Northern Wind

I haven't given this blog a single thought in four years or so, but recently I've been feeling the urge to dust it off. The name "Northern Wind," by the way, is inspired by names and terms used by my teachers. It all started, I believe, with Karl Geis Shihan's "A Book of Twelve Winds — An Aikido Master's Life Strategy." Kita Kaze — Northern Wind When one of his students and one of my teachers, Chuck Caldwell, started his own dojo, he named it Windsong, which I assumed was inspired by Geis' book (somebody out there correct me if I'm wrong). And when the dojo as a business entity formed an LLC, it used the name "12 Winds, Inc." Then, after one of Caldwell Sensei's students, and another one of my teachers and good friend, Nick Lowry Sensei took over Windsong, he eventually formed a new organization which he called Kaze Uta Budo Kai — "Kaze Uta" being Japanese for, you guessed it, "twelve winds." Now, si...

Okay, ukemi isn't really a new cardio craze—but why not? I remember when I first started aikido years ago, just prior to my 20th birthday. I was a good 20 or 30 pounds overweight (I'd been that way since hitting puberty), and made no other lifestyle changes other than attending aikido classes 3 times a week. I remember the ukemi practice we did at the beginning of every class kicking my ass. Fall down, get up again, fall down, get up again, fall down, get up again. Backwards, forwards, sideways... I think I lost 10 pounds or more in the first several months just from that! The problem is, the older I got, and the more advanced I became, the more I started "leading" classes instead of "doing" them. Ukemi practice was gradually replaced by sitting around, watching everyone else, drinking coffee and giving input when needed. And I'm paying for it. My lifestyle in general has slipped and I'm probably in the worst shape of my life (and that...

Based on my own training over the years as well as observing the training of other students, it seems like there is sort of a three-step progression that occurs. What I Am Doing? When we first start out, our focus is mainly on our own bodies. We learn what our feet should be doing, what our hands need to do. We practice our positions, memorize certain choreography, learn terminology, get accustomed to a new culture. For the beginner, it's actually okay that they don't necessarily have kuzushi or off balance, that their timing is off. Build the plane first, then fly it. Defend It's also a time when we focus on what to do when we find ourselves in the midst of conflict, which is to say, defending ourselves, just staying alive. What HE/SHE Is Doing? Once we get the hang of all that, we can begin to think about the meaning behind it. When I do a given technique with all the appropriate footwork and hand positions, what is that supposed to do to uke? Sure, up u...

Sooo, some of you may have seen the recent fight between Ronda Rousey and Alexis Davis.  If you haven't, you can watch it in it's entirely below. Don't worry—it will only take 16 seconds. In the judo world, Ms. Rousey has served as something of an evangelist of the art (not so much in word as in deed), dominating her competition with trademark judo techniques, from hip throws to her bread-and-butter submission, juji gatame. Case in point: during this particular bought, she makes very quite use of ogoshi straight to kesa gatame to end it before she can even manage to break a sweat. Which is great. Hurray for judo, and all that. Here's the thing. This example actually troubles me a bit. As long as your interest in judo is solely sport-oriented, then never mind, you probably needn't concern yourself. But if you look at judo in any measure as a viable form of "self defense" you may be in for a rude awakening—or, get put to sleep as the case may be....

So the subject of atemi came up recently. Atemi, of course, refers to striking, punching, smacking, bitch-slapping, whatever. Ignoring for a moment the first five techniques of randori no kata / junana hon kata, we're talking about moments in other techniques (mostly in koryu kata) in which tori takes the opportunity to bop uke before moving on. The student of modern aikido should understand that it did originate, after all, from arts that were designed and practiced by samurai—professional warriors, whose job it was to kick some serious ass. Now, for the most part, punching or kicking didn't do a whole lot of good when dealing with an opponent wearing armor (hence the predominance of joint locks, throws, choking, etc.), but samurai were occasionally called upon to deal with violent situations while dressed in their civvies, so why not add the proverbial insult to injury by cracking a rib before you pin him and politely separate his head from his shoulders. But Ueshiba ...

The kata Owaza Jupon has always been a unique one in my mind. It feels sort of out of place, thrown in there between junana hon kata and all the koryu kata as an afterthought. I'm sure I'm not the first one to wonder why exactly. And from what I can gather, it's not a very common kata either, even within other Tomiki schools (mostly American ones, it seems). Which means finding more in-depth information about it is tricky, and what I can find is often inconsistent. But this is what I know so far about why it was developed, or what we can learn from it: Who it came from Owaza jupon was apparently developed by Hiroaki (Riki) Kogure sometime in the 1950s, who taught in the US for a few years in the early 70s. More movement It seems that much of the basic Tomiki aikido training coming out of Waseda University was typically exercised with a static uke. So, in an attempt to create a more dynamic situation, Kogure pieced together some techniques that demanded mo...

Howdy, folks. Been a loooooong time, I know. Imagine I wrote about the usual excuses, and let's just move on to what I've got on my mind, shall we? Okie-dokie... So last month, I had the opportunity to teach a few sessions of our kangeiko, or winter training session. I went... well, not like I'd hoped, truth be told. I was assigned four morning sessions. The first morning had a decent number of people show (about six, enough for three pairs), and I got to start delving into the topic which I had chosen for the Friday and Saturday morning sessions, which was aikido jo dori (defense against a jo). In Tomiki aikido, for some reason, we really only deal with weapons in koryu dai san kata and again in roku kata, and that's pretty much it. I don't know about other Tomiki schools, but ours has never spent much time aside from that on it. But I've run across a lot of other interest ideas from the broader aikido world that I thought would be fun to explore. T...

If you study any modern Japanese martial art, you are no doubt familiar with the concept of "do." It's most often translated as "way" or "path," which makes for a very handy and versatile metaphor for the long, wonderful journey that is budo . If, then, the study of a martial art (or really anything) can be likened to a path, what does that path actually look like? To me, it takes on different forms as you progress. A paved street When you first start your study of an art, and for some time afterward, the path will probably look like a paved street . That road has been paved by the many who have come before you, who have traveled this exact path a hundred thousand times. It's a solid foundation, and it's objective is firm. There are all kinds of signs and maps to help you along your way, to guide you in the right direction, also designed by those who arrived long before you. Failure to follow that guidance will likely get you lost...

So, I've talked a bit about my experiences with "burn out", particularly why it tends to happen , and what to do when it does happen . The last dimension of the topic I wanted to touch on was: How do you prevent burn out from happening? Well, in a word: relax, man. Pace yourself As tempting as it may be when you're really into your art, I would advise not going to every single class and every clinic, like I did. Pace yourself, champ. Budo is, as they say, a marathon not a sprint. There are people who exist as living exceptions to that, of course; there will always be those rare few who seem destined to do this stuff as their primary purpose in life, but you need to brutally honest with yourself whether or not that's you. And for many, that may take years to figure out. Avoid major life events Okay, I'm kidding. Obviously, you can't avoid major life events, expected or not. So to that end, you might as well just accept that they will come an...

A question came up the other today about the difference between the words "tenkan" and "tenkai" which I think gets confused at times. As far as I understand it... Tenkan 転換 breaks down as: 転 suddenly, quickly   換 change, alter, substitute and together 転換 as convert or divert You might think of it as changing direction suddenly, or diverting uke's energy. In aikido, it refers to a turning movement (tenkan ashi), usually 180 degrees: Tenkai 転回, however, breaks down like this: 転 suddenly, quickly 回 turn, rotate, revolve and together 転回 as revolution or rotation In much of the aikido world, it refers to a form of movement, what we commonly call a "hip switch", where you turn 180 degrees but without moving our feet (we do it in the Walking Kata, but there it's called "ude goshi gaeshi" or arm-hip reversal, which frankly is probably more clear): Both tenkan and tenkai are part of what's called tai sabaki or ...

Most of us, at some point in our training, will encounter some level of "burn out." In may case, it may even happen a number of times. The other day, I wrote out some thoughts on what could possibly cause it (at least as far as I'm concerned). Today, I thought I'd offer a few thoughts on what has helped me deal with it. What do you do when burn out happens? This may sound crazy, but let it. Whenever you get hurt or sick, your body has ways of telling you something is wrong. Whether it be pain signals or fatigue, your body is trying to tell you to slow down, that something just ain't right. In fact, I came across a study once that showed arthritis can be directly caused by—not just exacerbated by, caused by—severe anxiety and depression. The brain is essentially crying out for help any way it can! So feeling burned out is probably your body's way of saying, Hey, something ain't right . Or, for the more poetically inclined, life it out of bala...

It doesn't seem to matter how intensely interested a person is in studying his or her martial art of choice, all of us, at some point or another, come face to face with burn out . Now, "burning out" can range anywhere from a small sort of fizzle—in which your interest dips, or your body is just plain worn out so you take a brief vacation for a week or two—all the way to a complete and utter implosion, where you give up entirely on the art and never set foot in a dojo again. I myself, have gone through several burn outs, so you might say I'm something of an authority on the subject. Fortunately, in each case, the burn out was never so bad as to prevent me from returning. I took months, even years off, but (so far) have always come back. So what is "burn out" exactly? Why does it happen? What do we do when it happens? How do we prevent it from happening? Over the years, I've developed a few ideas, and this post is the first of three on the subject....

In time, earth fades, leaving only the wind. These are the techniques which feel so much lighter to uke, unlike earth, and are so ephemeral and difficult to see, unlike fire. These are the techniques which often send uke flying, such as kote gaeshi , kubi guruma , or sumi otoshi . There is a moment of faint connection between tori and uke, but then it's gone again. Wind neither strikes like fire, nor holds like earth. It brushes against the skin lightly, here, then there, then over there. This is an element that astounds younger, newer students. Consequently, he can at times begin to believe in his own "magic," indulging in his new role as mentor and sensei. He can also fall in love with the sound of his own voice, philosophizing ad naseum to a room full of captive, weary students. Wind is open. While fire and earth tend to focus on what's in front of them, wind is constantly moving, aware of everything around it, yet fixated on none of it. Wind's ...

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 t...

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 mo...

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 .

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...

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.)

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". No...

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 we...