50 Percent

[Don Roley]

I just got a message from someone who wanted me to talk about something Hatsumi has talked about in the past. I thought I would share my response here and open it up for discussion.

The comment was one about not doing things with 100 percent intention/ dedication. You should only do it about 50 percent at time.

Well, yes.... Kind of..... It depends.

Even in Japanese, a lot of this has some deep nuances I think. Trying to translate it may be difficult on a word for word basis.

My teachers and Hatsumi has always stressed that you should not get tunnel vision and concentrate on one opponent. You need to be aware for other people coming at you. So that may be what people are thinking.

Also, you can't be totally devoted to doing a particular technique so that you are trying it even after the other guy realizes what you are doing and defends against it. And you can't be so focused on doing it that you blind yourself to other, better openings that present themselves. So that may be what people are thinking.

And, in a training enviroment like the honbu, you should not be trying to kill your opponent, but rather be trying to get the technique down as best you can before taking it home to explore it. Typically the honbu has a lot of people we have not seen before and if everyone went at it full bore it is a sure bet that there will be some heavy injuries. That is what people may be thinking.

 

[silatman]

As I read it, it is saying that you should only be concentrating on a particular aspect at 50%.....not in my book.
Maybe I'm taking it abit literally but I think I will give it everything I got.
That doesn't mean I'm going to lose track of my surroundings, I just think that the hole picture needs to be seen at the same time.

 

[Grey Eyed Bandit]

Nobody said anything about not using all of your concentration. The important part is how you choose to focus it...

 

[Brother John]

I just got a message from someone who wanted me to talk about something Hatsumi has talked about in the past. I thought I would share my response here and open it up for discussion.

The comment was one about not doing things with 100 percent intention/ dedication. You should only do it about 50 percent at time.

Well, yes.... Kind of..... It depends.

Even in Japanese, a lot of this has some deep nuances I think. Trying to translate it may be difficult on a word for word basis.

My teachers and Hatsumi has always stressed that you should not get tunnel vision and concentrate on one opponent. You need to be aware for other people coming at you. So that may be what people are thinking.

Also, you can't be totally devoted to doing a particular technique so that you are trying it even after the other guy realizes what you are doing and defends against it. And you can't be so focused on doing it that you blind yourself to other, better openings that present themselves.

So in a way, it's like what Takuan Soho was trying to get at in "An Unfettered Mind"... trying to have "Mushin" or "Fudoshin" during your training and thus your reactions. Is that accurate?

Your Brother
John

 

[Rich Parsons]

I just got a message from someone who wanted me to talk about something Hatsumi has talked about in the past. I thought I would share my response here and open it up for discussion.

The comment was one about not doing things with 100 percent intention/ dedication. You should only do it about 50 percent at time.

Well, yes.... Kind of..... It depends.

Even in Japanese, a lot of this has some deep nuances I think. Trying to translate it may be difficult on a word for word basis.

My teachers and Hatsumi has always stressed that you should not get tunnel vision and concentrate on one opponent. You need to be aware for other people coming at you. So that may be what people are thinking.

Also, you can't be totally devoted to doing a particular technique so that you are trying it even after the other guy realizes what you are doing and defends against it. And you can't be so focused on doing it that you blind yourself to other, better openings that present themselves. So that may be what people are thinking.

And, in a training enviroment like the honbu, you should not be trying to kill your opponent, but rather be trying to get the technique down as best you can before taking it home to explore it. Typically the honbu has a lot of people we have not seen before and if everyone went at it full bore it is a sure bet that there will be some heavy injuries. That is what people may be thinking.

From a Non Japanese and a non Ninjutsu view: (* My Apologies if this is off base *)

I have heard and seen and practiced this before. You go slow at first to get the technique, then you go slow with a person who is teaching it to you, to learn the timing of the technique at the slower speed. Later as you improve the speed will increase naturally.

Also if you look at a strike it is a strike to hit the person if they do not block or evade, yet if they take action you need to be able to abort the technique and move to another technique to counter this persons counter.

So by saying go 50% this means more than 0% and less than 100%. Similiar to the forty days, which was a literal translation I believe but in dialect of the language meant many in rreference to more than a fortnight. So, I can easily see where it would not translate directly, and also be hard to convey to beginners at first.

 

[DWeidman]

Not sure if this is adding anything...

Recently - I have heard people talk about never attaching much to anything - to do things almost "half-assed". A good attack can be used against the attacker - so you don't attach yourself it.

Likewise - a good counter can also be against the person countering... so, likewise, you don't want to attach too much to it either.

I suspect it is like everything - balance is the key. Anything you attach your mind, body, or soul to can be used against you...

-Daniel Weidman
Bujinkan TenChiJin Guy...

 

[Don Roley]

Dan,
The word that is the original is chuto hanpa and maybe a better translation might be "uncommited." The meaning in Japanese is that you are not quite one way, and not quite another. In some things, you either do it or you don't. So in many ways, chuto hanpa is a bad thing. But when you are not trying to let the other guy know what you are doing it can be a good thing. If you don't really know what you are doing, how can the other guy read your intention?

And it is kind of like what Rich was saying. But he talked about only in the basis of an attack. Well, maybe. If you do something and it does not work, you need to be able to change gears. One thing that makes me shudder is when people talk about doing a technique against a resisting opponent. I do not think we should be like a Ron Duncan uke and throw ourselves. But if someone is resisting technique A, then he leaves himself open to B, C and D. So, instead of doing "Oni Kudaki or bust" you should have enough leeway in your mental outlook to see the new openings and flow like a river to them.

Mind you, this is just my outlook based on my experience. Looking over what I just wrote, it kind of sounds like I am speaking with a voice of authority. I know I still have a lot to learn and make mistakes. What I am writing now may be one of those.

One last thing that may relate to this. Last night at class Hatsumi tried to tell the students to not attack the other person during the technique but to just attach yourself to them. I did not think too much about it at first since it is what my teacher says a lot of the time and I try to do it. But I looked out and saw that there were a hell of a lot of people who were launching some very obvious attacks instead. I was struck by seeing what they were doing and seeing what Hatsumi was doing.

Remember the opening scene from Episode three where a missle blows up ahead of Obi-Wan's fighter? He sails through what you at first think is a harmless cloud of junk. But that junk attaches to his hull and turns into buzz droids that start ripping his fighter to pieces.

That is kind of like what Hatsumi was doing. The hand that he places on the chest of the other guy just floats there. As far as the other guy is concerned it does not look like an attack and falls beneath his radar. Then from there, Hatsumi does that evil stuff he does so well with the hand.

But the full- powered attacks I saw coming in were visible from a mile off. There woudl be no way I would let them get in if I had a chance. But Hatsumi's hands just seem to end up where they do. There is so little to pick up, so little in terms of 100 percent, that it just seems like an accident that his hands end up where they do- until they turn into buzz droids.

I hope that made sense. The written word is not at all a good medium for this type of transmision. If you want to read something related to this, I think Brother Jon's reccomendation of Takuan's work is the best start.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Good Post Don,

Uncommitted is a good way to put it! 50% or "half assed" sometimes
confuses people. Leaving yourself the ability to make the change at
the right moment by having a relaxed attitude of letting things happen
seems to be the key! Rather than the reverse of forcing things which
everyone finds themselves doing from time to time! If your partner
resists your technique appropriately if you are relaxed you just change
and move to something else! Making the connection between techniques
so that you can change when appropriate is a indicator that someone is
starting to gain some skill in what they are doing!

Brian R. VanCise

 

[Brother John]

Good Post Don,

Uncommitted is a good way to put it! 50% or "half assed" sometimes
confuses people.
Brian R. VanCise

HAHAHAHAHAHa.....
OK...Now Don's gonna need to translate "Half assed" into Japanese....
ha!!

Don-
You latest explanation got me to thinking about driving a car. Basically what you are saying is that if you go 100 MPH then you have fewer options on being able to dodge other cars and you've got a 99% chance of missing every off-ramp..
whereas if you go 50MPH... those dodges and those off-ramps are Much easier to do.
Closer??

Your Brother (who used to think he didn't want to do Anything "half-assed"
John

 

[Rich Parsons]

And it is kind of like what Rich was saying. But he talked about only in the basis of an attack. Well, maybe. If you do something and it does not work, you need to be able to change gears. One thing that makes me shudder is when people talk about doing a technique against a resisting opponent. I do not think we should be like a Ron Duncan uke and throw ourselves. But if someone is resisting technique A, then he leaves himself open to B, C and D. So, instead of doing "Oni Kudaki or bust" you should have enough leeway in your mental outlook to see the new openings and flow like a river to them.

I agree, that you should be able to move to the next technique in the line, and flow from one to the next. I did not communicate that clearly.

Good Points Don

 

[Don Roley]

You latest explanation got me to thinking about driving a car. Basically what you are saying is that if you go 100 MPH then you have fewer options on being able to dodge other cars and you've got a 99% chance of missing every off-ramp..
whereas if you go 50MPH... those dodges and those off-ramps are Much easier to do.
Closer??

Sorry, not really. I am not the best at describing things. It is more a matter of intent and attention than speed. If you are so focused on the road ahead of you, you can get hit from behind, etc.

 

[Brother John]

I see.
So really, the Fudoshin and Mushin are closer to the mark.
Boiled down: don't get tunnel vision. (?)

Your Brother
John

 

[Bigshadow]

Not sure if this is adding anything...

I suspect it is like everything - balance is the key. Anything you attach your mind, body, or soul to can be used against you...

-Daniel Weidman
Bujinkan TenChiJin Guy...

I wholeheartedly agree! Don't have a favorite technique and also don't force a technique. Techniques happen naturally, they are just "there" when you get "there", whatever they happen to be. But I have realized it isn't so much as I 'see' the technique, rather I 'feel' it is there.

 

[Cryozombie]

I wholeheartedly agree! Don't have a favorite technique and also don't force a technique. Techniques happen naturally, they are just "there" when you get "there", whatever they happen to be. But I have realized it isn't so much as I 'see' the technique, rather I 'feel' it is there.

So my question is... HOW do you develop that feeling...?

 

[Bigshadow]

So my question is... HOW do you develop that feeling...?

Hmmm... First let me say, I am no instructor/teacher, just a fellow student. It comes with training. How? Well, I may get this wrong, but this is how I think it comes about... we have to get beyond the mechanics of techniques. Visualize if you will something like Ganseki Nage, the uke's body takes a certain shape as it does when any set of principles are applied (techniques). That shape has a certain feel, there is the feel of the space you occupy, the feel of the uke, and the feel of the attack. When all the right feelings converge, you will say to yourself, "Oh, here is Ganseki Nage" It will present itself. Things present themselves ALL the time, just our level of sensitivity keeps us from feeling and sometimes seeing it. This has happened to me many times where I felt I should do one thing and my instructor says wait "You can do this, which would be better!" I then go "WOW, I didn't even know that was there!".

In a more simple example, it is feeling your uke's balance point and without looking you can feel which leg they are weighted most heavily on, you can feel where their 3rd point is, you can tell where their feet are in relation to yours without looking down, and you can feel subtle things like if one of their feet are off of the ground or if they are about to fall. However, different pieces of that will disappear if we are not relaxed, not all of them just more and more of them progressively as our tension increases. Tension is like white noise and prevents us from feeling subtle body changes.

This is ONLY my interpretation, I am sure there are more experienced buyu here who may want to add to this or have some other creative and illuminating description to share.

Also, I may have said to much in a public forum. I am still working on understanding what is appropriate and what is not.

EDIT:Oh I forgot... Don't have a favorite technique. If you have a favorite technique you like to do, you will ultimately try to force it to work, which gives away your intention. Don't think, just act. Trying to use a favorite technique means you are thinking or preplanning your action.

 

[rutherford]

This is my interpretation, and not something I've discussed in training.

But, during a fight I don't think or worry or bind myself to anything. I don't plan moves or look for openings. All I do is hold an intention, a goal, and act upon it.

I'm often surprised at what happened when I have time to reflect, but during the conflict I've never felt surprised . . .

 

[Don Roley]

So my question is... HOW do you develop that feeling...?

IMO, with a lot of experience with a good uke.

Grab a beer folks, this is going to be yet another of my overly- long rants.

I believe that we need to practice "Technique A" in a situation where that is the most appropriate thing to do. Everything is geared to it just happening. It is the job of the uke to set that situation up.

But....... (duck folks) there have been numerous times where I have been working out with someone trying to overcome all the situations that make Technique A difficult while Technique B has been staring me in the eye and screaming, "Take me! Take me now! Take me right here in the middle of the dojo! I don't care if other people see! I want you to do me right here and now as hard as possible!!!!!!!"

Sorry folks, I have had a lot of sugar today.............. :uhoh:

But my point is that in such situations I am not training to do the most natural thing and do it without thinking. I am training myself to do the unnatural and having to think about how to do it. And it all comes down to the uke. Everyone watches what the teacher does, but few look at what the uke does to create the situation where it things just..........happen.

Lets look at a lapel grab. Simple, huh? Many of you think that a lapel grab is a lapel grab and there is no need to worry abou it. But there are times when people can grab you from nearly face to face and pull you in to threaten you. And there are times when people can start from a half step out and shove you back on your heels or into something.

If you were going to do an elbow strike followed by oni kudaki would it be working off a guy close in and pulling you closer or someone far out and pushing you back? And if yuou wanted to hyper- extend the elbow in moves like seoi-nage or a Hoteki varient wouldn't you want to start from farther out instead of working to get that limb out where you could push it beyond what it was meant to?

And that is a simple lapel grab. If you don't give your partner the best situation for the technique to work you train them to either do the unnatural response or soemthing other than what the teacher is showing.

Some of the best training I have gotten has been from Japanese seniors who set up perfect situations for the technique to work and take advantage of every mistake I make. It is not pleasent, but having someone dump you on you tail-bone is several times better for true understanding than having someone tell you keep on balance doing the technique.

And of course, there are problems with that type of training at the lower levels. I have talked about how I going to smack one of my Japanese juniors if he won't stop sending out half-baked attacks just so that he can try to mess with my technique.

Anyways... that is just my opinion based on my limited experience. :soapbox:

 

[Bigshadow]

Thanks Don. I meant to get back on here yesterday evening because I failed to add, it DOES take a good uke and a good teacher. Uke and teacher are very important.

 

[Grey Eyed Bandit]

Sometimes, especially the teacher. You know that you've found something real special when the instructor understands instantly what it is you're wondering about and is able to explain the problem and/or the solution on the fly, as opposed to someone who gives you a diffuse answer pertaining to "adaptability" or "flow" or "the body" - or even worse (and I've seen a lot of this too) someone with an ego so big that he refuses to tell you that he isn't really sure about something, and instead just shrugs it off or tries to undermine the validity of your question.

 

[DWeidman]

So my question is... HOW do you develop that feeling...?

Ok... It has been awhile since I posted on this forum....

There are several things to work through on this topic - so I will start at the beginning.

Techniques (movement) are like In-Yo. In order to completely stop one technique - you set yourself up for another one. As such - you should be well versed in the complimentary techniques... (in other words - you should know that MushaDori and Katamaki go together - or OniKudaki and TeMakura go together). The allows you to quickly switch when someone is not moving correctly for on **GENERALLY** they will fall into the opposite technique.

As to how you find or "feel" these is considerably harder to write in words. First things first though: The word "Feel" may be confusing. It is more like "Intuition" - whereas you find yourself moving because you *know* that something is about to present itself. Sorry, I don't have a better explanation than that.

As to how you get these opportunities to present themselves: I recommend ALWAYS attempting to gain Superior Position / and Superior Rhythm. By making the other person try to work out of a deficit - they tend to *gamble* and present you with opportunites while they are working to regain neutrality. This is a HARD concept to work with - as it takes both parties to be honest. This is where having a GREAT uke is extremely valuable. If your partner can stay nice and slow - AND NOT BREAK THE "LAWS OF PHYSICS" GAME - then you can learn how to "find" techniques.

This brings me to my last point: It does you no good to find a perfect Omote Gyaku if you don't know how to really use Omote Gyaku. Too many people use "henka" and "Nagare" to explain away why they can't get techniques to work. You have to have a solid foundation in GOOD, SOLID basics before you can dance around them. Just because your instructor can find henka - doesn't mean you should be trying to work your way out of "the box". Spend a lot of time in "the box" first. Then branch out.

Too often I read about 6th kyus trying to understand Randori -- or how a kata works. This is the equivilent of a Third Grader coming to his school teacher and asking about the policial influences on Shakespeare at the time of his writing.

This is going to ruffle alot of feathers - but there are way too many instructors teaching "HaiKu" to 1st graders. The Ten and Chi Ryaku no Maki outline your "alphabet". When you have them down pat - then you can begin "writing" basic sentances.

And I am not talking about the "concept" of the techniques. A good, solid, well-thought-out version that you try to perform as closely as you can get it to your instructors version. Then, when you are ready - you can start working outside the box - at the "conceptual" level.

If you give up your mechanics (basics) for flow (henka) - then you get neither.

Your flow is built on your foundation. Choose wisely...

-Daniel Weidman
Bujinkan TenChiJin Guy...