Helpful handful: ukigatame

I had an email call for some discussion on ukigatame, the 'floating hold' in judo, also known as the knee-on-belly or knee-on-chest position in jiujitsu. Following is a quickie vid I put together of several good examples of the position in practice. A handful of helpful things to look for include:

• Tori is getting a knee or shin against uke's torso pretty soon after he lands. The purpose of this position is to limit uke's movement and slow him down as tori transitions to newaza. Thus ukigatame is a great intermediate position between throwing and ground grappling.
• Make sure you don't pounce on your partner's ribs - it's very easy to crush ribs under your knee. In fact, I tell my students to deliberately put the shin across uke's ab muscles, avoiding the floating ribs that are such a tempting target.
• Notice when tori puts his feet on the ground and knee(s) against uke, if tori's posture is not just right it is easy to pull him over into a forward roll. To stop this, tori puts a knee or shin against uke and rocks his hips forward, putting weight onto uke and floating vertically over him. If uke pulls on the arms or shoudlers, tori rocks more hip weight forward into him.
• As uke moves, tori floats on him, out-riggering his free leg for balance and leverage. Tori is not trying to crush uke into submission here, but is floating...riding on top of uke until he can find a good time to drop into a better position or submission technique.
• Notice how easy it is to transition to munegatame or tateshihogatame or (if uke is rolling) to the rear position with legs around. Jujigatame is also blatantly obvious here.

The unlikeliest of judo books

I have previously posted half a dozen judo books I consider to be absolute must-read material. If you are looking for great judo books, I highly recommend starting with those six books. However, you can find more information in the least likely of places if you look.

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If I were going to avoid a book or two about judo based purely on stupid, cheesy titles, I'd pick Watanabe&Avakian's The Secrets of Judo (I avoid most things that claim to teach you the 'secret knowledge') and I'd also avoid Syd Hoare's Teach Yourself Judo (What a retarded concept – as if you could teach yourself judo from a book).

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Well, as it turns out, my instinct with regards to these two books would be mistaken. These are both really pretty good judo texts. I wouldn't put them on the level with the six absolutely necessary judo books I posted earlier, but you can certainly get a different and valuable perspective from these two books as well as a little bit of incremental information.

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I'd call The Secrets of Judo a 'scientific judo' text. It is written with the intent of explaining the physiology and physics behind the art. There is a lot of material in the book, and it goes far beyond the previous six books in scientific detail about the leverage, momentum, forces, and that sort of thing related to a wide variety of throws as well as ground grappling moves. If you have ever experienced a judo technique that gives the appearance of being magical (as we all have) then this book is worth reading because it will take all the magic out of the moves.

Teach Yourself Judo is an introductory-level overview with far less technical detail than the previous books, but in many ways it is far more useful general info for beginners, explaining the ideals and goals and practice methods of the art and sport. Illustrated with plenty of line drawings, TY Judo gives a big-picture overview of a variety of throws, counters, holds, escapes, chokes, and armbars. It even has overviews of kata, randori, and self-defense judo. I think it's out of print currently, so if you don't get it while you can you might not find it later.

If you are interested in building your judo library or finding something new to read to get a little incremental knowledge about judo, here's what I'd do...

• Find a good judo instructor and participate regularly in classes. You can't learn judo worth a darn from a book and it's ridiculous to think you can (though books are an indispensable help to your learning process.)
• Purchase the six must-read judo books I've hyped earlier. Those six contain virtually all the book knowledge you'll ever need and those books will form the core of your judo reference library.
• Then, pick up copies of Hoare's Judo (Teach Yourself)
  and Watanabe&Avakian's The Secrets of Judo: A Text for Instructors and Students

I don't think you'll be disappointed .

Do they do it or don't they?

A few days ago, Chad asked me a question about suwariwaza (aikido kneeling techniques) - specifically, aikido is so concentrated on movement and evasion and blending dependent on mobility that it seems that the underlying principles of aiki are not seen in suwariwaza (at least not in the aikido demo video I posted a few days ago). I'm working on an answer to this excellent question but it is taking me a while, so while you are waiting, check out the following video, or perhaps the video Chad commented on, looking to see if the following principles are apparent:

• centered
• unbendable arms
• evading off the line of attack
• moving generally in tune with uke's energy

Check it out and see what you think and give me another day or two to post a response.

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Fundamental judo and magical aikido

Judo with Todd

• ROM, ukemi
• footsweep to control with emphasis on bumping uke to get his front foot floating and then reaching out and touching his foot to see if he is really floating or not.
• deashibarai uchikomi early and late
• deashibarai uchikomi - 2 of any variation on one side and one on the other.  This really develops the feel of randori because of the type of synchronization
• osotogari - four variations that allow tori to throw uke right-sided no matter what foot uke is moving or what direction.

Aikido with Todd

• tegatana, slightly faster than normal with emphasis on keeping a dynamic tension between floating and weightedness.  This tends to draw you upright into a perfect shizentai (natural posture) 
• releases with emphasis on #6 and 8 as ways to get into the #2 and #4 positions by following when uke does something wrong.  That sort of makes the kata 4 repetitions of a pure release form followed by four in which you have to synch and follow along with uke until you can find the place to turn into the position from the pure release form.
• chain #3, including near and far wakigatame and near and far kotegaeshi
• ichikata section B, techniques 1-3 (oshitaoshi and tenkai kotehineri) with emphasis on using ki bumps to diffuse uke's strength so you can walk around it, breaking down his posture.  This stuff is pure magic, amazing how tori can move around uke's strength.  Great example of how inappropriate  strength destroys uke.

My son, Quin

What a card! The future's so bright he's gotta wear shades - even at night! I love him so much.

Check out the new Convocation

Especially Bob Patterson's super-cool profile photo!

Be careful who trains your kids

If you treat martial arts like an industry, then like in any other industry, you will find unscrupulous, negligent, or even downright dangerous people. I've written before about news cases where martial arts instructors didn't think as carefully as they should. Here are some excerpts from a couple of recent articles where you see more of these types of behavior...

October 30, 2008 SAN DIEGO – ...co-owner of a Ramona martial arts studio pleaded guilty Thursday in in federal court to possession of child pornography ... William Joseph Hazlitt entered the guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge William McCurine Jr. Hazlitt, a 27-year-old karate instructor, was arrested in September by FBI agents and sheriff's deputies … the defendant admitted having a computer containing more than 600 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit acts...could face a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing hearing … scheduled for Jan. 20, 2009.

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NOBLESVILLE, Ind. -- Parents are angry with a martial arts business they said owes them thousands of dollars after several schools closed. [These parents apparently purchased a $3600 lifetime membership for their 4-year old child, complete with all the uniforms, equipment, etc... that the child would need for his lifetime practice.] …but the center closed in September. Another studio in Zionsville also closed, as did one in Carmel with no explanation... In 2006, the Indiana Attorney General's Office accused Champion Martial Arts owner Johnathon Stowe of deceiving and misleading customers in northern Indiana. Stowe agreed to a court order and made $20,000 in refunds in that incident. More than a dozen new families said they are out tens of thousands of dollars. "These are new situations, so we're investigating those and we hope they'll be forthcoming and remedy these things for consumers," said Attorney General Steve Carter. "If not, they will likely face a lawsuit by the attorney general's office."

so the moral of the story is... be careful who you entrust your child to.

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For more on this topic, check out:

• TDA Training: Preventing Sexual Abuse in Martial Arts
• TDA Training: Another case of Molestation in Martial Arts

Why do adults get into martial arts?

The author of the handbook of principles for adult learning that I cited in the previous post (Teaching adults martial arts) lists six factors that motivate adults to get themselves into learning situations like martial arts

• Social relationships: some adults particularly enjoy the social aspect of martial arts classes - getting to meet and hang around with interesting people. For some of these people the before-class and after-class interaction cna be the most fulfilling part of the experience.
• External expectations: This is probably the least motivating factor in the martial arts. Adults just don't usually seem to get into classes to comply with some formal authority's instructions. The exceptions to this include someone who might get instructions from their doctor to get some exercise or maybe police or paramilitary personnel for whom it serves as part of their job requirements.
• Social welfare: This is not cited as much as it once was, but it is certainly a motivating factor. Some people get into martial arts practice because they see it as their duty to become better prepared to help serve their family or community. They see it as a benefit to their society to make themselves better people.
• Personal advancement: Some adults are purely intrinsically motivated. They do it for no reason other than to improve themselves. These are probably the instructor's favorite students.
• Escape/Stimulation: Some adults especially enjoy the martial arts for the simple reason that the dojo is not real life. For these folks, martial arts provide a de-stressing break from their daily routines.
• Cognitive interest: to simply learn something of interest. Some people see martial arts as an intellectual puzzle to solve, and as such it can provide a lifetime of diversion.

I doubt if any one person is motivated by only one of these factors, and there are almost certainly other reasons to participate in martial arts, but these six provide a pretty good start. Our advertising tagline at Mokuren Dojo falls directly into several of these categories:

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Fun - Fitness - Discipline - Defense

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Do you have a motivation for practicing martial arts that does not readily fit into one or more of these six categories? If so, let me know...

Teaching adults martial arts

Martial arts are not just for kids. Adults can enjoy and benefit greatly from participation too, but teaching adults is in many ways a different game than teaching children. Following is an excerpt from an excellent guidebook on principles of adult education based on Malcom Knowles pioneering work on the topic.

• Adults are autonomous and self-directed. They need to be free to direct themselves. Their teachers must ... get participants' perspectives about what topics to cover and let them work on projects that reflect their interests. They should allow the participants to assume responsibility for presentations and group leadership. They have to be sure to act as facilitators, guiding participants to their own knowledge rather than supplying them with facts. Finally, they must show participants how the class will help them reach their goals...
• Adults have ... life experiences and knowledge that may include work-related activities, family responsibilities, and previous education. They need to connect learning to this knowledge/experience base. To help them do so, they should draw out participants' experience and knowledge which is relevant to the topic. They must relate theories and concepts to the participants and recognize the value of experience in learning.
• Adults are goal-oriented. Upon enrolling in a course, they usually know what goal they want to attain. They, therefore, appreciate an educational program that is organized and has clearly defined elements. Instructors must show participants how this class will help them attain their goals. This classification of goals and course objectives must be done early in the course.
• Adults are relevancy-oriented. They must see a reason for learning something. Learning has to be applicable to their work or other responsibilities to be of value to them. Therefore, instructors must identify objectives for adult participants before the course begins. This means, also, that theories and concepts must be related to a setting familiar to participants. This need can be fulfilled by letting participants choose projects that reflect their own interests.
• Adults are practical, focusing on the aspects of a lesson most useful to them in their work. They may not be interested in knowledge for its own sake. Instructors must tell participants explicitly how the lesson will be useful to them on the job. As do all learners, adults need to be shown respect. Instructors must acknowledge the wealth of experiences that adult participants bring to the classroom. These adults should be treated as equals in experience and knowledge and allowed to voice their opinions freely in class.

I think most of my adult students will probably agree that we do pretty good at following these principles - BUT - I sure would like for y'all to tell me how you think I could do better. I value my adult students and want to do better for y'all, so let me know.

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Even if you are not my student and don't know me, I bet you have a story about how you or your instructor have done a good job at this - or maybe you have an example of something in your practice that could be better, so let me know.

Hold it against them

New black belts

In case y'all missed the news among all the recent ABG posts here at Mokuren Dojo, we had rank tests this past weekend and ended up with two new shodans (1st degree black belts) and a new Ikkyu (brown-nearly black belt).

• Patrick McKlemurry
• John Wood (of the Johndo blog)
• Andy Sims (of Andy's Epic Ramble)

Hop on over to their blogs and congratulate them on their accomplishment!

An aikido shibboleth

The word, shibboleth was originally a botanical term referring to a part of a plant, but it came to mean a pass-phrase or a practice that identifies a member of a group.  The word comes from the Biblical account of a battle between the Ephraimites and the Gileadites in which the Gileadites were able to use the word as a pass-phrase to identify Ephraimite enemies because the Ephraimite dialect did not contain the sound, /sh/ (so they would mispronounce it /siboleth/ (Judges 12:5-6).

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All martial artists have shobboleths too.  Ways of doing things that identify us as members of a group.  I often wonder after a seminar, what are our shibboleths?  For instance, The students at Mokuren dojo have a distinctive way of performing kata as compared to the students at MSU.  But the two styles are close enough that Andy was able to do a very fine Ikkyu demo this weekend with an uke from MSU, having only practiced the material together once briefly. 

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It is also frequently noted that students that learned aikido at MSU, including myself, John Kirby, James Reuster, Mike Denton, etc... All have something about their aikido that is identifiable as deriving from our teacher, John Usher.  There is just something very Usheresque about our aikido.

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So, the things that we do are identifiably the same but at the same time, identifiably different.

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I'd really like the folks that  were at this past ABG to answer a few questions - leave me a comment and let me know...

• What aspects of Mokuren Dojo aikido makes us identifiable as a group? 
• What aspects of MSU aikido makes them distinctive? 
• What do we share?

What are our Shibboleths?

ABG 2008 - Session 11

Rokukata knife defense section making use of the avoidance strategies covered in previous sessions. It is interesting to me that the knife-using and the knife-defense sections in Rokukata appear to have been designed to be played against each other in knife randori. And even if they weren't designed with that in mind, it makes a great practice.

ABG 2008 - Session 10

Sankata knife section applying ideas demonstrated yesterday in the knife randori and the rokukata knife-using session.  Much was the same as the regular kata - a couple of the techniques (like the superb gyakugamaeate pictured above) were modified to make better use of the avoidance strategies we'd worked on previously.