The Shadow does!

I saw someone's shadow tonight, approaching, and it helped avoiding some injury...

No, no night attack. Someone was approaching a street corner without looking where she went. Light as I am, I still think the impact would have toppled her, and she might have gotten hurt. But I saw her shadow approaching.

Some meters earlier, a discarded flexible steel pipe had pinged my attention ("That could hurt"), sometime later, a bo st... sorry, a discarded broom staff next to a container (and they say training with bo is not useful!), and they I reached a hood that collects discarded furniture on Tuesdays...

And yet you'll find those who tell you awareness is paranoid, or weapons defense useless, or...

Well, awareness did save someone from injury (either her or me... or both; doesn't matter). Awareness means I didn't step unto the pipe and sprained my ankle. Maybe someday being wary of rubbish will save me a headache. I don't know.

But it's basic. And it's the kind of skill that can lead to many smiles. The grateful parent when you ask if the teary kid is okay, the bank note someone dropped without noticing, the person you help with the trash because you realize she's overwelmed and the blasted container won't open properly...

But no, let's stick our noses into our mobiles and text everyone how paranoid those people into self defense are. Never mind the approaching truck.

Take care.

Knowing yourself

In theory, MAs are a path to self knowledge. I seriously doubt it, very seriously.

I fact, I don't much believe the "Do" part in most martial arts. CAN it be used for such? Oh, sure. But if you think that someone who's raced the Dakkar doesn't know himself, hasn't reached a maturity in "Do" that many martial artists only imagine, then you're seriously off track. Marathon runners have more Zen than most high level dans. Solo mountain climbers risk their lives with samurai abandon. And so on. In non physical endeavors, painters, tea masters... And most of those don't add a "Do" to their name and end up with something useful after several hours of practice. Martial artists don't.

Many (both of those espousing "reality training" and those following the "Do") can't even defend themselves from a wet paper bag.

So , neither spiritual neither practical. What's missing?

That self-knowledge, maybe?

I just saw a video of a Kaju instructor. And I kept thinking... "Well, not quite. She doesn't quite decide what principle of movement she wants to use and keeps wandering around... Moves too much... Well, if she polishes that, then she could be..." And then I found an interview. 6th dan, director of two branches in a federation.

She's not going to get better. Not if she's reached all that at that level of practice and shows, smiling and satisfied, in the interview.

Now, she's an easy target, obvious. But... How many times do martial artists fall into that? A senpai commented to me some years ago that some character flaws were easier in the veryest of "Do" schools, because you wouldn't be hit back. In boxing, however, being a cretin had consequences. For starters, most instructors wouldn't risk you.

So, are MA good for self knowledge? Only as good as you allow them to be. As you invest on them to be. It doesn't come for free.

And, sadly, possibly the majority of those who approach the MA want a free lunch. No such thing, guys.

Which is, of course, why most of those go away. Still many remain. And they reach a teaching certificate.

Sigh... You can only guess at the quality of their instruction, and what loops their pupils will have to go through if they want to surpass the master (and they'll better).

Take care.

Circular drills

I was watching a documentary yester night (The Bladed Hand). While the opinions in the doc have some strong pitfalls, it's a worthy one, interesting. Would NOT train under some of these people if they paid me for it, but the rest...? Man, they're good.

Now, I think the teaching value of survival is mostly forgotten, and might help explain why the previous generations is so damn good. And I still think that the teaching proficiency itself of many (some of them legendary) teachers needs some work, but there's one thing FMA have that other arts don't emphasize as much.

The doc, at one point, basically says "FMA training has taken over cinema; if you've seen a fight, it's 90% sure it's FMA". Then it sort of extrapolates from there to MA training. I disagree. If anything's taken over MA it's boxing. But...

But the fact is that FMA have some interesting things in them. People get really attached to FMA drills, for example. You'll find people in every corner doing hubud or sombrada. Sometimes with no sense at all, no matter how you measure it. I think that's often a mistake.

The idea of drills isn't. In fact, a lot of arts have them. I can only speak for Japanese arts, but there are such drills there. Unending, partnered, fluid drills... that most instructors forget as soon as they grab the plane back to the West.

And I've been wondering, of late (since before this particular video), how to use the idea of circular, neverending drills in Kaju. Call it sombrada on techniques or hubud on our own "blocks", the idea is there, and it's really accessible. Why isn't it used? Why is most dynamic training I'm seeing a toeing into Boxing waters or some weird ideas on barroom brawls instead of a way to dynamize what you are already training.

Take care.

Bad boxing

Last week, at training, we put on our gloves.

Most of our system went right off the window.

I hate that. I hate that under the guise of learning how to cope with adrenaline we learn, badly, a system that's not our own (boxing, or kickboxing, depending). In... about 8 years in Kaju, I can count with a single hand how many times we've done some adrenal training on our own techniques (basic, kumite-like adrenaline, nothing fancy). "[the class' got] Not enough level" I was told for several years (until I quit asking). But, apparently, level enough for boxing. So, as I was telling a partner, we associate adrenaline with boxing we can't do while we associate Kajukenbo to a stroll at the gim. Not good, by far. It cheapens both systems.

I find it annoying, and worrisome. And my mind keeps trying o find ways around it. Might be finding some.

Take care

You're an object

At least, you're someone's object. And that reaction you're having right now? Emotional.

We assume, daily, that we're important. That we're not simple widgets. That we matter. Check Eric Flint's 1632 to see how unusual that mindset is.

And it's false. We other people continuously. These days, we live in gatherings far beyond what the human brain can grasp. Multi-million cities and metro areas, electronic relationships, mobility... And yet the mantra "every person is important" remains uncontested.

Despite proof to the contrary. Photoshopping top models to make them even thinner? Othering, both them and their admirers. Selling coffee that endangers lifestyles half way through the world? Othering. Buying it? Too. Almost every single "progressive cause" comes from a response to othering. Terrorism requires othering. So does a certain "progressive" mindset: He's white, ergo he's... (fill in the pet peeve) "All men are rapists". "Bring back our girls"? Othering.

What!? Yes. If someone in your family was kidnapped, would you forget about it when the hashtag faded? Or a friend's child. A coworker's? These events are used to trigger a certain tribal mindset: "we're one and we're good because we all care about this".

How you deal with it is your own choice. BUT if you're not aware of it you'll keep finding people you'll label as enemies when they simply don't care enough about you. That way lies madness (and blog posts and hashtags).

Take care.

Violence, a Writer's Guide

If you're aware of Rory Miller's book, "Violence, a Writer's Guide" it just got translated into Spanish. Possibly not his best known work, it's an impressive resource to get people acquainted with the realities of violence. Martial artists, cop's families and friends, cadets, politicians, writers...

Just in case you happen to know someone who'd be more comfortable reading it in Spanish.

Take care.

Critical thought is just so tacky

I was reading an online essay about Japanese swords, recently. By and large, it was decent. There was an off-the-cuff assertion, however... According to the author --sorry, closed the thing as fast as I could, and lost the bookmark--, tsuba (the handguard) were there, in opposition to European swords, not to protect against your opponents' blades but to protect your hand against slipping.

The dumb is strong on that one.

There are blades with guards designed to keep your hand from slipping into them. Check hunting and fighting knives. Those smallish guards, a bare finger high? Those are made to stop your fingers. European swords' guards? Which? The viking longsword or the schiavona? Because as Odin is my witness you're not going to convince me they work the same way.

And then, the tsuba in katana. Because they only stop the finger they need to be, alone in the whole blasted traditional swords [*], 8 cm circles of steel or hard bronze. Oh, sure, they become softer and flimsier as you get into the Pax Tokugawa... and into dueling.

But no, let's just drop our inverse 5 cents of stupidity debt. Tsuba are only there to avoid slipping into the blade.

Now, this was in a rather clear subject, something with rather obvious comparisons, documentation... Just imagine what you're being sold as Truth in things that are more difficult to see (combat in kata, psychology of the fight...)... and tremble.

Take care.

[*] My apologies: Chinese sabers can and do have something equivalent.