I haven't blogged for a little while here but since Eugene arrived we have been stepping up the training plus doing some other fun stuff along the way too. Euge is doing a great job of chronicling his experiences and for me its a pleasure having him here as a training partner but also as a friend discovering Okinawa for the first time and I am almost reliving that wondrous journey from the start through his day-to-day experiences.
Training is going well from a number of perspectives. We are training daily except Saturdays doing either karate or jujitsu/goshinjitsu sessions in the evenings plus conditioning sessions at least 3 days per week. My fitness level is good (i.e. able to perform 50 reps push ups/sit ups/leg raises/burpees continuously with relative ease, running 8-10 hill climbs without serious fatiguing). As always I'm aiming for the next step, the next level so short term goals are to up the reps and do the hill sprints quicker as well as make progress on pull ups max reps.
Goshinjitsu (self defence)
After some thought and discussion with Euge and the other guys we train with I have been able to put some more structure and definition around the goshinjitsu training we are doing here. My aim in starting the group was to give us regular training sessions where we can test out, learn and refine techniques that reliably work in real, non-uke-compliant situations. Therefore we can study any technique and supporting practise drill, etc from jujitsu, karate, wrestling, etc without restriction due to established syllabus of any particular ryuha (school/style). However there must be some underlying principles that guide our activity. Otherwise we risk turning into a Youtube-fueled, mixed martial arts mess. So I suggest the following which I'm sure will evolve and be refined as time and experience accumulate.
Principle 1 - Self defence techniques should be an obvious response to a common, likely attack. Or stated the other way round, we should not devote unnecessary time to training defences to unusual or highly specialised attacks. There are defences to flying kicks and sword attacks but the probability is that you are much more likely to face someone trying to push, grab, punch or headbutt you from close range if you are unlucky enough to get into some kind of confrontation. There has been some great work done in recent years by prominent martial artists as well as law enforcement agencies on the most common attacks which provide a fairly consistent guide to HAOV.
Principle 2 - Self defence techniques should be intuitive and simple. The more intuitive a technique the more likely you are to be able to respond with it in a high pressure situation. And techniques should be simple enough that they can be executed quickly and modified based on the real time responses of the opponent which will always be to some greater or lesser extent unpredictable. Multi-step techniques that require any more than 3 seconds to complete and depend on very specific responses from the opponent are much less useful than a short, sharp, effective defence that neutralises the initial opponent and allows the defender to move onto the next attacker or ideally take an escape option.
Principle 3 - Techniques taught should be backed up by experience and practice. In other words defences considered should have a demonstrable origin in a traditional martial art or modern law enforcement/security experience and should be taught with reference to that origin by someone with experience in that field.
Principle 4 - A successful defence must result in the defender being in a position of superiority and ready for a subsequent attack whatever that be, or to take the opportunity to escape. The strongest position to be in during and at the end of a defence is stood upright in a balanced natural stance. There are very necessary and very strong ground fighting techniques that should be learnt as they are essential to defending yourself when you have been thrown, tripped, pushed or grappled to the ground but a defender should always prioritise getting back to their feet as quickly as possible and thereby minimise the risk of a secondary attack whilst down there (i.e. a kick to the head from a second attacker). In summary, don't get tied up in a chess match on the ground, get to your feet fast, ready to fight or flee.
I'm hoping we will build on these principles to establish a syllabus and programme of training over time that remains open and receptive to improvement and innovation whilst retaining the strong core ethos ("train hard, fight easy") and principles. I'm going to do a lot more videoing and posting up our lesson plans, and I will ask other people who teach in the sessions to do the same. I hope that we can attract guest teachers from the traditional Okinawan arts as we visit and train at various dojo around Okinawa. More to come soon, hopefully so watch this space.
What's to Gain from Pain?
13 years ago
