The Thickness of One Sheet of Rice Paper
A long time ago (seriously - like 1612) a young Ronin named Musashi Miyamoto was in the midst of a journey to prove his worth. As a Ronin, or masterless Samurai, Musashi chose to engage in Musha Shugyo - an austere journey designed to perfect a warrior's fighting prowess. Musashi had achieved unheard of success during his travels and his reputation soon preceded him. One day, Musashi decided to arrange a duel with the master swordsman Kojiro Sasaki. Kojiro was famed for his use of the long nodachi sword, aptly nicknamed 'the drying pole' due to its length over normal katana.
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Using tactics such as tardiness and uncouthness, Musashi enraged Kojiro before the duel began. Filled with disgust for his opponent, Kojiro struck down at Musashi as fiercely as he could. Musashi deftly dodged out of the way, and cracked Kojiro's skull with the wooden sword he had in hand.
Shortly after his victory, Musashi reached up and felt the headband he had been wearing - the band had been cleanly sliced, but his skin was still intact.
The Thickness of One Sheet of Rice Paper
We often hear about Musashi's great feats of skill, and the 60-odd duels he won. Of course, we can attribute some of those tales to mythological embellishment...but not all of it. Through his written works and multiple eye witness accounts, it is fairly well documented that Musashi was a truly amazing swordsman.
In the story above, Musashi demonstrated an astounding mastery of a very basic concept - distance. Musashi knew his opponent would rely on the superior length of his trademark weapon, so Musashi mentally computed the PRECISE distance he needed to evade. He was then able to slay his skillful opponent with a very average, very mundane bokken (some accounts even attribute his weapon as being a carved down oar!)
There is a saying in swordsmanship stating that all attacks should be avoided by the thickness of one sheet of rice paper; and in case you've never handled rice paper, it's about this thick -
That's thin!
The Benefits of Minute Evasions
By cutting your evasion so close, your opponent is naturally open. Having committed to their attack, their body is in a state of movement. By placing yourself as close to them as possible without getting struck, it becomes a fairly easy matter to counterattack.
Another benefit is conservation of motion. The further out you make your block, or body movement, the further back you have to return in order to strike. By keep everything virtually natural, you are already placed in a position for striking. This allows you to counterattack a fraction of a moment later than the actual attack.
Training For Evasion
The best way I've personally found to train this nuanced movement is through swordsmanship. There really is no substitute for the lightning strikes of a shinai blitzing toward your head; your block deflecting it so narrowly that it still scrapes your hair.
But, as I've continued my training, I've integrated this practice into my other arts, like karate and kobudo. This leads me to confidently state that a practitioner of any art can cut down on their movement and improve their distancing.
Here is one fun little drill if you feel like working on this concept: stand arm-length away from a partner. Have your partner strap on some gloves, and throw straight punches toward your chest. At first, keep your arms at your side. As the punch comes in, allow yourself to pivot at the waist, making the punch bounce off at an angle. It should feel like the punch just barely glances you.
As you get more comfortable, make your pivot occur a bit quicker, so that the glove barely touches you.
As you get even more comfortable, make it so the punch just scrapes your gi, and nothing more.
Be careful, if you pivot too fast and the punch touches nothing at all, you've lost the concept - you've lost one sheet of rice paper. Your opponent may pick up on your early intentions and compensate.
Best of luck in your training!
Tune In as History Repeats Itself – “Never Back Down” MMA Movie
Check out this brief movie trailer (2 mins long) -
Oook. So what do we have here, exactly? Very slick production. Really, really, ridiculously good looking people. A plot that was likely whipped up over the course of a business brunch. Timely soundtrack. Sensationalized techniques and fight scenes that loosely resemble a popular style (in this case, MMA). Thin excuse to fight, training sequences, cheesy love interest, final fight.
Starting to sound familiar? It should. This is a trap many different kinds of martial arts have fallen into. Let's warp back in time.
In the late 40's, early 50's, karate was hitting U.S. shores for the first time. Individuals like Robert Trias brought it back from military exploits overseas. The abilities of Trias Sensei and other visiting masters impressed onlookers, even though it was still an underground style. By the 70's, karate was hitting the U.S. on a consistent basis and began developing a healthy reputation.
Concurrently, kung fu had begun its journey west roughly around the same time. Much like karate, it began spreading in the late 40s, early 50s, but didn't truly pick up steam until the 70s. That's when American cinema took notice of these blossoming martial arts. They saw the respect these styles commanded and the amount of money Americans were shelling out to train with instructors (both legitimately qualified, and otherwise). With this revelation in hand, the karate and kung fu movie creation machine began churning.
Dozens upon dozens of hong kong flicks were brought over, sensationalizing the exploits of wushu masters. Characters were given the ability to fly, project ki, and execute lethal death blows. Karate masters were portrayed as men of unfathomable strength, able to handle droves of opponents.
This all came to a head as Americans found stars upon which they could base their martial arts universe. Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris were among the first. Later came Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, and Jackie Chan.
Often found fueling the movies of these stars (And others) were plots of underdog training, revenge, redemption, and tournament style combat.
Now...like a lot of folks...I love these movies! Absolutely. A lot of these men are/were fantastic martial artists and the movies are very entertaining. But if we take an honest look at what happened to karate and kung fu after the flooding of the movie market, we can see a definite trend. Teachers started popping up all over the place, claiming they knew karate simply because they watched bloodsport 50 times. Other teachers claimed they could perform inhuman acts of strength, such as ripping off strips of human flesh. Still others held on to the belief that they could perform no touch knockouts simply through chi blasts.
These wayward martial artists were not following in the footsteps of traditional Okinawans, I can promise you that.
Beyond conning people for money, these trends also served to deteriorate the reputations of karate and kung fu. After all, if you meet 4 hokie karateka, you'll probably expect the 5th to be hokie too.
This historical detour brings us back to our current topic - Never Back Down. The development of MMA has been historically similar to that of previous styles in that it began underground, grew a reputation of toughness, and expanded out globally in order to prove its effectiveness.
Here, in the form of Never Back Down, we are seeing the next phase. Hollywood has spotted a very profitable martial art and is succeeding in cashing in on it. They have sensationalized the style just like has occurred in the past, and they even followed up with the standard plot line of revenge, redemption, and tournament style fighting (see bloodsport, american samurai, kickboxer, lionheart, enter the dragon, the karate kid, etc. etc. etc.)
Unfortunately, that's not the worst of it. Movies from prior decades like The Karate Kid and Enter the Dragon tried to instill a carefully crafted message. The Karate Kid attempted to show the virtues of karate in the form of a wise Mr. Miyagi. Miyagi showed restraint, wise-judgment, and an aversion to violence. Can the same be said for Never Back Down, and the handful of cliched lines it espouses? The same kind of comparison can be made in regards to Bruce Lee's genuine martial genius.
Of course, it's not really fair for me to compare this movie to two very good ones. But Never Back Down chose to use the prettiest people and the most shallow message it could manage, instead of choosing a more responsible path.
I don't need to spray paint it on the wall - I believe that if MMA keeps going in this direction (especially when combined with the pro-wrestling antics of EliteXC), it is going to suffer the same decline that damaged those styles that have come before it. Ultimately, it will be replaced by something new; something that represents the toughness and "realness" that MMA once embodied.
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From a traditionalist who also appreciates what MMA could represent.
Sanchin and Seisan – Analysis of Two Elusive Kata
In Okinawa Kenpo lineage, we practice both Sanchin and Seisan kata. Anybody who has trained in them realizes quickly that these are very different from ordinary kata. The breathing is intense, the body is tight, and the spirit is wound like a coiled snake. The positive influence on health and martial arts ability is fairly well accepted, but the origins are a cause of debate. I'd like to analyze a little bit about the backgrounds of both, starting with one important fact - they both stem from Naha-te.
It is widely believed that Naha-te was heavily influenced by Fujian White Crane style, originated in Southern China. Therefore, it could be logically asserted that white crane style has had influence upon both Seisan and Sanchin. This actually stands to reason as both kata exhibit Chinese flavors in their execution such as open hands and circular movements.
It is also pertinent to compare these kata to Hakatsuru, the white crane. This kata is known to have strong Chinese roots. I have seen two men perform Hakatsuru kata - Seikichi Odo (on tape) and George Alexander (in person). The white crane style had a softer flow than ordinary Okinawa kata. Many of the techniques were performed open hand. The breathing was reminiscent of the hard breathing as seen in Sanchin, but more shallow and not nearly as tense in the body. These styles definitely seem related, but you can tell that the Okinawans integrated their own theories (like iron body and closed fists) when making Seisan and Sanchin.
As for comparing Seisan and Sanchin against one another - it's no doubt they are sister kata. The distinctive breathing and slower, deliberate movement give it away. However, upon closer inspection, there are important differences as well. (From an Okinawa Kenpo standpoint) - The stancing is different. Seisan uses a more traditional front stance, while Sanchin uses an aptly named sanchin-dachi, utilizing heavy pidgeon toeing, short length and width, and slight kneebend. Here is a visual -
http://www.uktc-shotokan.org/stance_sanchin-dachi.gif
Furthermore, the deep breathing is not identical. Sanchin utilizes a '3 battles' method, in which 3 exhalations are made as the practitioners tightens the extremities, then the inner boddy, and finally the hara area. Despite having exhaled 3 times and tightened more and more on each breath, there should still be a small reserve of air in the lungs. Sanchin can be a punishing kata, but the practitioner should not be out of breath at the conclusion of the kata.
Seisan utilizes less triple exhalation and more single exhalation (That being said, I have seen some of the kata done with triple exhalation, especially at the beginning). Seisan also uses a crescent stepping method instead of sanchin-dachi movement. Crescent stepping is also known as half-moon stepping because the foot traces a half moon on the floor as it moves in toward the front foot, then out as it steps forward. This is believed to be a significant connection to the term Hangetsu, as Hangetsu can be translated as "half moon" and likely refers to the movement in the kata.
For those of you familiar with the term or kata Hangetsu -
"Hangetsu kata is the echo of the Sanchin tradition" - From what I know, Funakoshi Sensei integrated Hangetsu into Shotokan karate instead of Sanchin. Hangetsu is considered a later version of Seisan, but it integrates more Sanchin characteristics than the old style Seisan, specifically at the beginning. So Hangetsu is a version of Seisan that replaced Sanchin for Funakoshi; however, it also integrates some Sanchin theory. It's easy to see how that can get convoluted.
Whatever style you happen to train in, dig deep to see if it traces back to Naha-te. Some styles trace their lineage very clearly back to Naha-te, like Goju-ryu. Other styles have to analyze who their teachers learned from because the old okinawan masters cross-trained with each other constantly. For example, Choki Motobu was regarded as a shuri-te practitioner, and yet Sanchin was a part of his repertoire.
For some further reading regarding white crane and how it relates to seisan and sanchin, consider this online article by George Alexander - http://www.worldbudokan.com/Articles/ChinaOriginsWhiteCrane1.htm
