Martial Arts and Modern Life

Ideas for visualisations

2012-12-31T09:15:00.001+11:00

Lori O'Connell recently blogged on the value of visualization in martial arts training:

In one of the most well-known studies on creative visualization in sports, Russian scientists compared four groups of Olympic athletes in terms of their training schedules (as described in Karate Of Okinawa: Building Warrior Spirit by Robert Scaglione):

Group 1 = 100% physical training;
Group 2 - 75% physical training with 25% mental training;
Group 3 - 50% physical training with 50% mental training;
Group 4 - 25% physical training with 75% mental training.

Group 4, with 75% of their time devoted to mental training, performed the best.

Personally, I find mental practice more challenging than physical training: the mind wanders ... So here are my top suggestions for mental training:

Go to class! Training in the martial arts develops the mind and body from the get-go. Once a technique is familiar, don't go on auto-pilot:

Observe: Notice fine details.
Experiment: Explore variations.
Reflect: Make notes, start a journal or a blog.

Practice with an imaginary partner. [Your movement is real; your partner is visualised.]

Practice individual techniques. Visualise fine details, but also practice the flow of the technique.
Alternate between regular (migi) and opposite-side (hidari) versions of a technique. I quite like to do one rep migi, two reps hidari, three reps migi, etc. rather than one for one repetition.
Practice combinations of techniques: you attack, visualise your imaginary partner evading, you do a suitable follow-up.
Practice counters to techniques: your imaginary partner attacks, you evade and counter-attack.

Pure visualisation: exercises as per the imaginary partner.

At first the aim is to reinforce what you learn in class and achieve basic competency. With regular imaginary practice deeper observations will arise: these can and should be validated in class. Increased fluency is another benefit, again testable with real partners.

There's a saying that "perfect practice makes perfect". Conversely there is a danger that poor practice can lock in bad habits. For this reason it's important not to eschew regular training for pure visualisation: rather start slowly and go gently.

I should also mention that for the more advanced practitioners teaching, judging contests and assessing candidates are all great forms of mental training that have the bonus of helping out others.

Promotions - December 2012

2012-12-16T20:05:00.002+11:00

Congratulations to everyone on your hard work for the year, and for those who graded, well-deserved promotions:

Combined Monash Caulfield and Clayton recipients at Presentation Day

Well done to everyone at both Monash clubs, and at the Honbu.

Personally, I plan to enjoy the Summer holidays (including some training at the Honbu), and really looking forward to training in 2013.

Evolutionary movement

2012-10-26T07:19:00.000+11:00

Here's the first of an elegant three-part series in which the presenter, Simon Thakur, starts with small perturbations of the spine and expands into a swathe of whole-body movements:

Well worth a look, especially if you are interested in improving your overall body awareness and quality of movement.

A jiu-jitsu demos from the 1980s

2011-07-19T10:18:00.005+10:00

John Coles of the Kojutsukan blog has posted a set of 3 videos of his instructor -- the late Greg Palmer -- delivering his impressive second dan jujutsu grading (under the late Jan de Jong) in 1985*. They feature lecture-style explanation and 'quick action' demonstration from Sensei Palmer and his students, including a young John.

Each part is just over 10 minutes. The links are to John's blog, which give additional commentary and historical information:

*Technically, these are "take two", done for the camera.

Bartitsu: Sherlock Holmes's martial art

2011-04-24T05:06:00.004+10:00

In Arthur Conan Doyle's story The Empty House, Sherlock Holmes -- previously missing, presumed dead in The Final Problem -- explains to Watson how he was able to evade his nemesis's clutches on the edge of Reichenbach Falls, before disappearing for a bit of a breather from detective work:

I had little doubt that I had come to the end of my career when I perceived the somewhat sinister figure of the late Professor Moriarty standing upon the narrow pathway which led to safety. I read an inexorable purpose in his grey eyes. I exchanged some remarks with him, therefore, and obtained his courteous permission to write the short note which you afterwards received. I left it with my cigarette-box and my stick and I walked along the pathway, Moriarty still at my heels. When I reached the end I stood at bay. He drew no weapon, but he rushed at me and threw his long arms around me. He knew that his own game was up, and was only anxious to revenge himself upon me. We tottered together upon the brink of the fall. I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me. I slipped through his grip, and he with a horrible scream kicked madly for a few seconds and clawed the air with both his hands. But for all his efforts he could not get his balance, and over he went. With my face over the brink I saw him fall for a long way. Then he struck a rock, bounded off, and splashed into the water. [my emphasis]

Holmes and Moriarty grapple on the precipice

It turns out that the mysterious art of "baritsu", was a probable mis-remembering of an actual composite martial art of circa-1900: bartitsu, a mix of jiu-jitsu, judo, savate and boxing, popularized by Edward Barton-Wright.

Although there is (too the best of my knowledge) no surviving film footage from the era, here is a reconstruction from cinematograph images in a 1905 book:

Hmmm: looks familiar!

Great advice for beginners

2011-03-12T09:50:00.001+11:00

Nev Sagiba, an aikido instructor, has written some excellent articles for Aikido Journal. Here are two aimed at beginners, not just in aikido, but in any martial arts:

And here's one of those great stories that you hear from time to time -- or even end up in! -- when you study martial arts.

Ideas for theme classes

2011-03-12T07:22:00.004+11:00

This year I plan to do a themed class roughly every four weeks. That may be too frequent: we'll see how it goes.

Where a regular class follows a standard format, allowing for repetition and reinforcement of foundational skills, with a couple of blocks where the instructor goes into a bit more depth, a themed class goes more in depth more most of the class.

The approach I'm taking this year is a bit different from theme of the month, which I ran in 2009, in which the discretionary blocks for a whole month were on a unified theme, which also seeped into the rest of the class.

Here's a list off the top of my head:

Throws

Kuzushi
Leg throws
Hip throws
Hand throws
Hidari class (everything left-handed)
Throwing with movement
Combination throws
Counter throws

Restraint and Control

Come-alongs
Reflexive self-defence
R&C throws
Standard escapes

Groundwork

Immobilizations
Groundwork randori skills
Arm locks and leg locks
Strangles
Combination locks: such a good title!

Advanced

Sacrifice throws
Stick defences -- hmm: will need sticks
Nage no Kata (kata of throws)
Katame no Kata (groundwork)
Gonosen no Kata (counters)

Requests and reactions welcome.

Effortless jiu-jitsu and judo / first class back in 2011

2011-02-20T07:01:00.003+11:00

On Wednesday we had our first class back for the year with eight regulars on the mat -- what passes for a small class nowadays -- plus one prospective student.

It was good to be back, even on a rainy night; never mind this Summer's floods and cyclones.

* * *

This year I'll be taking an over-arching theme of "minimal effort". How can we become so efficient in our jiu-jitsu and judo that it becomes near-effortless?

Of course, the training for such masterly ease will entail a lot of hard work!

A fun Judo kata

2011-02-20T06:37:00.001+11:00

Featured in Aikido Journal Blog

2011-02-01T17:26:00.000+11:00

A couple of days ago 2008 post of mine, The Broader Meaning of Kuzushi, was picked up by Aikido Journal and featured in their blog.

Nice! Not only that, but one of their readers, Dan Rubin, was able to point me to the likely source of the quotation in the top left corner of this blog:

The source of the quotation is cited as “unknown.”

I thought you might like to know that the analysis, if not the exact quotation, is that of Donn Draeger in Classical Budo (1973), at page 11 (and elsewhere): “...a number of preconceptions and rigid beliefs about the relationship of the bujutsu (classical martial arts of self-protection) to the budo (classical martial ways of self-perfection) prevent a true understanding of these disciplines.”

Thanks Dan!

Slap in the face

2011-01-06T08:37:00.002+11:00

Freeze-frame: mid-slap

Who would have thought that a slap to the face could rearrange it, albeit temporarily?

Here's the video proof, in super slo mo.

Of course, copping a water balloon in the face would be even more distracting!

The secret of a great turn-out?

2010-12-28T13:06:00.001+11:00

An anonymous poster asked "What's the secret of a great turn-out?" in response to a picture of a packed mat.

I'd say that there are several elements, primarily:

A great class
A core group of regulars
A good time slot
A convenient location
Patience

At least these are the factors that have conspired for my class. It's always been a good class -- hands-on instruction in an excellent martial art -- but it's got better as I've developed as an instructor and a core group of regulars has coalesced. This year I have been greatly aided by having Anthony assist with the large classes as well as all the colored belts. Since Jiu-jitsu is predominantly a paired activity I can't teach a hall full of beginners single-handedly: students teach each other and I demonstrate and guide. Learning this martial art teaches you how to teach one-on-one ... from day one.

The core group of regulars also means that a newcomer observing the class for the first time sees a group practicing with real skill, learning and having fun. That's appealing.

One of the factors that seems to have contributed to the growth of the class was a switch from Monday to Wednesday nights: mid-week nights seem to draw a bigger group than Friday or Monday evenings in my experience.

We're situated across the road from a major railway station, making the class easy to get to and increasing the catchment area.

Also, it's taken quite a few years for the club to achieve "critical mass". In the early days sometimes I'd get just one student (or even none), but I was encouraged to persist by my own instructors through leaner times.

* * *

The big classes are great because there's a buzz and energy that you get from a packed mat.

At the same time it's been nice to have some smaller classes from time-to-time, where we have room to do stand-up randori, practice sutemis, and in which I get to spend more one-on-one time with everyone.

Finally, I don't measure success purely in quantity, but in the quality of experience and the learning that takes place. There's such a thing as too big as well as too small a class.

Results!

2010-12-28T12:39:00.001+11:00

Congratulations to everyone who trained hard in the latter half of the year. Presentation day was on Sunday 19 December, and everyone who graded was successful.

Well done:

Lejoe: Orange belt (1 bar) in both jiu-jitsu and judo
Damian: Orange belt (1 bar) jiu-jitsu and yellow (2 bars) judo
Ashley: Yellow belt (2 bars) judo
Tegan: Purple belt (1 bar) jiu-jitsu
Ed: Purple belt (1 bar) jiu-jitsu

Congratulations also to everyone else who successfully graded from the Honbu, Monash Clayton, and Cockatoo.

Full mat!

2010-10-23T14:04:00.001+11:00

The mat's looking pretty full nowadays. With a large class it's starting to get cramped during warm-ups:

Warming up with some breakfalls

And it's really full when everyone stretches out:

The class at rest

Throw or takedown?

2010-10-10T07:06:00.000+11:00

John Coles is investigating the difference between throws and takedowns in the martial arts for his forthcoming book, and has written a couple of blog posts on the subject. John points to some discussion of the various takes on the difference this thread from the Martial Arts Planet forum.

An empirical exploration that anyone (with a bit of experience) can do is go through their style's syllabus and pull out the techniques explicitly labelled as throws and those labelled as takedowns and look for any differences of principle.

That's what I intend to do!

Getting Things Done

2010-10-09T21:27:00.001+11:00

I haven't been blogging much in the last couple of months, and with good reason: a new job, complete with learning curve and travel, and consequently a paring back on other activities. A good friend told me that getting settled in to a new job typically takes three to six months, which sounds about right.

Anyhoo, as part of my drive to get more organized in my new gig (and generally), I finally picked up a copy of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen -- perplexingly re-titled "How to Get Things Done" for the Australian edition -- something of a "sacred text" for the geeky Lifehacking movement.

Here's an article from Wired magazine Getting Things Done Guru David Allen and His Cult of Hyperefficiency that delves into the somewhat colorful background of the author.

A synopsis of the approach, given at Google (46 minutes):

What I hadn't realised previously, and what the video and the book make quite clear is that GTD is in many ways an application of a few martial arts principles to the very modern problem of having too much on one's plate. The author claims past experience as a karate instructor, and builds much of his approach around working towards an ideal state of having a "mind like water". Rationalism plus martial arts: what's not to like?

For those not ready for the somewhat daunting transformation that an approach like GTD entails, there is the highly amusing structured procrastination, which I recommend reading, but would counsel against adopting!

Wushu vs Chen Village

2010-10-09T15:36:00.000+11:00

This first clip is of a wushu competitor performing a (winning) Chen-style-taijiquan-inspired routine:

And this is Chen Bing of Chen village doing a section of the actual Chen-style taijiquan cannon fist routine:

Quite a difference!

Left-handed training

2010-08-28T19:26:00.001+10:00

Traditionally, jiu-jitsu is performed right-handed: "there are no left-handed swordsmen in Japan". The jiu-jitsu syllabus is large enough that for self-defence purposes ambidextrosity is not required for many techniques: need the left-handed version of a technique? Use something else instead.

On the other hand(!) judo techniques are often practiced on the non-preferred side -- hidari in Japanese -- thereby developing the body evenly on both sides.

For me, one of the best reasons to practice left-handed is to increase one's focus on what you're doing. A reasonably well-grooved technique suddenly becomes challenging again. I find myself changing from side-to-side, engaging in self-observation and self-teaching as I work to transfer the technique to the other side. And the best thing ... the original migi side inevitably benefits too.

Other reasons to practice left-handed:

Injury: sometimes its unsafe to work on the regular side
Rehab: I have been working on one of my Chinese boxing weapon sets left-handed to try to stretch and strengthen a shoulder that appears to have sustained a (mild) injury
Teaching ploy: One of my students, who had previously been programmed to do a very different (Olympic judo) version of a throw, is learning our version in hidari first, as a stepping stone

In sum, I recommend occasionally training on the non-preferred side, as opposed to: never (traditional), 50-50, or mainly non-preferred (a competition-oriented strategy).

Well done

2010-08-26T17:21:00.000+10:00

Congratulations to everyone from Monash Caulfield who presented for the mid-2010 gradings (all successful!): Anthony, Lisa, Lejoe, Damian, Ash, John, Lizzie, and Soksan.

Almost everyone graded in both jiu-jitsu and judo, and several did multiple grades. This was by far the biggest group who have graded from Caulfield, and all set a great example through their dedication and hard work.

Well done also to all the other students who graded across our Federation.

I cannot stress enough how helpful it is to one's progress to be part of a group who are training together. Cooperative learning and friendly competition are boons in this regard.

Lessons in Character

2010-08-20T06:12:00.002+10:00

Some excellent writing on courtesy, humility, and example-setting from Charles C. Goodin's Karate Thoughts blog. Start with these:

These lessons don't just apply to karate, but (hopefully!) to all martial arts, and to living a good life.

The "Steven Seagal" technique

2010-08-19T15:41:00.002+10:00

I recently learned that one of our restraint and control techniques, which officially goes by the (not very descriptive) name of "wristlock technique" has gained an unofficial moniker: the Steven Seagal technique, referring to a scene from the critically panned Under Siege 2. If someone can send me a link to the requisite bit on YouTube I would be grateful, and will share.

Then last night at training I demonstrated a knife disarm and threw the knife "out of play", apparently with a Seagal-like flourish. So now we have two Steven Seagal techniques.

Here's a nice demo that Seagal did in 1982 on The Merv Griffin Show:

It includes some weapons self-defence, and kenjitsu at the end. Note how, after taking the weapon from his assailant, he always indicates "the finish".

Defending the cows - with judo

2010-08-03T22:03:00.003+10:00

A former student -- he may well return! -- sent me a link to a real-life judo in the news story:

Judo-trained dairy owner sees off armed youths

A Levin dairy owner used his judo skills to fend off would-be robbers pointing a pistol at his head.

Playford foodmarket owner Tushar Patel was walking out of his Bledisloe St dairy at 1.25pm on Sunday when he saw four young men, two wearing balaclavas, about to enter.

He managed to dial 111 on his mobile before one of youths snatched his phone and tried to punch him in the face.

A former judo competitor in India, he deflected the blow, grabbed his phone, and held on to his attacker's wrist.

He saw one of the group rushing towards him pointing what looked like a pistol at his head. "I thought, 'That is a bloody gun he has."'

The gunman threatened to shoot Mr Patel, prompting him to push the man he was holding towards the gunman and yell out to his neighbour to call the police. The group ran off.

"I was yelling loudly. I did not think they wanted to kill me – they wanted to rob me."

His wife, Vanita, praised her husband's bravery. "He is a little bit strong man," she said.

It was the third time the couple have been targeted. Two years ago a man threatened Mr Patel with a vegetable knife and demanded money. Mr Patel showed off a bigger knife he kept behind the counter, and the offender fled.

About two months ago a man in a balaclava, brandishing a screwdriver, demanded money before running off empty-handed.

Mr Patel urged dairy owners to be careful and protect themselves. His wife agreed: "They cannot treat you that way, steal like that, otherwise they do it every day. I am proud of my husband but I am scared now."

Two 16-year-olds had been caught, police said. The gun is thought to have been a BB gun.

Thanks, Steve. Only in New Zealand!

* * *

Apparently I misunderstood the location of this dramatic confrontation. Steve explained in an email:

Haha.

A dairy is what kiwis call a corner store or a milkbar.
I realise in Australia a dairy is a cow farm :)

I was wondering why these NZ-farmers were under almost incessant attack ...

What I look for in gradings

2010-08-02T07:05:00.004+10:00

Over the weekend our organization had its winter gradings. I sat on two grading panels observing and assessing students testing for jiu-jitsu and judo student grades ranging from 12th kyu to 1st kyu.

Formal testing is only part of the assessment. Other elements include: class hours, seminar attendance, points scored in judo competition, and there sensei's recommendation.

The formal testing itself includes a physical component (demonstration of techniques and self-defence) and an oral component (knowledge and terminology). Attitude is also assessed.

Assessment is subjective -- which is one of the reasons we typically have three black belts per panel -- but here are some of the things that I look for in grading a physical technique (easily adapted to an oral explanation):

Identification: Was the requested technique demonstrated?
Completeness: Were all the technical elements present?
Correctness: Were there any technical defects?
Control: Was the technique executed safely, or was the partner hurt or at risk of being harmed?
Effectiveness: How well did it work?
Efficiency: Was excessive effort or superfluous movement used?
Improvisation: If the student encountered problems, how well was (s)he able to recover?
Depth: Was non-basic knowledge shown: e.g. variation(s), unusual detail?
Grace: Overall flow, fluidity and grace

* * *

One of the things that I have been able to do at my club has been to prepare students for their first grading with a mock grading. This familiarises them with the format, and allows me to pick up on glaring defects just-in-time. Also: When several students have the same issue it points to a common source: their teacher!

Now that the class is growing, I think that next grading season I'll try something that helped me in my early years of learning jiu-jitsu and judo: an in-house mock grading session with the students getting a chance to sit on the panel and assess, as well as to be tested. It should be good.

FOOSH!

2010-07-27T21:21:00.000+10:00

The acronym of the day is FOOSH. It stands for Falling On OutStretched Hand. John Coles has written an informative post on FOOSH injuries.

I just like the sound of the word. Say it out loud: "FOOSH". But I bet that's not what you would say if you sustained a FOOSH injury!

This is what a FOOSH injury looks like:

Ouch!! Search YouTube for "skateboard wrist break" for more disasters. Link.

This old post explains how the judo alternative, trained breakfalls, can lower the risk of FOOSH in day-to-day life.

Self-defence technique meets 1920s chic

2010-07-23T07:49:00.009+10:00

Fabulous clip of 7 stone (44.5 kg) Miss May Whitley giving a lightning introduction to the role of unbalancing in jiu-jitsu before throwing her good friend "the bandit" repeatedly onto a hard stage floor. Be sure to watch with the sound turned up to enjoy her wonderful accent and his howls of pain:

Attacks and jiu-jitsu counters demonstrated:

Handbag snatch: Arm-lock plus projection throw
Rear choke: 1st shoulder throw (kata seoi)
Straight punch: Reverse arm-bar (waki-gatame)
Front kick: Inner-rear sweeping throw
Front choke: Circle throw (tomoe nage)

Thanks to Sue for highlighting this clip and more on her blog.

Simply spiffing: what, what!?