Mokuren Dojo Aikido and Judo in Southwest Mississippi

Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Visitors Out: Total Visitors Out: 1 0 68 68

Great falling practice
2008-03-31 03:08:40
Aiki with KelUkemi emphasizing how the proper landing position is a natural consequence of managing the body properly throughout the entire fall.Tegatana emphasizing the panther walk and bringing the recovery step in fullyHanasu emphasizing full recovery stepschain #1 including the transition from release #1 to release #5 and the stuff that comes off of release #1 - mainly tenkai kote hineri, kotemawashi oshi taoshi, and kote hineri.Rokukata maeotoshi and Rokukata sakaotoshi with a crashpad emphasizing feeling to see if one step is enough or if you should take one more step and catch the next footfall. We were getting spectacular throws and falls. ...

Good vibrations
2008-03-31 03:08:40
Aiki with Kel and RickROM and ukemitegatana with emphasis on finishing each step, making sure that you don't drag the recovery out, and bending the knees to take up the up-down slack and keep your COM level. It turns out that there are cool COM changes happening in one step - as you separate your legs to take a step, your center rises with respect to your head, but it drops with respect to the ground, so it almost balances out. With just a little flex in the knees the COM stays very close to level and you cease to telegraph so badly and you conserve your own energy much better.hanasu with emphasis on taking the first step as a leap of faith, without knowing what technique will fall out. From there, we worked on transitioning between #1, #2, #5, and #6 as appropriate to follow the arc of uke's force and to attain that release feeling.chain #1 - release #1 resisted into release #2 into reverse kotegaeshi, ushiroate, and iriminage. This is an especially cool exercise because it makes it e ...

PM judo and aikido
2008-03-31 03:08:40
Kid's judo with Gavin, Whit, Knox, Emma, and QuinUkemi - and lots of it with me throwing/spotting Whit, Knox, and Quin for about 30 minutes before class started. Then the others arrived and we went through the ukemi routine for the parents' demo in about a month.osotogari into kesagatamequiet sitting counting sounds that we can hear.Aikido with Keltegatana with emphasis on taking small enough steps that the heels do not strike or lift off the mat.hanasu with emphasis on 'stay-off-me' hands.chain #1, including shihonage, iriminage, and ushiroatesome various interesting techniques from Sankata as the cool ninja techniques of the night.I am exhausted from the three workouts today. Elise, my darling wife, has gone to purchase me a bottle of whiskey to drink while I lie in a scalding hot bathtub. ...

Martial arts for older adults
2008-03-30 05:03:19
Interested in a martial art that you can practice effectively until you’re 80 or older?Let’s face it - It’s probably not going to be karate. Sure there have been a few notable geriatric supermen who have been effective karate guys into their grey years. But as a general rule, striking arts require about 1-2% more practice, effort, skill, and athleticism each year after age 30 just to maintain. And that’s not talking about skill improvement!Then there are grappling arts, like jiujitsu or wrestling, but again, let’s face it. Those are young men’s sports. Again, there are a few middle-aged and older practitioners of judo and jiujitsu who are very effective, but you don’t see many of those older guys rolling with the young competitors because they just get too busted up and it takes too long to heal.This brings us to aikido. If you are looking for a martial art that will provide a little reasonable exercise, that will reliably improve your chances of surviving an attack ...

Armbars for kids
2008-03-29 13:57:50
The following is an awesome video of some kids doing judo. I don't especially like having kids this age working chokes and armbars, but that might just be my particular prejudice. The jiujitsu guys train kids to do this stuff and they swear it doesn't tear up kids. I personally only teach throwing and positional wrestling to any student of any age below about green belt because I feel the positional skills are prerequisite to good choking and joint manipulation skills. But in any case, these particular kids are doing a fabulous job practicing and demonstrating these skills. I learned a thing or two myself that I intend to put on Rob next week (so Rob, don't watch this video or you might spoil my fun ;-) ...

Early AM judo increasingly strenuous
2008-03-27 12:11:44
5 AM Judo with RobWarmup with ground mobility cycle and holding cycleDrill: uki→kesa→mune→ushirokata (10 reps each)Drill: uki→kesa→mune→udegarame→wakigatame (10 reps each)Drill: uki→mune→kesa→wakigatame→udegarame (10 reps each)nagekomi: R1/R3→outside cross grip→deashi/kosotonagekomi: R1/R3→outside cross grip→osotogari (with a crashpad)nagekomi: R1/R3→outside cross grip→uranage (with a crashpad)It was good to be back to a more vigorous judo practice after bruising/breaking (or otherwise busting) a rib a couple of months ago. I can tell I've lost (temporarily) some of my tolerance to having my chest crushed in groundwork. Well, now that I can play more vigorously again I'll get it back pretty quick. ...

Who should thank whom?
2008-03-26 12:30:56
It is a custom in many aikido classes for the students to kneel after class and bow to the instructor and say, “domo arigato gozaimasu” (Japanese for 'thank you very much')..Certainly there is not enough gratitude and politeness in the world, but I think this particular custom is misplaced – particularly in American aikido classes populated by non-Japanese. I have had a lot of people (misguided or not) get offended by the religious appearance of the kneeling bow, and certainly few students and almost no observers know what we’re chanting to each other as we knock our foreheads on the mat..Not only is there a cultural and linguistic disconnect in this custom, but it creates a hierarchy that fundamentally misrepresents the power structure of the class. This custom reinforces the students’ dependence on the instructor’s beneficence to glean a little knowledge, when it is actually the instructor who is dependant upon the students for the continued existence of the dojo and the ...

April Promote Three
2008-03-26 04:59:09
Each month I post links to three blogs that I think are excellent in some way. Some of them are especially interesting - others are especially educational. This month I am going with a theme of reciprocity. The old you-scratch-my-back-I-scratch-yours routine. According to Google Analytics, the following blogs have sent me a TON of traffic, much of which has been comprised very low-bounce visitors who hang out for longer-than-average times and view multiple pages on my blog. These folks are sending folks my way who apparently really like my blog and are sticking around. Because of the excellent back-scratching these guys have given me, I'd like to spread the link love around..And what's more, these guys all three have excellent, interesting, educational blog material. So, by all means, go check these guys out!.to Dojo Rat, the best word I can think of to describe this blog is eclectic. From martial arts to politics, nothing is too sacred to discuss and challenge on this blog. Dojo Rat s ...

Backup plans in aikido
2008-03-22 20:01:53
Aikido with John J. and VincentROM, ukemitegatana with emphasis on heel-toe, shoulder-width stance, walking on the balls of the feet, complete recovery steps, and relaxed unbendable arm.hanasu #1 and #2chain #1, including release #1 resisted into release #2, which can lead to a reverse kotegaeshi. This gave us the opportunity to talk about covering uke's hands to damp or supress his potential.Short lecture on the four main backup plans in aikido: 1) get behind uke, 2) disengage and move away, 3) move with uke, and 4) hit uke in the face.We worked on shomenate as an example of backup plan #4 when we (for whatever reason) stepped inside and parried with the lead hand (a terrible, awkward mistake). ...

Letter from a Marine
2008-03-22 13:53:03
Elise sent me this funny. This is a letter from a marine recruit - a farm kid from South Dakota.Dear Ma and Pa,I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marines beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled. I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly 6 AM, but I am getting so I like to sleep late. Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot, and shine some things. No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay. Practically nothing. Men got to shave but it is not so bad, there's warm water. Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular food, but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee. Their food plus yours holds you till noon when you get fed again. It's no wonder the ...

Osotogari and taiotoshi uchikomi
2008-03-21 12:59:15
Kids' judo with Whit, Mason, Knox, and QuinROM, ukemi, movement skillsosotogari ("the 1-2 throw) uchikomi sets of 3, throwing on the third. Emphasis on hitting the back of uke's knee with the back of your knee and pulling with your arms.taiotoshi ("the 1-2-3 throw") uchikomi sets of 3 throwing on the third, emphasizing tori turning his leg downward.standing randoriintro to the shoulder-push-knee-lift turnover ...

A helpful handful: yoko o mawashi
2008-03-20 14:20:48
A couple of days ago, John asked about potential applications for the last movement (yoko o mawashi) in our first exercise (Tegatana no kata). Following are a handful of applications or things that this last movement teaches - but not before a disclaimer. I consider this exercise to be very general-purpose. This movement, or something similar could occur in many techniques.As John pointed out, all the steps in this kata are very small, conservative motions, so, in contrast, this large, lunging motion teaches us what a large recovery is involved with a large stepYou may also consider this as a withdrawing evasion (like a retreating tenkanashi) getting the hands up on the centerline. You may not step that deep, but in essence yoko o mawashi is a specific type of aiki brush-off.You may also interpret this motion as pushing uke down: an evasion with some degree of turning motion, dropping, and pushing uke into offbalance - taking an incoming opponent and driving them into the ground.As for ...

2nd-day soreness…and 3rd… and 4th…
2008-03-19 14:03:05
In Exercise Physiology school we learned about delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) – fatigue and pain that comes hours-to-days after exertion (and is not caused by lactic acid). We often called it “day-after soreness” but as I got a little older (into my late-20’s) I realized that it really seems to happen not the day after but the second-day after – thus the term, ‘second-day soreness.’ Now, in my late 30’s, I have noticed it lingering a little longer and the other day, Rob pointed out that it might be turning into ‘third-day soreness’ because of advancing age (thanks, Rob)..I’ve had an instructor talk repeatedly about how when you get into your 60’s you will regret thoughtless movement for a week! ...

3% error – bias or random error?
2008-03-18 14:50:56
A teacher once told me that the greatest professional musicians in the world still make about 3% error - despite an infinite amount of practice. That is, they mis-play about three notes out of every hundred. If you look at Tegatana no kata, it has between about 70 and 100 steps (depending on how you count it). This implies that there will always be a few missed steps each time you do it even after you have practiced it for years. Thus there will always be something to work on in this exercise..Something to look for is the difference between systematic error (bias) and random error. When you spot one of those mis-steps, are you making that same mistake repeatedly or was that just a fluke? Systematic error is (perhaps) more shameful for the expert but it is by far the easier type of error to fix. Errors that occur at random are hard to pinpoint, much less fix. Errors that you make repeatedly the same every time are pretty easy to modify, but to fix a random error you have to re-tool your ...

Ritual
2008-03-18 14:50:26
A quickie question for y’all: What are some examples of things that you do in your martial art practice that don’t particularly serve any pragmatic, functional purpose – you just do it that way because that’s the way it has always been done? ...

My Take on Colin's 'My Tekki...'
2008-03-17 02:40:37
I hate to rub it in, but y’all missed out! A while back Colin Wee of the Traditional Taekwando Blog offered his readers a free copy of his kata DVD, “My Tekki On It.” (Here's the 1-minute teaser trailer) Unfortunately for y’all but fortunately for me, I was the only one who responded, so I got the free DVD and I have to say - it is outstanding..On his DVD, he shows a wide assortment of bunkai for Tekki, illustrating how this single kata could, as Choki Motobu put it, be an entire self-defense system. Tekki has always been my favorite of the Karate kata because of the variety of ultra-practical self-defense application – but what Colin illustrates on this DVD is the fact that Tekki by itself could be the core of an extremely good karate-do or jujitsu system..I enjoyed all of Colin’s applications that he demonstrated and he only scratched the surface of the potential of Tekki, but I also wanted to comment that I see the practice of Tekki perhaps a little bit differently than ...

Aiki practice and a cool knife video
2008-03-17 02:40:37
Aikido with Rob and Keltegatana with emphasis on the goofy-foot pivots and turns in the second half of the exercisehanasu with emphasis on synchronizationchain #1We talked about aikido having about four major failsafes - strategies that you fall back on when something is not working. They include:disengage and move awaymove behind ukehit uke in the facesynchronize with uke to limit his potentialRob is having some cognitive dissonance trying to reconcile his knife-based knowledge (which is quite good and quite aiki - but just a different training methodology) with our aikido. He called it comparing apples to oranges. I called it getting stuck on the warmups to the point you never make progress. I don't know if we resolved it but I think it might be better. I don't think he isn't buyng into the aikido, but that he is having trouble reconciling how the two sysems seem to build up to the same thing through different paths..We also talked about an interesting knife method that seems pr ...

Thursday aikido
2008-03-17 02:39:38
We had no 5AM class this morning - Rob had a test to study for.. Kid's judo with Gavin, Whit, Mason, and EmmaWarmup, ukemi, spider-crawling alternated with big falls (teguruma) with a spotterOsotogari uchikomi "by the numbers" sets of theee throwing on the last rep and trading partners. Whit was doing especially good on the osotogari, and hammered Gavin once. Gavin tried to whine about it but then started laughing.Osotogari into kesagatameUphill escape from kesagatame. Mason was majorly out-doing the others on this escape with an excellent bridging action.Crawling manAiki with Ricktegatana emphasizing balls of the feet and short, conservative steps.hanasu #1-4 emphasizing the feeling of release.partner evasion exercises using release motions to evase and brush off lunges.suwari kokyuho (kneeling freeform pushing exercise) ...

Last night's judo
2008-03-17 02:39:38
Kids' judo with Gavin, Whit, Mason, Knox, Emma, and Quinwarmupukemi - we're practicing their ukemi set (fwd roll to standing, face fall, left fall from plank, right fall from plank, backfall) in proper order in preparation to demo it to their parents at the end of the season. We also practiced sidefalls from deashi with me as spotter alternating with laterals across the mat.osotogari uchikomi sets of three throwing on the third.newaza transitions from kesa to mune to ushirokesa and from ushiro kesa to tate to ushirokesa on the other side.crawling man randoristanding randori to the first fall with each player staying out until the entire class had done randori with him.Somehow my students have gotten the idea that grabbing the opponent's legs is the thing to do, but they charge with their head down and often get smeared because of it(see the third iteration here), so we finished the class working on proper technique for shooting into a leg pick (level change, lunge, back knee touchdown ...

Blending and ukemi
2008-03-17 02:34:41
Aiki with Patrick M. and Kel.Warmup with particular emphasis on ukemi. We don't do a whole lot of ukemi during the winters but its about spring and it's time to get back into ukemi. It is very hard, if not impossible to develop superb aiki without throwing all the way into the ground and taking the falls yourself too. You simply have to feel both sides of the relationship all the way through the techniques.Tegatana emphasizing shizentai (natural upright posture) and closing the hands to protect the fingers.Shichihon no kuzushi with emphasis on getting rid of the discontinuities. In this exercise it is both partners' responsibility to blend intelligently throughout the thing. The ukemi on the end is a natural extension of the blend in the beginning.Nijusan hon kata #1-10 with more emphasis on uke blending into falls and tori throwing into the pins at the end. Gedanate was working particularly well tonight and we explored it from aiki, kime (karate), and ju perspectives. Kel was doing ex ...

5am training
2008-03-17 02:30:17
Judo/aiki with Robfootsweep to control deashi & kosoto from outside cross grip, normal grip, and 2-sleeves gripreleasing (R1 &R2) into cross grip into osoto or deashi or kosoto or wakigatameSankata tachiwaza empasizing that each technique can be treated just like a chain of checkpoints rather than a kata of specific steps. This makes the technique smoother, gentler, more flowing, and more robust. ...

A helpful handful: aigamaeate
2008-03-17 02:29:20
Consider the similarities between aigamaeate and aikinage (known in aikikai as iriminage). They are really the same technique - or perhaps you could say that aigamaeate is a form of iriminage. Here is a handful of helpful hints - some of the things I work with my students on.Often in practice, aigamaeate is done as a more direct entry and abrupt atemi, whereas aikinage seems more flowing and roundabout, but either technique can be done either way. Try aigamaeate from a backing-around situation when uke interrupts your tenkan and tries to turn back in on you.Because aigamaeate and aikinage are about the same thing, all the helpful handful for aikinage apply to aigamaeate too. Where there two techniques really diverge is in the relative height of tori as compared to uke. A taller tori will often find it easier to strike over uke’s arm, while a shorter tori will strike under uke’s arm. Takng a palm to the chin from a short tori sliding upward along your body can be one of the wor ...

Exclusive Interview: Mike Martello
2008-03-17 02:26:04
Mike Martello is Director of the Wu Tan Federation of Belgium, co-teaching with the Wu Tan Organization in Taipei Taiwan. Having been studying and teaching martial arts for over twenty five years, Mike has taught and performed in Europe, Canada, South America, Taiwan and across the U.S. He is a nationally and internationally ranked competitor in Chinese martial arts (gold, silver, bronze medalists, 86-88, 90-92 and 94-2000 U.S. Nationals and International Competitions).Recently awarded the Taiwanese Kuo Shu medal of achievement for his work in Chinese martial arts, Mike continues to travel and study Chinese Martial Arts in Taiwan with Grandmaster Wang Chieh, specializing in Yue Jia San Shou (Yue Family Style), Ba Bu Tanglang (Praying Mantis), Bai He Chuan (White Crane), Joint Locking (Chin-Na), Tai Chi, Push Hands (Tuei Shou) and Shuai Jiao (Chinese Wrestling).Patrick Parker: Some of my readers have told me that you were the most amazing martial artist that they'd ever gotten to person ...

A helpful handful – Tegatana no Kata
2008-03-17 02:25:10
I have previously published a list of 100 terrific things to try when practicing our first footwork exercise, Tegatana no Kata. I have also published some video (I know it’s not very good video) of the exercise here and here. Following is some elaboration on a handful of helpful hints that we have been working on most recently. .You want to be weight-bearing on the balls of the feet. Specifically the balls of the two most medial toes of each foot (the big toe and the second toe). The heel and the outside of the foot is slightly brushing the ground and helping you to balance on the two long, strong levers on the medial side of the foot. If you try weightbearing on the outside of the foot you will lose power and you will notice a tendency to roll the ankle outward, which is practically the only way that it is possible to sprain the ankle. You are trying for a dynamic posture that is balanced around a central norm of shizentai, that is, a normal, upright posture. Your feet should be sli ...

Sad and senseless
2008-03-16 14:27:21
Last week Nathan published a post on making sense out of senseless violence. Now it's my turn..This morning, a man entered the Regions Bank office in downtown McComb (my hometown) and killed an employee and a customer. He kidnapped his ex-wife and fled south on Highway 51. He killed his ex-wife and threw her out of the car in Fernwood, continuing south. My mother-in-law was driving at the time and saw him turn into our neighborhood with the passenger door of the car hanging open. He turned again, drove down to the Cemetery, and shot himself, later dying at the hospital in McComb. Four dead within minutes in McComb..For the news stories, look here:Enterprise JournalEJ story with more details the next dayWAPT Jackson video coverageFamily in ShockDeadly DelayShooter made threats ...

Submission grappling in McComb, MS
2008-03-16 03:32:00
Doggone it! How is it that I missed this event that was apparently hosted right here in McComb? I wonder if Madison Wrestling is putting on this event on a recurring basis? ...

Ninja invisibility
2008-03-15 02:25:39
A while back I wrote that we had practiced “ninja invisibility” during that particular class. That’s not the sort of invisibility like in Hollow Man, where light passes through you. Rather it is a phenomenon that happens when you are moving in a proper, aiki fashion with uke. What happens is uke tends to lose track of you and to be unable to reorient easily. There are roughly three skills going on in this phenomenon.Evade toward uke, passing through the narrowest part of his field of vision. Evading away from uke keeps you in the widest part of his field of vision. By moving into uke as you evade it is easier to get into shikaku (uke’s ‘dead angle’ or blind spot).Don’t grab and hang onto uke. If you do he can easily orient to you. Use your arms as feelers (Mississippi-speak for antennae) instead of end-effectors. Deprive uke of stimulus if you don’t want a response.Synchronize your motions as closely as possible to uke’s motions. Motion in every direction – up, down ...

1-2 counters 1-2-3
2008-03-14 02:54:12
Judo with Whit, Knox, and QuinWarmuposotogari cueing off of uke putting a foot forward - every time uke gets a foot forward, tori throws osotogari (which they are calling the "1-2 throw").osotogari as a counter to taiotoshi. At the last tournament, all the kids were throwing taiotoshi (the "1-2-3 throw"), so I have been working with Whit and company on how to turn and reap the leg for osotogari.While Whit was practicing osotogari on me I was practicing the R1/R3 gripfighting patterns on him. ...

Dog attacks
2008-03-14 02:47:49
Here are a couple of videos about dog attacks. The first one about how different types of large dogs make best use of their natural attributes to bring down a man-sized victim. In the second video a policeman has to defend against a large dog and does a pretty good job of keeping the monster off of him until his partner can taze it. How would y'all respond to this sort of attack? What would you do the same or differently from the cop in this second video?.UPDATE: Nathan at TDA has a thread on dog attacks that goes well with these videos. Check it out.Dojo Rat discusses the topic here and here. ...

Scam Targeting Martial Arts Instructors
2008-03-13 13:25:23
There is currently a scam e-mail making the rounds, this time targeting martial arts instructors. Yesterday, dozens of the instructors in our organization got the same email, as follows:Hello, I am Mr Rhodes Cremas. I contact you on Dojo training.Well my Daughter (Jullie) is coming to stay with her freind in North America for 2 months and i want you to help me teaching her perfectly. So Note: my Daughter Jullie is just a beginner, so please kindly teach her well. Also kindly let me know your charges cost per lesson,inorder for me to arrange for her payment before her travel. Please Advise back on 1. The cost of an hour lesson. 2. And payment method ( Let me know if you will accept your payment by check) I will be glad to read from you soonest. Best regards, Mr Rhodes Cremas. This is apparently a variant of the Nigerian check cashing scam that is so prevalent - so watch out. Don't give this guy your personal information and certainly don't cash a check for him. ...