Something to watch over and over.  I’ve actually performed some of these at my recent dojo.  All these look really effective.  However, I wouldn’t try to kick someone in the head while they are swinging a knife at me.  There are too many risks such as the femoral artery and the Achilles tendon.   All in all, very nice video.

Aikido is the romantic martial art, created by Morihei Ueshiba in the 1920′s, and is based on his belief that we should love our fellow man even in a fight. Instead of attacking an opponent, Aikido teaches the art of subduing an attack using the attackers energy and little energy from you.

Aikido gets more interesting with weapons so I was very fortunate to find out that during my trip to San Francisco an advanced weapons class was scheduled which I can sit in on at the Aikido Center in San Francisco, instructed by 6th Dan, Robert Laiks.  I was privileged to watch Sensei Laiks teach Curt and James three steps of a drill.  I wish I can attend another class to see how the drill ends ( if it ends ).  I was really into the exercise and I was able to follow Robert Laiks as he demonstrated the techniques.  I really wanted to get in on the action.   I didn’t video record the demonstration as not to distract the lesson, so I watched intensely and played out the technique in my head.

At the end of the session Sensei Laiks was gracious enough to hear my reason why I visited and invited me to attend the class the next time I visit.  He even let me take a great picture.

Quick Thought:

Imagine your solar plexus, the center of your torso below your lungs and in front of your diaphragm is the center from which your strikes can start from.  If this was a string attached to your solar plexus, you can get an idea of the trajectory of punches at a full range of direction.

How to get that burst of the speed..

The Jeet Kun Do stance encourages the fighting stance to have the front foot planted but the back foot rests on the ball of the foot (ready to push forward).

This is good for two things:

1. This is an ideal stance for boxing.
2. The back foot stays on the ball of the foot similar to a hammer of a revolver, how it’s cocked back.

After many attempts with this stance, I dismissed it as too slow.  The problem I am having is that I depend on my ankle to carry all my weight and move me forward.  That process involves the heel of the back foot has to push my body forward and stay on the ball of the foot.

If you’re having a hard time understanding this:

Stand up and try to take one step forward as fast as you can. I’ll wait .

You might notice an awkwardness while trying to spring forward because your ankle isn’t strong enough to move so much weight from stand still.

I am practicing a different approach and it works for me. Instead of the trying to spring off your ankle, let your heel land on the ground and use the impact to spring you forward.  Keep your knees bent, and when your heel impacts the ground straighten your leg to move forward.  If you keep your knees bent and flexible enough you are able to cover distance very quickly.

Practice with a shuffle.  Push off the heel of your back foot and move your forward foot up quickly.  Then practice moving forward with a jab.

Quick Thought:

Keep in mind that you are ready to throw a cross, even if you’re not intending to.  The point is to draw your jab back quickly as good practice to avoid getting wrapped by a wrestler or tossed by a judo practitioner.

On the next part of this post, I will talk about linking the punches and kicks into this step and see effectiveness.

The problem might be that you’re using your index and middle finger to try to “chop stick” the edge of the paper.  Or maybe the issue is that bending over doesn’t compliment your flexibility?

In either case, something as simple as this example can teach us a lesson in committing to an action and anticipating the challenges that may get in the way.

One day in training, my Sensei demonstrated Chin Na for our technique drill.  Chin Na is a mixture of grasping an opponent, joint locking the limbs and requires a great deal of dexterity.  Ones hands must be able to stick to the opponent to be able to manipulate him.

However, my challenge was not being able to grab on to my training partner.  As I try to quickly grab my opponents arm, shoulder, or hands the palm of my hand would make the first contact, slapping away my opponents hands before my fingers had time to wrap around.  As a result,  I missed or snagged my training partners sleeve and I failed the technique.

My Sensei saw that I was having some trouble and came over to help.  Some tips he had to offer:

• Relax because tension keeps my hands from effectively wrapping around my target.
• Concentrate my power into my pinky than my index and middle finger.
• And commit to the technique.  Understand that my palms are not the only thing causing me to fail the technique.  My stance and body caused my shoulders to face away from my target.  Moving my right foot and closing my stance into my opponent gives me more distance to reach for my opponent enabling me to recover my target if my hands slap it away.

Continue to practice you dexterity in other tasks in your day.  Try to grab something on the first attempt every time.  You may notice that we aren’t as smooth as we think on a day to day basis.  When we concentrate on this, then we build muscle memory when we learn to grab a pen from a cup, wet dishes while we wash dishes, or picking up paper from the floor.

Simple tasks and practices such as this can result in great improvements in the martial arts.

Water – The Leopard – ambushes and uses angles – slip and duck through the attack and strike with power through your step. Like water, the leopard finds weakness in the by surrounding and leaking through.

Air - The Crane – similar to water. Surrounds the attack and find openings through angles. However air is expanded and so the crane is out of range. Use kicks and foot work to stay out of range.

Fire – The Serpent – similar to air and water. For surrounds the attacker but fire only needs to touch to inflict pain. Fire is unpredictable. Try to attack fire and it succumbs your limbs and person. The serpent ensnares the opponent’s strike and then attacks the nervous system with it’s venomous bite. Attack pressure points and use little energy to fend off the opponent.

Steel – The Dragon – the dragon cannot exists without the other four animals and steel cannot be forged without the other four elements. A fighter that invokes the dragon fights with all four animals in any combination

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When facing your opponent be like water.  Be amorphous in your physical presence.

Sensei Wong

Be able to switch from long range stance for kicking to mid-range stance for punching and then a squared up stance for close range grappling…

Be amorphous mentally.

…Our ability to change our strategy in each range should be reactionary, an achievement accomplished through training.

Find the weaknesses in your opponents defense and expose it.

Sensei Wong

 The next level for a martial artist is the be sensitive to your opponents expression, body language, and the position of their eyes.  Maybe I can make my opponent brace for the impact with a faint front kick then follow through with my back kick when his body is lose again.

Cut your path through him like water cuts it’s streams and rivers into the mountain.

Shidoshi Harrison

When we perform slicing wings, collapsing limbs, or any skill set we always start and end with a step forward.  The reason for that is to create space and take control of the situation.

Water strengthens steel and is formidable against stone.

Sensei Wong

We’re not going for broke when we go through our drills because the less injuries we have during our training then the longer we can train.  Training at seventy percent now allows us to train with good technique and will pay off in multitudes down the road.

Water aids life or drowns it.  Water can change ones mood to pleasure or sorrow.

Renshi Caswell

I want everyone to take a moment, close your eyes, and think about your training today.  Anchor in this good feeling that you get from training hard today.  Maybe today before we came to the dojo we thought, “Maybe today I’ll stay in because I had a hard day”.  Remember the good feeling you have now so the next time you’re feeling like staying in you can recall this feeling to get you out of the house and into the dojo.

The sheer weight and density of statue make it almost impossible for me to move him.  His arm cannot bend, be deflected or redirected, thus his punch will push right thru his opponent.

(A statue also has no fear, remorse, or gain therefore his punch has unwavering commitment but that is a whole other metaphor)

However, the statue can only demonstrate half the equation of kinetic energy required in any strike.  M × V² [or mass times velocity squared]

The statue has immense dense mass and zero velocity so obviously the statue’s punch is only effective if his opponent runs into his fist.  That does not mean we cannot learn from the statue.

Delivering a fast punch is not enough.  Our core, legs and shoulders must be strong like the stone statue so that our punch can successfully transfer as much energy into our opponent as possible.

In order to build a strong base to support our strikes one must train the appropriate muscles with the right exercises and drills.  I recommend a book co-authored by Dr. Norman Link and Lily Chou called “The Anatomy of Martial Arts: An Illustrated Guide to the Muscles used in Key Kicks, Strikes & Throws”.

I think that the concepts and illustrations are helpful guide that identify two different muscles groups, kinetic and static muscles.  Knowing is the first step and the next will involve training each type to improve our strikes.

Train smart.

Take a second to think about the first time you stepped on the mat of your first martial arts lesson.  Remember how it felt learning new moves.  Now fast forward and think about your skill now and how much you have progressed.

I don’t remember my first class, but I have some fond memories of my first days in tae kwon do.

One of my peers was my barber.  When I went to his shop to get my haircut, he had all his belt promotion certificates hung up at his station.  Despite our age difference (I was seven) we went up the belt ranks together and I was able to teach him how to perform a proper side kick.

My favorite peer was a 300 pound 6-foot guy named Ray.  Even though I was only a shade over a hundred pounds and not even 5 ft tall, my instructor always paired us together.  It didn’t matter to me how big Ray was; I would give him everything I got.  Sometimes it seemed hopeless because Ray had reach, strength, and experience but I had perseverance.  I learned a whole lot when sparring with Ray like remember to keep my hands up, move in and out quickly and remember to attack wherever there was an opening.  Ray also liked to catch my feet when I kicked him and hold me upside down.  One day, when Ray held both my feet, I hung upside down to the laughter of my peers.  I lifted my upper body up in a pike position and caught him with a cross.  Looking back, my instructor wanted to give me a challenge and learn from it.

I also learned that no matter how large the challenge appears in front of me, I would have never learned how to face it head on if it weren’t for Ray.  Perseverance will ensure that we keep moving forward with a positive attitude and learn from the challenges we face.

I will never forget Ray.