Not that what I want to personally practice needs any defending, but what is all this stuff about judo, aikido, etc. doing on the blog anyway?
I’m just following my path. I’m doing my thing. If that’s different from other people, then that’s okay. Different strokes and all that.
In learning taijiquan, bagauzhang, xingyiquan, etc. I’ve noticed certain things in those arts that were not as well developed as in judo and aikido (and vice versa). All arts have their strengths and weaknesses. It just stands to reason that some arts will have figured out some things better than others. Why not look around at what they are doing?
I’ll never forgive myself for giving up judo when I did. If only I had kept it up, just think where I would be today. Kick, kick, kick.
Spreading the net wider also gives me more people to play with. I REALLY enjoy that. Learn some judo and aikido and then you can play with those guys. Exposure to different ideas shows a healthy mind IMO and I’m having a blast seeing how different people train and fight. It’s making me more well-rounded for sure.
So why wait any longer? I figure just do it. If it turns out badly then I’ll just drop it. No big deal.
Let me tell you guys something: if you want to do something then just go for it. Don’t let anyone else’s ideas stop you. Life is short. REALLY short. If doing some aikido or yoga or even dancing sounds like a great idea to you, then just go do it. Sure, you’ll run into many people that won’t understand why you’re doing that. But who cares?
And this idea that you’re taking other stuff because you “just don’t get it” regarding your first art is also something that you can just ignore. These are just the one-up-manship games we play with each other. Think of crabs in a barrel. One tries to crawl out so the others pull him back down. Don’t let any fear of what others might say prevent you from something you might enjoy.
See, I let notions of purity and loyalty cloud my mind in the past and now I regret it. I now realize that your world won’t come to an end because you like doing different things. Be yourself and enjoy it!
In looking at how IMAs are done across the aisle, so to speak, I’m constantly struck by how many aikido people just naturally understand that we are supposed to use the opponent’s force against them instead of fighting against that force.
Why is that?
Why is it that so many CIMA people have this wrong idea that in order to use those styles martially, we have to use force against force?
Aikido-ka seem to naturally understand they are supposed to blend with something rather than oppose it. Why are they so thoroughly grounded in that idea when the CIMA world is still missing it? What is it about aikido that facilitates it and what is it about taiji, bagua, and xingyi that prevents that idea from taking root?
Peter Ralston will be in Tokyo in February 2009. He doesn’t come to Asia very often so this is your big chance to see him if you live in the area. I will try to attend at least the boxing session held on the last weekend, so if you go then we could meet up. An added bonus.
The entire seminar lasts about 10 days but you can take bits and pieces of it to suit your schedule and budget. He will be covering principles of body being and various martial topics.
More info on the body being event is here and info on the martial event is here. Of course, the body being seminar helps a lot with the martial event. One supports the other. Hope to see you there!
It seems most of my readers are not in love with competition. So this should be a welcome viewpoint from Donn Draeger. Reading the whole thing here is highly recommended. His comments could address any art that competes.
Judo, as a classical budo, or martial “way”, of Japan, was intended by its founder, Jigoro Kano, to be less martial and to be rather a vehicle for the spiritual and physical development …By perseverance, regardless of the superficial achievements (rank, contest successes, prestige), every judoist can realize improvement of mental and physical self, and can be prepared, therefore, to make a better application of his mental and physical energies in his daily living.
Make no mistake, today’s Judo is not parallel to Kano’s original product, not a mirror-image of it, and is more diverse from than congruent with it.
For one thing, the Judo training system, as is in vogue in our modern-day society, is in reality a cruel system insofar as it is wanton to recognize the inexorable decline of a judoist’s physical and mental powers as the judoist descends the chronological ladder, as each of us inevitably must. Modern-day Judo training manifests in this cruelty by insisting that, regardless of age or other bodily limitations, the proof of the judoist is in the contest. The judoist for advancement in rank, and once established as a yudansha is more often than not forced to pay himself physically against opponents far younger than knee; opponents whom he is expected to defeat if he is to gain the advancement or if used to continue his popularity via the route of respect to other judoists.
Judo training, therefore, which requires the oldster to keep competitive pace with the youngster is opposed to our natural design, and is further tangential to that which the founder intended for Kodokan Judo. Kano accepted the reality of two types of Judo, one an entity in complete accord with nature – the other, substantially opposed to it.
Kano defined these two types as Judo in a “high” sense (jodan Judo), and Judo in a “low” sense (godan Judo). With his definitions, he also cautioned that the latter type is more entertaining, because it is less precise, plain to the mediocre mind as more of a “game” and contains, therefore, less valuable disciplines. While its technical implications are very similar to those adopted for the “high” Judo, the end point of a “low” Judo is a short road to almost nowhere.
I’m finding that some throws are nearly universal. Sumi-otoshi (the four corners throw) appears in aikido, judo, and taijiquan. Consider the following clips:
This is an aikido version done smoothly against a student. Notice the positioning.
Now here’s a version from a Tomiki aikido competition. Great timing here.
This is a judo version in competition.
How is this done in taijiquan? Here you go:
Thing is, this throw is identical to an application of brush knee that I learned. In the pic above, Chen Yun-ching is showing the brush knee from the Chen Pan-ling form. Notice the hand position.
The great thing about the four corner throw is that this one technique can go in the direction of the four corners so easily, and with very little changing of the hands. It’s also one of the less strength powered throws. The four corner throw does involve lots of timing to get right, but that’s par for the course with internal techniques.
There’s a transition you have to make in going from someone who does the taiji or whatever as a personal practice to someone that competes with their form. It can be a difficult transition.
Consider that you normally just practice for yourself and you likely do your thing as you and your teacher see fit. For me, I found that I had achieved a certain level and got fairly comfortable with the practice. My teacher had approved of the way I was doing the form, so I went on to work on other aspects of the taiji within the form. The way it looked physically was good enough, and that allowed a certain amount of comfort. Physically I was comfortable doing the form that way, leading to a type of mental comfort.
That’s all gone now.
A competitor doesn’t just do the form for themselves — they represent the teacher in front of other people. A competitor has to give up comfort in order to come as close to the ideal as possible. When you compete, you must impress the teacher, judges, and onlookers that you know what you’re doing. That can be nerve racking if you’re not used to it and I’m not.
What was once pretty good then becomes filled with mistakes because the stakes are higher. You get tons of corrections on things you thought you were doing well. Receiving this and constantly refining the material requires a different mindset. You can’t rest on your laurels. You must constantly review even your best techniques and strive for perfection. You can’t hide your flaws behind your strengths any more. EVERYTHING must be as good as you can make it.
One thing to consider is that you will feel like a beginner again. You may have been working on qi flow or some other higher material within the form. But when you train for competition, you have to start the physical refining process all over again. The form feels alien like it did when you first began taiji.
Having said this, if you can go this route, then I highly recommend it. Your practice improves greatly by going through this training process, so much so that winning is a secondary goal.
Go for the gold and you’ll find it in ways you didn’t expect.
Thanks to Charlie Conklin for this. Below is a description of some push hands games from Cheng Hsin. As I understand them, the purpose of these games is to introduce elements of freeplay that move you beyond simple cooperative pattern work. You’re still cooperative in terms of playing the game, but you must now look beyond patterns to make the techniques work. This will be quite difficult for people not used to it, but using games like these is the key to finding setups, combos, and footwork patterns that make your practice come alive. Let me know what happens if you try these out.
GAME “A”
The next stage of Cheng Hsin freeplay is a game in which the partners take turns, much like the above practice. However, the purpose of this game is to introduce a non-competitive atmosphere in which we can study and find techniques in process. It’s one thing to find a technique while someone is standing still, and quite another to find one while he is moving and — as in this case — even neutralizing what we are doing. So while we neutralize what our partner attempts, we search for a technique using listening, outreaching, and following. When we’ve joined his motions we will find a technique, and he will let us have it.
Once we’ve found a technique and done it, then we switch roles. It is important that we ONLY neutralize what we can neutralize easily and with NO EFFORT. If at any time the partner gets us in the slightest trouble or awkwardness, we must let him have his way. Depending on die ability of the player, we may consciously offer more or fewer opportunities. As we practice, we should get better at recognizing where and when certain actions are most effective, when the partner will have a hard time escaping, and also when we are about to be trapped. Under no circumstances do we resist him in any way. As we neutralize only what we can neutralize easily, staying in balance and without any pressure, we should also play as if we are going to find a technique on him. This keeps the game more realistic. He must neutralize as well any action we do on his body, yet if we find the opportunity to uproot or throw him we simply don’t take it, but continue on with the game. The same is true when we reverse roles. Yet if someone falls or is uprooted when it is his turn to find a technique, it’s no big deal, simply continue.
This game develops the joining skills necessary for creating results in process. We learn about timing, changes in distance, position and shape, what’s advantageous and what’s not, the value of listening and outreaching, and more. We are teaching each other by assisting each other in learning how to find techniques in freeplay. We should learn as much when the partner is doing a technique on us as when we are doing one on him. By allowing him to find our weaknesses, we become conscious of them ourselves, by letting him trap us, we find out where we can be trapped; by paying attention to balance, position, timing, psychology, etc., when he does something that works on us, we learn what to do and how it should feel when we try the technique on him.
Furthermore, as the partner is attempting to throw or uproot us, we can assist in his learning process by “showing” him the easiest or most effective way to do the technique, using the information available from our side due to our sense of vulnerability. We do this by falling or being uprooted in the way that feels the most effective to us. The partner can then compare his actions to the outcome, which was in part suggested and contributed by us through our action, and if he is awake and sensitive, learn more about effortless and effective technique. The contributions we make are usually slight, such as “showing” a small shift in angle, distance, weight, or process, but with sensitivity such a “suggestion” should educate our partner. As both parties contribute in this way back and forth, learning and progress are accelerated greatly.
GAME “B”
After Game “A” the next stage follows the same description as above, except instead of taking turns, we both pursue a technique at the same time. If our partner finds one we let him have it. If not, we merely continue to find techniques ourselves. Still, only what we can EFFORTLESSLY and easily neutralize do we neutralize. If he gives us the slightest difficulty then we do not neutralize him, but allow the partner to do whatever he will. Do not use ANY strength or resistance to get out of a sticky situation. In this game one person may get more techniques than the other, but this should be as a result of his joining skills, or perhaps because of the lesser skill the opponent shows in effortless neutralization. This game should increase many functional skills. Do not war with your partner — work together to develop your skills.
Game “B” is like a “gentlemen’s” freeplay. It is the game that we practice the most. Most people have a difficult time at first understanding that they must not resist any action in the slightest. They end up resisting or thwarting their opponent without knowing they’re doing it, or they justify or ignore that they are doing it. Don’t make excuses, simply don’t resist or struggle. This means you will probably lose a lot to begin with, but it is not the end of the world, and you may even come to enjoy the freedom from struggle and learn to appreciate the other person’s ability. This develops grace in an individual. The main thing to remember is that you are in it together, both assisting and training each other to improve. Then freeplay can be really fun and satisfying.
source: Peter Ralston’s “Cheng Hsin T’ui Shou - The Art of Effortless Power”, p. 272 - 273.
This story was provided by BL in a recent comment. It’s a nice story that illustrates the importance of the mental aspect in IMA training. We should never let our physical training overshadow those other parts of training. Enjoy and thanks to BL.
The Assembly of the Cats
Once there was a sword master called Shoken, who lived in a house infested with a large rat. This rat was truly ferocious, and no matter how hard Shoken chased it with his bokuto he could not kill it.
Fortunately, one of Shoken’s neighbours was a cat breeder who specialised in training his cats to kill rats. Shoken asked if he might borrow a cat to catch the rat.
The cat trainer gave Shoken a viscous ginger alley cat, a real street fighter with sharp claws. But when the cat came to face the rat, the rat stood it’s ground and the cat was afraid. Shoken returned the cat to the cat master.
“Must be some rat,” said the breeder, and gave Shoken a lean black and white cat. “This cat has had years of training, and is highly skilled.” The second cat fought with the rat, but the rat was able to beat it easily.
Shoken went back to the cat breeder, and retuned with a jet black cat. The black cat had a very strong presence, projecting a quiet confidence. “This cat has mastered flawless technique, and has developed his mind through meditation. His zanshin is truly powerful. This cat will get the rat,” the master had said. But this cat also was defeated.
When Shoken returned to the cat master, the master said. “Very well, this time I will give you the master of the cats. This cat was old and grey, and did not look so impressive. Shoken took the cat home and brought it to face the rat.
The rat moved to attack the old cat, but the old cat sat quietly unconcerned. Suddenly the rat felt a slight tinge of fear. The rat hesitated, and suddenly the old cat reached out a claw and killed the rat with a single strike.
When Shoken brought the cat back to the breeder he asked him how it was that the old cat could kill the rat while the younger ones had such a hard time. “Come with me,” said the breeder, “I’m sure the cats will discuss this, and since cats know a great deal about martial arts I’m sure you will find their conversation interesting.” They listened in to the cats’ discussion.
The ginger cat stood up and said, “I am very tough.”
“Then why couldn’t you beat the rat? Because toughness is itself not enough. There will always be a tougher rat somewhere.” Said the old grey cat.
The black and white cat spoke. “I have had years of training and impeccable technique, why could I not beat the rat?” “Because, although your waza is brilliant, and although you have had many years in the dojo, this is not enough in a real fight.
“But I have perfected my body through training and my mind through meditation,” said the black cat, “I have flawless technique, and also have achieved enlightenment. Why did the rat defeat me?”
“Because, Kuroi-san, although your skill is indeed great, and you have both spiritual and physical power you are not without desire. When you faced the rat you had an object in your mind, you did not have mushin.
The rat sensed this, and his intuition was better than yours. Because you did not have mushin you were unable to harmonise your strength, your technique and you consciousness. I was able to use all these three elements naturally and unconsciously to defeat the rat. This is why I was successful.
“But I know of another cat, in a village not far from here. His fur is snow white with age, and he’s not very strong looking. He doesn’t eat meat, but lives on vegetables and rice gruel, although he is known to take a little sake occasionally.
He hasn’t caught a rat in years because the rats are all terrified of him! As soon as he walks into a house all the rats leave at once. Even in his sleep he chases away rats! We must all learn to be like him, beyond violence, beyond technique, beyond even the desire for skill.”
(Note that this is a variant on Neko no Myojutsu (The mysterious skill of the cat) written by Issai Chozan in 1727.
The original story focuses more on the mental and spiritual attributes of the ideal warrior. It has been translated into English By Karl Friday and can be found in Keiko Shokon (Dianne Skoss (ed.) Koryu Books, New Jersey 2002)
One that I liked from the recent thread in have strength but don’t use it was that life doesn’t stop while you train IMA. That’s very true. We still need to move furniture. I find I need to pick stuff up off the floor almost everyday. Guess what? No martial arts technique I ever learned helps me do that. Not one. Straight up and down vertical strength, especially starting from the floor, just isn’t trained in any art that I know of. But it is addressed very well in strength training with weights. Or you can do it with bodyweight for reps.
This is THE number one move that gets people hurt, especially in the back. And yet, it’s almost unavoidable. It just pops up all the time. Why would we want to fail and possibly hurt ourselves on common moves where “internal strength” possibly doesn’t work so well?
And that’s the real rub — as touted as it is, internal strength has it’s limits.
“GASP! No! It can’t be! Internal strength, chi, etc. are all the holy grail. Once you have those, the body can just whither away and you become an energy being of pure light.” Snooze.
Sorry folks. It just don’t work that way. Life is awkward. There are plenty of angles and situations that you don’t train and can’t. There are plenty of situations where pure functional strength (PLEASE don’t see my post as a defense of bodybuilding, it’s not) will get you through when internal strength will not.
Other parts of the picture are enhanced by this functional strength training.
As I said before, the body is the foundation for qi and shen. Don’t work it and that paradigm becomes unshaky. You can have tons of qi awareness and die of diabetes because you’re overweight. Don’t let IMA training be an excuse.
The legs are considered the second heart. They are that important. Work them well beyond the static height of most IMA forms and you’ll be ahead of the pack. As soon as I find that someone has a limit to the range of which they can apply force, I exploit it mercilessly. Why wouldn’t you? Add core training and you’ll increase the energy transfer from the legs through the hands.
A last benefit I’m finding is that when you absorb someone’s power in order to send it back to them, relaxed but toned muscle compresses better than weak muscle. When I allow someone to compress me, I’m more efficient in the force transference if I have been working my legs and core. Without that, the expansion part after the compression doesn’t work so well. The “spring back” is enhanced by strength training (but without tensing yourself).
Functional strength training has come a long way since the obsession with body building took over physical fitness. That’s a thing of the distant past. Yet, most discussions of strength in IMA assume that people are talking about body building. We need to get beyond that.
We would do well to incorporate things into our training that would prepare us for events beyond the narrow confines of taiji class, especially when some of those things might even help inside it.
“Jon Smith” goes to philosophy class one day and the professor says something that resonates with Jon. Jon raises his hand and speaks form his heart about the subject. After he speaks, a small group in the back of the class applauds and voices their approval. After class, the group approaches Jon and asks him to lunch to discuss what he said. It seems he’s made some new friends.
The next week, a girl who supports the opposite position on the subject makes a statement in class that Jon finds he agrees with. When she finishes speaking, Jon raises his hand and voices that agreement. After class, Jon approaches his new friends again, but gets a cold shoulder. The leader of that group then tells Jon that the girl in class represents everything wrong with this world. Since Jon agrees so much with them, maybe he should have lunch with his new friends. Jon has become a traitor to the cause.
It never ceases to amaze me that no matter how much you support a position, there are always people more extreme than you who just can’t wait to brand you a traitor to the cause.
In martial arts we see this a lot, especially regarding aspects of internal training. But it also happens with supporting certain teachers, learning martial applications, fighting, etc.
The old saw is “when you meet a fork in the road, take it” and only if it were so easy. Instead, if you take the left fork, the 50% of people that took the right will immediately brand you the enemy. They are the enemy without. But the worst is the 25% who took an even more extreme left than you did. They are the enemy within. They stab you in the back when you aren’t looking.
So no matter what your opinions are on martial arts training, always watch your back. There’s always someone more extreme than you waiting to brand you a traitor to the cause.
