The most private piece of my studies

A friend (or perhaps fiend) has shared a small piece of my Yang Tai Chi practice from 19 years ago, April 12, 1991. I'm performing the opening of my Yang form.

Today I'm over 30 years into my own practice and in addition to my Isshinryu studies, it remains one of the most fulfilling practices I have undertaken.



Sadly I do not remember the day or the occasion but as the Sutrisno banner is hanging on the wall behind me, the event must be one Sutrsno Sensei was holding.

I'm glad to have the occasion to share a small piece of my art with you.

Kamae - the Entering Wave

If you watch karate kata for the first time, at times you'll see a pause in the kata with a posture being held without movement. This pause is referred to as a Kamae.

Sometimes Kamae is defined as a pause in the kata movement to draw an opponent to attack, and the following movement complements the attack created. Sometimes Kamae is defined as a pause to gather oneself for the following techniques. Sometimes Kamae is defined as a deflection technique. All of which have personal validity depending on the context of the attack.

To me Kamae is the stillness of the water that erupts in Tsunami.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai

I see the quiet pause of Kamae formed inside an attack and by forming the Kamae the attacker finds the Tsunami within their own movement. The flow of the Tsunami through the Ocean moves without the water resisting, then when the land appears the power erupts.

It's all a question of angle of entry into an attack and the timing of forming the Kamae with full body alignment so the attack finds resistance before it reaches its own peak.

Force from stillness.

When things Break

Some times no matter how prepared we are things break!

A small barn on my property was damaged on Thursday by the Snow Hurricane we experienced in New Hampshire.

Storms happen and we move on, but when a friend pitches in when the power's out and shares a generator to bring light into the dark, we have a chance to learn what is important.

The arts which are my passion continue, but it the friends we have which are far more important.

If I've learned any one lesson, it is not the skill or knowledge of a person which is most important, it's how they live their life.

Always pick the best people and you cannot fail, and then work to live up to that yourself.

Old Friends

Wow the past month has been a blast with visits with old friends

Several weeks ago Ron Martin (Pennsylvania) and Rich Bernard (Londonderry NH) spent an afternoon at the coffee shop with me talking over old stories from the day. Especially the great diversity of Karate Tournaments from 30 years ago.

Ron Martin and Richie Bernard

Then today I had lunch with Garry Gerossie from Concord NH. Garry sought my program out around 1994 and made sure I met his instructor Sherman Harrill from Carson Iowa. That became a life changing experience for me.


Victor Smith and Garry Gerossie

The stories I could tell can go on for hours, but back once upon a time they weren't stories but live experience, the best kind.

Embrace your friends they last for eternity.

Frost Heaves

When you're new to New England your first February on a bright sunny day with lots of old snow sitting in the forests at the side of the road, the country road you're cruising down suddenly has a new sign stating "Frost Heaves".

You don't know what that means and keep cruising then you find yourself launched up to almost hit your head on your inside roof. Next the car drops your springs are being stressed, your wheels cracking and if you keep going the road becomes a real roller coaster.

Frost heaves occur because the melting snow saturates the ground, and then freezes thrusting the frozen ground upward. The results are a washboard effect on the roads. By custom the local towns know which roads are more likely to be broken and post the signs as warnings.

To survive the frost heave you have to drive slower, look closer, work for a more even controlled driving experience.

In our lives as a martial artist 'Frost Heaves' are also a guaranteed experience. Whether from illness, work responsibilities, family needs, or any other issue, these events cause our training to become very bumpy, and the bouncing around from each event can cause us to loose our footing.

We need to take a lesson from our driving experience. When frost heaves are upon us we should slow down, observe what's happening closely, and try to find an even road through the travail.

Training for life is not always an even pace. Training goes up, it falls down, turns sideways, goes backwards, and continues to change constantly . You can't deal with those bumps by blasting forward full speed.

You must work to provide. Your family is more important than anything. Illnesses are always a drag but in each case if you slow down, but not stop, your training you can level your ride and wait for smoother roads to then pick up the speed.

We can't control the frost heaves in our lives, but we can work to find a level slower path through them.

ISSHIN in SPACE

Allow me to digress from my normal focus and apply my concentration to Space, the Null, the Void, the fullness of the Universe.

It appears the future of the US Space Program is in jeopardy. We're in a deep recession and there is great need in many areas, why spend the money on a space program when there are so many more needy issues that are more pressing to our populace?

To answer that what is the Space Program, a way to produce expensive toys that are then shot into space for nothing of consequence?

Actually that isn't what the space program really is. Instead it is a way to spend massive amounts of money to develop incredibly talented and skilled individuals to progress science in new areas. The stuff produced is really of little consequence.

All of the money doesn't leave the planet, instead those salaries and fees generate income in our economy, create high paying jobs and multitudes of lower paying jobs in each surrounding community where the programs are instituted.

Money that could be on a scale of War, always a way to conquer a depression, but not one primarily focused on destroying.

The subsidiary benefits of the current space program literally redefined our society, from Tang, Velcro to the entire computer industry, etc.

Certainly as a society we have to find a way to assist the disadvantaged, but isn't creating long term jobs and strong futures just that?

This isn't my area of expertise, just an interest since I was a boy, but with a logic that seems to escape Washington, which is trying to live in the NOW and ignore what is the strongest way to move to the future, create jobs, increase human potential, and of course create toys that are thrown away.

Life is a balancing act, many countries around the world are working to enter the space age, perhaps they get the potential.

Seems to be a shame if we throw what we've accomplished away for a temporary fix that doesn't seem to fix much in the long run.

I guess it's OK after all, ET probably wants to talk to the Russians, Chinese, French, Japanese, Indians and everyone else who is moving out, and creating stronger economies for their country.

We can stay home and sit back and read about their taking control of the planet's future.

From Challenge to Success

The new year always brings new challenges and the opportunity to find new paths to success.

This past weekend I traveled 500 miles to Southern Penna. to visit my father. It was very good to see him and his short stay in the hospital concluded before I arrived. I only hope things continue to go well.

Now that's 18 hours driving round trip, not fun but necessary, still I was able to visit several friends and keep touch with their own lives.

Don Gladfelter (a Shotokan instructor) recently closed his school in York Penna. He lives a stone throw from my father's house and I was able to spend a few hours with him to talk about the reasons. It was a combination of factors mainly the current troubled economy causing students (and families) reconsider their needs, and several other factors. Sad after so many years to hear of his closure, but also to hear some of his students are working with him to start a much smaller program to try and continue their studies. I truly wish them success.


Then on the trip home my wife and I stopped in Dunmore and had breakfast with Tristan Sutrisno. Tristan teaches Shotokan from his father's lineage (beginning in Japan in the 1930's) , Aikido and Siliat. He literally was born in those traditions beginning his training at 4 years of age. He gave me a copy of the new Bushi No Te organization patch, discussed his current work, teaching and his upcoming 2nd book which I understand will be on Siliat. His first book "Becoming a Complete Martial Artist - Error Detection in Self-Defense and the Martial Arts" is now going into it's 2nd printing.


So if you have two hits might as well go for the third. This afternoon Charles Murray was able to drop in for a few hours. Charlie personally completed my training for my Sho-dan in Isshinryu back in the 1970's. (Charles obtained his sho-dan from my original instructor Tom Lewis) then as an airman studied in Okinawa with Shimabuku Tatsuo in 1971-1972. Today retired from the Air Force he works for Northrop Grumman Corporation. For the past 30 years fate keeps combining to make all of our visits short, but we spent a very production time reviewing Isshinryu issues, my students progress and other personal issues.


I am fortunate my fathers feeling better and my friends and instructors can share with me.