Owner: Mokuren Dojo URL:http://www.mokurendojo.com Join Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 13:21:24 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Aikido and Judo in Southwest Mississippi Site statistics:Click here
Aiki practice 2008-03-08 18:40:09 Aiki with John J.It was cold in the dojo (after our snow last night!), so it was streetclothes, no-mats practice today.Tegatana emphasiding bringing recovery foot back under your center and same-hand-same-foot.Hanasu #1-4 emphasizing relaxed, unbendable arm and moving the center behind the shield of the hands no matter where uke moves that shield. We particularly worked on #1 and #2 emphasizing how each flows into the other when resisted.ShomenateKotemawashi off of release#3 as the cool ninja technique of the day.A little bit of "crazy man" randori, emphasizing relaxed movement and "stay off me" hands and
5am training 2008-03-08 08:25:08 Judo/aiki with Robfootsweep to control deashi & kosoto from outside cross grip, normal grip, and 2-sleeves gripreleasing (R1 &R2) into cross grip into osoto or deashi or kosoto or wakigatameSankata tachiwaza empasizing that each technique can be treated just like a chain of checkpoints rather than a kata of specific steps. This makes the technique smoother, gentler, more flowing, and more robust.
Last night's judo 2008-03-08 08:23:32 Kids' judo with Gavin, Whit, Mason, Knox, Emma, and Quinwarmupukemi - we're practicing their ukemi set (fwd roll to standing, face fall, left fall from plank, right fall from plank, backfall) in proper order in preparation to demo it to their parents at the end of the season. We also practiced sidefalls from deashi with me as spotter alternating with laterals across the mat.osotogari uchikomi sets of three throwing on the third.newaza transitions from kesa to mune to ushirokesa and from ushiro kesa to tate to ushirokesa on the other side.crawling man randoristanding randori to the first fall with each player staying out until the entire class had done randori with him.Somehow my students have gotten the idea that grabbing the opponent's legs is the thing to do, but they charge with their h
March Promote Three 2008-03-06 12:26:14 It's that time again (actually a little past time)! Time to spread a little of the linklove around to three blogs that I especially like. This month's PromoteThree
goes to a trio of judo blogs:.To Dr. AnnMaria deMars, former World Champion, coach at the West Coast Training Center, Vice Pres in charge of development for USJA, and mother of Olympic hopeful, Ronda Rousey. I have very much enjoyed this blog and have learned a lot from reading what she writes..To Ronda Rousey, a seriously bad judoka (in a good way). Her list of accomplishments goes on and on and her blog is very interesting. My family and I are enjoying watching her ascent toward the Beijing olympics this summer..To Jan Snijders' Judo-The-Blog. Always interesting reading and good judo news from the "other side of the pond." I Read more:March
Exclusive Interview: Mike Martello 2008-03-05 19:37:04 Mike Martello is Director of the Wu Tan Federation of Belgium, co-teaching with the Wu Tan Organization in Taipei Taiwan. Having been studying and teaching martial arts for over twenty five years, Mike has taught and performed in Europe, Canada, South America, Taiwan and across the U.S. He is a nationally and internationally ranked competitor in Chinese martial arts (gold, silver, bronze medalists, 86-88, 90-92 and 94-2000 U.S. Nationals and International Competitions).Recently awarded the Taiwanese Kuo Shu medal of achievement for his work in Chinese martial arts, Mike continues to travel and study Chinese Martial Arts in Taiwan with Grandmaster Wang Chieh, specializing in Yue Jia San Shou (Yue Family Style), Ba Bu Tanglang (Praying Mantis), Bai He Chuan (White Crane), Joint Locking (Chin Read more:Exclusive
Ninja invisibility 2008-03-14 20:25:39 A while back I wrote that we had practiced “ninja invisibility” during that particular class. That’s not the sort of invisibility like in Hollow Man, where light passes through you. Rather it is a phenomenon that happens when you are moving in a proper, aiki fashion with uke. What happens is uke tends to lose track of you and to be unable to reorient easily. There are roughly three skills going on in this phenomenon.Evade toward uke, passing through the narrowest part of his field of vision. Evading away from uke keeps you in the widest part of his field of vision. By moving into uke as you evade it is easier to get into shikaku (uke’s ‘dead angle’ or blind spot).Don’t grab and hang onto uke. If you do he can easily orient to you. Use your arms as feelers (Mississippi-speak f Read more:Ninja
1-2 counters 1-2-3 2008-03-13 20:54:12 Judo with Whit, Knox, and QuinWarmuposotogari cueing off of uke putting a foot forward - every time uke gets a foot forward, tori throws osotogari (which they are calling the "1-2 throw").osotogari as a counter to taiotoshi. At the last tournament, all the kids were throwing taiotoshi (the "1-2-3 throw"), so I have been working with Whit and company on how to turn and reap the leg for osotogari.While Whit was practicing osotogari on me I was practicing the R1/R3 gripfighting patterns on him.
Read more:counters
Scam Targeting Martial Arts Instructors 2008-03-13 07:25:23 There is currently a scam e-mail making the rounds, this time targeting martial arts instructors. Yesterday, dozens of the instructors in our organization got the same email, as follows:Hello, I am Mr Rhodes Cremas. I contact you on Dojo training.Well my Daughter (Jullie) is coming to stay with her freind in North America for 2 months and i want you to help me teaching her perfectly. So Note: my Daughter Jullie is just a beginner, so please kindly teach her well. Also kindly let me know your charges cost per lesson,inorder for me to arrange for her payment before her travel. Please Advise back on 1. The cost of an hour lesson. 2. And payment method ( Let me know if you will accept your payment by check) I will be glad to read from you soonest. Best regards, Mr Rhodes Cremas. This is appar Read more:Targeting
, Martial
, Instructors
, Martial Arts
Yonkata and other kata ideas 2008-03-13 06:31:48 5AM aiki with RobtegatanahanasuYonkata #1-14 (A.K.A. Shichihon no kuzushi omote and ura)We talked about different ideas
of what kata is - more ammo for some future posts.
Aiki practice and a cool knife video 2008-03-16 20:40:37 Aikido with Rob and Keltegatana with emphasis on the goofy-foot pivots and turns in the second half of the exercisehanasu with emphasis on synchronizationchain #1We talked about aikido having about four major failsafes - strategies that you fall back on when something is not working. They include:disengage and move awaymove behind ukehit uke in the facesynchronize with uke to limit his potentialRob is having some cognitive dissonance trying to reconcile his knife-based knowledge (which is quite good and quite aiki - but just a different training methodology) with our aikido. He called it comparing apples to oranges. I called it getting stuck on the warmups to the point you never make progress. I don't know if we resolved it but I think it might be better. I don't think he isn't buyng Read more:video
Submission grappling in McComb, MS 2008-03-15 21:32:00 Doggone it! How is it that I missed this event that was apparently hosted right here in McComb? I wonder if Madison Wrestling is putting on this event on a recurring basis?
Read more:Submission
2nd-day soreness…and 3rd… and 4th… 2008-03-19 08:03:05 In Exercise Physiology school we learned about delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) – fatigue and pain that comes hours-to-days after exertion (and is not caused by lactic acid). We often called it “day-after soreness” but as I got a little older (into my late-20’s) I realized that it really seems to happen not the day after but the second-day after – thus the term, ‘second-day soreness.’ Now, in my late 30’s, I have noticed it lingering a little longer and the other day, Rob pointed out that it might be turning into ‘third-day soreness’ because of advancing age (thanks, Rob)..I’ve had an instructor talk repeatedly about how when you get into your 60’s you will regret thoughtless movement for a week!
Randori with locking techniques 2008-03-18 20:35:53 Aiki with KelWe've gone from freezing cold to temperate to too-humid-to-survive in about two weeks. Scott Z. would feel right at home.Ukemi with emphasis on landing properly and slowing the legs down so they don't get hammered on the matTegatana & hanasu as warmup - no particular emphasisNijusan #6-10 with the ukemi and pins (see this training log)Chain #1 - the shortcut that contains the hineri-gaeshi loopRandori with both partners walking into and out of gaeshi, hineri, mawashi, and wakigatame locks.Rokukata maeotoshi and Rokukata sakaotoshi as the cool ninja techniques of the night
3% error – bias or random error? 2008-03-18 08:50:56 A teacher once told me that the greatest professional musicians in the world still make about 3% error
- despite an infinite amount of practice. That is, they mis-play about three notes out of every hundred. If you look at Tegatana no kata, it has between about 70 and 100 steps (depending on how you count it). This implies that there will always be a few missed steps each time you do it even after you have practiced it for years. Thus there will always be something to work on in this exercise..Something to look for is the difference between systematic error (bias) and random error. When you spot one of those mis-steps, are you making that same mistake repeatedly or was that just a fluke? Systematic error is (perhaps) more shameful for the expert but it is by far the easier type of error to
Ritual 2008-03-18 08:50:26 A quickie question for y’all: What are some examples of things that you do in your martial art practice that don’t particularly serve any pragmatic, functional purpose – you just do it that way because that’s the way it has always been done?
Read more:Ritual
Great falling practice 2008-03-21 06:59:15 Aiki with KelUkemi emphasizing how the proper landing position is a natural consequence of managing the body properly throughout the entire fall.Tegatana emphasizing the panther walk and bringing the recovery step in fullyHanasu emphasizing full recovery stepschain #1 including the transition from release #1 to release #5 and the stuff that comes off of release #1 - mainly tenkai kote hineri, kotemawashi oshi taoshi, and kote hineri.Rokukata maeotoshi and Rokukata sakaotoshi with a crashpad emphasizing feeling to see if one step is enough or if you should take one more step and catch the next footfall. We were getting spectacular throws and falls.
Read more:Great
, falling
Osotogari and taiotoshi uchikomi 2008-03-21 06:59:15 Kids' judo with Whit, Mason, Knox, and QuinROM, ukemi, movement skillsosotogari ("the 1-2 throw) uchikomi sets of 3, throwing on the third. Emphasis on hitting the back of uke's knee with the back of your knee and pulling with your arms.taiotoshi ("the 1-2-3 throw") uchikomi sets of 3 throwing on the third, emphasizing tori turning his leg downward.standing randoriintro to the shoulder-push-knee-lift turnover
A helpful handful: yoko o mawashi 2008-03-20 08:20:48 A couple of days ago, John asked about potential applications for the last movement (yoko o mawashi) in our first exercise (Tegatana no kata). Following are a handful of applications or things that this last movement teaches - but not before a disclaimer. I consider this exercise to be very general-purpose. This movement, or something similar could occur in many techniques.As John pointed out, all the steps in this kata are very small, conservative motions, so, in contrast, this large, lunging motion teaches us what a large recovery is involved with a large stepYou may also consider this as a withdrawing evasion (like a retreating tenkanashi) getting the hands up on the centerline. You may not step that deep, but in essence yoko o mawashi is a specific type of aiki brush-off.You may also i Read more:helpful
Backup plans in aikido 2008-03-22 14:01:53 Aikido with John J. and VincentROM, ukemitegatana with emphasis on heel-toe, shoulder-width stance, walking on the balls of the feet, complete recovery steps, and relaxed unbendable arm.hanasu #1 and #2chain #1, including release #1 resisted into release #2, which can lead to a reverse kotegaeshi. This gave us the opportunity to talk about covering uke's hands to damp or supress his potential.Short lecture on the four main backup plans
in aikido: 1) get behind uke, 2) disengage and move away, 3) move with uke, and 4) hit uke in the face.We worked on shomenate as an example of backup plan #4 when we (for whatever reason) stepped inside and parried with the lead hand (a terrible, awkward mistake).
Letter from a Marine 2008-03-22 07:53:03 Elise sent me this funny. This is a letter from a marine recruit - a farm kid from South Dakota.Dear Ma and Pa,I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine
s beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled. I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly 6 AM, but I am getting so I like to sleep late. Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot, and shine some things. No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay. Practically nothing. Men got to shave but it is not so bad, there's warm water. Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, Read more:Letter
Good vibrations 2008-03-25 20:36:12 Aiki with Kel and RickROM and ukemitegatana with emphasis on finishing each step, making sure that you don't drag the recovery out, and bending the knees to take up the up-down slack and keep your COM level. It turns out that there are cool COM changes happening in one step - as you separate your legs to take a step, your center rises with respect to your head, but it drops with respect to the ground, so it almost balances out. With just a little flex in the knees the COM stays very close to level and you cease to telegraph so badly and you conserve your own energy much better.hanasu with emphasis on taking the first step as a leap of faith, without knowing what technique will fall out. From there, we worked on transitioning between #1, #2, #5, and #6 as appropriate to follow the arc of uk
Who should thank whom? 2008-03-25 10:22:54 It is a custom in many aikido classes for the students to kneel after class and bow to the instructor and say, “domo arigato gozaimasu” (Japanese for 'thank you very much')..Certainly there is not enough gratitude and politeness in the world, but I think this particular custom is misplaced – particularly in American aikido classes populated non-Japanese. I have had a lot of people (misguided or not) get offended by the religious appearance of the kneeling bow, and certainly few students and almost no observers know what we’re chanting to each other as we knock our foreheads on the mat..Not only is there a cultural and linguistic disconnect in this custom, but it creates a hierarchy that fundamentally misrepresents the power structure of the class. This custom reinforces the stude
PM judo and aikido 2008-03-27 21:45:21 Kid's judo with Gavin, Whit, Knox, Emma, and QuinUkemi - and lots of it with me throwing/spotting Whit, Knox, and Quin for about 30 minutes before class started. Then the others arrived and we went through the ukemi routine for the parents' demo in about a month.osotogari into kesagatamequiet sitting counting sounds that we can hear. Aikido with Keltegatana with emphasis on taking small enough steps that the heels fo not strike or lift off the mat.hanasu with emphasis on 'stay-off-me' hands.chain #1, including shihonage, iriminage, and ushiroatesome various interesting techniques from Sankata as the cool ninja techniques of the night.I am exhausted from the three workouts today. Elise, my darling wife, has gone to purchase me a bottle of whiskey to drink while I lie in a scalding hot bat
Class cancellation 2008-03-27 14:36:13 We will have no aikido class this Saturday (3/29) because I have a church thing to go to. Class schedule will resume as usual next Tuesday (4/1)..I'm looking forward to tonight's practices - 5:00 Kids Judo and 6:30 Adult Aikido. See y'all there.
Early AM judo increasingly strenuous 2008-03-27 06:11:44 5 AM Judo with RobWarmup with ground mobility cycle and holding cycleDrill: uki→kesa→mune→ushirokata (10 reps each)Drill: uki→kesa→mune→udegarame→wakigatame (10 reps each)Drill: uki→mune→kesa→wakigatame→udegarame (10 reps each)nagekomi: R1/R3→outside cross grip→deashi/kosotonagekomi: R1/R3→outside cross grip→osotogari (with a crashpad)nagekomi: R1/R3→outside cross grip→uranage (with a crashpad)It was good to be back to a more vigorous judo practice after bruising/breaking (or otherwise busting) a rib a couple of months ago. I can tell I've lost (temporarily) some of my tolerance to having my chest crushed in groundwork. Well, now that I can play more vigorously again I'll get it back pretty quick.
Read more:Early
April Promote Three 2008-03-25 22:59:09 Each month I post links to three blogs that I think are excellent in some way. Some of them are especially interesting - others are especially educational. This month I am going with a theme of reciprocity. The old you-scratch-my-back-I-scratch-yours routine. According to Google Analytics, the following blogs have sent me a TON of traffic, much of which has been comprised very low-bounce visitors who hang out for longer-than-average times and view multiple pages on my blog. These folks are sending folks my way who apparently really like my blog and are sticking around. Because of the excellent back-scratching these guys have given me, I'd like to spread the link love around..And what's more, these guys all three have excellent, interesting, educational blog material. So, by all means, go c Read more:April
, Promote
, Three
Martial arts for older adults 2008-03-29 22:03:19 Interested in a martial art that you can practice effectively until you’re 80 or older
?Let’s face it - It’s probably not going to be karate. Sure there have been a few notable geriatric supermen who have been effective karate guys into their grey years. But as a general rule, striking arts require about 1-2% more practice, effort, skill, and athleticism each year after age 30 just to maintain. And that’s not talking about skill improvement!Then there are grappling arts, like jiujitsu or wrestling, but again, let’s face it. Those are young men’s sports. Again, there are a few middle-aged and older practitioners of judo and jiujitsu who are very effective, but you don’t see many of those older guys rolling with the young competitors because they just get too busted up and Read more:Martial
Armbars for kids 2008-03-29 07:57:50 The following is an awesome video of some kids doing judo. I don't especially like having kids this age working chokes and armbars, but that might just be my particular prejudice. The jiujitsu guys train kids to do this stuff and they swear it doesn't tear up kids. I personally only teach throwing and positional wrestling to any student of any age below about green belt because I feel the positional skills are prerequisite to good choking and joint manipulation skills. But in any case, these particular kids are doing a fabulous job practicing and demonstrating these skills. I learned a thing or two myself that I intend to put on Rob next week (so Rob, don't watch this video or you might spoil my fun ;-)
Recommend Site To A Friend
