In an instant….

 

 

In 1981 after training with Ernest Rothrock for several years in T’ai Chi Chaun and having started studying a number of Chinese forms from him.

 

I was not studying applications for any of them. I just wanted to learn T’ai Chi and the form studies were because at times I was called on to judge divisions with individuals performing Chinese forms during tournaments I attended, I wanted to have some knowledge what Chinese form were like myself, to be a more fair judge.

 

So after a time I began to take advantage of the open workout class at his Wilkes-Barre Pa school. There were not scheduled classes then and anyone could just take the floor one after the other and run form aster form all afternoon long…. It was mostly the more advanced students, instructors, and Rothrock Laoshi too.

 

Before class Ernest and I used to talk about many martial arts. He would often ask me questions about my Isshinryu. At time passed I came to realize that his questions were guiding my thoughts about what Isshinryu could do, That became another education it itself. He also explained many things about the arts he was teaching.

 

One of the first Saturdays there as I was running forms I was able to watch Ernest and one of his senior students work on a self defense presentation for an upcoming demonstration.

 

One of those techniques really got to me. When his student attacked what he did was first step across his attack, then spin on the foor that stepped out and that motion of the other leg swept the opponents leg out from under him. Ernest then embraced the floor as his step swept the opponent down, then he rolled over and the foot he spun on became a roundhouse kick to the head of the downed opponent.

 

I watched them several times, though I did not fully understand how he did it. It was nothing I ever studied with him.

 

Then slowly, step by step, I worked out what I thought happened.

I had no one to work it on.It was not something I would teach to the kids at the Scranton Boys Club. So that study was just for my own understanding.

 

Then time passes. Rothrock Laoshi moved to Pittsburgh to take over the school there. While I trained at his local schools in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, it was not the same as training with him either. I did travel the 6 hours to Pittsburgh to continue to train with him, of course as special as those visits were it was never the same thing.

 

Then I too moved to Derry New Hampshire. Far away from everyone I had been training with. I did reestablish my youth program at the Derry Boys and Girls Club. I also started my adult program there.

 

About a year after I moved there, 1996, Tristan Sutrisno decided to have an instructors clinic at my school. There were a number of different instructors from different martial traditions who attended. This was Tristan Sutrisno’s Bushi No Te group which held an annual summer training camp in the Poconos.And among those attending that weekend were Ernest and one of his students from Pittsburgh.

 

What was happening was each of the instructors were sharing part of their arts with all attended. To allow the group to better understand each other arts.

 

 During Ernie’s presentation he demonstrated of the techniques he showed was exactly that move which I had seen 5 years before. And it turned out what I worked out was happening was exactly what he did.

 

I would describe it as the opponent attacks and what he did was use his legs to spin through and take the opponent down to finaly deliver a ko with his foot to the opponents head. Or perhaps he dealt with the attacker by simply stepping through the attack.

 

My description  of what happened

 

Against a forceful grab with the right hand, right foot forward. (alternately a right punch while stepping forward with the right foot equally works).

 

1.Take the right foot and step across the attackers right foot, starting as soon as the enter the attack.

2. Then shift your weight to that right ball of that foot. This is about ½ way through their attack…to consider the timing this takes place.

3. Once your weight has shifted to you right foot, immediately spin on that foot. The spin is counter-clockwise. This allows your left foot heel to become a reap to their attacking leg, and the timing is about ¾ the way through their planned attack.

5. As you spin counter-clockwise and take out their lead leg causing them to begin to topple, Fall down turning to your stomach and embrace the floor. Your hands not breaking your fall, but simply at your chest to push off of. This then becomes a full body breakfall as you opponent is going down on their back

6, Once you embrace the floor you take the counter-clockwise spin of your hips to continue to use the right leg become a roundhouse kick to the opponents head.

 

Of course such a technique is situational, if there other possible attackers the appropriateness of the move might dictate a different response.

 

Should the attack be a left grab with the left foot stepping forward, do not change the response, Of course the reap will then drop the opponent on his face, but the ending movement will remain the same.

 

Regardless of the attack the same response works, you only have to take into consideration how the movement puts the attacker on the ground.

 

The point was often you will only see something one time, but with work you can make that a possibility for yourself.

 

 

Addendum

 

From this single event I gained insight about other potential applications within kata technique.

 

1.    The potential use of kata lower body movement as a weapon.

2.    The use of turning in kata as a weapon system. (45,90, 135, 180, up to 360 degree turns).

a.     The pairing of Isshinryu Chinto and Goju Seipai as an example)..

3.    When I first met Sherman Harrill I understold what was happening by his use of stepping as a weapon system from Naifanchi kata.