I thought I would start a thread here where we could all share our "Ah Ha" moments in whatever art we study. These are the moments where we learn a new detail that totally changes our effectiveness for a particular technique. Maybe through sharing, other people can find the same detail helpful to them.... I'll start out and share one of mine.
So, I just went to a multiday clinic in Danzan Ryu. One of the classes was very small, so when the instructor asked what we wanted to work on... I asked to work on chokes, specifically lapel chokes from mount. Now, I can do these chokes and have choked a few people out with them during randori. But, these choke outs have been due mainly to sheer determination and strength and less due to great technique. I have seen and tried many variations (reach deep in the collar so you hands touch behind the neck.... leave more lapel between the hands to use as a rope... put your arms in with the flat of the fore arm against the neck, then apply by rotating the blade of the arms in... straighten the wrist to apply.... etc) they all kind of worked for me... but still fell into the "worked through dogged determination" rather than "worked due to slick technique."
The instructor showed his variation for sinking the hands in and getting the lapel and then applying the choke. I tried doing what was shown and immediately felt the lack of technique and reliance on determination thing coming in yet again. The instructor watched what I was doing and asked me to make a small adjustment. When I was applying the choke from the mount position... I would pull with my arms and drop my body onto the other guy, trying to put my head to the mat. Thats what I saw him doing and what most instructors have told me to do. This one told me to instead, think about taking my weight and putting it on the mat, above the other guys head, not straight down onto him. I didn't hardly even start to apply the choke when I felt this furious tapping out... When I would drop my weight straight onto him, it was actually forcing my arms apart, releasing the choke... causing me to fight my own weight to apply the choke.... which is why it took so much determination. But, by trying to put my weight above his head, it changed the angle enough, that now my weight was helping to apply the choke... And it did not matter which variation of grabbing the lapel I used... they all have started to work and come on fast.
I still don't consider myself good at these. But, the light came on... I can now make these work and it feels like they are working more due to technique than determination. Better yet, I can now see a way forward to cleaning these up, to be all technique. (even some of my other chokes are getting better, due to the work done on this detail in the lapel chokes... I am able to find the same angle adjustments in other types of chokes as well)
I hope you guys will share details that helped open doors for you in your particular arts. I would love to see details about kicks, punches, throws, takedowns, locks...
So, I just went to a multiday clinic in Danzan Ryu. One of the classes was very small, so when the instructor asked what we wanted to work on... I asked to work on chokes, specifically lapel chokes from mount. Now, I can do these chokes and have choked a few people out with them during randori. But, these choke outs have been due mainly to sheer determination and strength and less due to great technique. I have seen and tried many variations (reach deep in the collar so you hands touch behind the neck.... leave more lapel between the hands to use as a rope... put your arms in with the flat of the fore arm against the neck, then apply by rotating the blade of the arms in... straighten the wrist to apply.... etc) they all kind of worked for me... but still fell into the "worked through dogged determination" rather than "worked due to slick technique."
The instructor showed his variation for sinking the hands in and getting the lapel and then applying the choke. I tried doing what was shown and immediately felt the lack of technique and reliance on determination thing coming in yet again. The instructor watched what I was doing and asked me to make a small adjustment. When I was applying the choke from the mount position... I would pull with my arms and drop my body onto the other guy, trying to put my head to the mat. Thats what I saw him doing and what most instructors have told me to do. This one told me to instead, think about taking my weight and putting it on the mat, above the other guys head, not straight down onto him. I didn't hardly even start to apply the choke when I felt this furious tapping out... When I would drop my weight straight onto him, it was actually forcing my arms apart, releasing the choke... causing me to fight my own weight to apply the choke.... which is why it took so much determination. But, by trying to put my weight above his head, it changed the angle enough, that now my weight was helping to apply the choke... And it did not matter which variation of grabbing the lapel I used... they all have started to work and come on fast.
I still don't consider myself good at these. But, the light came on... I can now make these work and it feels like they are working more due to technique than determination. Better yet, I can now see a way forward to cleaning these up, to be all technique. (even some of my other chokes are getting better, due to the work done on this detail in the lapel chokes... I am able to find the same angle adjustments in other types of chokes as well)
I hope you guys will share details that helped open doors for you in your particular arts. I would love to see details about kicks, punches, throws, takedowns, locks...
