Joys and frustrations of teaching your own

Check out this tiny 5yo Quin Parker putting a nice kosotogari on his older brother!
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There are joys and frustrations associated with teaching your own children.
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Eventually kids all get to the age that they'd rather chew their own arms off than have to do anything that dad thinks would be fun or good for them.  There is the endless litany of excuses about other stuff they would rather be doing, the endless eye-rolling that you're afraid is going to sprain an eyeball muscle, the loud sighs whenever you try to suggest there might be a better way to try a technique.
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But then years later there is the son that joins the Marines and when he goes off to boot camp at Parris Island he says, "Hey Dad, guess what I think prepared me for the Marines more than anything else in my life?"
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"What?"
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"All those times you made me practice judo with you."

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Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com

Uke-centric kata and subtle patterns

Slight changes in nagenokata (as compared to the standardized form they came up with in the 1980's and 90's) reveal interesting patterns in the kata.  Here's what happened...

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We have been working nagenokata with our 8-12-year old kids.  For simplicity we are doing it one-sided instead of alternating between both sides.  Also, they are all very proficient at ukemi but to reduce the mat-banging, we threw a crashpad in the middle of the mat and we are landing uke on that pad.

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Then all of a sudden last night, Knox pointed out a pattern that I'd never seen in the kata...

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To land uke on the pad, you have to shift the line of the kata slightly to one side for the first throw.  Then for the second you have to shift the line to the center of the crash pad.  Then for the third throw, you have to shift the line to the other side of the crash pad.  Then for the fourth, you're back in the middle of the pad and the fifth is back on the original side of the pad and the sixth is back in the middle.

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The kata (at least the first 6) is ordered (if you are only doing right side) to alternate throwing uke to the right side of the kata line, straight down the kata line, and to the left of the kata line...

• ukiotoshi - throws uke to his right
• seoinage - straight ahead
• kataguruma - to uke's left
• ukigoshi - straight ahead
• haraigoshi - to uke's right
• tsurikomigoshi - straight ahead

An instructor once told me that in judo and aikido, "nothing is random."  That is, there are no patterns in the kata that are just accidental - they were all designed that way.  I have no way of verifying or disproving that, but it feels true - nothing is random in judo.

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I'm not sure what the significance (if any) is to this right-center-left-center-right-center pattern - but it sure was interesting - and it was cool that my 10-year old pointed that out to me!  I'm growing a new crop of sensei to teach me judo!

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Patrick Parker
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Techniques in uke-centric nagenokata

Typically in nagenokata, we give the techniques names based on what tori is doing (floating hip throw, sliding foot sweep, etc...), and this is okay, but in our uke-centric exploration of this kata it is sort of counter-productive because it can lead back to that ego thing I mentioned in the previous post - that is, it can make everyone think that tori is the star of the show.
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Try watching the above standard demo of NNK but try thinking of uke as the star of the show and tori as a supporting actor.  That can be quite a stretch for some folks.  The kata seems to be set up to suggest to the viewer that tori is the leading man and uke is a bit role.

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So, lately we've been starting to nickname the techniques based on uke's perspective.  The techniques of nagenokata become...

Tewaza (hand techniques)

• 3-step attack - forward roll (tori looks like ukiotoshi)
• step&konk attack - forward airfall (tori looks like seoinage)
• 3-step attack - wrong-sided roll (tori looks nominally like kataguruma)

Koshiwaza (hip techniques)

• step&konk attack - other-sided airfall (tori looks like ukigoshi)
• 3-step attack - skipping back forward airfall (tori looks like haraigoshi)
• 3-step attack - the big airfall (tori looks like TKgoshi)

Ashiwaza (leg techniques)

• 3-sidestep attack - slipping side-fall (tori looks like okuriashi)
• 3-step attack - tripping forward airfall (tori looks like sasae TK ashi)
• 3-circling attack - slipping forward airfall (tori looks like uchimata)

We haven't gotten beyond that point yet, so we haven't come up with nicknames for the sacrifice falls.  But it looks like the major variable in the next 2 sets from an uke-POV is tori is either not supporting uke during the fall, or uke is having to derive support from tori's falling mass in a different way.


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Patrick Parker
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Uke-centric kata and personality issues

Working with children on nagenokata has given me some interesting insights about kata in general and about teaching kata to adults.  I'm not sure that kids are any less capable or intelligent than adults.  In fact, I think that adults often have many of the same personality issues as kids - it's just that kids are more transparent about their issues.

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For instance, kata is a paired event - a 2-man sport if you will.  It is both partner's responsibility to make the kata work properly - but it is SUPER easy to get into a tori-centric frame of mind, in which uke's role is to attack properly and be the fall guy.  In this tori-centric mode, uke is relatively passive, like a throwing dummy, and tori's job is to do 15 amazing, terrible things to uke (the evil attacker).

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With kids especially (and I suspect this plays a part in adult kata too), tori-centric mode makes for piss-poor kata.  It makes sense - no kid wants to be physically coerced into taking a beating 15 different ways, even if the child is easily capable of doing the ukemi safely.  It is the interaction of the coercion upon uke's and tori's minds that makes the kata difficult and onerous.

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As soon as the "Uke vs. Tori" idea enters their mind, they become unable to do kata because they become unable to work together to demonstrate a physical idea.

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This is compounded by the fear factor.  As soon as a competitive wedge is driven between uke and tori - as soon as uke begins to think that tori's job is to "do martial things to me," the falls in nagenokata become a terrible, fearsome thing.  

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But when you strip out the part of the kata that seems to magnify tori's ego (that is, the formality of the kata that is designed to make tori look like the centerpiece) - and when you re-focus both partner's minds in a uke-centric frame in which tori's role is to help uke demonstrate 15 kinds of ukemi properly, all of a sudden much of the fear factor and ego magnification seems to dissolve.

[photo courtesy of Wikipedia]

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Patrick Parker
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Uke-centric Tsurikomi Goshi

The last of the three hip throws in Nagenokata, tsurikomigoshi, is another bear to teach kids, partly because it is such a large-amplitude throw.

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In my work with my kids on Nagenokata, I've been emphasizing the role of uke to the point of almost making the main purpose of the kata to demonstrate uke's ukemi skills.  This does not relegate tori to the role of passive by-stander.  It forces tori develop the ability to position and support uke properly so that uke can demonstrate the ukemi properly.  So, tori is the spotter.

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So, how does this idea apply to TKgoshi?

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By this point in the kata, uke and tori are pretty familiar with the 3-push attack and the tsugiashi stepping.  In the previous 3-pushes, tori adjusted his left hand (in kataguruma) and his right hand (in haraigoshi) during the middle of the 3-step attack.  This time, tori adjusts his footwork right at the end, by sliding his forward foot sideways to right beside uke's right foot at the end of step 3.  Then tori turns back in with his hips against uke's thighs and pushes up on the collar grip.

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From here, uke is positioned to take a regular forward rolling breakfall ro airfall (albeit a slightly larger than usual one). 

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So, from uke's POV this is not really a unusual thing.  From a uke-centric POV you can say that this technique is in the kata just to allow uke to demonstrate a slightly larger than usual forward roll.  The interesting part of this kata movement is how tori/spotter adjusts his footwork to position uke for his fall.

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Patrick Parker
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Uke-centric haraigoshi

We do an ukemi exercise starting about the time students get a good handle on forward rolls from standing.  We have the student stand in the starting posture for the forward roll, with his weight leaned forward onto the front foot, then instead of pushing forward into the roll, the student hops his forward standing foot backward 2-3 inches, which immediately disrupts their equilibrium and forces a forward roll.  This is a great exercise for getting beyond the beginner stage where the uke has to be in complete control of when the fall happens toward the stage where uke can safely roll out of sudden, unexpected balance disruptions (like sasae for instance).

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In our kids' uke-centric Nagenokata, where the focus is on uke and tori is mostly just a spotter, we are using haraigoshi as a similar exercise.

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The approach is the same as in Kodokan Nagenokata - three tsugiashi steps with tori switching his hand to uke's shoulderblade on step-2 and using that hand to tilt uke forward onto his front foot on step-3.  But we are using that action by the spotter as an excuse for uke to demonstrate the hop-back ukemi.

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Tori/spotter takes 3 steps with uke, adjusts his grip and tilts uke forward on step-3, fitting his hip and leg against uke as in haraigoshi.  Then uke hops backward 2-3 inches, tori follows that hop with his leg, and uke executes his forward rol/airfall using tori for support.

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This has turned out to be a good simulation of the mechanism and the ukemi for haraigoshi, and the kids caught onto it right away! 

[photo courtesy of Wikipedia]

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Patrick Parker
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Uke-centric nagenokata for kids

A couple of years ago I started a series of articles about re-examining nagenokata  from the POV of uke.  I had found that this approach was especially effective for teaching children, but it also seems appropriate for adults.

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I'd gotten as far as the first set (the three hand throws) but I got distracted so now I'm ready to return to that line of thought and that series of articles on uke-centric nagenokata.  The first articles included...

Uke-centric Nagenokata

• ukiotoshi
• seoinage
• kataguruma

Kataguruma was a bear to get working from this uke-centric POV.

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My current tack on training this uke-centric kata is going to be...

• work it in smaller pieces - break each technique into 2-3 steps and practice each step
• high repetition - rep each piece of each technique, then rep the whole technique
• work it in reverse - from the critical moment of throwing (which is the most frightening so they balk right at that moment), backwards toward the initiation of the technique so that when they do the technique for real they are so familiar with the end point that it is not intimidating.

So take ukiotoshi for instance.  The training will look something like...

1. standing in right shizentai with grips, kneel, position uke, uke does forward roll (repeat 10x)
2. starting in right shizentai with grips, tsugiashi backwards 3x, kneel, position uke, uke rolls (repeat 10x)
3. take grips, tsugiashi back, kneel, position, uke rolls (repeat the full technique 10x)

Uke's goal here is to demonstrate the ukemi associated with the techniques of nagenokata.  Tori's goal is to provide structure and support for uke's demonstration without disrupting uke's flow.

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We're also going to work on having tori (the spotter) kneel so that uke can roll nicely out of kataguruma.

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I think I have it worked out how to get the kids through the first 9 techniques (hand, hip, and foot techniques) using this uke-centric POV.  Stay tuned...

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Patrick Parker
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Crawling man randori

This is one of my top three favorite forms of randori for the kids (the others are chicken tail randori and zombie attack).  I particularly like this because the bottom man's objective is to not wrestle with the top man - rather to escape and flee to safety.  This is a mode that judo folks don't get to practice much because we are usually so tied up in grappling and submitting the other guy that we automatically re-engage after an escape even when that might not be appropriate (i.e. in a self-defense scenario).

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The rules are simple...

1. Bottom man starts on hands and knees.  Top man starts standing behind bottom man, with both hands on bottom man's back.
2. When referee calls "go" or "hajime" bottom man crawls across the mat to a finish mark while top man tries to grapple and slow or hold bottom man.  Bottom man is to avoid being drawn into a grappling match - rather escape and flee to the objective.
3. Top man cannot pounce.  Neither player may choke or jointlock-  it is a purely positional game.
4. If the action stops (top man holds bottom man) long enough to bore the ref, the ref may coach the bottom man or stand them up and start them over.
5. When the pair reaches the objective at the end of the mat, they switch roles and come back.
6. If one player or the other vastly out-ranks or out-sizes the other, the ref may throw handicaps to level the field (one hand holding belt, close eyes, no grips, etc...).

It is such a good form of newaza randori for the kids, I really ought to play it with the adults more too.

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Patrick Parker

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Kids in aikido?

I really enjoyed this video demonstration - especially the segments of kids practicing aikido - real aikido - not watered-down aiki warm-up kids primer aikido. 

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Coming up through the ranks we were assured by our instructors that aikido was not for kids because it was too dangerous.  They justified that opinion with a couple of reasons, like wristlocks putting growth plates at risk and lack of maturity=lack of control... but I suspect that opinion was based more on their personal lack of interest in teaching kids than in some sort of objective fact.

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When you look at it, kids practice judo and karate and BJJ and boxing all the time without depopulating the world.  Why shouldn't we be able to train kids in aikido.

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I've been thinking for a while about how to do kids aikido classes.  Still thinking about it...

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Patrick Parker
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Midori Hanakuso Ho

I promised my readers a couple of weeks ago that soon I would reveal the secret to my amazing success with getting my kids' judo class to practice nagenokata without dying from boredom.  My secret - I am a follower of the Midori Hanakuso Ho - an ancient practice of the greatest masters of judo.

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Midori Hanakuso Ho translates (somewhat loosely) to The Green Booger Methodology.

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Yes, you read that right.  See, kids seem to love the idea of green boogers just as much as they hate the formality of kata.  The clever coach can use that little piece of child psychology to a great advantage if he can just incorporate a green booger or two into his teachings.

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Take, for instance, the first technique of Nagenokata - ukiotoshi.  Uke initiates the attack by stepping forward to take a right sided normal grip on tori's jacket and tori fades back, overextending uke and drawing him into a forward rolling breakfall.

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Getting kids to do the formal attack correctly is like... Well, let's just say it's excruciating!  This is where the Green Booger Methodology comes into play.

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Tell the kids to imagine that uke has just sneezed up a huge, slimy, stretchy green booger into the palm of his right hand.  And tell uke that his attack is to step forward with his right foot to step on tori's left foot so he can't escape as uke wipes the gross, viscid lump onto tori's jacket.  They get the idea instantly!  And not only that, tori knows just what he has to do to avoid getting slimed.  Tori has to step back with his left foot to keep from getting pinned in place, and he has to get control of uke's arms so that no booger-wiping occurs. 

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From there it is just a matter of a little coaching and adjustment to make ukiotoshi happen quite nicely.

____________________ 

Patrick Parker 

www.mokurendojo.com

Hands-on instruction

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Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com

Great dynamic judo action!

Looks like yokogake or hizaguruma begging to happen!

[photo courtesy of Elise D. Parker]

____________________
Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com

Uke-centric ukiotoshi

So, a while back I started introducing my kids (the oldest age 10) to nagenokata with a distinct emphasis on  the role of uke.

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The first technique of nagenokata is ukiotoshi, the floating drop.  I told them that we were going to call this one, "The Drinking Bird," because that links this move to our nickname for this forward rolling motion (Remember those drinking bird toys that sit on the edge of your glass?)

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Uke and tori start slightly outside arm's reach, facing each other and looking at each other.  Uke initiates the motion by reaching in for a lapel grip with his right hand.  Since he is out of reach, he has to step in with his right foot.  Tori takes his grips and fades back with his left leg

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Uke and tori take 2 more sliding footsteps (3 steps in all) with uke pushing tori and tori fading back.  On uke's 3rd front footfall, tori kneels slightly to the right with his left retreating knee.

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Up to this point this is all pretty standard.  You can get more extensive and better descriptions in books like Otaki & Draeger.  But this is where my uke-centric ukiotoshi diverges.  See, in the Standard Kodokan nagenokata, tori snaps both hands to his left hip as he kneels, pulling uke into a front airfall.  But in this kid's version, tori kneels, and shapes uke properly for a right-sided forward roll.  This basically means placing uke's right hand near the ground and letting uke maintain his lapel grip with his left hand for balance.

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From this position, uke is able to easily demonstrate his forward rolling skill, using tori as a spotter for balance.

Works great, and it's a blast to see 8- and 10-year olds doing nagenokata.

[photo courtesy of Seven Morris]

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____________________

Patrick Parker

www.mokurendojo.com

Uke-centric nagenokata

A couple of weeks ago I started introducing nagenokata to my 10-yo, 8-yo, and 6-yo sons.  We did the first technique - ukiotoshi - and they were really catching on well, so I thought I'd write down how I presented it to them because I think it's sort of unique.

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I started out by telling them that a kata is a special way of demonstrating your skills in front of people - like when parents watch a rank demo.  Parents really like it when their kids look like they know what they are doing.  On the other hand, it makes for a really sorry demo when the coach has to constantly tell them what to do and correct and goad and coax them to get them to demonstrate their skills.  The time for coaching and correction is during practice - not during a demo.  So, a kata is just a demonstration of skills that had been rehearsed a certain way so that you look like you know what you're doing - like a dance recital.

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I also emphasized that this is a demonstration of the uke's falling skills.  We often get hung up on tori's role of throwing uke down, and the uke (if they are any good) just fades into the background.  But I wanted them to think about their roles a little differently.

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See, tori is the spotter - not the thrower.  His job is not to throw, but to place uke into a position from which it is easy to demonstrate the proper fall.  Tori sets up the position, uke demonstrates the falling skill, and tori helps him to land correctly.

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Incidently, this mode of kata demonstration is an excellent demo of tori's skills too.  If tori is able to position uke into a correct falling position and support him into the right landing position, then he is showing good skill at the kuzushi and tsukuri and zanshin phases of the throw.  Also, if tori is able to position uke into the easy-fall position, then tori is also able to position uke into the easy-to-smash place - because they are the same place.
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Check out the photos above of Mifune.  Typically we would read these sequences from tori's POV - tori catches uke overcommitted forward, tori kneels down, and tori pulls uke into a forward fall.  But couldn't you just as easily read those photos as tori sets uke up into a favorable position to demonstrate a fall, tori gets out of uke's way, uke demonstrates his fall with tori helping him to land right.

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____________________

Patrick Parker

www.mokurendojo.com

Hugging the giant invisible gorilla!

So, tonight I was  using osotogari to teach the kids about personal space (ma-ai).  How do you teach a kid to define personal space?  I tell them to hold their arms out in front of them in a big circle, as if hugging a giant invisible gorilla.  That space inside their arms is their space.  They own it.  Anytime someone puts a foot down inside your space, you knock them down with osotogari.

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The kids were eating it up, and my smallish 6-year old was able to consistently knock down much larger 8-9 year olds whenever they trespassed! 

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We also got to talk to the older, larger, more vigorous kids about control - which I defined as doing just the right amount to get the effect you want - not splattering uke's guts all over the mat, but not being lazy either.

[Photo courtesy of twostoutmonks]

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Remarkable!

Tonight was one of those nights when I started out the kid's class already so fatigued I wished it was over.  But somehow I managed to drag myself into gear,and we ended up having one of the most extraordinary kids classes ever!

After warming up I asked each kid what was his favorite throw.  Whit said ouchigari, so we did uchikomi, throwing on ten with me giving hints. 

Then comes the remarkable part. when asked for his favorite throws, Knox gave some complex description of some unnamable something. I finally figured out he was talking about sode tsurikomi goshi, a throw he had  never done, and which I had never taught to the kiddies, but which he had seen me do a time or two.  So we uchikomi'd this throw and they all did great!

Quin closed our uchikomi practice by calling for osotogari.

As we were leaving told all the kids I wanted them to do these very throws to their opponents in their next competition.  Quin immediately responded, "No problem.. that will be easy!"

Yeah, baby!

The tipping point in kids' judo

For a while, young kids should play a games-based judo approach. Fun preparations that build strength and coordination and familiarity with judo.  But then at some point they have to move to "real judo."  I'm not talking about adult judo - we start kids in regular adult classes at about age 13, depending on their physical size and maturity.  I'm talking about an intermediate level between games-based judo and actual judo technique.

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One indicator that they are ready to step it up a level from games to real judo, is that they understand and can abide by the gentleman's agreement at the heart of judo.  I've mentioned this Judo gentleman's rule before.

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The most central rule to judo practice is that if I am going to allow you to use my body to learn to throw hard and fast then you must save me at the end.  You can throw with force, but you must support me and help me get into the proper landing position.

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Without people abiding by this rule, judo falls apart and cannot be practiced.  When kids are progressively demonstrating that they can take better and better care of their ukes, they can be taught progressively more vigorous judo.

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Whit (age 9) is getting to this point and Knox (age 6) understands but can't get the skills together.  I suspect these are typical ages for these skill development levels.

[photo courtesy of Stefan Schmitz]

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Call me about children's judo classes

Want your kids to have fun while learning something that might help save them in a fight? Email or call me at 601.248.7282 and ask about kids' judo classes in southwest Mississippi (McComb, Magnolia, Osyka area)!

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Training Log

Kids' Judo

• ukemi
• gracie games: base battle
• we had pairs of kids each put a foot down onto a baton and grapple with the intent of getting the other guy's foot off the baton long enough to pick up the baton.
• concentration game - listening to the clouds

Judo

• ukemi w/ emphasis on turning the forward rolling breakfall into a forward airfall
• warmup with deashibarai (2 on one side and one on the other)
• deashi-kouchi-ouchi combo
• kouchi-ouchi-kouchi combo
• kouchi-seoiotoshi combo

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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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Training log

Kids' judo

• ukemi
• Gracie games: crazylegs, crazylegs-to-bulldozer, crazylegs-to-bulldozer-to-crazyhorse
• taiotoshi

Aikido

• ukemi
• tegatana w/ emphasis on balls of feet and tsugiashi
• aiki brushoff
• hanasu #1-2 w/ emphasis on synch and brushoff on a footfall

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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
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Send me an email or let's connect on Facebook or Twitter