March 7, 2009 From my Isshinryu Journal #27
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Mike Cassidy and Dennis Decker
Mouseketeer Roll Call
Secret Grandmaster Charles – missing for a long time
Victor – Messed up hand from a fall
Mike – Broken foot from a trip
(though the ground work you were leading on Thursday night makes me think you’re keeping a little in the cellar if needed.)
Young – Concussion from a car accident
Paul T – Elbow replacement surgery
That would have almost put
Victor Michael in charge but luckily Tommy Chan dropped by today and the unwritten bylaws can accept the mantle of temporary Reigning Master.
And it’s not even spring when the gentle sound of chainsaws begins cutting up the fallen trash in my yard for years………….
Shimabuku Tatsuo trained with Motobu Choki among his other
instructors.
The following clips are from the Tsunami produced video of his history, his son (Motobu Chosei) presenting the Naifanchi I and II kata, and the self defense techniques from Motobu’s books from the 20’s and 30’s. (He really wasn’t trained by his father as much as by his father’s student(s)).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjJ_Xhedayo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_WjZBtfPUE
Motobu Chokei only did a few kata in his art, the Naifanchi and the Patsai kata among them.
Harrill Sensei noticed that the self defense applications in one of Motobu’s early books was from Patsai and the same section was in Isshinryu’s SunNuSu kata (where you turn into a kamae with both hands raised and then twist the hands down and right side kick).
Among the interesting things in Motobu’s book he specifically called out our style of Naifanchi stance (toes pointed inward) as being too weak…….
On the other hand the Japanese video of Motobu’s son shows them practicing Naifanchi Shodan (our Nihanchi) at times starting stepping to the right (as do most Okinawan styles) and at times starting stepping to the left (as in Isshinryu), apparently favoring neither version as the one way.
Motobu Group Class Naifanchi start to left
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR5RStGWKDQ
Videos of The karate of Choki Motobu
Budo Karate Do Part 1
Budo Karate Do Part 2
Budo Karate Do Part 3
Budo Karate Do Part 4
Budo Karate Do Part 5
(Alas, these you tube videos are no longer there, and when my PC crashed those files were unrecoverable)
Note all video’s don’t hang on the internet forever.
Tom Chan dropped by today, a pleasant occasion.
We were watching some Sherman Harill and John Kerker video together after class.
Chatting with him it brought up many memories. Sherman would always say if push came to shove he’d likely just haul off and hit them (as opposed to his multitude of applications (never fully believe that), but after spending a few minutes with John Kerker these past few years I do believe that is what Sherman would do, but in his case the punch is his most advanced technique.
Reflecting on my time training with Sherman and John I came to understand those words a bit.
Through extensive makiwara practice, subtle targeting normally using the ridge of knuckles as the striking point, decades of working on moving into an attackers space to counter, and striking the precise pressure point with his punch (which Sherman defined as a circle starting at the top of the head and extending to the soles of the feet), which wasn’t a joke.
I have no doubt Sherman (and of course John among others) hit so hard that a strike anywhere can drop one. Sherman’s answer was a simple quick reply and of course his ultimate truth.
We all are in different circumstances, have different free time, etc. to work with. But working on our tools, the harder and stronger they become, the more options the present.
FYI, Sherman also explained to me that the full monty wasn’t mandatory. All were introduced to the makiwara, but if they couldn’t/didn’t pursue that their training continued, but at an appropriate level for their training time.
The only time I had access to a proper makiwara was when training in Tang Soo Do in Scranton for 2 years. I always worked it before and after class and in turn I think that time helped develop my striking power for the rest of my life. Not a full answer but we do/did what we can/could. Correct knuckle pushups is also a useful too.
Reminder:
You all know in the brief time we have to train together I follow the Tris Sutrisno answer and only concentrate on karate. The adult program doesn’t use time for warmup. That means each of you are responsible to be warmed up when class begins, or begin practice gradually and let your karate warm you up for harder practice as the class passes.
This morning I covered a range of warm up drills I use (mostly from my tai chi studies) to loosen the body (especially the lower body) in a gradual way but still leaving you loose and ready to move when finished. They’re not just lower body skills, some use the entire body in a twisting motion to supplement the rest.
BTW. Some of them can be done gradually in real life to prepare one to move too.
If you need assistance on stretching for your training needs check with me about it.
You all know I really enjoy my tai chi practice. You might find the following clip interesting, it shows how tai chi technique works and counters, and counters counters.
Taijiquan Duilian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoLUg-6soXI&list=PLYIONijZnyRGpmX9uzVnA20Od5qGI7rWI
Some things to think about… it’s always about more than just watching
Today’s kata focus was Seiunchin. Don’s learning it (and I’m using the exact version Mr. Lewis taught us for demonstration in 1975, of course that means someday I’m going to have to bring in a player so he can do it to the Hustle as we did then. This was the song I learned to do Seiunchin under Tom Lewis, believe it or not.
Do the Hustle -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3kE0rvAJhM
BTW that may have been us doing Seiunchin on that video to come and think about it! LOL
Speaking of Seiunchin, check out Seiyunchin by Chogi Kishaba
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-qXVtglMpU
It’s the Goju version but it’s good……….
Till next………….Victor
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