, １７本. This is one of the more powerful, and complicated motions explored in the kata. I can say with some certainty that this motion is universally one of the poorest executed techniques that is typically performed by the average Tomiki player. Why is this? I think it is because we have a poor understanding of what we are doing and why. I hope to clear this up through this examination.

The definition

正面当てShomen Ate is often incorrectly defined a 'face strike', but in fact this motion does not have to be done to the face.

shōmen 【正面】 - front, frontage, facade, main

ateru 【当てる】- to hit, to expose, to apply

Rather than choosing a single definition, I think it is valuable for the aikido student to absorb the multiple meaning of the word presented here.

For further exploration of the atemi concept and principle- here.

Yoshinkan trains this motion as well, typically it is called shomen tsuki 正面突き. While I do not know what aikikai lineage folks might call this my research indicates 'ago tsuki nage'. It is considered a variation of the kokyo and irimi nage ideas. If the names of techniques are decided by the presence of irimi (entering) then shomen ate would all be called 'irimi nage'.

Shomen Ate as principle

Shomen ate as it is commonly practiced and thought of is a technique. However every single high level teacher I have ever trained with has said, there are no techniques in aikido, there is only application of principle. So the first conceptual puzzle the student searching for deeper understanding must face is that there is no shomen ate technique.

There is no shomen ate technique

Shomen Ate as architectural relationship

Then what is shomen ate? Shomen Ate is aiki principle being exercised in a particular architectural relationship. The relationship in Shomen Ate is aiki principle as it is applied to the front of the partner. Typically the person exercising shomen ate will be in the uke's inside, or uchi.

I think this shift in understanding in crucial. Remember that Tomiki Sensei tried to distill the essence of Ueshiba's aikido into a student friendly form. Ueshiba moved freely in a great number of creative ways. He did not move in a tightly controlled kata parameter. The purpose of the kata is to give us the training wheels so we can move beyond the katas limitations and eventually generalize the principles of aikido to all situations.

Formlessness of Shomen Ate

As students in the lineages of Tomiki we are instructed in technique. We copy what our teachers tell us to perform. Most see and describe the techniques in terms of angles and lines, and where the application of energy happens. Many students grow to believe that there is a single way that shomen is to be done to be correct. This is flawed thinking. Aikido is flowing and formless. No technique can be perfectly replicated again and again. Why? - Because the situation and circumstances are always changing.

-There is no specific connection that has to be applied for a technique to be Shomen Ate.
-There is no specific part of the body that has to be used.
-There is no specific entry for Shomen Ate.
-There is no specific way for the exchange of energy between tori and uke.
-There is no particular geometry that must be used in the motion
-There is no specific timing that must be used

The single defining feature of shomen ate is the forward architectural relationship. Everything else is exploration, artistry, accommodation to circumstance, skill and stylistic preference.

In my humble opinion the single most detrimental aspect in the exploration of Shomen Ate is rigidity of form. Save yourself some time dear student - there is no specific form.

The textbook form

Let us look a few text book versions so we might understand what Shomen Ate looks like in the classic sense. By no means was the 17 kata (１７本) meant to be the definitive study of aiki technique - it was merely the introductory guide to get college students quickly playing the sport.

In the first example we see Nariyama Shihan in Japan performing a text book style version of the idea.

The next version we see another lovely text book classic example from the Aikibudokan.

Variations of Form

Here we see shomen ate performed at the Essex Aikido Dojo (Shoshinkan.) They seem to have a driving energy preference. Tori gets off the line, then blasts through uke. One variation I see here that I often use is catching the recovery leg with the hand. Watch tori's left hand catch uke's right leg when he goes to recover.

Here we see some university students practicing a slowed down version. I believe they are part of the KiHara / Fugakukai lineage. They are using a later timing and floatier feeling. Notice how the back foot of uke pivots around him. This is often seen in later timing and circular executions of shomen ate. Also the tori is not driving through, instead he follows uke's energy.

In this film we see some non-Tomiki lineage folks doing a shomen ate. One interesting thing is uke's attack - a hand blade version of shomen ate. Then tori responded by getting off line and performing shomen ate right back.

Here he uses different footwork

The same group posted another example with a tenkan entry.

Here is a hiki taioshi counter with a tanto shomen ate. Notice his connection is different. He uses his arm as a connection.

Here we see one in a competition. Notice how radically different his execution is from traditional form? Still a Shomen Ate.

Here is Tadayuki Sato at 2001 Maishima seminar teaching variations of Shomen Ate.

Here is Nick Ushin Lowry's excellent instruction videos on shomen ate

For those of you that are serious gluttons for Shomen Ate, here is my group performing about 7 minutes worth of Shomen Ate in a myriad of variations. In this example you will see far more variation on the idea than any other video I have found yet.

Here is an older film I made. I don't see shomen ate like this anymore, but it has some useful explanations of variations in shomen ate timing.

J.W. Bode at Austin Budokan - March 5,6

2011-02-16T18:35:00.001-08:00

Sorry about the late notice folks, but I just booked J.W. Bode to come down and train with us on Saturday March 5th and Sunday March 6th.

It is a rare occurance that I meet an artist that impresses me from first touch. Bode Sensei is one of those artists. I had seen his work on some You Tube videos, and I thought it looked weird. First time I trained with him though, he had me gently twisted into knots. Videos can be deceiving. My ego was checked by an old man yet again. He is not a traditional artist. He is a strategist, tactician and original thinker.

He has an extensive background in aikido, judo, fire arms, arrest techniques and law enforcement. His work transcends aikido - it is pure tactics. He shortens distances, times, efficiencies and speaks of technique in terms from Sun Tzu. No matter the art you primarily train in, I think you will take away something valuable from this seminar.

Who? JW Bode - retired police officer

What? A seminar in effective martial tactics based on aikido,judo and arrest techniques.

When? Saturday March 5
9:30am-12:00
2:00pm-5:00pm

We will be catching some dinner and drinks somewhere. Feel free to tag along.

Sunday March 6
9:30am-noonish

Where? Austin Budokan

Location

View Larger Map

The space is at the North West corner of I35 and 51st street. 1000 E. 51st (upstairs)

View Larger Map

How much? I am hoping to pay his gas and send him off with a few bucks in his pocket. Try to chip in 40 bucks, and buy him lunch.

Contact for more information of questions

Eric

512-947-9585

Russell Waddell - a brief history

2011-02-15T13:20:00.000-08:00

Russell Waddell

It is so easy to lose information on the important people in our practice, our lives and lineages if we don't take the time to ask, and to record the knowledge. This is one of the responsibilities that I have taken on for myself - to record some of the facts about my teachers, so my students will have access to the information when they are ready to ask questions.

My first aikido and judo teacher was, and still is, Russell Waddell. I was working in a pizza place in 1994. Then one day a dojo opened up next door. I was already training in kung fu, and I would spend my breaks looking in the windows knowing my Chinese boxing could defeat these aikido people. Finally I met the teacher, joined his group and have been training under his guidance and friendship ever since. In his career he has graduated around 40 shodans and has started numerous budo clubs.

Russell Waddell and Eric Pearson - Austin Aikibudo

From Waddell Sensei

Hey guy, haven't forgot about your interview...looking at your questions, I must tell you there are some I am not of an opinion on, so don't want to try and answer them as a line-by-line item, but instead just let me do a little rambling and thoughts to you and you pick out what you want...I of course owe you my life and hope my correspondence helps you, you pulled me back from the brink of despair and hopeless obscurity by forcing me to get back on the mat and starting to teach again...many thanks to you and your group of friends for instilling meaning back into my life

How about stats and facts and history first...and I think that I will get this started with you and it will be sent to you in series as I can think and write down what you my be looking for and want to know, so lets begin and go for a while and then I will pick up later with you.

I began studying Kung fu wing chun with Robert Alaniz in Corpus when I was 23 which would be 1973. Spent about 1 &1/2 years with him, then was on my own sporadically working out for the next t couple years. While working at NAS Kingsville I met Barbara and David Gillanders who taught Judo and Aikido and began with them...about 1977-1979. I also met my Karate teachers, Bill Inmond and Marta Baiste..I was promoted to 2nd black in Karate, moved to Oklahoma and started a club (Bushido Club) in Frederick , Ok. and left it in Paul Fowlers hands when I moved back down to Corpus. I re-hooked up with Barbara and took my shodan test in Aikido in Houston in 1982 under Karl Geis.

In 1984 I moved to San Antonio and began teaching the suburb of Kirby until I moved back down to Kingsville in 1985. There, I started the Shorino Shi Shi Club in Bishop (named after Barbara and Davids club with their permission) and ran that for about 4 years...then moved to Houston for a few months to study under Karl but left after a few months back to Kingsville.

In January 1991 moved to Lewisville and am still here. Started teaching Judo and Aikido at Fred McBrides club, then joined in with Tim Vought who had a couple schools in Garland . Over the years I have had 4-5 locations on my own and had 3-4 partnerships with Tim.

Tim Vought, Russell Waddell, Eric Pearson - Port Aransas 2008ish

In 2001, I turned 50 and decided to step down and let my club be run by the seniors and for them to take it to wherever they wanted...that is now located on N.W. Highway by Lake Bauckman with Bill Parker,, David Bedard, Marc Randolph, Ron Charron, the teachers.

3 years ago I joined forces with Tony Genova at Texas Karate 3 to teach Aikido again and am presently there. Time frame brings to date about 38 years tied up in doing martial arts, have had a lot of great teachers and these are too various to mention and give due credit, but if truth be told, I think I have learned from just about everyone I have worked out with, irregardless of their ran,k, and that is the great and mysterious gift hidden in this endeavor which is why I am thankful for my rebirth to you Mr. Eric.

Eric, Brus, Russell, Jeff, Scooter - Austin 2008ish

My ranks are Aikido-6th dan, Judo-1st dan, karate-2nd dan, Jyodo-1st dan. Still a student in every sense of the definition, and forced by circumstances to fill in as teacher when needed.

In respect to my practice as I see it now, I am focused on timing and balance breaking. My teachers put lots of weight on these and I see why. They become the great equalizers in confrontation, rather than speed and strength, and now that I am beginning to feel the effects of age, laziness, over-weight, loss of muscle mass, it is of most importance that I shift my attention to these more important aspects of my training. When I am able to put Uke on one leg and then throw him at will, than that is going to be identified as my favorite technique...which way I am able to bring it to finish not too important, but as for teaching this, I think Aigamae Ate, Gyakyugamae Ate, and Gedan Ate are good and then Hiki Taioshi, and Ude Hineri also produce the little light above their heads.

Here is a good place to stop for now, will continue later, Russ

Judo Pictograms

2011-02-12T16:58:00.000-08:00

I first saw a martial arts pictogram used at a dojo I trained in England. I instantly fell in love. It is simple, primitive art with clean lines - just like good judo. This week I decided to search out the judo pictographs, and much to my dismay they is no collection of them on any internet sites that I could find. So I clicked and pasted small images and tried to fix them on photoshop. There is likely some distortion on a few of them. This blog entry was quite a labor. Enjoy it Judoka!

pic·to·gram

— noun
another word for pictograph

pic·to·graph

–noun
1. a pictorial sign or symbol.
2. a record consisting of pictorial symbols, as a prehistoric cave drawing or a graph or chart with symbolic figures representing a certain number of people, cars, factories, etc.

So the Olympics has had a history of graphic design making primitive pictograms for many of the sports. I it used for a variety of functions, but basically it is a cool design that cuts through language barriers.

For the part the trend to make pictograms for the games started in the Tokyo games of 1964. Here we see a judoka standing proudly.

There was no Judo in the '68 Games.

The art genre has been heavily influenced by the designers of the 1972 Munich games. I like this one.

Russia 1980 - not my fav.

Seoul 1988

Barcelona 1992 - the worst one IMHO

Atlanta 1996 - Nice design, but getting too detailed for my liking.

Sydney 2000 - the lame boomerang style

Athens 2004 - I really like this one. Simple and elegant conjuring imagery of ancient pottery.

China 2008 - I like this one. It was designed to look like the stamp seal script.

London 2012 - It is an OK design, just not my style.

Some pictograms from random sources

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My all time favorite is the China 2008 with the red border to make it look like a stamp.

Aikido In Austin

2011-02-08T18:30:00.000-08:00

A little map I made of the clubs in the area. if you are seeking more information simply Google "aikido guide to Austin"

winter training

2011-02-07T08:28:00.000-08:00

Calligraphy for new dojo

2011-01-31T04:39:00.000-08:00

This sums up my feelings on the new place. The work says "unbridled creativity". It is written in a square seal script - Heihou Tensho in Japanese, Fang-Zhuanshu in Mandarian.

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Questions to Robertson Sensei

2011-01-28T15:24:00.000-08:00

Today's interview comes from Ross Robertson. He is an Austin local who I have trained with quite a few times over the past 7 years. He is one of the more influential teachers in the Austin area, as he has students training all over the city. He comes from the Seidokan lineage, but now calls himself independent. He is a solid aikido thinker and teaches in excellent and insightful metaphor and analogies. He is well known in the Aikido community at large due to his monthly contribution to AikiWeb articles.

Ross and I get along, because we both have a belief in aikido unity. We both try to get as many of the local groups together as possible. He started the branch of Aikido Peace week in Austin, a friendship festival of Austin's dojos.

I like Ross.

Why did you start training?

At the time, I was just looking for something fun and meaningful to
do. I had never been in a fight in my life (still haven't), so I
wasn't really worried about having to protect myself. Still, the self
defense aspect was appealing, and was something that needed to be
taken seriously if it was going to be meaningful as well as just fun.

Why do you continue to?

The world, by which I mean all of us, really needs a better way of
thinking, perceiving, and behaving. We're all motivated by self
interest, but some people are called towards compassion and altruism.
Typically that's presented as a way of privation and sacrifice. I
think aikido and related arts can short circuit the dichotomy and
show that it really is in your self interest to care for others, to
care for society and the environment.

Do you have a phrase(s) that sum up your ideal of martial arts practice?

Walk through doorways, and don't walk through walls.

What do you like to see in a practice?

I really like a group of people that can have fun and be deadly
serious all at the same time. Too often it's one or the other.

What do you not like to see in a practice?

There really is no room nor excuse for abusive behaviors. I don't
like competitive attitudes, and I don't like it when seniors ignore
beginners, or when beginners treat seniors like a utility faucet.

How do you define aiki?

Aiki is the best possible fit under the circumstances. The right fit
also has to be as global or systemic as possible, not merely what is
convenient locally. It's the right thing done in the right way at the
right time.

That's the guiding star, anyway. Aiki is a spectrum, and in our
relative experience, some things are more aiki and some are less.
Things can also be mingled, where there is an admixture of aiki and
what I think of as its opposite, byoki (illness or disease). But if
you look for it, you can almost always find elements of aiki even in
the most byoki situations.

What adjective would you say your technique 'feels' like?

If the door is open, I walk through, so it feels like nothing. If the
door is closed but can be opened, it feels like a friendly handshake.
If the door that I must go through is locked, then I must find the
key, so it feels like discovery. If the door is barred and there is
no other way out, then it feels like prison. If the barred door is
unmovable, then it is simply another wall. If the need is urgent,
then I take whatever is at hand and break through the wall. This
feels like violence, and like liberation. If this fails, it feels
like death.

When does a practice become not-aiki?

As I mentioned, it's really misleading to think of aiki as binary,
where something is or something isn't. aiki But I think there are
practices which point away from that which is more aiki. Assuming
we're practicing among people of good will, I think the greatest
pitfall is the overemphasis on form, rather than the discovery of
where form comes from.

Do you have a favored technique right now?

No. Techniques, as they are commonly called, are really instances
that arise in the passing of time. Certain patterns repeat inevitably
because of our anatomy and physics. We see these patterns and begin
to want to reproduce them, because they seemed essential to a
successful encounter. This is what is normally meant by "technique,"
but this is a kind of putting the cart before the horse. It's like
trying to make the car go faster by pushing on the speedometer.

The essential techniques typically don't have names and may be
difficult to place in form. These have to do with the tactics of
perceiving, of evading, of joining, of following/guiding the energy
flow along its ground path, and the timing and method of release.

What is your favorite practice related book?

I asked Rod Kobayashi Sensei this question once, and he immediately
replied "Hasn't been written yet!" I can answer no better than he.

But I think it does us some good to look at Lao Tsu, Takuan, Musashi,
and many of the others.

What is rank? What does rank reflect?

Rank is best understood as a kind of currency. The rank (as opposed
to the certificate) really belongs to the community. It is the
community's way of bestowing, not value, but the recognition of
value. The person receiving the rank should accept it as a
responsibility. Without undue conceit, we can still feel a kind of
privilege of worthiness, that we are ready to declare that we have
something to offer to others. It should be an expression of both the
capacity and willingness to serve.

What principle have you been focusing on in your practice lately?

Emptiness. For me it's become all about the interplay between the
solid and the empty.

What is your relationship to kata?

To repeat, kata (or form) is simply the shape or geometry or
structure of an evolving system. Systems that are well integrated
will exhibit certain forms, and systems that are sub-optimal will
show signs of stress, strain, or dis-integration. Learning the
morphology can be instructive, as long as we are really examining the
underlying forces or principles that cause the form. This is to say
that you can learn some things by imitating perfect form, but even
when you succeed, it's still an imitation. Rivers have characteristic
flow patterns that we can observe and give names to, but no two
rivers follow the same path. We are advised to flow like water, and
when we do this we can enter into formlessness, so no two
"techniques" can ever be the same. Identifiable patterns will emerge,
but these are artifacts of the flow.

Now, it's true that the flow of a river is shaped by the form of the
valley and the stones. These things are in perpetual intercourse, and
each shapes the other. However, in budo it is the shape of our bodies
that is analogous to the valley or the rock in the stream. It is not
really anything like kotegaeshi or tenchi nage. These are just names
we give to features of the landscape.

What is your relationship to a competitive feeling in training?

Competition is the necessary recognition in budo that some things
work better than others. It is an inescapable truth of the universe
that the more durable things replace the more transitory. Yet there
are constructive ways of achieving durability and there are
destructive ways. Particles form atoms, atoms form molecules, and
molecules create organisms. It's always the ones that fit together
the best that make the most lasting forms, and this is the basis for
aiki. So aiki itself must be understood as being based on this kind
of evolutionary competitiveness. Yet the most advanced forms of aiki
succeed through cooperation, symbiosis, and synergy.

If we examine the history of warfare, we see this is so. However evil
the intent, however horrific the methods, it is almost always the
case that the winning side will be the one that can out-cooperate the
other. This is what I mean by being able to find aiki even in the
most byoki situations.

The point, obviously, is not to use aiki to justify atrocities.
Rather, it's to show the often overlooked power of cooperation.

How has your vision of practice changed as you have gotten older?

I've become much more pragmatic, much more empirical. The mysterious
and the wondrous hold very little attraction for me these days. I
want what is discoverable, teachable, and demonstrable.

Do you have another hobby or art form that you think about in
martial arts terms and ideas?

Everything is budo. But then, everything is everything...

Do you see any problems with the way aikido is practiced in the
world at large, and do you have any recommendations for change?

Of course. Aikido itself is evolving, so it's at a certain stage of
immaturity. There are dojo that are closed to outsiders and closed to
new ideas. There are organizations that are mainly interested in
their own aggrandizement and are not really oriented toward making a
better world. But these are also just like kata. They are forms of
durability, and they can be very successful within certain
definitions of the word. But ultimately rigid forms turn out not to
be so durable, and so to remain vital they must be adaptable and
sexual. By the latter I mean that they cannot forever remain insular
and incestuous, for this is an evolutionary dead end. They must
cooperate, they must court, they must mate, and they must produce
better offspring.

What martial art besides the one you practice do you think is interesting?

I'm very impressed with the training I've seen and enjoyed with
Systema. I have reservations about whether it imparts an experience
that leads to the larger kinds of systemic integration that I speak
of. I have a friend who teaches Silat, and I learn a lot whenever we
get together to play. And while it's not a martial art per se, I look
at the dance form Contact Improv, which has its roots in aikido.
Although it seems to have abandoned its budo heritage, I have to
wonder if it didn't take the best of aikido with it. My aikido should
continually reference what's inherent in Contact Improv.

What inspires you?

Beauty and wise compassion.

Do you have any aspirations for your art, dojo or organization for the future?

Aikido must seek to exist in the real world and fit with 21st Century
realities. It must engage politically and commercially. Aikido must
find a way to engender more professionals in the field. All worthy
endeavors are sustained by amateurs of all skill levels and
dedication, but mature enterprises must have sufficient full-time
professionals in order to move forward with greater efficiency. For
me personally, this is work still unfinished.

Anything on your mind you would like to add?

On a personal note, I would simply like to thank you, Eric, for your
friendship and spirit. I admire what you are doing with your art, and
I am profoundly grateful for the assistance you have given me in my
own efforts. We are different enough to be able to learn from one
another, but alike enough to be able to cooperate, combine, and make
something greater than ether of us.

I thank you for helping amplify my voice.

Ross