Zen in the Art of Archery

I finished reading Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel soon after I started reading it. Not because it's rubbish but because it's a slim book and a brisk read with plenty to chew on. At times Herrigel gets a bit caught up in the whole Zen idea of one's position of self in the world and also it having been translated from German in 1953 meant that in places it was hard going. Such a great read about a trainee Kyudoka in Japan in the early 1920s. Fantastic insight into not only the training regimen but the mental difficulties and obstacles to be encountered along the way. This gives much food for thought about my own journey in the martial arts. For me, I concluded from the story that:

a. I think (and worry) too much,

b. I don't train enough. 

Maybe I should blog less and train more. That's certainly an idea!

Herrigel was a philosophy lecturer and by his own admission was fascinated by Zen and as such peppers the book with ideas of how his kyudo teacher would impart Zen wisdom on him. Trouble is that his teacher, Awa Keno, was not a Zen Buddhist. What he taught was the 'Great Doctrine' or Daishakyôdô (The Way of the Great Doctrine of Shooting) which Herrigel and a Japanese writer on Zen (D. T. Suzuki) maintained was Zen much later and without advice of Awa Sensei!

It's certainly a good (brief) insight into training methods in the martial arts but from what I understand from reading around Herrigel, the aspects of Zen should be taken with a pinch of salt. Check out this article which states:

As we were walking out the front of the building, I asked our host, "Did Awa write anything, anything I could read?"

"No," he said. "There is nothing. And that German fellow, is a bad, very bad influence."

Here is another rebuttal of Herrigel's work.

Related post here.

Martial Arts Festival - Krav Maga

Straightforward and no nonsense self defence against empty hand and weapons. Seems very effective, direct and energetic. The seminar I attended covered 3 or 4 techniques and the teacher managed to get us all executing them effectively immediately (granted most of the attendees were probably practicing martial artists). Especially neat was the 'scan' after the techniques. After effecting the moves on your opponent (be it neutralising or stopping the attack short) scan around for other potential attacks. 

Check out the website: http://www.krav-maga-uk.com/

I was taught the seminar by a friendly Vin Diesel look-a-like called Nick Maison who was approachable and business like and seemed very sharp in technique.

For a wikipedia overview of Krav Maga click here.

He who hesitates is lost

Ok so I was going to make it (s)he who hesitates... but it sort of spoils the title bar...:-)

I find that London is never as busy as in Easter week. Kids are off school and there are thousands of French tourists. We added to the quota with our family and our French friends and we all bumbled around the sites enjoying the typically overcast-in-April day. When we arrived in Covent Garden we hit maximum crowdage. Couldn't move. Country bumpkin Littlefair, here,  didn't know where to turn. At one point I set off one way realised I was on a collision course with a commuter with a mean glint in her eye and thought twice about it so I did a bit of a jig, falling over myself and had to change course, twice in half a second. The hard-eyed commuter slightly changed her trajectory, readjusted and was off probably accustomed to this strange country dance that the bumpkins bring to the City.

Iai is about focus, as are many other martial arts. But especially iai. Focusing on your enemy and your strike is imperative. Sometimes you are aware of other attackers but you choose first and then  strike hard, with conviction and complete focus. Making this first cut your consuming aim is essential. If this first attacker isn't dealt with correctly and with all your attention then there won't be a chance to shift your focus to the second or the third. That's not to say you shouldn't have an all round awareness of the other attackers on the periphery but you must kill the first enemy with conviction. No dancing around or fumbling. No half committing to first attacker then half way in thinking maybe it's a mistake and dithering over the second attacker without having even finished the first. Bad idea. Strike forward with meaning, readjust strike out again.

Otherwise you might end up with a face full of commuter.

Blitz memorial at St Paul's Cathedral.

Qi Kwan Do

Anybody ever heard of Qi Kwan Do?

http://www.qikwando.com

Check out Master Parisi's bio:

http://www.qikwando.com/Master%20Parisi.html

He's talking it up big time but it looks like an awful amateurish setup.

But hey what do I know. 

Martial Arts Mastery is Just One Click Away...
http://www.qikwando.info/

Martial Arts Festival - capoeira

Fun in the sun with the capoeira team. They always seem smiley and enjoying themselves as they sing, play music, dance and spar. Led by Pedro Albuquerque:

Martial Arts Festival - iai

This demo was lead by Hanshi Mike Selvey and as well as some iaido kata the guys treated us to some iai-jutsu kata and koryu kata as well as some tameshigiri (test cutting)-always interesting to see! The dojo site can be found here: www.tenshin-ryu.co.uk

Martial Arts Festival, Leicester

as I pulled up at the Parklands leisure centre, Leicester, I realised the MAF-UK was going to be quite a big festival! There was a shuttle bus laid from the car park (which I had to pay another fiver for!) but it was well organised and ran smoothly so we were at the door soon after. Not sure what to expect I scanned the programme which seemed crammed! Two outdoor demo areas and one inside as well as two indoor seminar rooms meant there was plenty to see (although the indoor demo area was extremely impractical and you didn't get to see much!). 

It seemed a fairly nice atmosphere but there were plenty of guys strutting around looking like they'd had a ramrod inserted up their backs and that they were incapable of walking without swinging their shoulders forward outrageously. Strut, strut, strut. But this was, I'm glad to say, in the minority.

I made my way straight to the main hall and had only had made 5 steps in when I got chatting to a guy who was promoting his sensei and club: Wayne Swietoslawski of Waskido Ryu Ju Jitsu who was eager to tell me about his art. I took to Wayne and we got chatting about canes so he led me off to a seminar by canemasters: a self-defence programme based on walking canes. 

Following this I went straight to a Krav Maga seminar which focused on effective self-defence tools. this system struck me (unsurprisingly) similar to Systema but I guess experienced practitioners of either may disagree. Fundamentally it's quite a flexible and 'free' system with key principles underpinning different scenarios. We worked on stopping the attack early and ground work. As well as scanning for other opponents-very useful I thought.

Back in the main hall I bought my pair of Feivue's which I've been after for some time and saw Iain Abernethy on a stand! After I heard from his accent that he was a Northerner I had to stop and chat. What a friendly guy and although I didn't buy anything from him he still had time to chat with me about what he's up to, his dojo, Harry Cooke and the meaning of life. Great interlude to the day's seminars...

I strolled out into the sun to the outdoor arenas and watched capoeira, iai demo with some tameshigiri and finished the day by watching the krav maga demo.

A full day but I managed to have a cuppa in the sun and take lots of cool photos and meet some good folk. I'll document some of these things in more detail soon once I've downloaded photos and sorted them:

- Wayne Swietoslawski

- Canemasters

- Krav Maga

- Capoeira

- Iai