Oh well. It was good while it lasted.

So my quest to storm the karate circuit has taken a drastic change of course. I had the unfortunate news that I will need to have surgery to replace a torn acl in my right knee.

I have known for four years that there was a small tear in the acl, but it recently tore again. The resulting damage has put my knee out of commission. 

I'm looking at doing the operation in June. Great orthopedist named Dr. William Schell will perform the surgery. 

The good thing is that I won't have to live in constant pain anymore.

More to come soon.

Oh, sorry about the lack of posts. Life has been busy. 

Shh. Do you hear that?

I found this when I visited Julieanne's blog "Be Inspired Today".

"A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin;

it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that a thousand so people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world...

He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at a inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musician in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?"

Do we recognize the jewels in our midst?

Do we rudely laugh them off?

Do we tolerate them just to make them go away?

Or do we recognize that they may be the one who can give you the answer to the question of a lifetime?

Are they the angel's that are sent to guide us, while we foolishly ignore thier guidence?

Will we wait until they are no longer among us and we cry lonely tears of sorrow wishing that we had only listened for one moment more? 

Listen to your Sensei and all of the teachers around you. Listen when you think you know it all. Even listen when you believe that no one can tell you anything or show you anything that you haven't already seen. It is from the darkness of black that we are born or re-born and to where we will all return. Your journey to black belt is a hard and long road.

In fact, it is where it all begins.

Train hard. Listen harder......

Read the Washington Post article.

Basic Stances

A note of concern. We have allowed the world to tell us that there are differences that matter. I'm taller so I'm better. You're stronger so you are better. We have become a fractioned Goju world. And while I am not saying that this is going to be a big "kumbya" moment, we must study our past and come to grips with it. Someone said "you can never know where you're going if you don't know where you came from." (If someone knows who said that tell me so I can give credit where credit is due). 

These are basic stances that we have taught and learned to date. Yet most are unaware that there are stances within stances. Slight changes and shifts in focus and intent can change form one stance to another:

There are two varieties of horse stance:

Kiba Dachi - Horse Stance: 

The feet are parallel and wide, weight is central and low, with the back straight and the knees and feet pointing slightly inwards. This stance is not used in all styles because of the strong tension is requires in order to keep the feet parallel and knees spread wide. This is the horse stance that USA Goju practitioners have been taught.

Shiko Dachi - Horse Stance : 

Same as Kiba-dachi but the toes face out at about 45 degrees. You have often heard us say that this is the "Okinawin" type of horse stance.

Sanchin-Dachi or Boxing/Three Battles Stance: 

The stance is fixed and tensed with one foot moved forward until the toes of the rear foot are on the same horizontal line as the heel of the front foot. The legs and buttocks should be tensed upwards, while keeping the weight low and the knees bent inwards. This stance has strong tension in the legs and is the basis of the kata Sanchin Breathing kata.

Zenkutsu-Dachi - Front Stance: 

This is a long frontal stance where the weight is mostly on the front leg. It has the exact same height as shiko-dachi, but the rear leg is completely straight at the knee and extended back. The front foot is placed frontal (toes facing forward), the rear foot is turned out 30 degrees, never 90 degrees as seems natural to newbies because this precludes any forward motion. The heel of the rear foot rests on the ground. Zenjutsu-dachi is one of the most common stances in kata. 

Nekoashi-dachi - Cat Stance: 

All weight rests on the back leg, which is bent. The rear foot is turned at about 20-30 degrees out and the knee sits at the the same angle. Only the toes of the front foot rest on the ground, positioned in front of the back heel at about the same distance as the front foot of moto-dachi. There is no weight on the front foot, and there is no bend in the ankle joint - front knee, front shin, and the rise of the foot (but not the toes) form a single line.

All In The Name

For many of us the names of karate techniques have had a confusing journey. This is especially true for martial artists from the US. Depending on where we were trained and what our lineage happens to be, we could have had a strong or weak translation of  stances, strikes, blocks, and kata. 

Over the next few weeks I will attempt to bring a bit of clarity to the nomenclature of Goju technique and kata. I am working on a few diagram type visuals to assist in these definitions. Look for a post soon.

It's Personal

Kata is a very personal practice. For years I believed that it should remain the same. Remain a sttic practice. We strived to keep the kata looking the same way as when we learned it. But time is the best of teachers (youtube helps a little too).

I remember back in the 1970's, there was a karateka who went to tournaments who had MS. He would go out and do the most amazing kata demonstrations. Mind you, he had little use of his feet and legs, and had to walk with two crutches. I never remember anyone saying that his kata did not look like everyone else's. Why? The answer is that it was the strength and, more importantly, the spirit he brought to the floor. His martial art belonged to him. He wore it like a friendly coat. It was not contrived. Nor did it seen to be made up so he had something to do that resembled martial arts. He was karateka. He was beautiful.

Kata is a very personal relationship that you have with ourself. Whether you do a hard or soft style of martial arts, it is the study of the nuances of kata that round out your development. It is the study of the origin and root of kata that give it meaning. The myriad of bunkai (application) for kata all depend on how you interpret the kata. Kata is a dance one has with one's self. It is "dancing like no one is watching."

Live in the moment that kata reveals to you. Live in the kata. Dance like your life depended on it. Someday it just may.

"I come to you with only Karate, Empty Hands. I have no weapons, but should I be forced to defend myself, my principles, or my honor, should it be a matter of life or death, of right or wrong, here are my weapons, Karate, my Empty Hands."

What are we?

Ever since attending a recent karate tournament I have been puzzled. What are we doing?  

As I watched the tournament unfold, I kept asking myself one question. What has our martial arts world become? Yeah, I understand the ideology of bushido. I understand the concept of samurai honor. But what I saw that day and at most tournaments doesn't resemble that at all. I asked one of my brother martial artist' what did he see going on? We agreed that we saw a lot of yelling and screaming and little substance. Form without substance. Then we asked ourselves "is this a martial arts tournament or a sports competition"? If it is a martial arts tournament where is the martial arts?  Kata has turned into one long kiaaaaaaaaaah. A guttural yell that has gotten so bad that it makes chi and kiah sound vulgar. I saw one kata where the competitor either screamed or growled on every single movement of the kata. Kumite hasn't faired any better. Kumite doesn't resemble kumite. Sport karate has turned kumite into a double slap match. Everything is thrown to the head. Nothing to the body. There's only three kicks used: lead leg roundhouse, lead leg hook kick, and a jabbing sidekick. 

Tournament rules have been so twisted  that the fight has become a game of tag (to the head). Or better yet, a game of who can dive across the mat first. You can't sweep. You can't grab. All you're left to do is swat at the kicks and throw the double slap. The points are awarded, not for the use of controled contact, but for anything that makes contact. 

In the under belt divisions they can't hit to the head. When they make to black belt divisions they are let loose to try and knock each others heads off. 

I was talking with an elder of the world of martial arts the other day about the state of martial arts. He said quite a few things. There were a couple that stuck in my head. 

"Sport karate has taken the art out martial arts of competition." 

While we were discussing competitions in general he posed this question: 

"If you don't do kata, and all you do is fight, what will you have when your days of fighting are over?" "Will you be just another washed up fighter with nothing but old "war stories" of days of glory gone bye?" "It is the study of kata that allows you to remain youthful and continue your training."

I am taking the step to stay as close to the traditions of old as possible. My focus is to guide kohai to be the well rounded martial artists. That all kumite come from the technique of kata. Teaching students that there can be no kumite if there is no kata. 

 

Where have we come from? 

Where has the martial arts gone? 

I know it's out there somewhere.

What do you think?

Leave a reply.

Do not remain silent.

Peace.

"I come to you with only Karate, Empty Hands. I have no weapons, but should I be forced to defend myself, my principles, or my honor, should it be a matter of life or death, of right or wrong, then here are my weapons, Karate, my Empty Hands." 

I'm joining Leo in making a personal commitment!

I am joining Leo Babauta and Zen Habits for his 

The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge

I am commited to doing yoga and meditation every morning for the next thirty days.

This commitment will help me start a great new (and positive) habit to enrich my life and training. 

Back on Track

After dealing with a horrible back issue, I'm back on track. I had a great workout this morning. We also had a fantastically informative class on saturday. Tracey, shard some info about an article written by Malcom Gladwell. In the article Gladwell discussed the "Rule of 10,000 hours". Here is an excerpt and the conversation Tracey and I had: 

"Or take the case of Bill Gates. Gladwell cites a body of research finding that the "magic number for true expertise" is 10,000 hours of practice. "Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good Gladwell writes. "It's the thing you do that makes you good." Gladwell show how Gates accumulated his 10,000 hours while in middle and high school in Seattle thanks to a series of nine incredibly fortunate opportunities ranging from the fact that his private school had a computer club with access to (and money for) a sophisticated computer, to his childhood home's proximity to the University of Washington, where he had access to an even more sophisticated computer. "By the time Gates dropped out of Harvard after his sophomore year to try his hand at his own computer company, "Glawell writes, "he'd been programming practically nonstop for seven consecutive years. He was way past 10,000 hours." Yes, Gates is obviously brilliant, Gladwell concludes, but without the lucky breaks he had as a kid, he never could have had the opportunity to fulfill the true potential of that brilliance. How many similarly brilliant people never get that opportunity?

I think it's totally relevant for our class. To break in down into chinks the kids (and we adults) can understand you could use some of these calculations:

• 10,000 hours of practice is the equivalent  of practicing 24 hours straight for 417 days - more than an entire year
• If you do karate 2xweek, for 3 hours per class, that's 6 hours and week. It takes 1,667 weeks, or 32 YEARs, without even one week off, to become an "expert." 
• The bottom line is that this is no joke. W have to have the desire to become experts at our craft and the dedication to put in the work necessary to achieve the goal.

A New Day

Well, we have a new President. We should all look to a new day. 

Sorry for the lapse in postings, I've been dealing with a few set backs (my back has been a mess). But things are looking up. Should be back to full work outs by the end of this week.

Knee braces, meditation, and being better

I've lost another 3 lbs as of today. Down to 201. My knew brace arrived yesterday. It was custom fit by J-K Prosthetics in Mt. Vernon, NY. Lynn did a great job. The support it's giving is just what I needed to move without feeling like my knee was about to buckle. 

As I sit riding the lifecycle I'm thinking about what it is to workout. What is your motivation? I've already explained my motivation. But what about for you? What is yours? I know what motivates my body, but what motivates my mind is more important. I'm not motivated by anger, or depression, or vanity. I'm motivating to be the best. To be able to show my villiage that if you put your mind to something you can do it. Whatever it is.

So, starting today let's meditate each morning or evening (which ever makes you happy). Take a few minutes to sit in a quiet area. Close your eyes and listen to your heart beat. Your may only be able to concentrate on one or two beats before your mind distracts itself. But keep trying. The number of beats will get longer each time you sit. Then one day you'll realize you've been sitting for minutes within yourself. 

Life gets better everyday. 

And for everyone in my class:

"We're better because we work harder".

Peace