After an exciting and energy consuming weekend, I am sufficiently recuperated to write this post.
You might ask why was it exciting? Well I got lessons on how to be invisible (hence I'm not there). You might ask again why was it energy consuming since I am learning how to be invisible? Answer: I also had to be stubborn. Some of you reading this will be nodding your heads furiously. You know who you are *wry smile*. Still don't know where I went? Please refer to my immediate preceding post. He he he.
I can't really tell you how much I enjoyed and benefited from the seminar, but it was really good for me. Zainuddin sensei put his focus towards the basics, refining the execution of techniques as well as the flow of our movements. There were much more that were taught but I am quite hard pressed to remember all of them. Should have brought my notebook with me.
I will not dwell in detail on what was taught at the seminar because it is something that requires continous practice. I understand what was taught but have trouble putting it into action. My face was always strained with one kind of emotion or another, fascination, longing, uncertainty, irritation, confusion and frustration to name a few. "Don't worry", says sensei, "it takes time." I am not exactly a student that catches on quickly and I have a tendency to scrutinize and dissect, which at times does not serve me well during practice.
The thing about being invisible is, as I understand it, to move out of the uke's direct vision when executing a technique. An attack is rarely done towards a person who is not in your direct vision therefore it makes practical sense to move out of his direct vision. Take the nikkyo ura for example. While performing the nikkyo we would tend to stand in front of the uke, who, if is co-operative would be on one knee before nage makes the tenkan to pin the uke. At least that was how I was doing it. Now let's say the uke decides to be stubborn. Technically while performing the nikkyo the uke can still attack you, like landing a blow to your torso or attempt a kick at your knee because you are standing in front of him. But if you are constantly moving into his peripheral vision, attacking you is not that easy anymore. To make that point clear to us, the demonstration sounded like this, "now, I'm here. Now i'm not. You see, I'm not there, I'm not there, I'm still not there" and boom! Uke is down. Apart from going "so that's how it is", my face also cringed from the pain I felt telepathically from the uke.
So I tried it out. While moving in order to remind myself I murmured, "I'm not there, I'm not there, I'm not there?" Then a punch lands on my stomach. Still there. Hahaha. Work on it Chui, work on it.
You get to be the uke too. On a seperate note, for myself as well as NTC, we always volunteer to be the uke when we are unsure of how to execute a technique. It is not an uncommon sight to see us rushing to do a katadori for eg. Hahaha. Back to what I meant to say. As an uke, in this seminar we were encouraged to be "stubborn" which translates to be un-cooperative. Generally as an uke you should be cooperative in assisting the nage to learn how to execute the technique and also for safety reasons. However the purpose here is to help nage refine the techniques in a sense that you apply some resistance and if the nage is doing it right he should still be able to performed the technique. Furthermore we are reminded to bear in mind that safety should be at the forefront when in practice. Resistance can be applied but not recklessly. We are all here to learn.
The bokken and jo were also used for training and application of techniques. We mainly practised techniques at kosadori and also did breathing and centre exercises. Sensei reminded us of the importance and effectiveness of kuzushi and the application of atemi in executing techniques while maintaining musubi. So much to learn!
I must say I was very intrigued, to say the least, on what was taught over the weekend. Not only that, but I got to know more about sensei. I think I can safely say that a teacher student relationship is slowly taking shape. I could still remember the first time I sensei. He looks so serious I said to myself, takut lah. But then it's just not me to hold back because of appearances. So now its all good he he he.
To sum it up, I couldn't have had a better time.
At the end every seminar my immediate question is "when are we going to have another one?". While waiting, I just keep training.
You might ask why was it exciting? Well I got lessons on how to be invisible (hence I'm not there). You might ask again why was it energy consuming since I am learning how to be invisible? Answer: I also had to be stubborn. Some of you reading this will be nodding your heads furiously. You know who you are *wry smile*. Still don't know where I went? Please refer to my immediate preceding post. He he he.
I can't really tell you how much I enjoyed and benefited from the seminar, but it was really good for me. Zainuddin sensei put his focus towards the basics, refining the execution of techniques as well as the flow of our movements. There were much more that were taught but I am quite hard pressed to remember all of them. Should have brought my notebook with me.
I will not dwell in detail on what was taught at the seminar because it is something that requires continous practice. I understand what was taught but have trouble putting it into action. My face was always strained with one kind of emotion or another, fascination, longing, uncertainty, irritation, confusion and frustration to name a few. "Don't worry", says sensei, "it takes time." I am not exactly a student that catches on quickly and I have a tendency to scrutinize and dissect, which at times does not serve me well during practice.
The thing about being invisible is, as I understand it, to move out of the uke's direct vision when executing a technique. An attack is rarely done towards a person who is not in your direct vision therefore it makes practical sense to move out of his direct vision. Take the nikkyo ura for example. While performing the nikkyo we would tend to stand in front of the uke, who, if is co-operative would be on one knee before nage makes the tenkan to pin the uke. At least that was how I was doing it. Now let's say the uke decides to be stubborn. Technically while performing the nikkyo the uke can still attack you, like landing a blow to your torso or attempt a kick at your knee because you are standing in front of him. But if you are constantly moving into his peripheral vision, attacking you is not that easy anymore. To make that point clear to us, the demonstration sounded like this, "now, I'm here. Now i'm not. You see, I'm not there, I'm not there, I'm still not there" and boom! Uke is down. Apart from going "so that's how it is", my face also cringed from the pain I felt telepathically from the uke.
So I tried it out. While moving in order to remind myself I murmured, "I'm not there, I'm not there, I'm not there?" Then a punch lands on my stomach. Still there. Hahaha. Work on it Chui, work on it.
You get to be the uke too. On a seperate note, for myself as well as NTC, we always volunteer to be the uke when we are unsure of how to execute a technique. It is not an uncommon sight to see us rushing to do a katadori for eg. Hahaha. Back to what I meant to say. As an uke, in this seminar we were encouraged to be "stubborn" which translates to be un-cooperative. Generally as an uke you should be cooperative in assisting the nage to learn how to execute the technique and also for safety reasons. However the purpose here is to help nage refine the techniques in a sense that you apply some resistance and if the nage is doing it right he should still be able to performed the technique. Furthermore we are reminded to bear in mind that safety should be at the forefront when in practice. Resistance can be applied but not recklessly. We are all here to learn.
The bokken and jo were also used for training and application of techniques. We mainly practised techniques at kosadori and also did breathing and centre exercises. Sensei reminded us of the importance and effectiveness of kuzushi and the application of atemi in executing techniques while maintaining musubi. So much to learn!
I must say I was very intrigued, to say the least, on what was taught over the weekend. Not only that, but I got to know more about sensei. I think I can safely say that a teacher student relationship is slowly taking shape. I could still remember the first time I sensei. He looks so serious I said to myself, takut lah. But then it's just not me to hold back because of appearances. So now its all good he he he.
To sum it up, I couldn't have had a better time.
At the end every seminar my immediate question is "when are we going to have another one?". While waiting, I just keep training.
No comments:
Post a Comment