When I first began training in Aikido there were only two dojos in the city worth going to. Since then, there are quite a few very nice venues to train and I would like to share my experiences with one of my favorites.
I first met Mr. Lambert when I was about 4-kyu. He visited the USAF dojo I was a member of. I believe he had just moved to town and was checking out the scene as it was. We didn’t talk much, we just trained. He wore a kuro obi, but I don’t know if he was 2- or 3-dan at the time. Much later, when I was perusing the ads in the phonebook for martial arts, I came across a listing for his dojo and I gave him a call. We talked and we remembered that we had already met, and we agreed that it would be fine if I were to pay him a friendly visit and train with him.
A little background on Perry is necessary and what I put here is from his dojo’s website:
"Sensei Perry Lambert, Chief Instructor of Aikido of Jacksonville, began training in Karate-do at the O.D.U. Martial Arts Program (headed by Dr. Hiroyuki Hamada) during his college years at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA from 1986-1990. Originally from Richmond, VA, Lambert later returned to his hometown, and began training in aikido with Shihan Steve Steele at Aikido of Richmond in 1993, along with camps and seminars conducted by Sensei Roy Suenaka. In 1996 Lambert moved to Charleston, SC where he trained in aikido and karate directly under Roy Suenaka. After becoming a U.S. Border Patrol Agent in 1998, Lambert was stationed in Eagle Pass, TX where he introduced aikido to the Eagle Pass area. In 2000, Lambert moved to Jacksonville, FL, and opened what is now known as Aikido of Jacksonville."
I had read Roy Suenaka’s book and I was more than curious to see his Aikido in person. I was more than impressed. One of the most painful sankyo I have felt in my life. The most economic iriminage I’ve been thrown in in a long time. A nikyo that hurt so bad I felt it my leg! My favorite, however, is when he threw me with kotegaeshi. When I used breakfall, his throw was so powerful I nearly landed standing straight up on my feet.
That covers my first visit to Perry Lambert’s dojo. My second visit was after he moved to a new location. Everyone was extremely cordial. That was not a surprise, it was just something that stood out. Perry was extremely warm and open with me. He made a point to ensure that I understood every detail and difference of his waza. He also made a point to work out with me each time on every technique. He took ukemi each time to ensure I was doing the waza as close as possible to what he was teaching.
His keynote feature is that the Aikido he learned is street effective and considers the realities of using the waza against conventional street attacks. I won’t go into much detail about that except to say that he is very successful at just that. Stylistically, when I think about martially effective Aikido, I think of the compact, bone-crunching dynamo that is Peter Bernath from USAF, the militaristic, no-nonsense teachings of Thomas Huffman, a student of both Morihiro Saito and Shoji Nishio (receiving a technique from Thom feels like you just had a car door slammed onto your body!), the subtle, efficient use of Aiki from Yoshinkan’s own T.J. Cooper, or the imaginative vigor of any number of the ASU camp. Perry’s Aikido was definitely unique in its feel. The best way that I can describe it is to say that it’s as if he effortlessly reaches out for dry twigs and snaps them off.
On a personal note, I have sort of adopted Perry as my Aiki Big Brother. We have had numerous conversations where he has given some of the best advice ever. Anyone in the Jacksonville, Florida area should definitely look him up.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
1,000 punches
One of my teachers is a young man named Joe Stores. His martial arts background includes Boxing, Kali, Silat, Jun Fan Boxing and Muay Thai Kickboxing. The other day he called me up to see if I wanted to work out and I agreed. He showed up and we started on his daily routine: 1,000 punches.
First we did the jab, then jab-cross, then jab-cross-hook-cross-uppercut-cross, then jab, then jab-cross to finish, totally 1,000 punches. I thought back to my training in Aikido, and it occured to me that other than my suburi, I have never done 1,000 of anything in Aikido as a route drill. It was a nice change of pace. People talk about cross-training and using atemi, but no one is practicing atemi like boxers. When we sparred afterwards I noticed some things about how Aikido might work against a kickboxer/boxer. Boxers naturally retract their limbs to cover and strike in rapid succession. It would not be easy to catch an arm for an Aikido technique.
While punching with total body weight for maximum damage, he was never off balance, and the footwork and distancing he used was near expert. Also, boxers are more than used to getting hit and are rather fearless of it. It was his willingness to clinch and infight that I felt gave me the most opportune moments to safely apply Aikido techniques. When we were clinched and his limbs were safely controlled, I was able to apply kuzushi. At one point, from a clinch, I threw him in koshinage, and he caught himself with his hands, and while he was half standing, I punched him in his stomach and face a few times. It was a great time and an awesome learning experience.
First we did the jab, then jab-cross, then jab-cross-hook-cross-uppercut-cross, then jab, then jab-cross to finish, totally 1,000 punches. I thought back to my training in Aikido, and it occured to me that other than my suburi, I have never done 1,000 of anything in Aikido as a route drill. It was a nice change of pace. People talk about cross-training and using atemi, but no one is practicing atemi like boxers. When we sparred afterwards I noticed some things about how Aikido might work against a kickboxer/boxer. Boxers naturally retract their limbs to cover and strike in rapid succession. It would not be easy to catch an arm for an Aikido technique.
While punching with total body weight for maximum damage, he was never off balance, and the footwork and distancing he used was near expert. Also, boxers are more than used to getting hit and are rather fearless of it. It was his willingness to clinch and infight that I felt gave me the most opportune moments to safely apply Aikido techniques. When we were clinched and his limbs were safely controlled, I was able to apply kuzushi. At one point, from a clinch, I threw him in koshinage, and he caught himself with his hands, and while he was half standing, I punched him in his stomach and face a few times. It was a great time and an awesome learning experience.
Aikido and the knife
Nowadays, it is pretty much understood by most that Aikido is a weapons based art. The techniques in Aikido were developed from Aikijujutsu, a highly sophisticated art based on movements from kenjutsu. Aikijujutsu includes practice while armed with the long and short sword, as as well as the tanto. Defenses included attacks from single and multiple attackers, armed or unarmed. How this translates to Aikido practice today will vary according to the style of the instructor. Some instructors study koryu such as Iaijutsu or Iaido, Kenjutsu or Kendo, Jojutsu or Jodo, and so on. As most Aikido bukiwaza do not come from a strict syllabus handed down by Morihei Ueshiba (Saito’s bukiwaza being perhaps a most notable example), most aikidoka take to outsourcing to learn proper handling of the weapons used in Aikido’s weapons techniques.
Whether or not training in the bukiwaza in Aikido will make a practitioner as skillful with the use of a ken (or bokken) or jo has been a matter of debate, especially since the general consensus is that in Aikido, weapons training is designed to inform and improve elements of unarmed practice. One of the things that changes is the element of space, commonly referred to as maai. Another factor that changes is that while precision and timing are needed to do perform both armed and unarmed techniques, you don’t need strength to do weapons techniques. By that I mean that quite frankly, there’s no such thing as being “stronger” than someone who is swinging a machete or a baseball bat at you. This feeling of using correct technique and not muscular strength is supposed to carry over in one’s unarmed technique as well. Now we have have enough of an idea of what we learn from most Aikdo bukiwaza to get into the subject of this writing: what is it that we are learning when studying tantodori in Aikido?
“We are learning how to apply Aikido techniques when uke uses a dagger.” I used to think that also. These days I’m not so sure. In most dojo that I have seen, tantodori takes shape tsuki kotegaeshi, tsuki rokkyo, tsuki gokyo, yokomenuchi gokyo, and ushiro kotegaeshi. Of course you see a few kansetsuwaza thrown in as well. That was fine for me in the beginning. But I realize now that there are two basic flaws in the way that tantodori is usually taught: they don’t take into account the way a person committed to cutting you would attack you, and they don’t take into account the way a person committed to not being cut would defend themselves. In Aikido, most tantodori is conducted with uke performing tsuki, shomengiri, yokomen or kesagiri while holding a wooden tanto. While these are common vectors that any attack may come from, they do not represent a sincere attack given the nature of the knife. An attack with the knife is all over the place. Slashing and thrusting in rapid succession is perhaps the most basic handling of the knife. Training to fight someone when armed with a knife is a most serious business, much more than an all-or-nothing, vector-based, yokomen or tsuki. The person with a knife knows that if their attack fails, that they will most likely be justifiably killed.
A person armed with a weapon also knows that any target is a good target. There are preferred targets for sure, but cutting someone is cutting someone, hitting someone with a baseball bat is hitting someone with a baseball bat. A knife fighter will not obsess with a perfect slash to the neck or a thrust to the sternum, when a slash or stab to any other target is available. This brings me to my second point. Usually in tantodori, nage, in performing the said technique, exposes the most desirable targets to a knife fighter. My favorite example is yokomenuchi gokyu ura. In this example, imagine that uke attacks with the knife in the right hand (however the blade is gripped is unimportant). Here, the usual case is that nage will enter strongly, at an oblique angle toward uke. Then nage will simultaneously use a left hand tegatana strike to uke’s knife-wielding arm at the elbow, while delivering a right hand atemi to uke’s face. From here, nage applies the gokyo or what have you. There are several problems here that arise because it is a knife attack, and not an unarmed attack, that gokyo, performed as usual, does not address. In theory, nage stopping the arm at the elbow will prevent uke from slashing the face and neck. But it does not prevent uke from slashing the inner and outer parts of the forearm. Some people think that you can take a stab or a slash to the outer section of the forearm and still continue, since the major blood vessels won’t be cut, and the muscle groups found there, if cut, will still permit you to make a fist or hold a weapon. I don’t really believe that. I’ve seen some of the knives that most people carry everyday (heck, I’ve seen the knives that I carry everyday!), and I’ve seen the things that people pick up and use as improvised slashing and thrusting implements. These things will cut you down to the BONE. You will bleed out, simple as that. If you don’t freak out first. There will be no footwork, no timing, and if you’re lucky, you’ll have seconds to do something really crafty before you pass out from this arm slash. Blocking a knife in this manner also does not prevent uke from bending his knees to lower his level and slash or stab at your torso. You can try to block this with your arms, which uke should happily slash and stab. Now, I can accept that this entry should be consider kihonwaza, and not an end in itself but a way to learn the basic idea of gokyo, but I have to ask where the actual application comes in. I have to wonder if these methods are taught as basic framework, with the applications to be taught later, or if I’m simply practicing unsound knife defense for the sake of what an Aikido technique is supposed to be?
“Aikido is a traditional art and the tantodori are traditional methods preserved in our modern practice.” This is something I can buy into, but it begs the obvious question: what tradition? First, a confession: when I decided that the knife was my preferred tool to always have on me in case of dire emergency, I didn’t consult my Aikido sensei about it — I started practicing with a Filipino style knife artist. Every teacher of Aikido I know knows tantodori, but none of the ones that I know study knife fighting (another confession: I don’t get out too much. I am not putting anyone down here because of my lack of knowledge or resource). I have never been made aware of a ryu of knife fighting that has influenced the role of uke or nage in Aikido. If such a thing exists, I would love to be in the know. This is a surprise to me, since a lot of emphasis is given to learning the proper handling of sword and staff, but not so much, if at all with the knife. There are no solo practices with the knife. There are no partner practices where each partner has a knife. I’m not sure if this is an expression of the philosophy and attitude toward using the knife in Aikido, or if it is matter of the content of the technical syllabus. If our tantodori comes from a traditional manner of handling the knife, I would simply like to know what that tradition is. A part of me wants to think that we are learning to apply the same careful feeling of sword-taking, but at a closer distance, but I can’t make myself buy into that.
The tone of my writing is a looking-for-answers one. If anyone has any, please feel free to reply via the bulletin board, private message, or email. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Whether or not training in the bukiwaza in Aikido will make a practitioner as skillful with the use of a ken (or bokken) or jo has been a matter of debate, especially since the general consensus is that in Aikido, weapons training is designed to inform and improve elements of unarmed practice. One of the things that changes is the element of space, commonly referred to as maai. Another factor that changes is that while precision and timing are needed to do perform both armed and unarmed techniques, you don’t need strength to do weapons techniques. By that I mean that quite frankly, there’s no such thing as being “stronger” than someone who is swinging a machete or a baseball bat at you. This feeling of using correct technique and not muscular strength is supposed to carry over in one’s unarmed technique as well. Now we have have enough of an idea of what we learn from most Aikdo bukiwaza to get into the subject of this writing: what is it that we are learning when studying tantodori in Aikido?
“We are learning how to apply Aikido techniques when uke uses a dagger.” I used to think that also. These days I’m not so sure. In most dojo that I have seen, tantodori takes shape tsuki kotegaeshi, tsuki rokkyo, tsuki gokyo, yokomenuchi gokyo, and ushiro kotegaeshi. Of course you see a few kansetsuwaza thrown in as well. That was fine for me in the beginning. But I realize now that there are two basic flaws in the way that tantodori is usually taught: they don’t take into account the way a person committed to cutting you would attack you, and they don’t take into account the way a person committed to not being cut would defend themselves. In Aikido, most tantodori is conducted with uke performing tsuki, shomengiri, yokomen or kesagiri while holding a wooden tanto. While these are common vectors that any attack may come from, they do not represent a sincere attack given the nature of the knife. An attack with the knife is all over the place. Slashing and thrusting in rapid succession is perhaps the most basic handling of the knife. Training to fight someone when armed with a knife is a most serious business, much more than an all-or-nothing, vector-based, yokomen or tsuki. The person with a knife knows that if their attack fails, that they will most likely be justifiably killed.
A person armed with a weapon also knows that any target is a good target. There are preferred targets for sure, but cutting someone is cutting someone, hitting someone with a baseball bat is hitting someone with a baseball bat. A knife fighter will not obsess with a perfect slash to the neck or a thrust to the sternum, when a slash or stab to any other target is available. This brings me to my second point. Usually in tantodori, nage, in performing the said technique, exposes the most desirable targets to a knife fighter. My favorite example is yokomenuchi gokyu ura. In this example, imagine that uke attacks with the knife in the right hand (however the blade is gripped is unimportant). Here, the usual case is that nage will enter strongly, at an oblique angle toward uke. Then nage will simultaneously use a left hand tegatana strike to uke’s knife-wielding arm at the elbow, while delivering a right hand atemi to uke’s face. From here, nage applies the gokyo or what have you. There are several problems here that arise because it is a knife attack, and not an unarmed attack, that gokyo, performed as usual, does not address. In theory, nage stopping the arm at the elbow will prevent uke from slashing the face and neck. But it does not prevent uke from slashing the inner and outer parts of the forearm. Some people think that you can take a stab or a slash to the outer section of the forearm and still continue, since the major blood vessels won’t be cut, and the muscle groups found there, if cut, will still permit you to make a fist or hold a weapon. I don’t really believe that. I’ve seen some of the knives that most people carry everyday (heck, I’ve seen the knives that I carry everyday!), and I’ve seen the things that people pick up and use as improvised slashing and thrusting implements. These things will cut you down to the BONE. You will bleed out, simple as that. If you don’t freak out first. There will be no footwork, no timing, and if you’re lucky, you’ll have seconds to do something really crafty before you pass out from this arm slash. Blocking a knife in this manner also does not prevent uke from bending his knees to lower his level and slash or stab at your torso. You can try to block this with your arms, which uke should happily slash and stab. Now, I can accept that this entry should be consider kihonwaza, and not an end in itself but a way to learn the basic idea of gokyo, but I have to ask where the actual application comes in. I have to wonder if these methods are taught as basic framework, with the applications to be taught later, or if I’m simply practicing unsound knife defense for the sake of what an Aikido technique is supposed to be?
“Aikido is a traditional art and the tantodori are traditional methods preserved in our modern practice.” This is something I can buy into, but it begs the obvious question: what tradition? First, a confession: when I decided that the knife was my preferred tool to always have on me in case of dire emergency, I didn’t consult my Aikido sensei about it — I started practicing with a Filipino style knife artist. Every teacher of Aikido I know knows tantodori, but none of the ones that I know study knife fighting (another confession: I don’t get out too much. I am not putting anyone down here because of my lack of knowledge or resource). I have never been made aware of a ryu of knife fighting that has influenced the role of uke or nage in Aikido. If such a thing exists, I would love to be in the know. This is a surprise to me, since a lot of emphasis is given to learning the proper handling of sword and staff, but not so much, if at all with the knife. There are no solo practices with the knife. There are no partner practices where each partner has a knife. I’m not sure if this is an expression of the philosophy and attitude toward using the knife in Aikido, or if it is matter of the content of the technical syllabus. If our tantodori comes from a traditional manner of handling the knife, I would simply like to know what that tradition is. A part of me wants to think that we are learning to apply the same careful feeling of sword-taking, but at a closer distance, but I can’t make myself buy into that.
The tone of my writing is a looking-for-answers one. If anyone has any, please feel free to reply via the bulletin board, private message, or email. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Casbah, what?
That's where I'm at usually.
Some reasons why:
Great wine selection.
Draft beer. Good draft beer.
Great staff. And by "great" I mean "hott."
Outdoor seating and live music.
Ballers galore.
Hookahs and FREE wi-fi. Did I mention hookahs and free wi-fi?
Don't make me come get you. Come see me. Click on the link please.
Some reasons why:
Great wine selection.
Draft beer. Good draft beer.
Great staff. And by "great" I mean "hott."
Outdoor seating and live music.
Ballers galore.
Hookahs and FREE wi-fi. Did I mention hookahs and free wi-fi?
Don't make me come get you. Come see me. Click on the link please.
Tell your kids to f**k off
I love seeing the kids today. They have all of the cool shit. IPods, laptops, BCBG jeans-when will this shit stop? With my kid. I have devised a sure fire way to raise kids so that they don't grow up to be dumb, racist, materialistic a**holes. They learn it so young, so we have to start as soon as possible.
• Age 4-5 Kill Santa Claus*
Think about how much bullsh*t you'll nip in the bud by killing that fat, non-existent motherf**ker. Oh, you made a wish, put out some milk and cookies, and now you want some free stuff? F**k that. Here's what you do: as soon as your kid gets the notion of Santa and Christmas and all of that dogsh*t, you don't discourage them at all. Let them get all excited, get some half dead tree and decorate it with your bills, put out some gingerale and Saltines, tell them the shut the f*ck up and hurry up and go to bed, and then go out for some beers. When your a**hole kid wakes up at five in the morning, have all kinds of huge boxes wrapped up and ready for them to open. Imagine how excited Tucker will be when he gets an application to Wendy's for Christmas. Hurray! Oh wait, open this one-it's the light bill motherf**ker. Oh!-here's one with your name on it-an eviction notice! Alrighty then! Joy to the world, you freeloading a**hole.
• Age 5-7 Feed them like prisoners
The next time you sit down at dinner with your turkey burgers or whatever the hell you eat, feed them nothing. If they get lippy about it, just try to remember that you have bills to pay; stay focused on that, so that you can enjoy your meal. Then, after you're done eating, smoke a hookah, take a nice relaxing shower, read a few pages from VICE magazine, and get a good night's sleep. Do that for two weeks. If your kid hasn't taken the hint and moved out yet, then take them to the cupboard and show them where the basmati rice and the pots and pans are. Show them where the spaghetti, garlic bulbs, and olive oil are. "Oh look Tucker, the cabbage and the cornmeal are right here, they're not hiding at all." Don't ever talk to them about food. Ever. At seven it's time to figure out some sh*t for themselves.
• Age 7-9 Beat the sh*t out of them
"Hey dad, can I have that toy?" Slap him in the face. "I don't want to go to the museum." Five across the eyes. "No! No nononononono! Nooooo!!!" Dragon kick to the stomach. "I don't want to go to bed!" Knuckle sandwich. "Can I watch Harry Potter?" Belt and the buckle. "Mom, can Wii play?" Kotegashi. You got it? Good.
• Age 9-11 Throw a brick through the T.V. screen**
Literally. You better f**king do it, for the effect. Then hand them your dusty copy of Atlas Shrugged. This book alone will cover every aspect of being a rational human being. If you ever catch them reading some fifth grade sh*t, burn it right in front of them amd make them eat the ashes. They can recapture their youth after they move out.
• Age 12-13 F*ck the mall, take that a**hole to Wal Mart
Oh, you're in high school now, and you want all the cool sh*t that the cool kids have? F**k you freeloader, we're going to Big Lots. But for proper effect, you should drive your kid past the mall, urging them to wave at their friends who are inside putting their parents in debt. So when you're in Wal Mart, grab them one pair of jeans ($16.77 for a pair of Dickies), a pack of white tees (if you pay more than 8 bucks for these you deserve to have kids) and some condoms (you don't want grandkids). Then go to Payless and get some knock off Chuck Taylors. Now for the real treat: give your kid 14 dollars and drop him off at the thrift store. Instruct him to purchase a jacket, and whatever tee shirts he wants to be wearing when he is a high school senior. Remind him that he needs to have enough money left over for the bus ride home.
• 14 and up Cover and allow all liquid to be absorbed
At this point your kid thinks he knows it all. So he'll figure out how to shoplift for cd's, how to hack the passwords at Kinko's to use the internet, how to use Adobe Illustrator to make report cards and I.D.'s, what bars have the best happy hour, etc. After 18 years, promptly remove from home and serve with directions to the local realty place so they can f**king move out.
*Variation: When your kid wakes up at five in the morning, instead of presents, it's just you, sitting there, drinking your coffee. After the initial shock of there being no presents, you should say to your kids: "Santa told me what you did. He told me everything. Now I want you to tell me!"
**Variation: If you take your kid out to a restaurant, and they show their ass, take whatever bullsh*t toy they wouldn't leave in the car from them and instruct your server to take it outside, destroy it, and bring back the broken pieces. Then make your kid eat it. And slap the shit out of him.
• Age 4-5 Kill Santa Claus*
Think about how much bullsh*t you'll nip in the bud by killing that fat, non-existent motherf**ker. Oh, you made a wish, put out some milk and cookies, and now you want some free stuff? F**k that. Here's what you do: as soon as your kid gets the notion of Santa and Christmas and all of that dogsh*t, you don't discourage them at all. Let them get all excited, get some half dead tree and decorate it with your bills, put out some gingerale and Saltines, tell them the shut the f*ck up and hurry up and go to bed, and then go out for some beers. When your a**hole kid wakes up at five in the morning, have all kinds of huge boxes wrapped up and ready for them to open. Imagine how excited Tucker will be when he gets an application to Wendy's for Christmas. Hurray! Oh wait, open this one-it's the light bill motherf**ker. Oh!-here's one with your name on it-an eviction notice! Alrighty then! Joy to the world, you freeloading a**hole.
• Age 5-7 Feed them like prisoners
The next time you sit down at dinner with your turkey burgers or whatever the hell you eat, feed them nothing. If they get lippy about it, just try to remember that you have bills to pay; stay focused on that, so that you can enjoy your meal. Then, after you're done eating, smoke a hookah, take a nice relaxing shower, read a few pages from VICE magazine, and get a good night's sleep. Do that for two weeks. If your kid hasn't taken the hint and moved out yet, then take them to the cupboard and show them where the basmati rice and the pots and pans are. Show them where the spaghetti, garlic bulbs, and olive oil are. "Oh look Tucker, the cabbage and the cornmeal are right here, they're not hiding at all." Don't ever talk to them about food. Ever. At seven it's time to figure out some sh*t for themselves.
• Age 7-9 Beat the sh*t out of them
"Hey dad, can I have that toy?" Slap him in the face. "I don't want to go to the museum." Five across the eyes. "No! No nononononono! Nooooo!!!" Dragon kick to the stomach. "I don't want to go to bed!" Knuckle sandwich. "Can I watch Harry Potter?" Belt and the buckle. "Mom, can Wii play?" Kotegashi. You got it? Good.
• Age 9-11 Throw a brick through the T.V. screen**
Literally. You better f**king do it, for the effect. Then hand them your dusty copy of Atlas Shrugged. This book alone will cover every aspect of being a rational human being. If you ever catch them reading some fifth grade sh*t, burn it right in front of them amd make them eat the ashes. They can recapture their youth after they move out.
• Age 12-13 F*ck the mall, take that a**hole to Wal Mart
Oh, you're in high school now, and you want all the cool sh*t that the cool kids have? F**k you freeloader, we're going to Big Lots. But for proper effect, you should drive your kid past the mall, urging them to wave at their friends who are inside putting their parents in debt. So when you're in Wal Mart, grab them one pair of jeans ($16.77 for a pair of Dickies), a pack of white tees (if you pay more than 8 bucks for these you deserve to have kids) and some condoms (you don't want grandkids). Then go to Payless and get some knock off Chuck Taylors. Now for the real treat: give your kid 14 dollars and drop him off at the thrift store. Instruct him to purchase a jacket, and whatever tee shirts he wants to be wearing when he is a high school senior. Remind him that he needs to have enough money left over for the bus ride home.
• 14 and up Cover and allow all liquid to be absorbed
At this point your kid thinks he knows it all. So he'll figure out how to shoplift for cd's, how to hack the passwords at Kinko's to use the internet, how to use Adobe Illustrator to make report cards and I.D.'s, what bars have the best happy hour, etc. After 18 years, promptly remove from home and serve with directions to the local realty place so they can f**king move out.
*Variation: When your kid wakes up at five in the morning, instead of presents, it's just you, sitting there, drinking your coffee. After the initial shock of there being no presents, you should say to your kids: "Santa told me what you did. He told me everything. Now I want you to tell me!"
**Variation: If you take your kid out to a restaurant, and they show their ass, take whatever bullsh*t toy they wouldn't leave in the car from them and instruct your server to take it outside, destroy it, and bring back the broken pieces. Then make your kid eat it. And slap the shit out of him.
Reality-based hanging-out
I had a great time yesterday. I was in a photo shoot for my friend's company. I met up with an old friend for drinks after that. Then, to cap it off, I had dinner with two other dear friends of mine, and our server was one of my number ones. A day without pretense. I only wish a certain person could see me now.
c o m i n g s o o n:
-more Aikido posts
-more martial arts posts in general
-more tech related posts
-more book and music posts
I promise you, I will.
c o m i n g s o o n:
-more Aikido posts
-more martial arts posts in general
-more tech related posts
-more book and music posts
I promise you, I will.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Ukemi: Yokomenuchi Iriminage Henkawaza (Agoate/Kubinage)
Uke: Patrick Brown
Nage: Autrelle Holland
Photographer: Heather Vega
While we were filming this clip, I intended to show a kihon for iriminage, and Patrick’s ukemi created the circumstances for variation. So, I’m going to detail those circumstances.
Here, so far, so good. Patrick attacks with a very straightforward yokomenuchi. I’m going to move forward and to the outside, and catch Patrick’s hand from above, much like a kotegaeshi. The hand moves rather fast, so really, I’m watching and trying to catch the elbow, which moves much slower, and then slide down to the wrist. This is important in tantodori, because reaching for the hand directly may result in grabbing a blade, which is no good.
Mission accomplished, sort of. At the exact point and time shown in the photo, I have done a fairly good job of entering and blending with the attack. My posture remains open and relaxed, I’ve zoned away from his other tools of attack, and I’m in a great spot to deliver atemi. I would love to do a more complete entry to his rear so that I can finish with iriminage.
Oh! Patrick immediately comes back to face me, ready to counter or simply attack again. He maintains a very fluid and live connection with me, and doesn’t just let me have it.
So, it’s time to proceed accordingly. I reach toward his head with my left hand. Ordinarily, this would be a strike to the face, but since we’re training the taisabaki and the kuzushi, I opt to directly to his collar for a hold. People practice iriminage grabbing the collar this way for a variety of reasons. One reason is that it’s safer to yank someone’s gi collar than their neck. Another reason is that it’s a LOT harder to control a partner like this, so the goal is to learn how to do it anyway, with the idea that it will be easy enough to control by holding the neck/side of the face. One of the bad things about grabbing by the collar is that if not done correctly, uke will spin out to some degree.
Ideally, I would grip his collar, and while moving behind him, draw his head toward my chest or right shoulder, so I can finish iriminage. Patrick doesn’t want to end the encounter just yet, and continues to turn to face me. This will place me back in front of him, and means no iriminage for me. Usually, ukemi for this sort of throw requires uke to make perpendicular to nage, and to keep his head close to nage’s body. This will protect uke from being punched in the face or choked immediately, and make iriminage the best option for nage. This assumes that nage does a complete entry and unbalances uke, which I have not yet!
So now I decide to get a handle on things and start to unbalance Patrick. But now he’s a little to close for comfort. He’s bent at the knees and trying to face me, so really, I haven’t taken his balance as much as he’s lowering his level to try to face me and perhaps tackle or punch me.
Well, iriminage is pretty much shot at this point. I can barely get behind my uke, much less unbalance him. I have a few things working for me as I keep moving through the technique though: he does seem to always be a tempo behind, which means he has to play catch up before he can begin a solid counter. Plus, now he’s actually trying to stand up and regain his upright posture while he’s facing me, which will place him in a nice position for agoate or kubinage.
The finished exchange.
Nage: Autrelle Holland
Photographer: Heather Vega
While we were filming this clip, I intended to show a kihon for iriminage, and Patrick’s ukemi created the circumstances for variation. So, I’m going to detail those circumstances.
Here, so far, so good. Patrick attacks with a very straightforward yokomenuchi. I’m going to move forward and to the outside, and catch Patrick’s hand from above, much like a kotegaeshi. The hand moves rather fast, so really, I’m watching and trying to catch the elbow, which moves much slower, and then slide down to the wrist. This is important in tantodori, because reaching for the hand directly may result in grabbing a blade, which is no good.
Mission accomplished, sort of. At the exact point and time shown in the photo, I have done a fairly good job of entering and blending with the attack. My posture remains open and relaxed, I’ve zoned away from his other tools of attack, and I’m in a great spot to deliver atemi. I would love to do a more complete entry to his rear so that I can finish with iriminage.
Oh! Patrick immediately comes back to face me, ready to counter or simply attack again. He maintains a very fluid and live connection with me, and doesn’t just let me have it.
So, it’s time to proceed accordingly. I reach toward his head with my left hand. Ordinarily, this would be a strike to the face, but since we’re training the taisabaki and the kuzushi, I opt to directly to his collar for a hold. People practice iriminage grabbing the collar this way for a variety of reasons. One reason is that it’s safer to yank someone’s gi collar than their neck. Another reason is that it’s a LOT harder to control a partner like this, so the goal is to learn how to do it anyway, with the idea that it will be easy enough to control by holding the neck/side of the face. One of the bad things about grabbing by the collar is that if not done correctly, uke will spin out to some degree.
Ideally, I would grip his collar, and while moving behind him, draw his head toward my chest or right shoulder, so I can finish iriminage. Patrick doesn’t want to end the encounter just yet, and continues to turn to face me. This will place me back in front of him, and means no iriminage for me. Usually, ukemi for this sort of throw requires uke to make perpendicular to nage, and to keep his head close to nage’s body. This will protect uke from being punched in the face or choked immediately, and make iriminage the best option for nage. This assumes that nage does a complete entry and unbalances uke, which I have not yet!
So now I decide to get a handle on things and start to unbalance Patrick. But now he’s a little to close for comfort. He’s bent at the knees and trying to face me, so really, I haven’t taken his balance as much as he’s lowering his level to try to face me and perhaps tackle or punch me.
Well, iriminage is pretty much shot at this point. I can barely get behind my uke, much less unbalance him. I have a few things working for me as I keep moving through the technique though: he does seem to always be a tempo behind, which means he has to play catch up before he can begin a solid counter. Plus, now he’s actually trying to stand up and regain his upright posture while he’s facing me, which will place him in a nice position for agoate or kubinage.
The finished exchange.
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