Sean falls down

As 2020 comes to a close, we look at words that had almost no meaning in 2019. Words like: Coronavirus, COVID, pandemic, and Zoom. Schools that would never entertain the idea of teaching martial arts online (our dojo included) found themselves clinging to Zoom as a lifeline to keep their students involved and their dojo alive.

I did a final one-on-one Zoom session with Sean yesterday. He was in his bedroom, wearing street clothes (including socks), and practicing Tekki Sho. His stance was a little wide, and his feet slipped out from under him. One moment I saw him, and the next moment he disappeared below camera view. He climbed right back up and commented that his socks caused him to slip. I said he slipped because his stance was too wide. He didn’t believe me, so I put on a pair of socks and demonstrated Tekki Sho without loss of balance. I then explained the following to him:

There is a difference between low stance and deep stance. Young, agile, athletic martial artists should be in a low stance. This lowers their center of gravity, stabilizing them, and knocking their opponent off balance. Older martial artists learn to deepen their stance by dropping their hips. They may not be as low as the young, but should be just as solid in stance. Most people can appear lower by leaning forward or spreading their legs too long/wide. Yes they appear low, but they’re unsteady.

Regardless of age, or stance, your bent knee should be directly over your foot. Unnecessary strain is placed on the knees if legs are not perpendicular to the ground. This will probably cause knee damage down the road. Many of us old timers trained in extremely low stances with knees and feet misaligned. Many of us old timers also underwent knee and hip replacements. We train smarter nowadays, working with body mechanics instead of against them.

I'll often ask students what is the root word for 'stance'. The answer is 'stand'. I'll then tell them, in Karate, the proper way to stand is to drop your butt and sit down!

Clean, crisp techniques

A few of our students entered online tournaments the past few months. While I applaud their efforts and commend them for competing in these difficult COVID times, I couldn’t say I was impressed by their performances. Not trying to be mean or overly judgmental, but simply recognizing that they performed better in the past.

Then I thought about it – We haven’t been in the dojo since March 16th. We’ve been working out in street clothes, wearing shoes, outside on concrete or indoors on carpeting, marble floors, or wood floors. Balance, shifting, and footwork is not the same. We cannot spar or work ippons. Almost all of our techniques have suffered, so why bother? We’ve essentially been treading water, waiting for social distancing restrictions to lift and we get back to regular training. Once we’re back to “normal” we shouldn’t be too far out of practice.

I then watched the other competitors’ videos. They did not particularly impress me either. Worldwide, techniques have suffered. While talking to other martial artists, two particular words kept coming up: Clean and Crisp. A non-martial arts friend asked me to describe clean and crisp. I had difficulty putting the ideas into words; I just know it when I see it.

I admire our students for training and progressing slowly (or at least not falling behind). It gives me hope that we will improve rapidly with clean, crisp movements once normalcy returns.

Second wave of COVID?

OK, so now ‘the powers that be’ are saying that another round of lockdown and shelter in place takes effect todday at 7pm. This may mean that restaurants, bars, and gyms once again face severe restrictions or possibly even close down.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for safety and doing whatever is necessary to defeat COVID, but this makes no sense. Einstein is attributed to saying: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” The first round of ‘lockdown and shelter in place’ did not work. It did however, cripple businesses, psychologically paralyze many people, and wreak havoc with the economy. Oh sure, blame the solution. There is no immediate solution. Measures currently in place were supposed to ‘flatten the curve’ in 14 days. We’re now into the 8th month. A big problem is that too many people refuse to follow COVID guidelines. Crack down on violators. Don’t just fine event venues for holding unsafe events, cite the attendees. Venues cannot completely control what attendees do every moment they’re on premises. Hit people in their wallets with fines and they’re more likely to follow guidelines and avoid venues not in compliance. Nobody attending, and violating venues will change or close.

Essential workers and essential businesses are allowed to operate as normal. What is an ‘essential worker’? Health professionals? Sure. Grocery store workers? Questionable. The grocery stockboy is now an ‘essential worker’ while still earning minimum wage. Let’s all stand outside our homes at 7pm and bang pots together to honor essential workers. Hmmm… Nice thought, but meaningless.

So why are we facing another round of ‘lockdown and shelter in place’? We’re relying on our previous experience with COVID. Wait a minute - we have no previous experience with COVID. Officials are basically flying by the seat of their pants. COVID testing shows how the virus is on the rise. Wait a minute - we have no previous experience with COVID testing. November is cold and flu season. The common cold, flu, and even pneumonia are viral. Coronavirus is a virus, too. Who knows how much COVID these tests are detecting, and how much is false positive caused by other winter viruses?

I have no say over lockdowns and stay at home orders. OK, bring it on. Let’s see what breaks first, COVID, the economy, or our sanity.

COVID-19 and Past History

OK, it’s almost a month and the nation is still in lockdown. Businesses are closed, schools are closed, and nerves are frazzled. Well, I should clarify that a little:
- Businesses that are considered ‘essential’ are open. This includes supermarkets and restaurants for take-out and delivery only. Of course ‘essential’ includes health care workers, police, fire, etc. Now the stockboy at the local grocery store still receives meager pay, but is considered an ‘essential’ employee.
- Schools are closed, but are teaching virtually online. Students are expected to sit in front of a computer screen all day while surrounded by TV, gaming, siblings, and every other distraction you can imagine.
- People argue about wearing facemasks. Some folks feel their personal rights are being attacked if they’re forced to mask up. Even if I don’t completely agree, I can see their point. In the past few weeks, mask recommendation has repeatedly downgraded. At first high quality KN95 or N95 masks were recommended to keep you safe from COVID-19, then these masks were in short supply for medical professionals. OK then, wear pleated surgical masks. What’s that? Now there’s not enough for healthcare workers? Okayyy… then wear a cloth mask over your face… any grade… any material. I personally keep a cloth kerchief around my neck and put it over my face when people are near me or I’m in a store. I see no need to wear a mask and deny myself fresh air when nobody is within 20 feet of me.

My big concern is that, now they know they can quarantine and disrupt our lives, they can do it again. This is COVID-19. What happens when COVID-20 or 21 hit? I’m not a conspiracy theorist (wellll… maybe a little), but recent history shows that government and big business (the ‘they’ I’m talking about) can manipulate our way of life:
- 1973 saw the Energy Crisis. Gasoline prices had always been in the 20s and 30s cent per gallon range. As a result of the energy crisis we had rationed gas and prices shot up from 39 cents to 86 cents per gallon.
- Late 1979 saw a second oil crisis with people waiting on lines to buy a limited amount of gas. You were only allowed to buy gas on odd or even days, depending on your license plate number. Gas prices rose from 86 cents to $1.19 a gallon.
- In 1980 crude oil prices nearly doubled to $39.50 per barrel. I know that unrest in the Middle East and OPEC affected crude oil output, but I also know that American oil companies posted record profits during this time while the consumer footed the bill.

When I was young, savings banks offered 5% interest on your savings. This was chump change, as certificates of deposit and money market funds paid 18-20% interest. Then the Savings and Loan crisis began in 1980 and ran into the mid ‘80s. Some S&Ls were much higher risk than others, issuing speculative loans that failed, yet they received the same premium rate for Federal deposit insurance. This crippled the banking industry, although those running the failed S&Ls were bailed out while their customers suffered the consequences. Slow moving Congress finally passed the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989. To this day, banks pay out a much lower interest rate, making 5% look like a great return. The $15K sitting in my bank’s checking account now pays a whole 9 cents interest per month.

Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in August, 2005. Oil refineries were devastated, crude oil spiked to over $70bbl, and the gas prices at the pumps shot up. Less than a month later, Louisiana was faced with Hurricane Rita. Before it even hit, gas prices rose at the pump. Refineries escaped major damage, but prices spiked in anticipation anyway. Once again, American oil companies posted record profits as the consumer picked up the tab. As comparison, in 2004 gasoline cost the consumer $1.59gal, in 2005 it rose to $1.88gal, and in 2006 it reached $2.59gal.

Please pardon me for ranting and raving. I know how important it is to stay safe and healthy. People are dying because of COVID-19. It’s just my frustration with the whole situation. We haven’t faced anything like this in my lifetime. It’s new to all of us. The government has no answers; they’re playing it by ear. Meanwhile, all of our lives are turned upside down with no end in sight. On a positive note, while the dojo is technically shut down, I am still outside the building during class hours. I am pleased to say that many members have joined with me in training outdoors. For those who are unable to come train in person, we will offer online Zoom classes starting this Sunday. See you there.
#OldManRantFinished

Corona virus quarantine

New York State has essentially shut down almost all businesses. Employees are encouraged to work from home. Families are expected to self-quarantine at home. Schooling is no done online. We are not allowed to conduct classes inside the dojo. We are instead encouraged to train outdoors, in a park or public area for the time being.

These solutions to the Corona virus crisis raise more questions than they answer. For example:
How long will this quarantine last? Even the recommended two-week quarantine period will put tremendous strain on the family.
How will schoolchildren continue their studies? Will online at-home schooling be nearly as effective as a live, in-person education?
What about those who cannot work from home? *telephone rings* “Hello. Yes, this is Ed the plumber. Your toilet is clogged? Sure I can fix it. Bring it right over.”

If quarantine runs any longer than two weeks, how will it impact families’ abilities to pay rent, mortgages, and other bills? I feel that continuing Karate classes will bring a sense of normalcy to this crazy situation. It reminds me of a scene from the 1977 movie, ‘Oh, God!’, where God (played by George Burns) appears while Jerry Landers (played by John Denver) is in the shower. Jerry is flustered and embarrassed, so God tells him to shave. “Sometimes when you don’t feel normal doing a normal thing makes you feel normal.”

Keeping our Karate class routine as close to normal as possible will benefit our members’ physical and mental well being. Of course, Corona virus can change things, but for now I will be outside the Temple that hosts our dojo, in the front courtyard during regular class hours. Any member that wants to join me out there will receive full class instruction and practice in kihon, ten-no-kata, kata, and kobudo. There is enough room outside for everyone to maintain at least 6 feet distance between each other. Ippons, kumite, and any contact drills will not be practiced until further notice.

Let’s stay healthy and safe, but let’s not allow Corona virus to control our lives.

First you learn your kata...

Many people have expressed this idea, but I’ve said this for decades: “First you learn your kata, then you learn your kata.  The very young and those uninitiated are sometimes confused by this statement. 

Yamanni Ryu instructor Kowa Chhe was asked by a student to review a certain kata.  Chhe asked if the student wanted to go over sequence or technique.  Different words, but the same idea as my statement.

A student is taught a new kata.  The student now knows what move follows what move.  Many dojos leave it at that; the student has learned the kata.  At Dō Gakuin, this is just the beginning.  Now that you have the tools, you must learn to use them.  We study bunkai, examine how the technique works, look at alternate uses, and practice the movements until they come out fast, effective, and automatic.  At that point you can say you have learned your kata.