One Year of COVID

It is now one year since our dojo shut down on March 17, 2020. How have we fared during this time as a school and as individuals? Our workouts continued without interruption. We’ve been fortunate to have options at the Temple that hosts our dojo. We can train in a large double classroom (800 sq ft), a buffet room (1,200 sq ft), and outside on the patio (a few thousand sq ft). We keep minimum 6-foot distance, wear masks, and work out non-contact. Some members have trained in person without interruption while others have trained from home via Zoom. It’s far from ideal, but has kept us treading water or slowly moving forward. We held two Shinsas for those who improved significantly. All ranks are provisional; contact elements such as ippons, kumite, and tameshiwari must be demonstrated once we return to normal training.

Less obvious, but more important has been the effect on our individual members. Self-quarantine, lockdown, work from home, remote schooling, business closings, social distancing, etc have all taken toll on our ’normal’ way of life. Many people are out of shape and gained weight due to their sudden sedentary lifestyle. Too many elements are out of our control. Life as we know it is completely disrupted. Continued training during these pandemic times offers members a sense of normalcy. Our class schedule allows members to have some structured regularity to their week. Working out releases endorphins, allowing you to feel better and counter the effects of depression and stress.

This pandemic reinforces my longstanding beliefs in Karate training: Karate is a microcosm of life. Everything that goes on in the dojo also occurs in the real world. There are some katas you like better than others, and some techniques you absolutely hate. You must learn to perform everything at least passably to improve and move up in rank. In life, you have fellow students or coworkers you like better than others, you may have teachers or bosses that you dislike, but you must learn to get along with them and perform your tasks satisfactorily. Keeping routine of going to the dojo and the structure of class can help you organize your life for better efficiency.

Hopefully, we will go back inside the dojo and return to physical contact in the near future. In the meantime, DŌ GAKUIN will continue to offer our members a sense of normalcy in these crazy times. See you for training - wherever that may be!

'Footloose' Footwork

We worked on footwork last week in class. It reminded me of something back in 2014 when I attended a weekend of seminars with Okano-kancho in Perry, FL. Among the workouts, he wanted to lead us through some footwork drills, commenting that he uses a ladder on the ground for these exercises. I knew his father, Okano-soke, had some extreme training measures. Since I did not use exercise ladders or was exposed to them, I thought he meant an actual wooden or aluminum ladder on the floor, with 4 inch side rails and thick rungs, which could do tremendous damage if you misstep.

Anyway, Kancho had us work a step-over drill moving up and down the mats. I used to cover Saturday Judo classes in the 1980s for my buddy Jimmy Zoubantes. I would lead his class through the same drill Kancho had us do, and others even more complex. I guess my muscle memory was still there, as I flew up and down the mats. Well, ‘flew’ for a then-60 year old man, but I moved much faster than many participants much younger than me.

It was after the seminars that I learned about agility ladders: nylon struts with thin plastic rungs that lay flat to the ground. Oh, so there’s really nothing to trip over or harm you if you step out of bounds? You’re playing hopscotch.

Then I related it to kata. There are martial artists who don’t like kata. It’s useless; they’d never use a kata move in a fight; it’s a waste of their time. They’d use a basic punch, kick, or simple combination. They’re right – and wrong. They don’t understand what kata is all about. Basics do come out automatically because we practice them so often. Kata builds muscle memory on moves and combinations not normally used every day. Kata practice allows you to employ a technique in kumite or actual self-defense, should the situation present itself.

My Judo footwork drills from the 1980s kicked in muscle memory 30 years later. We’ve had former students return after many years’ absence and regain their former skills rapidly due to muscle memory. Work the process. Trust the process. The process works!

Martin Luther King Day - Your Life's Blueprint

Dr Martin Luther King gave an uplifting 20 minute speech at Barratt JHS in Philadelphia on October 26, 1967 where he spoke of racial pride, and put the onus on these students to use a blueprint to make their lives better.

The quote above was meant for civil rights, but it also applies to civics today. Instead of causing havoc, rioting, and looting, we’re better served by working on ways to improve our lives – as Americans and as private citizens.

It also applies to Karate training during these COVID times. So if you can’t fly, then run… walk… crawl to keep moving forward. We’re not back in the dojo yet, but come work out with us at the Temple, or on Zoom, but keep moving forward.

If your stance is weak, your Karate is weak

A few days ago I posted about weight distribution in stances. This Facebook memory came up on my timeline today:

As far back as 1979 I would go upstate NY to attend Hidy Ochiai's annual invitational tournament. At the Black Belt meeting before the event, he would talk about how he judges from he ground up. He would say that the strongest punch thrown from a weak, wobbly stance is a weak, wobbly punch. *food for thought*

Weight Distribution

def: SHINSA Examination; judging; inspection; investigation.

We held Shinsa (rank examination) yesterday. One student had difficulties with back stances (I understand… COVID times… we’re not in the dojo… we’re on concrete floors… we’re wearing sneakers… yada yada yada), so I asked him what his weight distribution should be. He said 60%-40%. I routinely tell students 75-25 (we’ll discuss this later), so I then asked two Brown Belts what they thought. One said 70-30 and the other said 80-15 (?!). Many different instructors in many different dojos have many different answers. Nobody will put you on scales to see exactly what the weight distribution is, but percentages give you a guide as to how stance works.

Front stance (zenkutsu dachi): I’ve heard 60-70-80% weight on the front leg because your weight/force is going forward. We recognize that the back leg drives the body forward as much as the front leg steps forward. We therefore say the weight distribution is 50-50.

Back stance (kokutsu dachi): Body weight is shifted to the back leg with the feet in straight line. This means your front leg could be swept. With most of the weight on the rear leg you can shift all the weight back to avoid the sweep or kick with the front leg. We use a number halfway between 100%-0% and a 50%-50% shift to front stance. Mathematically, that would be 75%-25%.

Horse stance (kiba dachi) and immovable stance (fudo dachi): Pretty basic, the balance is 50-50 on each leg.

Cat stance (neko ashi dachi): Where back stance is two shoulders length, cat stance is roughly halfway back at around one shoulder length. We say the weight distribution is 85-15.

Hourglass stance (sanchin dachi): Your front heel just about touches your rear ankle. There is almost no weight on the front leg, so we say 95-5.

Crane stance (sagi ashi dachi): One leg is completely off the ground, with the foot touching the standing leg. Weight distribution is obviously 100-0.

Cross legged stance (kosa dachi): We used to look at kosa dachi as unstable, impractical, and not very mobile. We learned from kobudo training with Oshiro-shihan that the stance is highly mobile moving forward and back, as well as side to side. Each foot is turned out 45 degrees, one behind the other, the rear shin resting on the front calf. Most weight is on the front leg, hips drive the body forward, and the rear leg props up the stance. It is surprisingly stable as you are ‘sitting’ on your front leg with the rear leg supporting the stance at 80-20.

We understand that stance is transitional. You do not fight strictly out of front stance, back stance, etc. You should move fluidly, shifting the body, to fit the situation and your strategy. Proper stance strengthens your legs, teaches you to stabilize your body, while upsetting your opponent's balance.

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.