Mokuren Dojo

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Pay attention to your situation

Zanshin is basically awareness, right? Awareness of what? Awareness of special constraints that might be placed upon your actions - situational factors under which you are operating. So how do you get better at zanshin? Start paying attention to special situational constraints.

One great way to work on zanshin is to set some extra rules for practicing your techniques. For instance, choose a place in the dojo and define it as shomen (where the VIP's sit). A videocamera makes a good shomen when you don't have a VIP. Then practice your techniques making sure that...

You never throw uke toward shomen.
You never stand with your back to shomen, and minimize the times when your back is to shomen
Between techniques, tori is always a little closer to shomen than uke is
Tori always ends each technique closer to uke's head than to his feet.

Another great way to practice zanshin is to do randori while carrying a cup of water. Better not spill the water on the mat! Alternately, if you have small children, you might try doing randori while carrying the child or while letting them ride on your shoulders. This tends to slow the randori down and smoothe your motion out, but it also forces you to put part of your attention on the safety of whatever you are carrying.

By setting additional rules and constraints like this, you are forced to begin dividing your attention between the technical aspects of your performance and the situational factors that constrain you. At least part of your mind is forced to remain on the constraints - by definition, zanshin (remaining mind).

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

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Where to be after a throw

Picture courtesy of Tobstone

In judo and aikido, the thrower tends to end up in different places in relation to the guy being thrown. These differences are related to the different goals of the two arts.

In judo, most of the throws happen straight into the ground and the thrower ends up beside the faller, holding one arm or sleeve, frequently with one knee pressing the faller's belly (ukigatame) to keep him from turning over. This ending position in judo facilitates the thrower continuing the attack by moving into groundwork toward a pin or submission.

In aikido, the throws tend to project the faller away, separating them from the thrower completely. Or if the thrower and faller do stay in contact then the thrower ends up standing above one of the faller's shoulders, diagonally away from all the faller's limbs except the one being controlled. This is a position of safety, from which it is relatively difficult for the faller to continue an attack.

In either case, whether you intend to continue the attack or make it harder for the other guy to continue his attack, controlling this ending position is an important part of zanshin (follow-through or awareness). During practice I recommend my students end up in the appropriate ending place for whichever art we are doing.

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282
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Monday, August 10, 2009

The Polish Wizzer

There seems to be an endless number of cool rolls and attacks in judo. Everybody you talk to seems to have one or two that you haven't seen before. Check out this turtle attack. Not only is it really cool, but it has a really cool name...

Falling with friends

So, this month I've been writing a good bit about zanshin - an important concept that comprises various mental states such as follow-through, connectedness, and awareness both before and after an encounter. It's time now (for the next several posts) to begin sharing some of the exercises that I use to work on zanshin.

The first, and probably the easiest zanshin exercise is simply practicing falling in a group. I always tell all the students to fall so that they all slap the ground at the same time. This is not just some OCD glitch of mine, but it helps in several ways.

it gets you paying attention to the people and things around you - an important part of safe falling practice.
it gets you started practicing connecting and synchronizing yourself to other people.
it gets you started practicing falling within an external constraint. You have to adjust the mechanics of your falling techniques in order to both fall safely and match the external rhythm.

All of these are aspects of zanshin - attention, connectedness, synchronization, working within constraints - and all are improved by simply falling as part of the group.

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

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Saturday, August 08, 2009

Chain #3 - kaitennage

Here some of my students and I are playing with Chain #3 - specifically with kotemawashi, oshitaoshi, hikitaoshi, and kaitennage. Enjoy. Things I found interesting, and of note:

Notice the atemi to chest or face at the beginning. This not only softens uke up, but also pushes tori into the release#3 motion.
We are paying particular attention to synchronization of our techniques to uke's footsteps.
The kaitennage is an interesting variation that screws uke straight down into the ground instead of projecting him. Of course you still have the option of projecting him if you need to.

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

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Thursday, August 06, 2009

Kids falling exercise

Here is one of the exercises that I use to teach my judo kids to fall. So far as I know I invented this particular drill - at least I don't remember having ever seen it elsewhere. It has become our best and favorite falling drill that we do every class. I have included some coaching hints in the video that I have used to help my kids do this fall better.

Correctly defining the positive space

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

In kata, one does not just do a series of techniques one after the other. There is a context, or baseline, within which the techniques are performed. There is stuff between the techniques - stuff happens before and after each technique. That in-between stuff in the interstices is zanshin.

In art classes we talked about positive and negative space, an example being the black and white Rubin's Vase illusion above. Do you see two faces or a vase? Depending on what you want to call this a picture of, the spaces take on different meanings. If it is a vase then the spaces to the side are nothing - negative space. But if you want to say the faces on the side are the positive space (the thing itself) then the space in the middle is the nothing-space (the negative space). So, is the positive space (the thing itself) black or white?

Kata is the same - where is the positive space and where is the negative space? Are you demonstrating techniques with mostly an uninteresting void inbetween, or are you demonstrating the interesting stuff in the middle being occasionally interrupted by a coincidental technique?

Most people begin aikido concentrating on the techniques and ignoring the inbetween, but consider this... In life (real life) you might never have to ever do a given technique. That sort of diminishes the potential importance of the techniques, doesn't it? But the stuff in the middle - that is the stuff that you do all the time - all of your life. Getting up, walking around, observing people, keeping your mind straight. You live your whole life in the middle spaces with only the occasional interruption!

That's zanshin! Zanshin is defining the stuff in the interstices to be the positive space of your life.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Video response to DR & Strange

Dojo Rat posted a video of an aiki sequence that he and his friends were playing with on their secret island hideaway. I posted some comments and Sensei Strange One-upped me by posting a video commentary with some really good motion. I didn't figure to be able to out-do Strange's motion on this thing, so we took a little different tack on this material.

I gave the students a look at the sequence (which happens to be part of our chain 3) and then told them to play around within that set of techniques - basically randori with shomenate, wakigatame, and kotegaeshi on the table. These guys played for several minutes with this set of movements. Some of the motion is outstanding, some is ok. Almost none of it just plain sucks. Hopefully this will be interesting in the context of DR's video and question.

Zanshin as integrity

Photo courtesy of Ted Abbot

Zanshin is also about integrity - holding together despite the ease of pragma. Not slipping your standards based on your feelings. A few days ago I posted on my other blog, this remarkable poem written by Kent Keith. The poem was so inspirational that Mother Teresa posted it on her wall to help motivate her. I just realized today that one of the reasons that I like it so much is that it speaks to the Art of Love (as Morihei called aikido), including the concept of zanshin as integrity.

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today, will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help, but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

Zanshin is "anyway."

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

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Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Equanimity

Photo courtesy of Centrifuga

Zanshin is not about outcome, rather it is about internal state. Notice in the film I posted the other day, on some of the faces you can guess at the outcome of the shot - that is a glitch in that person's zanshin. That student's mind is churning on something internal - approving or disapproving of something.

You don't have to approve or disaprove of the outcome because that doesn't change your performance. Just observe and trust your subconscious to adjust your next performance toward a better outcome.

Thus, zanshin is somethiing like poker face - only backwards. You are not trying to keep your face blank in order to fake your opponent out. Rather, if you can get your internal state right, your face reflects nothing. So your face can be a measuring stick to gage your zanshin.

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

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Monday, August 03, 2009

Kotegaeshi-kotehineri loop

Good News! my lovely wife bought me a nice new digital videocamera, so I'll be able to start putting my own videos back on here. Here's the first - a couple of my students playing with some pieces of chain#2, including kotegaeshi, kotehineri, and shomenate.

Absolutely NOT zanshin

Photo courtesy of Mr. Photoshop

Let's continue trying to define zanshin by discussing briefly what zanshin is most certainly not! Zanshin is not posing.

It is not zanshin when you do some crazy kung-fu-looking posture with eagle claw hands and a Bruce Lee scream.
It is not zanshin when you try to look like a movie samurai in your indigo hakama and hair pulled into a topknot.
It is not zanshin when you furrow your brow and say, "ahsoo" or "hmmmm..." as you look at the guy you just threw down.

These things are not zanshin mostly because they are focussed on your own appearance. Zanshin is about quiet awareness and connectedness - not image.

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

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Sunday, August 02, 2009

Mental states in martial arts

There are several important mental states that are cited a lot in martial arts, including...

Zanshin - the remaining mind; quiet awareness; follow-through; connectedness
Mushin - mindlessness; doing without thinking; appropriate automaticity
Kime - explosively focussed concentration; expending all of your physical, mental, and spiritual power on one action in one moment.

Are these three states-of-mind compatible or mutually-exclusive? Can they exist in the same mind at the same time or does the mind flit from one state to the next as necessary?
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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282
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Saturday, August 01, 2009

Mysnyk's Winning Wrestling Moves

From Todd's latest judo training log:

I'm still having trouble with takedowns from kneeling, and I'm still having trouble doing anything while I'm on bottom being crushed. I need to get used to being on the bottom so I can survive better there....think more clearly, and move more effectively.

I don't think anyone really ever gets better at being crushed. You can get better at shifting their weight off of you, and we'll work on that, but I wanted to mention a great source of info on kneeling takedowns.

Check out the book, Winning Wrestling Moves by Mysnik, Davis, & Simpson. Great overall technical wrestling book with a good section (pp 89-99) on short takedowns (so-called because you're shorter when you're on your knees.)

If you don't want to ante up the full price of the book for a 10-page section on short offense, don't worry, there is an excellent detailed discussion of the single- and double-leg takedowns including most of pages 5-60 and some scattered stuff elsewhere. You'd get your money's worth out of that - especially since there is no judo manual (that I've ever seen) that delves into leg picks to that degree.

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