aurik

This past weekend was, to put it lightly, intense. We had a guest instructor, Tsukasa Gushi, visit our dojo over the weekend and taught a seminar for both Uechi-Ryu and Matayoshi Kobudo. He is the head of the Ryukokaku Karate & Kobudo Association -- at his dojo you train both karate and kobudo as part of the same program (unlike ours where they are separate programs and ranking). His other job -- a professional race car driver. The last time he was in Colorado he raced in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. The weekend was, for a lack of a better term, intense. We trained for 2 hours in Kobudo on Friday, 2 hours in kobudo followed by 2 hours of karate on Saturday, and then another 2 hours of Karate on Sunday. There was a second 2 hour karate session on Sunday, but Zach and I had other plans -- we were taking Mrs Aurik out to celebrate Mother's Day. The Kobudo sessions covered material I'd never seen before. We started out with a new bo kata: Seijun no Bo, followed by an Eiku (Okinawan oar) kata: Tsuka Akachu no Eikudi, followed by the Jiffa (Okinawan hairpin) kata. We had trained a bit with the Eiku the previous week, and I have to say that I'm very grateful that I have gotten used to my purpleheart beast. The Eiku is very heavy (even just a traditional oak one), and the balance takes quite a bit of getting used to. Fortunately, one of our instructors brought a batch of his own, and at least some of them were made of poplar, which is oh so much lighter. I would say that over the course of the 4 hour seminar, I started getting the hang of the Eiku, but I still have a long ways to go before I can say I am comfortable with it. And the Jiffa kata reminds me a LOT of some Shuri-Ryu I had done and seen many many years ago -- it reminded me a lot of the Kanku Sho kata, with the crescent kick/spin/duck to the ground sequence. Unfortunately we only had a handful of real jiffa, so we made do with substitutes. The Uechi-Ryu segments of the seminar were very enlightening as well. While we didn't cover anything really new until the end of the second session, he brought new understanding and interpretations to everything we did know. For example, he started by evaluating our hojo undo techniques, providing feedback on issues he saw. For example, he really stressed the fact that every block we do needs to end with our hands in a tiger claw. Why? Because everytime we block/receive a technique, we should get in the habit of grabbing the attacker. Likewise, he had slightly different interpretations of how to perform certain of our techniques, such as seiken tsuki and hiraken tsuki. We then ended the hojo undo session with a discussion of Uechi-Ryu's sokusen geri, or toe kick. Gushi sensei started that section out by demonstrating the toe kick on one of our black belts (Ian) in the outer thigh. He wasn't gentle with it, either -- I hope the bruises aren't too bad. Next, we started working kata, primarily kanshiwa and seisan. One of the things I remember most is when he was discussing the lunging elbow strike. The tendency is to lunge forward, stop, and then do the elbow strike. He then demonstrated on me that the proper way is to lunge and strike in the same movement - it was quite effective. I had to step back several feet to get my balance. I'll need to figure out how to demonstrate that to my students next time without actually hurting them Towards the end of the second session, we worked on their version of dan kumite. It is much like our dan kumite, but they add a few extra moves to each sequence. I liked it, but sadly we had to get out of there in time to take my wife out for her Mother's Day celebration. The best part of the seminar though was what Zach got out of it. As he has grown so quickly, he has gotten "floppy" in his movements. He tries to put power into everything, but it's undisciplined power. Gushi sensei noticed this and pulled him aside several times over the course of the seminar. He said 'for now' (next year or so), focus on doing your techniques without any hip pivot or shoulder pivot. Learn disciplined movements. And he listened. And over the course of the seminar, as he kept getting that feedback from an outside source, his technique improved noticeably. I made a point to tell him how much better his techniques looked, and I made it a point to tell him to keep working on it. Sometimes, getting the right outside opinion makes all the difference.

Uechi-Ryu originates from Pangai-Noon kung fu; when Kanbun Uechi (the founder) trained in China, he learned 3 kata: sanchin, seisan, and sanseiryu. In terms of modern day Uechi-Ryu, these kata are now required at white belt, black belt (shodan), and yondan. I would not say that "sanchin" is a beginner's kata, though. It *is* the foundation of our style. You can learn the basics of Sanchin fairly quickly, but we train it everyday, and we are tested on it at every level, from kukyu to judan. One of our sayings is "all is in Sanchin", or "always return to Sanchin". We can always describe a stance or kamae by "start with Sanchin, and then do this". It isn't so much a beginner kata for us; it is the foundation of our style. After Kanbun Uechi passed and his son Kanei took the reins, he realized that the leap in required understanding from Sanchin to Seisan was too great for many students to handle. Therefore, he and some of his senior students created 3 new kata: Kanshiwa, Kanshu, and Seichin. These "bridging kata" each introduce a small set of concepts which are then assembled into Seisan. Each kata adds a few new techniques to a student's repertoire. Therefore, when a student starts to learn, say, Seichin, there are only 3 new techniques they haven't already seen. Likewise, Seisan only introduces 3 new techniques as well. Once a student earns his black belt rank, there is still quite a gulf in understanding from Seisan to Sanseiryu. Therefore, Kanei introduced two additional bridging kata; Seiryu and Kanchin. Again, each of these kata only introduces 2 or 3 new techniques. And once the student is proficient in Kanchin, there is really only one new technique introduced in the final kata of the system (sanseiryu). However, Sanseiryu is a very long kata, and involves moving in eight directions, instead of just four. So trying to learn new techniques AND learning the movement patterns would most likely be considered overwhelming (I don't yet know Sanseiryu). So to circle back to the original question, in Uechi-Ryu, the kata are sequenced such that each kata introduces a new set of techniques, and each kata builds on the knowledge of previous kata. For example, Sanchin introduces the basic stance, fundamental posture, fundamental striking techniques. Kanshiwa introduces the idea of stepping off the line of attack, receiving and countering a strike, and a few other things. One thing that is fundamental in Uechi-Ryu is also that anything you learn at one rank/kata level is supposed to be performed at *all* of your kata. For example, at shodan, students are expected to start using hip pivoting to generate power. This is expected to be included in *all* of their kata.

Well-done! I know it can't be easy.

No kidding. They were -><- this close to closing out the W, and the Jets scored with 2.2 seconds left in the game. They stayed with them through the first OT, but the second OT they fell back to the "dump and chase" that wasn't working for them. It's like they'd dump the puck and wouldn't get it back, so that was most unfortunate. But they overachieved in a big way, so I can't complain.

In Uechi-Ryu, we have a saying, "All is in Sanchin", and as far as stances go, this is no exception. Almost all of our kata and drills are performed in Sanchin stance, and this stance is pretty basic yet subtle. You can tell someone "feet shoulder width apart, move one foot forward slightly, turn it in about 30-45 degrees." However, that is the beginning of Sanchin. There are quite a few subtleties that you only learn after practicing Sanchin kata for some time and having instructors test your stability. We perform kata almost exclusively in Sanchin, we perform our drills in Sanchin, and to a certain degree, we are expected to fight/spar in Sanchin. The other stances we utilize are all derived from Sanchin, and are used in specific situations for a specific purpose. We have a neko dachi (cat stance), which starts in Sanchin where you basically shift the weight to the back foot and lift the front foot up to rest on the toe (not the ball of the foot). This is frequently used prior to or immediately following a crane (e.g. shin) block. We also have a version of Zenkutsu dachi, where you start from Sanchin and use your rear leg to drive yourself forward, usually to do an elbow strike into an opponent's sternum. Where your foot naturally lands -- that's a Zenkutsu dachi. Finally, we have a low stance, nominally a shiko-dachi, which starts from a sanchin stance, and you slide your front foot forward and to the (out) side enough to drop your center of gravity such you're below your opponent's center of gravity, and an elbow strike will land right at your opponent's sternum. Again, these 3 other stances are transitional stances, and used for specific brief sequences. For the vast majority of our kata and drills, we live in Sanchin

We have several different sets of 2-person drills. At the white and yellow belt levels, we train in yakusoku kumite dai ichi and dai ni. These are basic prearranged sparring drills that start with a basic back and forth sequence of punches and blocks. They start off with one punch/block, one punch/block and then move up to sequences of 2 or 3 different attacks/defenses. As students progress to green belt ranks, they learn our kyu kumite and kicking drills. These present more complex sequences of attacks and defenses, and these also start introducing the concept of manipulating the attacker. For example, in our kicking drill, we have a sequence where the attacker comes in with a side kick (yoko geri). The defender sweeps the kick out of the way, which encourages the attacker into a spinning hook kick. As students mature, they start making these connections, where if I do this as a defense, the attacker is likely to do that. At brown belt and black belt levels, we practice our dan kumite drill. This drill introduces the concepts of flow, and it is expected to be done in renzoku style, that is, in one seamless drill with minimal pauses between sequences. Nominally it is done in 12 sequences -- partner A is the attacker for sequences 1-5, partner B attacks on sequences 1-5, partner A attacks for sequence 6 (which involves a takedown/throw), and then partner B attacks for sequence 6. However, for advanced students (1st kyu and up), it is expected to be executed as one flowing drill. It is also at this level that students are expected to start demonstrating a balance between speed, power, and technique. Last, but certainly not least, we have our hojo undo (supplementary exercises) techniques. These are very similar to kihon drills in other styles; they consist of short sequences derived from our kata. For example, one of them is circle block/front kick. At the beginning of class we will do these right after our warmups. However, these can also be done with a partner, where the partner attacks with a mid-level lunge punch, and the defender replies with the assigned hojo undo technique.

Back in the 80's/90's, I remember reading a Black Belt magazine article that centered around this concept. A few options that were mentioned were a set of car keys and a car antenna. Of course, in this day and age it's not uncommon to have a key fob without any physical keys on it. And at least on my truck, I don't have a proper antenna on it -- I had to replace it with a stubby antenna so it would fit in my workplace parking garage.

So one other thing I'm going to have to do for the next little while -- take it really easy in kobudo classes. I've got something going on in my left shoulder/tricep area that doesn't feel quite right. It's one of those things where it's not seriously wrong -- yet. But you also know that if you don't take it easy and let it heal, it WILL be a bad thing. Two of the people in my dojo have had to deal with biceps and/or rotator cuff tears, and I definitely don't want to be the third. I have been battling a partial tear in my left rotator cuff for the past 10+ years, but this triceps issue is something new. That's the other thing us experienced MA'ists need to know how to do. Figure out how to train through minor injuries and not make things worse.

I'm not too worried about my Blues @KarateKen -- they made the mistake of finding themselves up 3-2 and took their foot off the gas. If they can play all 3 periods like they played the last 2, they should have a really good chance to win this series.

Congratulations, Wado Heretic!

Circling back on this thread -- it's not that I haven't been training, it's that I haven't been posting. Shame on me. One thing I have been finding is that the older I get, the longer it takes to regain my conditioning once it slips. So while we're now into April, I'm still not at the conditioning level I was at before my first incident back in last May/June. Of course, it doesn't help much that I took most of a month off back in November after my surgery. However, I'm still training regularly - at least twice a week for weapons and karate. I've been struggling with scheduling -- my wife seems to keep scheduling things over the days/times I usually go, which makes attendance a challenge. However, I'm training as best I can as often as I can. Of course, one thing that makes things even more challenging is that in the past year, I've added kobudo to the mix. Optimally, I'd love to be able to train kobudo/karate back to back. I usually am able to do that on Thursday and Saturday; Thursday is possible because as an instructor on Thursdays I get to pick and choose how intensely I train. Saturdays is only a 1 hour karate class and I can usually budget my energy during that class. Tuesdays is a challenge, because weapons completely wear me out. However, I'm going to start making more of an effort to train individually on off-days to improve my overall fitness. One thing I also need to do is have a frank conversation with my wife about our priorities and schedules. I mean I could in theory train on Monday or Wednesday nights, but Tuesday is the advanced adult (karate) class, which I really should be attending regularly. One good piece of news is that our CI is bringing in Tsukasa Gushi, son of Shinyu Gushi, who is the 2nd generation head of the Ryukokaku Karate & Kobudo Association. If you search for "Gushi Sensei" on youtube, you'll see videos of Shinyu Gushi performing all of the Uechi-Ryu kata, both full-speed and in slow-mo. He'll be running both karate and kobudo seminars over the weekend of May 9-11 (Mother's day). I've signed up both Zach and me up for the seminar -- I'll most likely be extremely gassed by the end of the weekend.

I watched the Blues play their final regular season game last night with the playoffs on the line -- they did not disappoint. After 3 tough losses, the Blues came out firing on all cylinders. Their newly promoted rookie, Jimmy Snuggerud got his first NHL goal AND an assist AND was named third star of the game. The kid is making his presence felt, and is already a staple in their top 2 lines. I'm feeling really good about the Blues chances of making a deep playoff run this year. So far they're undefeated on home ice since February (12 games). Of course, being the 8th seed, they'll need to win at least one game on away ice in every round. LetsGoBlues!

Last Saturday was the next round of testing in Matayoshi kobudo. Normally our CI requires that we attend two classes in the week we test prior to testing, but last week was a bit of a challenge. My wife was out of town for work, so I had to get Zach everywhere he needed to go. Which meant I had to get him to Scouts on Tuesday, which is at the same time as the Kobudo class. Fortunately one of our senior students runs kobudo classes at a different dojo on Monday/Wednesday, so I was able to train with him Wednesday night. I also attended the Saturday class and tested immediately following. This time again, I used my "normal" sized bo instead of the Purple People Beater. It's a bit of an adjustment; mainly because of the length difference. The weight difference is easy enough to adjust to though. Due to the various student's schedules, I was the only student testing this time around, and that was both good and bad. It was good that I was able to get immediate, individualized feedback from my CI. It was bad that I didn't have any time to rest between segments. Unlike Uechi-Ryu, testing in kobudo is cumulative. When you test for one rank, you need to demonstrate all of your prior material as well. They also want to see you incorporate new concepts into the prior techniques. For example, at rokkyu I'll be tested on tonkua (tonfa) techniques which require a lot of hip/body swiveling. Therefore, I'll be expected to translate these mechanisms into my bo and sai techniques as well. Short version -- I passed, and I got a lot of good individualized feedback as well. After the test, I was pretty gassed, so completely forgot to get the picture. Unfortunately my CI didn't have any green belts in my size, so I repurposed my old karate green belt. I may end up ordering one from Kaataro. I really like my black belt from them, and I noticed another student has a green belt from Kaataro as well.

We practice martial arts for many different reasons, and each style has a different path of ascending the same mountain. As a Uechi-Ryu stylist, we have a much narrower curriculum than many other styles; for example, we only have 8 kata in the entire system. However, as one ascends the mountain that is Uechi-Ryu, we are expected to train the entire curriculum regularly, instead of just focusing on the small segment that is our current requirements for our next belt. Furthermore, as we ascend the mountain we learn new techniques and principles, we are expected to transfer those principles to all of our prior techniques. So our hojo undo techniques (supplementary exercises, aka kihon in other styles) will look very different as a beginner/intermediate/advanced student. One thing we focus on in Uechi Ryu is conditioning. Kote kitae (forearm forging) and ashi kitae (leg forging) are staples of our training. In almost every class, you'll see us hammering away at each other's arms and legs to both desensitize them to the impact of strikes (and blocks) and to harden the bones and muscle. Likewise, when we perform sanchin kata, we tense the entire body, especially the abdominals, lats, traps, forearms, and legs. We periodically perform shime testing on our students as they perform sanchin; that is, we will pull, push, and strike them in specific spots to ensure that 1) they are able to maintain focus despite being hit, 2) that they are able to tighten their muscles to avoid injury when being struck, and 3) to ensure that they can maintain stability. I actually find it's harder to maintain stability when someone pushes on me than when they strike me. At higher ranks (dan grades), you'll even see students breaking boards over a student's body. There are videos of Uechi-Ryu stylists breaking baseball bats with their forearm, or over their shins. I've seen my CI break a 6' long 2x2 over his wife's abdominals, and you'll also see senior instructors breaking boards with their fingertips. These demonstrations are only possible after years of conditioning (I've tried breaking a board with my fingertips -- it didn't work and it hurt quite a bit. Clearly I have a lot more conditioning to do on that regard). In our school we don't spar for conditioning; we spar for both cardiovascular conditioning and also to learn to deal with the unexpected. We want to be able to defend and counter an attacker. We also want to see students demonstrate that they can put together combinations and demonstrate basic competence and confidence. Sparring isn't about winning or losing. When students spar on a test (required for brown belts and up), we aren't keeping score; we just want to see if they can use their techniques effectively. So while we do spar, and we do condition the body, we don't necessarily combine the two. However, I will say that after a couple years of body conditioning, you aren't nearly as worried when someone kicks you in the outer thighs, or loses control with a kick to the abdomen.

Our CI has several supplementary tools to change things up. He has chi ishi (spirit stones) which he made which he uses for weight training during class. In a similar vein, he has weighted jars, which he has students use during Sanchin kata to provide an upper body workout and work on gripping strength. He has used exercise bands, where we hold each end in our hand with the band wrapped around our shoulders/upper back to provide resistance when striking in Sanchin. As a general rule, his classes almost always follow the same format, first 30 minutes: warmups, accessory exercises, sanchin, kote kitae (body conditioning). Next 45 minutes: focus area for the week, whether that's bunkai, two-person drills, self-defense techniques, throws/takedowns, cardio/weight training, etc. Last 15 minutes: kata. The 45 minutes in the middle is where he mixes things up to keep class interesting each week.

The Blues got up to an early 4-0 lead on the Avs, and were able to hold off a strong push late in the 3rd to win 5-4, for their twelfth win in a row. Even when these guys aren't playing at their best, they're still putting up the W's. These last 2 wins were also without their top defenseman, Colton Parayko (who has been out for a couple weeks) and one or their hot forwards signed last summer, Dylan Holloway. The good news is, the Blues have added two new young players to the mix. Jimmy Snuggerud was their 1st round draft pick in 2022 and just finished playing his Junior year at University of Minnesota; in his first 3 games in the NHL he already has 2 assists, and the first one was a thing of absolute beauty. They've also brought their 2023 first round draft pick into the mix - Dalibar Dvorsky, who has been tearing things up in the AHL. And then on Sunday, Alex Ovechkin broke a record many thought would be unbreakable -- Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal record. With goal #895, Ovi forever enshrined his name in the NHL record books -- or at least until the next NEXT great one comes along. I thought it was extremely cool that the NHL stopped the game to celebrate that moment. I thought it also extremely classy that Wayne Gretzky was right there to shake Ovi's hand after such a milestone achievement, just like Gordie Howe was there to shake Wayne Gretzky's hand back in 1994. And even though this monumental event happened in the Islander's home rink, everyone present was cheering for Ovi.

I had the pleasure of watching the Blues beat the Avs in Denver last Saturday -- it was a tight game with a playoff feel. We were 4 rows back behind the goal where the Blues shoot twice. The game was full of energy, and there were quite a few Blues fans in attendance (I got more than one compliment on my Chris Pronger jersey). This year, like 2019, the Blues started out on the struggle bus, but had a mid-season coaching change. This year, like 2019, the Blues caught their second wind and went on a tear through the NHL with 10+ game winning streaks. In 2019, the Blues rallied behind the Laura Branigan song, "Gloria" -- this year, they have their locker room mascot, a Jobu bobblehead. And this year, like 2019, the players truly believe in themselves.

Welcome to the forums!

My Blues are still on an absolute tear through the NHL. After last night's 6-1 win over Montreal, they are on a SEVEN game winning streak. They are firing on all cylinders, and I can't wait to see them play in person here in Denver this Saturday.

The Blues have really been on a tear since the Four Nations Face-Off. They have won their last 6 in a row, and are solidly in the second wildcard playoff spot in the West. They are 12-2-2 since the 4 Nations Break - the best record in the NHL over that span. The picture is somewhat complicated by the fact that the Flames are 4 points back, but have 3 games in hand. This is both a good thing and a bad thing, TBH. Bad in that if the Blues win all their remaining games AND Calgary wins all theirs, the Blues are out of the playoffs. Good in that Calgary has a substantially more compressed schedule and less time to rest their players from here on out. Of course, with the way the Blues are playing, I'm hoping they not only make it to the playoffs, but make a deep playoff run.

My Blues just went on a tear getting 9 points out of their previous 5 games, so there may be a chance for them to make the playoffs. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for them!

This is all happening right after the wife and I just booked flights for a trip to Europe. I didn't used to have any nerves or fears for airline travel. Now I'm not so sure.

I actually made my own bo a few months ago out of a chunk of purpleheart. I had purchased a 6.5' x 8" x 2" slab of purpleheart a number of years ago. I ran it through my table saw to make a 1 3/8" square, then went to octagonal (by turning the saw to 45 degrees and adjusting the fence. I then knocked down the corners with a hand plane and sanded the entire thing down to 400 grit. Next I used a buffing wheel with several different compounds, and finished it with gun stock oil (birchwood-casey Tru Oil) It's an absolute beast to wield, but it's fantastic exercise. I only use it for regular training classes; I would never test with it. But it looks and feels awesome; just the right amount of grip

Our mats are pretty firm; they aren't "squishy" by any means. The only time I really notice the difference is when I'm trying to balance on one foot for any length of time. Likewise, the only time I really notice the slipperiness of the downstairs mats is when I'm doing stretches like the splits where you need the extra friction. But when you're doing the splits and your legs are out about as far as your adductors are willing to go, and then your foot suddenly slips out to the side... that's disconcerting (and very uncomfortable).

Two of our advanced students (both ikkyus, prepping for their shodan exam) have prior experience. One is a 5th degree in Tae Kwon Do, and the other has prior shotokan experience (I think he was a brown belt of some level). It's always interesting to spar with them. The TKD student tends to go for the high kicks and he likes to leave them out (he has excellent control and poise). Well, being the treacherous old man I am, I tend to step back just out of range of those kicks and then when he leaves them out, immediately re-engage, grabbing that leg and using it to pull me in, where I'll get a few good strikes in. I haven't sparred the shotokan guy in awhile, but it's always fun.