Enter the Dragon!

Our second theme of the month -- we resumed in February -- will be beautiful breakfalls . Anthony demonstrates the side-breakfall warm-up exercise Breakfalls are truly the foundation of our system. In order to practice throwing techniques we need to be able to fall safely. While mats help, breakfalls allow us to dissipate the force of a throw by rolling and/or slapping the mat. We practice breakfalls as our warm-up and -- in the form of rolls -- to cool-down. I have previously written about some of the many benefits of breakfalling. Once practical benefit of knowing how to breakfall is that when you fall over (which happens to most of us occasionally) you are much less likely to break something. This is self-defence against one's own clumsiness. Beautiful breakfalls This month we will be aiming to improve the standard of our breakfalls - make them louder, more efficient, and -- through better form -- more beautiful. We will go through as many of the supplementary breakfallin...

From Carmen Matthews's Amazon review of Mastery , by George Leonard: Mastery is: The process where what was difficult becomes both easier and more pleasurable; Long-term dedication to the journey - not the bottom line; Gaining mental discipline to travel further on your journey; Being goalless; Realizing that the pleasure of practice is intensified; Creating deep roots; Knowing that you will never reach a final destination; Being diligent with the process of mastery; Your commitment to hone your skills; After you have reached the top of the mountain, climb another one; Being willing to practice, even when you seem to be getting no where; Making this a life process; Being patient, while you apply long-term efforts; Appreciating and even enjoying the plateau, as much as you do the progress; Practicing for the sake of practice; Winning graciously, and losing with equal grace; Placing practice, discipline, conditioning and character development before winning; Being courageous; Being...

Moshe Feldenkrais was a physicist and pioneering judo black belt (under Kawaishi) who invented what later became known as the Feldenkrais Method of movement education to fix his knees -- which he had wrecked playing soccer -- in the days before reliable reconstructive surgery. His books are fascinating and at times perplexing, but always thought provoking. Many of his students have written more accessible derivative works -- e.g. Hegge's " Running with the whole body " and Hanna's " Somatics " -- but for sheer depth it's hard to go past Feldenkrais himself. I recommend " Awareness through Movement " as the most accessible. Ruthy Alon shows what it's all about: Here's a quote that I have been puzzling over for a few years: "Find your true weakness and surrender to it. Therein lies the path to genius. Most people spend their lives using their strengths to overcome or cover up their weaknesses. Those few who use their strengths t...

Judo and Aikido instructor Patrick Parker blogs faster than I can read, and not only that, the quality is great. Thanks! I am creating this post as a mini-index of some of his teaching tips that I have either already applied, or intend to get to one day: General Organization Principle of the month Throwing techniques Practicing throws in response to particular partner postural events Groundwork randori Change the rules to encourage flow Food for thought Josh Waitzkin interview : Chess, Taijiquan, and BJJ John Perkins : Review of "Attack Proof" Tai sabaki in karate : Fabulous exhibition of fluidity and evasion Summary of Feldenkrais Principles I am sure that there are many other gems in Patrick's back catalogue; I'll note the one's that especially inspire me as I uncover them.

In commenting on a nice article over at Mokuren Dojo -- Heads up: Drills ARE kata -- I made the following observation: Broadly speaking there are two poles to training: kata and randori. If it's pre-arranged, it's kata. Otherwise there must some uncertainty (i.e. "ran" or chaos) so it's randori. And it is not just true of the martial arts. Other disciplines also show this division. Take music : Classical music is primarily pre-arranged; jazz is more improvised. But it is not entirely clear-cut: A classical concerto usually has a section -- the cadenza -- where the soloist gets to show-off with an improvised solo. Conversely, there are jazz standards that jazz musicians improvise around time and again. Take theater : Plays are usually written down and brought to life in productions, but in impro(v) there is no script (really!) and invention occurs on the spot. Again, the division is not absolutely clear: The expression "the show must go on on" c...

Last week I had four new people turn up to try out a class, three of whom I allowed on the mat, and one I asked to watch. With hindsight I should have reversed the ratio. Two of the guys that came on the mat were clearly interested in a more competition-oriented experience, and I was able to suggest some other classes that would probably suit them better. Happily, my class seems to be going through a transition from very small to a thriving smallish group. I hope that people continue to find my class, but there are limits to how fast I can grow it. Also, for some -- especially those who want or expect a primarily competitive experience with lots of randori, sparring, or rolling -- my class has little to offer, and this should be just as apparent from watching, as participating. While in the past I was keen to get numbers up, it seems that I am now experiencing the opposite problem. So a new policy is needed: Until I have a good chat with a prospective student and determine to let her...

Unprecedented bushfires have affected my home state of Victoria, Australia, since last Saturday. I live in the capital city, Melbourne which has been largely unaffected, but like almost everyone else I have friends and family who have had narrow escapes. Unfortunately, many have not been so lucky. Over one-hundred-and-eighty people are confirmed dead with estimates that this will rise to over 300. Today I was saddened and shaken by the news that a family that I know -- a mum, a dad and two children (only a few years older then my own) -- perished while defending their home. What to do? Like most Victorians we are donating money, in our case through the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal . In addition Andi is donating patchwork quilts to the destitute. We are looking into other ways that we can help. I urge all Australians -- especially Victorians -- to donate generously, and if possible to also help by donating goods, personally volunteering, and offering shelter to those rendered homele...

The writer and academic Debashish Chatterjee once asked Mother Teresa how she had been able to do so many great things in her life: At first she looked at me quizzically, as if she was trying to figure out what I could possibly mean. Then she responded by saying simply, "You cannot do great things. You can only do small things with great love." From Senge et al., Presence: Exploring profound change in people, organizations, and society , p139.

Last night we had our first class at Monash Caulfield for 2009, and it was fun. Three regulars returned (including Ash in his new colored belt -- congratulations!), two apologies were sent, and two newcomers came, joined in, and got off to a flying ;-) start. Our new mat-cover The first notable thing that has changed is that we have a new mat cover -- at last ! This is an enormous (and valuable) canvas sheet that we use to keep all our judo mats together during training. It's an important piece of safety equipment because it prevents toes from getting caught between the mats, and stops the mats from slipping apart. Spreading out the new cover for the first time The previous cover -- manufactured out of painters' drop-sheets by myself and my-beloved -- had been lost by the university while reorganizing storage areas at the beginning of last year. While making do with a borrowed replacement that was too small, I spent a ridiculous amount of time last year negotiating compens...

A refreshed Sensei, a new training night (Wednesday), a new mat cover, a new year! The theme of the month is kuzushi : Get ready to get stuck in. What could be better?