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Max do you train the other kata as symmetrically as you train Sanchin? I.e. opening kata with either foot forward?

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Did you show compassion today?

Hi Dana ,

Yes I do train both sides in seisan /sanseirui ,yet when i was first taught seisan it was bias onesided ,yet because I spent all my training times to sanchin I gave matters physical considerable thought ,on physical symmetry ,to me this was a natural byproduct to extend it to seisan ; the physical that is .
These symmetrical reasons alone ,do warrant ten years alone to sanchin, the physical is difficult yet more simpler to grasp ,the senses are another ball game alltogether .
A common problem with sanchin is; symmetrical development via sanchin is thought to be enanced via other supplementry means too early on when mind and body still do not understand symmetry .

Another reason why all time was devoted to sanchin so the concept had chance to sink in ; posture /body attention /mind will/spirit .

Stage 1. I grasp physical symmetry .
Stage 2. I am beginning to build a foundation .
Stage 3. I now apprehend the senses are out of balance in all I do .
Stage 4. is really were the observer gets his/her act together and does something about matters .

To grasp the idea intellectually ,is one thing but to attempt to put into the field another ,this is why Will was illuminated and constantly tested via sanchin so the observer could and would stay in the field to carry out .
The methodology was always intelligent ,why give the a intellect a concept that was totally out of the box for man/womans limted underdeveloped attributes .

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max ainley

We can start doing more of sanchin practice any time we want ,again to highlight a theme of my posts there are difficulties one would encounter en route such as trying to get into action ,then keeping the momentum going .

Going back in time when every uechi practioner had to spend the alloted timespan to sanchin ,I think this has mostly been swept under the carpet ,and when some one actually knows the ins and outs of a serious encounter with nothing but sanchin for long duration ,all sorts of emotions and deniels can surface .
When i first wanted to undertake a long term sanchin , I was met with a very difficult time of people getting their heads around the idea . and impossible to deal with negativity ,fortunatly a few wished me well .
If the Ryu is catering for this, its no big deal yet because we have to go back beyond fifty or so years ago ,most have forgot about it, its a memory .
If all I do is sanchin ,how am I going to defend myself ?,remember nowadays in uechi ,most have a moderate arsenal to weave and mesh with vary degrees of knowledge to their sanchin ie; more scope ,yet with a total devotion to nothing but sanchin ,can't sanchin deal with say what seisan is supposed to do .
To go farther there is a must to study sanchin considerably harder .

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max ainley

Having other material to blend with sanchin from day one ,building upon this theme is a very common approach,having no other material to blend is the opposite view ,the one presented here.The brain is programed different ,and the thought patterns are different , the basic needs are different of course this would reflect the individual input and observations .
I have tried to place more information around the will ,instead of saying just do it ? there would be nothing much to read about that specific backbone element,and also we can't just take sanchin in inumerable directions without the backbone will element .
So any focused thought initiator will take sanchin in a certain direction ,the most simplist would be the idea of a foundation,yet with a bit of understanding we realise quite a few directions have been set up ,yet we still have to go from focus to focus to place them in order before the mind .

For ease lets say the individual identifies four directions that really stand out .
Sanchin can be taken in four different directions ,but only one at a time at present ?

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max ainley

Sanchin can be many things too us ,or a few things,yet when we devote all time to sanchin it could still be many or few.
Lets say its a few things ,but they are well worked ,this would be foundational ,or it could be intermediate ,we don't have to do seisan ,kake ,etc, so there would be a need to work harder ,but in what direction would be best to proceed if that course of direction was for now temporary denied.

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max ainley

In this situation of wishing to spend much more time to sanchin than originally planned for, so to place all learned under close watch ,with directions that are of a symmetrical nature .
Because each and every workout is sanchin centered ,this allows me lots of time to experiment ,sort of guauge ,weigh up if my awareness is ready to link efforts with symmetry .
Lets look at this awareness; its narrow its limited ,but its also quite strong ,in other words I only have a few things to work upon ,my awareness is strong on a few items ,but already mentioned I operate mostly from my own habitual top heavy senses , so most of whats been learned as mostly come via those dominant senses , I have weakness, i admit it ,to get my house in order I must stop lying to myself .

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max ainley

I related in a thread ;" I came to uechi-ryu for sanchin "thats what brought me to uechi-ryu ,and not seisan or sparring or sanseirui etc,so from day one I was not really worried about those elements at all ,because there was no sparring within total sanchin workouts ,this also did not really bother me ,my main and only concern was devote all time to sanchin.

The observer is only concerned with sanchin ,but now there is the need to connect the awareness of the observer with the idea of symmetry ,my own feelings were that sanchin could possibly be one of the best kata for this transferance of awareness into the framework of symmetry that sanchin does provide.so the idea is ;a need for awareness to expand within or at the same rate has the physical ,but we can't acheive this while any one sense is being used more than its sum total of senses ,the more time i can now draw to this one kata ,with this idea should pay of dividends ,i am more than willing to invest time .

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max ainley

Initially and for quite some time the student had to be observant to learn from Kanbun .
To sustain the observations requires interest at first then it moves to will ,in the original method observation was a primary .

We now know that in my posts there is a will inside the observer ,and not just any old will ,its undergone transition ?.
I may appear long winded with my expostions of methodology ,but this type of sanchin training is very long winded ,to get into the spirit of it is a must to understanding .
The spiritual side of the methodology is and always was evidant to me and only after a few weeks of this training ,I was not just physical and mental ,there was a spiritual side also .
These three aspects require alignment ,but the primary one for most would be physical /mental ,or very physical ,my own primary mode was the spiritual ,you could say that was my driving force the medium at the back of will .
So we can add another element to the eyes and hears of the observer ,the spiritual .

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max ainley

Because the observer is starting to balance various focusses up ,the few that are detectable along with sense development ,these elements take carefull time and attention to undertake ,this for me explains why in the original method sparring was absent ,even though one of the objectives is to produce a fighter ,but what is wanted is highly worked sanchin motions that at least would kick start seisans fighting motions .

And seisans motions would or could be taken into a fighting context quicker because ,of the extraordinary time to sanchin alone .

For the fighter we now have a will ,developed by sanchin alone we also have a element of calm /patience that most methods just do not attain in such a short time ,"all is in sanchin".
These elements are so obvious to the observer because his home work is being done ,all what I have posted comes under the heading of " Getting ones house in order" .

This house is coming of the foundations ,with a struggle to balance those sides that are detectable to the observer

As a apprentice in my trade a very knowledgable craftsman I had the joy to work with always used this qoute " I want this house to grow out of the ground in balance no side leading many course ahead of another side ,balance is the key"
ONCE the observer gets the hang of these training techniques ,he can instinctively overlook his progress ,also we are training the instinctive .

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max ainley

I come out of the opening of sanchin in dynamic flows,i train not to hang about sort of ajusting posture,were in a sudden unpredictable attack ,too much time is spent getting into sanchin ,to establish this uninterupted flow out of humility /via instintive /spirit state ,when teaching nothing but sanchin all a session could be devoted to this element ,during the highly focussed training elements .
A hallmark of my sanchin is to come out the starting blocks like lighting ,not waiting to get picked off by by a sniper who is quick of the mark .

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max ainley

Shushiwa " Stand here and do this motion " to Kanbun.

Its Quite obvious from the original start to uechi-ryu ,Kanbun was not been taught to get out of the opening as quick has possible ,and end up learning a full sanchin that specific day ? Also he was not even moving out of the opening ? why do you think this was ?

Like other researcher's we sometimes have to go over the same ground to understand more ,I am very willing to keep on doing this ,in this manner I build up my knowledge base .

Within every year so far or every week i devote a entire session to this ,one impetus for me is ,every year some one starts like Kanbun did ,to keep me connected with the beginning .

We can devote more time to Sanchin any time we wish ?.

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max ainley

Sanchin can grow off the foundations in a much more balanced way ,but only when we understand what we are doing ,and our instincts help keep a watch upon these areas of study that seem to surge ahead of others.

Carring out these practices on symmetrical balance ,becomes our state of mind .
Also a mind that trains this way becomes closer to a all-inclusive mind ,of which sanchin can bring into reality .
The out of balanced individual can ,or will find it difficult to accept he is out of balance ,this is a major sttumbling block to over come ,but once it is recognised ,a way opens .
Sanchin takes on Do characteristics and not simply jutsu elements .
Sanchin is the way.

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max ainley

The observer watches the external form and the inner form together,but attention can get lost within either ,if the inner form is lost for too longer periods ,the external form can surge ahead ,this applies both ways ?

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max ainley

As mentioned there is always a type of observer either of very very limited capibilites ,or a observer that is expanding ones understandings .
One skill of absolute need is the ability to just observe ,this would be more appropiate once the form is well underway ,this is were we would need to observe both our interior and our external form .
There is a inner man involved ,throughout these posts I have tried to show aspects of inner man ,and aspects of ordinary man ,I also showed how inner mans Will is significantly different to ordinary man's ,and how ordinary man squirms in the face of long term sanchin exposure ,he as a thousand and one excuses why he/she can't do it ,thats the hallmark of ordinary man .
There is very little inner man at work ,and sometimes its non existant , a hollow man .
The main inner feeling present in inner man that at present is so obvious is ;the feeling of a Will .
The observer can use this as a yardstick to the presence and growth of inner man from moment to moment .

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max ainley

If we wish to know of all-inclusiveness ,we need to expand upon inner man ,so he needs to at least get on the road and close in on external development ,this is yet another reason why its so important to start getting sanchin into primary postion ,spend increasingly more of ones time with sanchin .
Primary position aids development of inner man secondary position shrinks it.

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max ainley