Fractals 101

My training was perhaps short, and most intense, then I was on my own. Without much Isshinryu contact, and only being lucky to see my instructors maybe once a year there never was time for much discussion. For years the definition of Isshinryu as One Heart System was the answer. Then I read Trevor Leggett’s book ‘Zen and the Ways’ about the influence of Zen within various Japanese systems of combat (many regard lessons which are valuable for Isshinryu too) and one of the chapters defines Isshin versus Zanchin http://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2013/12/isshin-and-zanshin-from-trevor-leggetts.html

 

 I am not an expert in Okinawan or Japanese, however the definition made sense to me. It became an way to think about what I was teaching, and periodic mistakes made by my students. Once I understood what was happening I developed a humorous way to begin to treat it. Brown Belt-itis  http://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2012/02/brown-belt-itis.html

 

This became a key component on developing each students awareness that we cannot let any aspect of our training fail. For the failing components were also valuable tool useful in understand the fractal uses of our system.

 

Fractals 101

 

The term fractals is most commonly seen in mathematical terms, something like this on Wikipedia.

The feature of "self-similarity", for instance, is easily understood by analogy to zooming in with a lens or other device that zooms in on digital images to uncover finer, previously invisible, new structure. If this is done on fractals, however, no new detail appears; nothing changes and the same pattern repeats over and over, or for some fractals, nearly the same pattern reappears over and over. Self-similarity itself is not necessarily counter-intuitive (e.g., people have pondered self-similarity informally such as in the infinite regress in parallel mirrors or the homunculus, the little man inside the head of the little man inside the head...). The difference for fractals is that the pattern reproduced must be detailed.

Frankly it doesn’t mean much to me.

But my use of fractals was borrowed long ago from some BaGua discussion on potential uses for a movement.

 Let’s think of it in these terms.  If you begin with a reverse punch, you have roughly the following pieces of movement involved. The striking arm move out. It strikes and then returns. Where fractals of the movement come into play is that all of the movement can have use. In turn the smaller pieces of the movement also have potential uses. Let me give an example.

 1.       You strike the opponent with a reverse vertical punch.

2.       You use the outgoing motion of the forearm for striking.

a.       You use this motion for deflection of another’s strike.

b.      You use this motion to strike across the triceps tendon where it becomes an armbar

c.       Use of the movement as a strike to the arm or body

3.       You use the strike with the vertical fist.

a.       You strike with the first two knuckles of the flat vertical fist.

b.      You strike with the vertical ridge of the first two knuckles.

c.       The uses of striking with each individual knuckle (such as little knuckle strikes)

d.      The uses of striking with the thumb first knuckle

e.      The manner of striking with the fist moving from little knuckle to lead knuckle (like in Bando)

f.        The manner of striking with the fist moving from lead knuckle to little knuckle  (like in Wing Chun)

4.       You use the retuning motion from the strike

a.       You use the returning movement as a deflection against strikes.

b.      Using the returning of the fist for grabbing

5.       You use the returning fist as a slashing movement against the body or face

6.       Use of the chambering fist for rearward striking.

 

Of course this is but a partial examination of these potential uses of one motion.

 The various force enhancers must also enter the equation for use.

      1.       The potential movement of the hips during the striking motion

      2.       The alignment of the body during the striking motion

3.       The manner of tightening the fist on contact.

4.       The method of stepping throughout the strike.

Each of which can have an effect on the use of the strike involved.