Zaine

Awesome! Thank you for this honor!

I am so pumped for D4. I have been playing D2R a lot over the last few months as well. It's as great as I remember it. I did take a break to play Tears of the Kingdom and have put easily over 100 hours into that, as well. I wanted to sink as much time as I could into it so that I had a "free conscience" while playing D4. All these new video games are really messing up my reading time!

Happy birthday!

My original CI had a school that was in an MMA gym. We were a combat oriented school, so we fit in with the crowd more than maybe some others, but it was fine. We got questions every now and then.

Congrats!

I agree. Zanshin is an important concept to MA as a whole, but especially so in Sanchin. They even have the benefit of sounding alike. I would have like to see a lot more talk about it as a concept.

I'm definitely interested!

Chapter 3: The Mechanics of Being in the Moment I lost my book for a bit. However, with it now found I can continue. I think this is a really cool title for the chapter. However, I do wish that he would have actually talked about the mechanics of being in the moment. I don't feel that he achieved that to any degree. He spends some a lot of time writing disparate facts about the brain, some of which are outdated, and fails to really bring it all together. I think that the worst thing here is that he fails to bring it back to Sanchin. Wilder talks a lot without consideration for the subject matter of the book. If he were to circle all of these random metaphors and allegories back into Sanchin, I think that the book would be much better. Instead, I get long-winded, dry, semi-educated information on the adrenal system with no relation to Sanchin in any way. I have two English degrees, and cannot really comment with any authority on all of this biological information. I just don't think that it has much of a place in this book. It feels like Wilder has a word count to hit and is ginning up any tangentially related subject to meet that criteria. Wilder says two statements here that, to me, stick out as being statements about Sanchin and Martial Arts. The first is this: It seems here that he is suggesting that Sanchin is performed slowly as a learning tool. I disagree with this, and my analysis on this is what started this thread in the first place, so I won't go through the whole thing again. Briefly, Sanchin teaches us about dynamic tension. It teaches when to relax, when to be tense, and how to breath. It's ease of learning has nothing to do with its speed. The second quote: I think this is a good analysis of the kata. Sanchin is good at teaching you how to balance these things within the moment. I often to Sanchin as a way to meditate. It helps me to remove myself from a strong emotion to see things more objectively. These two quotes were in the introduction paragraphs of this chapter. I think if Wilder had spoken towards these things, then the chapter would have been far more cohesive. Putting these lines in the introduction made me think that this was what we were going to be talking about and I found it odd when he took a left turn and began to discuss biology.

I have sent you an email!

It's definitely a journey. I started this journey before I got on medication for ADHD, Depression, and Anxiety. It was a lot harder to do without medication, but I did see improvement in my life. I don't think that Zen asks that we get rid of things like anger and anxiety. As negative as these are, they have some use. More than that, the idea that we could strip ourselves of these things is silly. What I think that Zen does is that it gives us the tools to recognize these emotions or instances of anxiety and make better decisions during your experience with these emotions. It's not about letting go. It's about having better tools. I would stick with it! I think that you will benefit from doing so.

Certainly not. Not every practitioner and sensei can be good, the numbers just don't account for it. This is normal. There has always been, and always will be, schools that don't uphold a certain standard of excellence that others might. Is it unfortunate? Absolutely. In a perfect world, this wouldn't be the case. I would love to see every school doing its absolute best to make sure that the students got a quality, practical education. I wouldn't take your experience as the norm. There will always be schools and students who don't give their all. This just makes those that do give their all shine all the brighter.

Nice! I'm happy to hear that you found something that works for you, even if it might need some modifications.

Yes, karate uses fa jin. The idea, for those not in the know, is that the practitioner is relaxed and then suddenly throws a technique with explosive power. Think of the one-inch punch as an example of this. You suddenly focus all the kinetic energy you can create from the ground up to, and out of, the fist. I would say that a lot of two person work deals with fa jin. In my experience, the receiver of the attack remains relaxed and ready. Once the attacker throws the technique, the receiver then moves with explosive power to parry, block, or dodge that technique and issue a counter. We teach students to be relaxed because it allows them to move faster and maintains their endurance. Even in sparring, the idea is that the combatants should remain relaxed until they attack or receive. This also helps the student spar for longer periods of time, while alleviating chance of injuries.

I think that I would add the Pinans and Empi Take/Iwa to your list. The Pinan series introduce a lot of concepts important for later kata. The Empi series uses elbows and teaches you to become comfortable with doing so in self-defense situations.

Congrats! Well deserved!

I would say that it is more like a natural step forward, if a little smaller.

I agree here, and I love the insight into Uechi, which focuses Sanchin throughout its curriculum. If I'm understanding you correctly, I think that approach of Uechi-Ryu is similar to how I see it. It is less a kata that requires a breakdown of bunkai, and more one that supports and informs the breadth of what it is that karate is for you. It takes the forefront of practice. I know that Uechi has a saying that everything is Sanchin (or comes back to Sanchin). In this, it makes sense that the practice of Sanchin is separate. It requires a different kind of study that other kata do not. Do I have this right? Or am I misinterpreting something here?

You make great points here, aurik. The legacy of hojo undo and the strengthening of the body outside of martial practice goes very deep. In part, the introduction puts me off in no small way because it starts off with so much misinformation. It frustrates me as a writer, as well. I write fiction, and even then I do so much research to make sure that what I am making up is faithful to the history of the genre or world. It really seems like this guy just came in with a bunch of preconceived notions and a lot of audacity and went ham.

I'm not a huge meditation person either, but doing a meditation through movement really connects with me. Maybe it's the ADHD, but I just can't stay still for long enough to meditate in what we think of as the traditional way. However, applying focus and centering myself through movements practiced 1000+ times is really helpful, especially when I am having bad days. I was recently at a dojo that largely practices Korean karate (the base of their system is Korean, but they also mix in Japanese influences and kata) and they had the same issue as you are having with the steps. I come from an Okinawan system, where the steps are shallower, so it was a little easier for me to get in line with the steps. That said, Sanchin Dachi is even a little shallower than what I was used to so it took some time to get into that rhythm.

Thanks for the review!

Chapter 2: Learning by Emulation and Repetition My feelings on this chapter was that it could have been one page. In the margins of this chapter, I wrote "We don't have to explore every metaphor." This is, as previously mentioned, a critique that I have about this book overall, but this chapter really falls into the trap of over-explanation. As something of a petty aside, his note on Pax Romana is incredibly simple. On page 5, Wilder states: This is apropos of nothing, in the realm of karate or Sanchin, but the Pax Romana was a much more complicated machine than just military practice. The economic boom of the Pax Romana played a really big part in it. It wasn't just the threat of military action, it was also that the vassal states had little reason to rebel against such riches as the Romans were offering, which they could get themselves. Petty tangent over. The message of this chapter is that repetition and emulation are key to learning. He'll get no argument for me here. Latin has a saying: Repititio mater memoriae. Repetition is the mother of memory. People have often remarked that I learn kata really quickly. A part of that is because I know so many kata already, and the more kata you know, the easier it is to learn new kata. That's why learning kata is scaffolded like it is, with most of the beginning kata being shorter than the ones we learn later. The other reason is that I practice it over an over again. I emulate what I have seen to make sure that my technique is good. It's solid advice. However, Wilder writes something that I am struggling with, a little. On page 5 and 6, he writes: I have 2 issues here. The first is that I don't believe that Sanchin is a kata that is good for self defense. I think that it is a kata that is good for meditation. I also think that it is a kata that enhances the understanding of your other kata. My kata practice exploded when I learned Sanchin because it fundamentally changed the way that I approached kata itself. Perhaps I am misunderstanding Wilder's point here, and we agree with one another. I would certainly have liked him to elaborate on this point, over others. The second is that, philosophically speaking, I'm not sure that I'm on board with the idea that Sanchin moves slowly for the purposes of education. It definitely helps for the educational purposes of learning Sanchin. It makes it hard to make mistakes. However, I think the dynamic tension of Sanchin teaches its own lesson. It requires you to be in the moment. It requires that you focus only on what you are doing now. In that, it also teaches you to do the same with other kata. Too often, I find myself not being in the moment with other kata, and instead thinking towards what's next. One of the reasons that I train kata so repeatedly, especially now, is to achieve that state of Mushin during the performance. It's so that I can just be in the kata as it happens instead of thinking ahead. That, in my view, is the educational purpose of Sanchin. It's about achieving Mushin/Zen and working more in the moment.

One can still be in pursuit of something without there being a grade attached to it. The seeking of knowledge is the thing. The dan grades, at best, represent where you are on that path and, at worst, exist as a political tool within the confines of a dojo or organization. Why wait to learn a kata until you can test if you're already ready to learn that kata? The barriers between the dan ranks are arbitrary and too often exist only to line the pockets of an instructor.

Bodhidharma is an interesting figure, for sure. The source for his transmission of the exercises is apocryphal and doesn't show up until the 17th century in Yijin Jing. In fact, as far as I can tell, most scholars are at best doubtful as to whether Bodhidharma taught the Shaolin Monks these movements at all. It's certainly referred to as myth and legend enough times for me to give pause to the claim. At the very least, I don't personally believe that Bodhidharma taught the Shaolin martial exercises. My guess, assuming that he taught them anything of physical exercise, is that he taught them something more akin to Qigong or Yoga, and then the Shaolin developed their techniques from there. I think it's probably more likely that the Shaolin developed it independently.

I disagree. I think the abolition of higher dan ranks doesn't mean that black belt isn't the beginning. Just because there are no more trail markers doesn't mean that there isn't a trail to walk.

Interestingly, I find this sentiment to be prevalent in karate circles. I remember my first sensei telling me something similar, and then hearing it from others around me. The reasoning was varied, from "it makes you slow" to "it makes you more sensitive to attacks." It always struck me as odd, as well. Why wouldn't you want to do bodybuilding? Why wouldn't strengthening your muscles be anything but a boon to anyone doing martial arts? If throwing a punch takes good rooting and uses the back muscles more than the arm, then common sense says to make sure to strengthen your legs and back. If I have trouble keeping my balance when kicking, then common sense says that I need to strengthen my core. I came to your same conclusion, no strength training advice from Martial Artists. None whatsoever. I think that Wilder is just grouping a possibility, as you say. Even within that realm of possibility, however, the chances seem slim. We don't really know what, exactly, Bodhidharma taught the Shaolin, just that he seems to have taught them an exercise regimen that evolved into kung fu and karate. I'm of the opinion that anyone claiming to know something that came directly from Bodhidharma was either lied to, or is actively lying about the origins of their techniques. Is Wilder lying? I don't think so. I think that he's regurgitating legends that he has heard many times over. A big problem with documenting the history of martial arts in general is that so much is myth and legend, and I don't think Wilder is to blame for believing this particular story. That said, I would have liked him to be more critical. Some kata we know the origins of. Pinan/Heian was created by Anko Itosu, Kusanku seems to have been created by Matsumura Soken, etc. However, there are a plethora of kata that we don't know the origin to, Sanchin being one of them. Wilder alludes to this in this chapter, but doesn't do the critical scholarship necessary to, at the very least, give us the other stories. I understand that this is the story that Wilder believes or wants to believe, but a book like this should offer up all sides of the story so that the reader can make their own critical assessments.