I'm often surprised at my uncanny ability to ignore valuable corrections. I can see the importance in the corrections and I want to take the advice but many times I don't. I've been thinking about why I do this and it occurred to me that I am overly focused on something else. In last Thursday's class I was working on Koto Gaeshi Kata 6-10 with Sensei Coleman. He made a minor correction to start the grab from the elbow and not the wrist. Four corrections later, I had not accurately made the adjustment once. But why? I only realized several days later that I tend to hold onto my successes as hard as I can. I had learned the footwork and I didn't want to get confused. The footwork required so much of my attention that I couldn't do both. So I would acknowledge the correction, finish my technique, start over and forget the correction! My method was not yielding the kinds of results that I needed.
After the fact, I'm able to realize that when faced with criticism, and when I can only select one; I choose to focus on preventing greater mistakes which would generate greater criticism rather than correcting that which is obviously flawed. Though this is the first time I evaluate this decision on a conscious level, I am pretty sure that this is a life choice which I make on and off the mat.
Within the greater scheme of life, it's a decision that works. It has a clear-cut and functional role in the act of "maintaining". The problem here is that I wasn't trying to maintain a skill which I had already mastered, I was trying to learn a new skill. My approach needs to be entirely different for each task. Though it may sound obvious to you now, it didn't occur to me in the moment! The solution seems counter intuitive, but the answer is to just let go. Focus on the correction and if the footwork goes to hell and I need to be corrected again, then so be it.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The wrong time to feel stuck!
With only a few weeks until my Sankyu test, this is the wrong time to feel stuck in a rut. I've spent the past few months focusing on moving my hips forward at all times. But my footwork which was so-so to begin with has gotten much worse. I notice it particularly in my hip throws. I am often not where I need to be and as a result the throw is usually disconjoined or altogether impossible. I also notice that when I'm focusing on my footwork it's usually correct. I can also think back to the individual steps that got me to the throw. With that said, I can determine that if the footsteps that got me to where I am are a total blur, then the footwork was most probably incorrect.
What started off as sensitivity in my wrists has developed into wrist tendinitis in my left wrist and the jury is still out on the right one. I'm going to pick up some wrist guards on the way to dojo tonight because I just can't risk any more damage. Luckily, I heal very quickly so I imagine that in two weeks to a month I'll be back in full swing.
I generally only write about moments of success because writing about problems without solutions almost feels like complaining to the dojo. But the truth is that I've learned a lot from coping with situations that are out of my control and this moment is as valid in my training as any other.
What started off as sensitivity in my wrists has developed into wrist tendinitis in my left wrist and the jury is still out on the right one. I'm going to pick up some wrist guards on the way to dojo tonight because I just can't risk any more damage. Luckily, I heal very quickly so I imagine that in two weeks to a month I'll be back in full swing.
I generally only write about moments of success because writing about problems without solutions almost feels like complaining to the dojo. But the truth is that I've learned a lot from coping with situations that are out of my control and this moment is as valid in my training as any other.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Learning to use my hips
I've reached the point in my training where I can see exactly how, when and even why keeping my hips back is holding me back in my training. It stops me from generating a lead, it forces my weight onto my heels making me less mobile and it takes away from the power of my hip throws and other strikes. The task I'm undertaking is to learn to manipulate my hips, namely to push them forward throughout a technique.
The process is very slow and surprisingly difficult. The strangest part is that I feel like a baby learning to walk. This process requires constant attention and as soon as I panic or start to think about my hands or my feet, my hips immediately shoot back to their comfortable position. Since I'm also not used to manipulating and shifting my hips forward I simply don't know how to do it on cue. Now my aim is to push my hips forward during simple tasks like stretching or while holding a heavy pad. To practice Tai Sabaki and kicking with what feel to me to be exaggerated front stances.
However I think that the parallel I've used to a baby learning to walk is apt on a few levels. A baby spends quite a bit of time wanting to walk before any steps are even taken. After that, the baby spends a lot of time either trying to walk or wanting the things that are just footsteps away. I want to be more mobile, I want to have powerful hip throws & I want to have strong punches. Now, I need to do the hard thing and face the challenge the way a baby would face the challenge of walking.
The process is very slow and surprisingly difficult. The strangest part is that I feel like a baby learning to walk. This process requires constant attention and as soon as I panic or start to think about my hands or my feet, my hips immediately shoot back to their comfortable position. Since I'm also not used to manipulating and shifting my hips forward I simply don't know how to do it on cue. Now my aim is to push my hips forward during simple tasks like stretching or while holding a heavy pad. To practice Tai Sabaki and kicking with what feel to me to be exaggerated front stances.
However I think that the parallel I've used to a baby learning to walk is apt on a few levels. A baby spends quite a bit of time wanting to walk before any steps are even taken. After that, the baby spends a lot of time either trying to walk or wanting the things that are just footsteps away. I want to be more mobile, I want to have powerful hip throws & I want to have strong punches. Now, I need to do the hard thing and face the challenge the way a baby would face the challenge of walking.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
cung le
this guy is a truly great fighter. note particularly how he combines the striking and the throwing.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Choosing your weapons
Sometimes you just fall in love with a technique. That's almost always a reason to try to make it your own. Hating a technique is more complicated. You should work it when told to, without making faces, but you should probably leave it alone otherwise.
There are other rules of thumb about choosing techniques. If you are short, wide, and strong, hip throws are a good investment. If you are long and lean, leg throws are a more likely way to go. Similarly, if you are short and wide, techniques where you get to the center first and lower are a good investment, whereas long and lean should spend more time spinning around the outside.
Long and lean should, above all else, hold good posture. Your body is like a spear, made to deliver power along a long shaft to a point. As soon as you bend in the middle, you have broken your spear.
Short and thin should work on sankyus and shionages, techniques where you duck quickly under arms and use the whole force and weight of your body on wrists. These don't require strength so much as getting to the right place quickly and neatly.
There is more to this, and more to one's own individual capacities than these very rough comparisons. Some short people are relatively weak, but fast and compact enough to deliver disproportionate power. Some tall, thin people can get leverage and produce startling power. Further, one's relative height and strength are always changing, according to who one is working with.
Study yourself dispassionately, assess your strengths and weaknesses, and start to build an armory of techniques that suit you.
There are other rules of thumb about choosing techniques. If you are short, wide, and strong, hip throws are a good investment. If you are long and lean, leg throws are a more likely way to go. Similarly, if you are short and wide, techniques where you get to the center first and lower are a good investment, whereas long and lean should spend more time spinning around the outside.
Long and lean should, above all else, hold good posture. Your body is like a spear, made to deliver power along a long shaft to a point. As soon as you bend in the middle, you have broken your spear.
Short and thin should work on sankyus and shionages, techniques where you duck quickly under arms and use the whole force and weight of your body on wrists. These don't require strength so much as getting to the right place quickly and neatly.
There is more to this, and more to one's own individual capacities than these very rough comparisons. Some short people are relatively weak, but fast and compact enough to deliver disproportionate power. Some tall, thin people can get leverage and produce startling power. Further, one's relative height and strength are always changing, according to who one is working with.
Study yourself dispassionately, assess your strengths and weaknesses, and start to build an armory of techniques that suit you.
Notes from Saturday the 11th (Coleman [C.] subs for Maria)
Here’s what I could remember C. saying / showing in-class. I’m the white belt Aikidoka & the few things I do know are usually very mixed-up with Aikido stuff, so I tried to be careful to note anything I wasn’t sure on or was more my own opinion. I’m more than a bit ADHD, so there still might be some errors…
Crucifixion Rolls: Before you go into the roll, bend the knee, but move as a unit, i.e. don’t leave your hips behind (I believe this is because it throws off your balance / center of gravity and thus results in an awkward roll). Don’t look at the ground or back where you came from at the end of the roll.
Extension Rolls: Keep the hips forward. Don’t look at the ground or back where you came from at the end of the roll.
Kote-Gaeshi # 10 from Straight Punch: Don’t go for the wrist first, go for the elbow w/ a focus on their center, as this will leave more options open for you--if you only focus on the wrist then you can only do wrist-locks, but if you go for the elbow you have the wrist-locks and other techniques open to you as well.
Keep uke’s wrist in front of your center. Try to make everything all one movement.
The shoulders and the hips should move as a unit when putting the lock on, otherwise the throw will end up stilted and sometimes non-functional due to the awkward position you’ve put your body into (C. compared it to pushing up against a wall with only your shoulders, I think).
Osoto Gari: The pulling hand / the outside hand should pull out, not down, and only pull down when throwing (I think because it stretches uke out more that way).
Sankyo: The footwork for the take-down is the same footwork from the tai sabaki kata (5 and 6 / the shiko dachi thing).
Crucifixion Rolls: Before you go into the roll, bend the knee, but move as a unit, i.e. don’t leave your hips behind (I believe this is because it throws off your balance / center of gravity and thus results in an awkward roll). Don’t look at the ground or back where you came from at the end of the roll.
Extension Rolls: Keep the hips forward. Don’t look at the ground or back where you came from at the end of the roll.
Kote-Gaeshi # 10 from Straight Punch: Don’t go for the wrist first, go for the elbow w/ a focus on their center, as this will leave more options open for you--if you only focus on the wrist then you can only do wrist-locks, but if you go for the elbow you have the wrist-locks and other techniques open to you as well.
Keep uke’s wrist in front of your center. Try to make everything all one movement.
The shoulders and the hips should move as a unit when putting the lock on, otherwise the throw will end up stilted and sometimes non-functional due to the awkward position you’ve put your body into (C. compared it to pushing up against a wall with only your shoulders, I think).
Osoto Gari: The pulling hand / the outside hand should pull out, not down, and only pull down when throwing (I think because it stretches uke out more that way).
Sankyo: The footwork for the take-down is the same footwork from the tai sabaki kata (5 and 6 / the shiko dachi thing).
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
New Blog
In an attempt to have more blog websites that Ju Jitsu students I've decided to open this website... Taah daaah! :) Well, in actuality Jeannie is no longer able to access our old blog (http://JuJitsuNYC.Blogspot.Com) and thus can not transfer over privilages to admit new authors nor reset passwords. Inversely, Woody is around and doing very well based on his latest blog (http://Blog.NYCJuJitsu.org). However he's busy enough in the passing months for me to not want to nag him for login names and passwords for the entire dojo any more. So I guess that just leaves me.
When I was a brand new white belt, Woody and Jeannie encouraged me to join if only to jot down a few words. Those few words wound up helping me more than I thought. It's also nice to have a reference to the exact date that I learned something new. It has become a general trend with me to learn things on the mat that I take with me elsewhere (IE A personal Epipheny). Occasionally I learn things off the mat which I bring back with me to the dojo too (IE Projection).
Format and content are entirely up to you. If you look at the previous posts you'll see that Jeannie and Woody are very technical, so their posts often include detailed instructions. They're also both artistic, so they've included plenty of illustrations along the way. I prefer allegories, so my blogs tend to read more like an individual story. Choose what you like, but feel free to speak your mind.
Happy Blogging :)
When I was a brand new white belt, Woody and Jeannie encouraged me to join if only to jot down a few words. Those few words wound up helping me more than I thought. It's also nice to have a reference to the exact date that I learned something new. It has become a general trend with me to learn things on the mat that I take with me elsewhere (IE A personal Epipheny). Occasionally I learn things off the mat which I bring back with me to the dojo too (IE Projection).
Format and content are entirely up to you. If you look at the previous posts you'll see that Jeannie and Woody are very technical, so their posts often include detailed instructions. They're also both artistic, so they've included plenty of illustrations along the way. I prefer allegories, so my blogs tend to read more like an individual story. Choose what you like, but feel free to speak your mind.
Happy Blogging :)
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