Staff Gathering

Sunday Sept. 15 - Staff Gathering

"Stewardship"

9:00am-Noon 

@ Sifu's house in Leyden (Studio if raining) 

Please RSVP (so that I have a head count)....Thanks!

Many thanks to all of you that helped to keep the Studio schedule running smoothly while I was away....Greatly appreciated! Sifu

A letter from Youth Karate students parents that I recently received:

Good Morning Richard,

I just wanted to send you and all the other Teachers at the studio a heart felt THANK YOU for what you have done for our girls!!! Wednesday was such a special class (and all the the trainings and the classes leading up to it), I can not tell you how much this means to our family.  The training you are giving our girls is beyond anything we could have imagined. All i can say is thank you and thank you again!

Truly , Ryan and Linda



Sifu's comment:
This letter was sent to me by Skyler and Sailors parents. Sailor was able to perform Nihanchi Kata in front of the group last Wed.....she's been working on it for several years!!! Finally with the help of her big sister Skyler and the continued support and encouragement of her parents...she GOT IT!! It was so wonderful to witness and this kind of feedback is truly what keeps me going. Just when I think I've wasted my adult life teaching this "stuff" I get a letter like this....last week it was just in the nick of time as the small class size had me a bit down in the dumps. I can't tell you all how much this kind of positive feedback means to me.....but it's what keeps me going! Thanks to all of you the share with me how the meaningful the classes and training is to you....I ALWAYS appreciate the thanks and feedback...every single time! 

True budo knows no defeat. Never defeated means never fighting. Winning means winning over the mind of discord in yourself.

—Morihei Ueshiba, founder of aikido, 1976

Meeting T'ai Chi Ch'uan Master Chen

Yesterday morning my friend William Sun brought his T'ai Chi teacher Master Chen to the Studio, so that we could meet. They came during the am T'ai Chi class and watched me teach the class and do a 'round' at the end. William also brought along one of his students, Jonathan as an interpreter. After the class finished Master Chen talked about T'ai Chi theory (through Jonathan) and answered questions. After the Q&A William demonstrated his form and some push hands with Master Chen. They lingered long after everyone left and I got to 'touch' hands with Master Chen. He was very high level....meaning of that is he was very, very soft and had literally NO tension or muscular force, although he was very strong, especially for his advanced age (75).
At about 11:30 they invited me to a Chinese lunch....we lingered at the restaurant until about 3, as Master Chen continued to try and explain the main points of high level T'ai Chi practice: Do not use muscular strength, use the bones NOT the muscles, observe and direct you balance point at all times. Yin/Yang theory in T'ai Chi means....Your energy (due to gravity) moves down through your bone structure to meet the ground/earth,Yin, then earth then pushes back up against that energy and that is Yang....that's it! When he talked about relaxing (sung) he was very exacting in what his expectation was. With a simple touch he could tell my level by how relaxed and soft (but full) I was. He said I'm still carrying tension in my shoulders, no surprise, but a good reminder to continue to work on relaxing and my structure.
I'll post a photo or two and more thoughts on the meeting later.

Prof. Wally Jay guiding principles for Small Circle Jujitsu 1-4

Wally Jay’s Small-Circle Jujitsu Techniques — Principle #1: Balance

Balance is perhaps the most important principle in any sport.

The basic strategy of judo, for instance, is to keep your opponent off-balance while maintaining your own. By keeping your own balance, you will have use of your maximum power in your jujitsu techniques while your opponent uses part of his energy trying to regain his balance. The more off-balance he is, the more strength he will need to recover.

Wally Jay’s Small-Circle Jujitsu Techniques — Principle #2: Mobility and Stability

Your center of gravity plays an important part in the principle of mobility and stability. Lower your center of gravity and you will achieve stability; raise your center of gravity and you will gain mobility. The hub of your action during jujitsu techniques is at your midsection. When your center of gravity rises, you lessen your stability and increase your mobility, and vice versa.

Your mind also can control your center of gravity. Try these exercises for example. Lift your partner up slowly holding him around the waist. If your partner thinks of riding an elevator going upward with high speed, his body will be easier to lift. Lift your partner again. If he concentrates he is riding an elevator going downward, his body will be more difficult to lift.

For mobility, move on the balls of your feet, and when pivoting, your knees should be either above or beyond your toes, and not directly over your heels. For stability, lower your body slightly. Stability is essential in punching or throwing.

Wally Jay’s Small-Circle Jujitsu Techniques — Principle #3: Avoid the Head-On Collision of Forces

To avoid the full power of your opponent’s attack, avoid the head-on collision of force by evading, deflecting, blending or redirecting. Unlike other systems of martial arts training in which you pivot in toward the opponent, this principle is just the opposite.

As in all small-circle jujitsu techniques, always pivot away from the opponent when blending, redirecting or evading. Try to evade the opponent’s striking force by stepping back. Move 45 to 90 degrees to the left or right, or move laterally left or right.

Wally Jay’s Small-Circle Jujitsu Techniques — Principle #4: Mental Resistance and Distraction

Everyone has the ability to mentally resist pain. Try this with the bent elbow wrist lock applied on you by a partner. As the hold is applied, concentrate on the spot where the pain is felt. Imagine that there is a flywheel spinning at high speed at the spot, going in the opposite direction, which is counterclockwise.

Do not use physical resistance, but remain calm and relaxed as you give your total concentration. If you are able to go into deep concentration, you will be surprised to find that you will feel no pain.

If, however, someone were to slap you on your wrist, causing you to lose your concentration, you will feel immediate pain. This also points up the vital part that the element of distraction plays in self-defense.

Distraction of the opponent’s concentration is important when executing a counterattack. During the application of a technique when resistance is met, distract your opponent by attacking the weak areas of the body. This leaves him with less power and a split-second loss of concentration.

An unexpected shout or grunt during your jujitsu techniques also may allow you sufficient time to escape or counter. A sternum strike while simultaneously executing a wrist-lock hold, for instance, or a kick to the shin while escaping a lapel grab, or a pinch to the inner thigh of someone using a bear hug on you may enable you to gain control of the fight more readily.

Check it out! Sounds like a plan to me.....

Check out this inspirational talk by Philippe Petit on TED

http://www.ted.com/talks/philippe_petit_the_journey_across_the_high_wire.html

April 2012 Theme of the Month: Keep a Training Journal

The April Theme is to keep a Training Journal:

The particular way that you keep the journal can be virtually anyway you can conceive of  that keeps a daily record of your training.
I've left copies of an outline that Jack Fox sent me yesterday by the Studio door and will continue to have some of those available.
For the month of April I'd like to see everyone's training journal once per week....no demerits if I don't ....but that's what I would like. 


Here are some suggestions about how  to keep the Training Journal:

• Keep the journal by using the form that I'm providing
• Writing in a notebook
• Writing on a calender
• Write it in an email to me (CC yourself) 
• Write it to a computer program like Word or Google.docs or a spread sheet 
• I'll make some a google.doc available too...just make sure I have your email address by requesting the form via email
• Draw or Paint (that's how the cave men did it) the journal
• Record it
• Use photographs 
• Video tape it
• Be creative....Any 'ol way you can get yourself to do it....the BEST way is the way that you'll do it!! 

A word or two about the Training Journal and daily practice:

If you do one conscious breath a day...you can consider that a 'practice' 

The journal can include any and everything that contributes to your Martial Arts development.

Any type of conditioning including walking, running, shadow boxing, weight lifting, stretching, sports...etc. etc....I consider any and all activities that contribute to my overall health as part of my "practice"

Other suggestions about what keep track of:

Forms

Basics

Shadow Boxing

Stick Twirling

Weapons training

Joint Locking

Rolls

Bag Work

Sparring

Push-Hands

 Rou-Shou (Bagua push-hands)

Trapping Hands

Self-Defense training and techniques

Focus Pad Work

Meditation

Qigong

Etc. etc. etc.......Anything and everything that you've been exposed to and practice

FYI:
I consider my musical practice as a form of Qigong as well as Skiing, Scuba Diving, Snorkeling ....etc. It all contributes to the person I'm trying to become...I'm a work in progress and I just keep working on myself;^)

Peace,
Sifu

March Theme of the Month: Elbows and Knees

Elbows and Knee can be worked from several different perspectives. A couple of suggestions are:

- Basic strikes to the air, pads or bags

- Applications from forms

- Incorporating them into free-style push/hands, free-sparring, trapping hands and joint locks

- Focusing on the knee positions when kicking

- Focusing on the elbow positions when striking

- Using them in a SD scenario

- Concentrating on alignment and the relationship between elbow/shoulder/hip and Knee/foot/hip during standing meditation and forms

This in not meant to be a complete list, but a some ideas that come to mind this morning....Please feel free to chime in and add to the list, drills, exercises and concepts around this theme.

Sifu

“We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us.”

- Marcel Proust

Happy Leap Day everyone!

Real life Self-Defense tips from Kelly McAnn

I thought some useful tips on SD - especially the 'hands up' to protect head and chin - the other point was the 'emotional acclimatization' from the physicality of proper training. Also his tip to 'keep your cool' was spot on. 

Remember to keep your hands up and don't let you anger get the better of you!

How to Defend Yourself | Training Tip #2: Guard Your Head

It’s essential to protect your head, face and chin in a fight. Although you can take some serious punches straight to your forehead because of the resistance provided by the musculature of the neck, you’re far less able to resist rotational force applied to your chin from either side (hook punch), obliquely (cross) or from underneath (uppercut) because your chin provides more leverage to those strikes.

Here’s a graphic visual image for emphasis: Imagine a Nerf ball with a pencil stuck in it. When you hit the ball, it moves away but doesn’t necessarily spin. When you hit the pencil, the ball spins. When you hit the pencil faster and harder, the ball moves away and spins, violently accelerating from rest to maximum spin. Make sense?

How to Defend Yourself | Training Tip #3: Keep Your Hands Up

Any striking coach knows that one of the most important first lessons is to keep your hands up and always protect your chin. Why? Well, partly because of what I just said but also because practitioners of the striking arts — in particular, boxing and muay Thai — actually hit each other. A lot. Consequently, they have to protect themselves from the very beginning of their training.

In contrast, a lot of self-defense moves initiate from a grabbing attack or from being punched at, not necessarily hit. Sure, people get grabbed on the street (“yoking” someone up), so there’s a legitimate need to know how to break grabs, but grabbing usually precedes punching by milliseconds. Besides, nobody gets knocked out solely by being grabbed.

Ever hear someone say about a fighter, “He’s got a puncher’s chance”? That means the fighter swings hard, wild and often, and he might catch his opponent on the chin, jaw or temple and knock him out. It happens all the time — one guy bends at the waist, drops his head and looks at the ground, then “swims” in at his opponent, swinging for the fences. The other guy stands tall, sways and moves straight back to get away but lifts his chin in the process and — bang! — he catches one on the jaw and drops like a stone. Oops.

You get the opposite outcome when someone swims forward but the other guy stays cool and covers, protecting his chin, then angles in and unloads an uppercut or cross to his chin. Boom! The swimmer face-plants, unconscious.

How to Defend Yourself | Training Tip #4: Keep Your Cool

Don’t succumb to your emotions when you get jumped or hit. Anger and rage are useful to fuel ferocity, to cement your resolve, but don’t lose your cool. That’s when you’re likely to forget you have a chin and need to protect it.

Can you “condition” your chin? I don’t know, and I don’t know that anyone else knows, either. There’s data to suggest strengthening your neck muscles helps somewhat — although no authoritative source is able to quantify how much or how it would affect outcomes when executing self-defense moves.

How to Defend Yourself | Training Tip #5: Use Your Best Judgment

Beware of questionable advice like “Dude, you need to take repeated shots to the head to get used to it.” Even more familiar and accepted advice like “Learn to roll with the punch” (moving away from a blow while snapping your head away to bleed off energy) is easier said than done, given how fast punches are thrown and that you probably won’t see them all.

On the street, without the benefit of headgear and gloves that effectively double the surface area of your hands when you block, you’re better off being evasive and avoiding getting hit, or covering up and putting as much mass as possible between fist and target.

Work on developing an effective, dynamic guard with similarly motivated partners. Video your practice of self-defense moves so you can identify your shortfalls. It’s a great way to avoid waking up on your back, looking up at a streetlight and wondering how the hell you got there.

Special Note from Sifu on the Staff Blog:

Morning all.....the readership of the Staff Blog has been very light for the past few weeks.....most of my posts are getting 0-2 reads...With so little interest or readership it makes it hard to continue to spend the time it takes to write it up weekly reports or to continue to produce video's for the Staff Blog. 

I WILL read anything and everything that you all post with great interest...so please, please keep your notes and comments coming. 

Even if it's just your notes to me the Staff Blog serves a very important function. I really want to know what's going on at the Studio especially if I'm not in the room.

I especially appreciate the effort that Angus has been putting into producing video clips from classes and the class notes from the Staff that have been participating: Angus, Phil, Jeff, Colleen, Sandy, Marcia, Dennis and Luke.

The notes don't have to be a dissertation!! Class size and assistance with a brief synopsis of material covered is fine.

Please rate the post by clicking on the 'stars' and also leave comments, send me an email, mention it in person....etc. I really appreciate the feed back

Thanks for reading this!!

Week in Review - 12.23.11 - Sifu

It's been a good week!
Student On Break:
A number of our college kids are home on break. I got to see Lily on Wed. and meet her new friend Julian and yesterday started off with Max and Becka in the Bagua and Tai Chi classes and then Teryn in the afternoon/evening classes.
We recently had a Saturday visit from Colin Frederick's too! He brought the Baji back to the table....great job Colin;^)
One of my favorite things about teaching martial arts is to see 'old timers' come back in the room and participate in the training / teaching...it's so cool!!


Getting Sick:
I started to feel a cold coming on, on Tuesday...I thought I was outrunning it but then it caught up to me after my Wed. afternoon/evening shift. Yesterday I again got pooped after my morning shift (but had a great Bagua and Tai Chi workout) and then really faded in the afternoon/evening.

Many Thanks:
Thanks to Scott, Teryn and Angus for leading the Karate class last night and to Marcia and Sensei Kratz for the afternoon help.....you guy's are the BEST!!

Reminder:
No Classes this coming Saturday Dec. 24 - Christmas Eve

Happy Holiday's to you and your families!

Peace,
Sifu

"You can't shake hands with a clenched fist."

Mahatma Gandhi

Baji - The Eight Stances

1. Horse riding stance
2. Bow and arrow stance
3. Taming the tiger stance
4. Cross leg stance (crane)
5. Empty stance (cat)
6. T'ai-Chi stance (seven star)
7. Unicorn stance (Chi-Ling)
8. Rooster

Note: Bend the knees only as much as is appropriate for your age, ability and joint health

Better to do the Baji a little higher than not at all!

Remember to focus your mind on the T'aoist Longevity Breathing (T'an T'ien breathing)

Baji

Ba = eight

Ji = stance

Baji=The eight stances - This is a set I originally learned from Dr. Leung Kay-Chi in 1979 when I first started to study Bagua Zhang. The first things I studied with Dr. Leung were The 10 Exercises and The Baji

Contentment is the only real wealth.

Alfred Nobel

Theme of the month for December 2011: Free-Style

A few ideas that come to mind when I think about this whole idea of free-styling or improvising and the creative space that the magic comes out of. For me it's a very interesting subject. I hope that all of you can add some of your own ideas and favorite drills on the subject to the Staff Blog, to your daily practices and the classes that you lead.

Here's a few ideas in random order for you to ponder....Hmmmmm.....

* Free styling is to be in the moment.......mind focused and relaxed.... and then to spontaneously improvise


*We often do semi-free style drills and exercises as in trapping hands. Free Style Platforms such as push hands, rou shou and tapi tapi  can be used to jump into an improvisational sequence, then back into the platform.

*Improvising uses knowledge that has been actively trained, perfected and consciously inputted/uploaded to the unconscious mind. With repeated practice over time the unconscious mind gets 'wired' with the material. 

* Improvising is where preparation (Yang training) meets opportunity (Yin training).

* The four F's: Form, Function, Feeling and Forgetting -  Note: Forgetting is the non-thinking state of mind that allow's you to access the material that lives in your unconscious mind

* The Japanese word for the forgetting state of mind is: Mushin - mind no mind

*The conscious mind training is Yang the unconscious mind training is Yin.

*Free-Style is Yin mind training while a portion of your consciousness is observing and adjusting the  practice 'in the moment'. Some traditions call this state of consciousness the "watcher"

 (Just try and wrap your brain around the incredible complexity of neurons that have to fire and internal chemistry that has to happen in order to achieve that kind of state of mind! Yikes!)

*My personal experience is that the 'watcher' is a semi-conscious portion of your unconscious mind...But I'm still actively pondering and researching this in my daily practices

* The unconscious mind cannot think in negatives......

*I'm continually blown away at the complexity of human consciousness. To study it, is to observe the Tao 

*Improvising has a 'play' feeling to it....it's light....it's creative....it's spontaneous. 

*Personal Qigong has a listening aspect that is used in order to diagnose yourself, that information then used to select the appropriate material to be practiced.

*One of basics of daily martial arts practice is:  "If it hurts, don't do it"! 

When your injured there is a necessary adjustment that is important to insure that you don't continue to re-injure yourself as you do your daily practice. Otherwise how could you continue?

*There are some aspects of developing improvisational skills that are easier than others.

*As with all skill sets, improvising is easier for some than for others. 

Here are few ideas to start with:

I - Warm Up's-

              I suggest a moment of stillness in order to listen to yourself then proceed to warm up with what 'feels' right to you at that very moment in time. Improvising your warm up demands and encourages that you are listening to yourself. Listening is the springboard that decide what and when to do something. 

II - Basics -

             Again starting with a moment of stillness, listen internally and feel the technique of the moment crystallize. Once you start with one tech. let yourself naturally flow into the next tech that 'feels right' for that particular moment in time. You can do this with individual basic tech's or movements from forms.

Sometimes Free-Styling is built into the basics of the Art's as line work, bag work and shadow boxing in American Karate-do, and weapons twirling, trapping hands and Tapi Tapi in Modern Arnis. 

III - Partner practices - 

            Free-Sparring, line work (with a partner blocking) and gauntlet self-defense exercises in American Karate-do, push hands and free-style 'Dance' in Tai Chi Ch'uan, Rou Shou in Bagua Zhang and trapping hands and tapi tapi in Modern Arnis 

This is by no means a definitive list of free-style exercises and drills, but I'm hoping is gives you a good start and stimulates some thoughts, practices and teachings that lead to a better understanding of the Yin side of Martial Arts.

Peace,
Sifu