Heads up on what I'm doing these days

[kyosa]

Just thought I would post on a few things that I have going on. I am teaching a class at Tang Soo DO at St Cloud State and have a new class starting tomarrow called "An introduction to Mixed Martial Arts." I also have an old student coming up next week who is a former student of mine who trained with me 20 years ago Sept 17th and is now a 5th Dan in Tae Kwon Do...wow has it really been 20 years? In October I am attending classes for teaching spontanious knife defense and GAGE( ground avoidance ground escape for law enforcement officers) BTW if you havent seen it there is a new competition out there called Mixed Marshall Arts which is Law Enforcement full contact fighting MMA style but with a simulated gun, knife and pepper spray-you can't use your stuff but if you take it from your opponent you can use it against him. Groin shots are legal (ouch)!

My students probably haven't realized it yet but I've been changing and adding some things from some of the SERT/SORT (special emergency response team / special operations response team ) training.

finally I wanted to say I hope things are going well for everyone up in Duluth, Hawaii or where ever you guys may be. If youre not training in Tang Soo Do I hope you're training in something and training hard. I do make occational trips to Duluth or if youre coming down to St Cloud and want to get together and/or work out let me know.

 

[arnisador]

Sounds intense! Good luck!

 

[Makalakumu]

That sounds awesome! Are you going to tie all of that in eventually and come up with a formal curriculum? I'd love to see it when its done. Also, MMA with weapons! That sounds interesting. I'd watch.

I'm teaching every Wednesday right now and I'm looking at getting a regular training gig going a couple of other days per week. The Isshinryu was WAY too expensive, more expensive then BJJ, so I'm looking for something else.

There is a shotokan school down by my daughter's school that I visited last week. The guy is a godan in SKIF and he reminds me a lot of you, so I might give it a try.

 

[jdwindsurfer]

Hey all,

Cool to hear what everyone is up to. I have been back at the Kuroinukan Doing Dan Zan Rhyu Jujutsu and Kodokan Judo since February. I had done a stint in the early 1990's there and then had been out of martial arts for about 10 years before working out with John, but I had earned my Sankyu and competed in a bunch of Judo tournaments back then. I recently earned my Nikkyu and my three little girls are all working out int he kids class and the two older girsl have earned their gold belts, while the 6 year old has her first stripe on a white belt.

I'm planning to test for my iqqyu at the February Jujutsu camp here in Duluth, and then work on polishing everything for a Shodan test later in 2009. I have really settled into a state of appreciating the two nights a week I get to train and the one morning where I get to help teach the kids class. The rank tests are becoming more of a natural progression of where I am in my practice and not such a burning goal for me. I'm not sure if that is because I am getting old, or because I have figured out something, but it works for me either way. Still, I am looking forward to finally having my Shodan after a long and mixed journey in martial arts for 18 years.

One of the things I really enjoyed about John's class was when we strapped on the pads and did some 2-on-1 sparring. We do something similar every night in the advanced Jujutsu class, where everyone in the dojo gangs up on one person and you run around the dojo trying to take the attack to each person on your terms instead of getting surrounded. Recently while my wife and I were walking in the woods, talking very intently and not paying a lot of attnetion to our surroundings, a spike buck surprised us. He had been holding very still hoping for us to pass by a lot further away, apparently, and when we got within 20 feet of him or so he jumped and ran right at us and then veered away across our path. The cool thing for me was that instead of screaming like a little girl or throwing my wife between me and the deer, I actually raised my hands and stepped toward the buck as an involuntary reaction. My wife wondered if I was going to throw him Ippon Seoi Nage if he had continued strtaight at us. I'm guessing it would have been an uglier sort of hip throw, but it felt cool to see training translate into real world reflexes...

Take Care.
Jason

 

[Makalakumu]

I'm sure you've seen the Gracie Jui justsu videos where the Gracies take on all of these guys from different arts and totally spank them. Mark and I got to drinking one night and came up with the idea of BJJ vs Deer. It could be narrated by Rorian and star a couple of idiot pollocks from Minnesota.

"Zee how da shushutzu practioner takes down his apponent and applies ze choke."

Anyway, it'll be interesting if I do end up starting Shotokan. I'd like to go to class with Olivia and support her while she learns. I don't have the time right now to put together a large class with lots of kids for her to train with. The class at her school is very active and she actually has a lot of her classmates that are involved in it.

I'm not really sure how I'll fit into it. They do their kata a little different then what I'm used to but its not so different that I'm completely relearning. Also, we do locks and throws and all sorts of stuff. I'm wondering if Shotokan still has that stuff in the system or if it was taken out.

 

[jdwindsurfer]

I did my Shotokan in Morris MN and then later Duluth (1990 - early 1992). I can't recall the Morris instructor, but it was Bill Punkyo in Duluth. We did all of our rank testing in St. Cloud, though, and it was the center of our affiliation with any sort of national organization. Anyway, at that time and those schools there was no joint locking or throwing. It was very much focused on kata (at least up through purple belt, which was about three quarters of the way to Shodan, I believe).

I mainly dropped out of that system becaus eoif work / school committments, but I also wasn't all that excited to get back into it when I had more time again... I think it was a great system to learn basic stances and strikes, though.

 

[Makalakumu]

The sad thing is that Shotokan used to have throws and locks. It still DOES have them. They are IN the kata but its sad that it doesn't get practiced. I read a book, Karate-do Kyohan, this summer. It was written by Funakoshi sensei in 1951 and there are a number of throws and locks described in it that were part of the Shotokan he taught. I'll have to talk to this instructor to see what he thinks about that.

One of the unique aspects of the art that I was teaching is that we combined all of that. We put the whole package back together. That is the way it used to be.

 

[jdwindsurfer]

There is an interesting discussion thread to be explored there. Should a martial art be sort of specialized into grappling or striking or kicking, the way some are... or more like MMA training which tries to incorporate the perceived short cuts to the "best" techniques from each category...

I suspect that in terms of "martial" utility, there are cases to be made for doing one or two things incredibly well as a tactic. Jujutsu is incredible for a one-on-one encounter, but a kicking and punching art is much better for multiple attackers (unless you are Steven Seagal and can get everyone to watch your cool joint locks unfold one after another)...

I suppose there is a cyclical aspect where the preference of a sensai and/or the governing body rules one way or the other as the pendulum swings back and forth between specialising in one thing the art really lends itself to or bringing general skills from other categories back into it...

 

[Makalakumu]

A short response to this is that traditionally, arts that were meant to help a person survive a violent encounter incorporated elements of striking, grappling, and weapons. When your life was on the line, you couldn't afford to have a hole in your training. Fillipino, Okinawan, Koryu Japanese, and many western arts are great examples of this.

Only when combat arts started to drift toward sport did a separation of skills occur. Striking only, grappling only, or weapon only arts changed techniques to conform to rules and cut out superfluous techniques that took time away from training techniques that would win. Judo, Karatedo, Aikido, Kendo are great examples of this.

I realize that this analysis has many exception, however, I feel that this characterization is still appropriate. Digging into the history of this subject is VERY interesting.

 

[jdwindsurfer]

I was thinking more about the history of Jujutsu and how it was originally intended as supplemental for Samurai to use when they were unable to use their weapons due to being grappled in some way. A lot of the techniques are obviously useful in the context of armor, such as breaking someones fingers against their "kote" (forearm) armor. In that sense, Jujutsu wasn't intended to be a complete martial art for self defense, just a supplement for a disarmed or grappled warrior whose real martial art was sword use.

 

[Makalakumu]

I was thinking more about the history of Jujutsu and how it was originally intended as supplemental for Samurai to use when they were unable to use their weapons due to being grappled in some way. A lot of the techniques are obviously useful in the context of armor, such as breaking someones fingers against their "kote" (forearm) armor. In that sense, Jujutsu wasn't intended to be a complete martial art for self defense, just a supplement for a disarmed or grappled warrior whose real martial art was sword use.

Again, I think that if you are going to learn a system of martial arts for self defense, it needs to include instruction in weapons, striking, and grappling. You have to have all of these peices in order to cover all of your bases. My personal opinion is that you should spend equal time on all areas over the time that you are learning the curriculum. In this way, you'll build the skills you need equally.

 

[jdwindsurfer]

Upon further reflection, I think you are right about the three aspects all being necessary for a complete art. I think maybe what I am seeing in terms of specialization has more to do with the degree of study. By the time you earn your Shodan in Dan Zan Rhyu Jujutsu you need to demonsrate a number of weapon defenses in addition to striking proficiency, but there is certainly more emphasis on joint locks, throwing, and grappling in general. Ranks after Shodan include more offensive and defensive weapon training and more and more integration of all three aspects of martial arts blended together.

Still, the art that may have begun as a set of skills for a Samarui to have in case he was grappled and unable to use his sword has flipped to the dominant aspect with the sword being the less accentuated part of the art now, though still present.

Where do you draw the line when it comes to the weapon work? If we are truly training in "martial arts" shouldn't we be training with pistols and make that primary, with the grappling and striking a backup plan and conceal and carry a rank requirement?

Or maybe another path would be a scientific analysis of modern altercations, maybe a qualitative analysis of police reports to determine what the number of attackers were, whether weapons were involved, etc. to determine the appropriate balance among skills...

 

[Makalakumu]

Upon further reflection, I think you are right about the three aspects all being necessary for a complete art. I think maybe what I am seeing in terms of specialization has more to do with the degree of study. By the time you earn your Shodan in Dan Zan Rhyu Jujutsu you need to demonsrate a number of weapon defenses in addition to striking proficiency, but there is certainly more emphasis on joint locks, throwing, and grappling in general. Ranks after Shodan include more offensive and defensive weapon training and more and more integration of all three aspects of martial arts blended together.

From the people with whom I've spoken out here, most DZR black belts end up cross training in other arts. They have a good empty hand base, but then they move into something that fits their interests or needs. Fillipino Martial Arts is a good complement to jujutsu. You learn weapons and then you fall back on the striking and grappling if you are weaponless.

Still, the art that may have begun as a set of skills for a Samarui to have in case he was grappled and unable to use his sword has flipped to the dominant aspect with the sword being the less accentuated part of the art now, though still present.

DZR comes from Judo. The Kodenkan out here doesn't do much different from a judo dojo other then to de-emphasize randori in favor of kata. Out here DZR is known as "Hawaiian" jujutsu.

Where do you draw the line when it comes to the weapon work? If we are truly training in "martial arts" shouldn't we be training with pistols and make that primary, with the grappling and striking a backup plan and conceal and carry a rank requirement?

Yes. I think if you are really interested in self defense, then part of your training should include firearms. The degree varies though. For you and I, most of the time, we are not allowed to carry just because of the nature of our jobs. So, putting a lot of training into using firearms, doesn't make a lot of sense. Most of the time, when we are out of the house, we aren't going to be armed with that kind of weaponry. For others, cops, for instance, COs, POs, you name it, they would need a lot more firearms training.

Or maybe another path would be a scientific analysis of modern altercations, maybe a qualitative analysis of police reports to determine what the number of attackers were, whether weapons were involved, etc. to determine the appropriate balance among skills...

IMO, I think it depends on your needs. You have to look at your life and assess the risks that you may face and then plan accordingly. It's good to have exposure to as many areas of self defense as possible, but it also makes sense to spend more time training in aspects where you are most likely going experience a need.

 

[jdwindsurfer]

DZR comes from Judo. The Kodenkan out here doesn't do much different from a judo dojo other then to de-emphasize randori in favor of kata. Out here DZR is known as "Hawaiian" jujutsu.

Actually, Henry Okazaki studied Judo first (in Hawaii), but then went back to Japan and studied several styles of Jujutsu, plus American boxing and wrestling into DZR. There is a technique I am practicing for my next rank exam that basically ends in the "Boston crab."

I'm talking about Jujutsu in general when I make the Samurai references. Judo is a sport that was only invented in the 1800s and was basically a cleaned up version of Jujutsu minus the scary stuff, but DZR brought in all of the scary stuff again (i.e. throws where you wrap a chain around someone's neck and throw them in a 180 degree inverted arc - this is a required technique for Shodan).

 

[jdwindsurfer]

Hey all,

I thought I would provide an update. I passed my ikkyu test on Friday night. Almost exactly a year after coming back to Dan Zan Ryu as a previous sankyu, I managed to get back to where I was and then progress to the last test I will ever take in the home dojo.

This upcoming weekend we will have a visiting professor and he and my sensei will be testing a couple of ikkyus from Chicago and the Twin Cities. I progressed in time to be a part of those tests and so I will get a Shodan experience to inspire me for some time in the next year when I will take my Shodan exam.

I hope all are doing well and continuing to progress.

Jason

 

[Makalakumu]

That's great, Jason. I'm trying a Shotokan dojo right now. Sensei trained under Nishiyama and Kanazawa Sensei, both direct students of Funakoshi Sensei. It's been an interesting experience. Lots of kids and adults in class and I had forgotten all of the Ippon and Sanbon Kumite that I learned long ago. Oh well, that is easy to pick up.

We worked bunkai for Heian kata. These are our Pyung Ahns, but with some slight changes.

I'm not sure if I'm going to stick with it. I comitted to a month and I'll keep my word, but after that...

I'm not sure. I may just start training BJJ or even Danzan Ryu, which is everywhere out here. I'm thinking about Okinawan Karate, but every sensei is wary of taking me on because I have progressed so far in TSD. They don't know if they can change the way I move.

I think that if i wanted Okinawan Karate, I'd have to completely stop practicing TSD kata and throw myself 100% into it. There's also Arnis and several other chinese martial arts I could try. Too many to count.

 

[jdwindsurfer]

Sounds like an interesting mix of choices. I seem to recall Shotokan being very regimented and the training I did in it was lots of line drills - almost like a military training feel... Is there not a TSD sensai of suitable rank that you can train with? Or are you specifically looking to pursue other styles?

 

[Makalakumu]

I'm looking at other styles of karate. I am writing a book on how karate is taught and comparing the different styles, looking for the best training methods.

 

[kyosa]

wow i would be interested in reading your book-sounds interesting.

 

[Makalakumu]

I've got about ten chapters complete and I plan on having the rest done by this summer. Nicole and I will be taking some photos in may and adding those in after I get the text beyond the draft stage. Hopefully, by August, you'll be able to pick it up off of Amazon.