Power Lines

The Lines, the Lines, Where do They all Come from, Where do they all Go?
...so spoketh Tubs.

One of the things that grumpy disenchanted foreigners who come to Japan and find out it doesn't do what they wanted or expected complain about is the destruction of scenery by Japan's ever present powerlines- bloody great pylons laden with buzzing cables carrying umph-teen kV. It's quite an industry to come here for a few years, then go home and write sophisticated whines. Some do, of course, have a point. But I can't agree with people who think Tokyo is an ugly city. It's quite a work of art, really. And I would rather live in a comfortable block of Japanese danchi than a project or a tower block. In fact I do and I love my "mansion."

But that's by the by...I am, however, buzzing with verve and vim, because on Saturday, we worked on our Keiro- or our very own human power lines.

Our Very Own Yoda
And who better than to talk about our very own power lines than our very own Yoda, actually Yoda Sempai, who was back from Kyushu for the weekend to teach. Yoda Sempai made a deep impression on me a few years ago when we were doing Ji-yu Ippon Kumite, and I had made a pigs ear out of my jodan. (My jodan was a jodan ;-)) I said to him (in Japanese), "I am sorry, that wasn't good enough, can I have another go, sempai?" At which point, in a commanding voice, Yoda spoke English to me for the very first time ..."There is no second chance in Karate, Paul-san!" Yoda is not 3 foot tall green and not made out of rubber, but nonetheless, he is impressive. Most Impressive...

Keiro- Power Lines
Saturday's session was a surprise as we did no Kumite or Kata, but actually kushin-shinshuku pushing exercises after the usual kihon. This actually took an hour-- why, because there is no escaping whether you "have" it, i.e. can use it. And it makes all the difference. So, what is it?

If any of you mystics are looking for some sort of Ki energy magic here, you are going to be sorely disappointed. We all know when things "click," they just -WHAM!- seem to work...you know, if you have ever done Judo, sometimes you get in under your opponent and the Tai-otoshi is just perfect...othertimes you feel as if you are hauling a hundredweight of coal. Well, leaving aside a discussion of Ki, our session was more prosaic.

Keiro Partner Training
Have you ever tested your shinsuku with a partner? OK, go gedan-barai, do a gyaku-zuki, haul yourself back and down into extreme shinshuku (full compression) and the repeat the gyaku-
zuki launching off the rear leg for that powerful gyaku-zuki. Did you launch up at all? No? Really? Unless you are uber-sensitive, or very good, or very experienced and focused, I bet you did! I bet at least 20% of the energy went up and not forward...of course now you are aware of it, you can solve this problem, can't you? Or maybe not? Maybe no matter how much you attempt to hardwire this movement into an indellible pattern, it falls to pieces under pressure...

So how to get round this- the answer is partner training.

The first way to hardwire this movement is to understand it. The way we try to understand it is go the Isaka Sensei (IS) route by tracing the evolutionary wisdom of nature. Basically, one of the best ways to understand how the power vectors in the body work is to understand the interplay between the main nerves and the bones and the joints, the points of contact and pressure, andthe and the angles. What's this? Well, the easiest way to understand the Keiro or Power line that runs from (potentially) the tip of the big toe, or from the ball of the foot up around the back of the calf, then up the leg is the path traced by the Sciatic nerve. Where does it end up, right in the sacrum. This is not an IS lesson today, although Yuko is prevailing on me to start writing this up as we have dozens of untranslated pages, but if you can download a picture of the sciatic nerve from the NIH (National Institutes of Health), etc., you'll get the picture.

If you juggle around with your movement, and trace a mental line through your foot, up through your leg into your sacrum, you'll have a good idea about what the Keiro or power line is- the more milimeters your balance and center of gravity and weight distribution are away from delivering power from the tip of your toe to the end of your knuckle though your leg and hips (we are just looking at the kahanshin today), the more fakery in your gyaku-zuki.

Of course, the only way to really get a handle on this is to train, and the traditional way is the makiwara, right? But you can cheat yourself and the makiwara, so this is where partner training comes in.

Get your partner to go into zenkutsu-dachi and then hold out his or her palms. Basically, when you are in the chambered position, very close, you should not extend your punch but do a pressing of your palms against his or her very strongly held zenkutsu-dachi.

If you can push them back naturally just extending your rear leg (your front leg should be raised off the floor) then you are in balance and can take advantage of all the vectors properly. Welcome to Yahara Karate!

The point about this exercise is not to cheat yourself or have your partner cheat. It is so easy to lean in and use your weight against your opponent, and if your vector isn't correct, you will find yourself pushing yourself up against your partner.

Goro couldn't do it for the world of him in 30 or 40 attempts with his right rear leg pushing from shinshuku for his favored right hand gyakuzuki and the exercise was a good one for focus and patience. He swopped hands for the left gyakuzuki, left leg compressed and did it naturally without effort! So with the right, it's a case of "unlearning what you have learned" as Yoda (the three foot tall rubber one) would have put it, and pretty near what our Yoda said anyway!

When you get a hold of this exercise, good luck! The next stage is to put everything in the fist- and this one is quite a challenge.

With the fist version, have your attacking punch maybe one quarter extended and repeat the prior excercise. This time it is important that you do NOT try to extend the punch using your arm, but extend the rear leg for shinshuku. If you don't wobble at all, you are a better than me. Well, you probably are anyway.

Next, try this with oizuki!

Front Leg Compression in Oizuki
The basic point, the grass roots of all these exercises is to try to intellectually or at least physiologically try to understand the mechanics of one part of Yahara Karate, and then hardwire it into your movement, not by being an ossu-ossu moron, but by actually thinking about and exploring what you do. Know thyself! But, at the end of the day, it's to try to stop you going up when you move forward with oizuki and when you explode off the rear leg in shinshuku.

One of the most exhausting things for me in my black belt campaign was the constant insistance of YS on my oizuki zenshin- without telegraphing you must sink in lower as you go forward. In both oi-zuki and maegeri in the KWF we must lunge forward off the front leg, which is bent, with the knee well forward of the toe of the front foot. But today under Yoda Sempai, we were asked to reconsider this proposition. I've always been told that the power for maegeri comes off the rear leg through the hips, and the way to generate the powerful forward thrust to smash down your opponent is starting the kick by leaning forward heavily on the front (supporting) leg. Of course biomechanically this makes perfect sense and it works. But today, Yoda Sempai told us to forget this...what we should do is consciously bend our ankle forward. Have you ever thought of it that way. For me it was a bit of a conceptual breakthrough- don't think about bending your supporting leg kee- think about using your ankle as an essential component of forging the power in your kick or punch. I am not too cyncial enough to find that intersting!

Yoroshiku,
Paul.

Thursday Night- Fight Nite

In the U.K., or Catford and Lewisham, as I remember it, it was usually Friday night that was fight night. Six pints of Dogbolter, pie and chips then scarper when the local likelylads got genki.

In the KWF Sohonbu, it's usually Thursday night. Actually, that's not official. We have an informal arrangement that Tuesdays are Kata focused and Thursdays are Kumite focused, but that's only a rough guide.

The "Suwa Way"

I'll just do a quick write up of last Thursday's session, which was very low key but very enjoyable. YS and OS are still in North Africa at the moment, and IS is in Wales...so what we did was call last Thursday night Gentleman's Club- Yuko, Kumura, Takane, Saito, etc. weren't there so it was blokes night. We elected Suwa sempai to teach and got on with it.

Just For Kicks: Rengeri Rumble!

Anyway, Thursday night's kihon was standard except we had a lot of fun with kick combinations, which are great when I feel loose (or downed 3 aspirin) and grim, grim, grim when I am stiff. So it was marching up and down with combinations- everything combined into doubles:

Maegeri- chu/jodan

Kekomi -> change leg -> Keage

Keage-> change leg -> Kekomi

Mawashigeri-> Kekomi

We usually do the old standard, mae-mawashi-kekomi-ushiro-geri rengeri, but for some reason we didn't. I think there was too much sweat on the dojo.

Just for Everything Else: Kumite

Tonight we started with 5 bouts of ji-yu kumite with Suwa stopping each fight when people really started hurting. I tried to use different tactics in each fight- my different tactics being

a) Attack with left gyaku-zuki and or sweep with right leg or

b) Attack with left gyaku-zuki and or sweep with right leg or

c) Attack with left gyaku-zuki and or sweep with right leg.

As you can imagine, it got to the point when I was leading with my mutton chops after a little bit so that's the point about trusting your partner's control and maturity.

But defense was really fun- I tried defending with ushiro-geri- I only try this once in a while, but because I am such a donkey, "nobody expects the ushiro-geri"(and an almost fanatical devotion to Yahara Sensei).... and ...as IS says... "Haita!!!!!"

Small victories for tiny Karate talent.

In a Spin...

One of the big things we love to do in Yahara Karate is spin defense. It takes a lot of calm commitment and ruthless dedication to spin into your opponent's attack. Of course this was second nature to Asai Sensei, but what not might be so recognized is that it's also a fundamental part of Yahara Karate too. Asai Sensei was a master of using the joints to create a whip hammer, as most of us know. With Yahara Karate its actually from the hips using the arm and the ken as a sort of iron bar smashed round a centrifuge or vortex. If an Asai whip/hammer is supposed to knock the daylights out of your opponent, the Yahara uraken is supposed to take the head off!

Of course, this requires compression down and inside, getting inside your opponent and whipping into his head or chest with a centrifugal powered blow that comes off your power line or Keiro, a concept I'll (try to explain) next time...

The in and out of it, or in my case the round and round with it, was that when I felt like it was coming together, I tried an almost sen-no-sen spinning uraken. YS says that you have to practice these things 10,000 times minimum to get the idea and make it your own, but as I am probably only at 1,000, I'll have to make do!

I was very very lucky on Thursday because everyone I was fighting was better than me. Mind you, as I am the newest black belt, you wouldn't expect otherwise....In particular, with Mohamed, he was like a spider and me the fly, and it felt like that. But I always end up having a bit of a ding-dong with Charles. Charles started off in the old JKA Ebisu and he forgets about KWF Karate and likes a bit of a punch up- not violent- but he likes to knock about, which I enjoy. Afterwards we did maybe 70-90 spin uraken defense/attack, off with 'is 'ead practice with each other. Difficult, and enjoyable!

Then to follow we did Kihon Ippon Kumite x5 bouts then a series of Gohon Kumite; it was refreshing to go from Jiyu to Kihon Ippon to Gohon, i.e. "backwards" and deal with the various situations. So the bath at home was especially welcome.

Count on Kata

Today, Suwa decided that we would try to each take responsibility for gorei in Kata, so we each had a go (except me) counting and doing Empi and Kanku-Dai and Bassai-Dai. As a sort of compensation to me, I got to do gorei for Heian Shodan, which I did too fast. With KWF Heian Shodan, Kime is the thing, hanmi and shomen is the thing, proper jushin kanri, smashing your opponent and...well just looking great and loving it are the most important. Any idiot can do a Kata fast and cover his or her weak points. Except me. I can't to the bloody thing well fast either.

Next post Keiro!

Yoroshiku,

Paul.

Smoothly Running OS

Great OS- of course, not a New Vista
I have been busier than expected over the last ten days, so it was good to get back to (the) ShotoKan yesterday for a session. YS is preparing for the Algeria International Masters Camp and Ohtsuka Sensei (OS) took us through a low-key workout but with plenty of feedback on our Kata- which was good because we didn't do kumite today. Apparently there are over 200 people testing for shodan alone, which means OS has a hell of a lot of paperwork even before he boards his Air France flight tomorrow.

According to Goro Hayashi, OS has really been ratcheting up the kaisu (number of repetitions) but I don't know really how many are considered "hard." YS always says that using explosive power and maximum hip movement and kime means that if you are doing, say 50 of any major technique, then that's enough. But on gakusei gasshuku (gakusei means students, or in our case, university students) 100-300 repetitions is the norm. No thanks, I would rather have a cup of tea, thank you!

So our session yesterday with OS was normal, just a basic shodan syllabus but with the following:
a) Koshi tsuppari ishiki: consciously thrusting the hips forward: never forget that the hips thrusting forward is really important for maegeri. Height doesn't count but length does- you have to kick through your opponent rather than look good going high, so ballistic forward momentum from thrusting from the back foot moving the power through the hips to maximum snap is effective.

b) Koshi jakkan hayai: hips a fraction faster: I have a huge problem personally with lack of hip movement from hanmi to gyaku-zuki when in ido kihon, especially going forward in general. One way to get around this is basically to make sure to move from the hip a fraction before belting out the punch or block. Of course this means that you are in danger of "telegraphing" the technique but oh, oh, oh, how much better it feels when you punch from the hip. The simple way to check this is, of course, with gyaku-zuki on makiwara; if you are punching from the back or shoulders or boxing, a stiff makiwara will just wink at you in contempt. If you are releasing from the hip, then it's a different story. But you knew that anyway- it's night night and day, the difference in power and the gratifying BOP! (or whatever) of the makiwara. (Of course using a wara-based makiwara, the sound is different again, right.

One thing we have noticed from different styles coming to the JKA is the bimyo hazurei, or slight disconnection between hip movement and shoulder movement and punch. The hip moves and the punch comes but it is obvious that the two aren't really connected...and this is what YS calls "copy karate." I had a long talk with Nick about this a while back. We need to do a video on this point too.

So, basically, consciously moving the hip first, a fraction faster than you normally would, before launching a punch is just basically a good habit enforcer and it did me the power of good, anyway. Things were going a lot smoother. Which is rare in life, n'est ce pas?

Bassai Dai
There were three focus/ teaching points in Bassai Dai today, none of which should surprise people but were worth it for me, at least
a) First kick: not only should the knee come up through the hands, it should be so powerful that the knee should bounce off your chest and then the kick should come down so hard that even if you loose your grip of your opponent, you are going to break that shin.
b) Double/ simultaneous punch to ribs and oi-zuki: never forget that you need a big and powerful dynamic movement and you should land in a powerful fudo-dachi. The whole meaning of the oi-zuki (i.e. its power) is lost unless your shinshuku is from the back leg.
c) Final scoop blocks: plenty of practice of those, getting in to make sure your fist is jakkan gedan (slightly gedan).

Enpi
For "image training" we repeated this making sure to visualize smashing down with the gedan blocks- i.e. never forgetting that the gedan block is actually an offensive technique. That was quite nice.

I love the final jump, but, according to OS, as we don't have any secret/ trap door trampolines I can take advantage of, I'll have to haul my 42-year-old carcass higher and more dynamically.


Yoroshiku,
Paul.

OS Kushin

YS is tied up while KWF is going through major changes, which is very exciting and refreshing. Tonight Ohtsuka Sensei (OS from now on in) took us through a nice ham and eggs workout- see my post of a few days ago, for Kihon- the default 50x patterns except for keage/ kekomi/ mawashi-geri.

KWF Mawashigeri
One of the things that particularly interests OS, and what he is constantly working on is KWF mawashigeri. My gosh, what a kick! I'm very agnostic about mawashigeri, basically because its a kick I can't do. Well, only to a chudan, just above the hips, I guess, keeping my posture straight. It's easy- and fatal- to lean back. OS was showing how his mawashigeri is developing compared to the Zenkuren style he had before he started. With the KWF mawashigeri, you really have the knee up and you blast into your opponent, going forward, kicking from the hip. OS showed us that his newly minted mawashigeri is slightly slower but much more powerful.


Time to Reflect
Maegeri:
Last night's session had a lot of time to reflect. OS looked at each of our techniques and found things to improve. With me with maegeri it's the continual problem of lack of snap back. I have no problem driving forward, but that bloody snap. Making a great maegeri is a real challenge for me. If it's not one thing its another- if I go for scale and length I may lean back...if I go for snap...the length and scale collapses. I am still only satisfied with 2 in 10 of my kicks, and somedays...it's a disaster. But the crucial thing I am starting to figure out is lower those hips. And when is does work, it feels great.

200 Kushin: Focus forward
Last night OS decided it was Kushin nite, which was just great: the temperature is off now so while the dogi is soaked through, its no longer like swimming pool, and the mirrors haven't fogged up for months!

The shizentai into stretched oi-zuki into forward focused kushin are great...but the first trick is keeping the kime alive on the oi-zuki, and for me, kokyu-ho is really important, as well as remembering to drive from the hips.

Today we focused on our own blocks (age or soto or uchi or gedan or shuto) and kushin and really powerful gyaku-zuki. Somehow I've always had trouble with soto-uke so I decided to do a lot of those because they trouble me, especially making sure the shoulders are relaxed, using the elbow as a whip, and closing up all the muscles on kime, and getting all that distance in...phew. Anyway, more than driving off the rear foot and trusting the hips forward, almost forgetting the upper body, during gyaku-zuki, the whole thing falls apart if your weight isn't forward when you are at maximum compression. Two centimers forward can make all the difference, right!

Next time we are going to do this, I am going to go for the maniac choice-shuto all the time. That's really brutal- after about 20 of those my rear leg feels like a pillar of pain. Mind you on gasshuku the students have to a mimum of 500. But they are YOUNG!


Merihari Bassai Dai...
OS focused on the beginning uchi-ukes, which always trouble me no end...I became traumatised with them after YS made me Bassai Dai something like 20 times in front of everyone during the "fix the most eggregious bits" up to my dan grading. Charles in particular enjoyed this- "Paul, I am so happy you are taking your black belt. While you are suffering, we can all take a break, thank you." Then about the third time YS did this to me, it was just great- you know, working harder and harder as fewer points of criticism are found.


Merihari= contrast
Today the focus was on holding hanmi to the very, very last instant and keep the block chambered until the last moment, making the uchi-uke blocks whip out- great fun. I always imagine trying to smash down a door in the very opening move (well, knock through a polystyrene ceiling tile in my case) but with those four uchi-uke blocks psychologically I am in attack mode, and the blood is really up for the about face and soto-uke..."Take that, you cad!"

Following from YS, OS emphasised that making those blocks powerful and dynamic is incredibly important for Bassai- dai, and who am I to disagree.

We also focused on the final blocks at the end of the kata before the final shuto- in KWF the fist should be in gedan, i.e. below the hieght of the elbow.

Yoroshiku!
Paul.

KWF International Master Camp in North Africa: FREE FOR ALL INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPANTS

UPDATE:

It looks like, in its infinite wisdom, the KWF will let you have your cake and eat it...

To all international karate athletes participating in the International Master Camp in North Africa (Algeria).

The Governor of Tebessa (Algeria) Mr. Harfouch el wali de Tebessa is happy to inform you that he will offer free accommodation and meals for the duration of the camp.

**********************************UPDATE**************************************

Sid Sensei has just sent me an e-mail saying people don't believe how all the accommodation and meals can be free. So he would to stress it one more time, in huge granite block capitals:

THE CAMP ACCOMMODATION AND MEALS ARE FREE FOR ALL INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPANTS.

However, gradings fees, however, will have to be charged.

The accommodation will be about 5 mins away from the venue, in a luxurious hotel with 106 rooms. Places are however LIMITED.

Please contact International Shihan Sid Tadrist with the names and numbers of participating so I book you in by the 9th of October.

E-mail Contact (Sid Tadrist Sensei):
sid_tadrist@yahoo.co.uk

Sounds great!
Yoroshiku,
Paul.

Do Suru...? "Unsu!" ...The Son of....Part III

Well, here it is, Bryan Dukas Sensei's comment on Unsu and some of his commments on the session, hot out the Dojo in SA...

"Here are just some of the main tips I feel we could mention. To try put all down on blog would be just too much.

Wednesday night and after about 40 min basics, Yahara Sensei called me up to do Unsu in front of him. (Now to do Unsu in front of Yahara Sensei is like being asked to play the piano for Beethoven.) My heart fell to the floor and between my nerves and the slippery sweaty floor, probably did the worst Unsu ever!! This is a good thing as no bad movements could be hidden.

(PKU note- the floor was like a rink)

To see Yahara Sensei do some of Unsu movements just makes you remember that we are still so far off being able to do Unsu (or even just KWF karate) correctly! It was one of the highlights of my 25-year karate career.

Yahara Sensei = Unsu .

To see Yahara Sensei in action gives you goose bumps and leaves you with your jaw hanging open. It is unbelievable that a person can move his body in such a dynamic way!

Unsu must have soul!

Start movement from back foot, leg and hip. Not arm!

Unsu must have soul!

On ippon strike, make it big. NO SMALL MOVEMENTS

Unsu must have soul!

Shuto strike more important than gyaku zuki punch on the four direction movements.

Unsu must have soul!

Always remember Isaka Sensei feeling (standing up and moving out).

Unsu must have soul!

After standing up the next two movements must have back feeling, not just front hand.

Unsu must have soul!

Haito uchi must have 2 meter forward feeling.

Unsu must have soul!

Twist with hip!!!

Unsu must have soul!

Always have maximum compression to sharp expansion. Solid body on finish of movements.

Unsu must have soul!

Even if you tired must jump high with meaning!!!

Unsu must have soul!

I showed Sensei Mike the jump training we did on Thursday. He was smiling ear to ear and then decided to make me do it over and over and over again.

Got to love it.

Hope this is what you were looking for. There is alot more but to try explain move for move is an overkill for the blog."

PKU Comment:
Well as far as we were concerned, with YS, you get what you deserve. In Bryan Sensei's case it turned out to be a masterclass to turn a great Unsu into an awe-inspiring Unsu.

One thing YS emphasised is that technically his Unsu may not be 100.000% precise in execution, but every single movement is pushed to the envelope when speed and power is switched on, and every pause and lull carries its own meaning, i.e. a Yahara Unsu has great big rollocking cojones and fine artistry all packed into one performance.

One of the key points about it all was if you never sacrifice taking your opponent's head off in going for a high jump- to see what I mean, please go to the video page on the KWF website.

Training for a high jump means having to leap up over a belt strung up between someone standing behind you and where your opponent is at about high waist hight. You have to propell both legs up and over- get that lift first and ker-thump your opponents head with both feet as you are twisting round without loosing momentum and then have the energy to complete the high arc.

As Sensei Bryan says, arm movment in the KWF comes from the back, which is difficult to explain if you have not encountered the concept before, but you can soon get the inkling of the idea by attending a session on it under Isaka Senei.

The best way to see this, along with Unsu, for example, are the first blocks in Kanku-Dai. Do you just whip your arms out, or are you peforming a swathing arc that is a real block? Does what you do look thin and fast, or powerful and impressive...

I'll ask myself that question again and again and come up wanting. But that's the fun isn't it?

Yoroshiku,
Paul.

A Standard Day at the Office

YS was locked in meetings yesterday so we did jishu renshu (self training). We picked a black belt (Goro) and went through Kihon, Kumite and Kata and did a standard workout, no frills, no spills, just a very basic workout:

Kihon
KWF koshi kaiten gyakuzuki 50x
Static maegeri 50x
Oi-zuki zen/koshin 50x
Age-uke zen/koshin 50x
Soto-uke zen/koshin 50x
Uchi-uke zen/koshin 50x
Mae-geri 50x
Mawashi-geri 30x
Yokogeri keage 12x
Yokogeri kekomi 12x

Kizami-zuki Oi-zuki
On Friday night, taught by Ifra, we did some additional combinations that I haven't done for a long time: shizentai kamae into kizami-zuki and go smashing forward not for gyaku-zuki but into oi-zuki. It felt like a nice change, especially putting in speed and power. I don't know how common this is, but it feels good to go tanking forward- or in my case bumbling on ;-)

No rensoku geri for example mae-mawashi-yokogerikemomi-ushrio-kemi today.
I like marching up and down, but I am glad we don't do it at the end. I tried to do some ushiro-geri practice on the bag at the end of the session for myself and was not only slipping in my own sweat but dizzy. I think if anyone wanted to attack me, I would be too exhausted to escape!

Kumite:
Yakusoku kihon gohon kumi x6 parter swops.

Kata:
The "basic" ten, all twice (well sometimes three times), first time slow emphasizing hanmi/ shomen, second time with speed and power
Heian-gata ( 1->5) x2
Tekki shodan (no ni/sandan) x2
Bassai-dai x2
Empi x2
Jion x2
Kanku-dai x2

Good old ham and eggs stuff and everyone was happy just to do the basics.

Yoroshiku,
Paul.

Yet more on Kushin and Introduction to Scott Middleton's Blog

First of all, I have to say some apologies- I am in a crunch period so tonight will be the first Karate I have done in a week, and that will be free practice. And still the bruises haven't gone down!

I've had a very pleasant contact with Scott Middleton 5th Dan WKTO over in Canada about things and I'm very happy to link up with Scott Sensei's Watashi no Karate Michi I think the statement he makes sums up how YS sees his role. As for my writings on the subject, well...as in the case of Hunter S. Thompson's doctor (years before Dr. Gonzo himself went up...and down...in flames) you'll just have to work with what's left.

Ichigo-Ichie
I do like the way Scott adds background and context to things. One thing that struck me was how he translated ichigo-ichie. YS always describes this as "living your life as if each experience is a once-in-a-lifetime chance." That more or less sums up YS, who is never ever quite relaxed and seems ready to pounce at any given second. But, functionally, in an applied context, I am not going to argue!

Yuko and I were lucky enough to be taught by Richard Amos Sensei (then JKA- Matsuno) and now WKTO. Yuko and I didn't care much for most of the ShotoKan we saw on Manhattan although we were able to train a little bit at Sensei Steve Borkowsky's GreenPoint Shotokan Karate Club , which was very welcoming, like family, and Steve is a great teacher. But I was focused on making my way in New York and Yuko making her films! If Steve Sensei is reading this, I still have my Greenpoint Karate T-Shirt and I still wear it! Anyway, the main point is that we also have very fond memories of training at Sensei Mullin's club on Staten Island and the way that we were welcomed there. Excellent people, excellent training, excellent instruction.

Kushin? What's that like- Cushion?
A la John Lennon..."John, do you make conscious use of onomatopoeia in your writing?" "Automatic pier? Don't know what you are on about, mate."
Scott raised the point that some people may not be familiar with some of the expressions I am using, some of which are standard fare in the KWF but not elsewhere. On a different level, I am reminded once of how I saw a video on YouTube about a guy teaching the Unsu jump, but pronouncing the "un" as in unAmerican (i.e. most of the world?) or undulate or uneducated. This actually did bring tears to our eyes, of both kinds...

D'OH!!!!

So what is Kushin? (屈伸)
Apologies if your browser is not set to read kanji.
Kushin (which should properly be written kusshin) literally means "elasticity" in Japanese: it is made of two kanji:

屈 or Ku = to yield, bend and
伸 or Shin= to expand, stretch, extend, lengthen.

It's a nice concept because while dictionaries translate it as elasticity, the truer concept as applied by KWF YS philosophy and application is of bending and compression and then then BANG explosive stretch expansion of the leg.

This opens up a nice philosophical point about YS and the KWF and genkai-made (to the limit!). Kushin I guess is the extreme KWF form of standard jiku ashi compression and expansion, as Scott Sensei identified.

The real role of kushin comes into play in blocks and gyaku-zuki, and especially shuto-gyakuzuki. No matter how far down and back you think you are going, YS will make you go further...hahaha! And then there is Isaka Sensei waiting in the wings!

Yoroshiku
Paul.