Growth

Of course when we practice something, we want to grow. Why else practice? We keep pushing and pushing until we feel like there is nothing left to learn. Do we move on? How do we handle hitting that ceiling?

Honestly after my trip back from Japan, there was a strange sensation. Kind of a numb feeling. Not to sound arrogant, but I didn't feel like I've really gained anything new per say. With the last entry about kata, it wasn't so much I learned something, it was a realization of what was expected of me. I had the kata already, but I just never realized quite what the difference was. 

But in terms of gekken, kata, tameshigiri. Not sure if there was anything new for me. I like to go to Japan for myself. To compete, and lose, get beat up on, and come back with something new. However I feel the same this time. Don't get me wrong, the experience was great. Don't think I've done this well at the tai kai before, but I don't see tai kai success as a measurement of growth. It's not so much about adding but now about just refining it seems.

Although my personal growth feels a bit numb, my feelings are pushed aside when I see growth in my students. I came back to our class the day after coming back from Japan, and I was watching class a bit while I was fixing up my handle. Watching from the outside and looking at the members. Little things that I take for granted myself, when I see my students do something correctly makes me so ecstatic although I always just show the same face hahaha. I realized helping cultivate growth in other people is much more exciting than seeking growth in myself now. 

So maybe I finished working on my house for now, and instead started building a neighborhood. Exciting.

Selfish Kata?

One thing I've regretted is not placing at the Japanese Toyama Ryu tournaments in the kata events. I've always done well in cutting related events and gekken but I couldn't place in kata. Of course you don't train to win events, but it is a good test to see how things are seen from the overall community.

When shimpan see your kata, they put their 2 cents in when they decide who to give the flag to. Sometimes even the teachers you work with will give the other guy the flag. So you try to figure out what you need to do to improve. But because kata is somewhat subjective, it is tougher to do.

When I usually demonstrate kata in public events, I try to show MY kata which is what people describe as, fast, aggressive, sexy (I know *wink*) and strong. To me, I like to show my kata as something in which i'm "fighting" rather than just a set of movements. I mean I have all the technical points displayed but the way I present it is what I understand it as selfish now.

It's selfish because I don't think it's something people can learn from. I realized how selfish my personal kata was because I won the kata division for the first time at the 36th annual All Japan Toyama Ryu Tai Kai. What the difference was, was that instead of expressing my personal kata, I did the version of the kata that I use to demonstrate and teach with in class.

At the Nakamura Tai Kai this past April, I competed in the kata division, and got 5th place. Drawdy sensei was nice enough to give me some advice afterwards. He said my kata was strong and focused but at this level (godan and up division) it's about poise and presence and that is what I need to focus on showing. I've been trying to develop that for the last 5 or 6 years! How do I do that?

So at this recent Toyama Tai Kai, when it was my turn to go up, I just said to mysef, what do I need to do different? Then I decided I will do the kata that I do in class to help teach and demonstrate to beginners, which is a bit slower, and helps focus on certain aspects of kata more but with a strong cutting feel. And lo and behold I got to semi finals! I said oh snap! I can try do MY kata now for the semi-final rounds, but instead I said, let me do those katas like I do in class again and I got the win for the division.

I can't tell you how ecstatic I was, because that was my lightbulb blowing up over my head. I don't care about the win (it is nice) but I felt like I finally found what I was looking for.

After getting my Renshi status (which is another whole entry) at the end of the tai kai, and with my realization, I realized I have no room to be selfish.

Good kata

When I first moved up to NYC to practice and teach, I have to admit that my kata was the weaker part of my techniques. Don't get me wrong, I knew the technical points inside and out. However something was missing.

I would watch different kata over and over, one time enough to make the video tape break. My cuts were fast, I felt like my posture was ok. What was I missing? So I asked myself what defines great kata.

Now this is quite subjective for the most case with different teachers. Some like different aspects of what kata teaches and if anything reinforces that over other aspects. I feel like this depends on the teachers background and what other martial arts he has done. For myself, the thing that defines great kata to me, and I use this word a lot in class, is intent.

People can know all the technical aspects of kata (how high the point should be etc etc etc), but the kata can look empty. Some would say that this is more dance than fighting. However, with the proper intent, no matter what kata you do, it'll have a purpose. The technical points will then become more than just step A and step B, but things that would have saved your life back in the day. Why do we cut certain heights, why do we aim where we aim. The thing I love about Japanese swordsmanship is that it's so detail oriented. Little things from your placement of your thumb etc. At first all of it is a bit overwhelming but after awhile, it's not as overwhelming because it just becomes muscle memory (if practiced properly!). All the movements have a purpose, so to me, a good kata will show me that without having to be explained.

How did I come to realize all this? Several ways, but one of the biggest ways was when I went to Japan for the first time and got to train with the Machida dojo members. Primarily with Mukai sensei. He tried to tell me all these things, but in Japanese was quite difficult. However it was very similar to what Dave Drawdy sensei would explain when teaching kata, so it kind of all came together. Gekken is also a huge factor because you realize what kind of intent is needed to make techniques work. But the teaching that made the big light come on for me was this one story.

There's a story of tetsuzan kuroda sensei's grandfather that Hasegawa san (one of the members in Hataya sensei's dojo in Japan) told me about. It was way back in the budokan, Kuroda tetsuzan's grandfather was giving a demonstration. Now kuroda sensei is extremely fast. His sword movements in kata are always extremely fast. However his grandfather started the demo and then drew his sword to cut very slowly, extremely slow. However his intent was so well understood, that the crowd seated his direction felt like they had to move out of the way of his cut even though they were so far away.

That to me, is what I call the ideal intent. With the proper intent, what comes along naturally with time is, poise and presence. I realized that's what I lacked for the longest time and I feel like I still do (I'm a young guy so I like to be a bit uppity haha). And from proper poise and presence, people can learn from just watching it. And as a teacher, sometimes the best way to teach is to share your intent.

Perspective

When you guys come to the dojo, I want you guys to clear your mind. I want you to TRY to start from scratch. Like you know nothing else. Build it up with the parts that are given to you rather than parts from other things.

Now after the framework has been cemented and built, then I want you to be able to add the finishing touches with things that you may know. Even if it's a different art, different, style, different activity overall, your life experiences are what bolsters your technique. That's why this is an ART. If you watch 3 different people do the same set of kata, early on, it'll be the same and should be the same. But as they grow, how they express the ideas that the kata is trying to show should start reflecting upon them as well.

This is something I really enjoy watching as students grow, as well as when new people join. Although I like to keep things very technical and I'm not a huge spiritual and artsy kind of guy, as I grow myself, I can start appreciating those aspects as well.

Great read!

http://kenshi247.net/blog/2012/03/16/the-itto-ryu-book-of-oral-recollections-pt-1/

http://kenshi247.net/blog/2012/03/23/the-itto-ryu-book-of-oral-recollections-pt-2/

Tip heavy vs Handle heavy

One of the questions I get asked a lot is the what's the difference between Tip heavy vs handle heavy.

Tip heavy swords in my opinion are great swords for beginners. This is because the sword will do a lot of the work for you. Because the weight is at the tip already, all the weight is generated for you at the kissaki in the swing.

Also for techniques where there is a continuous swing (ex inazuma, mizu gaeshi etc), it is easier to keep the weight in motion if you know what you're doing. If anything should be easier and faster but harder to control the speed.

For more neutral or handle heavy swords, you have to learn how to generate your own tip weight. It's much easier to shorten your swing because initially your weight will be in your hands instead of out at the far end of your cut.

Great thing however is speed. It's so much easier to generate speed with handle heavy swords. Doesn't mean it's the best cuts. I usually see that people who just try to cut fast end up hacking more so than cutting.

Also it is easier on the arms for overall during kata, suburi etc.

However both has it's plus and minus. I've noticed many people have their preference and choose what fits their technique the most. I used to love tip heavy swords but as time went on, I realized I preferred a more balanced sword which helped me develop my technique as well.

Going lefty

A great exercise to try is to try all the suburi after you switch hands. Try batto, and all the cuts, and for fun, chiburi noto.

Why you might ask? Cause it's funny. On a serious note, it does feel awkward but surprisingly many people their swing and hasuji become much more natural. This has to do with the fact that most people are right handed, so their dominant hand is on the bottom. Many sword teachers try to stress to relax the right hand (when it's on top), so if your dominant hand is already on the bottom, it's almost like you're forced to relax the top hand.

Another aspect is, when you swing the sword, it feels quite unnatural and some of the movements are skewed. However if you just ask yourself what's wrong and how to fix it, most likely you've heard enough comments on how to fix it that you can kind of fix yourself if you've reached a certain point in your training. It's almost like helping a junior in a way.

Have fun