31 Jo and Kumijo practice Part One

As promised, I'm putting some of my practice notes online for all to enjoy, correct, and judge harshly. The most recent fruits of my labor are my notes on Saito Sensei's 31 Jo practice, both solo and partnered. First, a few disclaimers:

Please don't attempt to hold me in anyway whatsoever responsible for anything that happens to anyone while using these notes. They are intended for my own personal students, and for my own knowledge.

Please don't hold them as gospel. I'm not an Iwama practitioner, but I prefer the Iwama method, particularly with the handling of the weapons. I HOPE that some of my Iwama friends will see this and offer corrections. For those of you that practice the jo, but not Iwama style, I feel that these notes will give you a wonderful base that will improve all of your Jo practice.

Please seek out direct instruction. My notes are based on study under instructors much more qualified than me, most notably Sensei Thomas Huffman, and Sensei Tim Haffner. If you live here in Jacksonville, and can't find someone who knows the system to teach you, please do not hesitate to get a hold of me so that we can train. In lieu of that, if not in addition to that, I highly recommend purchasing the Aiki Jo DVD produced by Morihiro Saito Soke, available from Aikido Journal. I have not had the chance to purchase Ethan Weisgard's book on the subject, but all the reviews he has received are glowing.

That being said, I would like to offer some advice concerning the practice. First of all, I am assuming the reader is thoroughly familiar with the 20 Jo Suburi. With a decent mastery of the suburi, any kata or kumi practice will not make any sense at all. I have notes on the suburi, but they are great guides to this already on the internet. Always practice with kiai. I won't explain here why it's integral, hopefully, you'll take my word for it. Practice slowly and deliberately at first. Don't rush it - you will miss details if you rush, and develop bad habits.

First, I would like to offer a list of the movements, in order, for the 31 Jo Kata. I have added terminology where there was none listed, and indicated which side is forward with the terms hidari and migi.

Starting from Hidari Jo no Kamae:


Hidari Kaeshi Tsuki
Jodan Dome Barai
Kaeshi Tsuki
Jodan Gaeshi
Migi Uchikomi
Hidari Uchikomi
Ushiro Migi Uchikomi
Hidari Uchikomi
Ushiro Barai
Age Uchi
Hidari Uchikomi
Hidari Tsuki no Kamae
Hidari Choku Tsuki
Jodan Gaeshi
Migi Uchikomi
Migi Gedan Gaeshi no Kamae
Hidari Gedan Gaeshi
Chudan Gaeshi
Hidari Gedan Tsuki
Jodan Gaeshi Migi Gedan Uchikomi
Migi Gedan Gaeshi no Kamae
Hidari Gyakute Tsuki
Chudan Gaeshi
Hidari Choku Tsuki
Hidari Choku Tsuki
Hidari Gedan Gaeshi no Kamae
Migi Gedan Gaeshi
Migi Gyakute Tsuki
Chudan Gaeshi
Migi Choku Tsuki
Hidari Uchikomi

If the terms seem inaccurate please feel free to offer your corrections. If they seem unfamiliar, I recommend comparing my nomenclature with a viewing of the 31 Jo Kata. A YouTube search should provide that easy enough. At first, practice the 31 as you practice the suburi. Then move on to practicing the kata with the feeling of awase, that is, imagining a partner that you are moving against. I hope this is helpful. Next up, 31 Kumijo, moves one through six, illustrated. Enjoy.

For my martial artist friends

I have been compiling and organizing all of my notes lately. I'll be putting them up for folks to glimpse at if anyone is at all interested. Coming soon.

Violence, anyone?

As a martial artist and a thinker, I often wonder what is the proper purpose and use of violence. I think that maybe some definitions will be needed. Let's check Merriam-Webster's:

"Pronunciation:
\ˈvī-lən(t)s, ˈvī-ə-\
Function:
noun
Date:
14th century

1 a: exertion of physical force so as to injure or abuse (as in warfare effecting illegal entry into a house)

b: an instance of violent treatment or procedure

2: injury by or as if by distortion, infringement, or profanation : outrage

3 a: intense, turbulent, or furious and often destructive action or force

b: vehement feeling or expression : fervor; also : an instance of such action or feeling

c: a clashing or jarring quality : discordance

4: undue alteration (as of wording or sense in editing a text)"

Let's go with the first one here: exertion of physical force so as to injure or abuse.

So that begs the question: when is it proper to exert physical force so as to injure someone?

ALL OF THE TIME!

Just kidding! What I can offer is only my opinion, but I will back it up for and leave you the reader to mull it over. I think it's proper in a few circumstances: immediate protection from harm of oneself and others, the protection of one's property, and justice.

Self protection and protection of others: In martial arts we are taught effective ways to hurt people. In advanced study, we are to taught deliver injury in degrees, meaning instead of killing someone in self-defense, we only have to render them unconscious or break a limb (for example). The issue here is that sometimes you can't run, and sometimes the law enforcement will not be there in time. No one has the right to impose bodily harm to you, no matter what you have done. By that I mean quite simply, I would never bother to try to justify kicking someone's ass that tried to hurt me. I feel it's my duty to stay healthy. It's not my duty to get my ass kicked. If I see someone being physically assaulted, and I feel I can safely intervene on that person's behalf, I will. Equally important to realize is that some people will assault your sensibilities. By this I mean that if you are acting really stupid, I might kick your ass over it. It's hard to give a hard and fast example of this, but I know for a fact that if someone ever insulted my mother in front of me, I would kick your ass. Your mind is just as important, if not more than your body. Assaults on your senses, on what you believe in, should not be taken lightly. I'm not advocating stabbing someone for stepping on your shoe, but I would immediately slap someone who referred to me using a slur, or if they insulted a lady in my company, or at least I would want to. That's just me.

Property rights and justice are coming soon. I want to get some sleep now.

Tribe-K WANTS YOU

Come train! Get your skills UP. I won't always be there to beat up all the jerks that need to get beat up. Just get at me.

Autrelle@Tribe-K.com

Sorry to keep y'all waiting

What have I been up to?

Training - a LOT. Kali, Aikido, JiuJitsu, and I guess I'll resume kickboxing and CSW pretty soon. I wanna get ripped.

Maintaining my Ubuntu PC. I had great success installing WINE today. I'm trying to avoid my usual Ubuntu OCD which involves a complete wipe and reinstall from scratch.

Pondering. I'm sick of the irony, satire, and contradiction. I'm sick of the fragmentation. I like being single, but I still think about you-know-who everyday.

Learning. About .xls, .csv, groupware, etc.

I need some back up. And I want to back you up. Get at me.

Flying Drop Kick Mother F**ker!!!

I LOVE seeing stuff like this!
Kick him!

Perry Lambert's Dojo

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.

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.

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.

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.

Jodori, henkawaza

This is a series of stills I pulled from some video clips of this week’s training. We are doing a jodori variation.
Uke: Patrick Brown
Nage: Autrelle Holland
Camera holder person: Heather Vega

1. This first photo is just the start. Uke attacks with a yokomen to the right side of my head.



2. Next is the initial awase. On this sort of attack, you can match the strike right at the outside of the wrist, but you have to catch it rather early. Also, you have to angle your own head out of the path that the jo takes, or you will smack yourself in the face with it.



3. The awase finished. I have completed my entry to his side, and there is an obvious atemi with the left hand to the face that is implied but not performed. For this waza, the left hand moves in a way similar to kaiten nage.



4. Here, I start unbalancing uke with pressing his neck down toward his off-balance position. A few things are worth mentioning here in this still. One, I could opt to finish with a choke by bringing the left hand across the front of uke’s neck and clasping my right hand which is behind the neck. From that grasp, I can also finish by throwing forward with a kubi nage technique. I’m using the left hand to monitor his right arm by pressing his elbow into his side and supress it’s movement so that I can safely continue.



5. My unbalanced partner. The only thing worth mentioning here is that he releases the jo with the right hand to catch his balance. The jo is already half disarmed! Stepping on that hand with shoes in a combative scenario is fine, and leads to different waza.




6. Here, what’s a little hard to see is that I stomp the jo to finish the disarm. This should work if the jo is held with one hand or two. In a combat scenario, continuing to hold the jo would find uke with his hand (s) pinned to with it to ground, with his hands being scraped on said ground, and open to obvious knees and fists. You can disarm a knife similarly, assuming you have shoes on. I don’t recommend doing this with a katana in mind, since in the speed of it all, you might stomp down on an edge up blade, which would suck.




7. Here, my responsible uke, gives a last ditch effort of attack, and lashes out with a rather wild roundhouse type swing. Instead of blocking, I zone away from it and finish by turning 180 degrees and finishing kokyunage.