Sanchin & The 4 Secrets of The Skill of Strength

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James Kirkwood
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Sanchin & The 4 Secrets of The Skill of Strength

Post by James Kirkwood »

This is a post from a martial arts blog I follow about some physiological "skills" to using your strength, and how Sanchin teaches these skills.
http://www.karatebyjesse.com/?p=8621

I'm curious what others think of this. Does this reflect how you practice Sanchin? Does this apply any more, less, or differently to a Uechi style Sanchin versus Goju or others? Is the science sound (I haven't looked up the sources)?
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Stevie B
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Yes basically..

Post by Stevie B »

I'm a slight bit irritated that Jesse likes to embelish on concepts that he hasn't truly experienced enough himself to teach completely... But with that said he is going in the general direction..If he happens to be close to Ohio I can fill him in on a little more.
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Bill Glasheen
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Re: Sanchin & The 4 Secrets of The Skill of Strength

Post by Bill Glasheen »

Wow! Where do I start?
James Kirkwood wrote:
I'm curious what others think of this.
I think I like what Jesse is smoking! But seriously...
James Kirkwood wrote:
Does this reflect how you practice Sanchin?
Sanchin is a vehicle used to develop many skills. And a practitioner who does it for a lifetime will be using this piece of choreography in different ways over time. That's the best way to describe it.

Jesse is amped up about some new concepts he's come across in strength training. Good for Jesse! Jesse sees those things in Sanchin, or sees Sanchin as a vehicle by which he can experiment with those concepts. Good for Jesse!

Right now I'm thinking more about how to ramp up my core strength. I'm also into training with "toys" while in Sanchin (or as side-training off my Sanchin path) so as to develop both my "te" as well as to develop my ability to have my whole body work as a coordinated unit to accomplish a task. Let's just say my head is in a different place.
James Kirkwood wrote:
Does this apply any more, less, or differently to a Uechi style Sanchin versus Goju or others?
Good question. Personally I have teaching rank in both Goju and Uechi. Consequently I don't really know where my Uechi Sanchin ends and my Goju Sanchin begins. And that's not a bad thing.

I see the run-of-the-mill Goju people understanding some of these concepts better than the average Uechi practitioner. But there's no law that says Uechi Sanchin can't be done with dynamic tension and restricted breathing patterns. Heck... I do it!
James Kirkwood wrote:
Is the science sound (I haven't looked up the sources)?
I have to admit that much of the language is new to me, and I guess I'm as qualified to be called a "scientist" as the next person. But then the bodybuilding crowd is always pushing the envelope in myriad directions, hoping to get an edge. I used to pay close attention to their research chatter, having married a bodybuilder. Now? Not so much... There's such a thing as being "strong enough" and "big enough." After a while, you need to learn how to fight.

I can say he's got some things a bit off. Take this example...
Jesse wrote:
Special “baroreceptors” in your body measure the intra-abdominal pressure and act as the volume control knob. When the IAP bottoms out, the tension in all your muscles drops off. So use your breathing to heighten the internal pressure, making your nervous system more excited. This will make the nerve cells (of your muscles) become “superconductors” of the commands from your brain. So by cranking up the IAP volume knob you automatically get noticeably stronger, in every muscle of your body - in any exercise!
So he shows picture of Kiyohide Shinjo breaking a bat. And then he talks about increasing the intra-abdominal pressure in your Sanchin? Not a good connection there. Uechi Sanchin is supposed to be "hard on the outside, soft on the inside." This means you spend a good deal of your time with an open epiglottis.

Is he talking about increased intraabdominal pressure but "normal" intrathoracic pressure? If so... where are the baroreceptors that he's talking about which will enhance the system? The ones I know of are in the chest cavity (right heart, aortic arch) and the neck (carotid sinus). You have to restrict the exhale to increase the intrathoracic pressure, and that only happens over time with a Goju Sanchin. It can happen in brief spurts in Uechi, but is that enough to make this a meaningful enhancement? I'm not so sure. The time constant of a baroreceptor response to a pressure increase (like a forced exhale with a shhh or hissing breath) is too long for an instantaneous enhancement. There the effect would be less neural and more mechanical.

I give Jesse kudos for enthusiasm. But I'm not buying the way he put all his pieces and parts together. He ends up with something that's like a car built in a chop shop. Maybe... More likely he needs time for these thoughts to blend in his head.

- Bill
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Stevie B
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Hahahaha!

Post by Stevie B »

Less thought.. More action.. Maybe he needs to fell what Kiyohide Sensei is feeling when he breaks the bat, rather than speculate and theorize? Don't know.. Torque, power, Muchime, Atefua, and conditioning for a long time.. That's how it's done... More to feel and guts than Theories and technicalities..The mind will only understand what happens when and if you take that swing..He didn't break the first Bat 40 years ago ... It took a few misses :lol:
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