A Vertical Kick

 

"If size mattered, the elephant would be the king of the jungle."

-Anderson Silva

 

 

 

 

This photo was taken about a week ago.

I am writing about it for a couple of reasons. The first is I really like this photo; one of my step-mothers took this photo. She is amazing at photography.

The second is I really enjoy this kick. I am fairly flexible, but am still working toward a full split. So the fact I can kick above my heard with kicks angled forward is something I take pride in.

But the most important reason I am writing about this is that no matter how well you do a kick, or how cool it looks, there is always room for improvement.

In the above photo you can see that my grounded leg has the heel lifted. This is incorrect. The heel should be planted, obviously I have more stretching. Additionally, though it is minor my head is dropped slightly. I cannot recall if I did that deliberately, such as to look at the camera better, or if it is honestly a bad habit. I say that because in the other photos we took I am not doing that;

 

 

 

So that point is debatable. I am happy to say that I have eliminated a bad habit; dropping my arms when I kick. The first photo I am attempting to do a vertical punch while kicking, but unfortunately did not completely pull it off.

 

But what I believe drives this home for me is that ten years ago I could not do this kick. I was fortunate if I got the foot up to head level.

 

We age, and it is a concern of mine that even with diligence practice abilities will get lost. I am happy to admit this has not been the case whatsoever. The more I push myself the more I find myself to become more capable.

 

 

This was me last year;

 

 

This is what I can do now;

 

 

 

 

And that is how martial arts works; kind of like if early you're on time, if on time you're late, and if late you're forgotten. If you push yourself you will improve. If you stay still your ability will degrade over time, and if you stop you will lose your ability completely.

 

 

 

"Rough diamonds may sometimes be mistaken for worthless pebbles."

-Thomas Browne

Amending Forward

 

 

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life doing nothing."

-George Bernard Shaw

 

"Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit them."

-Bruce Lee

 

 

 

 

That moment when you do something wrong in the practice hall, and pissed off your teacher.

 

 

That's what I'd like to look at today- those times when we make mistakes. Sometimes they are quite funny when looking back, but when we experience them it never seems that way.

 

Perhaps the most entertaining instance of what I am talking about that occurred to me was when I accidentally washed my white uniform with a red shirt, and it came out pink, and was the only heavy-weight uniform I owned, which was the attire at that school.

 

 

 

WUCHAAAA!!1!ONE!!

 

 

I am sure you have your own similar experiences.

 

One of the worst I did in the training hall was when preparing for my 1st Dan exam. I had already become a 3rd dan at another school two years before, and was still quite young. Mature as I was considered then, I was still fifteen, and had a lot to learn.

 

I was sparring against two people, and at one point one of the people, who I actually respect a lot, dropped her hands and I landed a blow to her face. We don't pull punches, and men and women, children and adults receive the same treatment.

 

Anyway we exited the studio and she made a comment about the strike, and I was so tired I didn't think about how I responded, which was a snotty, "You shouldn't have dropped your hands."

 

I came in the next day, and was screamed at for a good while by my master. It was the only time my teacher had to. I had given her two black eyes, and I frankly deserved the scolding. But truth be told, I am as ashamed at having hurt her in practice, as having disappointed my favorite teacher.

 

And of course I apologized, then did my push-ups, went to sparring class, and got a fair beating.

 

I am also sure that many of you who read this have also experienced something similar in your own particular way.

 

Having said that, once you get up, all you can do is not make the same mistake.

 

I've never had my belt pulled. I've been expelled from public school though. I've drank and done stupid things, and I've gotten into fights I honestly didn't need to.

 

As difficult as it is to let yourself down, when you let down those you love and who care about you for the simple fact that you are you, it is a hell deserving its own circle.

 

But, all mistakes carry a silver lining- they never have to happen again. And while inevitable that things do occur, how we handle those events are drawn from not only the mistakes of our past, but our successes.

 

And its something we so often forget, that when misfortune occurs, whether by our hand or life, that it will end someday. But so often many will then forget, once the problem is over, that it ever really happened. They may recall they went through something, but it is a rare thing for a person to carry the feeling of that experience forever.

 

This to me is in part what fuels addiction. The heroine addict may overdose and die, and have their life saved by one mean or another. But then just a few weeks later the immediacy of the experience has dimmed and faded, and so they use again, come back again only to repeat the cycle.

 

Don't be like that, everything turns in circles, and cycles are a locked behavior. Never keep detrimental cycles.

That's what a martial artist is, someone who practices becoming a better human being. And that is what martial artists do; hone our skills in every area we can. Because of that mistakes and downfalls will happen.

 

All one can do when such perchance occur is to be completely honest with whomever you hurt, even if that is just yourself, and express the desire to make an amend.

 

 

 

"It is not our mistakes who we are, it is how we recover from those mistakes."

-Bo Bennett

When Others Doubt You

"Those who are skilled in combat do not become angered, those who are skilled at winning do not become afraid. Thus the wise win before the fight, while the ignorant fight to win."

-O sensei Ueshiba

 

"Nothing gives a person so much advantage over another to remain cool and unruffled under all circumstances."

-Thomas Jefferson

 

 

 

I have noticed an interesting phenomenon. The one where people believe because you are a martial artist you can be tangled with.

The other day I had just such an experience where somebody who confronted me and wanted to step outside to fight. Literally their words. I apologized for waking them up, and they responded, 'Want to step outside, son?'

Now, I agree wholeheartedly with the idea that if you have to raise your fist you are a person whom has run out of rational ideas. When somebody in the background spoke up and told him not to mess with me because I practice, boy did that make him want to go even more. Hence why I hate whenever somebody brings 'So-and so is a martial artist' to the table. It doesn't help, and if anything makes the situation worse. Because it carries a kind of implied threat, especially at a time when one person is essentially trying to escalate it from a dick measuring contest, to a fight over the dick measuring contest.

And I can attest in the past that others when told this wanted to fight even more.

Let me be honest- as much as I love fighting in the dojo or ring, I equally hate fighting outside of it. Mostly because that isn't art- it's either a brawl or something as feral as it, or its for survival. And I have yet to meet somebody who has ever enjoyed a fight for their own survival.

But let's be honest, how many people have each of us met who say they practice martial arts and really still do? Someone who practiced the art a decade or while ago, generally does not have the same levity as someone who has entered and exited their dojo, or practiced that week. And god forbid someone who practices an art that has been grossly watered down into a sport. Hence why we often dichotomize science and art above sports- there's a degree of skill present in the former that is lacking in the latter.

And because of that and so many people who fall into that category of claiming 'being a weapon' because of a Mcdojo this or Mcstyle that, long since having trained, compared to those who actually should be given a birth of room are then underestimated. A person who has spent two decades training crap rarely compares to one month of training in a real martial art.

And don't get me wrong, I am not claiming to be some kind of human weapon just because I practice martial arts. In fact, I've been called that under a lot of different names just because I have been practicing for two decades, and I hate-hate-hate that. A lot of my training did originate from McDojos, but even more of my training was by very skilled practitioners, alongside even more abled martial artists. I am extremely small for an adult male, and thus many people do feel comfortable attempting to intimidate me. But being a martial artist does not mean I do not deserve or cannot feel intimidation- it merely means I respond to it steadfastly. And I no more deserve to be intimidated than I deserve respect because I practice. In fact, practicing should afford me do different level of treatment as an individual. But my ego, and sometimes others prevents that pragmatically.

But that's usually the extent. A humorous nickname such as killer or karate kid, or even to get an angry rise out of me. Because push as others may and I might allow, I do not allow it to escalate when it can be helped.

I can recall one experience where my sister had a number of friends visit who called me killer, or assassin and the like, and I felt embarrassed. I can also remember a few times some people attempted conflict simply because of a presumed reputation that followed practicing martial arts. I dislike that equally so.

An actual martial artist won't blink when someone pulls a gun, and wont worry when a number attacks them. I would know, I've been in both situations and can attest to what it feels like. It's very personal, and one deals with it as best they can, and if feel like it, bitch afterwards. Usually from jail or over a drink, which is where most bitching will originate from in my experience. And I'm not talking about tea.

Those who feel comfortable attempting to intimidate those who do practice are those who play with fire. The individual who wanted to step outside with me pulled the same stunt on somebody else we are living with. He is someone who doesn't just play with fire, but lights his sleeve on fire, laughs, and then extinguishes the flame before he gets hurt. This is something one can only do so long and so often before they do eventually get burned. And chances are someday he will do this to someone who wont hesitate to pull a weapon and use it. But it will not be me, and I can take some degree of self-respect away from that. A real martial artist, and thus real human being, will rise above stupidity when able. Now that is something to take some amount of pride in oneself from; when another acts stupidly, you stand your own level-headed, and don't stoop to their demeanor.

That's why even champion fighters and trained warriors realize that if robbed it is easier and safer generally to hand over the wallet or money than risk their own person. Fighting over a few twenties or even Benjamins is akin to stating one's life is only worth that much. Not that the able martial artist won't raise their hand to protect themselves or those around them, but they will only do so when its the last recourse. For me, I can imagine that would be handing over the money and then the person attempts to take my life. That's when you let the inner demon out.

Hence why I have a huge amount of respect for people like this;
http://www.npr.org/2008/03/28/89164759/a-victim-treats-his-mugger-right

It's why the most sagacious thing to do in an encounter is to run when violence looms and is nearly unavoidable. You are equally courageous to me whether you choose flight and survive, and fight and survive. Flight has just one extra letter more than fight, and that L stands for so much. To live. Survival is all that matters in all we do concerning what we train for. But when running, and are cornered, and then fight, that is something different entirely. One has made a choice and it was exhausted, so there was no recourse other than the choice left to preserve oneself. That to me is the only appropriate time to respond and fight; when you literally have only that choice left. When you made the right choice to avoid violence, and it proved impossible to do. And then fought.

A martial artist shouldn't seek conflict, and lord knows I have met quite a few far too little experience (there is never one who is experienced, or able, or powerful enough to justify) who will thump their chests. An experienced or at least knowledgeable martial artist understands that no matter how strong or fast or good, there is always someone better, somewhere. And if you pick enough fights, sooner or later you will run into that kind of person.

A martial artist should always present themselves to be underestimated- sometimes this bites me in the ass, but the element of surprise is one others should take to heart. When you have more bravado than necessary, even if you can back it up, you will find yourself more generally than not walking into more confrontation than you otherwise would have. When you appear small and weak, that is also no good. Others will also try to take advantage of that, but when underestimated and are willing to still stand up- it is that fine balance which can make all the difference.

I think of a story one teacher once told, when in college where while riding in the car somebody disparaged his family, and he struck them because of the belittling. When the man emerged from the car, he was dazed both from the pummeling he received, but then fatefully said, "I didn't know you had that in you," to which my teacher struck him again. Not that I condone violence or am encouraging it- I am just making the point that surprising others with an unrecognized tenacity can daze a person as much as hitting them. It will leave the other standing there like a cow chewing cud as the predator charges in on them.

So while the person may spit and holler at me, telling me to step outside, it is stupidity to listen and do so. It is not cowardice to not take the invitation, but still stand up to that person. Eventually the encounter will fizzle out. I have yet to see it not. Because when they are telling you to step outside, they are just trying to intimidate you. There's a reason they haven't already swung and initiated. Because they are surprised by you standing up and not backing down, and secondly because they are cowards. The invitation for you to step outside is a double edged blade- and when they extend the hilt for you to take, they are equally extending it to themselves while still grasping the blade. The difference is this; fear is what keeps them from actually going outside when they make that proclamation, whereas confidence and a willingness to rise above their pettiness is what will keep you rooted and overcome the situation. Because you are meeting their challenge you are essentially stating, 'here I stand, and here I remain. What will you do about it?'

To which their responses are limited; to either keep bleating like a ram, or to move on like the sheep they really are in character.

Never once in my life, in all the scraps I have been in, even when a gun was pulled on me, did it result in actual harm. Because usually when you meet them thusly, one way or another they back down. There is a difference between someone pulling a weapon on you or cocking a fist to them actually pulling the trigger or throwing the punch.

They are waiting for an invitation that they already extended. But that's the funny thing about those kind of party's, you never have to actually attend, and you never have to play by the rules they are trying to set.

Don't get me wrong, if someone pulls a weapon there is an inherit danger to being in its presence. For me I found that standing my ground was enough. To charge was to potentially get shot, and to retreat was to potentially shot at. Yet when I stood my ground, and did not take my gaze off them, that was enough to diffuse the situation.

Certainly I was lucky, but when the situation is untenable whether you retreat or advance, sometimes the most tactile response is to do nothing, and wait for the situation to change.

In chess this is called this is called zugzwang. And it is a shame chess does not allow you to skip your move, because its a real situation that occurs in life.

Avoid zugzwang, but more importantly, learn how to recognize when it appears. And then do what you can about the situation. Sometimes the most practical thing to do is to give ground. In my situation this last week there was nothing really to do but continue to repeat, I apologize, but stop threatening. And the situation fizzled.

http://www.mmamania.com/2011/1/5/1904645/intimidation-the-non-phsyical-aspects-of-mma

http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109649

http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f53/lesson-intimidation-mike-tyson-1220291/

 

"When your temper rises, lower your fists. When your fists rise, lower your temper."

-Tony Jaa

"Fear does not crown champions."
-Michelle Waterson

Pick A Move

"Spirit first, technique second."

-Gishin Funakoshi

 

"If you have to think about a technique you haven't done it enough."

-Norman Haris

 

 

 

 

 



Martial arts often exemplifies focus, but focus can be a double edged sword at times. Take it from someone who walks as they read; if you focus too hard on what you are reading you are likely to miss what may be occurring. Lord knows if I focus on just the book I'll run into things, or get run into. So even though I read and engage in the story, I always use my peripherals to keep track of what's going on around me.

Likewise, a martial artist often has favored moves, yet we also have moves we do not do as well as we could.

So this is something of a challenge I am issuing; I want you to pick a move and focus on training it for the next month. Practice it an hour a day, at least, and do so without neglecting practicing your other techniques.

There will come a point that every martial artist must realize; I may have done this technique tens of thousands of times, yet something in my heart tells me I can still do better.

I know this because of one very tangible experience I shared with my father in Kendo. One day we visited a school around the new year, and they introduced us to a tradition where you did that many cuts with the shinai as was the new year. So for an hour we practiced just over 2000 cuts, and after that 'warm-up' which left both our hands raw and bleeding, there was still another two hours of actual practice.

That's a lesson I keep at heart. Even after thousands of repetitions, there is always more to be done, and further to go. After all, the goal is not just to climb the mountain, but to also climb down, go home, and one day climb another and return.

And as you practice this technique, when you spar, actively seek to utilize this technique in sparring. Learn to incorporate it, and every move you learn in your martial style in how you fight. This will make the technique become a part of you.

This will do many things, especially if after a month you choose a new technique to focus on.

For me I am going to focus on practicing reverse techniques; I have an aversion to them because I think it folly to turn one's back on an opponent when engaged, but then again, is this such an issue if I improve my speed and technique?

I will find out.

When I first began practicing this method I started small. I began with a front punch, then moved to the front kick. Then the roundhouse, and later side-kick, and after that the back-fist, and later elbow, and ox-jaw strike.

Explore the potential of this technique; you will be amazed just how versatile one move can be. And make it work.

 

"Don't think that one technique is the end. There is no end. There is no perfect technique. Just when you think you've got them, you're dead because you didn't."

-Masaaki Hatsume

A Shake Of Confidence

 

 

 

"If you have confidence in your words, aspirations, thoughts and actions, and do your very best, you will have no need to regret the outcome of what you do. Fear and trembling are the lot of the person who, while stinting effort, hopes that everything will come out precisely as he wants."

-Mas Oyama

"I have the absolute confidence not to be number 2, but then I have enough sense to realize that there can be no number one."

-Bruce Lee

 

 

 

I find it oddly ironic that out of people who embody the trait of being courageous, martial artists can often be the most sensitive. Tell your teacher how great you are, and listen to their response, and you will know exactly what I mean.

Really, no matter how great a day one of us may be having, what we have just done, a single comment from one we respect can literally bring us down a lot of pegs.

Perhaps it is because we are supposed to be humble, and most of us are, or perhaps it is because we listen. Irregardless, sooner or later a martial artist, for one reason or another, will experience something in some way that takes all their confidence and throws it out the window.

Two weeks I hit a landmark in being able to do seventy-five kicks on a leg without having to stop. I sincerely believed that doing 100, which I would have said would be next to impossible, was right around the corner.

And then my hand got pulled into a meat slicer because of a mistake.

That's all it took for me to stop practicing for a few days, and then right thereafter to question myself if I could even do fifty still.

Of course I can, but it occurs to me in experiencing that doubt, many of us probably also go through it. When we strive to do our best, we want to be the best we can. And while that's a purely objective opinion, it matters to many who practice. We don't just do exercise; martial arts is about as much refining our spirit and mind as it is our technique and physical ability.

And there comes a time when all of us as martial artists are going to be humbled. Some of us take it with grace. Some of us do not. But it never has to actually stop us.

For the first few days sliding back into practice I have been starting small and working my way back to where I was. I stretch, I do 100 kicks instead of the normal 300. I began with twenty-five kicks per leg, and yesterday returned to fifty. Tonight it will be seventy-five again per leg. And maybe it'll suck, but I will get it done. Because I have two options; to stand still and be essentially dead, or to push forward, always move forward because that's what it means to be alive. And though maimed... for now, I am most certainly not dead.

After all, what does a hand injury have to do with my kicking ability? And further, why would half a week of a break, or even a week of malaise, have to have a great impact on the last four months of work?

In short nothing- but my ego has everything to do with it. It will be months before I can use the hand again normally, were I to wait until it has fully recovered it is not the hand injury that ultimately prohibited me, but myself who chose to.

And that's why our sensitive egos do matter- because when they are hurt, they are hurt as much as we let them be. In a way we are the gatekeepers to what we let affect us; we should listen always, to others, to our body's when we are hurt especially, but while respectful of what we are told and experience, it does not have to have such an impetus as to affect what we do totally.

So next time you are feeling down about your martial practice; don't worry. It will pass, and sooner or later, even if it's been years since you put it on, you will find yourself itching to don the gi, and get back to work.

"We define ourselves far too often by our past failures. That's not you. You are this person right now. You are the person who has learned from those failures. Build confidence and momentum with each good decision you make from here on out and choose to be inspired."

-Joe Rogan

Training While Injured

"When weak or injured always continue training as you should be able to adapt in any condition."

-Sake Hatsumi Masaaki

 

"Some people learn to lose. Some people lose and learn."

-Georges St-Pierre

Last night I received a rather serious injury while cleaning in the deli at a supermarket I work at; my hand was sucked into the meat cutting machine, and with no better way to put it mangled down to the bone. The machine picked a fight with me, and won. It will take some time to heal.

Now all said and done I am left with a question, how do I train while effectively down a limb? Where any movement might reopen a rather egregious wound.

If injured in a similar way, or in any other which would interfere with or prohibit training, what would you do?

In my situation I have two options- to either stop trying, or do what I can. I choose the later; any martial artist would and should.

That leaves the question to me of how one trains thence?

Obviously it is restricted to only methods which will not disturb what I have injured, so handwork is out of the way. So is stretching in a manner utilizing the arm.

But I am still left with being able to kick, and stretch everything else. I cannot do forms outside of thinking about them (another form of meditation, thinking about what we practice, going through the motions step by step internally).

Robert McCloud lost his leg in a motorcycle accident.

 

I can meditate, and I will be doing that quite a bit to cultivate positive energy and perhaps speed up the healing process.

Partner training is out for now, unless engaged in very slowly and methodically. Any accident could happen and enure me into a cycle where I keep re-injuring what may take awhile to heal.

I can practice writing, a craft I believe all martial artists should practice, as hard as it is with just one hand. I am doing that now.

I have seen multiple kinds of injuries, from broken bones, contusions and cuts to even tendon tears. In the latter examples which were normally knee injuries, they would switch to hand work while recuperating.

So while limited, I am not without options.

Having indomitable spirit is more than just refusing to give up- it's about going on for keeping one's self. It is finding a way around the challenges and obstacles we face to exist in a joyous way. Yes this injury sucks, but really only as much as I allow it to.

Yes, I am hurt, but I will heal. I have an unshakable confidence in my tenacity and ability to overcome most anything.

Indomitable spirit is a kind of trust with yourself- to persevere despite what may seem insurmountable.

It is a minor injury even when still serious- and I will become stronger both because, and despite it.

 

 

 

"A warrior takes his lot, whatever it may be, and accepts it in ultimate humility. He accepts in humbleness what he is, not as a grounds for regret but as a living challenge."

-Carlos Castaneda

 

 

 

http://www.blackbeltmag.com/category/martial-arts-injury-treatment/

Survivors and Liars

 

 

"If you know yourself and know your enemy you need not fear the results of a hundred battles."

-Sun Tzu

 

"Every person who prepares is one less who panics in a crisis."

-Mark Adams

 

 

 

 

Today I read a blog post that got me thinking. Its by my favorite blogger and he raised a good point; the only people who can honestly say have been in more fights than they can remember are tournament fighters. Anyone else is full of crock.

Now, I can say this, in my twenty plus years of practicing I have been in literally tens of thousands of encounters. Some ranging from shadow boxing and no contact to extremely heavy contact where I sustained injury, sometimes serious such as when the marrow in my leg was traumatized and when I broke a rib and my tail bone (I in both the metaphorical and not got my ass kicked that occasion).

I remember every fight ive had on the stret. Ive been unlucky and been in three and at an armed robbery. And I can remember each as clear as day.

I can remember their height. The clothing they wore, every move I made. How could I not?

And few conflicts as Ive had that's still way more than most.


The experiences itself can at its best be awkward, at its worst terrifying. Anytime you are faced with a gun its a shattering experience. And when fortunate to walk away from, one that you will question time and again.

It's as though time itself stops- it becomes something very personal and shared only between you and the other. It feels as though any move you make will trigger what may happen, and what may not. Thoughts raced through my head; do I do this, do I do that... do I do nothing? It was the last option which saved my life and defused the situation.

I've been attacked twice by more than one person. The first was when a teenager, and it was two individuals who were strung out on something. I guess PCP, since I punched one in the throat hard enough to break a cinderblock (I know because I've broken them before) and he got up. That was when I got up and ran.

The second time was in the last year, and it wasn't exactly an 'attack' in a traditional. They weren't after my money or person. But either way I had to defend myself. It sucked, but at least gave me a sense of confidence I could walk away with, since I emerged untouched. I was fortunate in that regard, because had it happened in the U.S. I surely would have been shot.

That's the funny thing about situations where we feel the need to defend ourselves; it will always be a special case. The circumstances will always differ from one experience to the next, from one person to another and what they will go through.

Something to always remember is the best way to get through such instances as they build-up to the breaking point- try to take a step back. Stay calm and talk your way through it. Often that can make all the difference.

I was very hotheaded in the past. Sometimes I still am, so I neglected to use that when it could have been beneficial. But there are some instances you just won't get the chance to do so. I can attest to that. Sometimes they just grab you or level the weapon, and then its go time. Fight or flight. I recommend the latter, its usually safer, and if terminates in opportunity, then you fight if you can or have to.

I would have been in around a dozen fighting experiences, on the street, had I not resorted to talking to de-escalate the situation.

Know yourself, and stay confident in yourself. Sometimes that is enough to pull you through.

And always, always retain and rely on an indomitable warrior spirit.

"In a crisis do not let your mind run ahead. Your job is to survive hour by hour."

-Dr. Nancy