Sunday, August 2, 2009
Like all martial arts there is a weapons piece, Sensei Joe teaches his a bit different than the standard martial arts class, there's a different class all together, strictly for weapons training. And like other styles of martial arts, normally you need to be a certain belt rank before you're even allowed to touch a weapon, in Shuri Te, he allows white belts to join, which is a bonus for me because it gives me more time to perfect things.
Yesterday was the first day of my weapons training class. I wasn't sure what to expect. Years ago I practiced a form with the sai (three pronged sword) and at that time I thought I was fairly good. Sensei Joe started this weapons class with some basic bo drills (a 5' long bamboo stick, which when you used properly is a very deadly weapon), we did the blocking drills, repeatedly... over and over, and then the punch drill. Sounds easy enough, right? WRONG!!!! For the most part, the blocking drill was simple. But to execute a one punch sequence with the bo, it's actually NINE different techniques. All flowing together to make a beautiful artful piece of flurry movements. I must say, I really enjoyed this. Not only did I feel my muscle memories getting use to the feel of the bo but I also had one helluva workout. We did the punch sequence over and over and over again to get the flow going. Then Sensei thought I was ready to incorporate all of it into the practice kata/form. Even though I was very, VERY rusty. I felt empowered.
After about an hour of constant whirling of the bo, Sensei knew I had enough of the bo, so he switched it up with the sai, my old friends. After !0 years of being away from them, I must say I was EXTREMELY rusty. Sensei had refreshed me in some easier techniques because he saw I was struggling with making the movements flow naturally. We did some basic handling of the sai, then he said, "These are just an extension of your body, don't fight them, let them continue your body's natural movement". He reminded me when you practice karate, you aren't stiff and tense, you have loose movements before you strike. "Take off your white knuckled grip and just let your body's momentum do what its going tto do with your weapon". After releasing some of the control of the sai, I found I was feeling the tension leave and my technique started to actually look artful.
Using the sai and bo isn't going to be easy. I have muscle memories of both of these weapons from 10 years ago, back when I had a completely different body than the one I have now. Sensei realized that we needed to do some "conditioning" exercises, just letting the weapon fall across your body, letting it hit with a bit of force, but teaching your body where things were, he told me to stand in front stance, and let the weapon fall slightly as I performed a technique and letting it fall where it fell. I got a few small bruises but not much. This teaches me where my body is while still concentrating on my technique.
Sensei Joe has immense patience. He said, not only do I have a new student, I have one that has previous experience in a similar art form, a student that soaks things up like a sponge. He's having a hard time distinguishing how far to take me in my lessons. Every student has a learning curve, as he says, but with me, it seems that learning curve isn't where it should be.
It's nice to have a Sensei who encourages you so much. I am so happy I found a place after 10 years of searching.
Like all martial arts there is a weapons piece, Sensei Joe teaches his a bit different than the standard martial arts class, there's a different class all together, strictly for weapons training. And like other styles of martial arts, normally you need to be a certain belt rank before you're even allowed to touch a weapon, in Shuri Te, he allows white belts to join, which is a bonus for me because it gives me more time to perfect things.
Yesterday was the first day of my weapons training class. I wasn't sure what to expect. Years ago I practiced a form with the sai (three pronged sword) and at that time I thought I was fairly good. Sensei Joe started this weapons class with some basic bo drills (a 5' long bamboo stick, which when you used properly is a very deadly weapon), we did the blocking drills, repeatedly... over and over, and then the punch drill. Sounds easy enough, right? WRONG!!!! For the most part, the blocking drill was simple. But to execute a one punch sequence with the bo, it's actually NINE different techniques. All flowing together to make a beautiful artful piece of flurry movements. I must say, I really enjoyed this. Not only did I feel my muscle memories getting use to the feel of the bo but I also had one helluva workout. We did the punch sequence over and over and over again to get the flow going. Then Sensei thought I was ready to incorporate all of it into the practice kata/form. Even though I was very, VERY rusty. I felt empowered.
After about an hour of constant whirling of the bo, Sensei knew I had enough of the bo, so he switched it up with the sai, my old friends. After !0 years of being away from them, I must say I was EXTREMELY rusty. Sensei had refreshed me in some easier techniques because he saw I was struggling with making the movements flow naturally. We did some basic handling of the sai, then he said, "These are just an extension of your body, don't fight them, let them continue your body's natural movement". He reminded me when you practice karate, you aren't stiff and tense, you have loose movements before you strike. "Take off your white knuckled grip and just let your body's momentum do what its going tto do with your weapon". After releasing some of the control of the sai, I found I was feeling the tension leave and my technique started to actually look artful.
Using the sai and bo isn't going to be easy. I have muscle memories of both of these weapons from 10 years ago, back when I had a completely different body than the one I have now. Sensei realized that we needed to do some "conditioning" exercises, just letting the weapon fall across your body, letting it hit with a bit of force, but teaching your body where things were, he told me to stand in front stance, and let the weapon fall slightly as I performed a technique and letting it fall where it fell. I got a few small bruises but not much. This teaches me where my body is while still concentrating on my technique.
Sensei Joe has immense patience. He said, not only do I have a new student, I have one that has previous experience in a similar art form, a student that soaks things up like a sponge. He's having a hard time distinguishing how far to take me in my lessons. Every student has a learning curve, as he says, but with me, it seems that learning curve isn't where it should be.
It's nice to have a Sensei who encourages you so much. I am so happy I found a place after 10 years of searching.
No comments:
Post a Comment