Randori night at aikido

Aiki with Kel

• Tegatana - no particular emphasis. Just repetition.
• Hanasu - emphasis on getting both tori and uke that smoothe, flowing release feeling. Uke doesn't want to stop becuse then he eats all the momentum and mechanical advantage tori has built up. Instead, the smart uke attempts to flow to diffuse the problems tori presents. This way both uke and tori are active learners.
• Chain #2 working on the sharp turn, shomenate, and wakigatame
• Randori - and a goodly amount of it at that.
• Aiki-handshake as the cool technique of the night.
• We also had a lovely discussion of PNF in aikido, hyperactive reflexes, and these wonders at the ends of our legs that are our feet!

The best, easiest-to-use, and least-expensive randori timers

The best way to time a hold-down in randori – especially with kids – is to make a rule that they have to hold the pin long enough to recite a sentence aloud. The sentence might be a scripture verse, part of your dojo kun, or some other moral. The ones I use include:

• Honesty means always telling the truth.
• Courtesy means showing respect for others.
• Courage means doing what is right even when you are afraid.
• Honor means always keeping your promises.

I’ll pick one of these each night that we’re going to do newaza randori or newaza holding drills and we’ll practice reciting it a few times. Then they become their own hold-down timers. I tried having the holder do a 3-count but you can easily count 1-2-3 in less than a second (I can subvocalize a count to about 8 in 1 second) but it usually takes most kids about 3 seconds to recite one of these.

Another cool thing about timing hold-downs this way is you have to keep your mind at least clear enough to be able to remember and recite the sentence even in the thick of the fray.

A helpful handful: 5 ways to iprove your wakigatame

Here are a few hints I hold in my hat when I'm teaching wakigatame. Hope they help y'all too.

• Wakigatame is really the same thing as gokyo in aikikai – but the basic form that is commonly practiced looks different. In Tomiki and in Judo, the gokyo relationship is called wakigatame. This thing is superficially similar to ikkyo (oshitaoshi) but the hand grip is different (one hand over and one hand under).



• The first version we were taught was a “look ma, no hands” version in which the wrist is trapped in the crook of the elbow and the upper arm trapped under the other armpit with the elbow turned backwards across tori’s chest. This gives tori a little less control but leaves both hands free to do other things.



• When you try a variation more similar to the basic gokyo, try to get your hands on his arm (under the wrist and over the elbow) as if you were holding a jo, then maneuver your body in behind your hands and stab his arm forward in the direction his arm is pointing as if his arm were a jo.



• Try it with both hands on the wrist and your top elbow controlling his elbow. This elbow-to elbow wakigatame is an abrupt submission.



• If wakigatame goes bad, it tends to lead into kotegaeshi, gyakugamaeate, or gedanate.

Generalized motion patterns in martial arts

Recently there has been a lot written in the martial blogosphere about the nature of kata - whether the motions are intended to be generalized or specific. Whether or not there is a historical basis to the modern proliferation of bunkai (applications) for kata movements. Articles about exercises that look like motions from martial arts forms.

What if the kata were designed to be specifically vague - not just so that a particular motion could be interpreted as several techniques - but so that by doing the kata you get better at all of the types of motions that you will see in the martial arts? What if these kata that look so strange are intended to be general neuromuscular physical education? Check out the following:



This video shows a student therapy assistant learning to do Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF). These are big, expensive words that mean something like, "stimulating the sense organs in the joints and muscles to improve the coordination of muscular activities." What you see in the video is the student applying manual resistance to the patient as the patient is coaxed through four specific patterns of motion. It's these patterns that are the really special part of PNF. Notice the diagonal, spiral, multiple muscle group nature of these patterns. These two upper extremity patterns are actually the two fundamental building blocks of virtually every motion that can be made with the upper extremity. If you look at any given applied motion, like drawing a bowstring, you will see a piece of D1 here and a piece of D2 there and another piece of D1 somewhere else... Functional motions are all just composed of these two motions.

Doesn’t the D1 upper extremity pattern look like a down block (and everything else that the down-block might be interpreted as) Don’t the two lower extremity patterns on this video look like various kicks, sweeps, and steps in the martial arts? Notice the diagonal spiral nature of the patterns? Doesn't that sorta look like the silk reeling exercises?

Martial forms are chock full of these PNF patterns because the PNF patterns represent generalized natural, whole-body, functional motion, The karate kata are generalized in nature. Even old books like Karate-do Kyohan talk about (I don't have the specific reference right in front of me) how the large, general motions are for beginners because it’s better 'physical education.'

Up and down, down and up

Aiki with Patrick M. and Kel

• Tegatana emphasizing using relaxed arms as a measure of how well controlled your momentum is, synching up-and-down of center with up-and-down of arms, and complete hip turns in preparation for turns.
• hanasu releasing into ukemi , ukemi as a natural extension/consequence of a release, catching uke's footfall and stretching your step to extend him smoothly into position for a roll.
• chain #2 emphasizing up/down motion, extending release #2 upward to disconnect uke from the ground and slow him down, kotetaoshi, gyakugamaeate, release#2 into release #1.
• Rokukata #1-4 making use of the stuff we did previously today.

A helpful handful: 5 ways to improve your ushiroate

Here are a handful of (hopefully helpful) hints for ushiroate. Five things I've noticed. Maybe you have too or maybe you can get something from them.

• On the entry, I often get the feeling of crawling up uke’s arm to his shoulder. Right hand controls uke’s right wrist, left hand controls uke’s elbow, right hand switches to uke’s right shoulder, left hand switches to uke’s left shoulder.
• If you put your right hand on the front of uke’s right shoulder as you pass him, your momentum and the connection will slingshot you around him into position for ushiroate. The feeling is similar to that of skating around a post holding on with one hand.
• We talk about grabbing uke’s shoulders to throw him down but shoulders are too easy to slip off of. A better contact happens when you put the entire palm of the hand one uke’s upper chest near his neck.
• If ushiroate does not throw uke down, let your momentum slingshot you around him and center on him with a push to the front of the shoulder to separate you and perhaps throw him backwards.
• Try this technique as in the Sankata tantodori. As you pass on his right side, hook his far (left) shoulder and push off of it. This adds to your separation momentum and it may spin him into a backfall.

Ninja hand-slap

Chris Marshall and I have been having a little discussion about reaction time and intelligence in martial arts. His contention is that you can train reflexes toward the 0.1 second mark, while I contend that a more normal average in the context of martial arts would be around 0.75 seconds.
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Chris posted this really cool online reaction speed tester that tests how long it takes you to recognize a simple stimulus and press a button. It seems like most of the folks that reported their results took between 0.1 and 0.3 sec to press a button when a light is lit. I figure for a more complex task (like a martial arts technique) or a more difficult decision (like more than 2 choices) the reaction time would be magnified toward the 0.75 sec reaction time that my instructors have told me to aim for as a general rule of thumb. In any case, Chris' simple reaction time game sure has some interesting implications.
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I thought about challenging Chris to a rousing game of Ninja hand-slap, but alas:

• He lives thousands of miles from me, and
  
  
  
• He scored way faster than me on the reaction speed tester, so I'm afraid.
  

Kids' newaza randori

What you see here are some of my white belt judo kids doing some newaza (groundwork) randori (freeplay). The child in the yellow belt is not really yellow belt - that's just holding the gi shut. The kids in the foreground in this video are 3-4 years old. The kids in the background are 7-8 years old. Looks like fun? It is. I was there and it's a blast!

Baby got backfall

Here is a quickie video of a couple of my 4-year old students demonstrating the best, most powerful self-defense technique there is.

New folks at aiki

Aikido with Kel, John, and David

• warmup, ROM, ukemi
• tegatana emphasizing moving with the nearest foot first and always bringing the back foot back under your hips ready for another step
• partner evasion drills using the steps from tegatana and pushing back off uke
• building release #1 off of the idea of uke grabbing tori's wrist during a brush-off. This led into chain #1 moving along watching for foot timing and either pushing into a face-down armbar (oshitaoshi) or pushing them off back outside the safe distance.
• Rokukata maeotoshi talking about the same ideas

January Kohaku Shiai

Kohaku shiai this morning with the kids. We threw Quin into the mix for the first time and everyone had fun and did great. Knox and Emma were more aggressive today. Whit and Gavin were more strategic.

• 1st place - Mason Alford (7 wins)
• 2nd place - Emma Jarrell (6 wins)
• 3rd place (tie) - Gavin Jarrell, Whit Parker, Knox Parker (4 wins each)

Yesterday's classes

Kid's judo

• warmup, ROM, ukemi (including deashi airfall with a spotter), hopping
• osotogari left and right every time uke sticks a leg forward
• newaza randori starting back-to-back. The little kids had to get the opponent's back on the ground. The older kids had to pin the opponent on their back long enough to say, "Persistence means keep on going!"

Aiki with Bryce and Kel

• tegatana, hanasu emphasising 1,5, 6, and 8
• newaza #1-5 (Kel's rank requirement)
• Rokukata ryotemochi ukiotoshi (with good success)
• Owaza jupon and Sankata #1-12 with Bryce
• deashibarai and kosotogari with Bryce

Who pays the piper calls the tune

I do requests. You pay the piper (with traffic and comments) and you call the tune. Let me know what you'd like to read some scintillating commentary on and I'll oblige if I can. The other day one of my faithful readers dropped me a line with this question:

"I am having trouble with sasae tsuri komi ashi. Any suggestions on drills to work on the timing? I am missing something bad on this one..."

Three things have helped my sasae tremendously:

• Realizing that hiza is an early technique and sasae is a late technique. This means that a chance for sasae always follows a spoiled hiza. Practice hiza-sasae gently sliding your foot down their shin as they step then stopping them just short.


• One of my instructors shows a hook on the end of sasae - so not only do you stop his foot short, but you change the direction slightly so they have two problems to deal with. Do this by wrapping your toes around the outside of the ankle and pulling back slightly with your foot just as you foot stop them so that their foot not only stops 1 inch early but also slides toward you 1 inch .


• Practice the nagenokata form of the thing. This is the toughest timing problem you can have - doing it when uke is doing tsugiashi - you have such a short timing window between when uke picks his foot up and when he puts it back down. You really have to get your feet and arms doing the right thing and coordinated together efficiently. Practice this most difficult timing and everything else will be slower and grosser (wider timing windows) for you.
  

Bear karate

Rick over at TDA training has posted a good article on how to make the fearsome groin kick an even better maneuver for a fight. Check it out for the juicy details, but the jist of it is to distract or disable the opponent's vision prior to and during the kick. With that in mind, I give you the following. Enjoy.