Very funny video if you come from the North of England (if you don't come from the North of England, and one or two people don't - I'm sure this character might be familiar in your own dialect!)
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Fight or Forms?
Here's a great article, very thought-provoking indeed.
http://stevemorris.livejournal.com/25983.html
I've had some interesting experiences recently especially in the kids' class. Children don't have pre-conditions or habits to get in the way, they just get on with their training. We have some new lads in the kids class who have excellent skills, naturally. In fact in certain areas (movement, hitting pads, etc...) they outshine the more established students.
Same thing's happening in gradings. It is very difficult to do kata work sometimes, even with students who are very good technically. I'm moving more and more into freestyle work in the junior class (getting rid of a whole load of pre-arranged ippon kumite...); because the spontaneous training progresses them better than pre-arranged training. And again, it's the higher graded students who are struggling to do be spontaneous.
Karate shouldn't be a memory test. That was one of the immediate differences I found between karate and taekwondo - in TKD the only things we had to memorise were patterns (kata). There was no little orange "syllabus book" which listed the techniques and pre-arranged drills we had to perform to get the next belt.
The comments in the article linked to above require due consideration, I think. The next question then, would be "what am I going to do about it?"
http://stevemorris.livejournal.com/25983.html
I've had some interesting experiences recently especially in the kids' class. Children don't have pre-conditions or habits to get in the way, they just get on with their training. We have some new lads in the kids class who have excellent skills, naturally. In fact in certain areas (movement, hitting pads, etc...) they outshine the more established students.
Same thing's happening in gradings. It is very difficult to do kata work sometimes, even with students who are very good technically. I'm moving more and more into freestyle work in the junior class (getting rid of a whole load of pre-arranged ippon kumite...); because the spontaneous training progresses them better than pre-arranged training. And again, it's the higher graded students who are struggling to do be spontaneous.
Karate shouldn't be a memory test. That was one of the immediate differences I found between karate and taekwondo - in TKD the only things we had to memorise were patterns (kata). There was no little orange "syllabus book" which listed the techniques and pre-arranged drills we had to perform to get the next belt.
The comments in the article linked to above require due consideration, I think. The next question then, would be "what am I going to do about it?"
Monday, June 22, 2009
Natural Power
Our "Little One" is 8 months old now! (Which is why my blogging activities are a little quiet at the moment!!) Sophie is "ground mobile" and getting into everything.
You'd be surprised at how energy-sapping chasing babies gets. They have natural grace and power, unhindered by habits and excess tension. Studying the movements of babies is a great way to learn more about human movement because their movements are pure. There's no mental battle between their inner selves ("you can do it!" "No you can't you're useless"... and all the rest of it).
Babies are soft, pliable and very robust. Power and energy are working at optimum efficiency and everything "just works". If only I could remember how to do that!
You'd be surprised at how energy-sapping chasing babies gets. They have natural grace and power, unhindered by habits and excess tension. Studying the movements of babies is a great way to learn more about human movement because their movements are pure. There's no mental battle between their inner selves ("you can do it!" "No you can't you're useless"... and all the rest of it).
Babies are soft, pliable and very robust. Power and energy are working at optimum efficiency and everything "just works". If only I could remember how to do that!
Grading Successes
We've got some new blue belts in the club!
Well done to all who passed tonight - Sally, Anna, Ben, Robert, Ian, Clinton. And Daniel for receiving his Orange belt.
Just a couple of grades to finish off next week...
Well done to all who passed tonight - Sally, Anna, Ben, Robert, Ian, Clinton. And Daniel for receiving his Orange belt.
Just a couple of grades to finish off next week...
It's all in the detail
We were doing Pinan Nidan tonight in preparation for a forthcoming grading. At the end of class we decided to have a bit of fun and do some "bunkai".
Nothing too taxing, it wasn't even realistic, but it did illustrate a point (pun not intended!)
A partner grabs both your wrists (your arms are held low). The first movement of Pinan Nidan (the Wado version, anyway) involves a pivot to the side, drawing the hands in and separating them. It works a treat to break this grip. (There's a link to the kata below if you're not familiar with it).
But the students were struggling. It should have been easy, but they were missing a small part of the movement.
"Do as the kata does!" I suggested...
But they still failed to break the grip easily.
They missed out on some fine detail, such as when you bring the arms in together there is a rotation of the forearms and wrists. It might seem inconsequential in the performance of the kata, but this was the key to the interpretation we were looking at.
The subtle wrist movement causes your partner's forearms and wrists to twist out of place. The position of your elbows and forearms adds pressure to the "grabber" which can quite easily upset their balance and really take them out of structure. Now it's a simple matter of separating the hands to complete the technique and counter.
OK, I did say it wasn't realistic, but I hope you spotted the tale here. I was once told that "there is an application for every inch of every kata". Now, I don't expect to spend the next 30 years analysing every minutae of every kata, that would be crazy.
But by understanding the mechanics and principles of what's going on we can gain clarity.
As Bruce Lee pointed out, martial arts isn't about adding more and more, it's about chipping away to get less and less.
In real kata there are no wasted movements. That's why I don't like the flashy laser-and-dry-ice brigade. That's good entertainment, gymnastics, and whatever, but it sure ain't karate!
Next time you're struggling with some movement, don't throw it away without first checking that you're "doing as the kata does"
Here's a video of Pinan Nidan. Unfortunately I don't have any graphics or video of the "bunkai" I wrote about here. Maybe I'll get some photos done soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nitlHYGQ9Mc
Nothing too taxing, it wasn't even realistic, but it did illustrate a point (pun not intended!)
A partner grabs both your wrists (your arms are held low). The first movement of Pinan Nidan (the Wado version, anyway) involves a pivot to the side, drawing the hands in and separating them. It works a treat to break this grip. (There's a link to the kata below if you're not familiar with it).
But the students were struggling. It should have been easy, but they were missing a small part of the movement.
"Do as the kata does!" I suggested...
But they still failed to break the grip easily.
They missed out on some fine detail, such as when you bring the arms in together there is a rotation of the forearms and wrists. It might seem inconsequential in the performance of the kata, but this was the key to the interpretation we were looking at.
The subtle wrist movement causes your partner's forearms and wrists to twist out of place. The position of your elbows and forearms adds pressure to the "grabber" which can quite easily upset their balance and really take them out of structure. Now it's a simple matter of separating the hands to complete the technique and counter.
OK, I did say it wasn't realistic, but I hope you spotted the tale here. I was once told that "there is an application for every inch of every kata". Now, I don't expect to spend the next 30 years analysing every minutae of every kata, that would be crazy.
But by understanding the mechanics and principles of what's going on we can gain clarity.
As Bruce Lee pointed out, martial arts isn't about adding more and more, it's about chipping away to get less and less.
In real kata there are no wasted movements. That's why I don't like the flashy laser-and-dry-ice brigade. That's good entertainment, gymnastics, and whatever, but it sure ain't karate!
Next time you're struggling with some movement, don't throw it away without first checking that you're "doing as the kata does"
Here's a video of Pinan Nidan. Unfortunately I don't have any graphics or video of the "bunkai" I wrote about here. Maybe I'll get some photos done soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nitlHYGQ9Mc
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Gradings again
The seniors are grading next week. We're doing the rounds of the blue belts and the orange belts in a couple of weeks time.
We've had some very good training over the last few sessions (despite 90% of the club going off to Germany on a school exchange programme!)
Training recently has been distinctly "old school" in the sense of "traditional" basics, pairs work and kata. We do like to work with pads, bunkai, push hands and all of that, but without a good foundation in basics there's little point in training. All arts have their basics and they must be worked upon with due diligence.
It's interesting how well the standard of basic training has improved over a short number of intense training sessions. Understanding applications, working with power and movement on the pads, and studying "technical" karate is great, but sometimes you just have to get down to some good old fashioned dojo pounding!
I'm happy to see the kids' class has progressed well over the last few weeks, and our emphasis on fun and self expression has gone a long way. The children definitely learn quicker by "playing" karate. That's not to say we're just wasting time playing ball games, but our approach to training is changing. We're not slaves to a syllabus book, we have to work with the kids' natural and instinctive ways of moving and training.
They are really putting in the effort with kata and basics as well as pad work, applications and various exercises.
We've had some very good training over the last few sessions (despite 90% of the club going off to Germany on a school exchange programme!)
Training recently has been distinctly "old school" in the sense of "traditional" basics, pairs work and kata. We do like to work with pads, bunkai, push hands and all of that, but without a good foundation in basics there's little point in training. All arts have their basics and they must be worked upon with due diligence.
It's interesting how well the standard of basic training has improved over a short number of intense training sessions. Understanding applications, working with power and movement on the pads, and studying "technical" karate is great, but sometimes you just have to get down to some good old fashioned dojo pounding!
I'm happy to see the kids' class has progressed well over the last few weeks, and our emphasis on fun and self expression has gone a long way. The children definitely learn quicker by "playing" karate. That's not to say we're just wasting time playing ball games, but our approach to training is changing. We're not slaves to a syllabus book, we have to work with the kids' natural and instinctive ways of moving and training.
They are really putting in the effort with kata and basics as well as pad work, applications and various exercises.
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