Demo D Day :)

Today was demo d-day. I woke up, fairly nervous in anticipation of having to perform in public. Granted, my part was fairly limited: 1) initiate attack 2) get *** kicked. 3) repeat 10 times

I arrived way ahead of time, just like everyone else and in the background we rehearsed the entire demo. We had to make a few small changes because there were no tatami so the head sensei brought his own. This means we had to perform all forms on a 3m by 3m surface.

We performed the formal bowing ceremony and from that moment on I don't remember too many details. I remember the adrenalin kicking in and at the same time having a sort of detached calm coming over me. The demo as a whole had a very strong, positive and intense spirit over it. It was special. Everyone had a special focus. I certainly felt on edge when I had to perform my tai sabaki to evade sword cuts. Not twitchy, mind you. But radiating readiness. Focused.

On the whole, most of the things I was a part of went smoothly. There was one point where my partner used oni kudaki (not sure about the correct spelling) on me. That was painful, although I didn't really feel the pain at that point. I just rationally knew that that had hurt. I returned to the side of the tatami in seiza until it was my turn again. Funny enough, I knew my arms were not in mint condition anymore but I still didn't really feel anything and I was able to continue playing my part as if nothing were amiss. The rest of the demo went fine. There were some minor mistakes but all in all it was good. Or at least that is how I remember it :)

After the bowing out I was still pumped and I quickly helped carrying the tatami out of the center area and helped clean up. Then I went to my wife and kids, and my best friend who were there to see me. My friend was impressed with what we did. My kids were in awe and started hugging me. Apparently, my wife had to reassure them several times that it was only 'pretend fighting' and that it didn't really hurt and that the big man and I (my demo partner William) were friends.

As I was winding down, I noticed that my arms started trembling and I couldn't even hold my hands out without looking like someone with advanced parkinsons. When I was changing back into my clothes, I got into an unstoppable laughing fit because I couldn't even lift my arms enough to put on my t-shirt. The after effects of the adrenalin rush probably made it seem much funnier than it was. At least I got a good laugh out of it.

I left early because I couldn't really help anymore so I went to take a dafalgan and then sit in the sofa, with voltaren gel rubbed on my triceps and an icepack. Since I was home alone (well, my youngest was home but taking a nap and out for hours) I spent some time reading in my book and after an hour and a half my arms were back to normal. They're still a bit sore but I am confident they'll be allright. Later today both my sensei and the head sensei called to check up on me. That was nice.

All in in all, I have to say the demo was a truly positive experience. The feeling during the demo was amazing. It was even more intense than performing a check test and I am really glad that I am part of the demo team. It was truly an unforgettable experience.

Comments

Chris Parker
Sounds like a great experience overall, Bruno. A few comments, if you don't mind.

The limited space can (and to my mind, should) be looked upon as an opportunity. If nothing else, the Hontai Takagi Yoshin Ryu kata are designed to be done in a confined space, such as indoors, so they could be fun to do!

With the Oni Kudaki (yep, spelled right. "Destroy the Demon!"), you don't mention it, but I'm going to assume the pain was in the elbow? An interesting thing about that and Musha Dori/Gyoja Dori, is that, depending on the angle of the elbow, you will either possibly dislocate the shoulder, or simply break the elbow. From what you said, it sounds like soft tissue damage (from over-stress) to the elbow. Try to ensure your elbow is 90 degrees to avoid that injury in the future. Your shoulder will take the brunt then, but it needs more to damage it than the elbow does.

With the adrenaline, you experienced both the adrenaline effects (the focused feeling is a disciplined version, that's really what Mushin is.... as well as the feeling you describe before the demo starts), and the endorphin after effects. And that is an incredibly good lesson! I try to get that understanding across to my students, I may have to tell them your experience to see if they can grasp it....

It's an interesting thing to be aware of, should you ever be involved in an encounter. Many people get cleaned up during the after-effects (the endorphin rush), as it is not expected by most. This story encapsulates why exactly (in a very safe way....). Although, I should state that one reason it was so pronounced for you is the injury, and it was a way of protecting yourself, and preparing to repair the damage.

I'm glad to hear your arm was fine after a while, and it was a good experience for you. It certainly sounds like it! Didn't happen to film it, did you?
 
Bruno@MT
Thanks Chris. Yes it was a very valuable experience. The things you describe were something I expected (from my limited experience with check tests) but it was much stronger. Probably because of the audience and probably also because of the damage.

The pain was in the soft tissue of the triceps, near the elbow indeed. Thanks for the tip on keeping a 90 degree angle. My arm was indeed closed. I'll keep this in mind.

And as Kajowaraku indicated, we did indeed film the entire demo. There wil be a second demo on the 15th of may, and the head sensei will compile a youtube video from both events.

the confined space is indeed an opportunity, though for some demos we had to make some minor changes. for example the technique that hurt my arm was the end of a series that had me progress with 2 tsuki and 2 sokuyakuken followed by 1 more tsuki. Normally we'd move quite a bit during that progression :)

As soon as the demo is online I'll let you know if my sensei doesn't do so first.
 
Chris Parker
Ah, Kukishinden Ryu.... such a fun system. Probably Kata Ho, Ura Kimon, or something similar... A standard way to do those is togo in straight lines, but a good idea is to train them by constantly changing the angles, forcing Uke to "chase" Tori, keeping Tori in control. That can also use the limited space quite well, and is a concept from the Sabaki Gata.
I look forward to seeing the video.
 
Bruno@MT
Impressive.

Yes, it was Kata Ho, which we trained the formal way, progressing more or less in a straight line (more of a zig-zag really).

In order to prevent accidents when stepping on and off the tatami, we worked diagonally from one corner to the other, and I only covered enough distance with each attack to put one foot in front of the other.

Otherwise my partner would have had to step backwards onto the tatami without looking and that could mess up the demo. We didn't find out there were no mats until 2 days beforehand so we improvised.
 
Chris Parker
Impressive? What, might I ask?

Yep, the diagonal thing is a good way to make do. I understand about the limited timeframe, and the need to make a decision. Honestly, it doesn't matter how you solved the issue, but it did matter that all involved knew what the solution decided on was.... I've seen too many demos and such where one person "decided" something in the middle of the event, and neglected to tell others... not good. But then again, the Genbukan has always had such a high level of professionalism that I would expect nothing less from you. Well done again, and remember to let me know when the video is up and running!
 
Bruno@MT
Will do.

Oh and 'impressive' was regarding the fact that you could put a name to a kata based solely on my description of the attack sequence. With the combination of possible ryuha, there must be hundreds of names of kata.
 

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