Chemical Dump Training

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It seems so obvious and simple to understand that a person learning self-defense requires some form of training that will induce the proverbial chemical dump so they can experience and train to manage it.  I think the self-defense community tends to miss such important details but I can sense how not training and practicing the chemical dump can create huge obstacles in applying self-defense. 

I have theorized that one way to experience the stresses and affects was through military training but realistically most cannot experience such training even when self-defense training models in civilian life claim their system is based on military training and practices. There are components that are removed and missing when a system is converted to fit civilian models. 

This is true even of the karate training, both the old and new, i.e. circa early 1900’s to present day. After all, the karate we practice today is derived from the model that was converted in 1905 for the educational system in Okinawa as well as in Japan, etc. The persons responsible for implementing karate into the educational systems were to understand that the old Ryukyu Ti systems required toning down to be acceptable for training the youth. This is why is became more a physical, mental and spiritual model over a more combative one. 

Yes, you can induce a certain amount of stress in the dojo but then other factors become missing in the action of training, practice and possible application. Sport oriented competition also induce stresses but it is also missing other components or factors that you have to deal with in a violent conflict. 

It has been preached as well that the world of MMA competition, etc. is adequate to induce the many chemical stress responses you will find in a violent conflict and that may be true (I can’t say it is true because I can’t say I have experienced this both in the ring and in a conflict) but it too is missing certain factors and components.

Lets take a peek at this, in violence there are many aspects that you will not find in any realistic training and practice. The mind-state that you are confronting a possible life and death situation does not exist in the ring. Yes, the training and application models discussed above will provide a lot of valuable practice and training to handle high stress situations. After all, the stress and affects of many emotional stimuli when it releases the chemicals into the body are the same, i.e. the body actually does not know the differences. But, the mind does. 

This is the crux of this type of issue the military, etc. have dealt with for centuries. How to cross that line when the time comes so a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine can get past the different mind-state and achieve proficiency from that experience. This also goes to how they can continue to achieve success with successive encounters of conflict of the life and death conflict. 

This may actually be the reason, or one of them, why many self-defense models fail to address them or don’t know about them or deliberately disregard them completely. They are very difficult to learn and train for so they can be taught adequately. 

One mind-state you can only get around by experience the reality of violence is “doubt.” Even when you are trained, like military are, to the highest levels, assuming there is no actual combat experience possible at the time, you still have to cross that line of doubt the first encounter you experience. 

I believe you can go a long way to reach that state and often proper realistic training can get you close enough to develop the type of confidence that will allow you to cross that line when it first arrives. You may have a split second of hesitation but proper training and practice can most often push you across that divide. 

Rory Miller tells us about giving ourselves “permission” to act. He, I believe, advocates that you must give yourself permission and then practice and train that permission along with everything else so that when the time comes you have a real chance to overcome and “freezes” and act as appropriate in a conflict. 

I often wonder how many actually discuss this stuff let alone address it in training and practice. I am out of this mostly today but I do know that there are some who address it and teach it like Rory Miller, Marc MacYoung, Wim Demeere, and many others. I question today why the other self-defense folks fail to recognize such expertise and why they fail to absorb and use such training for their systems. 

I do realize and believe that those who need it the most tend to ignore it the most. There are many reasons why this is so and I won’t even try to address those issues here. The blog and post are just not long enough and honestly I don’t feel qualified to speak in that kind of depth. If I still ran a dojo I would spend a lot of time having my participants experience the training and practice of these guys. It would be a cost well spent when a dojo professes its model includes self-defense. I didn’t always realize or understand this concept of self-defense but you just have to continue to seek out knowledge and learn, learn and learn some more. 

Are you training and practicing to the chemical stress responses for violent conflicts? If not, should you? 

Educational Karate

Kyoiku Karate [教育空手]

The characters/ideograms mean, “Educational karate.” The first character means, “Teach; faith; doctrine,” the second character means, “bring up; grow up; raise; rear,” the third character means, “empty; sky; void; vacant; vacuum,” the fourth character means, “hand.” 

This term describes modern karate today. It also denotes the type of karate that was instituted into the educational systems of Okinawa in the late 1800s, with the official date of around 1905 for full implementation. 

Much like the Japanese jujitsu, etc., when first recommended to the educational system and as many of the karate-ka understand today contained unacceptable and perceived dangerous aspects so it was recommended they be “watered down (my phrase)” to suit the needs of the educational system. 

It is now known that karate was not intended to be a combative system but rather an introduction to additional martial arts training, specifically martial arts weapons - of the times. There was no direct intention, in training and practice, to have anything other than kata as the mainstay of the training model. It incorporated two man kata drill type training and practices but what we use today, kumite or sparring freestyle, didn’t exist. It is not to say that it was not used, in some form, for self-defense but as to it's training and practice intention, not. 

In the end this pretty much means that most karate today is actually practiced, in the modern traditional model, the way it originally was intended with modifications to make it an educational karate for the school systems, i.e., on Okinawan the Shuri Middle School - where the educational karate began. 

This is going to rankle some who are dedicated to achieving a more “traditional or classical” form of karate with hints toward combatives, etc., but that is just not accurate. It doesn’t mean a person cannot work toward making their karate a combative but the ingredients to achieve such a lofty goal tend to violate what is truly realist training toward defense against violence. 

Reading this short topic should not be misconstrued as derogatory to the practice of karate but rather a note as to its original purpose especially toward its intended purpose in the educational system of Okinawa, i.e., educational karate. 

Read more, buy the book on Lulu.com:

Bibliography:

Quast, Andreas. "Karate 1.0: Parameter of an Ancient Martial Art." Lulu Publishing (Self-published). December 2013.

Makiwara Calluses

In a recent posting on the Facebook Wall of the Ryukyu Martial Arts the subject of calluses came up. Somehow, and this is not the first time I personally have been asked about this from karate-ka, practitioners got this idea that the purpose of the makiwara is to condition the hands, i.e. build up calluses on the knuckles, etc. along with building the calcium deposits around the knuckles under the skin, etc. This is just not so. 

First, review “Wolff’s Law.” Then review the following video, “Machiwara Undo, by Jonathon Hallberg.”

Second, the calluses you may, stress may, develop on the parts of the body used with the makiwara are a byproduct. They are not the goal but just one small thing that you get from “proper makiwara training.” The degree depends on how you practice and train the makiwara. I firmly believe that if you train and practice in a manner that meets the principles of martial systems you will lessen the development of those calcium deposits and calluses.

Third, the use and practice of the makiwara, to my minds eye, is more about training the body, mind and spirit. When you watch the excellent video you can see in the first exercise that it is more about things like physiokinetics, i.e. for example that exercise teaches you about something called the “step punch (also referred to as the falling step punch as first explained by boxing champ, “Jack Dempsey.”).” 

If done properly you see the simple falling forward creates power and the proper responding is for the body to return to standing up position from the proper application of the hand to the target. 

I had someone contact me who said they just returned from Okinawa where in the honbu dojo they spent a lot of time on the makiwara. Their concern was the extreme calluses, etc. that were formed on the hands and that this would result in some medical issue later in life. My response was, first, this is not necessary to benefit from makiwara training. Second, you can adjust your training so that you lessen the byproduct of calcium and calluses and still get the full benefit of makiwara training. When I described how, etc. they got one of those “oh crap” moments. 

I believe that in some dojo this practice of makiwara calluses, etc. is more about perception than actual martial benefits. I try to convey that the goal of makiwara training is to learn how to apply the fundamental principles of martial systems to application of technque because when you properly apply the principles like physiokinetics and technique you can see, feel and hear them through makiwara training. Just watch and listen to the video and when you begin to use the makiwara you then can feel it when done properly.

In my final opinion on this matter, when an instructor teaches and informs a practitioner that the makiwara is about developing large knuckles, calluses and calcium deposits for defense, etc. then they are missing out on a larger and more critically important aspect to makiwara undo training. Similar to the maxim that if you learn something incorrectly it takes you double or triple the time to correct it than if you just learned it correctly at the start. 

Two additional points as well. The first is the purpose of using the makiwara. If your goal is for self  defense or tameshiwara then that requires additional professional guidance. Second, if your being taught that makiwara undo is about protecting the hand against hard targets then you need to go back to the basics again. You don’t use the fist against hard targets such as the skull, etc. because even if you develop large calluses and calcium deposits with a strong hand, arm and so on if you are in the fight you still run a high probability that your hand will break against a hard target. This is why in fighting, combat and most important self defense you use the fist against soft targets and the open hand against hard targets. This may sound unusual but when properly instructed and trained you will readily see the benefits. 

Finally, having large deformed hands at one time may have been a mark of a professional expert karate-ka but that is also a misnomer. When the chemicals are dumped into your body your large deformed hands if not properly trained and utilized will be nothing more than large deformed hands. 

Makiwara calluses are a byproduct, not the goal. Makiwara trains you to apply the fundamental principles of martial systems so that you can apply them in a real life self-protection event, i.e. self-defense. Makiwara more than any other device, i.e. heavy bag, returns the lessons of correct and incorrect applications better than anything I have used except actual experience itself. Use the makiwara correctly and you will enjoy the benefits. Use the makiwara incorrectly and all you do is create large deformed hands that may result in difficulties later in life. 

Okinawa and the Weapons Ban

Wow, in Karate 1.0 it appears that our thoughts that the weapons ban by both the Okinawan Royalty and the Satsuma Samurai did not ban weapons in the manner that left the common populace disarmed. I want to go back and read that again but it appears that most of the ban was about allowing weapons, firearms, to be sold outside Japan and Okinawa. I will clear this up a bit more as I take another look at what I read. I don't want this to become something that I misinterpreted but I wanted to get some interest going toward the book and its importance or its lack of importance. 

There is more within those pages that discuss the possibility that karate, the empty hand system within martial arts, didn't come from the need of the locals to defend themselves against the Samurai of Satsuma. Apparently, the Satsuma took charge of defending the Okinawans against pirates, etc. The commoners were not striped of their weapons such as those that slash or stab, etc. It was more about firearms and controlling weapons aboard the shipping vessels that went to China, etc. 

I plan on sitting down when I am done with my first study of this book and write a post that will provide a possible alternative to what some believe is the history and stimulus for the practice of empty handed martial arts. 

Look at this entry as a "teaser" for another post and the need to at least consider this book and its role in understanding the culture and beliefs of Okinawan Karate. 

Addendum did Monday April 21, 2014 at 12:35 hours:

Okinawa Disarmament History

After reviewing the materials, i.e. Karate 1.0, provided by Andreas Quast I agree with his conclusions thus,

“Ut us true that Ryukyu never in her history had been disarmed.”

For those who would argue that only Ryukyu Royalty were armed Quast Sensei shows through out his evidence that the commoners of Ryukyu were never disarmed of “cut and thrust” weapons and bows and arrows, etc.

Quick Reference, i.e. the actual references to those mandates concerning arming or disarming of weapons throughout Japan and included Ryukyu. 

HS/1643, HS/1646, HS/1613-01, HS/1613-02, HS/1639, HS/1657-01 and HS/1657-02. He has the actual details written in his book.

Note: The existence and management of firearms within Ryukyu was shown to be a primary effort of Japan and is proved by Quast Sensei’s evidence. It was based more on import/export with emphasis the borders (external threats) of Ryukyu ere protected by the Satsuma while internal protection by Ryukyuans and maritime protection by arms loaned out by the Satsuma controls.

Addendum dtd Friday May 16, 2014 at 10:32hrs:

It is also interesting to note that the original perception that karate was born of the "weapons ban" on Okinawa is false and that it was more a "mistaken interpretation" of an order of prohibition in 1670 that actually came about because of "A Nocturnal Masked Person" walking at night carrying a Bo and Sword where the constabulary felt it would be a threat to peace, security and safety of the people of the Ryukyu kingdom.

Because of this mistaken interpretation and its later publication in the first book on karate by a noted leader and teacher of karate it spread as if it were fact. It is only today, because of the hard work of various dedicated historians of karate that the truth has surfaced. I give special credit to Andreas Quast for his work in his book, "Karate 1.0," where it states in part:

"1670, A Nocturnal Masked Person, Starting Point of a Karate Theory:

In 1670 a prohibition order was issued. The order related to an event that took place in the night of the 16th day of the 1st month of this year, when in the light of a lantern a person was seen carrying Bo and sword with his face covered up. The order forbade such conspiratorial behavior and instructions were given to capture any such person who infringed on the provisions of the order. It was historian Higaonna Kanjun who interpreted this even as evidence for the prohibition of all weapons and furthermore as the trigger for he development of unarmed karate. He provided this theory in his forward to the first karate book ever printed, in 1922, namely Funakoshi Gichin’s “Ryukyu Kenpo Karate.” Naturally, transported in this influential work and embraced by Funakoshi himself, this notion had been carried on, extended to the prohibition of all weapons as well, and further developed into the idiosyncratic perception of an unarmed historical karate. 

However, the actual circumstances of the above order under no circumstances can be interpreted as a general prohibition of weapons. The order was solely aimed at “masked persons” carrying “weapons” during the night time that would constitute a threat to peace and security in the kingdom. The written order must be considered evidence for the existence and acceptance of both Bojutsu and swords in the kingdom following the 1609 Satsuma takeover."

Carrying A Weapon

In a recent posting by Marc MacYoung about "Talisman's," i.e. brandishing a weapon in self-defense, I got to thinking about teaching self-defense with weapons. 

What first occurs to me is to ask the student, "Why do you feel the need for a weapon?" There are many reasons why carrying a weapon is necessary. I am not a professional but I suspect it regards, mostly, about working as a professional. I can't think of too many reasons why a civilian would have a need to carry a weapon. I will bow to comments made by professionals.

As a self-defense instructor I would also have to ask, "What type of weapon does one NEED for self-defense?" This too must refer to the professional disciplines because I still can't fathom what weapons are needed by civilians for self-defense.

So, before I continue on that path, I have to ask, "What do people perceive of a person who carries a weapon no matter what the reason especially when that person is NOT a professional, i.e. Police, etc.?" What is the perception when you see or hear of a person who defended themselves with a weapon be it a gun, club or knife, etc.? Do people think that because you carry a weapon you are "looking for trouble?" 

In the self-defense world there are many steps you must pass through to expose yourself and encounter violence or conflict where some physical means of self-defense are necessary so why carry a weapon at all? If you are knowledgable about conflict and all that entails, i.e. the before violence, the during violence and the after violence, etc. then why carry a weapon. 

One of the major points Mr. MacYoung wanted to make is this, "If you carry a weapon are you absolutely prepared to use it without hesitation?" I am not saying, "brandish it in the hopes that the other person will back off" but if the necessity of the weapon is unavoidable are you prepared wholeheartedly to use that weapon within the confines of legal self-defense all the way up to and including deadly force? Marc MacYoung suggests that it is "stupid" to think that the "threat of violence" will work. He says, it doesn't and he should know as he has lived that life. 

Then there is the question, "Is the weapon you carry legal?" There are large lists of weapons deemed illegal in California and I, personally, viewed the list with surprise when I would read a weapon I thought would be legal as illegal. 

Let's say you like to carry a pocket knife as a self-defense weapon and you feel it is necessary also as a work tool. Many laborers carry such a knife at work because of the convenience. The devices that are added to a pocket knife are mostly there to make it convenient and easy to operate with one hand. An electrician working to splice wires may find it convenient to reach back, remove the knife (it has a clip to fasten it to the belt), and with one hand flick it into the open position so they can cut while the other hand holds the wires. This seems, on the surface, a good thing for the electrician. They often carry it that way all the time under the belief they might need it for things in general at any time and that convenience is also good. 

Lets say that this same electrician decided, unknowingly, to purchase a pocket knife that has the "assist" function, i.e. a function of a spring like device that will power open a knife so that you don't have to flip or flick it with the thumb assist (that thumb assist in most cases is still there on these knives). What would a laymen perceive of that knife if self-defense were involved and the other participant was stabbed and cut seriously and may even be dead? Not so clear cut because I might think, "why did this guy want the assist when the normal thumb device works just fine?" What was the reason for carrying it outside of the work environment? Can he justify that carry? 

I can see that there may be many questions and assumptions that could sway a group of every day normal persons into thinking that maybe this electrician had ulterior motives and we haven't discussed the rest of that story, i.e. why did he use it and why did he kill the other person, etc. and so on and yadda yadda yadda. 

I guess what I am getting to is this, "Think hard and long as to why you THINK you need to carry a weapon for self-defense." I say THINK because that is something that must come from the human brain. I didn't say "FEEL" because that comes from "emotions" and emotions tend to come from the monkey brain. 

Self-defense as you are aware of is something that must be fully comprehended through study, training and practice before you make any decisions as to use and whether carrying a weapon is necessary or even smart. When you decide, think about any emotional content that drives your decision. Think, is this my human brain saying this or is this my monkey brain driving this train? It is hard but in the end, worth the effort.

There is a good deal of self-analysis, social analysis and environmental, situational and legal analysis that must go on before, during and after the search and study of self-defense. As can be readily perceived when you go to the "No Nonsense Self-Defense" website by Marc MacYoung that self-defense and conflict and violence are complicated, convoluted and most difficult and that is without even taking one self-defense class.

Oh, and I haven't even addressed the use of kobudo type weapons for self-defense. I had a novice security guy, he was hired to run security at the hotel and bar where I worked once but had no real experience other than he studied martial arts - another topic, does MA qualify you as a security professional, etc.. He came to work the first evening, stopped by my desk to say hello and I noticed something heavy in his shirt pocket shaped like a star. He has shrunken. I suggested that those were not exactly appropriate to use for security and that he might find it "illegal" in Florida and maybe he should research them legally before carrying them to work. He said his "sensei" said they were great self-defense tools, etc. Hmmmm?

Is the Okinawan system of karate representative of Japanese Budo? Addendum Mon Apr 14, 2014

Read this post first: "Is the Okinawan System of Karate Representative of Japanese Budo?"

Now that you are up to date with my perceptions I can now say, "I was wrong!" In the new book, Karate 1.0 by Andreas Quast I have come to understand that Okinawan Systems of Karate may just be representative of the Okinawan versions of Japanese Budo. Much like the Japanese, the Okinawans had the tendency to take things of value from other cultures and absorb them into their own. This, apparently, includes Budo. 

The Okinawans, it would seem, had a very militaristic way of life up to the early sixteen hundreds when the Satsuma Samurai took control of the security of its outer most territory, Okinawa or the LooChoo Islands. 

I don't believe that modern karate as practiced in the 1900's and now this century are representative of Japanese Budo but I do believe historically that the influences are there. I really want to strongly suggest getting this book because it has blown a few holes in what "I believed" were a part of the legacy of Okinawan karate or Martial Arts. 

Karamuto [唐無道] [唐武刀]

The characters/ideograms mean, "martial arts supposedly unarmed and similar to karate." The first character means, "T'ang; China," the second character means, "nothingness; none; ain't; nothing; nil; not," the third character means, "road-way; street; district; journey; course; moral; teachings."

The characters/ideograms mean, "martial arts supposedly unarmed and similar to karate." The first character means, "T'ang; China," the second character means, "warrior; military; chivalry; arms," the third character means, "sword; saber; knife." 

As to the second set of characters/ideograms, the second and third are open to discussion since I was unable to find the "exact" characters provided in the book that I use as the source for this term. The first characters/ideograms are the set I lean heavily toward for this definition. 

Aka Chokushiki, in a book, cites "Yawara (to be thought of as Jujitsu)" and a skill called "karamuto." From the context within the text is probably pointing to a historical form of karate or otherwise a martial art it originate from. When rendered in kanji, it is transcribed as karamudo [唐無道] (Chinese martial arts). Another possible explanation is karamuto [唐武刀] can be interpreted as Chinese Weaponless (Martial Arts). This form was used in the 18th century Okinawa.

It was Nagamine Shoshin who noted that the Okinawan Martial Arts were referred to as "Ti." The ethnic specifics of martial arts of Ti was created, on the other hand Sumo was born as entertainment of the common people. 

In Naha: Tegumi refes to the competition of sumo.

In Tomari and Shuri: It was called Muto. 

The term Karamuto per Aka Chokushiki in the mid 18th century most probably designates a style of wrestling from China specific to the Shuri area. 

This seems, to my perceptions, to verify that the indigenous system of martial arts was referred to historically as "Ti" with another term used also to designate not only the Ti practice but its interconnection to the Chinese influences, i.e. thereby the reasoning for the second Kanji, i.e. Karamuto. Both terms are used in the explanation but I suspect depending on who you talk to and their residence, i.e. Naha area, Tomari area or Shuri area, that karamuto or karamudo connect Okinawa Ti to the modern Karate. 

Bibliography:

Quast, Andreas. "Karate 1.0: Parameter of an Ancient Martial Art." Lulu Publishing (Self-published). December 2013.

Training the Adrenaline or Stress Reactions

As I continue my studies and as I begin to appreciate the need to train for the chemical dump of stress I remember how it may be a training model for the military, specifically Marines (I was a ten year active duty Marine, i.e. 1972 to 1981). It dawned on me that at least the first and second phase of recruit training puts recruits in that stress zone - a lot. 

I remember the first phase was grueling and we all were placed constantly into situations and scenario's that caused us fear, anger and with those a lot of stress from about 0500 hours in the morning through about 2100 hours at night when we hit the rack. Even at night the first couple of nights we were guarded by third phase, about to graduate as Marines, recruits who also kept the fear of god in all of us.

The yelling, the screaming, the "in your face" actions along with the mere fact that you have experienced Marines with lots of stripes pushing you beyond your limits each and every day until you graduate tends to trigger many stress related chemicals into your body. Then all those various challenges such as obstacles courses, the rifle range, grenades, etc., all under the pressures of DI's and the rest of the platoon. At first you run around like a "chicken with its head cut off," until finally all that peripheral stuff sits outside you and you act readily, fast and with purpose. 

So, if you really want to learn how to overcome stress chemical dumps, "join the Marines - go to Parris Island - complete recruit training," and the sky is no longer the limit. After that, volunteer for combat and you should develop a good sense of how to handle and work around adrenaline, etc.

My brother is a Navy Seal, just ask him the pressures and challenges of Seal training let alone serving as a Seal in combat (he served in Beirut). Any special service organization is going to subject you to a lot of stress and handling yourself really matters to you and to your fellow Sailors, Marines and Soldiers. 

How Realistic Are the Kumite Drills

I am going to focus only on two, the full nelson and the bear hug attacks. Now, this is going to be short, in my personal experiences I have never encountered nor witnessed an attack by anyone where either of these attacks are used. I also count any YouTube video's I have viewed that "say" they are fights, attacks or self-defense situations. There are many out there to view. I also count the professionals I follow in books and on the Internet as to web sites and blog posts, etc.

I don't believe they are realistic self-defense training drills. They are easy to teach and they will look and feel good to those who have never been attacked or in a real fight, i.e. not some social monkey dance but a real fight. I am making some assumptions with only a minimal amount of experience. One incident was a monkey dance with a crowd and the two fighters never once did a bear hug or a full nelson. 

Granted, a full or half nelson may be applied in sport especially with those who practice and train at ground work, etc. but still not in a fight on the streets as far as I know. Maybe others can chime in with details as to the fights they have been in where either or have been used "in a fight." 

If the system you practice uses these types of kumite drills for posterity and historical preservation purposes then all is well. I speak up with my opinions when I feel that the participants are "assuming it is for real self-defense." 

Then again, just because I have not witnessed such a thing or observed it out there in the world does not mean someone somewhere has used it, and successfully. I just have a hard time picturing or imagining a predator attacking a victim with either of these techniques. But, hey, I can be very wrong, right?

p.s. Even in the training hall I have never witnessed anyone teaching how to defend against a predatory surprise attack, i.e. like coming up behind an unsuspecting victim and smashing them in the back of the head with a brick type thing - hmmm, wonder if a true predator would use this to get what they want? Hmmmm .....

Martial "Systems"

The issue with discussing systems with only words. Words and sentences must, by necessity, come only one at a time in a linear, logical order. Systems happen all at once. They are connected not just in one direction, but in many directions simultaneously. To discuss a system properly, it is necessary somehow to use a language that shares some of the same properties as the phenomena under discussion.

The physicality of martial arts goes a long way toward this goal of explaining a system, such as karate, in a multidimensional holistic way, i.e. by the sentence you speak, the actions you take and the sense modes used together to learn and teach, i.e. seeing, hearing and tactually (feeling the movements by your own body and by the touch of an adversary, etc.). This method lets a practitioner see all the parts of a picture at once. It is a tactile method that incorporates other means, i.e. seeing and hearing, to achieve understanding that will not come simply by the telling. 

Sensei must adapt the ability to first teach the fundamentals or basics by providing a definition of the system and by dissecting it down into its most atomistic forms, i.e. why we teach individual principles academically to start then begin to use the more holistic approach to actually learn them through the body, mind and spirit wholehearted holistic practice and training regimen. 

Where it achieves its greatest potential is when you begin to put all the atomistic parts back together to make one whole system. Most martial arts don't get to this level of practice and training. They become consumed in the atomistic because it is easier to do and to talk about and to write about, etc. This is what lead to the quantity vs. quality of practice and training debate. It is where martial artists remain stuck in the "shu levels" of the shu-ha-ri training model. 

To achieve a whole system practice give the following some thought and consideration, i.e. remember that to start with the atomistic and working into the holistic provides us the ability to understand parts, see the interconnections, and then create questions that ask things like "What if?" It allows us to see possible future actions and it promotes our ability to be creative and courageous about the system so we may adjust it according to the moment, time and place. 

As with any system, martial systems tend to rely on this more than any other since it involves violence and life and death situations. This model teaches us the simple lesson, "The behavior of a system cannot be known just by knowing the elements of which the system is made." In other words knowing the details does not mean you can apply them as a whole that is required to apply martial arts in a self-defense and combative manner. 

To achieve the ha level in this model means all through the kyu grades and up into the dan grades, i.e. sho-dan, ni-dan and san-dan, one must work diligently on the atomistic. The Ni-dan to San-dan grades are necessary to move from the atomistic into the more holistic system. It is taking all those interconnected atomistic things that make up the entire system and bringing them together into that "one" wholehearted system of martial practice. It is only at these levels can a practitioner achieve a level of expertise to make it work for self-defense and combatives. 

Look at martial systems this way. A martial system is an interconnected set of elements that are coherently organized in a way that it achieves a goal. It should consist of elements, i.e. the fundamental principles of martial systems, basics or fundamentals, kata and other aspects covered in the principles. It must have an interconnectedness, i.e. the principles all work because they are interconnected, etc. It also must serve a function, i.e. in martial arts they work as a means of self-improvement, health and security (self-defense and combatives). If not for this martial systems would simply be a hobby. 

A martial system must have multiple interrelations to be a system. They must be held together or they lose functionality. This is a systemic problem with modern martial systems as a means of self-defense because they lack that functionality. Even tho it still remains a part of a whole, the loss of functionality diminishes its holistic wholehearted value. 

To be a complete martial system it also requires that it exhibits an adaptive, dynamic, instinctual, self-preserving and evolutionary holistic application. It exudes a essence that says this is a system with integrity, both actual and spiritual, or wholeness about the system with an active set of mechanism that maintain the systems integrity. This is not a dogmatic view where one might feel the overwhelming need to keep the system intact and exact as first learned. All systems must change, adapt, respond to situations, achieve goals, and attend to survival. To keep a system stagnant is to reduce the systems effectiveness and applicability.  

A martial system shall remain resilient in this way and that means it must achieve a revolutionary adaptive growth as times and moments and situations change. This is how one system becomes many, i.e. the art of Okinawa "Ti" became several systems, i.e. shuri, tomari and naha-ti, i.e. later to be goju, shorin, isshinryu, etc. 

Knowing that what you practice is a system tells me what I have to do to become an expert in that system. First, can you identify all the parts of that system, i.e. fundamental principles (theory, physiokinetics, technique and philosophy), basics, kata, kumite, etc. Second, do these parts all affect one another? Third, do those parts when applied holistically, as one, produce an effect that is different from the effect of each of those parts as a stand-alone application? Finally, do the parts as a whole provide an effect that over time, persist in a variety of circumstances, situations and applications? You have a system.

Karate, as many martial arts, depend on its viability as a system for effectiveness. Often in modern marital art styles they are actually not a fully developed system. They may have the techniques and the physiokinetics but not the theory and philosophies necessary to make them whole. It also comes from the breakdown of the physiokinetic and technique principles where they are taught and learned but not morphed into one wholehearted holistic application of a "system." 

Remember that to be a system there must be some interconnectedness and if those underlying connections are missing or don't exist than when you believe is a system is actually only a style. A style created to fit the needs of some person, their ego and there personal beliefs. 

What most modern martial styles must try to accomplish is to stop breaking it all down atomistically and begin to look toward the interconnections necessary to make it a system then practice, train and apply it all as a "system."

Each part of the system alone has a function but that function changes as one part responds to another part and one part becomes aware of the other part so that they may function in a whole different way. Remember if the roots of your tree, a system, has dry roots the rest of the tree suffers and possibly dies. Keeping the system intact and fully functional at a productive and efficient way is optimal in a martial system. 

The hardest part of working a system is to remember that it is often easier to learn about the individual parts or elements that to learn about all the elements with their interconnectedness, their interconnections. Bridging those caps puts new meaning to the individual much like bridging the gap between one individual and the individuals in a tribe or group. It is about survival. 

I also must remind myself that there are more interconnections than what I have mentioned in previous comments. There are both physical and mental interconnections. In the physical it begins with health, fitness and ability. It also goes into the flow of energy in the body as the body learns how to function optimally, etc. The mental is the flow if information or data as it pertains to what is being accomplished. It is also the flow of the mind to direct the body so the body directs the mind. All these signals, physical and mental, go to those unconscious and instinctive decisions processes, i.e. like the speed to which a practitioner goes through the OODA loop. 

In martial arts, when the atomistic study of the parts in learned, it is important that one study the system's purpose to lean the more holistic perceptions and applications, the systems purpose is done by watching and performing as the system is applied in, hopefully, realistic applicable ways. Something that flows and remains fluid, not set unrealistic patterns, etc. 

"If a frog turns right and catches a fly, and then turns left and catches a fly, and then turns around backward and catches a fly, the purpose of the frog has to do not with turning left or right or backward but with catching flies. 

Weapons as Supplemental Training for Karate

I have heard many times how kobudo training actually helps tune karate. It has possibly become a mantra to practice kobudo so that one's karate will be improved. I have heard some say that by performing kobudo they sense how the karate they practice can become more. Is this actually true?

In the book, "Karate 1.0," by Andreas Quast, it was mentioned that a purpose of empty hand training was to prepare the warrior physically for both weapons and combat. It was, possibly, considered a pre-requisite to learning the true martial arts of weapons. Think of it like Marines do today, that hand-to-hand combat is always a "last resort" in combat. Marines are taught that if weapons are rendered inoperable that you seek out other weapons as a replacement so you can continue your mission. This makes more sense.

A byproduct of empty hand training as this model suggests is the ability to handle combat with hand-to-hand techniques or more properly empty handed combat, if necessary. Primarily it was and is about weapons other than our empty hands. It is about the goal of karate or empty handed systems to prepare us to move into weapons.

So, in this instance, it is actually about getting it all backwards. Empty hand systems actually prepare us for combat and the use of weaponry. This, of course, applies to the times in which empty handed systems and kobudo, i.e. sword, spear, bo, sai, etc., were the main weapons of combat. This also explains why hand-to-hand has become such a small part of combat training for Marines. Marines use weaponry that do not require the standards created and set by the study of an empty hand system. 

I can also understand that possibly kobudo was added to the karate or empty hand training. It also took a more advanced level of empty hand training, as it should, so that one could become proficient in empty hand so that when kobudo were introduced that experience and conditioning actually supplemented the training and practice of kobudo. 

I and those who spoke of this to me had it backwards. 

The Terrible Two's

This weekend while shopping with my wife, Joyce, we heard an interesting story on our favorite radio station, NPR. It was the show, "The American Life," hosted by Ira Glass. This weekend the story was titled, "521:Bad Baby." What struck me as most interesting is the following two quotes from that show.  

"There's some studies that suggest that the peak of human violence is at age two. We are most violent of all at that age." ~ Paul Bloom

"Families survive the terrible twos because toddlers aren't strong enough to kill with their hands and aren't capable of using lethal weapons." ! Ira Glass to Paul Bloom

First, I believe that this first quote mostly applies toward the male of our species but since I am not an expert nor do I have any research to prove this I can also say there are females in this group as well. Remember, this is my personal opinion and mine alone.

Second, the next quote seems to sum it all up for the human condition in regards to violence. It seems to steer us toward the importance of what our families project as a young person grows up. It also seems plausible that at the age of two and on it might be critical. Even saying this the rest of the show does tell stories of children who are seemingly psychopathic from the age of two up through their teens with some actually becoming human while some remain "evil." 

This also appears to support many other theories about our violent nature. If babies are at their most violent at that point then nature intended us to be of that nature if for no other reason than survival. There are, of course, degrees as can be seen in this rendition of "Bag Baby." It would be interesting to see what research and studies were or are being done on this subject. I ask because in some of my personal research one or two authors allude to the hesitancy or resistance to study violence. They can do studies by interviewing criminals but that is faulty at best because of the nature of the criminal mind (speaking as a non-expert with limited research, etc.). Again, my opinion.

Note: this show is stream available if you wish to listen or you can read the transcripts at the below link. Listening will convey more of the story than merely reading the transcript. 

Our perceptions and beliefs are apparently, to my view anyway, critical in determining what kind of or level of violence and capability we have in a very general way. I understand there are a good deal of factors involved in how humans and violence combine and how those humans handle such things but as I said it apparently has something to do with how we deal with violence and how we deal out violence. You have to start somewhere. 

Personally, I know of at least one person who displayed such psychopathic tendencies and that person still deals with it today. Some of the things told in this story by Ira Glass rang a few bells in my memories of this person.

Interesting story and remember that it is a story that is on a radio show so we don't really know what kind of research and studies went behind its production but listening to the participants, real people living this, speaks volumes as to its validity at least in those families but take it all with a grain of salt and see what you find in your studies. 

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/521/transcript

Dojo Floorplan

Keikogi or Karate-gi

"Sensei Mentor Teacher Coach," by Chris Wilder and Lawrence Kane

I am reading "Sensei Mentor Teacher Coach," by Chris Wilder and Lawrence Kane. Excellent book. The following is a quote from that book and I wonder what other think when they read it (made a few minor changes to suit my martial arts theme). 

"We all want acknowledgement. Fame and fortune have a certain allure, but the world really does not care about your work ethic, your hours in the dojo, the hours you invest to become a sensei, the degree(s) and certification(s) you have earned, or the sacrifices you made to earn the martial arts rank that you have obtained. To assume that at some time you will be acknowledged and rewarded justly for your efforts is tantamount to building a house so that others can burn it down. ... Recognition does come with the job, but you cannot count on it. All you can really control is how and when you recognize others. Set a good example and who knows, things may sort themselves out better than you expected." ~ Kane and Wilder, Sensei Mentor Teacher Coach.

This is only a small excerpt from that book. I won't be doing any more quotes except for the occasional one I want to add to my favorite quotes blog post elsewhere. This is only one small part of the world they are inviting folks to experience, the world of leadership. Even if you don't plan on being in a leadership role this book provides a huge amount of suggestions that make for a better growth potential. In my view, even if you don't want or plan on being in a leadership role you are one anyway. Everything you say, do and believe are projected in how you go about living be it home, work or play. When folks do take notice they tend to perceive you from things you don't say but from the actions, over time, you take living life. If you do want and plan on taking a more active leadership role then this is a primary book for you to study and add to your ongoing/permanent library. 

Chemical Trigger's?

Is it possible that this is the division line between a martial art being adequate for self-defense and a martial art being strictly an art form that is not adequate for self-defense? The author of the article, "The Real Problem in Applying Martial Arts Effectively To A Real World Self-Defense Situation," makes some valid points about this subject. 

If this article speaks the truth then the question becomes, "Is your SD training adequate to the truth of self-defense?" Can your system actually be effective once a chemical dump is triggered? If so, then how do you train so that you experience this dump while practicing and training in a realistic environment for all types of conflict (note that conflict is a whole that encompasses all violence be it a shouting match to both social and asocial violence, etc.). 

If you practice and train in martial arts with a goal of self-defense then is your training about overcoming the adrenaline or chemical effects of survival? If not, then how do you get that type of training and remain both sane and safe - some what safe and sane?

The chemical dump is apparently "hard wired" into our systems and there are many ways to cause a release but that release also has adverse effects on the health and well-being of the individual. It is a stress model that cannot be controlled but control is what we seek. Not to control it as to release, etc. but to control our actions when it starts to affect all those mental and physical manifestations resulting from the dump. 

See the last topic in this article for specifics on the author's understanding of self-defense and those pesky chemical triggers, etc. Let me know your thoughts, comment below. 

 http://moosin.net/2014/02/group-of-people-at-the-gym-exercising-on-the-xtrainer-machines/