#wind school

[shifugoedecke]

GET, GET, GET REAL

I practice karate as a form of yoga. This was not at all my focus when I was a teenager. And I suspect not many people would even understand what it means to practice a martial discipline in this manner.

So I’d like to clarify my statement.

The essence of yoga is a path back to the source of Self. It’s the search for authentic nature. It’s not about becoming more flexible. The essence of karate is transcendence of human conflict(s), learning to quell both inner and outer rebellion. It’s not about ultimate fighting. Its about ultimate peace.

Better flexibility or agile fighting skills have their place but they were always considered lesser talents when you were not being confronted by a hostile adversary or an inability to perform a task requiring looser muscles.

Hype about fighting. Hype about flexibility has distorted both the Karate and Yogic arts. But Western culture loves hype about everything. We live in a hyped-up culture today. It’s even hard to hear the real teachers over the din of the false ones because there is so much empty chatter out there.

It’s an illusion that you are going to grow fast, mature fast, succeed quickly—or do it all by yourself. That’s for a very rare few.

Life itself is an art and disciplines like yoga and the martial arts are there to aid us in our journey if used properly. However, the mainstream has lost its way in regard to these arts. More and more arts are being used for self aggrandizement. And many arts are becoming superficialized, watered down, even degraded.

The reason for the decline is that most people are pursuing lopsided goals. There is very little real or meaningful spiritual cultivation taking place in mainstream martial and yogic communities. This is what distorts our goals. Everyone’s in a rush to gratify themselves. Get that certification, get that belt. Get, get, hurry up and get important.

Look for the grounded paths, the clear-minded ways. They are out there. Choose your disciplines and teachers carefully. They are always calling the seekers.

Sit down and think about what really matters in life. That is when you will see the deep arts loom into view.

[shifugoedecke]

The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.                                 Chinese proverb

[shifugoedecke]

John K. from Greenwich, NY has the right idea. If you’ve got the power, why not show it! John is a long time black belt and a member of the distinguished ‘Sanchin Seven,’—a group of advanced martial art practitioners studying the internal principles of Okinawan karate.

[shifugoedecke]

The Fox Within

Some Native American tribes consider the appearance of wilderness creatures at certain points in one’s life a ‘spiritual event,’ portending something of the immediate future of the observer(s).

So it was a curious moment when on the eve of a promotional ceremony, a red fox was suddenly spotted in a bed of pachysandra by yudanshas, Tim Smith and Bob Giangrande, who just happened to spot the creature out of the corner of their eyes as they were training.

The fox was standing perfectly still, focused on the backyard deck where Brain Vivas and Tom Maloney were speaking with my brother.

I had the unmistakable sense the fox was weighing its options to run or stay.

I went upstairs to notify the three men on the deck of the fox’s appearance in the yard. By then the fox had turned completely around. Curiously, rather than vanish, it lay down in the pachysandra and within seconds, its face emerged with a chipmunk in its mouth.

The fox must have sensed the movement of the chipmunk in the vegetation beneath it while it was standing still, weighing its options.

....……

As the sages often point out, stillness reveals more about our world than might, at first, be apparent. When we are quiet within the world can be heard more clearly, and not just its familiar sounds. Stillness brings to our inner ear those vital behind-the-sound-sounds, where the human spirit gets nourished.

………

And so, ten senior-most members of the Wind school, many with over twenty years of experience, sat still like that fox, listening to a fellow member give his presentation of Sunsu kata. He posed questions, proposed theories and demonstrated some of the nuance and complexity behind this enigmatic Okinawan form. Later, inside everyone sat quietly listening to four of their martial brothers talk about the impact of karate on their lives and training.

I believe the foxes in the room that night found some nourishment.   

[shifugoedecke]

THE ROLE OF A SPIRITUAL GUIDE IN THE MARTIAL ARTS

The material world that we are all so familiar seeing and touching is not all that comprises our reality.

We know this to be true if we just think of the inner world of our own minds; our thoughts, desires, imaginations, memories, and intentions. We can’t ‘see’ our own mind with our actual eyes or ‘touch’ our own thoughts with our actual  fingers, yet we know our mind to be real. We know our thoughts convey substance. We know this because we possess another faculty; a feeling sense, an intuitive sense that acts similar to our fingers and eyes, a sense that enables us to touch or to see the invisible side of life. But this is a sense less-developed in the majority of society.  

Other aspects of our immaterial reality can be found in the patterns and cycles of life that sometimes foil our attempts at happiness, health, or success, despite our best efforts to break their grip upon us.

In the study of the martial arts, you will also hear masters speak of martial ‘spirit.’ They will describe a time when the martial spirit enters the practitioner.

This is a significant moment. In Yoga this would be considered the opening of the ‘third eye’, an eye that sees, feels, makes sense of the inner realms and their energy currents. To modernize this observation, we could say that the awakening to the existence and relevance of the spirit world opens up a pan-vision, a quantum reality, allowing one to see beyond the limited perspective of material nature, of simply moving ones limbs in a powerful coordinated fashion, into the mysterious world of vibrations, of frequencies, of energy and non-linear information sources. Initiation into the spirit world, into the spirit of one’s martial practice, opens up a whole new potential for action, a whole new way to think about power.

A spiritual guide will bring to the martial novice a map of this interior frontier and a way to negotiate it. Just as many students entrust their obvious martial growth into the hands of their sensei, that same student may entrust their spiritual growth into the hands of a guide familiar with reality’s inner terrain.

The role of the spiritual guide is manifold. He or she will help you to negotiate a previously unfamiliar, unknown landscape, offer clarity how spiritual energies entwine with and enhance material life, reveal hidden or unconscious patterns that hold you back from succeeding in your study, offer tools to uncover your authentic nature, reveal how your karma plays a role in your progress, direct you to the means of nourishing your soul, and teach you tap into an ever-flowing well of vitality.

In a world that is becoming over-solid, over-material, and over-emphasizing the superficial, a competent spiritual guide will help you to remain fluid, direct you away from the illusions and distractions of life toward true spiritual warriorhood where you will see the real and relevant conflicts you must confront. A spiritual guide will offer you understanding of, and the energy for, what you really want in this life and how to win those battles that stand in your way.        

[shifugoedecke]

PAYING IT FORWARD

CHRONICLES OF THE DOKA

#37 in a continuing series

(84 days in the teaching life of an American sensei in 1999)  

Sunday, January 16, (continued)   Sunday, January 16

I drill the two teenage boys, Frankie and Chris, on slip-stepping and diagonal evasions. I tell Frankie to hold his hands atop his head, while Chris, the designated aggressor, must lightly punch strike torso. Frankie gets popped in the mouth by accident. His braces cut his lips—motivation to use his mouthpiece. This exercise is followed by lead change drills with multiple rounds on the heavy bag. The hour passes quickly. 

I spot John K’s truck through the front window. John has driven an hour down from Greenwich, Connecticut for his private. He’s early. I see him lift his truck hood up. Something must be wrong with his vehicle. The man has poor carma!

The black belt, Iron Arms, affectionately calls John, ‘Grandfather.’ Most of the long-term black belt students get nicknamed over the years. John has been a physical education teacher nearly as long as I have been a karate sensei. Several years ago he was awarded ‘P.E. Teacher of the Year’ through the Capherd organization. 

John called me last week to tell me that he had misplaced the karate curriculum we were working on. He wanted me to fax him a copy because he was starting a self-defense program at Hamilton Ave. Elementary School in Greenwich. I was unable to get him the fax on time so he improvised using the general lesson plan gleaned from my book Smart Moves, published a few years earlier through Simon and Schuster. 

John comes to private karate classes for peace of mind, an interest he shares with other students. Some private sessions never actually get around to physical movement. Oftentimes, what is needed is more mental movement; clarifications to remove life obstacles or to set the stage for higher level understanding. As I explained in my book, The Soul Polisher’s Apprentice, life is like piecing together a vertical puzzle. Only the pieces that fit at your current  height of understanding make any sense.  John opens the dialogue, “I ran the first unit, he says. “I opened with questions, ‘Why self-defense. What is self defense?’ Then I moved to stances, the pillars of strength.”     

The horse stance is a universal posture found in every striking art. Young children are usually first exposed to uncomplicated semi-aggressive pushes or tugs. It’s natural for good teachers to start with simple concepts.  “Then I showed them a basic wrist escape,” he added. “My reasoning - if you get grabbed, not only will you want to stabilize yourself but you’ll want to escape the grab.”

I like John’s logical sequencing of the material but I challenge him on some of the details. “95% of the time in my classes,” I tell him, “whenever a child is grabbed and pulled, they can’t escape from the grip if they go into a resistant posture first. The reason they fail as the grabber pulls them, it lengthens their arm, making it less effective to circle out. One of the strength principles in karate study is that the further away your arm extends from your body, the weaker it becomes.” I ask John, “If someone grabbed your right wrist and suddenly tugged you, how would you go into horse stance with the best chance of resisting that tug? Would you step back or forward and with which foot?”

He wasn’t sure.

“With quick enough reflexes you could step any way you wanted,” I said “ but the ideal tactic would be to step toward your opponent to negate his pull. That is the best time to attempt your wrist escape. I break single moves down into a logical, simple and sequential format before layering two techniques together. Introduce the horse stance first. Follow with resisting pushes and pulls. Introduce wrist escapes without any leg work at some future date, then layer wrist escapes into your footwork.”     

It’s not that children cannot have fun or learn the two methods together. To create an ideal foundation it is absolutely necessary to ground a student thoroughly into their techniques. The stronger the base, the higher the future structure.              

John and I also discuss the need in physical education for the ‘fun’ element. If there isn’t an element of fun in these lessons, most kids will loose interest today.       

I have noticed a disturbing teaching trend, whether it’s in a karate school, or in an institutional academic classroom. Children are far more antsy and anxious. Underlying their behavior in my opinion, is their doubt and confusion about life. Life is complex and overwhelming for them. Life is moving much too fast for young people to comprehend, no less find a deep taproot of meaningful focus.  

America is on a dumb down path. There is no one culprit to point a finger at. A maddening social pace simply incurs a lot of meaningless movements.

[shifugoedecke]

MOVING MARTIALLY

As a career kata practitioner and teacher, I can tell you there is a certain developmental arc to learning any new martial pattern. The first challenge is to simply memorize the sequence taught to you. Don't worry about any kata nuances until you’ve gotten the gross pattern down. In beginning kata training, which can seem very mechanical, simply try to mimic the pattern shown the best you can. In the hierarchy of values regarding form practice, ‘form’ itself should be the main focus. Speed and power should come later on.

Kata is a process, not just a bunch of cool fighting moves. There are three primary dimensions to kata study; solo practice, application practice (using a sequence against a partnered attack) and what we call jiu-kumite (free sparring). Each dimension serves to ‘authenticate’ or ground kata moves in reality.

At the early stages of Traditional kata work most martial artists lack a strong template for proper training. There are five layers to training and usually only three of them are addressed consciously. The last two remain somewhat ambiguous to most kata teachers. Those five layers are; development of the Tools, Tactics, Strategy, State of Mind and Subtle Energy patterns. I’ve provided an audio link below for anyone wishing to hear more about the five layers of kata.      

https://soundcloud.com/chris-goedecke/the-many-shapes-of-form

Studying multiple martial arts simultaneously can be a bit confusing depending upon the different arts selected. First, consider that martial arts can be divide into many different categories, Soft Style/Hard Style, Ballistic/Grappling, Close range/Long range, Slow moving/fast moving (for example, Tai Chi versus Karate) Competitive/Non competitive, Material objective-based/Spiritual objective-based, etc.  

A simple way to think about it is to imagine all the martial art knowledge in the world like a mountain. There are a lot of trails one could take. Not all will get you to the top. And ‘top’ is subjective, a matter of opinion. In the same way, it is suggested when buying a computer, to think of the kind of programs you want to run, then pick the computer that runs them best, reflect on what it is you’d like to get out of the martial arts and what kind of movement attracts you, then do some research to see what style or system best fits your interests or matches your goals.

Martial art is a process available to anyone at any age. However, some martial styles are more age appropriate than others. Full contact cage fighting is not a good choice for an eight or eighty year old. But people do surprise.

Forty is actually a terrific age. The body is still strong and pliable enough to change, depending upon your constitutional health and physical integrity, that is, relatively disease and injury free. I’ve worked with a fair amount of students in their 40-60’s. I’ve seen some remarkable growth. I taught one student years ago who began karate training with me at age forty-four. He made 5th degree black belt and retired from training at age 79. He loved every minute of it.

The one primary consideration that must be attended to by the older martial artist, to avoid injury or setback, is to build skills at an appropriate rate of training for your age, health, and fitness level. You’re not twenty. And you’re not turning the clock back, but you’d be surprised how much skill you can pick up if you have a good teacher and stick with it.  

[shifugoedecke]

PLAY, FIGHT, KILL

CHRONICLES OF THE DOKA

#36 in a continuing series

84 days in the teaching life of an American sensei in 1999

Sunday, January 16, 1999

Susan cancels her son’s ten o’clock class. “John’s sick.”

Next up, Frankie and Chris at 11:00. Both teens are brown belts, sankyus. Chris, the bigger of the two, took summer privates. His technique has really improved. But both boy’s sparring skills lag behind their kata and application work. The two have trained so often together they have gotten overly comfortable with each other.

 To understand fighting early man re-enacted combat scenarios into ‘sparring’ or ‘kumite’ training. But sparring must be broken down to be an effective learning tool. You don't just ask two novice students to glove up and fight. Paul once commented that he never realized how much there was to the jiu-kumite (free-sparring).

I use an analogy of the auto mechanic to define the kumite process. To understand the workings of a car’s engine you need to break it down, take it apart, then piece it back together. Yes, and drive it. Building a strong defense begins by learning how to block specific kicks, deflect all kinds of arm attacks, then put that knowledge back together in a free-style exchange. From a strong defensive position one gains the time and a feeling of security to focus on offensive techniques.

Karate Sparing is a drill. It’s practice fighting. It’s not the real thing, but it’s also not a game. It falls somewhere in between. Sparring is the closest two-man event to a real fight—minus the intent to hurt. Schools that encourage real fighting keep insurance companies in business. 

There are three levels of kumite: playing, fighting, and killing. Know the difference!