Do try this at home!

Among yoga practitioners there is the notion of a home practice. You might get to class once or twice a week, but ideally you practice at home every day, or -- more realistically -- on most days.

If you practice a martial art with solo katas (also known as sets, forms or patterns) -- such as karate or kung fu -- you can always practice those by yourself, but what about styles that rely primarily on partner practice: jiu-jitsu, judo, aikido etc.? Here are some ways you can practice at home:

1. Most styles have some solo elements: For example, in my jiu-jitsu classes most of the breakfalling exercises are performed individually (although as a group). Many of these require mats -- another obstacle to home practice -- but many do not. Try those ones at home. Benefits: These sorts of drills develop coordination and physical conditioning appropriate to the art.
2. Partner techniques can be practiced within an imaginary partner: You've practiced a technique class. Practice at home, but imagine your partner. In karate or kung fu the challenge is often to figure out the application of a solo form. In partner-based styles we can go the other way. You can practice against different-sized phantom opponents, invent combinations, etc. For my students I highly recommend practicing the eight movements of kuzushi in this way (video). Benefits: Improved fluency, strengthens the imagination, etc.
3. Partner techniques can be visualized without moving: This one borders on some forms of meditation, and can be practiced while standing, sitting in seiza, on the train, as a cure for insomnia. Visualize an entire technique, imagining the movements in as much detail as you can. Feldenkrais had a nice idea in his Awareness through Movement technique that we can steal: Practice an asymmetric technique several times in its right-handed version with an imaginary partner. Then do a few reps visualizing the left-handed version without moving. Benefits: Even stronger mental training. Improves your adaptability. Learn to transfer skills drilled on one side to the other with minimal physical practice.
4. Find the fundamental movements: Applications in the martial arts can be quite elaborate, but there are movements that come up over and over. By practicing with your imaginary partner these should become more and more apparent. Isolate them and practice them, visualizing the various applications. This kind of practice can start to look a bit like qigong. Benefits: Most of the above, plus gain deeper insight into your martial art.

Not quite what I mean, but impossible to resist:

Colin "Bomber" Harris wrestles himself

And furthermore ...

Making a go of this kind of home practice is a great step towards incorporating martial arts into the rest of your life. Doing a short session before work (or whatever) is a great way to start the day, and I personally try to run through (in my case) a hung kuen kung fu set a couple of times during my lunch break and again in the evening.

I'm not advocating hours and hours of daily solo practice, but rather 30 minutes to an hour, perhaps spread through the day. Not only is this a very physically healthy thing to do, it has meditative benefits, and will help you progress in your chosen martial art. It increases your "flying hours" and, if you properly engage your mind, questions should arise that can be answered the next time you go to class, through further practice (with a real partner).

Oh for the springiness of a flea or kangaroo!

The stretching that I do for martial arts is more about developing and harnessing the elasticity of the body than increasing my flexibility (range of motion).  For inspiration and understanding I look to our animal cousins, not the traditional five animals of kung fu -- dragon, tiger, leopard, crane, and snake -- but rather the flea (such as you might find on a dog) and the kangaroo ...

The flea and the kangaroo

Apparently fleas -- who can jump over 100 times their own body length -- can only jump so well because they have built-in elastic structures in their legs.  They don't use their muscles to jump directly, but rather to stretch -- much like pulling on a bow string -- and then the elastic snap powers the tremendous jump.  Source: The Flea, the Catapult and the Bow.

Another animal that uses elastic energy in dramatic fashion, this time for energy efficiency, is the kangaroo:

A red kangaroo

Kangaroos have large, stretchy tendons in their hind legs. They store elastic strain energy in the tendons of their large hind legs, providing most of the energy required for each hop by the spring action of the tendons rather than by any muscular effort. This is true in all animal species which have muscles connected to their skeleton through elastic elements such as tendons, but the effect is more pronounced in kangaroos.

There is also a link between the hopping action and breathing: as the feet leave the ground, air is expelled from the lungs; bringing the feet forward ready for landing refills the lungs, providing further energy efficiency. Studies of kangaroos and wallabies have demonstrated that, beyond the minimum energy expenditure required to hop at all, increased speed requires very little extra effort (much less than the same speed increase in, say, a horse, dog or human), and that the extra energy is required to carry extra weight. -- Source: Wikipedia.

Now: The human body, while not having the same degree of elasticity as the flea or kangaroo has a certain amount of elasticity in its muscles and connective tissue (ligaments, tendons, etc.) and it is possible to usefully harness this springiness both in day-to-day life, sports and martial arts.

A smattering of martial arts applications

In horse-stance punching beginners typically use their shoulder muscles to laboriously pu-u-u-u-ush out one fist and pu-u-u-u-ull back the other.  After 500 punches this is very wearing, but fortunately (or not) most people are more distracted by their sore legs to notice.  In time one should start to feel the stretch from the extended fist through the back and into the retracted elbow, and use the release of this stretch to help power the next punch and retraction, and to wind up the next stretch.

Similarly, a loud breakfall in part comes from the release of an elastic connection from the break-falling arm(s) into the back.  Beginners have wimpy break-falls because they are yet to learn to harness this connection, and instead rely (again) on their shoulder muscles.

Cutting with the bokken (Japanese wooden sword) is another good example.  When I took some kenjitsu classes my shoulders and inner arms became fearfully sore from over-use of these muscles. Recently -- after a long hiatus -- I picked up my bokken and tried to do it differently.   Having begun to notice the elastic connections between my arms and both the front- and back-sides of my body I now had some clues about a better approach.  By harnessing these connections I have been able to reduce the reliance on my shoulder-muscles when raising the bokken, and on my inside arm muscles to stop the downward cut.

Lastly, here's an awesome demo by sixty-something Chen-style taijiquan master Chen Xiaowang: 

You don't get that kind of proficiency from a short-course of self-defence!

Training the mind and body

So there you have it.  We all have the potential to harness our own elasticity, but first we need to recognize our own potential.  Next, it's handy to start noticing connections:  Where are the stretch connections in the body?  Which movements can (or could) use them?  Walking is a good activity in this respect.

And then there's the training of the body.  Suddenly stretching is less about increasing joint-flexibility and more about sensing and developing elastic connections.  This is worth reflecting on if you already do regular stretching, or hatha yoga.  Warm-up /stretching exercises such as you might find in a traditional kung fu or aikido class may also appear in a somewhat different light.

Acknowledgement

Besides my own training and exploration, I have been informed by Mike Sigman's approach to what he calls Internal Strength (see especially article #2: Connection).

Jiu-jitsu vs Aikido terminology and techniques

Aikido is a 20th-century offshoot of jiu-jitsu, whose core empty-hand techniques are -- unsurprisingly -- drawn from jiu-jitsu.

Since aikido terminology is standardized and widespread, it's useful for me to have a ready reference so that when someone starts talking about a particular technique by its aikido name I can quickly visualize a corresponding jiu-jitsu technique.

So here are some basic aikido techniques and the nearest equivalents in the jiu-jitsu system that I practice.

Ikkyō (aikido): Elbow roll submission (jiu-jitsu), elbow turn-takedown (also jiu-jitsu)
Nikyō: Side wrist throw, wristlock technique, bent elbow wristlock
Sankyō: Wristlock comealong, lifting wrist-flex comealong, corkscrew
Kote gaeshi: Basic wrist throw, metacarpal wrist throw
Shiho nage: Shoulder-lock rear takedown, shoulder-lock comealong
Hiji-jime: Reverse armbar

Each technique comes in many variations and diverse applications. However, in each case the jiu-jitsu and aikido "equivalents" that I have grouped together are all recognizably related, even though the principle versions differ somewhat in execution.

Mid-year presentations

I am just back from the mid-year grading presentation at our Honbu (HQ), where grading certificates were presented to everyone who passed a grade (or grades) in jiu-jitsu, judo or chinese boxing.

From our school, congratulations go to Lisa, John, Jeremy and Lejoe who all passed their respective gradings with flying colors.

Additionally, certificates of merit were awarded to David, Ashley, David and Connor, all of whom completed significant training and made excellent progress, but were unable to do their gradings this time round.

Well done, everyone!  

This was the most people I've had grade in one go, but if present trends are any indication, we should have an even larger contingent at the end of the year.

Just Married!

I haven't been blogging that much recently, partly because I've been getting ready for my marriage to another (more popular) blogger, PatchAndi, which came to fruition last Sunday.

Here's my beautiful bride, walking in with her parents:

We were married under a chuppah that Andi made out of kimono fabrics (inspired by my martial arts obsession and her love of the color red) ...

 ... surrounded by our respective parents ...

and our two gorgeous children.

An extensive party followed, featuring much dancing, eating, drinking, speeches, and more dancing.  It was all great!