There are growlers in the world of Uechi. Folks who, during partner exercises, make gruff sounds as a part of their fighting spirit.
What is the role of growling and gruff sounds in the training hall?
I once observed a performance of Dan Kumite where the two participants growled at each other in between the sets. During the actual exchange of blows they were silent.
Perhaps I notice growling more because I'm not much of a growler. So what do folks think? If you're a growler - how does it help you train? If you choose not to growl - are you holding back?
Growling and Gruff Sounds
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Dana Sheets
- Posts: 2715
- Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2002 6:01 am
Growling and Gruff Sounds
Did you show compassion today?
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Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
Oh Dana, this is so much fun. I'm going to see if I can get Vicki to post. She'll have a blast making fun of me (in a respectful way, of course... 
).
I think to some, Dana, it is a conscious act. But to me, it is part of who I am.
* I have a touch of the "absent-minded professor." When I'm thinking very deeply about a problem, I am stressed about something, or I am in a tremendous rush, I talk to myself. Or I'll talk to my "guys." My family knows me by now. Even my five-year-old will say things like "Oh, it's just daddy talking to himself." Basically it's brain crosstalk. Hyperactivity in one area may spill over into another.
This, BTW, is one of my views of "Power breathing." It may or it may not be functional in any one situation. But if it doesn't get in the way, then let it rip. Nothing like throwing every pore in your body into a motion.
* When I am pushing a heavy weight in the weight room, I grunt and yell. It's nothing more than a kiai when you think about it. I could go into the details about how it's like a pressure cooker valve making noise as it regulates extreme intrathoracic pressure, but I'll still be yelling to get that damned thing up.
* One conditioning exercise I do is roller pin work. For the boney areas of the forearm and shin, nothing works better than rolling the area with an inexpensive wooden rolling pin from your local cooking store. How does it work? Well, it does several things all at once. First, it causes the body to respond by building more tissue over the area. Skin is thickened, which protects the bone and blood vessels underneath. It also "resets" the whole pain system in the process.
Pain is a good thing; it keeps you from doing permanent damage to yourself. But as I tell my students, there is good pain and there is bad pain. It takes years of time in the gym and the dojo to learn the difference. Good pain is associated with activity that will make you stronger and healthier a few days or weeks from now. Bad pain means you are doing permanent damage. And bad pain doesn't necessarily hurt worse than good pain - at first. When you experience it, you get that 'Oh $hit' feeling inside. You know you are in trouble, and it's too late.
That "good" pain can really, really hurt. But it's like hot sauce. You need to immerse yourself in it. Several minutes later, you are swimming in endorphins, and it feels gooood . And several days or weeks later, you are stronger, healthier, happier, and better able to prevent injury.
Sooo... Here I am exposing my chicken legs, rolling my pasty white shins with the rolling pin. Yea, baby, it hurts. I roll harder. It hurts mooore. I roll even harder. Then I hear Vicki laughing. Then I realize I am growling like a mad wolfe.
Carpe diem! Whatever gets you to Nirvannah.
* The very first kata I learned was part of a series. Teisha one was quite a nice kata. I still remember it after all these years. I can drop it for 3 or 4 years, demonstrate it for a group, and find that I do it better. It has become a part of me.
At the end of Teisha one, you perform a knife-hand movement in a back stance, contract to a cat, and hiss like a mad feline. Very strange, but dramatic. My Japanese instructor always liked the way I did it. I don't know...I kinda felt it. I'd be drawing back with dynamic tension, glaring ahead, and hissing away. He'd watch me, and yell "Osssu!!"
Fast forward decades later to my yondan test in Brockton. Bobby Bethoney is ref in my sparring match. He yells go. First thing I know, my partner from Nova Scotia has impaled me with a penetrating front kick. My solar plexus is paralyzed.
Instinct kicked in. The last move from Teisha just came to me. I hissed like a cat (contracted my diaphragm with a counter contraction from my epiglottal valve), and the spasming stopped. My opponent looked at me like I just walked out of a creature feature. I suppose the combination of the movement and my probable dilated pupils gave an "otherworld" appearance.
Later in that match, BTW, he hurled himself at me. I instinctively acted again. Odd... I hit him in the nose w/o giving my body permission to do it. 5 minutes later, he had 2 black eyes. I thought I failed my yondan test while Bobby was inspecting the damage. But no... Jimmy Malone yells out "Do too much of that, and he'll be expecting it when he gets home!"
Funny guy, that Jimmy. Gotta respect a man who knows what he sees.
FWIW. If if feels right, sceam on, baby! Grind your teeth like a Shinjo protégé if that's your thing. Whatever... If you're going to be out of character, if you're going to sound like a whining poodle, then just be yourself. But look deep, deep down inside, and see if you can find the other you that makes the "glare in the eyes" something that you already are.
- Bill
).I think to some, Dana, it is a conscious act. But to me, it is part of who I am.
* I have a touch of the "absent-minded professor." When I'm thinking very deeply about a problem, I am stressed about something, or I am in a tremendous rush, I talk to myself. Or I'll talk to my "guys." My family knows me by now. Even my five-year-old will say things like "Oh, it's just daddy talking to himself." Basically it's brain crosstalk. Hyperactivity in one area may spill over into another.
This, BTW, is one of my views of "Power breathing." It may or it may not be functional in any one situation. But if it doesn't get in the way, then let it rip. Nothing like throwing every pore in your body into a motion.
* When I am pushing a heavy weight in the weight room, I grunt and yell. It's nothing more than a kiai when you think about it. I could go into the details about how it's like a pressure cooker valve making noise as it regulates extreme intrathoracic pressure, but I'll still be yelling to get that damned thing up.
* One conditioning exercise I do is roller pin work. For the boney areas of the forearm and shin, nothing works better than rolling the area with an inexpensive wooden rolling pin from your local cooking store. How does it work? Well, it does several things all at once. First, it causes the body to respond by building more tissue over the area. Skin is thickened, which protects the bone and blood vessels underneath. It also "resets" the whole pain system in the process.
Pain is a good thing; it keeps you from doing permanent damage to yourself. But as I tell my students, there is good pain and there is bad pain. It takes years of time in the gym and the dojo to learn the difference. Good pain is associated with activity that will make you stronger and healthier a few days or weeks from now. Bad pain means you are doing permanent damage. And bad pain doesn't necessarily hurt worse than good pain - at first. When you experience it, you get that 'Oh $hit' feeling inside. You know you are in trouble, and it's too late.
That "good" pain can really, really hurt. But it's like hot sauce. You need to immerse yourself in it. Several minutes later, you are swimming in endorphins, and it feels gooood
. And several days or weeks later, you are stronger, healthier, happier, and better able to prevent injury.Sooo... Here I am exposing my chicken legs, rolling my pasty white shins with the rolling pin. Yea, baby, it hurts. I roll harder. It hurts mooore. I roll even harder. Then I hear Vicki laughing. Then I realize I am growling like a mad wolfe.
Carpe diem! Whatever gets you to Nirvannah.
* The very first kata I learned was part of a series. Teisha one was quite a nice kata. I still remember it after all these years. I can drop it for 3 or 4 years, demonstrate it for a group, and find that I do it better. It has become a part of me.
At the end of Teisha one, you perform a knife-hand movement in a back stance, contract to a cat, and hiss like a mad feline. Very strange, but dramatic. My Japanese instructor always liked the way I did it. I don't know...I kinda felt it.
I'd be drawing back with dynamic tension, glaring ahead, and hissing away. He'd watch me, and yell "Osssu!!"Fast forward decades later to my yondan test in Brockton. Bobby Bethoney is ref in my sparring match. He yells go. First thing I know, my partner from Nova Scotia has impaled me with a penetrating front kick. My solar plexus is paralyzed.
Instinct kicked in. The last move from Teisha just came to me. I hissed like a cat (contracted my diaphragm with a counter contraction from my epiglottal valve), and the spasming stopped. My opponent looked at me like I just walked out of a creature feature. I suppose the combination of the movement and my probable dilated pupils gave an "otherworld" appearance.
Later in that match, BTW, he hurled himself at me. I instinctively acted again. Odd... I hit him in the nose w/o giving my body permission to do it. 5 minutes later, he had 2 black eyes. I thought I failed my yondan test while Bobby was inspecting the damage. But no... Jimmy Malone yells out "Do too much of that, and he'll be expecting it when he gets home!"
Funny guy, that Jimmy. Gotta respect a man who knows what he sees.
FWIW. If if feels right, sceam on, baby! Grind your teeth like a Shinjo protégé if that's your thing. Whatever... If you're going to be out of character, if you're going to sound like a whining poodle, then just be yourself. But look deep, deep down inside, and see if you can find the other you that makes the "glare in the eyes" something that you already are.
- Bill
