Inner workings of Martial Arts

"You may train for a long, long time, but if you merely move your hands & feet and jump up & down like a puppet, learning Karate is not very different from learning to dance. You will never have reached the heart of the matter; your will have failed to grasp the quintessence of Karate-Do." ~Gichin Funakoshi
--------------------

All Martial Arts instructors must've had this happen to them at least once: A student comes up to you and asks "When will I learn the next form? (or self defense set, etc). As their instructor, you might be tempted to look at them with a raised eyebrow, and say in your best Yoda-like voice: "When you are ready".

Of course, the student already *thinks* they are ready, or they wouldn't have asked in the first place, right? If they've been at your school for some time, its okay that they think they're deserving of something new and novel, right?

Dojo etiquette aside (in the Dojos I've trained in, it was bad manners to ask for a new technique or Kata from the teacher), I don't necessarily see a student's desire for the next Kata, waza, kumite combo, etc, as a breach of ettiquette.....instead I see a student who is setting goals for himself/herself, and knows how to get there. That's great! I tell my students that I like how they're progressing, and how I like to see that they're setting goals for themselves.

But then, I tell them that we teach new material when we see that a student has worked enough to understand the "base" of the Kata (at our school, we call them "Taolu" or simply just "Chuan" (fist), and that they'll get a new Taolu or technique when we deem they're ready. I ask that they "look forward to the surprises when they arrive". I suggest that they practice the movements until there is no thought involved. I once told a class "You should feel the form in your bones, you want to almost feel the emotion of the form. With practice, your form will be you, not merely some set of movements strung together".

However, another thing I teach my students, is that simply knowing the sequence of movements to a particular Taolu, doesn't necessarily mean they've mastered the art as a whole. I'm a firm believer in that Forms are not merely requirements for belt ranks, or merely a cardiovascular exercise or a dusty long-worn tradition. I believe that even in today's evolution of Martial systems, the seemingly "old style" drill of kata, taolu, or whatever you'd like to call it, is a valuable link to not only history, but also a valuable link to all things of BodyMind connections.

Call me "old school" if you'd like, but when I trained in Karate, my Sensei had us practice Kata till the cows came home. Every day, Kata. I do remember as a child, wondering when I'd actually learn how to fight just like in the "Kung Fu" TV series that I so faithfully watched every week. Then we'd do Kumite (sparring).....and I still wondered when I'd learn how to fight. However, when belt tests came, we were required to defend ourselves against the rest of the class, some of them with weapons, some of them without. That's when the "actual fighting" came out. But where it came from, I had no clue! I just remember seeing people attacking, then it would be over and on with the rest of the belt test.

It took many years after my youngster days, years of studying other martial systems, for me to realize that "fighting" is merely a nice batch of extra icing on the big cake of Martial Arts. All of my other teachers required the same.....form practice every day, over and over. Drills practice, over and over. Fighting techniques, sometimes brutal, over and over. My teachers expected "perfect practice", not just plain old practice. My teachers expected that we adhere to good effort in anything, no matter what. I knew that in time, all that effort would someday make sense. There were days I puked in the corner from the effort of class. Days were I couldn't lift my legs, some fainting spells, and lots of contusions. It was only after these many years did I realize that the long journeys down these sometimes bruisy and bloody paths, whittled down everything that wasn't useful to me: arrogance, anger, envy, jealousy, hate, self-loathing, laziness, pretentiousness, discrimination, selfishness, etc etc. I began to get glimpses of what really makes "me".

For so long, I merely "danced" and jumped around "like a puppet". I still do, But I'd like to think, that I can at least catch myself doing so, and get right back to the business of practicing well, not just merely practicing moves. And....not trip over my own two feet!

(However, just for the record, although I see goal setting, confident students when they try to ask me for more forms, our Dojo etiquette is "Do not ask. you'll be taught, don't worry")

Blog transition....

I'll be transitioning my blog entries from "Don't Fight the Tao" from another blog server, to this Blogger site. Please be patient while the transition takes place....the format is going to take a little tweaking, as my Blogger profile was more of a personal one, as opposed to my "martial arts" persona. However, there still will be blog posts of fun, frolic and random silliness!

In the meantime, I'll be posting my latest blog post from my other blog here, later today....

Xie Xie!!

LOL! Yes, I like Top Ramen....but with nice tasty bits on top!

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Martial artists, what questions do people ask you?

Martial Artists...sound off! Stuff that people ask you that drive you absolutely batty......

I usually don't go around telling people I'm a martial artist, but when the subject comes up, I usually get a barrage of questions....questions that range from the actually sincere questions, to questions that make me wonder how many movies they've watched to get such dumb stereotypes.

Here are some I've gotten, along with my own commentary....If you're a martial artist, let me know what questions you've been asked.

1) Can you do a back flip? (been watching the Matrxi have we?)

2) Can you beat up Jackie Chan? (I usually just roll my eyes at this one)

3) Have you ever fought Bruce Lee? (Umm...no.)

4) Can you break bricks? (Sure...the last brick I broke tried to attack me...but I sure showed it!)

5) Is it true that martial artists can kill people from way far away? (yeah, its called a gun. actually, I do think they're referring to "Dim Mak" or the "death touch")

6) how high can you jump?

7) c'mon, can you take someone as big as me on? (usually asked by antisocial guys that happen to be big and maybe had taken 6 months of some kind of martial art)

What questions have you been asked?

Interesting sign in restroom

Well, then where CAN I put the toilet paper??

Watch what you write about in school.....

Wow...watch what you write about, or it might get you arrested.....

http://trollitc.com/forum/off-topic-ranting/young-man-writes-a-zombie-story-gets-arrested-and-charged-with-a-felony/page-1/

Almost too ridiculous to be true, but I do see how authorities were making a big stink over it. Sucks to be that high school student though!

To Do List......

Hmmm...
1) Start back up teaching Martial arts at the Middle School...... check.
2) Tell a bunch of kids in the hall at Madison to tone down their language....check
3) Have a big kid threaten to whoop my ass......check.
4) Meet 20 new Wushu students.....check
5) Find out that one of the Wushu students is "different".....check
6) Find out at the end of class, the "different" student has no idea what afterschool bus to take or what to do.....check.
7) Stick around after the other kids have gone, try to find his name on the afterschool bus list, don't find it, then take him to the afterschool activities office for assistance. Check. Walk his him to his bus, request that the bus driver to make sure that his guardian is there. Check.
8) Fill out background check papers. Get fingerprinted. check.

Great day today....except for the nasty headache I had all day (finally got rid of it)......it was a migraine i think.....I was nauseous, wished that my sunglasses were 5 times darker, everything I smelled made me gag. I should've seen it coming, because I felt the "aura" thing that comes before a migraine. A few Ibuprofens, and I was functional, at least. Started back up at the middle school again today. I took the 2007 year off, to focus on Wushu classes at my studio. But during this summer, I realized I really missed working with middle school kids. I assumed that the school would just get another martial arts instructor, but they did not. I was surpised that they had not. Good for me though....because I'm back! I've been at Madison for close to 10 years....and I figure "why stop now?".

It felt good to be back in the familiar halls.One thing I forgot about, was the audacity of some kids these days. (oh, my gosh, I'm sound like how my own parents did, back in the 1980's!) I walk in, after one year away, and the the whole "take charge" persona kicked in. Over the years, I've been known to break up fights, drag kids to the main office, and stand up to the so-called "toughs" that have meandered the halls. No different today. As I walked in, there were 5 or 6 kids running around in the hall, "play-fighting".....they're not supposed to be out yet...there was still 15 minutes till the final bell rang. They were cussing and shouting....and as I neared them, I bellowed "Hey! watch your language in the halls! And there's no running in the halls! Tone it down before a security guard catches you!"

"Who the fuck are you?" said a big kid. This kid was way taller than me and outweighed me by at least 50 pounds. *holy crap* I thought ....*what do kids eat these days that makes 'em like that?*. I was amused. Big toughie standing up to....well, he had no idea if I was a teacher or sub or what. At any rate, he threw up his hands in that "want some of this" gesture.

I said "Ya better put those hands down....'cuz if you're gonna step to me, you might not like it".

"Man.....bitch! I'll whup yer ass! Bring it bitch!" His friends laughed. *wow, welcome back to Madison, Rusty* I thought to myself. "what, are you some martial arts Mass-taaaah?" he sneeredas he took a corny martial arts stance.

"That depends.....would be big surprise, if for some reason, that I WAS a martial arts "Masss-taaaah", I joked back. I walked right through them, wondering which one of them was going to do something stupid like try to backhand me. No one did.

Later, as I was teaching my class in the commons (lunchroom/stage), those kids found out exactly who i was. Unfortunately, they walked right into the class making fun of the other kids working out....making "Hiyaa" noises and doing the "Karate kid crane stance". I walked right up to the big kid, gave him the evilest eye I could muster.....and hissed in a low voice: "Get....out...of...here.....or you....will....be....removed....from this location."

Grrr. I want to meet these kid's parents.

Anyhow....20 new kids today....and there were 6 missing. Looking forward to seeing who shows up next week. The class had a blast. One of the new students, I observed, is a (high functioning) autistic or Asberger's sydrome boy. I saw a few signs that let on that he may have Asberger's syndrome or might be autistic. He followed right along in class just fine...did everything correctly....but his lack of non-understanding of social cues was the giveaway. He made random "chirping" sounds, and did not make frequent eye contact. A few of the other kids made some unkind comments about him right there in his presence, and I was appalled.....

During the break, I spoke to several groups of the kids, explaining that "Johnny" was a little different, but that we need to understand why he's different. "He's not 'retarded' ", I told them. "He just doesn't understand social cues....that means he won't quite get a lot of things that you or I understand easily, like certain types of joking around, or certain looks or expressions....he doesn't understand that sticking his tongue out at you might hurt your feelings, or that calling you a name would make you mad. I'd like for you to help me make him feel safe in our class, because I'm pretty sure he gets teased alot".

Ooooh. That got some of them to feel a little guilty about teasing him earlier. Bingo. Exactly what I was hoping for. And you know what? Small groups of the kids ate their snack with him, talking and laughing.

Unfortunately, as everyone left after class, I realized that "Johnny" had no idea how he was getting home. "Johnny....hey buddy", i said, as I persuaded him to look me in the eye. "You are taking the activities bus, right?" ....

"I don't know. Excuse me, can I have your attention, please? I don't know. I think my Mom is getting me. Attention! I think a bus."

*uh oh* I thought. First day of afterschool activities....of course he doesn't know which bus to take. "Let's look at the bus list!...C'mon, Johnny!" I started to jog across the commons, to the bus list. He laughed in his chirpy laugh and ran behind me. I tried to look up his name on all the busses....found nothing. "Looks like we gotta....RUN to the activities office!" and we ran across the commons again.

I waited 30 minutes for the coordinators to get busses for a dozen other kids, and while doing so, I had to make sure that Johnny didn't pull out the peripherals from the coordinator's computers. "I like computers! Attention! Hello! I like computers!". He was kneeling at the front of their desks, picking at the network cables. After a wait...they finally got Johnny his bus. I finally got to fill out my background check and get fingerprinted. Well, actually, I fingerprinted myself. ha ha! They saw how I carefully "rolled" my thumb onto the print field....and someone asked "Um, so how is it you know how to fingerprint so well?" Ha ha! I laughed. "No...I was never in jail. I sign martial arts certificates this way, along with my signature....official document, you know....".

What struck me, was Johnny's frequent use of the words "Attention" or "Can I have your attention? Hello!!!" Makes me wonder how many times these phrases are used toward him....apparently enough times to where he mimics the phrase. Hmm. It will be interesting to find other ways to gain his attention....even if its just eye contact. When he did make eye contact with me a few times, I knew he "saw" me......he's there. I just have to make sure I can show the other classmates how to "look" for him.

I was happy at the outcome in Johnny's case. I think this year is going to be a great one at the middle school.

I'm going to miss my old studio...

A couple of weeks ago, I was driving our studio's assistant instructor, Marina, home, and as we neared the location of our old studio building (that is slated for demolition), I decided to stop and see what was going on with the building.

"The roof is gone...." Marina said.

"Gone? You mean falling in? They started tearing it down?" I asked.

"The roof is gone....you can see up into the sky from the inside".....

We went to the rear of the building, knowing that Jerry, the local homeless guy, was living in our old storage shed. Jerry is a great old guy....he was always there to drive away anybody that would loiter in the back parking lot.....

Jerry let us in the building through the back door, since it was unlocked. What a huge mess. The roof was indeed gone, and it was all laying inthousands of pieces on the floor. It was a sad, bittersweet moment. In the moonlight that shined into the shell of the building, Marina and I saw all of the little items that we left behind when we moved.....paint cans, leftover office items like paper clips and binder clips, the big can of sand we used for sand bags.

Then, walking upon the old training floor, we saw a couple of the patterns we painted on the floor, for footwork training. I almost cried. We spent hundreds of hours stripping the whole floor of 90 year old tile, being on our hands and knees for a week straight chipping off pieces of tile that wouldn't come off with the big tools, sanding and prepping the floor, spending long days laying careful coats of white paint on the floor, and more days on our knees or in squatting positions painstakingly measuring, taping out, and painting the footwork patterns....

.....And now, the only things remaining are the colors of the few footwork patterns that weren't buried under thousands of pounds of musty roof lumber. It was an odd sight, the red triangle-footwork shape and the blue box-step diagram peeking out in the darkness, highlighted only by moonlight.

The building smelled so old that night. A hundred year old building that housed a longtime grocery store, a butcher shop, a deli, and lastly our martial arts studio....now carried the musty odor of time, a previous fire that was built over, and old plaster that hid behind the walls we built over it.

I wanted to just sit there all night and re-live the many memories that we made there. We brought up many generations of skilled martial artists, and became a fixture in the West Seattle area. I will miss the neighborhood greatly...but moreso, I'll miss that old building very much.

Thank you West Seattle. Since my early days as a young Karate Instructor, the neighborhood provided a wonderful home for me...from my first days teaching at Southwest and Alki community centers, to my first commercial Karate studio, to teaching Kajukenbo with my business partner, to continuing the Wushu lineage of my Wushu and Tai Chi teacher. Many people earned their black belts in West Seattle.

My goal, is when a space opens up in West Seattle, I'm jumping at it. I'll be back one day, that's for sure!

Above, are pics of the old footwork patterns on the old studio floor, and a pic of the address on our old front door.