Zaine

Most people use them to put murals in. You can put anything you want and it's just a subtle bit of flair for a gi jacket. I'm just weird so I immediately wondered about putting a face in.

Sounds like a clear lack of pedagogical standards. Something that I have noticed is that a lot of Martial Arts gyms lack pedagogy. The teacher is good at karate, and even good at teaching, but they lack the pedagogical foundation that helps students learn. There is a reason we don't start teaching kids algebra in Kindergarten. They have to learn the foundational skills first. The same is true for karate. It doesn't help a kid to start with a reap if there is an easier technique that will build up to it. You have to scaffold skills.

Agreed, this is hard to parse out. As humans, we love to categorize things. In the end, I liken it to the Buddhist idea of desiring to have no desire. Bruce Lee wanted the Martial Art to simply be. He wanted it to exist only in the moments of itself. He likely knew that we would categorize it, and he himself categorized it. However, having the opportunity to let it just exist was a dream of his nonetheless.

Guy Windsor has a video (I think) for every play within the book. If something ever seems to abstract, he's a great resource. The video series is a part of his "Fiore Translation Project" and I have found that it to be incredibly helpful for when I get to the remedy and counter-remedy sections. The pictures are helpful, but there are some errors within them in some part. Having the video representation is super helpful.

That's still awesome, Brian! Any amount of karate practice is a great amount of karate practice!

It would certainly be a good distraction tool during sparring. I can just imagine people asking after a fight "Is that... your face in your gi?"

I disagree. There is a right answer. You see, you can now get gis with a print on the inside of the jacket. Which means that you can get your face printed on the inside of your gi jacket. This is the correct option.

It has been my experience that the biggest proponents for your dojo are women who feel safe within the walls of said dojo. To echo Scohen here, creating a safe space for your students, running Women's Self Defense classes, making people feel welcome... these things are the biggest pluses to get others to advertise for you.

I forgot to update! 1/26 MA Training 1000/1000 kata completed! 100% finished, my NYR has been completed!

The remedy and counter-remedy plays can be confusing because Fiore is not very clear about where one should be or where the remedy takes place in the play. I have found, in the past, that it gets a little easier to figure out as you get into the sword plays because those are at longer range. The grappling plays require a decent knowledge of the play in general to counter, whereas it's easy to understand the sword play from imagination. So when Fiore says "The counter of this play is the one where you place your right hand under the left elbow of your opponent and pish hard upwards, so that you're able to free yourself," that requires intimate knowledge of when that counter is the most viable, whereas I feel you have larger windows with the longer ranged stuff (especially the Zogho Largo plays).

Every martial art has a fallback plan. This is also true of every Martial Artist. It's the hypothetical button we press when things aren't going our way. If you're learning Fiore, then that fallback is grappling. Every play, every movement, can lead to grappling. It's the foundation upon which anything and everything returns. The section on grappling is relatively short. There's certainly not a lot of room to extrapolate a whole system based on this section alone (as there might be with just the sword play). That said, the basics that it gives you are solid. It begins by showing the reader 4 stances from which they might launch an attack or defend themselves. From there, it gives us 5 sequences, or plays, that cover some common situations. Fiore mentions that one might be able, if they are skilled, to manipulate their opponent into these positions from just about any other position not covered. There are no ground fighting techniques, just techniques focused on getting your opponent to the ground. The techniques would be familiar to anyone with a knowledge of Karate or, especially, Judo. The first play ends in a standing armlock that most every martial art teaches at one point or another. The second play ends with an inside hip throw. I had a HEMA instructor who, upon my remarking that this was all very familiar to me, told me that "The body can only move in so many ways. It's not surprising that Fiore figured out the same stuff that Judo did." This familiarity makes the beginning of this journey relatively easy for anybody with martial experience. My old teacher was 100% correct. There are only so many ways that a body can move and, inevitably, there will be a large amount of overlap in movement, positioning, and philosophy. However, where the grappling really stands out, and why it's so important to learn first, is it's application in armed fighting. Are you fighting with a spear and got to close? Drop the spear and grapple. Are you at the forteza (bottom of the blade) in a bind while fighting with a sword? Drop the sword and grapple. Are you fighting with a daga? Get in close and grapple. Grappling is the constant second option when you find yourself too close. It also serves as a surprise. An opponent might not expect you to drop your weapon and grab them. Aside from daga, there aren't many techniques that one can throw up close with a weapon in hand. The section ends with 3 short plays using the Bastoncello, or the short staff. What Fiore means by short staff is very generous, and most of us would struggle to call it more than a dowel. It's roughly longer than the length of a forearm, which makes it convenient for carrying around. Fiore teaches you some locks with the bastoncello, as well as defense against a daga. Fiore even includes a defense against a would-be assassin attacking you while you sit. You can find the references for this post here: https://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Fior_di_Battaglia_(MS_Ludwig_XV_13) The folio is untranslated, but look at the pictures labeled 6r-8v for context.

Well, I guess it'll be time to break that book out again, and do so. A question for everyone here with Sanchin experience: if I were to look up some videos on YouTube, which would be good ones to reference? I can't find the video I used to learn the kata, but here is a video I referenced when I started understanding it a bit better: Since you are the type of person that likes to get into the information of a thing, here is Jesse Enkamp's first video about the history of the kata:

I've had some time to do some extra training, so: MA Training 900/1000 Kata complete. I am going to try and finish up tomorrow, I think it will be a blast.

Shodan: Matsumura Seito, Shorinji-Ryu, American Street Karate Sankyu: Shobayashi-Ryu, Shudokan

I'm not familiar with Tensho, I'll have to check that out. On the subject of Seiunchin, I love this kata as well. It's my favorite to do at competitions, and just in general. It feels really good to do with a good mix of the dynamic tension movements and the fast techniques later in the kata. That's a kata that I can drill endlessly and not get board with, I feel like I learn something new each time.

I would definitely recommend learning it. In terms of movements, it's a short kata, I learned it in less than 30 minutes. In terms of growth, however, I feel that the return was far greater than the investment.

I have not! I will order that immediately, it sounds really interesting.

I’ve been thinking about Sanchin a lot recently. My original style, Matsumura Seito, does not have the kata, as it is typical of Goju-Ryu and other Naha-Te descendants, and MS is a Shuri-Te descendant. However, it is a famous kata, and 2 years ago I decided that I wanted to see what the hype was about and learned it. I’ll admit that I didn’t get it at first. I understood the dynamic tension aspect, and how that could help train my body, but I was unsure as to the point of the kata overall. Regardless, I kept drilling it. I then joined a dojo that taught the kata, and I asked them if they could relay the message to me. They relayed a message of dynamic tension. My understanding continued to stagnate in a pool of ignorance. The kata is so much more than dynamic tension, however, and I want to talk about that today. However, first we have to understand positive, negative, and neutral energy. The idea of positive, negative, and neutral energy is not a new one, though I first came upon the idea as a teenager watching Avatar the Last Airbender, where instead of Chi they use the term Jing, which in Chinese medicine (according to Google) is a dense essence stored in the kidneys. However, by Jing the show meant, essentially, chi, ki, or any other word for internal energy. For our purposes, it separates into these breakdowns: Neutral Energy: That’s the point where you are when you stand still. You are neither advancing nor retreating. Your energy is a wellspring waiting to be tapped into. Positive Energy: You are advancing on your opponent. Your energy is being focused outward and forward. Negative Energy: You are retreating from your opponent, taking a step back to block or attack. Your energy is being focused inward and away from your opponent. This is the lesson that Sanchin teaches us. When we are standing still, in the moment before movement, we are ready. We breathe in, ready our technique, we are loose. We bring our energy inward and settle it into ourselves. We are using negative energy. We push the hand forward with dynamic tension. We push that energy out from ourselves and into the space in front of us. We are using positive energy. Sanchin makes clear the way we do kata. The concepts of tight/loose. The idea of relaxing and then snapping to a technique. These things are so easy to forget and yet Sanchin makes us remember by matter of principle. It creates the muscle memory of the push and pull of infinity inside your body. To be using tension the entire time misses the point and wears out the body. To use no tension at all does not develop your technique. To stand still is to accept defeat. You must combine all of these things to be an effective martial artist, whether you are doing kata, kihon, or kumite. As I was sparring last night, these thoughts we with me as they have been since coming upon this realization. As I performed my kata last night, these thoughts were with me. They make me a more effective martial artist, yes, but in a vain sense they make me fun to watch. If nothing else, what I’ve come upon is that, often, we teach Sanchin too late (with exceptions, of course). In the last dojo, it was reserved for post-shodan. I think the lessons of Sanchin are far too important to wait to teach it until black belt, and I will change my own curriculum accordingly.

I just googled it to double check, and it's $100 - $150, which isn't nearly as bad as I thought. I just don't think that I can justify it at this point in time. Who knows, though? I'm eligible for a promotion at work so if I can get that, maybe it's time to join a gym.

MA Training 700 kata complete. 10% finished! This has been going a lot smoother than I anticipated.

MA Training: 666 Kata completed! 30 minute bike ride: 10k

Right now, I'm working through Fior di Battaglia, which is this one: https://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Fior_di_Battaglia_(MS_Ludwig_XV_13) It does have a print version here in both hard and paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Flower-Battle-MS-Ludwig-XV13/dp/0984771697/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1674136357&sr=8-1 I'd love to have people to participate with me! Spreading interest is one of the reasons that I decided to post my journey here, though I know that you have prior interest already. I hear you on the resources. There are a few gyms that do HEMA near me, but the cost is prohibitive. I'm trying to rope my Mother back into it, since we did this together before. She is a busy woman, though, so we shall see.

As I re-integrate myself with WMA and HEMA, the thing that I am remembering the most is the amount of reading that you have to do. WMA and HEMA approach Martial Arts in a very different way than EMA. In EMA, you come to a class, start learning, and the history is fed to you in stages throughout a period of time. Sometimes, this culminates in an essay before Shodan, or a history requirement. This is not the case with WMA. Even in my past experiences of going to a class, we learned the history up front; enough of it to write an essay after the first class. This is what I am facing now. I am currently less practicing, which is fine because I don't currently have the funds for a trainer, much less 2 of them, and more learning who Fiore dei Liberi was, who I should be reading along side him, and who I should be reading next. All of this is before I even look at a sword, though that is not the first thing you learn with Fiore. The idea here is that context matters. With EMA, the context is self-defense. The context is built into the system from the ground up. Someone understood the need for defense, and then created techniques around that. We, in turn, understand the use of self defense, and learn those techniques. This is not entirely the case with learning systems of fighting from historical manuals. Firstly, it's rare to see someone walking around with a sword. There are far more efficient ways of defending ourselves now. This is true for the time periods these manuscripts were written in. Swords and steel (in general) are for the rich. This leads us to the second point: these manuscripts were for knights doing combat in lists. They assume that the chaos of a battlefield is somewhere far off, and that the combatants are just fighting for tournament entertainment. This is not true of all manuscripts, some spend some time with battlefield fighting, but it is true for a large majority of them. That context is important, because it allows the WMA/HEMA practitioner to slow down a little bit, and ask "Why is this technique like this? Why are we doing it in this way?" Thirdly, the tradition of passing these things down no longer exists in a way that is comparable with EMA. Fiore was alive in the 1300-1400s. That we have any indication of his technique is nothing short of a miracle. Studying the words and drawings takes time, especially if fidelity is the goal (and it is!). So we learn they whos, whys, and wheres of the art before the hows. That's not a bad thing, it's just different. It is fun to learn these things. I've always enjoyed learning the history of a Martial Art, and doing that up front is just fine with me. After this, Fiore's instructions start in earnest with unarmed grappling. He reasoned that without a foundation of fitness without a sword, one could not wield a sword effectively. I agree with him. I'll be back when I'm there.

MA Training: 633 Kata completed!

Congrats!