Natural pecking order

INTi dojo Mon 24/5/2010 class. Natural pecking order

Max's absence of two months from practice didn't make any difference to the members. I noticed that during bowing in at the start of the class when modest Max tried to sit on the extreme left side of the row the guys shooed and ushered him to go sit on to the right side.

By protocol senior students get to sit on the right side and the juniors on the left. The guys still acknowledge 3rd kyu Max as their sempai even though I didn't intervene as I am not so particular about protocol. Then as if on cue 5th kyu WTJ who had rejoined the class after a year's break quietly sat on the left side of the row and nobody shooed him away. This shows that after training together and bonding for some time your mates will acknowledge,accept and respect you for who you are even though you may have dropped out from the training for quite a while.

31-count Aiki Jo kata presentation

Rehearsal before demo

Rehearsal before demo

Entering the arena

Aiki Jo demo in progress

Saturday 15/5/10 National Youth Day Rakan Muda Wajadiri public demonstration of the Aiki Jo at Putrajaya

Together with INTi students we joined Low Sensei's group in the presentation of Aikido's 31 count Aiki jo kata to the public. Altogether there were 21 participants from the various dojos in the group.

The event organisers allocated only a total of 5 minute for Aikido presentation. Out of the allocated 5 minutes, 1 minute was utilised for the Aiki Jo stick work while the remaining 4 minutes were utilised for the separate bokken (sword), tanto (dagger) and empty hand presentations. Although we had 1 minute for the Aiki Jo, in reality less the time taken for bowing in and bowing out of the arena we had at the most about 30 seconds to perform the stick work.

Although the presentation took only 1 minute of time the behind-the-scene preparatory and training for INTi/Semenyih group took about one week. One week before the event from Mon to Fri after work I had to rush to INTi and Semenyih to give a crash course on the 31-count Aiki Jo kata to the students because I had never taught them this Jo kata before.

Even on the day of the demo despite the intensive training I wasn't sure if my group of students could pull together with students from other dojos to put up a credible show. Knowing all the steps and movements is one aspect but in a mass drill you must be able to work harmoniously together with others as a team. Fortunately after doing a few combined rehearsals before the show all the participants from the different dojos managed to click together as a team.

The significance of Tori's thumb-up position of the captured hand in Katatedori Ikkyo Omote.

Katatedori Ikkyo Omote
Tory on the left thumbs of
captured hand facing up

Semenyih Dojo. Fri class 5/3/10

"Why tori must keep his thumb up as in palm facing sideway and not to the side as in palm facing down in the beginning of Katatedori Ikkyo Omote ?"

One puzzled student asked me this question during katatedori ikkyo omote exercise on Fri 5/3/10 during the training.

With reference to the Tori on the left hand side of the accompanying photo....

During the execution of the technique beside stepping back with his lead foot Tori has to rotate his captured hand clockwise so that the thumb finally ends pointing downwards towards the floor and the fingers naturally curved backwards. In stepping back his lead foot Tori breaks Uke's body alignment by translation forcing Uke to step forward with his lead foot to compensate for his body tilting forwards. In spinning the captured hand clockwise Tori further breaks Uke's body structure through rotation forcing Uke's body to tilt and rotate side ways. This effect is similar to earthquake where due to the shaking of the ground horizontally buildings tilt sideways and collapse to the ground. Thus in stepping backwards and rotating his captured hand Tori destroys Uke's balance and stability in two directions ie forwards through translation and sideways through rotation.

By keeping the palm facing downwards and the thumb facing the side at the beginning of the exercise Tori can only spin his captured hand a quarter of a circle. By keeping the palm facing sideway and the thumb pointing upwards to the sky like imitating a hand shake form, Tori can spin his hand by half a circle. Thus it is not difficult to see that the thumb-up position induces a bigger range of rotation than the thumb-sideway position which is extremely limiting in scope. The bigger the range of rotation the more Uke's body tilt to the side and the more effort Uke has to exert to restore his instability. In his anxiety to forcefully recover Uke creates tension and stiffness in his body leading to further breakdown of his body alignment

To be effective and almost effortless Aikido techniques have to be executed in a multi-dimensional way and not just limiting to only one. I notice many students rely exclusively on stepping backwards with their lead feet and issue atemis to their partners' faces with their free hands to break Ukes' stability. Thus unaware of the effect of rotating the captured hands they are unable to see the significance of which way the palms are facing at the beginning of the exercise.

Body structure and alignment exercise

Walking on all fours

Utilising the body structure and alignment

Walking on your feet and fists like a cat forces you to utilise your body structure to overcome fatigue in order to move in the most efficient way. Biologically unlike some animals humans are not made to walk on all fours and if we try to do that without sufficient body conditioning we tire fast. Similarly if you walk hunched or without rhythm with your breath you also tires fast.

On all fours regulate each step with your breath. Walking softly make as little noise as possible. Change direction, walking forwards, backwards and in a circle. Challenge yourself by walking over obstacles eg staircase and furniture. If you are tired stop and rest in this position and this will motivate you. While you are moving about observe if you are moving with your trunk aligned. Mentally note if you are navigating with either your hips or shoulders or both. Can you change course using both? This is a great drill to spread the tension all over your body using your breath and body structure alignment as a support.

The principle of work-in-progress

From a abortive knee kick
to a left hook

The principle of work-in-progress or non-completion.

Not completing an action may seem the antithesis of a good survival and self-defence strategy but it is a realistic option and does have its place in your capability to survive a vicious street attack. Being free from an obligation to finish a movement makes your counter-response unpredictable to your attacker. You are able to change according to what is happening and see threats as they are rather than forcing yourself to complete something that is inappropriate for the moment.

For example when your first intention is to kick someone on the knee, and instead you miss your intended target and kick the air you can continue in another direction and throw a left hook at his jaw or decide on something else that further your chance of escape and survival. Keep breathing and moving freely. Relax your face and eyes and at the same time pay attention to where both of you are going.

Surveillance work

Take a walk in a crowded place eg a market. Start a conversation with a stranger. While engaging the stranger survey the surroundings and note how you can move naturally to view everything all around you without appearing like you are doing surveillance work. Make a mental note of all the objects that you can see in your surroundings such as reflecting surfaces, door ways, high fences, staircases, side lanes, pedestrian bridges and escalators, police station, bus and taxi stops, street lights and sign boards, hand railings, manholes, roadside drains and gutters, etc, etc. Repeat the drill in another crowded spot eg a shopping mall, minding all the surrounding details.

This is a solo street survival drill and survival is about not being where it is dangerous. The odds of escaping and surviving an unprovoked assault in the street are better that way and you don't have to be the meanest martial art fighter or the hardest puncher to live another day.

Developing good body alignment

Throwing and catching objects while on the move

Throw and catch things any which way as you walk eg common objects such as tennis balls, basketball, bottles, paper boxes, bags, sticks, etc. Throw the objects in font of you, to the sides, from back to the front, front to the back, one side to the next, from under the legs to the head, and so on. Pay the most attention to the breath and your posture and the least to catching the objects.

Although this is a solo exercise it can also be executed with a partner. With a partner just throw things, catch, and return throw to each other while both of you are on the move.

The main purpose of this drill is not to catch the objects but to keep good body structure, awareness and alignment while you are moving about. This drill is also about preserving your awareness while multi-tasking eg, while evading a group attack you have to look for openings in your attackers from which you can launch counter strikes or any other options that you decide to do.