First, control your temper!

In Okinawa there is a saying 'when your anger rises, withdraw your hand. When your hand rises, withdraw your anger'. This saying serves as a reminder to us all to keep control of our emotions and to not act rashly.
During the course of a training session in the dojo there are countless rituals relating to matters of etiquette which we must be mindful of. Where you stand in the dojo in relation to your seniors. When to bow to your partner, and how low. Who dictates the ma'ai at the point of bowing to a partner. Whether you pass in front, or behind a fellow practitioner in relation to the shomen. All these things require an amount of conscious thought which is constantly present in our minds during a training session. Despite the hardships of training, tiredness, sore limbs, attacks from our partner putting us under pressure, we must remain mindful of this etiquette. This is what separates the practise of budo from more modern fighting arts such as MMA, boxing or modern reality based systems.
Where this all comes from is much to do with the arts foundations in Okinawa, with strong influence of Chinese and Japanese ideas. Of course, we in the west are not Chinese, Japanese or Okinawan, so we must find for ourselves a good reason to preserve these ideas. To do them simply for matters of courtesy is not enough, for we could display this courtesy equally by western methods such as shaking hands and saying please and thank you etc. The matter is, to uphold a completely alien custom within our training requires constant thought, and a level of control amidst the chaos happening around us in the form of hard training.
If we are able to continue to be mindful of such actions while conducting our training at a serious level, then we can retain control of our minds rather than relying on blind animal instinct when the going gets tough.
In relation to actual combat this is very important. To lose control in a confrontation is problematic for two big reasons. Firstly, if we act out of anger with regards to attack, we rush into offense regardless of whether there is an opening in the opponent or not. There is also the risk of acting blindly, continuing to press the offence when the threat is no longer present. Legally this presents a problem by not using reasonable force to defend ourselves, but more importantly as practitioners of budo, by losing control we may needlessly injure somebody. To disable somebody, or even kill somebody is not something which rests easily on a persons mind, not to mention the added stress of being arrested, facing prison, losing your job, affecting our families, etc. And all this is if you win, never mind the implications of losing!
Secondly if we become angry we become unaware of our own defence, leaving openings for the opponent and failing to notice potential threats due to tunnel vision upon our own intended target on the opponent. We become fixated upon defeating and hurting the other person, becoming oblivious to our surroundings, or any opportunities to escape and avoid the conflict.
It is important to act dispassionately during confrontations, trying as best as we can to push aside any strong emotions such as anger or fear, as both have a negative effect upon how we negotiate the threat. The mind should strive to be no different from the state of mind we have when performing kata. Focused concentration with an underlying calmness.
The following story will be familiar to many readers of this blog, but I will present it regardless as I think it relevant;
A peasant farmer in Okinawa borrowed a sum of money from a wealthy occupying samurai under the agreement that it would be repaid fully one year later. One year later the samurai returned to receive what was owed to him, but the peasant had come upon hard times and had been unable to raise the money. Upon hearing this the samurai became angry, and as the samurai prepared to cut down the peasant with his sword, the peasant said "I should tell you that during the past year I have begun to study Te, and one of the first lessons is that you should never strike whilst you are angry". Taken back by this, and upon hearing such profound words from the peasant, the samurai granted him a further year to gather the money.
Later that evening, the samurai returned home and as he peered through the partially open screen of his bedroom, he noticed the body of another samurai in bed with his wife. Overcome by anger he began to draw his sword, but suddenly remembered the peasants advice. With this in mind, he went back to the front door and loudly announced his return home. Upon hearing this his wife came running from the bedroom, closely followed by his own mother who had dressed up as a male samurai in order to scare away any robbers.
After one year had past, the peasant met with the samurai to pay back his debt, but the samurai refused saying "it is to you that the debt is owed".

Going around in circles

Sometimes when I reflect upon my progress (or lack of!) in my training it feels as though I am going around in circles. We all have a certain technique or kata that we just can't seem to get a feel for. Everything feels clumsy and awkward, and the movements seem to feel alien to us no matter how we try to internalise them. For me this kata has always been kururunfa, and for as long as I have known this kata, it has been my least favourite. Seiunchin however has always been my preferred kata, with everything feeling a lot more natural to me.
Of late however, this has completely changed and the opposite is true! My kururunfa is now starting to feel quite nice, and is enjoyable to perform. Seiunchin however is proving to be a real problem of late.
The obvious cause of this would be that with kururunfa being poor, I spent more time getting better at it, whereas seiunchin got neglected because I felt I was better at it. If only this were true! Truth be told, I tend to spend far more time doing the things I like as there is a certain lazy side to me!
What I feel has happened is that my understanding has progressed in a circular fashion. A sempai to me once explained that progress in training can be compared to a spiral staircase. Your progression is circular in that you always come back to the point you begun, however that point is now one floor higher, so is not the same.
Things that felt correct to you in the beginning in actual fact were not quite so, and as your body and mind become more and more accustomed to the movements, it will teach itself to look for errors. When I refer to errors I am speaking of the body finding its most natural and efficient path of movement.
Like chipping away at the rough edges of an unsharpened pencil, small modifications are made over the course of many years and our techniques become more and more refined. Although it may feel at times that we are back where we started having made little progress, this should be viewed positively as a sign that our body has reached a higher understanding of the technique and is now teaching itself to become better!
This is one of the reasons I am not a great fan of using a mirror to correct technique. Of course, in the beginning this is useful to check for correct positioning, but once we are happy that the body is in the right position, we must look for the feeling of the movements and listen to what the body is telling us. If it doesn't feel right, chances are it probably isn't!
So for me it is now back to the drawing board for seiunchin as I try to make a little progress with this kata.

Concentrate on the real opponent

A phrase my sensei often uses when we are engaged in training with a partner is 'do not compare, and do not compete'.
I always thought of this as being a more of a reminder to keep your ego in check, and to not get distracted by the other person. I now view this a little differently.

The most difficult thing about training with a partner, or indeed in any actual combat with a real opponent, is that we are often distracted by the thoughts in our minds. We become so occupied with thoughts such as 'he's stronger than me' 'I'm getting tired' 'my arms hurt' or even 'when are we going to do something different', that we are often oblivious to the actual opponent. By becoming so concentrated upon the person stood in front of us, we allow ourselves the luxury to blame something other than ourselves for the way we are feeling. By comparing and competing with our partner in this sense, we are able to make excuses, blaming our partner for being stronger or more skilled than us.

Something which I have been thinking about of late is how the practice of hojo undo can assist us on this problem. The balanced development of shin, gi, tai is of prime importance to the budoka, yet often it is the mind/spirit which is neglected in favour of a more physical activity. The great thing about hojo undo is that it uses physical activity in order to actively target the development of the mind/spirit.

The hojo undo tools have no mind of their own. They do not have any skill. They will not get tired, and quite frankly, they do not care one little bit about how you feel. They will just get on with their job for as long as you want to play with them. With this in mind, the karateka engaging in hojo undo practise can blame no one, or no thing for his/her shortcomings but themselves. Training with these tools to the point of exhaustion, we have no excuses and nowhere to hide from the thoughts which WILL appear in our minds. With each negative thought, we must counter strongly and decisively with a positive thought, urging ourselves to try harder, to keep going.
The real opponent is our own negativity, and in order to control this opponent, we cannot hide away by blaming outside influences.

Fuyu geiko

A tradition which I uphold at my dojo is to change our way of training according to the seasons, dividing the year into Go and Ju.
My dojo is without heating or air conditioning, and no matter the time of year, we always train with the door left open. As a consequence it becomes very cold during the winter, detering even the more enthusiastic of practitioners from attending to train.
Summer months are spent polishing technique and investigating the theories and strategies of kata. Of course, training is still hard and challenging, but the emphasis during the summer is upon perfecting the techniques.
As the clocks change, signalling the approach of winter and shorter daylight hours, the training has a different goal. Here the emphasis is upon forging the technique, the body, and most importantly, the spirit. Students are provided with a challenging task of making it through training with one goal in mind.....do not give up!
Gradually the training is intensified each month with the number of repetitions of exercises increased, and the intensity of the lessons gathers pace.
During this time practitioners are brought face to face with their true self as they discover their own limitations, and challenge themselves to face these limitations courageously in an attempt to break through them.
The very task of arriving at the dojo in the first place to submit yourself to such challenges is an effort in itself, but the rewards are there to be gained by any person willing to face shugyo.
A practitioner able to develop their spirit through such training will meet lifes problems in a positive way, always saying 'I can!'

The raw steel thinks of itself as badly treated as it is thrust into the fire and beaten repeatedly. The polished sword looks back and understands why.....

Shuai Jiao Hojo Undo

I came across this video today showing the strengthening methods used by Chinese Shuai Jiao practitioners. The video is of particular interest to me as it shows the practitioners working with the ishi sashi, tan, sashi ishi and chiishi in order to develop their technique.

Look for the similarities in technique and for what they are trying to develop by using such methods. There is an interesting overlap in the aims of Shuai Jiao and those of Goju Ryu.

It should be seen as no coincidence that both are methods best suited to close range fighting.

Sinking and spitting

One of the basic feelings developed in the practise of Sanchin begins right at the very root of our connection with the earth, our feet. As with everything though, the use of the breath goes hand in hand with whatever else happens in the body.

'Float sink, spit swallow' is a phrase that will be familiar to many practitioners of Goju Ryu, as well as the term 'ho goju tondo' from which Goju Ryu derives its name. A basic way of understanding these concepts is to look at how the inhalation or exhalation of the breath relates to the receiving or issuing of force.

Inhaling relates to Ju whereas exhaling relates to Go. The best way to feel what effects this has on the feet is through Sanchin with a partner providing Shime to assist you to feel how the weight transitions between drawing in, or expanding.

As you withdraw your hand to the side of the body with your partner resisting, you will feel your body weight being pulled forward, with pressure being felt in the ball of the foot. This is accompanied by inhalation.

As you extend your arm in punching, the weight transitions to the heel of the foot as you exhale.

From a striking point of view, it is the Go or Yang state with which we are concerned. The exhalation led by the movement of the tanden begins a simultaneous thrust of momentum down toward the feet, and up toward the hands. This opposite motion is referred to as Hakkei, and can be likened to the action of a firearm being shot. The energy of the bullet is being projected forward toward the target, however simultaneously there is a rearward energy. When punching the forward energy is manifested in the seiken, and the rearward energy in the feet. Without going too scientific, it is said that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is spitting and sinking.

Perhaps the most useful way to feel this is through use of the machiwara, which will provide amply resistance in order for you to feel both the contact point of the fist, as well as the grounding point of the feet.

In addition to this, the breathing exercises contained in junbi undo offer an excellent way to begin building this feeling of opposite motion and hakkei.

The importance of Sanchin

'Sanchin is a kata, but it is not a kata'.

Hokama sensei said this many times to me during my stay at his dojo. He stressed that Sanchin without Qigong was not Sanchin, and kata without Sanchin is not kata.

Sanchin is a kata, of course. It has a set number of movements, a set number of steps, and a clearly defined way of performing such movements. This however was not always the case. Back in the days of Higashionna Kanryo and Miyagi Chojun, students were encouraged to take as many steps as they could fit inside the space of the dojo. The requirement for set standards was a later inclusion.

But how is Sanchin also not a kata?

Sanchin is a concept, a method of using the body, a method of standing, a method of breathing. In short, Sanchin is the very essence of Goju Ryu, and clearly defines how the student of Goju Ryu should use their body.

Goju Ryu can be compared to a wagon wheel. The outside edge of the wheel is what is in contact with the ground. This is connected to the axle by individual spokes. These spokes can be compared to the individual kata of Goju Ryu. Of course, each spoke is of equal importance, but alone they are of no use. Equally without a central point to connect to, the whole integrity of the structure of the wheel is useless. This central connecting point is Sanchin.

Hokama sensei compares Goju Ryu to a bottle of water. The water itself is the techniques of Goju Ryu, and the various kata. The water can be used for various tasks such as drinking, cooking or cleaning, however without a container to transport this water, it is useless. Sanchin is the bottle. Using a bottle the water is able to be carried around easily to be used.

Whether performing Saifa, or driving your car, you should also be performing Sanchin. A student of Goju Ryu must investigate thoroughly how Sanchin relates to the other kata, and more importantly, to their everyday actions.

Sanchin without purpose is merely physical movement, kata. Sanchin with purpose improves the practitioners karate and their quality of life, this transcends physical movement and is no longer considered kata.