Ibusuki Sensei Black Belt Class- Jissen ("Ouch!")

Well Saturday was mainly spent hauling parts of my company office around Tokyo. Fortunately I had a rather fit South African gentleman called Pieter to assist, and as soon as we had finished we rushed off to Ibusuki Sensei's class.

This was a real treat, because I usually don't take this class; the fact of the matter is I usually get hauled into a meeting or some sort of admin issue, and when I don't I am usually too exhausted after black belt training. Because of my very modest abilities, I put everything I have into one class and there is not much left in the tank for having people kick me in the knees or smack me in the side of the head with their elbows...

Which is a good segue into Ibusuki Sensei's class!

The Good Old Days: Post-War Waseda

...you know when people start talking about the "good old days" either they're on their fifth drink or they are not focused on making the best of today. Which is why Ibusuki Sensei is so refreshing- he never says the Karate he learned at Waseda is better or more authentic than the systematic and systemic refinements introduced and standardized by Nakayama Sensei. If you read Ibusuki Sensei's article in The Shotokan Way, you'll see what I mean. He is particularly interesting on Kata.

In fact, as an aside, Ibusuki Sensei and YS do seem to differ on Kata. YS regards Kata as actual battling an imaginary component. He is ruthless about stripping out anything that he thinks detracts from the efficiency of this. IS regards Kata as culture and subject to interpretion. Both are strongly against the fut-phooting robotic sports-type Kata. Personally, give me folk dancing over robotic sportsmanship anyday.

OK, moving ahead...

...Away from Kihon Mania
I decided to sumit this entry as an antidote to the last entry. We are not wedded to Kihon and sometimes we put in the reps. Mind you, after about 150 shinsuku, you've got to be hurting whether you are an athelete or (like me) a donkey. If you aren't, you are just cheating yourslf. So what's the point, go home...

But KWF Honbu has another secret weapon- Ibusuki Sensei. Training with him is a taste of what Shotokan was like before Nakayama Sensei systematized it. Remember, Shotokan was a wilder, looser, snarling animal before the JKA.

For example, yesterday's kihon was just great! It actually made Onnitsuka san, who is a graduate of Boeidai (Japan Defense Universy) sick.

Double Trouble Drills
Here is an example of the "Non-Standard" stuff we got up to yesterday

*Shizentai kara, chokuzuki-nikai, kamae
This is really difficult to explain, but Ibusuki Sensei karate is what I would call double trouble. He says, in English, mind you, "Disagreements should reach settlment by ippastsu, but if not, make sure to deliver a follow-up." That's to say, Ibusuki Sensei believes that you should hit twice, just in case the first hit doesn't deliver the message as effectively as you had anticipated. To avoid disappointment, or disagreement, hit again! Well, that's a real hit with me, anyway ;-)

* Maegeri nikai, jodan chudan (later we just did nidan geri anyway!)

* Chudan sote-uki (empi) rib smash leap and empi-head smash.
Oh god, I love this; this reminds me when Lenny McClean shouted at me when I was trying to learn how to work the bags at the Craven-on-the-Hill, "Get stuck in son, put the elbow in, and if that don't work, the 'ed!" Ibusuki Sensei wants us to really launch into that second elbow smash.

* Soto-uke => Kizami-zuki => (optional headbut) ushiro-geri
Oh what fun we had; the thing about this is that the soto-uke is actually an elbow smash and then the kizami-zuki is palm up. Ibusuki Sensei then suggests that if you are close you grap and headbut then as you push them down, kick them to make sure

* Soto-uke => ushiromawashi-uraken => crossblock throat smash (optional headbut)
If you don't get to ram into the throat, steam in with a headbut!

* Knee strike to groin, overarm chin smash, headbut

You get the idea!
We finished off with Jutte and Gankaku.

Not your average day in the dojo

Yoroshiku ;-)
Paul.

Yappari Kihon: Kazu Sukunai Kara

This entry may be counterintuitive to some people, but I thought I would catelog what happened on Tuesday where YS basically watched us while Shin Sensei (SS) taught.

Arriving ShotoKan in a rush about ten before the hour, we were really pleased to see YS top-of-the-range Mercedes gleaming in the ShotoKan car park. I mentally rubbed my hands in glee..."this is going to be hard..." I thought.

If you like Kihon, like I do, there is never a dull moment in the KWF. Because we were expecting YS to come down at any moment, SS led us through kihon, then more kihon, and then more kihon. I'll go into it later, but the upshot was after we were all shooting the breeze about the session and everything else up in the reception area, SS came up to me and said, "Gomen ne, Paul san, kyo wa kihon dake!" (Sorry Paul, we just did Kihon tonight, basically, right?) and I said (in Japanese) "No no, I love kihon, you can't give me enough of it. The harder and simpler it is, the better!" SS broke out into a grin and said, "Yes, it's good fun to do Kumite, but with Kumite you can cheat yourself" (then he mimicked my poor Kumite skills, to guffaws) ...Oh THANKS!

Yappari... Kihon! Kazu Sukunai Kara....

Which brings me onto Tuesday. Pieter has finally returned after years sitting in a hole studying like crazy. He passed Keio. Amazing! Good stuff. Now it's time to work on the Karate. It was very, very forbidding to have YS just looking at us during the session. I put everything I had into this week and now there hardly seems a part of me not hurting. I'll do a nice IS stretch and have a warm bath. Tomorrow I will be as right as rain.

"Kazu Sukunai Kara"

Whenever YS or a Sensei says this in the dojo, you know that you should give it everything. Kazu sukunai (Ka-zuu sookoo- nai) means "not many" and kara (in this case) means "because." So the teacher is saying "Because we aren't doing many..." which means "put all you have got into making them as powerful and refined and as perfect as you can! This means the 40-50 best maegeri/ oizuki/ uke-tsuki/sabaki-hangeki kumi you can-- make them the best of your life!

Yappari, Kihon!

This week we have been focusing on the most difficult and complicated techniques: oizuki, ageuki-gyakuzui, sotouke-gyakuzuki, shuto-gyakuzuki and Heian Shodan, as befits an advanced class.

Tuesday's session with YS just watching- Ugghhhmmpppffff - was a return to the basics of the basics:

a) Chokuzuki focusing on relaxed shoulders, koshi no tameru

b) Koshi no tameru focus:

...Starting at shizentai

1. -> (3- count) (40 reps) "Ichi!" step back age-uke, keeping koshi shomen until the last possible moment then snap to genkai-made hanmi hold hold hold "Ni!" kusshin and shishuku making sure that the gyakuzuki flies off the rear leg to chudan gyakuzuki "San!" return to shizentai focusing on keeping the hips tucked.

2. -> Repeat (2-count) (40reps)

3. -> Repeat (1-count) (40 reps)

Repeat 1.-3. with soto-uke->gyaku-zuki

Repeat with uchi-uke->gyaku-zuki

Repeat with gedan-barai -> gyaku-zuki

and then the icing on the cake and the hot-rod in hips

Repeat (shuto->gakuzuki) remembering you are launching back and down so you could even be sitting in your shuto and you are powering off the back leg for gyaku-zuki

5. Maegeri from heisokudachi (3 count, 2 count, 1 count) (40 reps each)

6. Move to zenkutsudachi -> maegeri, (3-count, 2 count, 1 count) (40 reps each)

If I were to dress this up, I would term all this "koshi awareness raising" because any moron can march up and down the dojo until they drop (erm, did anybody mention a typical gakusei gassuku) but it's a question of quality not quantity. At least, at 42 that's what I tell myself.

It's very easy to slip back into gliding through the simplest of exercise by going through the motions. I think one of the worse possible crimes you can do in Karate is just go through the motions. Budo isn't about beating up on a bag: its about living and breathing that moment in each of your technique- giving it everything, making it as beautiful and meaningful as possible. In these exercises we are constantly encouraged to think about using the power of the hip and the softness and rigidity of the body in every single centimeter of motion.

Ido Kihon

Repeat all above in Ido Kihon

Koshi no Tameru: Ido Kihon

Back to white belt class, go up and down the dojo in zenkutsu and shuto at 1/5th speed (IS) training until you drop.

Kumite: None

Kata: 8 or maybe 10x H1

Huge focus on the shuto and alternative versions adding gyaku-zukis after blocks to focus on hanmi-shomen practice.

...No time to break down Thursday this week: more kusshin and ji-yu-ippon kumite: old dobbins here was on his knees and I could hardly get out of the futon on Friday, so time well invested.

Yoroshiku!

Paul.

If you are bored with Kihon, you are bored with Karate! Do something else- go boxing or mountain biking!

Bassai Dai (Briefly)

Bassai Dai has been a Big Thing in my Karate life for the past few years when it was chosen for me as my black belt kata- I personally would have preferred Jion and now I want to learn Empi (have you ever seen an elephant fly?) but Bassai Dai now seems to be hardwired into my Karate DNA.

Which is a good thing, as YS likes to teach it a lot! Last week in order to help the gakusei who were taking their Shodan tests, we focused on fine points that YS says he noticed people don't seem to understand.

The first thing I want to say here that this Bassai Dai is the KWF Bassai Dai. YS intensely dislikes any unnecessary or ornate movements. The basic rule of thumb seems to be, whenever you think there is a complex explanation for a move, YS comes out with something simple. Then you are guaranteed to get a long explanation about something you assumed had no meaning.

Here are the points YS went through:

Move 18. Tsukami Uke: Open-hand inside block: (a) do not just turn your heels into front stance; your movement is swift to begin and dynamic and your left leg will automatically go left to make space for your block. The conventional explanation about turning on your heels is totally insufficient. Your whole weigh balance is moving from Kokutsu-dachi to Zenkutsu-dachi and you move linearly so your hips never rise; (b) remember as your right arm block draws backward to LOCK in the 45 degree position. This "lock" is important, otherwise you are just posing.

Move 19. Side thrust kick to the north at knee height: (a) remember never forget your basic maegeri training and hip thrust to make sure that you are bale to smash your right knee up through the triangle made between your arms. Never raise your hips. Your knee should actually if you can touch your chest. When you thrust kick you should have the power of ripping your opponent up; (b) remember hikite on your kick just before you swivel round into shuto in the opposite direction- this point is so often missed.

Move 23: Hasami Uchi: Sometimes this move is interpreted as a block- well it can be, but it should actually be thought of as a powerful twin blow to the ribs; YS thinks that stinting on this move is a fundamental mistake. So make sure when you move both fists out and round that you visualize giving a powerful rib-cracking blow to your opponent. And the next thing to remember is that you should be a powerful Fudo-dachi...why? Because...

Move 24: Your oi-zuki is off huge explosive extention off the rear leg: actually, this move, under pressure, is a real test to see if you really understand basic shinshuku; a lot of "copy-karate" has this move with the front leg coming forward. Actually the front leg is redundant until it forms a solid base for go-tai-ichi (all five points together) for kime.

Move 25b: The rear Heian Godan block after nukite is a work of art. Remember in the nukite you have perfect shomen koshi, and this move should have been huge and fast; now as you draw the hand back, it should done in an elegant arc because

Move 26: as elegant as it was the next gedan and fumikomi must be done smashingly fast. When you twist round, you must not have any extraneous movement on the right hand, which must smash down along a linear diagonal vector. Also, you should not have a defensive blocking feel about this gedan, you should be smashing down into your attacker and moving into them- this is a vicious, fast, aggressive move that, in turn, is deeply contrasted by

Move 27: the slow, purposeful and graceful extension of the arm to the open palm for the crescent kick, which should be performed just at the point when the palm is open and the move of the arm finished.

Points dealing with Yamazuki:

(a) Chambering for yamazuki requires setting koshi in extreme hanmi

(b) Remember that you must keep hips paralell and in extreme hanmi; having your leading hip significantly lower than your rear hip means your jodan yamazuki kime will leave you unbalanced while neglecting hanmi leaves more of a target

(c) KWF does NOT stop- it's tempting, but the energy is going into the fists, not the feet, so you should be thrusting your whole body and hips into the twin punches, not the stop. Think about it- a stomp means your energy and power is going there. NO STOMP, NO STAMP- go into your opponent. If seen it time and time and time again; by the time the person next to me has stomped, I have punched. Yeah, even me. It's faster, more efficient and more effective to slide. Don't believe me, try it out.

(d) Your head should be tucked in and looking up at your opponent- your yamazuki punches are jodand and chudan, not jodan and gedan and

(e) Remember, as in point (b) your back should be just off vertical, not leaning too far forward. If you are leaning forward more than a little, you are unbalanced. Mind you, that's probably better than being mad ;-)

Points dealing with Scooping Blocks

(a) Great scooping blocks look magnificent. Piddling scooping blocks make you look small. Remember you are scooping away a maegeri; start from the vertical and go and scoop away the kick before the revolution

(b) Move ends in gedan, not chudan and mesen is straight ahead.

Finishing Off: don't forget to take your time in preparing for the final shuto; it makes the final cut a real strong treat.

If I have time, I'll go through the first half of the YS Bassai Dai at a later time.

Yoroshiku ;-)

Paul.

Kagamibiraki and Dan Shinsa

Dan (Kyu) Grading

Well that was a busy weekend; unfortunately I was wrapped up in business on Saturday so I couldn't attend the seminar but I did manage to catch the Kyu/Dan Shinsa.

It was good to see so many people there; among the highlights: Shin Sensei graded 7th dan; Ohtsuka Sensei (OS) graded 4th dan and Oshima Shacho graded shodan.

My personal highlight was watching Ohtsuka Sensei's Unsu. It was just magnificent; not only technically excellent but well; how you describe something that is brimming and vibrating with power and menace. Ohtsuka Sensei's Unsu was good 12 months ago, but it has clearly moved into new territory.

YS Unsu was famous for its vibrancy-- every move brimming with power; but what I personally noticed was that YS had the ability to float- as if momentarily slowing time down- at the height of the apex of his jump. Well, OS has got it. I was grinning at the sheer pleasure of watching a really great Unsu when OS performed it, but when he floated through the apex and looked as he'd jumped over a mountain it was just pure pleasure. Paradoxically, after that supreme effort, OS Bassai Dai looked a little tense!

The other highlight was watching Scott Foster, my great personal friend, grade to 8th kyu. Congratulations! For years I went on and on about Karate and YS to him, and eventually he joined the KWF ShotoKan as an executive member- probably to shut me up...

Kagamibiraki

Sunday was given over to our Kagamibiraki and one of the highlights was meeting new people and old friends. It was a pleasure to meet Okazaki Shuitsu Sensei, our Kumamoto General Manager, who seems to like British people a lot, and from the vast northland wastelands of Kyushu, Yoda Sempai, from Fukuoka. The main embu today was Bassai Dai, which was good to watch.

People are always impressed by how clean and luxurious the ShotoKan dojo is and how much like a nice family we are. Well, of course, we are the KWF Sohonbu. Did you expect anything less than the best?

Dan Shinsa Points

In what is quite rare at KWF Honbu, all the gakusei passed their shodan and the last couple of sessions that I have attended have been helping them pass. The key things to emerge with YS overall hyoka (evaluation) were as follows:

1. Each and every move has to have the appropriate spirit and focus (this is the only thing I have going in my favor- kiai cover!)

2. Heian Shodan is the key that demonstrates a Karateka's understanding and ability with Kihon

3. Focus for Shodan is koshi no kaiten; Nidan is shinshuku; Sandan is both!

4. Kumite is Kihon and Kihon is Kumite.

Yoroshiku,

Paul. Next: Bassai Dai!

Baka-na Osu ni Taishite

馬鹿な「押忍！」に対して:礼儀は必要

Baka-na Ossu ni taishite: Reigi wa Hitsuyo

Well, I am particularly looking forward to this first Karate week of 2009: Thursday will be 1st practice with YS; Saturday will be the 鏡開き (Kagamibiraki) and then on Sunday I'll watch the Dan Shinsa; I might get into having to fight some of the brown belts (no doubt to make them look good, eh!)

Kaiten Kumite

We had a great last session of the year and I am sorry that I have been so busy not to write it up permanently. Just think of the four major spinning techniques applied to yakusoku then ji-yu ippon kumite and you will get the picture. And if you don't watch it, you'll get your head knocked off! Doing kumite with kaiten waza is very dangerous for the blocker- if (s)he isn't up to par, it can be a bit of a knockout experience. The first jodan block has to be an intelligent one; that's all I can say, because the fist is a lot smaller than a foot, and it's coming a LOT faster, while the gedan is an opportunity for a test of who actually is controlling their center of gravity- the immovable object against the irresistible force. After that the next jodan block is the major area of trouble because that fourth spin is coming at you (or should be) like a tornado!

It was therefore very interesting to see Yoda vs. OS; there were a few of the sickening "smacks" of knuckle against skull, ribs, but fortunately both are complete gentlemen. I certainly would have gotten clobbered. In kaiten waza, the instructions are clear: there has to be commitment and if the defender doesn't, the defender gets clocked.

馬鹿な「押忍！」に対して

Baka na na Ossu ni Taishite

And now for the main thing on my mind before training for this year (for me) (officially) (in the dojo that is) begins. A bunch of us went up to the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan where I am a member for dinner on December 24th as an excuse to entertain Ibusuki Sensei, who is 78 years young and one of the only men still around who is still teaching Karate who was actually taught by Funakoshi Gichin Sensei!

If you read the article on him The Shotokan Way, you will get a sense of where he stands on several issues. I am not sure about the other tables in the FCCJ overhearing our conversations about the best headbutting tactics women should use and how to practice them in the dojo! But apart from Karate that works in the street, Ibusuki Sensei wants people to approach their Karate

(a) Intelligently, because any thug who is loose can throw a mawashigeri

(b) Beautifully, particularly with Kata- for about a year Ibusuki Sensei focused on Yuko and getting her to do a beautiful Gankaku!

But Ibusuki Sensei was saying that's always what YS has been about. And I am sorry to say this, but YS doesn't like stupid students. He also doesn't seem to get on all that well with what I would call the Baka "OSSU" culture. (Baka means "silly" or "stupid," etc.)

Everybody with an elementary understanding of Japanese knows that Ossu is "spelt" from the characters "Osu" (押）push and that favorite of dilettantes of all stripes Nin 忍 (shinobu). Many will happily tell you that its the Nin in Ninja（忍者）while most Japanese people will tell you it's the Nin from Nintai (忍耐）which means patience or perseverance, or for the really masochistic, suffering. What most people won't tell you is that it can also mean a woman's hairstyle or even a species of fern!

But what I bet you didn't know is that the meaning of Ossu as Ibusuki Sensei understands it as O as in the honorific "O-"...as in Ohaiyo Gozaimasu ("Good morning") and "Su" as in sumimasen ("excuse me.") That's because "Karate begins and ends in courtesy and the proper spirit, and that's what Ossu is supposed to mean," said Ibusuki Sensei.

One thing I have noticed is that YS never really says "Ossu." He will reply with an "Ossu" sometimes if someone says "Ossu" to him, but he seems to have a low tollerance of Ossu replacing communication. For YS, answering with "Ossu" is not important. That's because replying "Ossu" is NOT a substitute for communication. It's not a substitute for communication. But it is sometimes an excuse for stupidity or even blind loyalty.

This was brought home to me a few months ago when he put a couple of university students (gakusei) through some Kata. When we have university students train with us, sometimes the session becomes what I might call an "Ossufest." No this isn't some sort of heavy metal event, but it does get very loud in the dojo having a bunch of young blokes very highly pumped on adrenalin shouting "Oss" at everything.

"Stretch forward" "Ossu!"

Stretch back "Ossu!!"

"Side stretch" "Ossu!!"

"Bed Bath and Beyond....er....Ossu!"

While all this enthusiasm is appreciated, it is no substitute for intelligence and communication and YS teaching style relies on breaking things down into its basic parts, getting people to practice them, then going to the next stage. It isn't rocket science, it's just a commonsense feedback loop. But it all breaks down if the person is what I would call an "Ossufanatic."

He was trying to get these two guys to work on merihari in Bassai Dai and it was pathetic and comical at the same time. For example:

YS: "OK, what is the meaning of the first move in Bassai Dai"

Gakusei: "Ossu"

YS: "What do you mean 'Ossu?'" Do you know what it means?

Gakusei: "Ossu"

YS: "Don't say 'Ossu', answer the question."

Gakusei: "Er, Ossu, Wakarimasen (don't know)"

YS: "So OK, you don't know, that's OK, but just don't say 'Ossu."

....Gakusei bellow "Ossu" of complete loyalty and understanding...

The irony of this was that the two guys involved in this, whose names shall not be mentioned in order to protect the guilty are actually very bright young engineers at one of Japan's most highly regarded electrical engineering unversities.

Looking at them and us, and them, and us, and YS...we seemed to have entered some kind of tear in the communicative space time fabric where intelligence and meaning would disappear...YS eyes rolled and we roared with laughter.

About a month later they were doing Bassai Dai again and it was much better. There is nothing like the fear of YS to buck your ideas up!

....and the moral of this story is as follows: ff you are visiting the KWF Honbu, remember you are in YS kingdom.

It is his lair.

What he says goes.

He expects 100% commitment.

He expects 100% effort.

He expects courtesy at all times.

His presence and his Karate demand this. But he also expects intelligence and communication: eye contact and intelligence are far more important than just barking out "Ossu."

Next Post: building rear leg compression and expansion drills- some fine tuning...

今年も宜しくお願いします。

Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

OSSU!

Paul.