A very long
time ago back when I was beginning to explore how Isshinryu kata technique
could be applied to an attack, I explored many things.
I worked
several tracks in those studies.
1. I was taking the first movement from Seisan
Kata and seeing how many ways I could apply it, against a wide variety of
attacks.
2. The other
approach I used was to take movements from many forms, movements I did not
think of as having martial uses, and see what I could do with them.
I would give
them names and then look at different
ways from other kata to address those needs.
To have more fun I gave the movements new
names.
The hammerfist strike study from Saifa became ‘The Eagle Swoops Down’.
The pullback became ‘The Snake Retreats’.
The ghost technique became ‘The Ghost Departs’.
The brush knee became ‘The Bear wipes it’s Claws’
The fair lady works shuttles became ‘The Bear wipes it’s Nose’.
There were many others, now found in some manual as this was prior to pc availability
The hammerfist strike study from Saifa became ‘The Eagle Swoops Down’.
The pullback became ‘The Snake Retreats’.
The ghost technique became ‘The Ghost Departs’.
The brush knee became ‘The Bear wipes it’s Claws’
The fair lady works shuttles became ‘The Bear wipes it’s Nose’.
There were many others, now found in some manual as this was prior to pc availability
3. One of my
explorations was open ended, that of a minimalist system. The idea to determining
what was the fewest techniques a system could have to conclude any attack.
Then as
fortune would have it, I was going to do a presentation at a mixed style summer
camp.
They were
not Isshinryu stylists, except for my own students, so I decided to have some
fun. I was going to create a minimalist system of 4 ½ moves. I worked out the applications and even
created a form for those movements, called
”the Son of
the Magnetic Monster” (from Frank Zappa).
I had a lot
of fun with that clinic,
The next
year I gave it again, adding a few more movements.
And the form
now became “the Son of the Magnetic Monster II”
And I even
had a manual.
At the second clinic there was a young
Marine there from one of the participating schools. When I demonstrated the use
of one movement after which they practiced it. Then the Marine , who was 6’6”
of vim and viniger, stated it would not work on him. The technique was Da Lu
from Tai Chi. I was challenged before everyone. So I asked him to attack me, As
I stood waiting. When he stepped forward with the punch, I slipped to the outside
and grasped his arm with Da Lu reinforcing his forward movement. Then I continued forward with the lead hand.
Moving forward into a fingertip strike into his neck, hard. He went recoiling back and ended seated on
the floor. I then told him “If you remember When teaching the technique I
called the movement The
Snake Retreats,
and also showed you that
snakes bite.
As we move forward, it is quite necessary
to
keep ourselves focused on the mission,
and to also keep a sense of humor alive.
The handbook for “The Son of the Magnetic Monster II” can be
found at
http://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/search?q=Smith-Te
This is Seyru Oyata using a similar movement in a demonstration.
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