Do I Really Have to Hit That Tree?

In business, being flexible and ready to move often means the difference between acquiring a new client or not. You may be willing to offer a feature that your competitor cannot or you may be willing to move a bit on your fee structure, making yourself more attractive as a partner.

In kenpo, we have the same concept, generally referred to as DYNAMIC. By being both aware and open to your environment and yourself, your opportunities for expression are that much greater. Now that’s a rather open-ended assertion. Obviously we can get as meta-physical as all get out with this, I’ll restrict myself to comments on the physical level.

Being more dynamic is always an area of interest for me. Why? Well, out of all the Keys of Power, I personally think it’s the most important, although I suspect Instructor Jason would say for him, it is INTENT. Consider that a dynamic fighter will seem quicker to his opponent, his strikes probably more effective because he’s hitting when and where it is not expected. He can sense sudden shifts in balance or tempo from his opponents and be able to act on them instantly. A dynamic fighter would not just decide that he wants to punch his attacker in the face; instead his targets and actions flow from what is available and right at that very moment of time.

How then can one improve upon being dynamic? Good question. Entire systems of martial arts have pondered upon this.  Boxers spar a lot.   The Tai Chi people push hands with one another and this builds sensitivity over time as well as letting them practice projecting force. Same thing for the Wing Chun’ners with their chi sao. Aikido or jiu-jitsu people practice techniques over and over again to internalize the same feelings of balance and rightness they have in their structure when executing a move properly.  Karate systems practice prearranged kumite which teach one correct distancing and exertion of force. In theory, this trains certain concepts of timing that one can execute under pressure or stimulus from an outside force.

I think all of these approaches are both right and wrong.  They teach ASPECTS of being DYNAMIC, yet they are incomplete in of themselves.  You must practice free kumite, but too much free kumite can actually teach you bad habits, particularly if you are inexperienced.  You must also practice for feeling, for sensitivity as well.  I’ll try to update this post to flesh out this last paragraph some more as I get the chance.  I’m definitely leaving the idea hanging the way it is now…

We had another aiki class today. From time to time, Instructor Jason has one of these to exphasize connecting to your opponent. As he says repeatedly, kenpo fighters are connected to their opponent until the fight is over. They do not flit in and out of contact like a point fighter does – a kenpo fight should be continuous like a circle until it is over.

Anyway, the aiki exercise was a simple wrist takedown. As you are attacked, you step to the outside of the attack, encircling the attacker’s wrist with the gap between your own arm and body and turning so your back is in the same direction as uke’s back yet you are to uke’s side almost 90 degrees offset. Uke’s wrist or whatever you are using to connect to him ideally should be at your own hip.  If uke is offbalance, you can simply reverse the flow of the circle you have made and bring him down by driving your force down and through him by turning opposite from the initial pivot.

Instructor Jason gave a great example by connecting some dowel rods and balls into a diagram, approximating a wrist, elbow, and set of hips.  You can take either the wrist or elbow joints in a certain direction, but don’t be misled.  The ultimate goal is not the wrist of elbow.  It’s uke’s center (frequently, this are his hips).  So realizing this, every movement you take must be to take uke’s center, and it becomes obvious that you can’t just simply reverse the turn in the example above unless you take care first to vector in on uke’s center first to affect him.

Yeah, I know.  Hard to explain and hard to understand.

Well, I finally got off my duff and upgraded versions of Wordpress. Frankly, I’ve not been blogging because of the huge amounts of comment spam that have been inundating this blog, and it’s been a chore to clean them out from time to time. I’ve upgraded versions and added a comment blacklist. If anyone makes a comment that includes a certain card game or certain sexual performance drugs, the comment will go directly into a black hole. Apologies in advance for any legitmate comments not making through….

I often wonder why I find spontaneity in kenpo a difficult proposition. When we free fight, I find myself following the same patterns over and over again. It’s a weakness because it means I am extremely predictable. Heck, everytime I throw a spinning back kick, I’ve got Jason or Lauren grabbing my privates. (Ahem, this is a kenpo blog, so please keep the comments clean.)

I wouldn’t hesitate comparing it to cooking. You see, I’m very good at following instructions and I’ve been able to whip together a handful of tasty dishes just by following a recipe from Fanny Farmer or some other book I have lying around the house. I have this one Blueberry Cornmeal Flapjack recipe that I can make from memory, I’ve done it so many times. It’s a fantastics, never fail recipe for me. I literally am incapable to making a bad batch of this stuff, it’s so easy. Over time, I’ve been able to spice things up by changing or adding a few ingredients. Nothing major. It’s still a flapjack, but some vanilla and a touch of cinnamon makes it all the better.

What is the lesson we can take from this? I think it’s obvious. You have to take kenpo and make it your own. You must internalize before you can realize or actualize in the circle. Just as I made that recipe my own, so that I could feel comfortable about making my little adjustments, so must I do the same to the strikes and movement of kenpo in order to be able to use it effective.

That brings me to the key point of this post. How do we get there? Some styles of martial arts use kata. You perform an establish set of movements over and over again until you can perform them well. Ideally, you should be able to perform kata automatically, left side, right side, it does not matter. You should not have to think about what move comes next, nor should you have to remember to pivot your hip into a punch (if your style punches that way, many karate systems do). All that should be automatic, without thought.

Still other systems have canned self-defense techniques. It really kata, albeit shorter and with obvious bunkai (applications). Following is a beginning level technique found in some Hawaiian kenpo system, just to illustrate the point.
Japanese Sword

In response to A (Left punch) or B (Right punch)

A. 1. Right foot steps forward to 12:00 as you perform a right extended outward block to the inside of the left punch. Chamber your left hand and

2. Execute a right chop to left side of opponent’s neck

B. 1. Right foot steps forward to 12:00 while you make a right extended outward block to the outside of the right punch, chambering with your left hand.

2. Retaliate with a left punch to the opponent’s right rib cage while your right hand chambers.

Obviously, it’s a fundamental level technique and not too flashy, but you get the point I hope. In our style of kenpo we never practice such a prethought out pattern. We prefer the stream of consciousness approach, which I totally understand the effectiveness of. Once you get it, you really get it. Still, the other approach is much easier for the neophyte, is it not?

Agendas are a frequent topic of discussion in our dojo. No, I don’t mean that we gather around in a board room and do the corporate dance. I’m talking about the desire to perform or execute a technique during kumite. For example, I’m always looking for a inner sweep. Sweeps are cool. They’re flashy, they’re fun.

But they just don’t work when you’re standing man-to-man with your partner and you decide to just hang one out there. In fact, your partner usually just avoids it, and you’ve opened yourself even just a little when you’ve committed to throwing that sweep. Instructor Jason says that I cannot have an agenda during kumite. I cannot want it – the sweep must simply happen because it is the right technique at the right time.

I really struggle with this concept. When I was a teenager, I trained in a hard style of martial arts that emphasized feints and set-up shots. I can’t say I ever became competent in their way, but it made sense to me on a mental level. Distract your opponent with the low blow and then come back up high… It’s not a high level of martial thinking, but it is simple, and that can be appealing at times.

So the key question is how can I make that sweep the right technique at the right time? Or does me asking that question show that I don’t understand the true question at all?

THE MORE I TRAIN
THE FASTER I MOVE

THE FASTER I MOVE
THE BETTER MY CONDITIONING

THE BETTER MY CONDITIONING
THE HARDER I HIT

THE HARDER I HIT
THE MORE THEY HURT

THE MORE THEY HURT
THE QUICKER THEY’LL RUN

THE QUICKER THEY RUN
THE HIGHER THE EXPECTATIONS

THE HIGHER THE EXPECTATIONS
THE GREATER THE THREAT

THE GREATER THE THREAT
THE MORE I TRAIN

Chad of WKF Detroit

Some nights when you have alot of things on your mind it can couse you to cry in Kenpo.
One night I had a lot of things on my mind and when we were doing floorpractise I got really fustrated
I started to cry.But my dad made me push through it so I tryed but I was still crying.Class was over when we were coming home dad said it was one of my best classes.

At first I thought is would be a piece of cake… BUT…..it wasn’t it was RICE….Very humbling…

Taking notes is a huge part of any learning, and I don’t see any reason why this doesn’t also apply to the martial arts. Your lessons only take a few hours each week after all. It takes both practice and committment during the rest of your time to internalize and UNDERSTAND the material, both physically and mentally. So this is where the blog comes in.

On a superficial level, I’ll use it to document the new techniques I learn in class. Probably more importantly, I shall notate my feelings and impressions about what happened in class to jog my memory and hopefully those of others. It would be really valuable if everyone in the class participated in this blog, whether by creating an account for themselves or just contributing to the comments section… We all have get something different out of class. Through this blog we can share them with each other.

So who am I? I’m Alex. I participate in a kenpo class taught by Instructor Jason. My classmates are Cynthia (my wife) and Brad and Lauren. Brad and Lauren are also a couple. We’re green belts at this writing which is one rank above the beginner white level, and we’ve been training for almost a year (I think we started in April of 2004).

The kenpo we study has been called ‘zen kenpo’ by Instructor Jason. It’s more than a little different from the typical training you see in most strip mall dojos. For starters, we train on the grounds of a church where both inside facilities is available as well as a large piece of open land. When it is neither hot nor cold, training outdoors can be quite pleasant… until you get to the ‘makiwara’.

The makiwara is really some padding wrapped around the trunk of a tree. Then layers of rope is wound around over the padding to form the striking surface. You hit a makiwara. The idea is to condition your striking surfaces on your hands and feet (like the first two knuckles that you punch with, or the heel of your palm used for palm heel strikes). You also quickly gain from the makiwara an understanding of whether your physical technique is worth a darn or not. If a thrust punch is off, you’ll scrape the skin of your knuckles bloody. If you throw a kick that does not have the proper distancing, you’ll literally bounce right off the tree.

If you haven’t guessed already, I dislike makiwara training, but after avoiding it for some time, I recently realized I have to do it at least weekly if I’m to take that proverbial next step. My technique, or mechanical conditioning, is the weakest part of my kenpo. So there you have it. Alex, meet Tree. Tree, meet Alex.

I need to end this post, but I’ll return to jot down a few notes on kicking next.