Bon Dance and Uke

The Obon Season is starting here in Hawaii. You can't have Obon without Bon Dancing (^^)
From Wikipedia, "Obon (お盆?) or just Bon (盆?) is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the departed (deceased) spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon-Odori."

ONE POINT LESSON
ARE BON DANCE MOVEMENTS ACTUALLY BLOCKS? (^^)

Combining Kihon Uke Waza with Uchi Waza

One of the problems in teaching Blocking techniques in the standard or typical Kihon Keiko is that there is a disconnect with the block and counter. Most Kihon Geiko starts with warm ups followed by Sonoba (Stationary) Punches, Strikes, Blocks and Kicks. This is then followed by Ido which normally still uses the waza singularly. Oizuki, Gyakuzuki, etc. To this combinations are attached. I felt that Uke Waza should be combined with counterattacks as Kihon, so that the students can feel the connection during Kihon Geiko. The body learns to counter together with the block.

SPECIAL TREAT!! SENSEI TAMURA'S AAU NATIONALS GOLD MEDAL KATA!

SUPARINPEI.

Getting back slowly but surely (^^)

Finished teaching class tonight with the kids. I was able to quite a bit without my lungs feeling strained.

Of course it is a joy just to be with the Pokemons and I felt super good at the end of practice. Take isn't back from the AAU Nationals, but Yachiyo was able to help out with the One Point Lessons. (^^)
The first video is for the kids.
Tonight's class was all white belts from 5 to 9 years old (only one nine year old), so you can imagine the atmosphere. I was actually going to video the whole class, but alas, forgot to push the record button! (**#)

Thanks Travis and Torry

     The one point lesson for adults centers on the approach to bunkai and oyous of Kata. with every slight change in position, angle and placement the  waza changes in application. Do not limit yourself with what we know as the basic bunkai and oyous. You are limited only by your imagination.

 Came upon an interesting Kyokushinkai video. How the style has changed over the years!

Omedetou gozimasu! (^^)

     My good friend and karate instructor Takeshi (Take) Tamura, Gitokukai Hawaii took 1st place in Kata competition at the 2011 AAU Nationals! Congratulations! Well done!



Kid's Goshinjutsu? 子供の護身術？What's that? 何それ？？

エイヤー！飛び横蹴りだーい！！

     Shihandai William was recently asked by parents to teach the kids Goshinjutsu or Self-Defense (^^). I could not help but chuckle. My personal feelings on teaching SD  techniques to kids is ....NONSENSE!!!

Just think how long it takes adults to master any self defense technique and the mind set to use it. To practice techniques with compliant adversaries is NOT THE SAME as real-life situations.　
In real life, the attack doesn't end when Sensei yells "Yame". 
In real life, you do not have the luxury of packing your Gi and driving home at the end of practice.
In real life, you cannot  join fellow Dojo members for some beer afterwards to Monday morning quarterback scenarios.
In real life, there is no "taking it easy" or "adjusting the intensity of the attack"
That is one of the fallacies of "teaching" self defense in Dojos.
Do you really believe that a 6-7 year old can take an adult down?
Do you really think that a child can effectively block a punch of an adult intent on kidnapping or harming the child? We need to get real.
Adult or child, no matter how much one tries to make realistic scenarios there is a limit. How do you create the fear factor? Is it healthy to submit a child to a realistic amount of fear in training? How can you create a realistic atmosphere when you will always know that there is  margin of safety and that at the end of practice you will go home as usual in one piece.

    Self Defense begins at home, like anything else parents wish for their kids to master. Manners, social etiquette, tolerance, kindness to others, the ability to see what is right or wrong and the ability and courage to refuse things that are unlawful and or detrimental. The Dojo can supplement those traits. It has to be a joint effort between parents and instructors. Through training we can help the kids develop self confidence and the correct mind set to be able to make proper decisions that will make them safe. 
    Even among adults, how often do we become non-compliant in our drills for bunkai and oyos? I would guess 1 %? The majority of the time it is done with being compliant so that the "jutsu" works like magic.  Of course there is also a safety factor involved in training and there is a limit to how real we can get. But we cannot teach in a way that develops false security. That is the danger of compliant drills. 

    What I want to point out is that what the kids learn at home, school,  and Dojo has to be supportive of each other. Kids cannot learn different sets of rules at every location. Take for instance, observing and abiding to laws, city ordinances and various regulations that we have in our daily lives. How can we tell kids to observe regulations and laws if  we and or parents ignore them. Driving with a cell phone and texting, parking in a no parking zone because its only for a short time, drinking and driving, throwing candy wrappers on the street, crossing against a red light or jaywalking because we are too lazy to walk to an intersection.  There are many other examples.

    I truly believe self defense starts at home. Kids will copy and follow their parents. In public they will copy the manners of adults. Self defense is not about techniques, it is about basic social behavior and simple awareness.

    So, at least at Yokohama and Makiki we will stick to kihon, kata and kumite. No special classes of kid's self defense. What use is kihon if it cannot be used for self-defense as a last resort?
I truly believe in the saying,

 "If one goes through without having to use karate, then karate has accomplished its goal".

一生空手を使わずにて本来の空手の役目を全うした。

上記の翻訳は後で頑張ります。悪しからず。



Mystery/謎

はてな？What Gives???



（＾＾）Hmmmm. Mystery. I'm using my Netbook and I find the vids have uploaded! When I use the Home PC or Laptop the vids do not show. Perhaps it is the Windows 7 software that lets the vids upload.
謎、謎である。ネットブックで見るとビデオがちゃんと映る。家のＰＣとラップトップだと映らない。
ソフトの違いかな？ネットとＰＣはウィンドーズ７、ラップトップはＶＩＳＴＡ．三つともウィンドーズライブフォトギャラリーでヴィデオ編集している。
まー見えるからいいか。。。



Ooops! アッチャー

Looks like the vids didn't upload properly yesterday! (**#)
Back to the drawing board! Gomenasai! I'll work on it after I return from my IV session.
ビデオが上手くアップロードしなかった模様。
やり直し。少々お待ちくだされ。ゴメンなさい。
点滴から戻ったらアタックします。

Back to the Dojo! (^^)

Mahalo to all for emails of encouragements! (^^)

     I resumed karate practice today. It was great to be with the kids again. Due to summer vacation it was probably only 1/4 the normal attendance. But never the less I was energized by the kids! Today I let the kids take turns at being the "Sensei". (^^) I had to smile throughout the session.
I found out how much my stamina had fallen. Just doing the 号令 goreis had me winded.  I had to keep in mind not to use my right arm which has the PIC in. Nothing worse than the PIC getting jarred loose. If that happens, it straight back to ER. Something I would rather avoid!
Interesting trying to teach hikite with only one arm usable! (^^)  One hour went by quickly
    今日から空手指導を再開した。チビ達と一緒にエイ！ヤーは実に楽しい。夏休みなので四分の一しか集まらなかったが彼達から良いエネルギーを貰った。階級問わずに皆「先生」をさせた。ふふ。見て自然に笑顔が。。。大分スタミナが落ちた。号令をやるだけで息切れがした。後は右腕を使わないよう注意した。点滴の管が外れたら、ＥＲに逆戻り。それはなんとしても避けたい！片手で引き手を教えるのは面白かった。一時間があっという間に過ぎた。

 With Tamura Sensei's help worked on some One Point lesson vids.

      In this sequence the hand movement is interpreted as a defense against a single wrist grab and a counter elbow strike against the ribs. The movement may differ according to the Dojo. I do it by bringing back the hands to the waist first before breaking the wrist grab. We also do it against a two handed wrist grab leading into a elbow lock. The focus for me is the dislodging of the opponent's wrist grab. Please remember this is just one of many interpretations out there. This is a just a single sequence vice multiple sequence.
　　この場合は片手で手首を取られた時に対しての防御。カウンターはあばらに肘打ち。道場によっては違いが出る。自分の場合には一旦両手を脇に戻してから外し技に入る。両手で手首を取られた場合にも使う、カウンターは肘関節押さえである。主に相手の手を外す。これは色々な解釈の中の一例である。連続技の中の一つでもある。

   Oh well, it's one of those days! (**#) Difficulties remain on uploading the vids. The one point drill was a drill in which you teach the body accurate movement without having your eyes open. It is an adapation of a shooting drill. You place some markers on the wall to simulate the chin, ribs, solar plexus, groin. Begin by punching at a marker, then close your eyes and punch towards the same marker, then open your eyes to see if the punch is where you wanted it to be. The difficulty increases with combination (oizuki & gaykuzuki)

   The markers can alos be used to working on your kicks, the keyr here is to keep the leg chambered and not put to down on the floor in between kicks. Changing the speed of the kick helps giving the leg a good workout! Have fun.

    I apologize to all Yachiyo fans. She had to work overtime and could not make it to practice and work on the vids. For the time being I am very limited to what I can do. Have to wait until the PIC is removed and then I can really start on my rehab. There are so many things I want to share with everyone.
Some old some new. The important thing to remember is that we are always a 初心者 a beginner. Or studies never end.