by Claudia Luther, special to the LA Times
http://http//www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-jack-lalanne-20110124,0,5507436,full.story
Jack LaLanne, the seemingly eternal master of health and fitness who first popularized the idea that Americans should work out and eat right to retain youthfulness and vigor, died Sunday. He was 96.
LaLanne died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia at his home in Morro Bay, Calif., his agent Rick Hersh said. He had undergone heart valve surgery in December 2009.
Though LaLanne was for many years dismissed as merely a "muscle man" — a notion fueled to some extent by his amazing feats of strength — he was the spiritual father of the health movement that blossomed into a national craze of weight rooms, exercise classes and fancy sports clubs.
LaLanne opened what is commonly believed to be the nation's first health club, in Oakland in 1936. In the 1950s, he launched an early-morning televised exercise program keyed to housewives. He designed many now-familiar exercise machines, including leg extension machines and cable-pulley weights. And he proposed the then-radical idea that women, the elderly and even the disabled should work out to retain strength.
Full of exuberance and good cheer, LaLanne saw himself as a combination cheerleader, rescuer and savior. And if his enthusiasm had a religious fervor to it, well, so be it.
"Well it is. It is a religion with me," he told What Is Enlightenment, a magazine dedicated to awareness, in 1999. "It's a way of life. A religion is a way of life, isn't it?"
"Billy Graham was for the hereafter. I'm for the here and now," he told The Times when he was almost 92, employing his usual rapid-fire patter.
Another time, he explained, "The crusade is never off my mind — the exercise I do, the food I eat, the thought I think — all this and how I can help make my profession better-respected. To me, this one thing — physical culture and nutrition — is the salvation of America."
When he started, he knew that most people viewed him as a charlatan. That's when he decided to do the stunts that made him famous.
"I had to get people believing in me," he said.
He performed his first feat in 1954, when he was 40 and wanted to prove he wasn't "over the hill." He swam the length of the Golden Gate Bridge — underwater. (He carried two air tanks.)
Other feats in his 40s: swimming from Alcatraz to San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf wearing handcuffs; swimming the Golden Gate Channel while towing a 2,500-pound cabin cruiser; pulling a paddleboard 30 miles from the Farallon Islands to the San Francisco shore.
At age 60, he upped the ante by swimming from Alcatraz to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, handcuffed and shackled and towing a 1,000-pound boat.
The next year, he did a similar feat underwater. And at age 70, he towed 70 boats with 70 people from the Queen's Way Bridge in Long Beach Harbor to the Queen Mary — while handcuffed and shackled.
Why attempt such feats?
"I care more than — you cannot believe how much I care! I want to help somebody!" LaLanne explained. "Jesus, when he was on Earth, he was out there helping people, right? Why did he perform those miracles? To call attention to his profession. Why do you think I do these incredible feats ? To call attention to my profession!"
Well into his late 80s, LaLanne continued his personal fitness routine of two hours a day — one hour of weight training and another hour exercising in the pool — beginning at 5 or 5:30 in the morning (a concession to his age; in earlier days, he started at 4 a.m.).
No one — not even Arnold Schwarzenegger — could argue that LaLanne wasn't the best. Schwarzenegger, who met LaLanne in the 1960s on Muscle Beach on the Venice Boardwalk, said LaLanne would try to see who could match him in numbers of chin-ups and push-ups.
"Nobody could," Schwarzenegger told The Times. "No one even wanted to try."
Francois Henri LaLanne (nicknamed Jack by his brother) was born Sept. 26, 1914, in San Francisco to French immigrant parents; his father worked at the telephone company and was a dance instructor and his mother, who was a maid, was a Seventh-Day Adventist, a religion that advocates "eight keys" to good health, including nutrition and exercise.
LaLanne grew up in Bakersfield, where his parents had moved to become sheep farmers, but the sheep contracted hoof-and-mouth disease, and the family moved to Oakland. LaLanne's father died of a heart attack at age 50.
LaLanne often told the story of how his mother spoiled him, giving him sweets as a reward. By the time he reached adolescence he had become a "sugarholic" with a violent temper and suicidal thoughts.
But that was only the beginning: He was failing in school, his stomach was upset, he wore glasses, he had terrible headaches, he was weak and skinny, he had pimples and boils.
"I was demented! I was psychotic! It was like a horror movie!" LaLanne said of this time of his life.
When he was 15, his distressed mother dragged him to a lecture on healthful living being given by nutritionist Paul Bragg.
"We were a little late getting there and there were no seats available so we started to leave," LaLanne told What Is Enlightenment magazine's Andrew Cohen, "and the lecturer saw us and said, 'Lady with the boy, we don't turn anybody away! Ushers, bring two seats and put them up on the stage!' "
At some point, Bragg asked the young LaLanne what he had eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and LaLanne told him: "Cakes, pies, ice cream!"
"He said, 'Jack, you are a walking garbage can,' " LaLanne said.
But Bragg offered salvation to LaLanne: He could be "born again" and be the healthful and strong person he wanted to be — if he changed his ways.
"That's what I wanted! I wanted to be an athlete, I wanted the girls to like me, and I wanted to be able to get good grades in school, and this man said I could do all that," LaLanne said.
LaLanne took Bragg's message fully to heart. And, by his own testimony and that of everyone around him, he never had cake, pie, ice cream or any sweet from that day forward, nor did he drink a single cup of coffee or tea.
He also started working out with a passion and was a star athlete for the rest of his high school years. All his maladies disappeared; he even stopped wearing glasses.
"I was a whole new human being," he said of this transformation. "I liked people, they liked me. It was like an exorcism, kicking the devil outta me!"
After graduation from high school, LaLanne started his own business selling his mother's healthful bread and cookies. He also set up a rudimentary gym and started training police officers and firefighters — "the fat and skinny ones who couldn't pass their physicals" — in exercise and weightlifting.
"When I first started out, I was considered a crackpot," he said. "The doctors used to say, 'Don't go to that Jack LaLanne, you'll get hemorrhoids, you won't get an erection, you women will look like men, you athletes will get muscle-bound' — this is what I had to go through."
In 1936, he opened his first real gym — LaLanne's Physical Culture Studio in downtown Oakland.
But business was slow. LaLanne went to a local high school and picked out the skinniest and the fattest students, offering (with their parents' permission) to "turn their lives around" the way his had been.
Word of his success spread, and business was good enough for him to open other gyms. In 1952, he went on TV, but because he could only afford time in the early mornings, he found his audience was mostly young children. So he got a dog — Happy — to appeal to the kids, who were encouraged to go wake up their mommies for a workout. The show was eventually syndicated nationwide and ran for 34 years.
LaLanne met his wife, Elaine, whom he called LaLa, in 1950 on the set of a local TV show, where she booked talent. She was initially unimpressed by the 5-foot-6 1/2-inch LaLanne — she ate a doughnut and blew cigarette smoke in his face. But she took a closer look at him when a friend agreed to go out on a date with him. They were married in 1959, and she became an integral part of his business.
LaLanne's business interests would grow to include a string of gyms across the United States, workout devices like the "Glamour Stretcher" and "JLL Stepper," vitamins, supplements and several books.
By the time LaLanne was in his late 80s, however, the business consisted mostly of juicers that he advertised on infomercials and his lectures.
LaLanne also knew when to back off. An interviewer described him as "intensely unfussy for being such a fanatic." And LaLanne once said that one of his best friends was a man who "weighs about 300 pounds, drinks a quart of booze a day and smokes like a fiend. I'll light someone's cigarette for them. This bull about changing people — you never change people! Accept 'em, accept 'em, accept 'em!"
For himself, he seemed to live by a there-but-for-the-grace-of-God-go-I philosophy that required him to be hyper-vigilant.
"With my personality," he said, "I could be a runaway, out with a different woman every night, drunk every night, eating and doing things that — well, you know, you've got it in you, we've all got it in us. But that's why you've got to take control!"
He had his pleasures — beautiful cars, singing, fine wine and a long and happy marriage that he said was passionate after many decades.
He felt proud every time he fulfilled his promise to himself to never eat between meals or eat sweets. While he was the first to agree that his liquid meals — the least repulsive breakfast was carrot juice, celery juice, some fruit, egg whites and soybean — tasted pretty awful, he didn't mind. And of his two-hour daily workouts at his home gym, which he called his "cathedral," he said: "I want to see how long I can keep this up. It's kind of a macho thing, using me as an example."
LaLanne retained a high level of energy well into what, for the rest of us, would be dotage. But his feats tapered off after his 70th birthday. Although he talked of swimming underwater to Catalina Island for his 80th birthday, his wife threatened to divorce him if he did. "Let him rest on his laurels," she said. He vowed to do the swim for his 90th birthday in 2004, but when the birthday rolled around, he told the San Jose Mercury News that he planned only to "tow my wife across the bathtub." His plans for his 100th were even tamer: "I'd like to have the biggest group I've ever had watching me and lecture to them."
LaLanne was given a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in 2002, long after he had attained the respect he long craved. But his biggest thrill was to see that what he had been preaching and advocating for more than 50 years was being taken seriously.
"Back then I was a crackpot; today, I am an authority," he said in 1998.
Besides his wife, LaLanne is survived by Elaine's son, Dan Doyle, of Los Angeles; LaLanne's daughter by his first marriage, Yvonne, a chiropractor, of Walnut Creek; and the couple's son, Jon, of Kauai, Hawaii.
----------------------------Empowering You To Create The Life You Want Through The Power Of Martial Arts----------------------------
Friday, January 28, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Water, Water Everywhere
I found this information on the Internet and wanted to share it. I hope it can help!
Incredible as it may seem, water is quite possibly the single most important catalyst in losing weight and keeping it off. Although most of us take it for granted, water may be the only true "magic potion" for permanent weight loss!
Water suppresses the appetite naturally and helps the body metabolize stored fat. Studies have shown that a decrease in water intake will cause fat deposits to increase, while an increase in water intake can actually reduce fat deposits.
Here's why: The kidneys can't function properly without enough water. When the kidneys don't work to capacity, some of their load is dumped onto the liver. One of the liver's primary functions is to metabolize stored fat into usable energy for the body. If the liver has to do some of the kidney's work, it can't operate at full throttle. As a result, it metabolizes less fat, more fat remains stored in the body, and weight loss stops.
Drinking enough water is the best treatment for fluid retention. When the body gets less water, it perceives this as a threat to survival and begins to hold on to every drop. Water is stored in extra cellular spaces (outside the cells). This shows up as swollen feet, legs and hands. Diuretics offer a temporary solution at best. They force out stored water along with some essential nutrients. Again, the body perceives a threat and will replace the lost water at the first opportunity. Thus, the condition quickly returns.
The best way to overcome the problem of water retention is to give the body what it needs. PLENTY OF WATER. Only then will the stored water be released.
If you have a constant problem with water retention, excess salt may be to blame. Your body will tolerate sodium only in a certain concentration. The more salt you eat, the more water your system retains to dilute it. But getting rid of un-needed salt is easy - just drink more water. As it's forced through the kidneys, it takes away excess sodium.
What's more, the overweight person needs more water than the thin one! Larger people have larger metabolic loads. Since we know that water is the key to fat metabolism, it follows that the overweight person needs more water.
Water helps maintain proper muscle tone by giving muscles their natural ability to contract and by preventing dehydration. It also helps to prevent the sagging skin that usually follows weight loss - shrinking cells are buoyed by water, which plumps the skin and leaves it clear, healthy, and resilient.
Basically, the body will not function properly without enough water and can't metabolize stored fat efficiently. Drinking water is essential to weight loss. But how much water is enough??
On the average, a person should drink eight 8-ounce glasses every day. That's about 2 quarts. However, the overweight person needs one additional glass for every 25 pounds of excess weight. The amount you drink also should be increased if you exercise briskly or if the weather is hot and dry. When the body gets the water it needs to function optimally, its fluids are perfectly balanced. Once this happens you have reached the "breakthrough point". What does this mean?
20 Tips For Getting Your 8 Glasses of Water Daily
1. Make a bet with a co-worker to see who can drink more water in the course of a day.
2. Have a big glass of water at every transitional point of the day: when you first get up, just before leaving the house, when you sit down to work, etc.
3. Make it convenient - keep a big, plastic, insulated water bottle full on your desk and reach for it all day.
4. When you have juice (apple, grape, or orange) fill half the glass with water.
5. When you have a junk-food craving, down a glass of water immediately. You feel full quickly and avoid the calories, and it lets time pass till the craving fades.
6. Have one glass every hour on the hour while at work. When the work day is done your water quota is met.
7. Substitute a cup of hot water with a drop of honey for tea or coffee.
8. While at work, get a 20 ounce cup of ice and keep filling it up from the office water cooler. The key is drinking with a straw - you take bigger gulps and drink much more.
9. Freeze little bits of peeled lemons, limes, and oranges and use them in place of ice cubes - it's refreshing and helps get in a serving or two of fruit.
10. After each trip to the restroom, guzzle an eight-ounce glass to replenish your system.
11. Don't allow yourself a diet soda until you've had two to four glasses of water. You will find that you won't want the soda anymore or that just half a can is enough.
13. Drink two full glasses at each meal, one before and one after. Also, drink one glass before each snack so you don't eat as much.
14. Carry a small refillable water bottle at all times and drink during downtime; while waiting in a bank line, sitting on the train, etc.
15. Use a beautiful gold-rimmed glass and fill it with cold water from the tap.
16. Drink two glasses of water immediately after waking up.
17. Bring a two-liter bottle of water to work and try to drink it all before you leave work. If you don't finish, drink it in traffic on the way home - it's like a race.
18. Always keep a 24-ounce bottle of water handy while watching TV, doing laundry, making dinner, etc.
19. Add drinking two glasses of water to your daily skincare regimen. Drink, cleanse, moisturize, etc., then drink again.
20. Drink your water out of a big Pyrex measuring cup - it's a good way to keep track of how much water you are drinking.
Incredible as it may seem, water is quite possibly the single most important catalyst in losing weight and keeping it off. Although most of us take it for granted, water may be the only true "magic potion" for permanent weight loss!
Water suppresses the appetite naturally and helps the body metabolize stored fat. Studies have shown that a decrease in water intake will cause fat deposits to increase, while an increase in water intake can actually reduce fat deposits.
Here's why: The kidneys can't function properly without enough water. When the kidneys don't work to capacity, some of their load is dumped onto the liver. One of the liver's primary functions is to metabolize stored fat into usable energy for the body. If the liver has to do some of the kidney's work, it can't operate at full throttle. As a result, it metabolizes less fat, more fat remains stored in the body, and weight loss stops.
Drinking enough water is the best treatment for fluid retention. When the body gets less water, it perceives this as a threat to survival and begins to hold on to every drop. Water is stored in extra cellular spaces (outside the cells). This shows up as swollen feet, legs and hands. Diuretics offer a temporary solution at best. They force out stored water along with some essential nutrients. Again, the body perceives a threat and will replace the lost water at the first opportunity. Thus, the condition quickly returns.
The best way to overcome the problem of water retention is to give the body what it needs. PLENTY OF WATER. Only then will the stored water be released.
If you have a constant problem with water retention, excess salt may be to blame. Your body will tolerate sodium only in a certain concentration. The more salt you eat, the more water your system retains to dilute it. But getting rid of un-needed salt is easy - just drink more water. As it's forced through the kidneys, it takes away excess sodium.
What's more, the overweight person needs more water than the thin one! Larger people have larger metabolic loads. Since we know that water is the key to fat metabolism, it follows that the overweight person needs more water.
Water helps maintain proper muscle tone by giving muscles their natural ability to contract and by preventing dehydration. It also helps to prevent the sagging skin that usually follows weight loss - shrinking cells are buoyed by water, which plumps the skin and leaves it clear, healthy, and resilient.
Water also helps rid the body of waste. During weight loss, the body has a lot more waste to get rid of - all the metabolized fat must be shed. Again, adequate water helps flush out the waste. It can even help relieve constipation. When the body gets too little water, it siphons what it needs from internal sources. The colon is one primary source. Result? Constipation. But, when a person gets enough water, normal bowel functions returns.
Basically, the body will not function properly without enough water and can't metabolize stored fat efficiently. Drinking water is essential to weight loss. But how much water is enough??
On the average, a person should drink eight 8-ounce glasses every day. That's about 2 quarts. However, the overweight person needs one additional glass for every 25 pounds of excess weight. The amount you drink also should be increased if you exercise briskly or if the weather is hot and dry. When the body gets the water it needs to function optimally, its fluids are perfectly balanced. Once this happens you have reached the "breakthrough point". What does this mean?
- Endocrine-gland function improves.
- Fluid retention is alleviated as stored water is lost.
- More fat is used as fuel because the liver is free to metabolize stored fat.
- Natural thirst returns.
- There is loss of hunger almost overnight.
20 Tips For Getting Your 8 Glasses of Water Daily
Sometimes drinking our eight glasses of water a day can be a real challenge Here are 20 tips to help you accomplish that feat! It is said by many beauty experts that drinking your water is the cheapest, quickest way to look better! That should motivate us!
1. Make a bet with a co-worker to see who can drink more water in the course of a day.
2. Have a big glass of water at every transitional point of the day: when you first get up, just before leaving the house, when you sit down to work, etc.
3. Make it convenient - keep a big, plastic, insulated water bottle full on your desk and reach for it all day.
4. When you have juice (apple, grape, or orange) fill half the glass with water.
5. When you have a junk-food craving, down a glass of water immediately. You feel full quickly and avoid the calories, and it lets time pass till the craving fades.
6. Have one glass every hour on the hour while at work. When the work day is done your water quota is met.
7. Substitute a cup of hot water with a drop of honey for tea or coffee.
8. While at work, get a 20 ounce cup of ice and keep filling it up from the office water cooler. The key is drinking with a straw - you take bigger gulps and drink much more.
9. Freeze little bits of peeled lemons, limes, and oranges and use them in place of ice cubes - it's refreshing and helps get in a serving or two of fruit.
10. After each trip to the restroom, guzzle an eight-ounce glass to replenish your system.
11. Don't allow yourself a diet soda until you've had two to four glasses of water. You will find that you won't want the soda anymore or that just half a can is enough.
12. Let ounces of water double grams of fat: When eating something containing 10 grams of fat, I drink 20 ounces of water.
13. Drink two full glasses at each meal, one before and one after. Also, drink one glass before each snack so you don't eat as much.
14. Carry a small refillable water bottle at all times and drink during downtime; while waiting in a bank line, sitting on the train, etc.
15. Use a beautiful gold-rimmed glass and fill it with cold water from the tap.
16. Drink two glasses of water immediately after waking up.
17. Bring a two-liter bottle of water to work and try to drink it all before you leave work. If you don't finish, drink it in traffic on the way home - it's like a race.
18. Always keep a 24-ounce bottle of water handy while watching TV, doing laundry, making dinner, etc.
19. Add drinking two glasses of water to your daily skincare regimen. Drink, cleanse, moisturize, etc., then drink again.
20. Drink your water out of a big Pyrex measuring cup - it's a good way to keep track of how much water you are drinking.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Lessons in the Mountains
Issai Chozanshi was the pen name for Niwa Jurozaemon Tadaaki, a samurai who lived in Japan from 1659 -1741. Little is known of his life, but he left behind several insightful works on martial arts, the most well known of which is his Tengu Geijutsuron.
It is the story of a swordsman who happens upon a group of spirits in the mountains while they are discussing the Way of martial arts. He listens in on their discussion and learns about the importance of spontaneity, acting without acting, and mushin or flowing mind.
The spirits he encounters in the mountains are called Tengu. Tengu are a kind of Japanese folk spirit that were thought to live in the rocks and the trees and could take on the shapes of men and animals. They could be harbingers of good or bad luck, and would sometimes be blamed for small acts of mischief, but they could also be depicted as wise and powerful natural forces.
In Tengu Geijutsuron the spirits discuss the importance of both technique and principle, and the discussion often returns to the importance of keeping the mind free from intention. In Chapter Two the Tengu describe the benefits of these things to the martial artist,
"Swordsmanship is the technique of contention, and it is considered essential to cut through the root of confusion of life and death from the very beginning of your study. But it is difficult to do this abruptly. For this reason, you should use all the power of your mind to cut through the principle of life and death, to develop your ch'i, to test the techniques of physical confrontation, and make great efforts without any neglect throughout this time. When you have sacrificed your life for training, when you techniques are mature, when you ch'i is under control, when principle has penetrated your mind and you have no doubts, when you are no longer confused and your spirit meets no obstruction - then your thoughts will not move within you at all. And when your thoughts do no move, ch'i will follow spirit. It will move along with animation and will flow smoothly. When ch'i rides the mind, it will not stagnate, it will not be stopped, and it will control form with complete freedom and without obstruction.
Following the perception of the mind, the speed of practical application is like opening a door and the moonlight immediately shining in; or like striking something and having the immediate response of a sound. Victory and defeat are the traces of practical application. But if you don't have conceptualization form will not have aspect. Aspect is the shadow of concept, and is what manifests form. If there is no aspect to form, the opponent you are supposed to face will not exist. This is what is meant when we say that neither my opponent nor I exist. If I exist, my opponent exists. Because I do not exist, even the insignificant thought of good or evil, perversion or properness, by the man coming at me will be reflected as in a mirror. And this is not reflected from me. It is simply that he arrives and moves on. This is just like being unable to confront with your own wickedness someone who has attained virtue. It is a mystery of the Of-Itself-So. If I tried to divert it from myself, it would become a thought. And because this thought would obstruct me, my ch'i would stagnate, and practical application would not be completely free.
The person who comes and goes like a powerful spirit neither thinking about nor enacting the unfettered mysterious function - this is the swordsman who can be said to have attained enlightenment."
In the opinion of the Tengu, it is not enough to have the proper physical skills without the proper mental ones, nor vice versa. It was only with mind and body in harmony that the warrior is able to "control form with complete freedom and without obstruction."
Then, in Chapter Three the spirits discuss the "moon in the water,"
"...there are various meanings attached to this phrase according to different schools, but fundamentally 'the moon reflected in the water' is a metaphor for when you can move and respond with spontaneity and no mind. Among the poems of the Abdicated Emperor Sotoku while he was at the palace near Hirozawa Pond is the following:
Though there is a reflection,
The moon reflects itself
Without thought.
Without thought, too, the water:
Hirozawa Pond.
At the heart of this poem is an enlightened state of mind concerning action and response with no mind and spontaneity..."
The poem and the parable refer to a state of perfect emptiness, wherein our actions are instantaneous and without intention, and where the opponent is both present and not present in our minds.
The lessons of the Tengu are true today, over three hundred years since that day in the mountains. Practice with discipline. Internalize the lessons of the concepts and principals, perfect your execution of the physical techniques. And remember the moon in the water. It exists, without delay, or intention. It simply is.
Learn to fight like this, and you will understand what Chozanshi means by "Abiding in the midst of attack" and "Attacking in the midst of abidance."
It is the story of a swordsman who happens upon a group of spirits in the mountains while they are discussing the Way of martial arts. He listens in on their discussion and learns about the importance of spontaneity, acting without acting, and mushin or flowing mind.
The spirits he encounters in the mountains are called Tengu. Tengu are a kind of Japanese folk spirit that were thought to live in the rocks and the trees and could take on the shapes of men and animals. They could be harbingers of good or bad luck, and would sometimes be blamed for small acts of mischief, but they could also be depicted as wise and powerful natural forces.
In Tengu Geijutsuron the spirits discuss the importance of both technique and principle, and the discussion often returns to the importance of keeping the mind free from intention. In Chapter Two the Tengu describe the benefits of these things to the martial artist,
"Swordsmanship is the technique of contention, and it is considered essential to cut through the root of confusion of life and death from the very beginning of your study. But it is difficult to do this abruptly. For this reason, you should use all the power of your mind to cut through the principle of life and death, to develop your ch'i, to test the techniques of physical confrontation, and make great efforts without any neglect throughout this time. When you have sacrificed your life for training, when you techniques are mature, when you ch'i is under control, when principle has penetrated your mind and you have no doubts, when you are no longer confused and your spirit meets no obstruction - then your thoughts will not move within you at all. And when your thoughts do no move, ch'i will follow spirit. It will move along with animation and will flow smoothly. When ch'i rides the mind, it will not stagnate, it will not be stopped, and it will control form with complete freedom and without obstruction.
Following the perception of the mind, the speed of practical application is like opening a door and the moonlight immediately shining in; or like striking something and having the immediate response of a sound. Victory and defeat are the traces of practical application. But if you don't have conceptualization form will not have aspect. Aspect is the shadow of concept, and is what manifests form. If there is no aspect to form, the opponent you are supposed to face will not exist. This is what is meant when we say that neither my opponent nor I exist. If I exist, my opponent exists. Because I do not exist, even the insignificant thought of good or evil, perversion or properness, by the man coming at me will be reflected as in a mirror. And this is not reflected from me. It is simply that he arrives and moves on. This is just like being unable to confront with your own wickedness someone who has attained virtue. It is a mystery of the Of-Itself-So. If I tried to divert it from myself, it would become a thought. And because this thought would obstruct me, my ch'i would stagnate, and practical application would not be completely free.
The person who comes and goes like a powerful spirit neither thinking about nor enacting the unfettered mysterious function - this is the swordsman who can be said to have attained enlightenment."
In the opinion of the Tengu, it is not enough to have the proper physical skills without the proper mental ones, nor vice versa. It was only with mind and body in harmony that the warrior is able to "control form with complete freedom and without obstruction."
Then, in Chapter Three the spirits discuss the "moon in the water,"
"...there are various meanings attached to this phrase according to different schools, but fundamentally 'the moon reflected in the water' is a metaphor for when you can move and respond with spontaneity and no mind. Among the poems of the Abdicated Emperor Sotoku while he was at the palace near Hirozawa Pond is the following:
Though there is a reflection,
The moon reflects itself
Without thought.
Without thought, too, the water:
Hirozawa Pond.
At the heart of this poem is an enlightened state of mind concerning action and response with no mind and spontaneity..."
The poem and the parable refer to a state of perfect emptiness, wherein our actions are instantaneous and without intention, and where the opponent is both present and not present in our minds.
The lessons of the Tengu are true today, over three hundred years since that day in the mountains. Practice with discipline. Internalize the lessons of the concepts and principals, perfect your execution of the physical techniques. And remember the moon in the water. It exists, without delay, or intention. It simply is.
Learn to fight like this, and you will understand what Chozanshi means by "Abiding in the midst of attack" and "Attacking in the midst of abidance."
Monday, January 3, 2011
Life Lessons from a Samurai
Kaibara Ekiken was over eighty years old when he wrote Yōjōkun. A doctor, philosopher, teacher, samurai, and scientist, Ekiken was responsible in many ways for introducing the concept of rational empiricism to feudal Japan. Much of the medicine he taught and practiced throughout the late seventeenth century is still being practiced today.
Yōjōkun was his final written work. When he was thirty-eight he married the daughter of a local samurai administrator. By all accounts Esaki Token was a match for the artistic and philosophical Ekiken. Schooled in music, calligraphy, and poetry already, she also knew enough of history and philosophy to keep him on his toes. She often accompanied him on his travels and is even suspected of having written one of his books herself, publishing it under his name to give the work a wider readership. When she passed away at the age of sixty-two, he finished his work on Yōjōkun, and passed away himself the following year.
Yōjōkun contains the collected wisdom of a man who spent more than sixty years treating the sick. Unlike other classic samurai works of the era which taught the warrior how to die with honor, Yōjōkun is a set of instructions on how to live. Kaibara Ekiken believed that living long and well was the truest way to show gratitude to our ancestors for gifting us with life, and the modern reader will instantly see the wisdom of his teachings.
The Way of Nurturing Life
Verse 27
"Different people have different vocations. They polish a vocation and add technique to their Way. For all vocations there are techniques in which you should become well versed. If you do not master the techniques, you will be unable to perform the tasks at hand. Even among the most trivial and humble accomplishments, if you do not have a command of the techniques, you will be incapable of the task. For example, making straw raincoats and papering umbrellas are extremely easy and humble vocations, but even there, if you do not study the techniques, you will be unable to do the job.
How much more so, then, for the Way of Nurturing Life in the human body of man, which is said to be one of the Three Powers, along with Heaven and Earth? In short, if you are intent on taking care of yourself and living a long life, you must learn the appropriate techniques.
The common practice for learning a technique, even for some trivial art, is to seek out a teacher without fail, receive the teacher's instructions, and learn the proper techniques. Even the extremely talented will learn nothing if they do not have access to the techniques, a teacher, and instruction.
The techniques for nurturing your health are a full-fledged Great Way, not some small art. If you do not study the techniques with resolution, you will not master the way. If you are able to study under a person who knows the techniques, do not trade that opportunity for a thousand pieces of gold.
When I look back on my youth in my hometown, there were many people who did not know the Way of Nurturing Life. They led dissipated and therefore short lives. Moreover, many of the old folks in my village, not knowing the Way, were often sick and in distress. Their health declined and they became doting old fools early on. In such cases, even if they lived to a hundred, their lives were without pleasure and full of aches and pains. A long life ill conceived is of no use. You may think that simply living long is a good thing, but longevity alone is not something for which you should be congratulated."
Seek out the Way of Nurturing Life. Learn its techniques and study them with resolution. Live a long and health life, filled with pleasure. That is how we can best show our gratitude.
Yōjōkun was his final written work. When he was thirty-eight he married the daughter of a local samurai administrator. By all accounts Esaki Token was a match for the artistic and philosophical Ekiken. Schooled in music, calligraphy, and poetry already, she also knew enough of history and philosophy to keep him on his toes. She often accompanied him on his travels and is even suspected of having written one of his books herself, publishing it under his name to give the work a wider readership. When she passed away at the age of sixty-two, he finished his work on Yōjōkun, and passed away himself the following year.
Yōjōkun contains the collected wisdom of a man who spent more than sixty years treating the sick. Unlike other classic samurai works of the era which taught the warrior how to die with honor, Yōjōkun is a set of instructions on how to live. Kaibara Ekiken believed that living long and well was the truest way to show gratitude to our ancestors for gifting us with life, and the modern reader will instantly see the wisdom of his teachings.
The Way of Nurturing Life
Verse 27
"Different people have different vocations. They polish a vocation and add technique to their Way. For all vocations there are techniques in which you should become well versed. If you do not master the techniques, you will be unable to perform the tasks at hand. Even among the most trivial and humble accomplishments, if you do not have a command of the techniques, you will be incapable of the task. For example, making straw raincoats and papering umbrellas are extremely easy and humble vocations, but even there, if you do not study the techniques, you will be unable to do the job.
How much more so, then, for the Way of Nurturing Life in the human body of man, which is said to be one of the Three Powers, along with Heaven and Earth? In short, if you are intent on taking care of yourself and living a long life, you must learn the appropriate techniques.
The common practice for learning a technique, even for some trivial art, is to seek out a teacher without fail, receive the teacher's instructions, and learn the proper techniques. Even the extremely talented will learn nothing if they do not have access to the techniques, a teacher, and instruction.
The techniques for nurturing your health are a full-fledged Great Way, not some small art. If you do not study the techniques with resolution, you will not master the way. If you are able to study under a person who knows the techniques, do not trade that opportunity for a thousand pieces of gold.
When I look back on my youth in my hometown, there were many people who did not know the Way of Nurturing Life. They led dissipated and therefore short lives. Moreover, many of the old folks in my village, not knowing the Way, were often sick and in distress. Their health declined and they became doting old fools early on. In such cases, even if they lived to a hundred, their lives were without pleasure and full of aches and pains. A long life ill conceived is of no use. You may think that simply living long is a good thing, but longevity alone is not something for which you should be congratulated."
Seek out the Way of Nurturing Life. Learn its techniques and study them with resolution. Live a long and health life, filled with pleasure. That is how we can best show our gratitude.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
20 Years Later... A Legacy... Your Legacy.
“I received a call from Ed Parker Jr. at 6am the morning after his father had his fatal heart attack. He said “I’m calling my father ‘s friends to let them know he passed away..." (Lee Wedlake, Black Belt magazine)
20 years ago today, Ed Parker, the father of American martial arts and a pioneer of modern martial arts practice and principals would teach no more. While today marks the 20th anniversary of our Grandmaster's death, his legacy continues to be carried on through the 21st century. There are schools of American Kenpo on every continent. His teachings have become embedded in over a thousand different styles. Movie fight scenes often portray his work in films such as Blade, Borne Identity, and the original Pink Panther series (not to mention countless martial arts movies). The lessons he left many of us with where not always about kicking and punching though, they also included philosophies and ideals for living. Students of his have gone on to promote the physical, mental, and martial lessons that he taught while also working to create better community amongst mankind.
It is important to note however, that while much has been done to promote his art, it is not his art. Much like Bruce Lee's concept of martial arts as the art of expressing the human body, it is not his any more than it is mine, nor yours. It is what it is, it is our own. Your body, your mind, your character and spirit are your own, it is up to you to craft it. If you do not, someone else will do it for you. It is not hard, nor is it easy. It just is. You are what you eat, you become what you focus on most, you are an average of the 5 people you hang out with most often; these are all ancient words of wisdom. What work of art are you crafting?
“Time and space may separate us, but not the thoughts and memories that bind us.” - Ed Parker
We must take it upon ourselves to honor a man who has given so much of himself to the world and ultimately you, our students, and the best way we can do that is to leave a spectacular legacy of our own. The best way to lead is by a good example. Dunham's dojo leads through the example of our instructors and top students. We seek to inspire and educate those in training, to create a life of purpose and passion. The friendships, knowledge, mental focus, emotional fortitude, and physical prowess that we continually aim to perfect is our legacy. We pass this on to you, our students. We would not have it if it weren't for our many teachers and Mr. Parker. Mr. Parker would have missed his same chance to make his mark if it weren't for Mr. Chow and his countless other teachers. So on and so on it goes, for centuries. It is up to each of us to chose a path and to pass on what we find best in ourselves and to continually work to better what we find worse. Some will do this by passing on their Kenpo, some, through living by example, and some, will forget the lesson all together. Become empowered. Create the life you want. Ask yourself what you want out of life and fight for it, work for it, relish the chance to take living into your own hands as our Great Grandmaster Edmund Kealoha Parker did. I invite you all, students and non students alike, challenge yourselves to be your best and under no circumstances should you ever give up. We may fall down nine times, but we'll always get up ten.
As the New Year approaches, as we strive to get through a recession, and as you consider the life you wish to craft, consider one of my favorite quotes:
"You only lose energy when life becomes dull in your mind. Your mind gets bored and therefore tired of doing nothing. Get interested in something! Get absolutely enthralled in something! Get out of yourself! Be somebody! Do something. The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have."
Norman Vincent Peale
Friday, December 10, 2010
Last living disciple of Jigoro Kano still teaches three days a week at age 97.
Here is an article about an amazing woman who has done many things with her life and in an effort to help women find their place in the martial arts.
(Excerpts taken from http://www.flyingcarp.net/2009/04/be-strong/ and wikipedia.)
(Excerpts taken from http://www.flyingcarp.net/2009/04/be-strong/ and wikipedia.)
"In a world dominated by men, a tiny 97 year-old living legend is the highest ranking woman in judo history. She is also the last living disciple of Jigoro Kano, judo’s founder." (Kano is also known to be the originator of the modern belt ranking system).
"In 1934 Keiko Fukuda was preparing for marriage, like most young women in Japan. Then she met Jigoro Kano and radically altered her life path. She gave up marriage, family, and her home-land to pursue her life destiny. In 1966 she immigrated to the U.S., a single woman with an opportunity to make a living with her vocation, judo. Her move to the U.S. caught light of rank injustice within the Japanese judo system. With the help of American women’s rights activist, judo students, she began her struggle up the male dominant ladder of judo."
"Fukuda was born on April 12, 1913, in Tokyo, Japan. As a youth, she learned the arts of calligraphy, flower arrangement, and the tea ceremony; typical pursuits for a woman in Japan at that time. Fukuda's grandfather, Fukuda Hachinosuke, had been a samurai and master of Tenjin Shinyō-ryū jujutsu, and he had taught that art to Kanō Jigorō, founder of judo and head of the Kodokan. Kanō had taught female students as early as 1893 (Sueko Ashiya). He personally invited the young Fukuda to study judo—an unusual gesture for that time—as a mark of respect for her grandfather. She began training in judo in 1935, as one of only 24 women training at the Kodokan.
Despite her conventional upbringing, Fukuda felt close to judo through memories of her grandfather, and one day went with her mother to watch a judo training session. A few months later, she decided to begin training for herself. Her mother and brother supported this decision, but her uncle was opposed to the idea. Her mother and brother had thought that Fukuda would eventually marry one of the judo practitioners, but she ended up never marrying, instead becoming a judo expert herself."
Friday, December 3, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The Bear's Hug
“Once the bear's hug has got you, it is apt to be for keeps.”
-Harold Macmillan
Bearhugs. They're more dangerous than you may realize. But there are some basic defensive tactics you can use to defend against them. And to understand these tactics, you have to understand the motivations behind this style of grappling attack and the context in which it might occur.
First it is important to understand exactly why an attacker would grab you in a bearhug. There are essentially three reasons why this might happen. First, to contain your arms and prevent you from attacking. Second, to hold you in place either for a second attacker or to prevent your escape. And third to change your position, either with a lift or a takedown.
Bearhugs can be from the front, rear, or either side. The defender can have either, neither, or both arms pinned inside the hold, and the attacker can be pressing, pulling, or holding a static position. Consideration of all of these parameters must be incorporated into the defense, but regardless of the exact nature of the attack, there are three basic defenses which can be universally applied.
The first and most important thing to do when inside a bearhug is to establish a base. The defender should widen their stance and press their weight down through the outside edges of their feet into the ground. This lowers the defender's center of gravity and makes it more difficult for the attacker to either lift them into the air or to manipulate their position. This is key. In order to fight back most effectively, the defender must be able to control their mobility and generate ground leverage, and in order to do that they must have a strong solid base.
The second thing to do is to control the attacker's arms. Once the attacker has the defender in the hold, he may try to adjust the bearhug into a choke or headlock. Grabbing and controlling the opponent's arms, even with only one hand, is an important part of preventing this.
Finally, if the attacker attempts to lift the defender into the air, the defender should wrap one of his legs around one of the attacker's legs, either from the inside or outside. This is a technique called "grapevining." When performing the defensive maneuver, the defender should always be sure to keep one leg free. If the attacker lifts the defender into the air and then releases him, the defender needs to have a free supporting leg or else he will fall to the ground with the attacker on top of him.
A handy mnemonic device for dealing with bearhugs is to think of the number three. Three reasons for the bearhug attack. Three directions it can come from. Three variations of arm positions. Three types of energy the opponent may be applying. And three basic bearhug defenses. Drop into a base. Pin the opponent's hands. Wrap your leg around theirs to defend the lift.
Drop. Pin. Wrap.
You'll learn a lot of kenpo techniques for bearhug defenses. You'll learn Escaping the Bear, and Subduing the Bear, and Crushing the Bear. But even within bearhugs, basic self defense concepts apply. If the opponent is behind you, you must change positions. If they try to drive you forward or back you must establish a strong line. Your relative positions determine targets and weapons. These concepts are universal. But the three tactics described above are bearhug specific.
Drop. Pin. Wrap.
Drills -
Beginner: Student A attacks Student B with static bearhugs from the front, side, and rear. Student B practices basic bearhug defense. Alternate.
Intermediate: Student A closes their eyes. Student B attacks with any bearhug without warning. As soon as Student A feels the attack, they open their eyes and defend with basic technique until they are able to reposition themselves to perform one of the kenpo bearhug self defense techniques they have learned. Alternate.
Advanced: Students A and B are sparring at long range. Student A looks for an opening and then suddenly advances into a front bearhug with the intention of either a lift or takedown. Student B defends against the attack and re-establishes long range by either escaping or pushing Student A away. Continue long range sparring with Students alternating bearhug attacks.
-Harold Macmillan
Bearhugs. They're more dangerous than you may realize. But there are some basic defensive tactics you can use to defend against them. And to understand these tactics, you have to understand the motivations behind this style of grappling attack and the context in which it might occur.
First it is important to understand exactly why an attacker would grab you in a bearhug. There are essentially three reasons why this might happen. First, to contain your arms and prevent you from attacking. Second, to hold you in place either for a second attacker or to prevent your escape. And third to change your position, either with a lift or a takedown.
Bearhugs can be from the front, rear, or either side. The defender can have either, neither, or both arms pinned inside the hold, and the attacker can be pressing, pulling, or holding a static position. Consideration of all of these parameters must be incorporated into the defense, but regardless of the exact nature of the attack, there are three basic defenses which can be universally applied.
The first and most important thing to do when inside a bearhug is to establish a base. The defender should widen their stance and press their weight down through the outside edges of their feet into the ground. This lowers the defender's center of gravity and makes it more difficult for the attacker to either lift them into the air or to manipulate their position. This is key. In order to fight back most effectively, the defender must be able to control their mobility and generate ground leverage, and in order to do that they must have a strong solid base.
The second thing to do is to control the attacker's arms. Once the attacker has the defender in the hold, he may try to adjust the bearhug into a choke or headlock. Grabbing and controlling the opponent's arms, even with only one hand, is an important part of preventing this.
Finally, if the attacker attempts to lift the defender into the air, the defender should wrap one of his legs around one of the attacker's legs, either from the inside or outside. This is a technique called "grapevining." When performing the defensive maneuver, the defender should always be sure to keep one leg free. If the attacker lifts the defender into the air and then releases him, the defender needs to have a free supporting leg or else he will fall to the ground with the attacker on top of him.
A handy mnemonic device for dealing with bearhugs is to think of the number three. Three reasons for the bearhug attack. Three directions it can come from. Three variations of arm positions. Three types of energy the opponent may be applying. And three basic bearhug defenses. Drop into a base. Pin the opponent's hands. Wrap your leg around theirs to defend the lift.
Drop. Pin. Wrap.
You'll learn a lot of kenpo techniques for bearhug defenses. You'll learn Escaping the Bear, and Subduing the Bear, and Crushing the Bear. But even within bearhugs, basic self defense concepts apply. If the opponent is behind you, you must change positions. If they try to drive you forward or back you must establish a strong line. Your relative positions determine targets and weapons. These concepts are universal. But the three tactics described above are bearhug specific.
Drop. Pin. Wrap.
Drills -
Beginner: Student A attacks Student B with static bearhugs from the front, side, and rear. Student B practices basic bearhug defense. Alternate.
Intermediate: Student A closes their eyes. Student B attacks with any bearhug without warning. As soon as Student A feels the attack, they open their eyes and defend with basic technique until they are able to reposition themselves to perform one of the kenpo bearhug self defense techniques they have learned. Alternate.
Advanced: Students A and B are sparring at long range. Student A looks for an opening and then suddenly advances into a front bearhug with the intention of either a lift or takedown. Student B defends against the attack and re-establishes long range by either escaping or pushing Student A away. Continue long range sparring with Students alternating bearhug attacks.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Happy 70th Birthday
I once saw Mr. Parker quoted saying, “If you show the kid something, the first time he tries it, he's almost as good as you. The second time he tries it, he might be as good as you. And the third time, unless you're really good, he'll be better than you."
The man he was referring to would go on to become one of the most well recognized martial arts icons of the twentieth century. Although his life would be short, the legacy he left behind in his films, books, philosophy, and martial arts teachings would reach farther than perhaps even he could have imagined. Born Lee Jun-fan, the world would come to know him as Bruce Lee.
Born in California in 1940, he would spend most of his childhood being raised in Hong Kong. As a young man, Lee was involved in a number of street fights which escalated to the point that the police became involved. In an effort to turn their son's life around, his parents sent him back to America in the late 1950's to live with family friends. Lee continued his education, studying drama and philosophy in college, and began teaching his own approach to the Wing Chun Gung Fu he'd learned during three years studying under Master Yip Man before leaving Hong Kong.
Lee's life from there has become a well worn mythology. There are historical incidents like his appearance, at Mr. Parker's invitation, at the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships where he would famously demonstrate his one inch punch technique. Or his now fabled fight with rival Wing Chun instructor Wong Jack Man, ostensibly for the right to teach Gung Fu to Americans. His short movie career included the famous “Enter the Dragon,” as well as the infamous “Game of Death,” finished posthumously with body doubles and voice overs.
And of course, there was his untimely end. Lee died in his sleep from an adverse reaction to an over the counter pain medication he took to treat a headache. The medical explanation for his death was a cerebral edema. The forensic coroner who performed his autopsy labeled it “death by misadventure.”
Lee left a great legacy of film work, philosophy, and martial arts instruction. He taught three distinct styles of martial arts in his lifetime. The first was Jun Fan Gung Fu, his interpretation of the Wing Chun taught to him in Hong Kong. The second was Jeet Kune Do as a series of drills and techniques incorporating Wing Chun and elements of western boxing, fencing, jujitsu, and a variety of other techniques. Later, Jeet Kune Do would continue to evolve in a more philosophical direction to become his “style of no style,” a principle based, inclusive form of fighting which emphasized freedom and spontaneity in the practitioner.
His teachings continue through Dan Inosanto; the only one of three instructors ever certified by Lee while still alive and actively teaching today, and himself a black belt under Mr. Parker before joining Lee's school. Martial artists around the world, in many different styles and systems, familiarize themselves with his teachings in order to inform their own approach to training and combat.
His teachings continue through Dan Inosanto; the only one of three instructors ever certified by Lee while still alive and actively teaching today, and himself a black belt under Mr. Parker before joining Lee's school. Martial artists around the world, in many different styles and systems, familiarize themselves with his teachings in order to inform their own approach to training and combat.
Lee was a phenomenally gifted natural athlete who challenged the social conventions of his time, in every part of his life. He refused to accept the limitations others tried to place on him because of his race, or his age, or his chosen profession. I have heard him described as brilliant, cocky, humble, hungry, a visionary, disrespectful, loving, and generous. In his day, he was controversial and disruptive, always pushing those around him further than they thought they were ready to go, and often dragging them along by virtue of his indisputable charisma and will. He was a brightly burning flame, a man of many gifts who didn't live nearly long enough to fulfill his own potential; and yet somehow left an indelible mark on the world none the less. The Masters of his era called him a natural. They invited him into their homes and their schools, and he became their student and their friend.
Bruce Lee benefited from exposure to many great martial artists, including Yip Man, Ed Parker, Gene Lebell, Wally Jay, Bob Wall, Chuck Norris, and Joe Lewis. He was also deeply dedicated to physical conditioning and nutrition. His wife frequently remembers him as a man who spent much of his time exercising both his body and his mind. The combination of his exposure to true Masters, his philosophical approach, and his natural athleticism and dilligent physical training made him an accomplished and impressive practitioner.
I have heard that Mr. Parker and Bruce would discuss their respective philosophies on martial arts until late into the night, and when you read their writings the evidence is unmistakeable. Many of the concepts taught by both these men are similar; both because they shared their knowledge, and because they both took a rational, unbiased approach to understanding combat. This was perhaps the greatest martial legacy of Bruce Lee's too short life.
He taught his students to be formless and unbiased, not to be rigidly bound by their techniques, but to be free and do what was necessary to win. He taught his students to have an open mind. He pushed boundaries and challenged social norms. He changed the face of film making, martial arts, and race relations. And he challenged everyone around him, everyone who heard of him, to push themselves as well.
Bruce Lee died too young. We'll never know what kind of Master he could have become. Or what kind of film maker. But we know that in his short time he changed the world, and he loved and was loved. His name will never be forgotten. Not by his students. Not by his family. Not by his friends.
That is a legacy we can each only hope to equal.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Ten Methods for Practicing Fallen Sword
Since it's Fall Break and you're all missing class as much as I am, I thought I'd give you some things to think about during your time off. With that in mind, here are ten ways to practice one of your beginner techniques which will help you with all your kenpo.
1. Visualize your performance. Imagine yourself performing the technique. See every strike land. See your opponent fall at your feet. Always succeed. Never fail.
2. In the air. You can't rehearse the motion enough. The body relies on proprioeception and motor memory to perform physical tasks, and those are both developed through repetition.
3. On the body. On as many bodies, as often as possible. Performing karate in the air is good practice, but it's like playing air guitar. The skill is designed for the instrument.
4. Around the clock. Face 12 and perform Fallen Sword against punches from all directions. Learn what movements are necessary to achieve the necessary positions.
5. Kenpo Formula. Add/Subtract/Prefix/Suffix/Alter (timing,targets,weapons)/Re-arrange/Excise. Practice Fallen Sword with each function of the formula. Separately and in combination.
6. Against other attacks. Can Fallen Sword be performed against a push? A punch? A grab? Slaps, knives, clubs? What about a broken beer bottle, or a roundhouse kick? The attack in the technique is a teaching tool, make sure you're studying the lessons.
7. As a grappling response. Instead of block/kick/handsword, could you work grab/sweep/headlock? What about parry/pressing stance/pushdown?
8. Left handed. Fallen Sword can be performed against a Left Step Thru Punch just as easily as a Right. Simply use the opposite side stances and maneuvers. Practicing your techniques on both sides will improve your coordination and timing.
9. While sparring. Have your opponent throw nothing but step thru punches while sparring. Defend every time with Fallen Sword. Gradually vary techniques and increase speed and intensity.
10. On the ground. Can you perform fallen sword from the guard? While under the mount? While in the mount? What purpose can the lower body serve? Learning to fight on the ground is like learning to fight on your feet, you have to play the game to learn the rules.
Practice every technique like this. Every basic. Every set. Every form. This is how you master the art. Repetition. Study. Experimentation. You should investigate this thoroughly and understand it well.
Just because the school is closed doesn't mean you can't be practicing and studying. Look for ways to keep it fresh. And make sure you come back excited and ready to train!
1. Visualize your performance. Imagine yourself performing the technique. See every strike land. See your opponent fall at your feet. Always succeed. Never fail.
2. In the air. You can't rehearse the motion enough. The body relies on proprioeception and motor memory to perform physical tasks, and those are both developed through repetition.
3. On the body. On as many bodies, as often as possible. Performing karate in the air is good practice, but it's like playing air guitar. The skill is designed for the instrument.
4. Around the clock. Face 12 and perform Fallen Sword against punches from all directions. Learn what movements are necessary to achieve the necessary positions.
5. Kenpo Formula. Add/Subtract/Prefix/Suffix/Alter (timing,targets,weapons)/Re-arrange/Excise. Practice Fallen Sword with each function of the formula. Separately and in combination.
6. Against other attacks. Can Fallen Sword be performed against a push? A punch? A grab? Slaps, knives, clubs? What about a broken beer bottle, or a roundhouse kick? The attack in the technique is a teaching tool, make sure you're studying the lessons.
7. As a grappling response. Instead of block/kick/handsword, could you work grab/sweep/headlock? What about parry/pressing stance/pushdown?
8. Left handed. Fallen Sword can be performed against a Left Step Thru Punch just as easily as a Right. Simply use the opposite side stances and maneuvers. Practicing your techniques on both sides will improve your coordination and timing.
9. While sparring. Have your opponent throw nothing but step thru punches while sparring. Defend every time with Fallen Sword. Gradually vary techniques and increase speed and intensity.
10. On the ground. Can you perform fallen sword from the guard? While under the mount? While in the mount? What purpose can the lower body serve? Learning to fight on the ground is like learning to fight on your feet, you have to play the game to learn the rules.
Practice every technique like this. Every basic. Every set. Every form. This is how you master the art. Repetition. Study. Experimentation. You should investigate this thoroughly and understand it well.
Just because the school is closed doesn't mean you can't be practicing and studying. Look for ways to keep it fresh. And make sure you come back excited and ready to train!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Common Problems for Beginners in Sparring
I have a number of technique books on different martial arts outside my primary field of study. Hapkido, Fencing, Tae Kwon Do, Arnis, others. A book is no replacement for a qualified instructor, but books and videos can be useful supplemental materials.
One of my technique books on Western Boxing has a list of common problems faced by people new to sparring that I think is worth reproducing here for two reasons.
First, these are good tips that even experienced students would do well to review, including me. You don't stop learning, and you should never stop reviewing material you think you already understand.
Second, I think it's interesting to look at the similarities between our Way and their Way. Döbringer began his presentation of "The Art of Combat of Master Liechtenauer" by saying, "there is only one art of the sword."
Fighting is fighting. Violence is universal to the human condition. And there are certain universal truths which apply to it's study. As Musashi put it, "Even though their Ways are not ours, if you know the way broadly, not one of them will be misunderstood."
On to the list.
Start-Up Sparring: Common Problems
Squaring Off to an opponent (planting your feet directly in front of an opponent so that you face him with your chest). Never compromise your basic defensive posture.
Signaling intentions with shoulders, head or flying elbow before your punch is thrown. Deliver your punches crisply and cleanly. Straight punches fire directly from chin to target.
Predictability with movements or offensive and defensive style. A boxer must mix up his approach so that his opponent won't see patterns.
Reaching and pawing. These are largely useless actions that will expose you to dangerous counters.
Hesitation. Finish your punches. They may land or disrupt the counter. Half a punch is worthless.
Flinching. Learn to keep your eyes on your opponent - even under fire!
Fatigue. It takes time and training to build stamina.
Slow and sloppy technique. It also takes time and training to groove your offensive and defensive actions.
Nervous prancing and bouncing. Happy feet happen naturally and must be curbed to conserve energy.
Inability to relax between actions. The intensity of sparring makes it hard to relax out there, but relax you must, in order to conserve energy and execute technique properly.
Anger. Has no place in sparring.
Charging. Usually the result of frustration. With an experienced opponent you'll be cut down in no time.
Most of this list can be reduced to two basic concepts. Clean technique. Mental clarity.
Don't get frustrated. Don't get angry. Don't hesitate. Don't reach. Don't telegraph. Don't make unnecessary movements.
There is only one art of the sword. Understand that, to understand this.
One of my technique books on Western Boxing has a list of common problems faced by people new to sparring that I think is worth reproducing here for two reasons.
First, these are good tips that even experienced students would do well to review, including me. You don't stop learning, and you should never stop reviewing material you think you already understand.
Second, I think it's interesting to look at the similarities between our Way and their Way. Döbringer began his presentation of "The Art of Combat of Master Liechtenauer" by saying, "there is only one art of the sword."
Fighting is fighting. Violence is universal to the human condition. And there are certain universal truths which apply to it's study. As Musashi put it, "Even though their Ways are not ours, if you know the way broadly, not one of them will be misunderstood."
On to the list.
Start-Up Sparring: Common Problems
Squaring Off to an opponent (planting your feet directly in front of an opponent so that you face him with your chest). Never compromise your basic defensive posture.
Signaling intentions with shoulders, head or flying elbow before your punch is thrown. Deliver your punches crisply and cleanly. Straight punches fire directly from chin to target.
Predictability with movements or offensive and defensive style. A boxer must mix up his approach so that his opponent won't see patterns.
Reaching and pawing. These are largely useless actions that will expose you to dangerous counters.
Hesitation. Finish your punches. They may land or disrupt the counter. Half a punch is worthless.
Flinching. Learn to keep your eyes on your opponent - even under fire!
Fatigue. It takes time and training to build stamina.
Slow and sloppy technique. It also takes time and training to groove your offensive and defensive actions.
Nervous prancing and bouncing. Happy feet happen naturally and must be curbed to conserve energy.
Inability to relax between actions. The intensity of sparring makes it hard to relax out there, but relax you must, in order to conserve energy and execute technique properly.
Anger. Has no place in sparring.
Charging. Usually the result of frustration. With an experienced opponent you'll be cut down in no time.
Most of this list can be reduced to two basic concepts. Clean technique. Mental clarity.
Don't get frustrated. Don't get angry. Don't hesitate. Don't reach. Don't telegraph. Don't make unnecessary movements.
There is only one art of the sword. Understand that, to understand this.
Monday, November 15, 2010
The Path of the Student
First and foremost, the karate studio is a school. It's not a gym. It's not a playground. It's a place of learning.
The Japanese word, dojo, means "Way place." The Korean dojang refers to a place traditionally set aside for study and meditation. The archaic meaning of the Chinese guan is "a private school." Martial arts are not just the execution of violence. They are the practice of it. The study. It is the path of the student, hungry for knowledge and reveling in mistakes.
Each of us begin our journey in the same place. The white belt is not a mark of shame or ignorance. It is a proud place along the path. It is the only rank that every martial arts student and master, throughout time, discipline, and culture, has shared. Even the greatest men and women who came before us began as you did. As I did. As white belts.
And as white belts, every technique is a challenge. Every basic is difficult. Every repetition feels uncoordinated. And you think that it's because you're new. But the reality is that in martial arts, you're always new at something. Because you're always learning.
And that's a good thing. That's exciting. That's the unending Way of martial arts. Every step is a step forward. Every step is a step up the mountain. And yes, it's a constant challenge, but that's empowering. Because every success is earned. And every step is up.
It would take a hundred lifetimes to learn all there is to know about martial arts. Some men spend their whole lives learning just one of the arts. Others try to learn three or four. But there are literally hundreds of styles, from all over the world. You can't learn it all. You can't master it all.
So don't worry about what you haven't learned. Don't worry about what you haven't mastered, or how long it's taking you to advance. You aren't quitting karate, so today, tomorrow, it's all the same. Just keep moving forward. Keep taking steps.
In all our years on this earth, we will only have time to learn the smallest sliver of what there is to know. So be at peace. Take each lesson as it comes, and let the knowledge slowly pervade your understanding. Be patient with your lessons. Be patient with yourself. Slow to learn, slow to forget. Mistakes are opportunities to learn. FAILING means Finding An Important Lesson, Inviting Needed Growth.
Learn to love the struggle, because it's not going away. Only by embracing it will you advance.
You aren't racing towards a goal. You are walking a path. So take your time and enjoy the scenery. Remember, the journey is the destination.
The Japanese word, dojo, means "Way place." The Korean dojang refers to a place traditionally set aside for study and meditation. The archaic meaning of the Chinese guan is "a private school." Martial arts are not just the execution of violence. They are the practice of it. The study. It is the path of the student, hungry for knowledge and reveling in mistakes.
Each of us begin our journey in the same place. The white belt is not a mark of shame or ignorance. It is a proud place along the path. It is the only rank that every martial arts student and master, throughout time, discipline, and culture, has shared. Even the greatest men and women who came before us began as you did. As I did. As white belts.
And as white belts, every technique is a challenge. Every basic is difficult. Every repetition feels uncoordinated. And you think that it's because you're new. But the reality is that in martial arts, you're always new at something. Because you're always learning.
And that's a good thing. That's exciting. That's the unending Way of martial arts. Every step is a step forward. Every step is a step up the mountain. And yes, it's a constant challenge, but that's empowering. Because every success is earned. And every step is up.
It would take a hundred lifetimes to learn all there is to know about martial arts. Some men spend their whole lives learning just one of the arts. Others try to learn three or four. But there are literally hundreds of styles, from all over the world. You can't learn it all. You can't master it all.
So don't worry about what you haven't learned. Don't worry about what you haven't mastered, or how long it's taking you to advance. You aren't quitting karate, so today, tomorrow, it's all the same. Just keep moving forward. Keep taking steps.
In all our years on this earth, we will only have time to learn the smallest sliver of what there is to know. So be at peace. Take each lesson as it comes, and let the knowledge slowly pervade your understanding. Be patient with your lessons. Be patient with yourself. Slow to learn, slow to forget. Mistakes are opportunities to learn. FAILING means Finding An Important Lesson, Inviting Needed Growth.
Learn to love the struggle, because it's not going away. Only by embracing it will you advance.
You aren't racing towards a goal. You are walking a path. So take your time and enjoy the scenery. Remember, the journey is the destination.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Kenpo Sparring
Mr. Parker described the four ranges of combat as Out of Range, Contact Range, Contact Penetration Range, and Control Manipulation Range. Each range requires a different mental approach and a different set of physical techniques.
Most of the Kenpo techniques take place within the last two ranges. Contact Penetration and Control Manipulation. Most karate style point sparring takes place within the first two ranges, Out of Range and Contact Range. One of the benefits of sparring practice is it helps us to learn how to move from the first two ranges to the last two. But this difference in range, and concomitant difference in attitude and technique gives rise to the question, "Why don't we see more Kenpo techniques used in sparring?"
The first thing to point out is that the self defense techniques are not designed to be used in sparring. Sparring is a very specific combat style activity which has very specific restrictions. Self defense techniques are designed for a different situation with different rules.
That being said, it's easy to see why this concern gets raised. Sparring can look like generic punch kick karate that has very little to do with kenpo. The important thing to remember is that you are using different techniques because of context and range, but that doesn't mean that there aren't some kenpo techniques that make the transition well.
Some good examples are using Fallen Sword or the first part of Penetrating the Wall against a jab, or using Deflecting Hammer against a kick, but changing the elbow strike to a reverse punch.
The key is to pick one technique, and then spar with it. One student uses only the attack for that technique, over and over and over. The other student uses only the specific assigned defense. After a few minutes, switch roles. Repeat this process with two or three techniques. Then begin again, this time using any of the attacks you've practiced, but only those attacks, while the other student uses any of the prescribed defenses. Finally, spar unrestricted, but focus on using the practiced defenses whenever the specific attacks are presented.
What you have to do is drill these defenses against attacks. If you've practiced your kenpo, these things will happen naturally, but it's easy for even an experienced kenpo practitioner to fall into the trap of using basic sparring maneuvers when playing that game.
Remember when sparring to always fire at least two strikes at a time. One strike will fail 99% of the time. Two strikes have a 50/50 chance of success, but three or more strikes will succeed 99% of the time. This will help you to stay in the kenpo mindset.
Combinations, practice, and repetition. That's how you get better at sparring, and working your kenpo into your sparring is the same.
Ultimately, sparring is an intermediate drill. As you progress in your training, you should move past karate style sparring into continuous sparring, and eventually into fully integrated combat style activities, involving stand up and ground grappling as well as street techniques and targets, always with control. During these activities, you will see more self defense technique material because these activities are more closely related to the arena for which that material was created.
Kenpo is designed for self defense, not sport. But we can blend it into our sparring with a little work, and ultimately that will make us better at both.
Drills -
Beginner: Option drill. Choose two kenpo techniques with similar attacks. Have your partner give you either attack and respond with the appropriate technique. Repeat.
Intermediate: Position Recognition. Spar normally at super slow speed. Occasionally pause during attacks and analyze your relative positions. Choose a kenpo technique appropriate to that position and execute that technique in a sparring context. Gradually increase speed.
Advanced: Free Combat. Paying special attention to safety and control, engage in unrestricted "street freestyle" using striking and grappling, standing and ground fighting. Incorporate kenpo techniques both standing and on the ground.
Most of the Kenpo techniques take place within the last two ranges. Contact Penetration and Control Manipulation. Most karate style point sparring takes place within the first two ranges, Out of Range and Contact Range. One of the benefits of sparring practice is it helps us to learn how to move from the first two ranges to the last two. But this difference in range, and concomitant difference in attitude and technique gives rise to the question, "Why don't we see more Kenpo techniques used in sparring?"
The first thing to point out is that the self defense techniques are not designed to be used in sparring. Sparring is a very specific combat style activity which has very specific restrictions. Self defense techniques are designed for a different situation with different rules.
That being said, it's easy to see why this concern gets raised. Sparring can look like generic punch kick karate that has very little to do with kenpo. The important thing to remember is that you are using different techniques because of context and range, but that doesn't mean that there aren't some kenpo techniques that make the transition well.
Some good examples are using Fallen Sword or the first part of Penetrating the Wall against a jab, or using Deflecting Hammer against a kick, but changing the elbow strike to a reverse punch.
The key is to pick one technique, and then spar with it. One student uses only the attack for that technique, over and over and over. The other student uses only the specific assigned defense. After a few minutes, switch roles. Repeat this process with two or three techniques. Then begin again, this time using any of the attacks you've practiced, but only those attacks, while the other student uses any of the prescribed defenses. Finally, spar unrestricted, but focus on using the practiced defenses whenever the specific attacks are presented.
What you have to do is drill these defenses against attacks. If you've practiced your kenpo, these things will happen naturally, but it's easy for even an experienced kenpo practitioner to fall into the trap of using basic sparring maneuvers when playing that game.
Remember when sparring to always fire at least two strikes at a time. One strike will fail 99% of the time. Two strikes have a 50/50 chance of success, but three or more strikes will succeed 99% of the time. This will help you to stay in the kenpo mindset.
Combinations, practice, and repetition. That's how you get better at sparring, and working your kenpo into your sparring is the same.
Ultimately, sparring is an intermediate drill. As you progress in your training, you should move past karate style sparring into continuous sparring, and eventually into fully integrated combat style activities, involving stand up and ground grappling as well as street techniques and targets, always with control. During these activities, you will see more self defense technique material because these activities are more closely related to the arena for which that material was created.
Kenpo is designed for self defense, not sport. But we can blend it into our sparring with a little work, and ultimately that will make us better at both.
Drills -
Beginner: Option drill. Choose two kenpo techniques with similar attacks. Have your partner give you either attack and respond with the appropriate technique. Repeat.
Intermediate: Position Recognition. Spar normally at super slow speed. Occasionally pause during attacks and analyze your relative positions. Choose a kenpo technique appropriate to that position and execute that technique in a sparring context. Gradually increase speed.
Advanced: Free Combat. Paying special attention to safety and control, engage in unrestricted "street freestyle" using striking and grappling, standing and ground fighting. Incorporate kenpo techniques both standing and on the ground.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Why Front Kick?
The Front Kick is the most important kick. It should be the most accurate, fastest, most polished kick in everyone's arsenal. It should be the kick you throw more than any other. For one simple reason.
You're opponent should be in front of you.
Yes, rear kicks and side kicks and hooks and crescents are all useful, powerful kicks. But the opponent should be standing in front of you and you should be in a fighting stance. If either of those things are not true, you should make them true immediately. You may be ambushed, you may be surrounded. But you need to face the man you intend to defeat. Each, individually, with all of your attention at every moment.
I am not saying you will never throw a back or side kick. Certainly I do all the time. I'm not saying the fighting stance has to be a perfect neutral bow, or L stance, or guard position. I'm not even saying your opponent won't get behind you, or you won't have to face more than one opponent at a time. But you must be fighting from your stance. And you must be facing each opponent with everything that you are.
And when you are facing your opponent, you're front kick is the shortest distance between your foot and his first most vital target. It requires no twisting, no turning, and no pivoting. It is a simple lift and extend. It is a motion you do every step you take, every day of your life.
It should be a devastating move, to any target, delivered with absolute conviction. To the leading lower shin of the opponent it can jam a rushing maneuver. To the inside of the knee it can crush the joint outward, folding the leg over sideways. To the inner thigh, stop a roundhouse kick in mid flight. You can strike the groin to cause pain, the hip girdle to collapse your opponent forward, or the bladder to accomplish both. You can break ribs, rupture organs, and even stop the heart.
The front kick can do all these things. And more. The same kick to the back of the knee has a completely different effect than to the front or side of it. Snapping the kick has a different effect from thrusting it. Are you striking forward with the kick, or upward? Chambering or sweeping? Landing forward or back?
The front kick is the lead hand jab of the lower body. It is not simply one kick among many. It is the kick. It may not have the most potential power. It may not have the greatest range, or height. But it is one of the core moves of your fighting arsenal, and deserves its place in any combination of strikes.
Drills -
Beginner: Practice front kicks ten times, each leg, thrusting and snapping, in the air, and on the pads, the shields, the bag, and the body.
Intermediate: Student A faces Student B in a Fighting Stance. Student B holding a focus shield. Student A uses Step Thru Front Kicks to push Student B the length of the floor. Then Student B advances and Student A defends with Step Thru Front Kicks (Retreating). Repeat.
Advanced: While sparring, Students practice using Front Kicks against various targets for Anatomical Repositioning, (Bladder, Hip Girdle, Lower Ribs, Guard).
You're opponent should be in front of you.
Yes, rear kicks and side kicks and hooks and crescents are all useful, powerful kicks. But the opponent should be standing in front of you and you should be in a fighting stance. If either of those things are not true, you should make them true immediately. You may be ambushed, you may be surrounded. But you need to face the man you intend to defeat. Each, individually, with all of your attention at every moment.
I am not saying you will never throw a back or side kick. Certainly I do all the time. I'm not saying the fighting stance has to be a perfect neutral bow, or L stance, or guard position. I'm not even saying your opponent won't get behind you, or you won't have to face more than one opponent at a time. But you must be fighting from your stance. And you must be facing each opponent with everything that you are.
And when you are facing your opponent, you're front kick is the shortest distance between your foot and his first most vital target. It requires no twisting, no turning, and no pivoting. It is a simple lift and extend. It is a motion you do every step you take, every day of your life.
It should be a devastating move, to any target, delivered with absolute conviction. To the leading lower shin of the opponent it can jam a rushing maneuver. To the inside of the knee it can crush the joint outward, folding the leg over sideways. To the inner thigh, stop a roundhouse kick in mid flight. You can strike the groin to cause pain, the hip girdle to collapse your opponent forward, or the bladder to accomplish both. You can break ribs, rupture organs, and even stop the heart.
The front kick can do all these things. And more. The same kick to the back of the knee has a completely different effect than to the front or side of it. Snapping the kick has a different effect from thrusting it. Are you striking forward with the kick, or upward? Chambering or sweeping? Landing forward or back?
The front kick is the lead hand jab of the lower body. It is not simply one kick among many. It is the kick. It may not have the most potential power. It may not have the greatest range, or height. But it is one of the core moves of your fighting arsenal, and deserves its place in any combination of strikes.
Drills -
Beginner: Practice front kicks ten times, each leg, thrusting and snapping, in the air, and on the pads, the shields, the bag, and the body.
Intermediate: Student A faces Student B in a Fighting Stance. Student B holding a focus shield. Student A uses Step Thru Front Kicks to push Student B the length of the floor. Then Student B advances and Student A defends with Step Thru Front Kicks (Retreating). Repeat.
Advanced: While sparring, Students practice using Front Kicks against various targets for Anatomical Repositioning, (Bladder, Hip Girdle, Lower Ribs, Guard).
Fall and Winter Break
I wanted to remind everybody that the school will be closed for our Fall Break the week of November 22 to November 26. We will also be closed for Winter Break from December 20 to January 1.
We hope that all of our students and instructors enjoy a safe and happy break and return ready to train hard.
Make sure to take time while the school is closed to continue practicing your material. We don't want anyone to regret spending their time away eating too much turkey and doing too little kenpo! So call your friends and make the time!
Stay safe!
We hope that all of our students and instructors enjoy a safe and happy break and return ready to train hard.
Make sure to take time while the school is closed to continue practicing your material. We don't want anyone to regret spending their time away eating too much turkey and doing too little kenpo! So call your friends and make the time!
Stay safe!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Hit, Hit, and Hit Again
From wikipedia:
Yagyū Munenori was a Japanese swordsman, founder of the Edo branch of Yagyū Shinkage-ryū, which he learned from his father Yagyū "Sekishusai" Muneyoshi. This was one of two official sword styles patronized by the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Munenori began his career in the Tokugawa administration as a hatamoto, a direct retainer of the Tokugawa house, and later had his income raised to 10,000 koku, making him a minor fudai daimyo with landholdings around his ancestral village of Yagyū-zato.
Munenori entered the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu at a young age, and later was an instructor of swordsmanship to Ieyasu's son Hidetada. Still later, he became one of the primary advisors of the third shogun Iemitsu.
In about 1632, Munenori completed the Heihō kadensho, a treatise on practical Shinkage-ryū swordsmanship and how it could be applied on a macro level to life and politics. The text remains in print in Japan today, and has been translated a number of times into English.
In that masterwork under the section titled, "The Life-Giving Sword," the Master teaches us about the proper mental attitude for combat.
Returning the Mind
"The frame of mind indicated with this phrase is: if you strike with your sword and think, "I've struck!" the mind that thinks "I've struck!" will stop right there, just as it is. Because your mind does not return from the place you struck, you will be distracted, struck by the second blow of your opponent, and your initiative will be brought to nothing. With your opponent's second blow, you will be defeated.
Returning the mind means the following: if you have struck a blow, do not leave your mind in the place you struck. Rather, after you have made your strike, turn your mind back and observe your opponent. Having been struck, he will now make a strenuous effort. Having been struck, he will be mortified and insulted. If he gets angry, he will become relentless.
Here, if you are negligent, you will be struck by your opponent. It is best to think of him as an angry boar. If you think, "I struck him," your mind will stay with that thought and you will be negligent. You had best be resolved that when your opponent has been struck, he will rally. Also, once struck, your opponent will quickly become more cautious, and you will not be able to strike him with the same mind with which you struck him before. If you strike at him and miss, he will now take the initiative and strike you.
The significance of "returning your mind" is not to stop your mind where you struck, but to pull it back forcibly to your own self. It is in returning your mind and observing the countenance of your opponent. Or, in its ultimate state of mind, it is in not returning your mind at all, but in unrelentingly striking a second and third time without allowing your opponent so much as a shake of the head. This is what is called "having no space to slip in a single hair." between your first and second blow, there should be no interval that would allow in even a single hair. This is the mind with which you hit, hit, and hit again."
Yagyū Munenori was a Japanese swordsman, founder of the Edo branch of Yagyū Shinkage-ryū, which he learned from his father Yagyū "Sekishusai" Muneyoshi. This was one of two official sword styles patronized by the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Munenori began his career in the Tokugawa administration as a hatamoto, a direct retainer of the Tokugawa house, and later had his income raised to 10,000 koku, making him a minor fudai daimyo with landholdings around his ancestral village of Yagyū-zato.
Munenori entered the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu at a young age, and later was an instructor of swordsmanship to Ieyasu's son Hidetada. Still later, he became one of the primary advisors of the third shogun Iemitsu.
In about 1632, Munenori completed the Heihō kadensho, a treatise on practical Shinkage-ryū swordsmanship and how it could be applied on a macro level to life and politics. The text remains in print in Japan today, and has been translated a number of times into English.
In that masterwork under the section titled, "The Life-Giving Sword," the Master teaches us about the proper mental attitude for combat.
Returning the Mind
"The frame of mind indicated with this phrase is: if you strike with your sword and think, "I've struck!" the mind that thinks "I've struck!" will stop right there, just as it is. Because your mind does not return from the place you struck, you will be distracted, struck by the second blow of your opponent, and your initiative will be brought to nothing. With your opponent's second blow, you will be defeated.
Returning the mind means the following: if you have struck a blow, do not leave your mind in the place you struck. Rather, after you have made your strike, turn your mind back and observe your opponent. Having been struck, he will now make a strenuous effort. Having been struck, he will be mortified and insulted. If he gets angry, he will become relentless.
Here, if you are negligent, you will be struck by your opponent. It is best to think of him as an angry boar. If you think, "I struck him," your mind will stay with that thought and you will be negligent. You had best be resolved that when your opponent has been struck, he will rally. Also, once struck, your opponent will quickly become more cautious, and you will not be able to strike him with the same mind with which you struck him before. If you strike at him and miss, he will now take the initiative and strike you.
The significance of "returning your mind" is not to stop your mind where you struck, but to pull it back forcibly to your own self. It is in returning your mind and observing the countenance of your opponent. Or, in its ultimate state of mind, it is in not returning your mind at all, but in unrelentingly striking a second and third time without allowing your opponent so much as a shake of the head. This is what is called "having no space to slip in a single hair." between your first and second blow, there should be no interval that would allow in even a single hair. This is the mind with which you hit, hit, and hit again."
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Karate No Shugyo Wa Issho
It will take all of your life to learn karate.
Funakoshi Gichin was an Okinawan Master who brought the styles of Karate he practiced, Shōrei-ryū and Shōrin-ryū to the Japanese islands in the early 1920's. In 1939 he opened the Shotokan, or House of Pine Waves, and began teaching a new style of Karate. No longer would he teach the China Hand, from that point forward, he changed the meaning of the word. And every subsequent generation would learn that Kara-Te meant "Empty Hand."
Master Funakoshi left behind a text to guide the students who would come after him. His Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate or niju kun are simple lessons designed to help the student grow within and to understand the philosophy behind the teachings of the empty hand.
I. Do not forget that karate-do begins and ends with a bow.
III. Karate stands on the side of justice.
VI. The mind must be set free.
X. Apply the way of karate to all things. Therein lies its beauty.
XX. Be constantly mindful, dilligent, and resourceful in your pursuit of the way.
Each lesson contained within the niju kun offers us a glimpse into the mind of one of martial art's greatest lost masters. When written, Master Funakoshi began each of the twenty principles with the character for the number one, in order to emphasize that no one of these principles is greater or more important than another.
According to the Master's teaching, number seven, "Calamity springs from carelessness," was just as important as number eighteen, "Perform kata exactly; actual combat is another matter." Every rule is the first rule. Each of us should read, study, and come to understand why Master Funakoshi chose these twenty rules as the legacy of his teaching.
"The danger with rankings in Karate...is that we can easily end up thinking that acheiving the ranking...means that we no longer have anything to learn. The pursuit of these artificial goals can distract us from the real goal, which is to perfect our character, and which will take us until our dying day. The belts, rankings, and rewards do motivate people in the short-term, and that is why we use them; however, Master Funakoshi gave us the dojo kun and niju kun to remind us that karate is about perfecting character, and not about competition and rankings.
When one really understands this principle, he or she will have much more patience with the process of learning karate. Many students enter karate with the mentality that within six months or a year or two, they can become experts. They work very hard, and yet when within that time period they find themselves still struggling, they often become dis-illusioned and quit. This is quite sad.
...
Karate, like humankind itself, is a foreign element in the material world: it is a transplant from the world of spirit. For spirit to take root and flourish in the material world, it takes great discipline, great courage, and great wisdom practiced and developed over a lifetime. If you will understand the principle, you will have the proper mindset and perspective, you will not be easily discouraged, and you will certainly grow and develop."
In the Hagakure, the reader is given a description of the stages of a lifetime of training to become a master swordsman. At the lowest levels, even though one trains, there are no positive results and one holds oneself and others in low esteem. In the middle stage, one at least see one's shortcomings and can aslo recognize them in others. In the upper stage, one takes pride in accomplishments, rejoicing in praise from others and also feeling sorrow when others fail. One holds others in high esteem and, for many, this is the final stage.
But there is another.
If a student chooses to walk the higher path, he finally comes to see that there is no final stage. All thoughts of having come far enough vanish, and the student comes to truly know himself. He lives his life without desire for worldly successes and feels no need for pride, nor does he feel a need to humble himself. Then it tells us this.
"Lord Yagyu said he did not know the way to defeat others, but he knew the way to gain victory over himself-it was to become better today than yesterday, and better tomorrow than today-working in this manner, day by day, all one's life."
This is what is meant by Karate no shugyo wa issho. Every day. Walking the path. And knowing that there are no beginnings nor endings on the path. We may pass a test. We may fail a test. But the path continues forever beneath our feet.
It will take all your life to learn karate. Because the empty hand is not a weapon for violence. It is a Way. And all the Ways are unending.
Funakoshi Gichin was an Okinawan Master who brought the styles of Karate he practiced, Shōrei-ryū and Shōrin-ryū to the Japanese islands in the early 1920's. In 1939 he opened the Shotokan, or House of Pine Waves, and began teaching a new style of Karate. No longer would he teach the China Hand, from that point forward, he changed the meaning of the word. And every subsequent generation would learn that Kara-Te meant "Empty Hand."
I. Do not forget that karate-do begins and ends with a bow.
III. Karate stands on the side of justice.
VI. The mind must be set free.
X. Apply the way of karate to all things. Therein lies its beauty.
XX. Be constantly mindful, dilligent, and resourceful in your pursuit of the way.
Each lesson contained within the niju kun offers us a glimpse into the mind of one of martial art's greatest lost masters. When written, Master Funakoshi began each of the twenty principles with the character for the number one, in order to emphasize that no one of these principles is greater or more important than another.
The ninth precept is this, "Karate no shugyo wa issho." It will take all of your life to learn karate. In his book, Perfection of Character, Master Teruyuki Okazaki, a student of Master Funakoshi, gives us insight into the instruction behind this rule.
"The danger with rankings in Karate...is that we can easily end up thinking that acheiving the ranking...means that we no longer have anything to learn. The pursuit of these artificial goals can distract us from the real goal, which is to perfect our character, and which will take us until our dying day. The belts, rankings, and rewards do motivate people in the short-term, and that is why we use them; however, Master Funakoshi gave us the dojo kun and niju kun to remind us that karate is about perfecting character, and not about competition and rankings.
When one really understands this principle, he or she will have much more patience with the process of learning karate. Many students enter karate with the mentality that within six months or a year or two, they can become experts. They work very hard, and yet when within that time period they find themselves still struggling, they often become dis-illusioned and quit. This is quite sad.
...
Karate, like humankind itself, is a foreign element in the material world: it is a transplant from the world of spirit. For spirit to take root and flourish in the material world, it takes great discipline, great courage, and great wisdom practiced and developed over a lifetime. If you will understand the principle, you will have the proper mindset and perspective, you will not be easily discouraged, and you will certainly grow and develop."
In the Hagakure, the reader is given a description of the stages of a lifetime of training to become a master swordsman. At the lowest levels, even though one trains, there are no positive results and one holds oneself and others in low esteem. In the middle stage, one at least see one's shortcomings and can aslo recognize them in others. In the upper stage, one takes pride in accomplishments, rejoicing in praise from others and also feeling sorrow when others fail. One holds others in high esteem and, for many, this is the final stage.
But there is another.
If a student chooses to walk the higher path, he finally comes to see that there is no final stage. All thoughts of having come far enough vanish, and the student comes to truly know himself. He lives his life without desire for worldly successes and feels no need for pride, nor does he feel a need to humble himself. Then it tells us this.
"Lord Yagyu said he did not know the way to defeat others, but he knew the way to gain victory over himself-it was to become better today than yesterday, and better tomorrow than today-working in this manner, day by day, all one's life."
This is what is meant by Karate no shugyo wa issho. Every day. Walking the path. And knowing that there are no beginnings nor endings on the path. We may pass a test. We may fail a test. But the path continues forever beneath our feet.
It will take all your life to learn karate. Because the empty hand is not a weapon for violence. It is a Way. And all the Ways are unending.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Introduction to Fancher's Street Edge: Self Defense Systems
We had an excellent seminar at the school last night taught by 4th Degree Black Belt Instructor Mr. Tim Fancher of Columbia, MO. Mr. Tim Fancher has over twenty five years of martial arts experience training and teaching the cutting edge of combat technique and knowledge. As a professional personal protection specialist he teaches seminars around the country and has been featured many times on both radio and television as an expert on the subject. His experience as a police officer, security professional, and martial arts instructor informs his unique and assertive approach to staying safe in any dangerous situation.
Attendees of the seminar were taught a variety of techniques including -
Attendees of the seminar were taught a variety of techniques including -
- Defenses against Straight Wrist Grabs using strikes against vital targets
- Driving Takedowns from 12 o'clock against Straight Punches
- Defenses against Rear Bear Hugs using Groin Grabs and Piston Striking
- Techniques for Controlling and Transporting a Subject using Wrist Locks
Mr. Fancher emphasized the importance of preparing for the engagement beforehand, with the right mental attitude, visualization, and physical training. There was plenty of body work and repetition, allowing each of the students to perform their techniques with energy and resistance. The techniques and intensity he brought to the seminar gave each of the students an expanded toolbox for identifying dangerous situations, and for defending themselves and others.
We look forward to seeing Mr. Tim Fancher again and continuing to benefit from his unique approach to personal protection. Mr. Fancher offers both private and group lessons in Fancher's Street Edge:Self Defense Systems, and can be contacted at http://www.facebook.com/Streetedge and timothyfancher@gmail.com.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
New Research Shows Meditation May Have Possible Long Term Benefits
From CNN’s Dan Gilgoff:
Can people strengthen the brain circuits associated with happiness and positive behavior, just as we’re able to strengthen muscles with exercise?
Richard Davidson, who for decades has practiced Buddhist-style meditation – a form of mental exercise, he says – insists that we can.
And Davidson, who has been meditating since visiting India as a Harvard grad student in the 1970s, has credibility on the subject beyond his own experience.
A trained psychologist based at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, he has become the leader of a relatively new field called contemplative neuroscience — the brain science of meditation.
Over the last decade, Davidson and his colleagues have produced scientific evidence for the theory that meditation — the ancient eastern practice of sitting, usually accompanied by focusing on certain objects — permanently changes the brain for the better.
“We all know that if you engage in certain kinds of exercise on a regular basis you can strengthen certain muscle groups in predictable ways,” Davidson says in his office at the University of Wisconsin, where his research team has hosted scores of Buddhist monks and other meditators for brain scans.
“Strengthening neural systems is not fundamentally different,” he says. “It’s basically replacing certain habits of mind with other habits.”
Contemplative neuroscientists say that making a habit of meditation can strengthen brain circuits responsible for maintaining concentration and generating empathy.
One recent study by Davidson’s team found that novice meditators stimulated their limbic systems — the brain’s emotional network — during the practice of compassion meditation, an ancient Tibetan Buddhist practice.
That’s no great surprise, given that compassion meditation aims to produce a specific emotional state of intense empathy, sometimes call “lovingkindness.”
But the study also found that expert meditators — monks with more than 10,000 hours of practice — showed significantly greater activation of their limbic systems. The monks appeared to have permanently changed their brains to be more empathetic.
An earlier study by some of the same researchers found that committed meditators experienced sustained changes in baseline brain function, meaning that they had changed the way their brains operated even outside of meditation.
These changes included ramped-up activation of a brain region thought to be responsible for generating positive emotions, called the left-sided anterior region. The researchers found this change in novice meditators who’d enrolled in a course in mindfulness meditation — a technique that borrows heavily from Buddhism — that lasted just eight weeks.
But most brain research around meditation is still preliminary, waiting to be corroborated by other scientists. Meditation’s psychological benefits and its use in treatments for conditions as diverse as depression and chronic pain are more widely acknowledged.
Serious brain science around meditation has emerged only in about the last decade, since the birth of functional MRI allowed scientists to begin watching the brain and monitoring its changes in relatively real time.
Beginning in the late 1990s, a University of Pennsylvania-based researcher named Andrew Newberg said that his brain scans of experienced meditators showed the prefrontal cortex — the area of the brain that houses attention — surging into overdrive during meditation while the brain region governing our orientation in time and space, called the superior parietal lobe, went dark. (One of his scans is pictured, above.)
Newberg said his findings explained why meditators are able to cultivate intense concentration while also describing feelings of transcendence during meditation.
But some scientists said Newberg was over-interpreting his brain scans. Others said he failed to specify the kind of meditation he was studying, making his studies impossible to reproduce. His popular books, like Why God Won’t Go Away, caused more eye-rolling among neuroscientists, who said he hyped his findings to goose sales.
“It caused mainstream scientists to say that the only work that has been done in the field is of terrible quality,” says Alasdair Coles, a lecturer in neurology at England’s University of Cambridge.
Newberg, now at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital in Philadelphia, stands by his research.
And contemplative neuroscience had gained more credibility in the scientific community since his early scans.
One sign of that is increased funding from the National Institutes of Health, which has helped establish new contemplative science research centers at Stanford University, Emory University, and the University of Wisconsin, where the world’s first brain imaging lab with a meditation room next door is now under construction.
The NIH could not provide numbers on how much it gives specifically to meditation brain research but its grants in complementary and alternative medicine — which encompass many meditation studies — have risen from around $300 million in 2007 to an estimated $541 million in 2011.
“The original investigations by people like Davidson in the 1990s were seen as intriguing, but it took some time to be convinced that brain processes were really changing during meditation,” says Josephine Briggs, Director of the NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Most studies so far have examined so-called focused-attention meditation, in which the practitioner concentrates on a particular subject, such as the breath. The meditator monitors the quality of attention and, when it drifts, returns attention to the object.
Over time, practitioners are supposed to find it easier to sustain attention during and outside of meditation.
In a 2007 study, Davidson compared the attentional abilities of novice meditators to experts in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Participants in both groups were asked to practice focused-attention meditation on a fixed dot on a screen while researchers ran fMRI scans of their brains.
To challenge the participants’ attentional abilities, the scientists interrupted the meditations with distracting sounds.
The brain scans found that both experienced and novice meditators activated a network of attention-related regions of the brain during meditation. But the experienced meditators showed more activation in some of those regions.
The inexperienced meditators, meanwhile, showed increased activation in brain regions that have been shown to negatively correlate with sustaining attention. Experienced meditators were better able to activate their attentional networks to maintain concentration on the dot. They had, the study suggested, changed their brains.
The fMRI scans also showed that experienced meditators had less neural response to the distracting noises that interrupted the meditation.
In fact, the more hours of experience a meditator had, the scans found, the less active his or her emotional networks were during the distracting sounds, which meant the easier it was to focus.
More recently, contemplative neuroscience has turned toward compassion meditation, which involves generating empathy through objectless awareness; practitioners call it non-referential compassion meditation.
New neuroscientific interest in the practice comes largely at the urging of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and politial leader of Tibetan Buddhists, for whom compassion meditation is a time-worn tradition.
The Dalai Lama has arranged for Tibetan monks to travel to American universities for brain scans and has spoken at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, the world’s largest gathering of brain scientists.
A religious leader, the Dalai Lama has said he supports contemplative neuroscience even though scientists are stripping meditation of its Buddhist roots, treating it purely as a mental exercise that more or less anyone can do.
“This is not a project about religion,” says Davidson. “Meditation is mental activity that could be understood in secular terms.”
Still, the nascent field faces challenges. Scientists have scanned just a few hundred brains on meditation do date, which makes for a pretty small research sample. And some scientists say researchers are over eager to use brain science to prove the that meditation “works.”
“This is a field that has been populated by true believers,” says Emory University scientist Charles Raison, who has studied meditation’s effect on the immune system. “Many of the people doing this research are trying to prove scientifically what they already know from experience, which is a major flaw.”
But Davidson says that other types of scientists also have deep personal interest in what they’re studying. And he argues that that’s a good thing.
“There’s a cadre of grad students and post docs who’ve found personal value in meditation and have been inspired to study it scientifically,” Davidson says. “These are people at the very best universities and they want to do this for a career.
“In ten years,” he says, “we’ll find that meditation research has become mainstream.”
From CNN.com
Can people strengthen the brain circuits associated with happiness and positive behavior, just as we’re able to strengthen muscles with exercise?
Richard Davidson, who for decades has practiced Buddhist-style meditation – a form of mental exercise, he says – insists that we can.
And Davidson, who has been meditating since visiting India as a Harvard grad student in the 1970s, has credibility on the subject beyond his own experience.
A trained psychologist based at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, he has become the leader of a relatively new field called contemplative neuroscience — the brain science of meditation.
Over the last decade, Davidson and his colleagues have produced scientific evidence for the theory that meditation — the ancient eastern practice of sitting, usually accompanied by focusing on certain objects — permanently changes the brain for the better.
“We all know that if you engage in certain kinds of exercise on a regular basis you can strengthen certain muscle groups in predictable ways,” Davidson says in his office at the University of Wisconsin, where his research team has hosted scores of Buddhist monks and other meditators for brain scans.
“Strengthening neural systems is not fundamentally different,” he says. “It’s basically replacing certain habits of mind with other habits.”
Contemplative neuroscientists say that making a habit of meditation can strengthen brain circuits responsible for maintaining concentration and generating empathy.
One recent study by Davidson’s team found that novice meditators stimulated their limbic systems — the brain’s emotional network — during the practice of compassion meditation, an ancient Tibetan Buddhist practice.
That’s no great surprise, given that compassion meditation aims to produce a specific emotional state of intense empathy, sometimes call “lovingkindness.”
But the study also found that expert meditators — monks with more than 10,000 hours of practice — showed significantly greater activation of their limbic systems. The monks appeared to have permanently changed their brains to be more empathetic.
An earlier study by some of the same researchers found that committed meditators experienced sustained changes in baseline brain function, meaning that they had changed the way their brains operated even outside of meditation.
These changes included ramped-up activation of a brain region thought to be responsible for generating positive emotions, called the left-sided anterior region. The researchers found this change in novice meditators who’d enrolled in a course in mindfulness meditation — a technique that borrows heavily from Buddhism — that lasted just eight weeks.
But most brain research around meditation is still preliminary, waiting to be corroborated by other scientists. Meditation’s psychological benefits and its use in treatments for conditions as diverse as depression and chronic pain are more widely acknowledged.
Serious brain science around meditation has emerged only in about the last decade, since the birth of functional MRI allowed scientists to begin watching the brain and monitoring its changes in relatively real time.
Beginning in the late 1990s, a University of Pennsylvania-based researcher named Andrew Newberg said that his brain scans of experienced meditators showed the prefrontal cortex — the area of the brain that houses attention — surging into overdrive during meditation while the brain region governing our orientation in time and space, called the superior parietal lobe, went dark. (One of his scans is pictured, above.)
Newberg said his findings explained why meditators are able to cultivate intense concentration while also describing feelings of transcendence during meditation.
But some scientists said Newberg was over-interpreting his brain scans. Others said he failed to specify the kind of meditation he was studying, making his studies impossible to reproduce. His popular books, like Why God Won’t Go Away, caused more eye-rolling among neuroscientists, who said he hyped his findings to goose sales.
“It caused mainstream scientists to say that the only work that has been done in the field is of terrible quality,” says Alasdair Coles, a lecturer in neurology at England’s University of Cambridge.
Newberg, now at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital in Philadelphia, stands by his research.
And contemplative neuroscience had gained more credibility in the scientific community since his early scans.
One sign of that is increased funding from the National Institutes of Health, which has helped establish new contemplative science research centers at Stanford University, Emory University, and the University of Wisconsin, where the world’s first brain imaging lab with a meditation room next door is now under construction.
The NIH could not provide numbers on how much it gives specifically to meditation brain research but its grants in complementary and alternative medicine — which encompass many meditation studies — have risen from around $300 million in 2007 to an estimated $541 million in 2011.
“The original investigations by people like Davidson in the 1990s were seen as intriguing, but it took some time to be convinced that brain processes were really changing during meditation,” says Josephine Briggs, Director of the NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Most studies so far have examined so-called focused-attention meditation, in which the practitioner concentrates on a particular subject, such as the breath. The meditator monitors the quality of attention and, when it drifts, returns attention to the object.
Over time, practitioners are supposed to find it easier to sustain attention during and outside of meditation.
In a 2007 study, Davidson compared the attentional abilities of novice meditators to experts in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Participants in both groups were asked to practice focused-attention meditation on a fixed dot on a screen while researchers ran fMRI scans of their brains.
To challenge the participants’ attentional abilities, the scientists interrupted the meditations with distracting sounds.
The brain scans found that both experienced and novice meditators activated a network of attention-related regions of the brain during meditation. But the experienced meditators showed more activation in some of those regions.
The inexperienced meditators, meanwhile, showed increased activation in brain regions that have been shown to negatively correlate with sustaining attention. Experienced meditators were better able to activate their attentional networks to maintain concentration on the dot. They had, the study suggested, changed their brains.
The fMRI scans also showed that experienced meditators had less neural response to the distracting noises that interrupted the meditation.
In fact, the more hours of experience a meditator had, the scans found, the less active his or her emotional networks were during the distracting sounds, which meant the easier it was to focus.
More recently, contemplative neuroscience has turned toward compassion meditation, which involves generating empathy through objectless awareness; practitioners call it non-referential compassion meditation.
New neuroscientific interest in the practice comes largely at the urging of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and politial leader of Tibetan Buddhists, for whom compassion meditation is a time-worn tradition.
The Dalai Lama has arranged for Tibetan monks to travel to American universities for brain scans and has spoken at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, the world’s largest gathering of brain scientists.
A religious leader, the Dalai Lama has said he supports contemplative neuroscience even though scientists are stripping meditation of its Buddhist roots, treating it purely as a mental exercise that more or less anyone can do.
“This is not a project about religion,” says Davidson. “Meditation is mental activity that could be understood in secular terms.”
Still, the nascent field faces challenges. Scientists have scanned just a few hundred brains on meditation do date, which makes for a pretty small research sample. And some scientists say researchers are over eager to use brain science to prove the that meditation “works.”
“This is a field that has been populated by true believers,” says Emory University scientist Charles Raison, who has studied meditation’s effect on the immune system. “Many of the people doing this research are trying to prove scientifically what they already know from experience, which is a major flaw.”
But Davidson says that other types of scientists also have deep personal interest in what they’re studying. And he argues that that’s a good thing.
“There’s a cadre of grad students and post docs who’ve found personal value in meditation and have been inspired to study it scientifically,” Davidson says. “These are people at the very best universities and they want to do this for a career.
“In ten years,” he says, “we’ll find that meditation research has become mainstream.”
From CNN.com
Kicking. It's not just for kicking anymore.
The kenpo curriculum attempts to offer a complete catalog of combat motion. It has literally dozens of different hand techniques, well over twenty different kicks, strikes with the knees, the elbows, the forearm, the back of the leg, even the wrists. You learn tackles, takedowns, throws, and falls. Traps, locks, chokes, and strangulations. You even learn how to hurt your opponent using THEIR body.
In short there's a wide range of grappling and striking techniques, both circular and linear. Almost anything you could think of, using almost every part of your body, to hurt, injure, maim, or kill an attacker. Kenpo has it.
But it's up to the student to train the material. And most of us rely on our kenpo self defense technique practice for the bulk of that training. And that's great, because the techniques give us a context within which all these movements take place, and they allow us to see first hand how the human body reacts to applied force.
But the self defense techniques are heavily weighted towards upper body basics, and unless we supplement that training with pad and bag work, we end up with fast, accurate hand technique and sloppy, uncoordinated kicks.
Which is precisely why we should all spend more time practicing our kicks. In the air. On the shields. On the body. Because the only way to get better is to train more.
But the benefits of training our kicks go far beyond just improving our kicking technique. Every time you execute a front kick you are engaging a long string of heavy, powerful muscles. And doing so burns calories, increases muscular strength, improves balance, and increases flexibility and range of motion. Kicking also incorporates a number of minor secondary movements such as pivoting the supporting leg, turning the torso, and flexing the abdominal muscles. It's a whole body workout, and you'll see the results all over your kenpo.
You see, when you practice kicking technique, you learn more about ground leverage, and rotational energy, and snapping and thrusting, and back up mass. And all those lessons translate directly into your hand techniques.
So the more you practice your kicks, the better your kicks will be. The better your punches and handswords will be. The better your neutral bow will be. The more effective your throws. You are learning a complex, interconnected series of physical skills, and the more you train any of them, the better they all become.
Getting good at martial arts is a matter of improving a hundred skills one percent at a time. You're laying the foundation for your future performance with every drill, every repetition, every kick. Make it a strong foundation, and you will build a mighty fortress.
Drills -
Beginner: Practice each of your kicks on the heavy bag ten times, each leg, for each of the letters in F.A.S.P. Form, Accuracy, Speed, Power.
Intermediate: Practice "three hit kenpo" using only kicks and sweeps.
Advanced: While sparring, Student A uses only kicking techniques and sweeps. Student B uses only hand techniques and grapples. Alternate.
In short there's a wide range of grappling and striking techniques, both circular and linear. Almost anything you could think of, using almost every part of your body, to hurt, injure, maim, or kill an attacker. Kenpo has it.
But it's up to the student to train the material. And most of us rely on our kenpo self defense technique practice for the bulk of that training. And that's great, because the techniques give us a context within which all these movements take place, and they allow us to see first hand how the human body reacts to applied force.
But the self defense techniques are heavily weighted towards upper body basics, and unless we supplement that training with pad and bag work, we end up with fast, accurate hand technique and sloppy, uncoordinated kicks.
Which is precisely why we should all spend more time practicing our kicks. In the air. On the shields. On the body. Because the only way to get better is to train more.
But the benefits of training our kicks go far beyond just improving our kicking technique. Every time you execute a front kick you are engaging a long string of heavy, powerful muscles. And doing so burns calories, increases muscular strength, improves balance, and increases flexibility and range of motion. Kicking also incorporates a number of minor secondary movements such as pivoting the supporting leg, turning the torso, and flexing the abdominal muscles. It's a whole body workout, and you'll see the results all over your kenpo.
You see, when you practice kicking technique, you learn more about ground leverage, and rotational energy, and snapping and thrusting, and back up mass. And all those lessons translate directly into your hand techniques.
So the more you practice your kicks, the better your kicks will be. The better your punches and handswords will be. The better your neutral bow will be. The more effective your throws. You are learning a complex, interconnected series of physical skills, and the more you train any of them, the better they all become.
Getting good at martial arts is a matter of improving a hundred skills one percent at a time. You're laying the foundation for your future performance with every drill, every repetition, every kick. Make it a strong foundation, and you will build a mighty fortress.
Drills -
Beginner: Practice each of your kicks on the heavy bag ten times, each leg, for each of the letters in F.A.S.P. Form, Accuracy, Speed, Power.
Intermediate: Practice "three hit kenpo" using only kicks and sweeps.
Advanced: While sparring, Student A uses only kicking techniques and sweeps. Student B uses only hand techniques and grapples. Alternate.
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