Mokuren Dojo

Psy-ki-do: psychic blood and gore!

2009-11-19T05:48:00.000-06:00

Today I'm guest blogging at Marks' Blog! Hop on over there and check it out for another crazy Psy-ki-do idea.

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮

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The Legend of the 3000 year-old martial art

2009-11-18T11:31:00.000-06:00

I'm sure you've heard this one. "My martial art was invented 3000 years ago and used by noble warrior-monks, who passed it down in an unbroken lineage to us today." The next part of the legend (sometimes implied, but often explicit) is that all other martial arts are inferior, diluted subsets derived from our 3000 year-old martial art. Thus, our 3000 year-old martial art is the best around so you'd better keep paying your dues here and not go study somewhere else.

Think about it some. You don't have to be a history major...

Per Wikipedia, Kalari (claimed by some to be the oldest Eastern martial art) dates all the way back to the 1100's AD (that's only 900 years ago).
Chinese martial arts (though there are certainly differences of opinion) are thought to be derivatives of Kalari, so that makes them less than 900 years old.
The Chinese are thought to have influenced the development of Japanese, Okinawan, and other SE Asian martial arts, so these are even younger. Karate was exported from Okinawa to Japan in the early 1900's. Taekwando is a Korean brandname of Japanese karate, so it's later than that. Judo was invented in the 1880's and none of the Koryu ("ancient") Jujitsu styles were too much older. Aikido coalesced into a thing of its own in the 1920's.
Of course there were other non-asian heritages. You can find some evidence for European and Scandinavian martial arts dating back to the Dark Ages but the evidence for ancient European and African martial arts is limited.
And all this talk about whose martial art is older is kinda stupid anyway. People have been fighting since there was 2 people and one thing to eat. And any time some warriors are more successful than others, the successful warriors' technique will be studied, systematized, and eventually turned into artform.

So, when someone tells you that their martial art is 3000 years old and is the mother of all martial arts, they are either part of a kool aid kult, or they want to be the leader of a kool aid kult with you as their follower.

And besides, who ever said that jump-kicking knights off of horseback has any relevance in today's world?

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮

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Psy-ki-do - Guest post at Dojo Rat

2009-11-17T12:07:00.000-06:00

Photo courtesy of Dojo Rat (I don't know where he got it)

Ooh, check me out! I'm guest posting at Dojo Rat's blog today. Hop on over and see what you can make of my crazy ideas about psy-ki-do!

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮
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The Legend of the 8000 techniques

2009-11-16T01:08:00.001-06:00

Some time back I was surfing and came across an aikido school boasting that they taught their students more than 8000 techniques! Wow! That seems like a lot of value for your money. Tomiki schools (including mine) only teach about 30 unique techniques. Seems like there's no way that someone from the School of 30 Techniques could stand up against someone from the School of 8000 Techniques! Is there?

Maybe there is. Suppose you get about 3 hours practice per week, drilling 6 techniques per hour. If you don't repeat or revisit or review any techniques, then it would take 8000/18 weeks to spend 10 minutes on each technique. That is, it would take you 8.5 years to get 10 minutes practice time on each thing in the system.

So, who do you want to bet on? Someone who has tried to learn something for 10 minutes some six or eight years ago, or someone who has spent the same 8.5 years learning and reviewing and experimenting with and delving deeply into 30 things?

Of course, the schools that claim to teach 8000 techniques don't really practice all those things. There's no way they could. That's just a ridiculous lie. They practice the same things that the guys at The School of 30 Techniques practice.

So, who would you rather deal with - someone who lies to you about what they're teaching or someone who tells you straight out, "I only have about 30 things to teach you?"

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮

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Intro to psy-ki-do

2009-11-15T11:25:00.000-06:00

Inspired by The Men Who Stare at Goats, for the next week or so I'll be writing a series of articles on what I'm calling Psy-ki-do. Sort of the soft science, pseudo-science, or psychological side of combative arts. The first post is already available at my newsletter - if you missed signing up for that, you can catch this newsletter at the archive here, and you can sign up for the upcoming newsletters here.

Upcoming psy-ki-do ideas include...

how to trick an attacker into total commitment (a dream come true for aikidoka)
how to sap the opponent's will to fight by making him think you are a predator and making him feel like your prey
how to be a better instructor by getting in synch with your students

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮

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Southhampton aikido practice

2009-11-15T03:30:00.000-06:00

I enjoyed this video a lot. Not all of it is as I would choose to practice it, but that doesn't make it bad or anything.

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮
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Early jujitsu video

2009-11-13T20:06:00.002-06:00

Possibly the first video of jujitsu (judo) ever recorded! Pretty cool stuff!

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮
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Subscribe now for free updates from Mokuren Dojo

The Champion Buster Legend

2009-11-12T12:06:00.003-06:00

Photo courtesy of Wendy Cooper

There are legends and stories that pass through martial arts communities. Some are true and some are lie, but most have a kernel of truth. Most of these legends have a moral, or an ideal that they are supposed to transmit. There are lots of these apocryphal stories that seem to have a life of their own. There is one of these stories that I've been thinking about today. I've heard this throughout the years from different people. I call it The Legend of the Champion Buster.

The premise is that there is this unassuming judo instructor teaching a handful of people in some backwater locale. The instructor hasn't competed in years, if ever, and nobody in particular has really ever heard of him.

Well, along comes the young, hot, strong, national-level competitor. The type of guy who is used to being alpha-male at his own dojo and every other dojo the rolls into. The young champion is invariably "in town visiting relatives" or something to that effect, and drops into the instructor's dojo figuring to show the local yokels what "real judo" looks like.

After getting suited-up and taping up all his fingers and doing some vigorous warm-up exercises where everyone can see him and be impressed, he walks out to do randori with the instructor...

...and the unknown instructor demolishes the champion - smashes him while seeming to hardly move - humiliates the young champion without ever exerting himself, all the time doing "classical judo" instead of "competition judo".

I've definitely seen judo players that fit that young champion archetype, and I often feel like the unknown judo instructor teaching a handful of people in some backwater locale, although I am definitely NOT claiming to be a champion buster.

I don't know what brought that story to mind, but I though I'd share it and see how many folks have heard this legend or one like it. What do y'all think of those two archetypes? Have y'all ever met the champion buster? Ever laid hands on him in randori?

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮

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Mokuren Dojo Newsletter

2009-11-11T17:10:00.000-06:00

As the year is drawing to a close I have quite a few new things on the drawing board, one of which is a new dojo/blog newsletter! The newsletter will include dojo news and info, thoughts and practice hints for my students, reprints form my blog archives, and articles and other content that won't be available on the blog.

If you enjoy this blog, I know you'll enjoy receiving the email newsletters 1-2 times per month. Signing up is easy - just click here and enter your name and email address. Mail Chimp will send you an email verification to be sure that you are really opting-in and you're not being spammed -then you're "in like Flynn" (whatever that means anyway).
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The first newsletter will be ready to go out in about a week, so don't delay - make sure you're signed up now so you won't miss any of the great new content!

Charisma and Intelligence

2009-11-11T13:50:00.003-06:00

Kel (left) and yours truly (center background) at the recent yonkata clinic (click the pic for a larger image) Aren't those Mokuren Dojo guys a handsome, intelligent-looking group!

Ukiwaza and Koryu Dai Yon

2009-11-09T12:24:00.000-06:00

Courtesy of Adam Franco

What a fabulous seminar we had this past weekend! I got to see a bunch of the old heads - one of whom I haven't been able to lay hands on in about 10 years! And it's always a pleasure to play under the tutelage of Henry Copeland - a truly great aikido master and heck of a great guy.

We went over the floating throws and koryu dai yon kata. Following are my impressions and take-away points. Of course, any mistakes or misunderstandings are my fault...

I was impressed at the incredible variability in yon kata. There are apparently very many different acceptable ways to do it. It seemed to me (and to some of the other old heads) that Henry has taught this thing several different ways over the years. I suppose that is to be expected as our proficiency and understanding improves and so does his, but it seems as if virtually anything that gets the desired throw with the desired energy or feeling, counts as an okay yonkata.
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We started the floating throws with shihonage because that is where the offbalance changes in junana. everything up to this point has been catching uke on a downstep and bumping him into offbalance, but the premise in these techniques is that you miss that downstep, and draw him perpendicular to his feet into offbalance, causing him to rise and float for a moment. That's right. I usually characterize these things as floating throws because of the distinctive feel of the otoshi throwing action following the offbalance, but Henry was talking about the offbalance being the floating aspect of the floating throws.
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Shihonage illustrates a properly-timed guruma offbalance. Maeotoshi is rushed and spoiled but you can still float him by lifting under the arm. Henry was throwing sumiotoshi an instant later than I usually throw it and teach it. Hikiotoshi is still a bear for me.
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This weekend, YK#1 and YK#2 had wholly different feels - not just "wrong-sided" versions of the same thing. YK#1 was pushing perpendicular between the feet on the down, into the face on the rise, then pushing through otoshi and into guruma on the next down. YK#2 was evade, pop the hands up in his face, and turn with him.
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YK#3-4 hang them on their second otoshi step, then stride through them on their next weight shift.
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YK#5-6 can be a pulling sumiotoshi if tori is shorter than uke.
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Another surprise this weekend was Henry characterized it as a really aggressive, practical, self-defense kata. That's interesting because I've always thought of it as a compliant uke theoretical drilling type kata.
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We practiced several of the throws from YK part B from 2-hand grabs, where they are usually one-hand grabs. They work great either way.

What did you other guys that attended take away from this clinic?

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮

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Nice aikido demo

2009-11-06T09:22:00.000-06:00

Very nicely-done aikido demonstration. Much of what you see in the first half of this video has the same feel, the same energy as the Yonkata material that we'll be working on this weekend. Much of the second half of the video has a similar feel to the end of Sankata.

Time to float

2009-11-05T21:28:00.004-06:00

Picture courtesy of BekiPe

One of the interesting peculiarities about our particular scope and sequence _ our method for teaching Tomikiryu, is that between Ikkyu (1st brown belt) and shodan (1st black belt) there is a huge amount of time but a relatively small amount of new techniques. Between ikkyu and shodan is at least 90 mat-hours but only 5 new techniques. And those 5 techniques are not really the main idea that the student is supposed to get. So, what is?

Between nikyu and ikkyo, the student learns the ukiwaza (intensely timing-dependent floating throws, A.K.A. kokyunage the breath throws). Then from ikkyu to shodan, the student is supposed to take the extra time to go back and apply the principles learned in the ukiwaza to all the previous material. Basically, to make everything a floating throw.

so, what are the characteristic ideas seen in the ukiwaza that are supposed to be transferred to all the previous material? All the floating throws...

have a loose connection between uke and tori - tori is not hooked directly to uke's torso.

have a connection with little mechanical insurance (for instance, unlike kotegaeshi, with a floating throw you can't endanger the wrist to make uke comply.)

require near-perfect timing

require near-perfect synchronization between tori's and uke's footfalls.

require near-perfect directed off-balances

require tori to not support uke

are all otoshi motion - that is, they all happen at the moment of a footfall

incorporate that release feeling from hanasu, which is further refined by practicing koryu dai yon kata.

20th anniversary clinic preview

2009-11-05T21:18:00.000-06:00

This weekend, five of us are attending the 20th anniversary seminar at the Starkville aikido group with my teacher, John Usher, and our great friend and teacher, Henry Copeland. We will be working on the floating throws in Junana as well as Koryu Dai Yon kata. For a little glimpse of what you'll be getting if you attend or what you'll be missing if you can't make it, check out the following. I can't wait to see some folks that I might have seen once in the last 10 years, and to work on this awesome stuff with these awesome instructors!

Marks on hip motion

2009-11-05T12:42:00.000-06:00

Today I'm pleased to have Marks guest posting here at Mokuren Dojo. Marks' blog has been a consistent source of thoughtful articles on judo, karate, self-defense, and mixed martial arts for years now. Today he is writing on the importance of hip motion.

To the untrained practitioner, Judo and Karate look like two completely different arts. After all, Karate leans more towards the striking aspect of combat, while Judo leans more towards grappling. However, to a trained martial artist, who has spent many hours practising striking and grappling, the similarities between the two arts is more than evident. Weather it be performing a perfect ippon winning throw such as Tai O Toshi, or landing a solid power felt strike like Gyaku Zuki, there is one thing that is needed to execute each and that is strong hip rotation.

Without hip rotation, strikes, weather it be with the hands or legs will be nothing more than soft taps, and throws will be as effective as a man trying to lift up a car.

The above example shows the practise of Seoi Nage in uchikomi fashion using a tree and a rope (a great way to strengthen ones throw by the way). There is an initial step in with his right foot, his left foot then steps behind and in close to his right, and the last part of the practise is to strongly rotate the hips as he bends slightly with his knees.

It is this strong hip rotation which produces the power behind the throw. It must be noted that in order to produce a strong hip rotation, the body must be facing the opponent as much as possible until both feet have stepped in. In this case, the Judoka’s right leg comes in and the left behind but his body is still facing forward and at the last moment he strongly rotates his hips as he simultaneously bends and pulls with the arms. Against a live opponent and with the full technique using speed, such a strong hip rotation and pull can produce some devastating throws.

The above video shows a demonstration of Gyaku Zuki, one of the most famous of all Karate techniques. Here it is practised in a simple basic way, using a static firm stance and a strong pull back of the non punching arm to the hip. Although many will argue that this is not a practical way of performing the technique, not many can object to the fact that this is one of the best ways to practise the strong hip rotation needed in order to put full power and speed into the punch to make it as effective as possible. This strong rotation of the hips is shown quite clearly if one simply observes the Karateka’s belt. Before the punch begins, the belt is in a ten o clock position and as the punch is executed it is thrust in a circular direction with the same ferocity as an arrow shot from a bow. Without this strong hip rotation, the punch would not be anywhere near as effective and a lot of energy would be wasted trying to use arm strength alone to make it powerful.

One of the best ways to practise hip rotation is simply through basic training just as these two videos show. By performing basic movements, with emphasise on good hip rotation, one will automatically, eventually start using there hips more when it comes to sparring/randori. So for the Judoka this means many hours of Uchi/Nage Komi with a compliant training partner and for the Karateka, many repetitions of basic techniques in front of a mirror so as to gauge ones progress.
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Hip rotation is the key when it comes to trying to use ones body to maximise power and speed. It is something that all martial artists, regardless of style should keep in mind and should always practise, no matter how many years they have been training.

Many thanks to Pat Parker for giving me the opportunity to guest post here at Mokuren Dojo. It is a great website, updated frequently with very interesting topics and is an honour to add something to it. - Marks [...and thanks to you, Marks, for a great article on a vital element of martial skill. Youve given me a couple of good ideas for follow-up posts. - PLP]

www.markstraining.com – Fighting and Training Methods for Unarmed Martial Artists

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮

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Do yourself a favor - breathe

2009-11-04T17:03:00.002-06:00

Photo courtesy of Simmr

When I first started judo, we did all the rocking back and forth on your back and mat-slapping exercises and we learned a couple of breakfalling techniques. But in all of my breakfalling practice, somehow they failed to mention one key point - relax and breathe out when you hit the mat. Why is this important?

Well, soon after that, we were working on taiotoshi. I was partnered with a cute, but tough, girl who was a couple of ranks ahead of me. We were supposed to do uchikomis - turning into throwing position nine times and then throwing on the tenth rep. My partner sailed thru her reps and then came the fateful tenth rep! She whipped me around and absolutely smashed me!

Let me take a moment to assure you that it is completely normal when someone whips you into the ground, to say, "Oh, Sh...", then hold your breath and tense up in anticipation. Being a natural-type guy, that's what I did.

I hit the ground tensed up with a lung full of air, and blood and snot and slime and goop exploded from my mouth and nose, covering my cute partner's uniform sleeve. It looked like the ghost-slime from Ghostbusters, only mixed with blood! Gross is the merest of understatements!

But her reaction was one of the coolest, most unusual things I've ever seen. Frowning, she inspected the goop that was sliming down her arm, said, "Hmmm." Then she wiped that sleeve on the back of her uniform jacket and matter-of-factly held out her arms to me and said, "your turn."

The moral of this story is simple - Relax and breathe when you fall, and maybe you can avoid sliming some cutie and embarassing yourself.

Koshiguruma

2009-11-01T18:33:00.000-06:00

Awesome private class tonight. For a while now I've been avoiding subjecting my faithful readers to my training logs, but I felt like I should write this one down. Tonight we reviewed the basic stuff - deashi and a bunch of combos including deashi-kosoto, deashi-osoto, deashi-hiza. Then we got to the coolness - koshiguruma.

Koshiguruma has never been my thing, but recently James Wall gave me and Whit a good lesson, teaching Whit and reminding me how cool and useful it can be. Tonight we worked on koshiguruma, emphasizing the guruma and the similarity between hizaguruma, ashiguruma, and koshiguruma. It's got me excited about the gurumas again!

Effective choke

2009-11-01T09:23:00.000-06:00

What do y'all think of this choke? It seems to me like it took an awful long time for the ref to stop the match after the girl was obviouslly knocked out or at least not making any effort to defend or fight. But upon second watching, she sets the choke at about 0:12, the girl appears to be knocked out sometime before 0:30 and the match is stopped sometime arouond 0:47. Still...

We have a winner!

2009-11-01T08:50:00.001-06:00

A few days ago I changed my blog template and said I'd give away a copy of a great book to one lucky, random commenter who would leave me a comment or suggestion about the new look during October. I got a number of very good pointers, and fear not - I'm not through tweaking this theme, so just because you haven't seen the changes yet doesn't mean I'm ignoring your comments. In general, I think the following changes are in the works:

1) darken the background from white toward a very light grey or perhaps a light creamy eggshell color.

2) darken the body text from a medium grey toward a dark grey or black.

3) for right now the left sidebar will remain floating, but I took the picture out of that banner and it seems to move smoother and more unobtrusively. I'm likely to put a variant of that hanging banner somewhere else above the fold. Currently I have my secret band of techie ninja working on an alternate theme much similar to this one, but with a static left sidebar - we might try that theme out later.

4) all links are now red, to match the kanji in that aforementioned banner.

5) will reorganize the right sidebar links over time to point to links pages instead of labels.

And more... Thanks for the help and suggestions!

Now, for the big winner! It is... drumroll please...

Bob Patterson of the Striking Thoughts blog! Bob, send me an email with your address and I'll send you the book. As an added bonus, Kris Wilder, the author, has graciously offered to autograph the book and write you a nice note, so give me a couple weeks shipping time after you send me your address to get it out to Seattle to him, and then for him to get it to you. Congrats, Bob!

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮

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How to cut with a sword

2009-10-31T01:00:00.003-05:00

I'm no kendo master, but here's a lesson that you can use in your aikido and jodo. It's common to see a student drape the sword downward behind his back in preparation to make a downward menuchi cut (see the following film starting at about 1:50). Don't do this.

Notice that in all the downward strikes in this film, the center of mass of the sword and arms lies in front of the swordsman's body. Thus, all he has to do to strike is relax and the arms and sword drop forward and downward. If you drape the sword over your back then to strike you must exert to get the sword back in front of your body.

This is not just an energy conservation idea. It is a motor control idea too. You've got two arms hooked to the sword, and if you start exerting with them, it's not possible to exert equally, so your arms will exert against each other and the sword will waver from side to side during the cut. If, however, you make unbendable arms and drop the arms-plus-sword as a unit, the sword will fall in a straighter path, making it easier to hit your precise target and making a cleaner cut.

8 Haloween hints from Mokuren Dojo

2009-10-30T11:19:00.004-05:00

Image courtesy of Funky64

Happy Haloween, all you ghouls and goblins! In the spirit of the season, I thought I'd give you eight ways that the martial arts at Mokuren Dojo are perfect for your inner zombie or vampire!

1) Aikidoka avoid all contact - if uke can touch you, they can hurt you (they might even give you the Mummy Rot)! So tori wants to avoid all possible contact with uke. Avoid, evade, do not engage, brush off, roll around them, disengage! This isn't always possible, but it is a vital starting point in aikido.

2) Check yourself regularly for faults - just like lepers were once taught to make regular self checks to make sure they hadn't accidently dropped something, you want to practice slowly and carefully enough that you can go through a self-check to make sure everything is in place and working correctly. Try practicing so slowly that you can do a self-check after every single step. If you don't practice this way, you could end up with shambling, undead techniques!

3) Avoid excessive exertion - for the same reason as #2 above, don't exert yourself so hard that you knock your own arm off! If the techniques in aikido and judo are going to work at all, they will work very gently. When you add force you end up with a poor approximation of the effect you can get with the light, effortless, aiki-like motion.

4) Move slower - whether you are fresh out of the grave (yonkyu) or have been mouldering in a sarcophagus for 3000 years (rokudan), take just an instant longer to make sure you place each footstep correctly. One perfectly placed footstep is better than 3-4 approximate steps.

5) Leave uke hanging - when you get an offbalance and leave uke hanging in unbalance without support, you suck the life energy right out of his attack! All that gripping and clinging and pushing and pulling on uke just gives him a transfusion of vital balance and an opportunity to turn the tables and drive a stake right through your heart.

6) Un-bendable arms - All the hippest creatures are doing it, from Frankenstein's Monster to Ramses the Damned. Try it and you'll be zombified at how much better your transmission of force to uke gets.

7) Disapear and reappear - If you move away in front of uke, he'll track you forever, but if you evade diagonally toward uke as he comes at you, you'll pass right through the narrowest part of his field of vision into his blind spot. The effect is incredibly disorienting and disconcerting for uke.

8) Hide in uke's shadow - in fact, be his shadow. If you get into uke's blind spot behind his shoulder, use your hands as feelers instead of grabbing him, and get the motion of your center in perfect synch with his, he'll know you're there (somewhere) but he won't be able to track or find you.

So, there you have it, As an added bonus, I'll leave y'all with the immortal words of a most beastly wight - the infernally creepy Michael Jackson...

It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking on the mat.

Under hakama, you see a sight that almost stops your motion!

You try to scream but tori takes the sen before you kiai.

You start to freeze and you're extended right into otoshi!

You've been ogoshi'd

'Cause this is aiki, aiki night

And no one's gonna save you from the shomenate strike

You know it's aiki, aiki night

You're fighting for your life inside a aiki, dojo tonight...

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮

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Subscribe now for free updates from Mokuren Dojo

Footsweep to control

2009-10-30T07:15:00.004-05:00

I love this game. This is the sort of footsweeps we're tryingto develop. Of particular interest to me is how the two players - big man and little man - their bodies have different frequencies, different rhythms, but they're both able to do this game amazingly well!

Osaekomi recap

2009-10-29T11:51:00.000-05:00

Photo courtesy of Guillaume

This past month has been osaekomi month, during which I have placed more of an emphasis on writing about the locks, pins, and holds that appear in aikido and judo. Following is a convenient list for you to check out the osaekomi articles from this past month.

Or you may just want to peruse all the articles on osaekomi in my archives.
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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮
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Subscribe now for free updates from Mokuren Dojo

Unnatural or just inefficient?

2009-10-28T12:01:00.001-05:00

Photo courtesy of Dangoodwin

A couple of my instructors over the years have made a great emphasis on "learning to move naturally"

I thought that was strange because it seems to me that "natural" should mean something like "unlearned" or "instinctive." I've had a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that you might have to learn how to move naturally. When these instructors would point out some of my unnatural motions, then show me the correct, "natural" motions, I could rarely tell why one was more natural than the next

But they prescribed drills. I did the drills. And now my instinctive, natural motion is more like the motion of the "natural motion drills" and the techniques work better and feel fine but I'm still not sure what makes it more "natural."

Now when I see a student make unnatural motions I prescribe the same drills, and those drills are pretty good at curing the students, but I'm still not fully on-board with the term "natural."

I certainly agree that we become habituated with inefficient ways of doing common things. Much of this comes from what Thomas Hanna called sensorimotor amnesia. About the time we reach puberty, most of us start slowing down and trying to look cool and we stop playing with motion. Our brains lose the constant feedback from our muscles and the brain begins to forget what those muscles feel like and what they are capable of. This sensorimotor amnesia leads to us learning and habituating inefficient ways of doing things.

But un-natural??? What do y'all think?

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Patrick Parker is a Christian, husband, father, martial arts teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 木蓮
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Junana locks and pins

2009-10-27T20:16:00.001-05:00

Osaekomi month is drawing to an end here at Mokuren Dojo. For the past month we have emphasized the pins and locks and holds of aikido and judo both in our classes and here on the blog. I'll have a recap of all the articles I've written here in a couple of days, but till then, here is a video featuring a few of my students playing with some of the locks and pins associated with techniques #6, 7, 8, and 12 of Junana hon kata.