Uechi-Ryu.com

We are again lucky to have Rory in town this weekend.

A kind of learning that is totally unique which complements our particular martial art's skills and tools.

Once you see and 'work it' you will never forget it as it will 'ingrain' deep into your subconscious.

I highly recommend it.

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Van

A sampling of what he will teach

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Van

When you really think about it...none of this critical knowledge is imparted to any of us on the dojo floor.

We all believe we have 'it' automatically...just because we do our sanchins

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Van

Darn!

Awfully short notice on that one. Stuff everyone should know too...

Hello Van Sensei,

I’m just catching up with this thread…. I would have loved to have trained with Rory again. What a great opportunity for those fortunate to have made the seminars.

I have posted this before but for those whom have yet had the privilege to work with Rory; for what’s its worth here is a “snapshot” of "our experience" back here on the East Coast of (Canada)….

Great Guy…. Great Teacher…. Amazing Tactician….



I hope all is well…. all the best,

Shane.

Hi Shane,

Thanks for the post. At times I find it is difficult to make traditional karate people the importance of the tactical component, both in a physical and psychological sense when discussing street violence.

Having the right tools, as we all believe we have, is one thing...putting them to work in survival mode is another.

All the best,

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Van

I attended both days. These were great seminars and well-attended. There were people from various backgrounds, and I especially enjoyed meeting some Uechi folks that I hadn't trained with before. The first day was Logic of Violence. Many of us have experienced pieces of this one.

The second day, the Conflict Communications seminar, was very interesting. It wasn't exactly what I imagined it would be based on reading Facing Violence. That material is in there, but it takes FV a quantum step forward in generality and applicability. FV is, not surprisingly, mostly about violence. ConCom is about the way we think, and not just in the context of violence.

Just later that day I caught myself starting one of the "scripts" my wife and I use, a repeated argument that has a 100% predictable ending (which for this script happens to be utter and complete failure on my part to advance any of my interests, not to mention a pride-swallowing apology). It started with me feeling anger. This time I identified it as my Monkey Brain (MB) in action, and I realized why my MB thought it was important (had to do with efficient resource management, the good of the group, family in this case). Unfortunately MBs don't do math very well, and so my feelings were out of proportion to the importance of the issues. Then there was also a dominance aspect of it, and in my wife's case, a desire to maintain the status quo.

Unfortunately, knowing that your MB has taken over and doing something about it are only loosely related. The one just gives you a shot at affecting the other, and when the MB has control, it makes perfect sense, while the human brain comes across like a friend offering unsolicited advice in a moment of stress. At least that's the way I felt about it in the moment. "How is that going to help?" is the gist of what my MB thought about my human brain's involvement. All I really managed to do this time was fast-forward to the end of the script, see my demise, and decide to suffer in silence rather than play out the script. At least then, I argued, I would not need to apologize for anything later. Maybe next time I will actually be able to snap out of it. We'll see.

Anyway, if you (anybody) get a chance to attend this seminar, do so.

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Mike

I'm missing out up here.

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Life begins & ends cold, naked & covered in crap.

Thanks for the post Mike.

Something else to consider, and Rory does this well in his teachings, is that it’s hard to think at all when “adrenalized” and under attack, physical or psychological attack.

And we now know that from a physical response point of view, a trained karate- ka can only recall about five different self defense techniques or strikes when under a full adrenaline rush.

People will miss 'blocks' _they will hesitate -they will 'wait for an attacker to strike first, because of the way we train and fall prey to their misguided 'confidence factor' _

All of which could have been avoided by training to understand certain human reponse concepts absent from our traditional training, but available from People like Rory.

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Van

Oh, yes. That is something he talks about. I was mainly addressing the ConCom seminar because it is new stuff that most of us haven't seen yet. The Logic of Violence material is, of course, excellent and entirely apropos to self-defense. Seems to me that when you are in the thick of it, and adrenalized because violence is imminent (but the attack has not yet occurred), the ConCom model will tell you things like to show respect, hand over your wallet, fight for you life and run to safety, etc., depending on the scenario. You don't really need it as much to sort that out, which is why it's implicit and not explicit in Facing Violence. My anecdote is just an account of my first baby steps at interpreting my own thought processes in the ConCom model framework. If I talk much more about it as a novice, the more I'll get wrong. I need some time to make it my own. I just mentioned it to give a taste of how general and useful that model might be. If the part of our brain that works like that of primates is sucking us into things like the Monkey Dance and Group Monkey Dance the world over, what else is it up to, the world over? And why?

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Mike

Mike, you are one of the very few who really get this stuff.

Most others feel no need of it...as after all...all is in sanchin

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Van

Under a strong adrenaline rush, there is a good chance you will not be able to execute your standard self defense techniques that you have been practicing in the dojo.

What defines 'standard' is up for discussion...suffice to say that only gross motor techniques have a chance of really working because of the immmediate increase of your heart rate that will 'fumble' any fine motor movements.

We are lucky in that Uechi Ryu is replete with gross motor techniques, but only if totally understood.

And the timing of those techniques is the critical factor.

Timing meaning either waiting for an attack to be launched at you vs. you short stopping the attack that you have sensed coming your way.

Additionally, you will have to make a quick decision on whether to engage or not engage when the odds are against you.

You will get the adrenal rush and increased heart rate because it is programmed by nature to help you survive.

Most of us have not learned how to deal with the adrenaline rush other than in a limited way when we fought tournaments on the open circuit.

I think that where Rory's educational material is King is where the basically trained practitioners _ without a certain understanding of the dynamics of violence and aggression ... the powerful bio chemical and emotional reaction fueled by the dump can work against them.

The biggest hurdle to overcome in any confrontation is that the people 'Untrained' in the very concepts that Rory teaches...often react disproportionately to the problem, either by under reacting, (passive) or by over reacting, (aggressive)_ thus finding themselves in a heap of trouble, physical, mental, criminal and civil.

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Van

One thing that Rory suggests as an exercise is that you get into the habit of paying attention to your intuition and then articulate why you felt that way based on the data you had available. Hopefully this will give you an edge in the legal aftermath, but I suspect the habit of paying attention and analyzing may also help you work out some contingency plans as the situation begins to develop. This is on top of the habit of familiarizing yourself with the environment. Doesn't seem like a good idea to do all your thinking after the adrenaline dump.

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Mike

Very good points Mike...but how many of us really do what Rory recommends?

You will get some cockeyed remark about 'mushin' and on as usual.

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Van

Yes, I know.

When I was taught another style of karate decades ago, I was indoctrinated with the idea that combat effectiveness would be an "emergent property" of the training. They did not use those words, but the idea was that without ever having practiced real combat, or even simulating it beyond yakusoku kumite and a little jiyu kumite, when the time case, I would be able to perform. Like a religious belief of eternal bliss rather than oblivion or eternal damnation, that was a comforting thought. The confidence it created was useful to some degree...in non-fighting circumstances. Like many beliefs there is probably even a kernel of truth somewhere, maybe even a context, a time or a place, where it is really true. Maybe.

I think if you have an ounce of in-fighter inside you, Sanchin and the rest of Uechi training will amplify it. If you're lucky enough to be a natural in-fighter and striker, you will, as I have, feel that this is your style, more perhaps than any other. But is it a tool-kit or a religion? Something in-between? Are there "articles of faith"? Now that I am in my late 40's, am I supposed to believe things I am told as readily as I accepted them as a young teenager? It's not going to happen. I don't accept what Rory says without question, either, but he is definitely not asking me to.

I don't know if knowing better what to expect will even help me when I need it. I don't even know whether reality is, on average, preferable to fantasy. Most people will never experience real violence, particularly if they avoid high-risk environments, so for them it may be just as well to believe whatever they like. I don't worry about 50 year-old karate teachers very much, even though I think you're right that, absent at least an intuitive grasp of the information in Facing Violence, they are at risk variously for seriously hurting somebody who doesn't need it or not pressing the go button when their life depends on it. I don't see where those insights about when to press the go button and how much force to use are encoded in Sanchin. Rory is not the only one who has suggested that the time to work through this stuff is before you need to make the actual decisions (e.g. Panther). I'm just a listener in this, but I am listening.

BTW, what I do worry about is, for example, young women who come into our classes at Gold's Gym and ask about self-defense, such as happened last week when Fedele had to leave early and I was teaching. When they asked me about self-defense, I didn't spend the rest of the class on Sanchin and promise them that if they practiced it 3 times a day for the next 3 years, they would be able to defend themselves. Actually, I took a few minutes to finish up what I was teaching them about Sanchin, and then I taught them things I learned from Rory. I taught them things that would work for them...on me...today. I hope they come back so that I can teach them more about Sanchin.

(BTW, I don't know if you got an email for every edit I made to this post. In fact I got in a kind of loop where I would submit it, read it back, and then decide I didn't like part of it. I think it says what I want it to say now. )

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Mike