Gari & Barai

If uke refuses to move, load weight into his leg.

Root it like a tree, then cut it down.

If he moves, extend his step. 

Clear the foot as if sweeping away the leaves. 

 

Osoto gari & Kosoto gari

You can reap his leg from the outside, with either a large or small reap.

Ouchi gari & Kouchi gari

You can also reap his leg from the inside, with either a large or small reap.

. . . . . . .

Osoto barai & Kouchi barai

You can sweep his leg from the outside, with either a large or small sweep.

Ouchi barai & Kouchi barai

You can also sweep his leg from the inside, with either a large or small sweep.

. . . . . . .

The idea of treating a "gari" throw like a "barai" might be unusual in the judo world. But they're definitely worth exploring. It all depends on whether he has weight already on the leg, or if it's weightless. Learn to take advantage of both situations, this yin and yang. Then learn to create both situations.

Controlling the spirit

When Muso Gonnosuke retreated to the mountain shrine to meditate on his defeat to Miyamoto Musashi, his subsequent revelation led to the development of a new art based on a short staff called a jo.  The heart of that inspiration has become the motto of Shinto Muso Ryu:

丸木を以って水月を知れ

maruki o motte suigetsu o shire

Using a round stick, know the solar plexus 

And if you practice the art today—whether the full, traditional Shindo Muso Ryu jodo or Seitei Jodo—you will no doubt notice that many of jodo's techniques and movements within the kata are based on that very idea: control the solar plexus.

For me, fully grasping this one single precept was one the first important step in learning the art. As a new white belt, it all looked to like a bunch of individual techniques, where you swing the stick about in all kinds of ways, you do this if the sword guy does that, and so on.

Jodo took on a whole new clarity when I realized that so many of those movements were not to random or arbitrary, but were all expressions of that one vision:

To to control uke's body and his movements, control the solar plexus.

But sometime later, I took an another step.  I realized that there were a great deal of techniques and movements that were aimed not at the swordsman's torso, but rather his eyes.

Whether this took place after I had thwarted uke's attacks, or before he had even begun when the mere thought of attacking had just crossed his mind, there was the jo. Not striking, not even touching, but making a definitive statement nonetheless. And that's when it occurred to me:

To to control uke's spirit or his intentions, control the eyes.

Indeed, I noticed this progression existed in any of the arts I had ever studied (such as Shotokan karate) or study currently (aikido and judo). As a new student, you are taught and you must focus on the body, the physical or tangible. The physical is easier and quicker to grasp, and if tested in reality on the proverbial "street" it will go a long way to saving your skin.

Then, when those techniques begin to become ingrained after some time, we move on to something more intangible, the mind or the spirit.

A friend of mine tells the story of a manager he encountered once who routinely used psychological intimidation in order to get others to do what he wanted. However, when this man turned his sights on my friend (a rather advanced aikido and judo practitioner), something different happened. All my friend said he did while this obdurate manager spoke was smile and imagine throwing the guy with osoto gari over and over.

Without a singular movement, the manager could sense very quickly that he was no longer the predator but had himself become the prey. Needless to say, he let my friend be and moved on to pick on somebody else.

Just this morning I worked with one student hoping to earn his nikyu rank. We reviewed the first two movements from Seitei no Kata, Tsukizue and Suigetsu. His ability was certainly sufficient for his level, but I noticed immediately that as each one ended, he proceeded through osame (the process of putting away the jo) quickly and without much thought.

I think we forget, myself included, that while we are only using wooden weapons rather than steel in the relative safety of the dojo, we are still very much engaged in that Great Game of Life and Death. Just because uke (or uchidachi) has seemingly surrendered, it does not mean we can relax, not for one moment.

Because if we're not controlling the body, and we're not controlling the spirit, we will get cut.

That being said, to control the spirit or intentions of uke, it's not enough to point a stick in his face. It's so much more than that. Just as I use my body to control uke's body, I must use my spirit to control uke's spirit.

Kyusho—Vital Points

I'm a graphic designer by trade, so occasionally I get the uncontrollable urge to redesign various bits of info pertinent to budo when I get a spare moment. Here's a reference chart of "kyusho" or vital points taken from Pascel Krieger's seminal book on Shindo Muso Ryu Jodo, "The Way of the Stick." 

Feel free to use this JPEG however you like. If you prefer a scaleable PDF, you can download it here.

Coming and going

I was watching a high level jiu-jitsu match on YouTube recently, and I noticed something. Something I suppose I should have occurred to me a long time ago—after all, as a judo man, I grapple too—but I guess it took me seeing it from the outside to notice.

And since judo matches rarely seem to end up on the ground (and when they do, it's not for very long), I've enjoyed observing watching seasoned grapplers do their thing.

Anyway, here's what I noticed, and this applies to grappling in general. Both parties are only interested in bringing the other guy closer. I know, you're thinking, "Doi! That's kind of the point of grappling, isn't it?" Bare with me...

Come here. Go away. Come here—no, go away. 

I aikido, there exists more of a balance. When uke tries to enter, welcome him in; when he tries to get back, send him on his way. In other words, when uke closes the distance, we go with it, typically ending up in some sort of control position, a wrist or arm lock. When he wants to get away, it results in a throw. There's a balance, a coming and going, a yin and a yang.

But in grappling, we seem to only be focused on one direction, the closing of distance. I always want uke to get closer and he wants me to get closer, because we both want to do things that require that convergence. The phrase "joining of centers" is a common one in judo, and applies to both standing and the ground.

But bothers me is that it's only one half of the equation. If uke is attempting to come in, great. We have answers for that. The problem is, uke knows that, so while he wants to get in, he doesn't want to get caught either, so when he senses danger, what does he do? Right—pull away. What do grapplers do? Hang on to him, and fiercely.

That's what the majority of that match looked like: two guys with tight, white-knuckled grips on each other, trying not to let the other guy do what he wants to do. And even though these guy were in phenomenal shape, you could see it was wearing their asses OUT.

So I'm left wondering, is there a way to grapple (or even in nage waza) that falls more in line with the "go with the flow" approach of aikido? When uke tries to enter, welcome him in; when he tries to get back, send him on his way.

I think so, I've just never looked at it that way. A couple of things that came to mind were sweeps and straight arm bars. If he's trying to move back, it seems like a good time to help him and sweep him in the process. When he's trying to keep me out or push me away, it seems like a good opportunity to snag an arm bar.

At any rate, it certainly something I shall be thinking about more and more.

Old school judo

Just thought I'd share this image I recently came across. I think it's kind of funny how everyone is working so close to each other and how one or two gentleman are wearing kimono and hakama. (Click to enlarge.)

The trouble with translations

I will be the first to admit that it's often a lot easier to refer to a technique or kata by it's corresponding number. "Number 3" is just easier and comfortable for an non-Japanese speaker to say than "Gyakugamae ate", and it's also a lot easier to remember.

But if you have fallen into that habit, I would urge you to take some time and learn the Japanese terminology. Not only that, but do a little research on it, because frankly, the translations we've heard throughout our training are not always all that accurate.

Take the judo throw seoi nage, for example. If you're like me, you've probably heard it translated as a "shoulder throw." But if you look it up, you'll find something a bit different. (FYI, the translation source I was most commonly is Denshi Jisho, supplemented by Google, Babylon and others like that.)

背負

It actually means something more along the lines of "to carry on one's back". Now, does that matter all that much? For me, yes. Calling it a "shoulder throw," to me anyway, sounds like the primary focus or action is on someone's shoulder, mine or uke's.

But I think most people are thinking of ippon seoi nage, where it does look a bit like the shoulder is more important, but even there ippon means something like "one" or "single" as in a "one armed" throw. Not me, uke; I'm using both my arms, but I'm only using uke's one arm to get him on my back.

The regular seoi nage, however, doesn't involve using my shoulder. Which means that to throw him, rather than using my hip as a point of contact or rotation, I'm carrying the guy on my back like a sack of rice.

Looking at a lot of instructional videos on how to do seoi nage, it's evident that folks are then trying to throw uke over their head. Which is just fine and dandy—as long as they're built your same size and they're not resisting too much.

But let's face it, as a people, the Japanese are much more physically homogenous than western cultures. In my classes, you can have a small guy, a tall guy, a really heavy guy, a stocky guy, a muscly guy....

So how do you throw a big dude? The answer I most commonly hear is, "Oh, you don't throw big guys with this." Well sure, if you try and throw a big dude over your head, then yeah, forget that! Great way to get a hernia.

And a guy who's fighting it? Well, that's why most tournament versions require tori to do a complete roll to get the throw (see the photo above), or they resort to a form of seoi otoshi, the so-called "knee-drop seoi." Or a tall guy trying to throw a short guy? Not gonna happen.

Now, imagine actually carrying a very heavy sack of rice on your back. And you can carry some pretty heavy weight on your back (and farmers of old often did)! If you had to set it back down, would you try to sling it up over the top of your head? Probably not. You'd most likely let it slide off to the side.

With that in mind, I don't have much trouble at all dealing with bigger or shorter guys. Do I get a nice big, beautiful, text-book flippy fall out of him? Probably not. But I've never really been concerned about tournament judo or earning points. If the guy's on the ground, my job is done.

What Martin Luther King Jr. Day means to me

To me—and this is simply my thoughts on the subject as of today—Martin Luther King Jr. Day is about so much more than just the relationship between white people and black people. It's even about more than just "racism."

It's about the seemingly instinctive impulse for one human being, or group of human beings, to consider themselves superior to another person or people, for whatever reason. And all kinds of reasons exist, even today: men believing they are superior to women; one nation believing they are superior to another nation; the young believing they are superior to their elders; the rich and entitled believing they are superior to the poor and uneducated; one religion believing they are superior to all other religions; this politcal party believing they are superior to the other.

I've seen people act with cruelty or indifference (and I believe ignoring someone is just as bad as mistreating them) for the most absurd of reasons: because they were born with a disability, because they have red hair, because they talk funny.

Worst of all, we often hold dear such dark and corrosive beliefs because we have convinced ourselves that they are in fact "correct" and justified, swearing up and down that they don't stem from our own fears and insecurities but are supported by proof or reason or a Higher Power.

"The principles of the other politcal party are to blame for all our woes. God sanctions my religion, but considers yours sinful. Other people are poor because of their own bad decisions."

No. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is about accepting responsibility for all of it. Me, individually.

As O Sensei once said, "As soon as you concern yourself with the 'good' and 'bad' of your fellows, you create an opening in your heart for maliciousness to enter. Testing, competing with, and criticizing others weaken and defeat you."

The relationship between whites and blacks was simply the most relevant, and deeply personal, example of the day through which Dr. King could preach his message. For Jesus, it was the relationship between Jews and Samaritans. The message is the same. We simply MUST learn to look beyond the things that make us different. We must fight not just racism, but fight to anihilate that natural tendancy within to lift ourselves above another for any reason.

“The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers." —Martin Luther King Jr. Strength to Love

We don't commemorate Dr. King today because his famous dream has been realized. Far from it; there is still much work to be done.

So for me, what Martin Luther King Jr. Day means is a day to stop and realize that when I assume that I'm not racist, when I'm positive that I haven't held anyone in a lesser regard—I'm mostly likely fooling myself. You and I can't just "turn off" millions of years of ingrained human behavior.

It is to me then a grave mistake to assume that Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a celebration for "someone else" simply because I'm white. That thought, in and of itself, separates humanity. I suspect that Dr. King's dream will have been realized when we as a planet have no need to even have a Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

Until then, we must practice. Every day.