tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51350735769994311972009-11-27T12:52:37.926+08:00Essays by Dan Djurdjevic on the martial arts and related disciplinesDan Djurdjevichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15352771904545108503noreply@blogger.comBlogger127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5135073576999431197.post-7019950060407843922009-11-18T02:33:00.040+08:002009-11-19T18:45:32.026+08:00

I have previously highlighted my disdain for "mystical" interpretations of the internal martial arts. In my view all martial arts function within the bounds of known physics; there is simply nothing metaphysical - nothing that is left wanting for a "paranormal" explanation.However there are still many people out there who adhere to the opposite view. To quote a correspondent on an internet

Dan Djurdjevichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15352771904545108503noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5135073576999431197.post-88974140200528392942009-11-17T23:19:00.019+08:002009-11-18T16:46:36.876+08:00

There is a persistent myth that I've heard over the years that somehow training in the internal martial arts gives you a big belly.I've never regarded this myth as anything other than an obvious, self-referential joke: ie. "I don't have a beer gut - it's just that my belly is full of qi/ki."Recently however I have become aware that some people actually think there is such a syndrome. Just

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I will admit to having a love affair that started after I met my wife and that endures to the present day. No, the object of this affection is not another woman/man (although I suspect that my wife, like many women, probably envies its figure!). The object is none other than a 4 foot stick, made of Japanese oak.It feels surprisingly light in the hands, is textured with the bumps and bruises of

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A common criticism of traditional eastern fighting arts is the emphasis those arts place on solo practice - often at the expense of 2 person practise.Indeed, many traditional fighting arts are so steeped in solo forms that they have barely no partner application at all. When they do, it is often stilted, stylised and unrealistic.This criticism has led many martial artists who are interested in

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I have indicated before that it is dangerous to be obsessed with “power generation” in your martial art; there is so much more, particularly if your approach is oriented towards civilian defence. You don’t want to get hit, for starters. To do that you need not only evasion but “blocking” (deflection). You need a good foundation in terms of grounding and movement – in particular movement that

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It has occurred to me that I have not ever addressed one of the major elements of traditional fighting arts before: stances.Stances are an integral part of traditional eastern fighting arts. Moreover they are surprisingly consistent in form.For example, virtually every eastern fighting art has the “forward” stance (sometimes called the "bow and arrow stance"). In Japanese it is called “zenkutsu

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Readers of my blog will be aware that I am at odds with many karate practitioners in relation to how the kata naihanchi/naifanchi should be performed.I have previously detailed my dislike of "hip shaking" - ie. pre-loading or telegraphing the hips to gain extra power - in practically every technique in naihanchi/naifanchi.However I have recently become aware of another point of disagreement I

Dan Djurdjevichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15352771904545108503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5135073576999431197.post-10318124579530922472009-10-21T22:53:00.019+08:002009-10-22T23:41:05.550+08:00

In I have previously discussed the origins of the kata known as "naihanchi", and "tekki"1. As most people are aware, there are 3 in the series, shodan, nidan and sandan.It is important to note that not every school of karate practise all 3 naihanchi kata. Our school is one of many that practises only the first of the series, feeling that it is sufficient.his book "Wado Ryu Karate"2 Hironori

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IntroductionPeople are often at me to illustrate what I mean when I talk about "dilution" in karate/martial arts so I thought I'd do so by reference to the common chudan uke or chest deflection. I have chose chudan uke because I think it provides one of the starkest examples of how a technique can be passed down from generation to generation with the same macro movement - but with all the

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I was walking with my teacher, Chen Yun Ching, through the cluttered, stony streets of a Hakka village somewhere in southern Taiwan, blood-red paper and tinsel jostling with with the pushy crowds and endless market stalls."How do you you say 'Happy New Year'?" I asked him, and he paused, mid-stream, while people flowed around him, a rock in the rapids.I carefully repeated his words again and

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So what was the Decadal Gashuku all about? In 10 days we had run more than 150 km, performed close to 10 000 kicks and an equal number of punches, strikes and blocks. We had trained for 10 hours per day, sweated buckets of water, used up litres of sunscreen and eaten gallons of maltabela porridge. We had lifted chi shis, pressed the kongo ken, done thousands of knuckle push-ups, sit-ups, squat

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It was mid-afternoon half way through the second week of the Decadal gashuku. Tim Hull and I were shuffling along a dusty track somewhere in the African savannah. The group with which we’d started running had long since dispersed; the front pack having disappeared into the far distance while behind us about 20 or so stragglers were spread out over several kilometres.We were about 16 km into

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My favourite passage in the Hagakure1 is the one about the 10 blind2 masseuses. I have copied it below:“Once a group of ten blind masseuses were traveling together in the mountains, and when they began to pass along the top of a precipice, they all became very cautious, their legs shook, and they were in general struck with terror. Just then the leading man stumbled and fell off the cliff. Those

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By now many of you will be aware of the video below, apparently taken on 13 December 19841 at a karate dojo in Dumfries, Virginia. It shows a brutal, unprovoked and totally reprehensible bashing of a young mentally disturbed man who claimed to be a kung fu practitioner "taught by Jesus". The video has gone viral. Possibly the only good thing to emerge from this is the universal outrage and

Dan Djurdjevichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15352771904545108503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5135073576999431197.post-15041700861409663912009-08-25T22:32:00.077+08:002009-08-27T11:20:37.059+08:00

IntroductionI am about to reveal one of my personal "secret" martial art training methods. I would go so far as to say that it is the single most important way to learn how to apply civilian defence techniques in a dynamic environment. I am speaking, of course, of the sparring method we call randori.As I have explained previously, randori is a kind of sparring analogous to the "playfighting" of

Dan Djurdjevichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15352771904545108503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5135073576999431197.post-61906637464793776872009-08-19T20:18:00.021+08:002009-08-20T15:28:02.794+08:00

In traditional martial arts the question of lineage is often seen as paramount. I remember well the debates that raged from issue to issue on the letters page of the (now defunct) Australasian Fighting Arts Magazine. Various taijiquan schools would send in letters that stated: "X does not do authentic Yang style because he only studied with Y and Z while I studied with A, B and C" etc.

Dan Djurdjevichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15352771904545108503noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5135073576999431197.post-59606929084214307482009-08-15T16:19:00.054+08:002009-08-31T23:34:12.511+08:00

It's hard to believe we are rapidly approaching the 20th anniversary of the Decadal Gashuku, a martial arts training camp held by Lao Shi Bob Davies at Midmar Dam in Kwazulu Natal from 3 to 13 January 1990. It was an international event comprising 2 separate 5 day courses. Some of us (the "decadal participants") were there for both.For those unfamiliar with the gashuku (training camp) concept,

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In 1991 I had a visit from one of my former karate classmates in South Africa, Peter Banks. Peter started training shortly after I did, but where I was a fresh-faced teenager, Peter was already in his late 30s. And where I was pencil thin, Peter was not. To be blunt, he had a sizable middle-aged spread.Imagine my surprise when, almost a decade later, Peter turned up at our dojo looking like an

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My Chen Pan-Ling brother and good friend Mark Small sent me a link to the Camp Tai Chi site run by John Crewdson. John's home page has the intriguing heading "7 Ways Tai Chi is Different From Yoga". I don't disagree with any of John's points, particularly his observation that taiji (tai chi) is a martial art, where yoga is not. But I can't help thinking there is much more to the distinction

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Recently the subject of what is often called "bouncy tag" has reared its head at the Traditional Fighting Arts Forum. In particular comment was made about the Youtube footage of George Alexander undertaking a 50 person kumite in celebration of his achievement of his judan (10th dan) grade. I have embedded the video below:George Alexander undertaking a 50 person kumiteAt the outset I'll say that

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My good friend Jorge Morales-Santo Domingo recently posed the following question to me:"Watching your Taijiquan videos it occurred to me to ask how you avoid "contaminating" your internal arts practice with your former karate experience, or vise versa. This was always a problem for me as I inadvertently "slipped" into Goju intent at the slightest similarity of movement. This was the prime reason

Dan Djurdjevichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15352771904545108503noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5135073576999431197.post-60665934098187879082009-07-17T13:35:00.029+08:002009-07-17T15:50:40.868+08:00

I have often read in recent years about the difference between a school practising "karatedo" and a school practising "karatejutsu"."Do" (道) of course means "way". This is a philosophical term referencing Daoism/Taoism as well as being a more practical, everyday noun (it could simply refer to a pathway or road). As with any Chinese character (hanzi or kanji), there are mulitple meanings, often

Dan Djurdjevichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15352771904545108503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5135073576999431197.post-30388320007074918092009-07-14T14:00:00.003+08:002009-09-01T22:12:47.075+08:00

Those who know me know my occasional reference to the Chinese character 忍 - "ren" (or "nin" in Japanese) - meaning "to endure" or "to persevere".For me this character has special resonance with martial arts training. It reflects not only the years of blood, sweat and tears poured onto the dojo floor; it also reflects the psychological challenges, the fears, the disappointments. In one word it

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My friend Frank "Magpie" posed this question on the Traditional Fighting Arts Forum:"What i want to ask all you guys that do internal arts is this.Lets say I practiced shotokan kata like Kanku Dai, Jion, Heian etc. etc. just as slow as a tai chi practicioner practices tai chi, let's say that I breathe in for blocks and out for strikes, all movement is slomo, there is no kime or any sort of

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There is a jo form practised in aikido that is commonly referred to as the "13 count" form or drill. I do not know who created it. It was taught to me as a 16 count1 form by my teacher Bob Davies who I believe learned it from the late aikido master Ken Cottier, a direct student of aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba but also a student of Morihiro Saito who it seems created the current 13 count form

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