Leo wrote:Would your camp DVD enable me to follow along so as my instructor could focus on the finer details in dojo? Sorry for the off topic Dana
Believe it or not, I pesonally think this is
on topic.
The video will help, but I personally think it won't scratch the itch you have.
When I teach this form, I tell people that the most important aspect of it isn't
what you are doing in the form, but
how you must do it to make it a reasonable form. To me, this picks up where sanseiryu left off. For the most part, it is a jumble of techniques we have already seen as Uechika, with a few spicey pieces (like the seisan jump is to seisan) to make it "interesting" and so fun to do. But like the opening of seiryu is a variation on the theme of the opening of kanshu, so too is this form a variation on themes, sequences, and techniques we've already seen.
This is a long-a$$ed form. Every sequence in it is approximately 3 times longer than sequences we see in seisan or sanseiryu. And IMO, it doesn't work unless you can do them at about the same speed. From a practical self defense standpoint, it's the barrage of techniques they tell us we must throw at the BG to keep him/her disoriented and incapable of attacking us.
Additionally, this form is chock full of examples where techniques create openings and opportunities that lead to other techniques. You see this again and again in the form. No longer are you thinking one-shot-kill. Rather you are pinging the enemy, getting the enemy to react, and exploiting the reaction you
know in advance will be natural - with precise timing. It is a brilliant strategy for attacking a capable fighter.
Finally, this form adds plyometric elements that are hinted at in sanseiryu. The only way to make that work right so that you flow like a rock going down a hill is to feel and exploit the elastic movements. These plyometric motions happen on vertical, rotational, and translational degrees of freedom of motion. Once you see that...you then want to go back to the other forms and add that in. I guess it's a bit like the dragon Rick talks about above. I never really "got" that from my study of sanseiryu. Once I started working with this form, I suddenly saw the light. And teachers like Master Gushi reinforced that idea when I worked with him on my sanseiryu.
The biggest hurdle here, Leo, is learning the sequence. It's being able to do it cold. You have to be able to do that so you can speed it up and feel what the form has in it. It is possible to do the form a few sequences at a time, and maybe that's the way to approach it for most people. But if doing that puts you in the "ichi, ni, san" mode, then you'll never get it. The beauty of doing a form like this from beginning to end with full intent is that you'll never get to the end unless you do it right. There is a method to the madness of its length, and it's hidden in the way the form begs you to move.
Hope that helps.
- Bill
