Danzan Ryu no Kihon

Principles of Danzan Ryu Jujitsu

1. Yield to force
2. Do not rely on strength
   
3. Connect
4. Maintain your integrity
   
5. Seek the center
6. Get off the line
7. Lead the mind
8. Break frame
9. Maintain miai
10. To neutralize

Prof. Tom Ball at the 2009 Western Division AJJF Black Belt Seminar in Sacramento California.

My challenge is to understand these fundamentals it everything I do. Each and every technique has all of these principles so where I don't see the kihon I have more to learn from DZR.

Hanbo

Prof. Hager taught the Hanbo class at the AJJF Black Belt Convention this weekend. Several times she referred to the new book by Masaaki Hatsumi, Advanced Stick Fighting (2005). This is a follow on book to the one I am familiar with, Stick Fighting: Techniques of Self-Defense (1981).

Grip the stick with the finger without using the thumb. That way when you open your fist you retain the stick. :)

Think about and apply Kihon No Danzan Ryu in each art.

Work all the techniques, even the ones that you don't like or can't do.

Seiuchin Kata-Details

Seiuchin Kata details taught by Kyoshi Dave Joslin tonight and at the Black Belt Extravaganza on Saturday.

This kata is of Goju Ryu origin founded by Master Miyagi. The film The Karate Kid (1984) used Chinto Kata, also of Gojo Ryu, and honored the school by naming the Pat Morita character "Mr. Miyagi". Master Tatsuo Shimabuku learned these two kata from Chōjun Miyagi personally.

Look before catching and moving.

Ibuki breath is very important, exhaling 90% and closing with Hup! [In Wansu Kata the Hup! follows the final kia as part of the double shuto strike.] Complete the microcosmic orbit with the tongue. Although not said, closing the bottom of the circle is probably just as important, it comes naturally with the preceding kia.

Archer moves are done with dynamic tension. The rear forearm is parallel to the ground at forehead level with hand open/grab thumb down; back of forward hand is against arm close the the elbow. Simultaneously, exhale 90% of the air, keeping rear elbow at 90° lower the elbow to the side at 45°, forward hand comes down to short rib level palm down then to the side for a shuto to uki's short ribs. Hold with a Hup as described above.

The jumping spin into a one legged stance before catching an placing the foot down. By being on balance after the covering spin, heart/diaphragm/groin covered, one is able to move in any direction as appropriate (as opposed to always falling back to the right:) The raised leg is chambered like it is with Shoba Kon Ate; the chambering provides the momentum for the spin.

Deliberate Practice

I watched a conference presentation, Deliberate Practice in Software Development, at work last week and thought I would blog the key points that I believe pertain to martial arts (and music) training.

Presentation Summary
In the nature vs. nurture debate, researchers have declared nurture the winner. People who excel are the ones who work the hardest; it takes ten+ years of deliberate practice to become an expert. Deliberate practice is not about putting in hours, it’s about working to improve performance. It does not mean doing what you are good at; it means challenging yourself under the guidance of a teacher.

Deliberate Practice—activity that's explicitly intended to improve performance, that reaches for objectives just beyond one's level of competence, provides feedback on results and involves high levels of repetition.

• The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance. "Individual differences, even among elite performers, are closely related to assessed amounts of deliberate practice. Many characteristics once believed to reflect innate talent are actually the result of intense practice extended for a minimum of 10 years."
  
• The Rigorous Application of Deliberate Practice Methods in Skills Courses. “The push for action is sometimes powerful…. But unless one has the opportunity to think about what one is doing and to reflect on what went well, what went poorly, and why, the chances for a long-term improvement curve are slight."
  
• What it takes to be great. "Research now shows that the lack of natural talent is irrelevant to great success. The secret? Painful and demanding practice and hard work."
  

1. Feedback needs to be immediate.
   
2. Identify the skill to be improved.
   
3. A coach is needed to help identify problems and direct the practice.
   
4. Regular and intensive practice.
   
5. Don't do what is easy. Practice the things that are difficult and challenging.
   

Greatness isn't reserved for a preordained few but available to everyone, like the pursuit of happiness, while being restricted to those who put in the work year after year.

Lower Body Basics Names

9 Lower Body Moves of Isshinryu Karate with Japanese names and English translations. A few more kicks than are on the LBB list are also named.

Kicking Techniques, Geri Waza

1	Mae Geri	Front snap kick
2	Soba Konate	Crossover kick
3	Hiza Geri	Knee kick
4	Yoko Geri	Side kick
5	Soba Geri	Beside kick
6	Otoshi Geri	Drop kick
7	Mae Konate	Front thrust kick
8	Sokuto Geri	Forward angle kick
9	Mae Geri/Ushiro Geri	Front kick/back kick
A	Yoko Kekomi Geri	Side thrust kick
B	Ushiro Geri	Back kick
C	Mawashi Geri	Roundhouse kick
D	Ushiro Geri	Spinning back kick
E	Tobi Mae Geri Mae Tobi Geri	Jumping double kick Front flying kick
F	Tonbo Geri	Dragonfly kick
G	Kin Geri	Groin kick
H	Ryo Ashi Geri	Double foot kick

Original materials sourced from the Joslin East/West Karate Dojo hand outs and the Danzan Ryu Jujitsu boards. Note that these translations are my own using the Japanese Martial Arts Character Dictionary by Prof. Thomas R. Jenkins and have not been reviewed by my Sensei yet.

Upper Body Basics Names

15 Upper Body Moves of Isshinryu Karate with Japanese names and English translations.

Hand Techniques, Te Waza

1	Seiken oi tsuki	Straight punch
2	Jodan oi tsuki	Upper cut
3	Seiken gyaku tsuki	Reverse punch
4	Jodan gyaku tsuki	Reverse upper cut
5	Gedan barai seiken tsuki	Low block/straight punch
6	Chudan uke seiken tsuki	Middle block/straight punch
7	Tegata barai nukite	Open hand block/fingertip strike
8	Jodan tegata uke jodan tsuki	Open hand upper block/upper cut
9	Jodan uke seiken tsuki	Upper block/Straight punch
10	Ura uchi seiken tsuki	Upper block/back fist/straight punch
11	Gedan barai go den choku tsuki	Low block/5 straight punches
12	Chudan uke go den choku tsuki	Middle block/5 straight punches
13	Shuto Uchi Shuto Uchi	Low knife hand strike/knife hand strike
14	O-Uchi O-Uchi	Palm heel deflection/ 2 roundhouse punches
15	Hije no ato tsuki	Step back/elbow strike (bear hug break)

Original materials sourced from the Joslin East/West Karate Dojo hand outs and the Danzan Ryu Jujitsu boards. Note that these translations are my own using the Japanese Martial Arts Character Dictionary by Prof. Thomas R. Jenkins and have not been reviewed by my Sensei yet.

Japanese Terms

The instructors at the dojo have begun to expect black belt candidates to know the Japanese terms for things. The first new term to me, other than the names for the arts, was "koshi". Upcoming blogs with include the Japanese name for the basics.

Koshi is the ball of the foot. It is generally what we make bodily contact with when we kick.

I asked a few of the black belts what the term was and they all answered quickly. But when I asked them to spell it they didn't know for sure. Perhaps it has been a long time since they wrote it down in their notebooks.

Prof. Jenkin's Martial Arts Dictionary defines koshi as "ball of foot [tiger's paw]". There are seven different kanji for koshi listed plus Koshi=Confucius. Also note the there are three other kanji for ball of foot :)

In Jujitsu the term koshi is used to refer to the hip or waist.