Now that the Mayan prophecy failed us (just like everyone else's apocalyptic news so far) it's time to saddle up and think about where I want to go next year... what things I've been postponing which I should get around to doing (not house chores, that crap just never ends and it will need a blog of its own).
First on my list is to finally make it to my friend Jeffrey K. Mann's Susquehanna University Martial Arts Symposium. I have been trying to attend for the last three years and every single time something prevented me from doing so... Jeff is a great guy and I hope to join him and others in this event that sure looks like a lot of fun.
Next is to get myself prepared physically for the Daddis camp's Tactical Urban Defense program; this is a good program for people who are not inclined to follow traditional martial arts programs and are looking for basic self defense skills. It was highly recommended by a police officer friend and it is close to home. Check out the video below, I am not sure I could finish it now at my age and physical condition, so it's back to serious endurance training :
Third on my list is to get more aikido practice; it has been several years since I attended a dojo and not sure why but I want to earn that hakama... I can only attend once a week for an hour and a half class but one thing I've learned about the martial arts is that it pays to be patient, so I might be ready for testing by 2020.
Other things include getting more kata practice on Chinto and Kusanku, and spend more time on the heavy bag out back (I wish I could get one at the work gym, would make things much easier). And reading, lots more reading and analyzing to improve my training curve (very curvy at the present).
Who knows? The zombie apocalypse might still become a reality, it pays to be prepared LOL. The training and experience will be great and we could all look forward to some fun in the upcoming year. Happy New Year everyone!!
I heard something the other day in an old time radio show, "there is always time for manners!" We often get so caught up in the daily hustle that it's easy to forget how to interact properly with others. Everyone has feelings, desires, goals, aspirations, dreams... too many of them go unfulfilled but still it is no excuse to let that harden us or treat others as if they are not there. I had a reminder of this at a most unlikely place.
On my way to pick up the children from school I noticed the van was low on gas, so I headed to the hilltop gas station. I had just woken up (I love working nights, but leaves me but five hours of sleep a day if I'm lucky), and did not feel particularly cheerful or awake... as I pulled over to the gas pump I rolled my window down and waited for the attendant. The attendant, an older Indian fellow that used to live in the same apartment complex we did many years ago, came to the window and said "Hi, how are you?"
Honestly, I wasn't paying any attention to what he said, even who he was. I answered his polite inquiry with "twenty regular, cash." Most days that is probably the only words that pass between anyone and a gas attendant at a service station... no recognition of the person at the pump, of the individual that for all purposes we barely find worthy acknowledging.
The gas attendant retorted in a dignified tone "I asked, how are you? Not how much gas you want."
That reply made me feel quite ashamed... something so simple yet quite profound, and it took what most people might think of as a veritable "non-person". How am I any better than anyone to act so callous and uncaring? To forget the basic dignity of any person is an easy path to alienating ourselves from empathy towards others, and is the first step to the thought "us versus them". I apologized for my rudeness, and chatted with him while the gas was pumped about the people still in the complex, persons that had moved out, our families... I thanked him for his kindness, and went on my way.
You can learn from anyone; every one has things to teach, if we keep ourselves open to accepting the lessons with a humble heart. Something to think about next time you start becoming irate over someone working a register at a long shopping line, or start talking about what YOU want before hearing what another person is saying.
One sure thing about life: it's full of surprises. I mean, we mostly go through our day expecting the same things to occur every time: wake up at the sound of the alarm, use the bathroom, have some breakfast while getting the kids ready for school, then head off to work... well in my case it's backwards since I work at night and sleep during the day but you get what I'm saying. People as a rule follow patterns in most everything they do, and whether they realize it or not fall in step with such patterns almost all the time. The illusory security folks feel while involved in their daily meanderings is a way for them to obscure the fact that at any time the normality of their day can be upset at different levels, from the mundane to the life-changing. I was reminded of this during a family weekend outing a couple weeks ago.
The Battleship New Jersey on the Camden waterfront is a popular day trip location in NJ. It was a wonderful day outside, and decided to take the entire family on the River Line train as it is inexpensive and you don't have to worry about driving or parking (which is ridiculous as anyone who knows the area will tell you). Traveling during the day is reasonably safe as there are random police checks between stops and the conductor can contact the cops and have them waiting at any location. Seats are ok for the short trip and cars have AC/heat. No problems at all, right?
The River Line stop at Roebling, NJ
On our way to Camden our train suddenly stopped; the conductor informed us that another train would be along in 30 mins to get us to our destinations and apologized for the inconvenience. Not a big deal: the older kids (19, 13 & 12 yr olds) had their iPods and my 8 & 10 yr old each had their Nintendo 3DS, so boredom complaints were curtailed. We had moved to the front cab as I prefer being closer to the conductor in case there are any unforeseen incidents requiring the conductor to get involved. Good thing, as one person in the rear cab threw up from "the heat" (it wasn't that hot) and another older man decided to piss in the passageway between the cabs. Great start to the day right? But we made it to the waterfront without any further issues.
The family having a snack break before going to the ship
We had a great time at the Battleship; lots of great exhibits, kids loved the big guns and helicopter, it was awesome family time. We headed on back to the River Line stop for our return trip, and were on our way home within minutes. Everyone was a bit tired, but happy and looking forward to having dinner once we get off the train.
We were about two stops from our destination when an unsavory looking fellow threw himself on the seat across the aisle facing me, took off his shoes (no socks on) and put his feet on the empty seat in front of him. The passenger next to him stood up immediately and cursed at the man, threatening to have the conductor call the cops as he walked away to another seat. At this point I am the closest person to him (my wife and daughter to the right of me on the seats against the train wall, while my other kids were on the seats behind us with their older brother).
The inside of a River Line train cabin; the guy was right where the guy with his legs crossed is sitting.
The person in question was a black male, wiry, weight in the area of 180 and short of six feet in height. He was wearing cargo pants, a red t-shirt under a olive drab light safari style jacket. He had been wearing white and red lace up basketball shoes but was now barefoot. During the process of removing his shoes he dropped a rock of crack and makeshift bowl, which he collected hastily but not furtively and placed back in his jacket pockets, replacing them with a zippo lighter and a small roach between his index and middle fingers. After the other passenger moved away from him he leaned forward towards me and said in a low voice: "Do you need to be schooled?"
So here I am, faced with the possibility of an incident with an individual who was very recently engaged in drug use (not an assumption as I had seen the paraphernalia and drugs) in a confined environment, somewhat agitated, with all my family mere feet from him. Not a good tactical scenario any day; random attacks on trains are not unknown in the Philly/Trenton rail transit system. Check out the video below:
Man gets attacked with hammer on train, right in Philadelphia
So I remained wary but non threatening, and said to the guy "No, thanks; I already went to school a long time ago." The man kinda thinks of my reply a second, then leaned back into his seat. I followed suit and leaned back a bit to create some space and got my backpack on my lap to use as a shield if needed. My wife at this time decided to get my daughter and herself to a different seat, yelling at him for his behavior in front of children, while the man retorted with some barely intelligible apology. My wife told him to shut up, then sat down. I remained in my seat so I could block him from advancing past me if necessary, already planning to stomp on his bare foot while using the backpack to ram him into the seats if he got overtly aggressive towards my wife. But he just sat quietly for the remaining seven minutes until our train reached our stop. I stayed on my seat until my wife got the kids out of the train first, then I stepped out while keeping watch for the troubled passenger in case he made the same choice of train stop. We made it to our van without a fuss, and drove home shortly.
The After Action Report
Just like in the past, my mind started going through the events of the day, looking for things I might have done differently, where I could have done better. Such evaluations are routine in law enforcement, military and security as the means to identify problems, suggest solutions and compile lessons acquired for further improvement to be applied to training, tactics, strategies and skill development. Usually such reports are analyzed by peers or superiors who then make recommendations and implement changes as needed; lacking other sounding boards, a person should be as honest as possible when examining any incident so as to gather relevant information and make useful changes or adaptations aimed at improving our odds during any similar incident in the future.
So, what could I learn from this?
1- While I made a point of moving us to the first cab on the way to the waterfront, we got into the last one on the return trip because it was the first one we reached and we were trying to get the kids sitting down as they were a bit tired from the walk from the ship. When you feel tired or have others to take care of and want to get them comfortable so you can rest yourself you might take shortcuts you usually wouldn't take. By being farther away from the conductor I would have had to rely on other passengers to alert him of any trouble, increasing the response time of assistance if needed.
2- When the man first dropped his drugs I should have made my wife and daughter move away to another part of the train cab rather than stay next to me; he would have to get past me to reach them but what if he had a handgun inside his coat? Could I have stopped him in time? I am pretty quick and I was less than three feet from him, but would I have been able to subdue him if he turned violent and turned on them or my other children (they were occupying the seat rows behind me and to the left)?
3- When the man spoke to me I made a point of answering his question politely and in a conversational tone. I have learned from past experience that this often tends to confuse a person who is angry, intoxicated or under the influence of drugs; they might expect an angry reply or being cursed at, but not an actual civil response. It mellows out some folks from a previously combative mood and it tends to defuse the situation, or gain me some seconds while his mind decides what to do next.
4- After my wife and daughter had moved to a safer location I could have changed seats myself. Why didn't I? Mainly I had analyzed the situation at hand best I could, and resolved that the man, while somewhat obnoxious and obviously impaired from using drugs, was no immediate threat. We would be at our stop in a few minutes, and from where I was I felt reasonably certain I could interdict his approach before he could step into the cab area where my children were sitting in. But feeling sure you can handle things does not always mean you will be able to handle things... I made a tactical choice that seemed acceptable at the time, but had he suddenly decided to go rampant on the train I had left myself no choice but to face him one on one to keep myself between him and my family.
5- Traveling on the train precludes having any serious weapons on you; NJ has very strict weapon laws and no concealed weapon permits. You better have a good reason for a 2" blade folding knife to be found in your possession. In such instances where travel is necessary one must think of improvised weapons and using the environment as a weapon. He might have had something concealed under his jacket (although I don't believe he had a handgun, he might have easily carried a blade) so I intended to use my backpack as a shield to smother an intended draw if it came to that. There were also metal railings, hard back seats and plexiglass windows to be used creatively.
6- Once it was time to exit the train, I made sure I remained where I was until my family was out before I moved from my seat. Even after gaining the platform I kept watch on the train exits as well as the platform itself; maybe the guy had friends joining him and while he had not called anyone I was still operating at high yellow alert and would be doing so until everyone was inside the van and we drove away.
7- There is a lot of information being collected in a very short time frame during an incident like the one I described, whether we realize it or not. Like a good interrogator who brings out details from witnesses that didn't know they possessed them, we can train our minds to sift through the feelings, thoughts and observations occurring in almost real time so they can be used in the moment, rather than be reflected upon later when they might not make any difference. For it is in the now that they have the most impact and are most useful.
So, a lot to think about, all from an unexpected event in an otherwise very normal thing for a family to do on a Saturday summer day. It could have been worse, for sure, and I am glad that there was no need for violence or confrontation. But it is a good reminder that we must not become overly complacent and should remain vigilant and alert, even during our daily routines and travels. Because you just never know...
Been a while since I posted my thoughts here... life ebbs and flows with duties and distractions but some things stick to one's mind like flies to flypaper. Among these is the ongoing discussion on various forums regarding bunkai and its purpose, its usefulness and how some arts adhere to it while others forgo it entirely. Interesting topic indeed...
So, what is bunkai?? From Wikipedia: Bunkai(分解), literally meaning "analysis" or "disassembly", is a term used in Japanese martial arts referring to the application of fighting techniques extracted from the moves of a "form" (kata).
Some kata have another layer of application that is taught using an Oyo Bunkai, an "application of the kata in ways other than the standard bunkai." Different practitioners will learn or discover alternative applications, but the bunkai, like the kata, varies based on the style and the teacher.
So bunkai could be interpreted as the study of how any move, or series of moves, within a kata could be used in a fight. Whether any of the moves extrapolated from the study of the form are to follow a specific order, direction, speed, or be guided by situational awareness of the interaction between the attacker and defender is not clearly defined historically, though. References to oyo bunkai as being non-standardized versions of "standard" bunkai should not distract us from the fact that almost all bunkai, even commonly accepted techniques, was not codified in any way or sanctioned by anyone other than individual organizations or ryu in an effort to provide some understanding of principles within kata and provide a template useful in analysis and interpretation for students to follow in their study of kata.
There are several things I take into account when extrapolating bunkai from kata, which I mentioned in my friend Dan Djurdjevic's Traditional Fighting Arts Forum :
1- What body weapons are being used, do they follow their natural motion
and strike target areas appropriate to their makeup (right weapon
against right target)? 2- Are the techniques efficient, do they provide maximum return for energy being expended? 3-
Are they simple enough to be retained with a minimum of training time?
Complicated maneuvers tend to go south when involved in high stress
combat, so techniques or sequences should follow the KISS principle. 4- Do they offer varied levels of lethality, can they be used to maim/kill and/or subdue? 5- Can they be used against a stronger/faster/younger attacker effectively? 6- Does the technique offer predictable, repeatable results?
These guidelines help streamline the process of sifting good, sensible techniques from questionable or outright dangerous applications that would not work outside the dojo (which is where it's at, if you get my drift). Not 100% fool proof, but if one takes the time to critically study a series of moves in a kata, whether as a series of paint-by-the-numbers steps or as principles of application within moves in no specific order, you can usually experiment and discover if it works, when it works, how it works and if you are lucky why it does.
Is bunkai really necessary? The debate on the need for bunkai is one that flares up regularly in martial arts circles. Some folks on the MMA camp regard traditional forms training and bunkai as obsolete and out of touch with the realities of self defense... others believe that karate cannot be understood or applied in a civilian defense context without it. Even within karate there are schools that have extensive bunkai collections while others have little to none, relying instead on codified self defense technique scenarios, kumite and one/three-step sparring to learn basic distancing, positioning, footwork, stances and timing in techniques. Let me point out some interesting articles and discussions going on the Web at this time:
No bunkai in Wado Ryu karate? A great discussion on Ian Abernathy's site that could be applied to any style of karate.
Forms: their core purpose by Dan Djurdjevic as a response to Sanko's article above makes a great case for the true purpose and utility of forms regardless of style practiced.
The Why of Bunkai Charles Goodin wrote this extensive article about bunkai for CFA magazine in 2006.
As you can see, the question on whether bunkai is useful or not to karate practice depends on who you ask. If you explore bunkai as canned responses to unlikely attacks you will probably end up feeling someday that MMA training is more realistic and effective than some ancient technique series from a 100 year old kata... on the other hand, the traditional model of teaching martial arts, with or without bunkai, has been around for a long time and produced many fearsome fighters so it should not be discarded lightly either.
Grand Master Tatsuo Shimabuku showing bunkai, circa 1963
Isshin ryu karate was the first martial art I trained in with some bunkai studies. The origin of these technique interpretations from the various kata was never clear; my teacher did not really know and I would be willing to bet his instructor did not either. Yet he made it clear that as long as the applications worked against a serious attack he did not much care. In his line of work (corrections) he had no time for complicated techniques with dubious results, and his insight had a great influence on how I would approach bunkai studies in the future. I'll admit that not all bunkai I've seen from various Isshin ryu sources makes sense; as with all things, personal interpretation plays a big role in how we understand things. Maybe whoever came up with some bunkai I find questionable knows something I don't... or maybe my own experiences do not resonate with what I was shown. This is the conundrum facing anyone trying to make sense of bunkai within kata.
Which is better?
An example of bunkai from Naihanchi Shodan
Three step sparring as practiced by ITF TKD
Judo's Goshin jutsu kata
What method builds better defensive skills? A subjective question to be sure, and one in which more than one prospective student of combative arts has become mired in... for the very ambiguity of bunkai interpretation sometimes works against proper understanding and application of kata. Compared to three step sparring or self defense technique sets, which clearly show at its most basic forms useful defensive counters and responses, the bunkai techniques often can seem contrived and lacking in realistic application. First time students can be impressed by a cool looking technique that drops an attacker in a couple of moves, and fail to grasp the subtlety of what kata and bunkai study can teach them...
All the methods in the videos above are means to learn basic positioning, footwork, distance, balance, timing and technique in a controlled environment; while some might seem more dynamic or more applicable to real world situations than others the goal remains the same. The one thing in my opinion that makes a case for bunkai study is that at deeper levels the technique itself is not as important as the principles it embodies. Moving away from static repetition of choreographed technique to actual free flowing use of any appropriate response in unscripted fashion is possible when the principles in kata bunkai are truly understood. There is no longer "if A happens do B which equals C"... the three step sparring and self defense technique sets are great confidence builders but should be viewed as building blocks to "liberate" ourselves from the "classical mess" as Bruce Lee was fond of saying. If you have a love for the arts in more than a passing way kata and bunkai can certainly provide a lifetime of study with the added benefit of an ever growing chest of possibilities for technique and skill development to enhance your karate.
Some arts such as Krav Maga and Kali have no preset patterns of technique, but rather use flow drills and attributes training to instill combat capabilities both in empty hand and weapons use. The goal is instinctive, unscripted response to any attack without pause or thought... their methods can provide a faster learning curve if street self defense is the main objective. Shorter path to the same mountaintop in my view...
Kali empty hand techniques are simple and effective
Different scripts, no wrong ending
I have experienced all of the training methods discussed in this article, and with proper guidance any of them can be used to develop fighting skills needed in self defense. The issue is that I don't see any of them being able to accomplish useful civilian defense training on its own; they are parts of an incomplete whole. Now, if your interest in martial arts is geared towards fitness, self improvement or as a means of physical meditation maybe repetitive kata practice or endless sambo matsogi with a partner will provide what you seek. However, to make martial arts have martial intent more than just moving around simulating karate movements is needed. A progression from basic skills development by sparring and kata practice to study of fighting applications in bunkai, coupled with flow drills and scenario training can go a long way to effectively prepare a person for civilian self defense. Not all people will use all methods, usually concentrating in one type more in line with the training paradigm of their chosen system. If, however, karate is the path you've chosen then you owe it to yourself to delve deeper into bunkai analysis of your kata; your art will be richer and more effective for it.
"In primary freedom, one utilizes all ways and is bound by none, and likewise uses any techniques or means which serve one's end. Efficiency is anything that scores."- Bruce Lee
"The techniques should not be practiced simply so they can be performed in the kata. Since karate is a fighting art each technique and movement has its own meaning. The karateka must consider their meaning, how and why they are effective, and practice accordingly"- Shigeru Egami
This is just great stuff from a traditional karate legend!! The way old time karate masters learned how to develop and generate power for real fighting applications...
Check out this video, not sure if he is being serious but if he isn't he has the most sincere look on his face as he explains the use of this little known ninja tool.
I think I would take it more seriously if he had taken the time to find the real tool rather than a futon...
