Catch A Punch

If you can catch a baseball you can catch a punch.

—Hanshi Willie Adams

Centering

This entry on Centering was created because I realized that when Grand Master Willie Adams used the term he meant something completely different from what I think of when I hear the term Center.

When I talk about center I mean the center of the physical body, the wuji point (click on figure for more information) and connection to the ground. When Hanshi speaks of centering he is speaking of remaining on the center line of attack, not tipping or swaying from side to as you move. The following is what I learned from Hanshi Willie Adams at his seminar down at the dojo last month. (Yes, I wrote things down after the seminar and have been working with the concepts on the mat.) This is my understanding of centering. (The seminar was public and very basic. I can only imagine the significance of centering in Hanshi Adams teachings.)

Centering = Step + Set

1. Weight distributed equally between the two feet. Weight on the balls of the feet.
2. Head stays on the center line, the line of attack, during a step.
3. 10% weight shift during a step.
4. Ball of foot skims the ground, toes up.
5. During circle step the leg movement covers the groin (45° angle.)
6. Weight shifts back to 50/50 before the set (stepping foot plants.)

This circle step with centering is not unlike the Archer Step we do in Yiquan.

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After digesting the principal of centering and incorporating it with another of Hanshi's ideas, "throwing" a punch/kick, I realized that Isshinryu Karate is primarily a linear system. It gets its speed and effectiveness from direct shortest–distance movements.

Direct force—swiftly applied.

Effect of Kiai on Perception

Sinnett S, Kingstone A (2010) A Preliminary Investigation Regarding the Effect of Tennis Grunting: Does White Noise During a Tennis Shot Have a Negative Impact on Shot Perception? PLoS ONE 5(10): e13148. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013148

Tennis Players' Grunts May Slow Opponents' Reactions: Scientific American Podcast. A recent study shows the negative impact that noise can have when one is attempting to predict where a tennis ball will land.

Duh! Kiai effects people and animals.

Tanju Notes

Notes from Professor Lane's class on Tanju No Maki at the 2010 AJJF Black Belt Weekend, Sonora hosted by Mountain Storm Jujitsu.

• Use the one inch punch; fist, elbow and knee. Particularly useful for the Hibara Hazushi above the elbow.
  

• No intent. (Exercise: catch house flies with you hand, they sense your intent.)

• If someone is confronting you in this context they need a lesson, break something.
  

Falling on the sidewalk

Before we teach you a Danzan Ryu (DZR) technique, we teach the counter (so we can practice with you more than once.)

The ground is your friend, land softly.

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This video was made by a couple of my DZR buds, Sensei Atienza and Sensei Sweeny. They have a dojo down in San Diego, Ka Hale Na Ikaika Dojo.

Isshinryu Breathing

I learned the mechanics of Isshinryu breathing from Hanshi Willie Adams at his seminar down at the dojo today.

Attacks are done with the lungs almost empty.

Always keep at least 10% percent of your breath at all times, don't let the last bit go. You need this remaining air so that your body can continue to function.

Before initiating a move exhale 90% of your air then retain the breath during the move.

A kiai will use 10% of your breath therefore, if the move is going to be preceded by a kiai exhale 80% of the breath, kiai and then execute the move (10% of the vial capacity remains during the move).

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The Japanese word for breath or breathing is ibuki. Soft internal breathing is in ibuki. Hard internal breathing is yō ibuki.

Based what I have learned at the dojo and this article in Black Belt Magazine (1966), The Cat, I believe this philosophy of breathing comes primarily from Grand Master Shimabuku's Gojo Ryu lineage. Quoting the article...

There is another form of kata for which the school is famous and without which no explanation of the Goju style would be complete. That is the school's breathing kata. No one who has ever witnessed a Goju man practicing his breathing kata under a full head of steam will ever forget the experience. It is an awesome and, to those of a more timid turn, sometimes frightening experience. A good Goju man can be heard half a block away and more while engaged in breathing exercises.

There are two types of breathing practiced, the in-ibuki and the yo-ibuki. The in-ibuki is the soft but firm type of breathing which starts from deep within the abdomen. This is similar to the type of breathing which is practiced in Yoga and Zen meditation, and is usually directed towards spiritual and meditative matters when practiced. Goju adherents never tire of repeating that this is the normal way a baby breathes. It is only when we get older that we learn to breathe from our chest.

The yo-ibuki is the hard style of breathing. The sound effects are menacing. The breathing is loud and heavy and comes from deep within, producing something of the sound of a full-throated lion about to strike. The inhaling is done in quick intakes through the nose while the exhaling is a prolonged process of short breaths through the mouth. In exhaling the whole body is tensed, including the throat and esophagus. This tightens the air passage and the air is forced from the abdomen. This whole process is said to be combative or animal-like breathing.

The tensing that is carried out during the breathing exercises is similar to that carried on in dynamic tension and isometric exercises. Tensing is believed to build up physical strength. And that goes internally, too, where the breathing is said to strengthen the heart and other vital organs. The student is taught never to exhale all his breath at once but to ration it out in short breaths. One reason is to always save a little breath so that an opponent cannot strike when one is out of breath and at one's weakest just before inhaling. The idea is always to save a little breath to counter. A good Goju man who is really warmed up will stride across the floor rippling every muscle from head to foot while engaged in powerful animal-like breathing. The effect can be quite spectacular.

But there is another side to the breathing exercises, the side concerned with the mental and spiritual aspects of karate. By its very nature, this is the side most difficult to grasp for many persons, especially Westerners. The most advanced type of breathing exercise is that in which all of one's strength is concentrated on a specific feeling or thought. It is through concentration and meditation that man learns to improve himself.

Isshinryu Methodology

I learned the basic methodology of Isshinryu Karate from Hanshi Willie Adams at his seminar down at the dojo today.

1. Centering
2. Breath Out
3. Stance
4. Throw Attack

Centering—Move in a straight line.

Breath Out—Attack with only 10% of your vital capacity remaining.

Stance—Weight on balls of feet, toes down, knees bent, Seisan stance

Throw Attack—Prepare the weapon, launch and let if fly, relaxed until impact, accelerate the last 12 inches.

Throw Attach Details

• Prepare the weapon before the attack. (Stupid to walk into a battle before you assemble and load your gun.)
• Move straight from chambered position to the target. No twisting, looping, dipping, hooking or hesitation.
• Twelve inches before the target accelerate the weapon through the target.
• One inch before the target integrate the fist with the frame into the ground.
• Connect the frame to the ground at the point of impact, Yang:
1. Rear foot then
2. Lead foot, then
3. Rear fist, then
4. just before contact lead fist.
• Disengaging from the attack and inhale (at any point you are able to reengage by reversing process), Yin:
1. Relax lead fist, then
2. Relax rear fist, then
3. Relax lead foot, then
4. Relax rear foot.