Uechi-Ryu.com

Agree 100%, Mike..plus there is the psychological 'impact'
to deal with when some mean @#$ comes at you with a bat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAuAEvHxf9s

Watch the guy attacking, his mass and body language, more so than the rest of it.

I have a guy in our dojo that is like that ...fast and strong beyond sanity.

Trying to stop or evade his swing is a real problem regardless of what some purist may argue.

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Van

That's just it... You don't! (As you well know, Van.)

There are two things to remember, and it should be as instinctive as the *URGENT* feeling I get when I see that convincing attacker coming at me.

• As I said before, go into the eye of the storm.
  ...
• Circle with the direction of the swing. That way you get a "negative doppler" effect. In fact if you run at-and-past the attacker on the side away from the side he's swinging - brushing by him as you do - you very well may not get hit at all.

The physics of the situation is that there's a "sweet spot" for the swing that's shaped like a quarter of a washer with the center hole at the attacker's axis. Every baseball pitcher knows this. Part of the art of pitching is not to throw the ball in that sweet spot. Your job as the defender is not to have your body in the same.

This also holds true for spinning hook kicks. God knows I have a hard enough time teaching my students to get the sweet spot of the kick on the target. It's a dangerous kick when everything is lined up, but worthless if you don't put the sweet spot of the kick in the right place. Understanding that principle makes this dangerous kick much easier to defend against.

Note very carefully how he tells you the wrong and the right place to shoot the leg out before swinging/hooking.


Taekwondo Spinning Hook Kick Tutorial (Kwonkicker)

- Bill

Excellent points Bill. There is still, as you know, the problem of the 'freeze' that some will experience...hesitation/denial etc.

This particular defensive concept, takes time to ingrain...must be practiced on an and endless loop...and must not be interfered with by other bunkai applications we may practice.

The TKD kick is an interesting one and with excellent body mechanics.

In the 'fighting days' we would practice 'reading' the stances leading to the spin and to counter by also spinning but dropping to the ground delivering the defense spin kick to the opponent supporting leg. Very effective.

Nevertheless, this was a dreaded kick, along with its variations, when we fought TKD fighters. I have seen some spectacular Ko's with this kick.

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Van

I alluded to the fact that I would post more later. And so here comes more on the subject of "Movement under stress."

Let me start by apologizing for the title of this YouTube video. Whoever chose the title may not have meant to disparage, but it harks of racial stereotypes. Let me make myself abundantly clear that I in no way am implying anything negative towards any ethnic group.

With that in mind, we are left with finding a way to differentiate the "good guy" and the "bad guy". Since we don't know their names, we're left with the obvious (their race) to differentiate them. So let the "Asian guy" be AG, and the "Black guy" (and apparently bad guy) be "BG".

Black guy tries to rob asian guy, Gets choked out

Things to note are the following:

• The differences in size and body type of the AG and the BG. (BG significantly taller. AG a bit stockier.) You'll note later on in the struggle that the BG appears to be pretty darned strong compared to the AG. My assessment is that - all other factors being equal* - the BG has the edge on size, and he certainly thought he could use it against his victim.
  ...
• The interview of the unsuspecting AG by the BG.
  ...
• AG getting robbed by being careless with his wallet in front of the BG.
  ...
• The persistence of the AG "victim." If nothing else, give him credit for that.
  ...
• Notice how this set-up to the rear naked (blood) choke wasn't pretty like in the classroom. And yet HE (the AG) MADE IT WORK!!! I'm tempted to say a lot here. Instead... I'll just put it out there for now, and allow the audience to contemplate and comment.
  ...
• We cannot know what the AG was thinking leading up to the RNC. It's not like he expected to get robbed. But do notice how he went from face-to-face to the BG's back in a flash. And he did it while standing. It was just about faster than the frame rate of the video system recording it. And he did this slip-around move at bad-breath range. You almost have to connect the dots to picture how he did it, but it was indeed like a Uechi CCW tenshin with a left circling arm, followed by a right "elbow" (RNC) technique.
  
  He went on the opposite side of the side I typically do this. His is more like the classic stepping into right horse stance with left circling arm, followed by right elbow. I usually am merging with the right arm with my right circling arm while rotating CW, and follow with the right "elbow". In the end, there's no arguing with his success.
  ...
• In applying the RNC, the AG made an error, which made the application look ugly until he finally got control. Can you guess what I am thinking? (He still manged to pull it off though!!!)

So yea... complex motor coordination kind of suked here didn't it, peanut gallery? Did that stop him from achieving a "home run" outcome?

Is this typical? (Where's Rory when you want him? )

- Bill

* Clearly all other factors weren't equal. The AG obviously had some martial training.

1) I don't see them as they are an integral part of what I do.
2) See above
3) See above again.

Entering, turning, pivoting, slipping, etc (the things that make up whole body movement) shouldn't be anything special, though from experience I know that's how it's usually presented (Bill being one of the exceptions).

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I was dreaming of the past...

Well said, Bill.

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Van

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yacGwi8 ... ture=share

Bill,

What do you make of this?

Good footwork...but the 'chi' thing?

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Van

I started training aikido just after this show was taped. And my instructor (gojo, aikido, kobudo, special forces) was a big, big fan of Steven Seagal. At around the time of that taping, Seagal was a rokudan in aikido and had been teaching in Japan. It's not hard to see why; he's obviously very good.

And yes... he is a BIG dude!

Steven indeed shows mastery of a lot of the footwork I have been talking about. And the two of them make everything they do look incredible. Fully fifty percent of that demonstration is about the ukemi skills of the tori. Very few people can train at that level of intensity.

As for the ki thing, well... Part real, and part P T Barnum. I have seen these demonstrations and I have done them. And I make no claim of supernatural powers. Understand that this tape is copyright 1982, so we're talking about a 29-year-old western understanding of traditional martial arts. And back then, many were buying all the hocus pocus talk.

Pinkies aside... what Steven is demonstrating is an extremely important concept in sports and in martial arts - essential synergy. That's a term that Dan Kulund used to use in several books he published on sports injuries. If you Google it, you won't find anything but cr@p on massage oils and aromatherapy. What I'm talking about is getting the whole body to work as a single unit - sometimes simultaneously (per his demonstration) and sometimes sequentially (as in whip-like motions). Back in the day when I was trying to learn about weight training, all I could find is books on bodybuilding. There it's about the show and not the go. And often with bodybuilding, you're training one muscle group at a time. Weight training - in contrast to bodybuilding - should be as much about learning to use your body as it is about getting bigger and/or stronger. This is where I've been focusing a lot of my more recent efforts in the weight room.

To train these abilities, one must do the following.

• Focus more on open-chain and less on closed-chain exercises. This means starting all workouts with free weights, and only using machines to cover body parts difficult to train (e.g. clean-up work on the hamstrings, lats, ankle flexors, etc.).
  ...
• Focus on exercises that use the entire body. These kinds of exercises can carry over better to the playing field and the street. In "the real world" we need to know how to pat our heads and rub our tummies at the same time (metaphorically speaking).
  ...
• Focus on exercises that have the right balance of stress on the core (midsection) vs. the periphery (arms, legs). Understanding this means having a gut understanding (bad pun, I know...) of lessons taught in basic math and physics.

It's been a bit of an epiphany for me in the last decade, Van. I'm rediscovering some of the old standards like Olympic weight lifts*, Turkish get-ups, and Okinawan jar training. I still finish up with a lot of traditional weight exercises and some machine work. But the center of my training solar system is all about whole-body exercises that teach me how to get "the whole" to work like a well-conducted symphony.

THAT in my opinion is the "ki" that the old masters were talking about. For the sincere, it's a matter of poor language and scientific understanding, and not one of magic or fraud.

- Bill

* I do mine without the "split" jerk as in that video. And to add an extra dimension of coordination, I do it with dumbbells. But varying off of a classical sport theme is part of keeping the body guessing. Variety provides more learning opportunities for the body, and less chance for it to plateau.

Speaking of variety... I rather prefer this version of the Turkish Get-up:

Variation One

Variation Two

I'll be going down to my local gym supply store to see if they have equipment like this available.

Good stuff, Bill...and I agree.

As to Steven...as you know...he can also hit like a truck speeding downhill.

As to the 'equipment' I'm sure where you are at work there will be plenty to go around.

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Van

Yea well... In a Fortune 500 company these days one must be uber professional. We get the ethics training yearly to keep our mindsets current. And the higher up you get in the corporate ladder, the less margin there is for error. One need only look at the crucifixion of Herman Cain to see the kind of mess you can get into.

So I do my best to wear one hat at a time.

- Bill

I understand...but I had meant to say 'the state/area' where you work.

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Van

Well East coast girls are hip
I really dig those styles they wear
And the Southern girls with the way they talk
They knock me out when I'm down there

The Mid-West farmer's daughters really make you feel alright
And the Northern girls with the way they kiss
They keep their boyfriends warm at night

I wish they all could be California
I wish they all could be California
I wish they all could be California girls



It's all good to me, Van.

- Bill

I'll take the one with the pink shoes...thanks

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Van