I originally learned it because it in Isshinryu (because in Shotokan but definitely wasn't taught anything like it there or in Take One's Dough) but I did not see that I was doing it until I saw Albert Church doing it and heard his explanations. And I really didn't get it until Zhang Luping showed me, not only that I was doing it, but how to amplify it.
One of the areas that the Spiraling Power becomes obvious is in the use of whole-body power. In all of the TS films I have seen, one can clearly see the TS firmly connecting his upper and lower body as that power will bounce the floor from his tanden and the back out through whatever technique he's expressing, and this happens through the spiraling. This is not shown by all the Okinawan teachers, but I've seen it pronounced in some Goju Ryu people and Ueichi Ryu people. (In Shorin Ryu I have not seen it at all. In Goju Ryu it is sporadic enough for me to wonder if they actually understand what they were doing.)
The instance of being taught and performing something without realizing it sounds odd, but I can give another that I was just discussing with another black belt at practice this morning.
One of the first Taiji styles I learned was Zheng style of Yang. A principle that was drilled into me from the start was that one never moved a foot if the foot had weight on it. I learned other styles and practiced for SEVENTEEN years before I met Zhang Luping and saw him do a particular gesture in Yang style -- and he moved a foot with weight on it.
Naturally I asked him about it immediately because it was a violation of principle as far as I was concerned. But he not only showed me how it was not, he showed me how myself was performing the sets and moving feet with weight on them and somehow I was so thick that I didn't realize it! (Of course, this opened my eyes in big ways but that's another story.)
That being said: across the spectrum of Isshinryu practitioners I have seen, I've seen some who, like me, somehow or other are performing this way whether they realize it or not. (I remember Victor and I met up at an AOKA tournament a few years ago and we saw Lou Lizotte's son do a splendid Chinto that was chock full of whole-body power. I remember referring to his performance as "muscular" so that I could talk about power without having to get all esoteric. I have not met many who are who are straightforward about explaining it -- if you'll pardon, I have also seen some who perform like broken robots and who are very distant from using whole body power even when individual parts of their bodies appear strong.
To give another example: sometimes we can be looking at a thing and not even be able to see it. The first time I ever saw Chen Meili perform Taiji, I could not see her movement! I could tell she was moving but my mental movement vocabulary did not have anything to relate her movements too. Even when she put me on the ground and then showed me repeatedly how she did it, the movement was so alien to my experience that I could not wrap my head around it at all. (of course, I learned fast and subsequently was able to see and understand but I have never forgot someone do something and not even able to tell what she is doing. It was a if she was invisible to my brain at that moment. In modern context, there is one style of Taiji that I practice where all the movements are extremely active but, to an observer who cannot see, it looks like one is scarcely moving at all.
If there's a question over "cleanliness" in Issinryu principles, I think that everyone is influenced by his/her experiences various martial arts have an inevitable overlap in principles that cannot be avoided and is natural. What I don't do, though, is teach Isshinguakamakravtkikwonkenryu and make a stew of martial arts. Each art deserved to be learned for its own sake.
I think over the years as my ability to see has become better is like someone developing an expert palate for wine -- I have seen more of what is subtle in TS's work. Of course, I could just be dreaming but aren't we all, each after his or her own fashion, dreaming? Each of us must decide after all, what she/he is willing to see. One nice thing about these overtly physical things, though, is that they can be demonstrated, tested and each person can experience then through his/her own body and experience.
Regards,
Jim Keenan,
Dotokishin-kai
Isshinryu Karate
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