Life lessons from the dojo
Oct. 24th, 2013 12:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eveglassSo, the answer to everyone's question of "When are you doing your yellow belt exam?" seems to be, "Monday." Good to know. I'll let you know next week how it went.
#92: Always follow a block with an attack
We were introduced to a concept in today's class called "sen" (initiative). It's more or less exactly what it sounds like: attacking with initiative. The corollary to "sen" is "go-no-sen." While I don't have a direct translation, "go-no-sen" pretty much means that when you block, you should immediately take the initiative and counter-attack. Which, when you think about it, makes a lot of sense. Once you've blocked an incoming attack, you've got to retaliate or you're just going to find yourself constantly blocking. I've definitely seen this principle at work when politicians talk ("That's not at all my position, but let me ask YOU a question") and when businesses try to compete with each other. In every case, you have to constantly be thinking, not just how you can defend yourself against incoming threats, but also how to threaten back against the person who wants to do you harm.
#93: Your off-side is a stabilizing force
One of the techniques we practiced tonight is called "hikite," or "pulling back the arm." If you've ever seen anyone trained in Japanese martial arts deliver a punch, you'll note that they don't just push forward with the punching hand but pull back with the off-hand, stabilizing it against the side of their body. When you're doing a kata without an opponent, you don't really get a sense of why this is important. The importance only shows up when you need to both deliver force and withstand force. Trying to punch with the back arm limp doesn't give nearly as much power as using the back arm as a counterbalancing force. And if your back arm isn't strong, you're much more likely to be pushed over by someone trying to destabilize you. I think this is an excellent metaphor for life in general: you can't just focus on pushing forward, you've also got to pay attention to keeping the rest of yourself stabilized and strong.
#94: Use your whole body
To further expand upon lesson #93, you are actually using quite a lot more than your arms when you're punching. A properly delivered punch should have the full force of your entire body behind it: hip rotation, solid legs, and so forth. In fact, there's a brief moment, at the final point of impact, where your entire body should contract so that all the power is transferred into the fist. We spent some time practicing this, sort of like the opposite of a before-bed relaxation technique: "Have I contracted my thighs yet? What about my buttocks? My arms?" It's actually kind of amazing which muscles you don't instinctively use. For me, while I was good about contracting my thighs and abs, I sort of forgot about my back and pecs until I was consciously thinking about it. And yet, it's important. It gives you more power. One of the homework techniques the sensei gave us was to practice this full-body contraction occasionally, just to get into the habit of doing it. Because if you're going to commit yourself to a movement, you'd better commit all of yourself so that it works right the first time.
#92: Always follow a block with an attack
We were introduced to a concept in today's class called "sen" (initiative). It's more or less exactly what it sounds like: attacking with initiative. The corollary to "sen" is "go-no-sen." While I don't have a direct translation, "go-no-sen" pretty much means that when you block, you should immediately take the initiative and counter-attack. Which, when you think about it, makes a lot of sense. Once you've blocked an incoming attack, you've got to retaliate or you're just going to find yourself constantly blocking. I've definitely seen this principle at work when politicians talk ("That's not at all my position, but let me ask YOU a question") and when businesses try to compete with each other. In every case, you have to constantly be thinking, not just how you can defend yourself against incoming threats, but also how to threaten back against the person who wants to do you harm.
#93: Your off-side is a stabilizing force
One of the techniques we practiced tonight is called "hikite," or "pulling back the arm." If you've ever seen anyone trained in Japanese martial arts deliver a punch, you'll note that they don't just push forward with the punching hand but pull back with the off-hand, stabilizing it against the side of their body. When you're doing a kata without an opponent, you don't really get a sense of why this is important. The importance only shows up when you need to both deliver force and withstand force. Trying to punch with the back arm limp doesn't give nearly as much power as using the back arm as a counterbalancing force. And if your back arm isn't strong, you're much more likely to be pushed over by someone trying to destabilize you. I think this is an excellent metaphor for life in general: you can't just focus on pushing forward, you've also got to pay attention to keeping the rest of yourself stabilized and strong.
#94: Use your whole body
To further expand upon lesson #93, you are actually using quite a lot more than your arms when you're punching. A properly delivered punch should have the full force of your entire body behind it: hip rotation, solid legs, and so forth. In fact, there's a brief moment, at the final point of impact, where your entire body should contract so that all the power is transferred into the fist. We spent some time practicing this, sort of like the opposite of a before-bed relaxation technique: "Have I contracted my thighs yet? What about my buttocks? My arms?" It's actually kind of amazing which muscles you don't instinctively use. For me, while I was good about contracting my thighs and abs, I sort of forgot about my back and pecs until I was consciously thinking about it. And yet, it's important. It gives you more power. One of the homework techniques the sensei gave us was to practice this full-body contraction occasionally, just to get into the habit of doing it. Because if you're going to commit yourself to a movement, you'd better commit all of yourself so that it works right the first time.
