this guy is a truly great fighter. note particularly how he combines the striking and the throwing.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
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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