The Thoughtful Sensei-Aikido Musings

Maria Did It, Go Talk To Her

Observing junior players train for a promotional demo, especially if it's their first, is an interesting blend of excitement mixed with trepidation and budding confidence combined with hesitation and internal doubt.  During one recent class I watched the players review the night's lesson of material that was targeted at upcoming demos.  While walking around the mat assisting, commenting and correcting I was reminded of something more easily told by a set of true events that I was involved in over 25 years ago.

Once upon a time in a dark and foreboding .... oh sorry .... been watching too much tv lately ..... many years ago when I was a senior Yudansha at my old dojo I spent a lot of time working with beginners for Sensei.  One newbie was a woman named Maria (can't remember the last name which is good for her privacy .... plus her first name wasn't even Maria to begin with).  In speaking with Maria over the weeks and months she was training she gradually rose from white belt, to yellow belt, Sensei and I eventually learned some things about her.

As she attended classes and began to feel more at home she gradually opened up about some of her personal issues without being asked to.  My (and Sensei' assumption) was that much in her personal life outside the dojo was troubling her, and aside from her looking for self-defense she was also seeking out a social support group.  The fact that she had come to the dojo and had found both in the same place just made it easier and more comfortable for her.

Basically she had apparently grown up as a battered child and lacked any basic self-confidence or belief in herself which had led her to an unhappy marriage to a man who simply repeated the pattern that she was conditioned to.  Life went on as usual for her.

Somehow, someway, she finally had the courage to look for self-defense lessons.  To this day I don't know if her husband had finally broke her back with that last straw for the camel to carry, or if a girl friend or blood-family member or minister had encouraged to take some kind of action but somehow she found her way to the dojo; almost stumbled in actually as if even the act of walking onto the property was an issue for her.

It was immediately apparent to us all that she had no self-confidence as she even had difficulty in just simply putting her hand in a man's face to do Shoman-ate and to push him away from her; her conditioning from childhood to the present being that strong and that subliminally powerful.

Sensei was big on encouragement for new students and I was too; because I was taught that aspect of teaching and working with people by my father and grandfather.  In coming months I spent a lot of time simply working her thru the issues of release motions, basic ideas behind having good posture, putting a hand in the attacker's face to get separation, and then eventually working up to throwing them.

Finally after what seemed an eternity, she began to understand the idea of being "pro-active" and of aggressively seeking to be more forward in her actions and taking the initiative in entering and breaking the attacker's off-balance and controlling their posture and throwing them down.  She also began to understand the importance of being relaxed and calm while becoming more posturally confident (the traditional "stand up straight", "good posture", "look him in the face and don't look down") and pro-active while doing so in the "safe" context of kata and kihon practice and not "thinking" or "acting" mad and aggressive.

We were essentially re-programming her to just accept movement and kuzushi and hand in the face and throwing as "just another walk in the park", and as something so natural that it happened everyday.  This is one of the critically important functions of kata; allowing the student to program into the mind (and to viscerally understand) motion, posture, timing, how to be aggressive, how to react and how to deal with vigorous attacks, all within the safe and controlled context and environment provided by clearly defined kata ........... all of which taken together is the gateway to truly spontaneous randori and self-defense.

At no time, other than in casual conversation on the mat, did we tell her that she had to be a Navy SEAL or a street fighter.  We simply encouraged her to come to class (a lot) and just do the work and that eventually her subconscious mind would understand the art form (Aikido) and the concepts of self-defense and that she would just "Do It" when the time came.

Navy Seals and street fighter are naturals.  They already know how to "run towards the sound of gunfire".  People who are not naturals tend to flinch and pull back slightly from a vigorous attack.  It's when you pull back (in some circumstances) that the attacker takes you because your retreat provides him the opening and because you're physically trying to move "away" from him your mind is also retreating (which means that you cannot react to his attack).  Sometimes it's necessary to run towards the gunfire and take the initiative; and kata provides an environment and a tool to teach that.

Well, one day Maria understood.  She was walking in one of the largest shopping malls in Houston when a purse snatcher ran up behind her and grabbed her purse.  Since the strap was around her arm she was whipped around and actually pulled towards the thief as he tried to run off with her purse.  As she turned she automatically grabbed his arm and he ended up face-planted in the floor with her holding an armbar.  According to her account (I loved this part) she told him to give her the purse back.  He refused.  She told him a second time to give her the purse back and added, "Or I'll break your elbow!"  He gave her the purse back and ran off after she let him up and after seeing that other people had begun coming over to help.

She enjoyed telling the story at the dojo the next day.

Then, not too long after that the kicker occurred.  Her husband, who apparently liked getting physical with her, refused to give her the car keys when she had just had enough and wanted to move out.  Somehow during the tussle with him over the car keys she got that one good and perfect Shoman-ate in and as she told it, threw him across the room.  After he hit the wall and slid down it he gave the keys to her.

She enjoyed telling that story at the dojo too.

She quit training at the dojo not long after that and when I told her that she had bright future in Aikido and asked why she was stopping training her comment was, "I accomplished what I set out to do."  I understood.

It is my belief that she was looking for an out from her existence and her past upbringing, and that Aikido gave her the self-confidence to see the out and to take it.  She possibly never really wanted to become a life-time player; she just wanted the encouragement and the support to show her that she could do it.  She was looking for that opportunity in her life and after she found it, she was ready to move on.

When we train, some of us already have that spark of aggression.  I came to Aikido having already competed in Tae Kwon Do and Judo but many/most don't.  The training when taken over time, provides a vehicle by which the common, ordinary citizen who has never really been aggressive or physically pro-active, can become more than what they were.

What's that saying, "If you want something you've never had you must do something that you've never done before."

Come to class grasshopper.  Just come to class and do 1,000 repetitions .... and then another 1,000 .... and another .....

Over time, you WILL get there.  You just have to come to class and make the effort.  If Maria could do it, then so can you.

L.F. Wilkinson Sensei

Aikibudo Kancho, Aikibudokan, Houston, TX

May 2012

Up & Down

Training beginners and those up for promotion includes (of course) being their uke and taking lord knows how many ukemi for them as they rev' up for that promotion which consists of proving their ability by winging you (the uke) around the dojo and using you to see how much dust they can raise as they slam you into the tatami.  I would refer to this as "Down-Training" since you are training at a level "down" or "below" where your rank is currently (theoretically).

On the other hand; reversing those roles and having someone be YOUR uke ... well now ... that's a gi (er ... ah ... horse) of different color (and .... a lot more fun).  I would refer to this as "Up-Training" since you are working with someone above you in rank who is serving as your "foil" and allowing you to use them as a training tool as you develop ability and understanding of levels above where you currently are.

Both have benefit especially if done at the same time although that may mean that you have more work to do and may have to spend a little more time on the mat .... gasp ... the horror ... you mean I actually have to go to class ... and ... and ...  TRAIN? (insert mental image of Aikido-ka in gi doing a face-palm)

Yes grasshoppa'  ..... that's exactly what I mean .... IF you want to progress.

When we Down-Train what are we doing, really?  We are being required to go back and re-examine all of that basic material contained in the principles, the fundamentals, the kihon and the basic kata and training sets and find a way to explain the material coherently, logically and in a manner that it may be easily understood and retained.  If we look at our tori and see that they aren't yet ready for their demo due to having flaws and errors in the way they perform those kihon then we realize that they do not fully understand the fundamental principles for their level.  We must now go backwards and re-teach those principles and clean up their kihon.  And interesting thing about this process; we must simultaneously look at our own principles and kihon to be sure that our material is clean and that we do not accidentally "pawn" our errors off on them so that their promotional demo is as clean as we can possibly make it.

That's our job as uke.

What then is Up-Training?  Simple.  Exactly the same thing except in reverse where we are being taught and cleaned up by a higher rank who has already been thru' that level of learning and who has already successfully done their demonstration for that rank.

Doing either of these; Up-Training or Down-Training is of great benefit even if we obstensibly are making the effort for someone else's benefit and promotion.  When we are down-training we have to be sure that we teach it correctly and cleanly in such a way that our tori fully understands and internalizes the material.  We essentially have to re-examine how we do what we do and this serves as a refresher course for us to look at all we have done before.  We must truly become a teacher and be certain that we know all the material required for our rank and that we understand it well enough to clearly relate it to another Aikido player.

When we up-train we have to remember how to be a good student, how to learn, how to discipline our body so that it performs the material correctly and most importantly, how to internalize the priniciples embodied in that level of kihon, kata and randori.  We must truly become a student again.

Once we reach this understanding of how to be a teacher and how to correctly and efficiently teach someone else by examining and correcting ourselves ............. and how to be a student, learning and internalizing new, more advanced material (by once again cleaning up our principles and fundamentals) a new level of Budo is attained; a level that I can only describe as that of becoming (over time) a Shihan.

At this higher, Shihan-esque', level your learning and comprehension becomes stratospheric.  As you re-examine the basics (while teaching your tori) and as you strive to internalize the new, higher level material; you identify new connections and new inter-relationships between the two differing levels .... how the basics relate to the advanced and how the advanced relates to the basics.

Over time, this new level of learning and building new linkages between the old, the new, the basic, the advanced, the simple, the sophisticated produces a geometric advancement in the level at which you operate. 

I have observed in others, and found in myself, that discovering and developing these new linkages becomes the primary pathway to spontaneous creativity in how I work on the mat .... I think that some call this "randori" ... the ability to create waza out of chaos by fully understanding the linkages between seemingly unrelated waza, and between disparate kihon and fundamental principles.

This becomes the path to becoming a Shihan.  So don't be afraid to be uke for as many people as you can .... and don't be afraid to always work towards that next promotion even if it's years away according to whatever promotional grid your dojo uses.

Do both and do both often ..... because a failure to take advantage of the opportunities provided by both (preferably doing both at the same time) means that you'll only ever be a technician (albeit a very good one tho') and that becoming a high-level Sensei/Shihan may not be possible for you to attain.

Make the effort grasshopper.  As someone once said, "If you want something you've never had, then you must do something that you've never done before."

L.F.  Wilkinson Sensei

Aikibudo Kancho, Aikibudokan, Houston, TX

May 2012

Those Who Need It The Most Do It The Least

When we are little buggers and first learning to tie our shoe laces before we romp off to kindergarten it was just an impossible experience.  In between the dropped laces, clumsy fingers, impossibly convoluted and un-fixable knots, mom and dad telling us to do it again and again, the tears and frustrations, we finally reach a point where we just "give up" and relax and then almost magically, we can finally do it.  But it took practice and patience and finally, belief in the parental-units who are teaching us, along with faith in the instructions.  Martial arts are largely the same; and then some.

Over the last 12 years that I've run my own dojo, and the many years prior to that when I ran the mat for my prime Sensei, I have observed many types of students join class for lessons; many of whom were in law enforcement (including those working for federal acronyms) or  scarier yet, subject to violence of various sorts in their jobs and their daily existence.

These are the ones who need rational martial arts training the most, but in all too many cases, take advantage of the training the least.

Consider .......... a reserve police officer in Texas attends the reserve officers academy for training, during which they recieve a grand total of 6 to 10 hours of training in hand-to-hand.  That's six (6) to ten (10) hours on watch and not semester hours like in college.

One of my ex-training partners in Aikido and Jodo who retired from both his career in corporate security (as an ex-FBI agent under J. Herbert Hoover) and his martial arts training (he was older than I and with his wife finally retired to his dream home in the hill country) told a similar story about his time at the academy at Quantico.

Another ex-training partner in Aikido (sometimes I think I've been on the mat too long as I keep outlasting my training partners) was with one of those Federal acronyms better known as the DEA and was quite active in undercover work.

All told the same story and had basically the same response to the question; "So, just HOW many hours of training did you have in hand-to-hand while at the academy?"

The answer in all cases was pretty uniform and ranged anywhere from 6 to 20 or so hours (clock hours) of training.  The rest largely focused on procedures, certification as a law officer, first aid, how to draw your sidearm without shooting yourself in the foot, how to wear a coat, tie and sunglasses (J. Edgar was apparently pretty tight-assed about a lot of things), etc. and etc.   .... most of which, while important to professional level performance on the job, had little to do with an officer's self-defense when within the range of the 21 Foot-Tueller Rule or developing any kind of zanshin much less true martial skills.

Most of this (training emphasis) had little to do with reality and everything to do with who was training director at the time or what some white-shoe (attorney) had to say about avoiding lawsuits while getting the officer killed in the line of duty; death benefits in the long run being cheaper than the cost of a major law suit (the cynic's view of bureaucracy and the mindless bureaucrat).

This mind-set over time rubs off on the agent/officer who unfortunately begins to always fall back on the visuals/ego-factors of the position which provide "imagined" security and protection; the badge, the uniform, the side-arm, the dark sunglasses and the ear-bug and the security clearance.  All ego-boosters but providing protection from absolutely no-one other than already law-abiding citizens who don't pose a threat anyway.

Recently one of the deshi sent me a link to an article from a law enforcement site dealing with a new threat to law-enforcement ... the karambit; a small knife that can be rigged to automatically open when withdrawn from a hip pocket.  The method of attack is to be within essentally one to two arm's length and when asked for ID to hook a finger in the loop at the end of the knife and then to pull it out of the pocket and slash horizontally across the officer's face and throat.

After discussing it with the deshi and then reviewing the web site I thought to myself, "My God ... how easy is that" assuming of course that the officer is properly trained with internalized responses to begin with.

Seems that police training consists of a couple of hours of training in which one officer faces another, the trainer blows his whistle and then they have at it.  A couple of hours ... wow .... one can really develop some true martial skills here. 

People who work law enforcement or who work for an acronym need to spend a lot more time on the mat than a civilian since they are much more likely to be in harms' way on a daily basis and never know when their skills may be called into play.

So do they? ......... do they actually spend enough time on the mat?  Nope.  Not by a long shot.  If I were an acronym or a police officer I'd live at the dojo if Sensei let me and I would consistently train on a daily basis in everything offered: Aikido, grappling, jodo, kenjutsu, everything.

Karambit and the new, improved, felonious method of use .......  When asked for his ID he reaches  back with his right hand (even tho' 95% of the world is right handed and carries their wallet in their left hip pocket and not the right) so the officer misses this first clue.  His ID is on the wrong side but is on the correct side/weapon side for a right hander to draw it.  He can't strike unless he closes to no more than one arms' length so the officer misses the first index point (the distance).  His attack will either have to rise vertically from the hip to the face or come in horizontally with a slight upward diagonal so the officer misses the first and most important moment of self-defense; domination of the center-line and the most effective first-choice strike target ... the faces, eyes and throat of the knife-attacker.

For a seasoned martial artist this one is almost too easy with the only caveat here being that the trained martial artist cum defender has to be willing to seriously hurt the attacker since all the right responses have already been internalized.  The goal here is to stop the knife as it is being deployed.  After full deployment, the game  (and strategies/waza) changes so the first opportunity for the defender to strike is the most critical.

Officer Acronym on the other hand, with little to no training and totally insufficient practice time for full internalization has no chance to survive.  His academy's preference for use of badge, gun, taser, asp overrides all else and now the Tueller Rule results in Officer Acronym's injury or demise.  He reaches for a side-arm .. and is cut ... he reaches for the side arm but realizes that it's too late ... and is cut .. he panics and tries to close and grapple ... and is cut.

The other part of the problem is that sometimes Officer Acronym tries too hard.  Instead of picking one martial art to do focused training in he picks two, or three  ... always looking for that magic bullet.  Problem is, if Officer Acronym is training in two different art forms under two different Sensei then he potentially now has two different reflexes to the attack and goes into vapor lock.  It's almost better to have one and only one effective second rate reflex to the attack instead.  It may be the second best on the market, so-to-speak, but at least it is fully internalized, automatic and fully ingrained; as opposed to having two competing responses in their head.

Moral to the story (blog); pick the best art form you can find and spend as much time on the mat as possible and fully internalize your responses in order to stop the attack before it is fully deployed.  Do one martial art (and maybe complementary weapons form  ... Aikido and Jodo for example) and get good at it .... really good.

While one may legitimately argue that a civilian doesn't need hair-trigger responses to dangerous situations (assuming they try to avoid problems to start with) someone in law enforcement or who is a federal acronym cannot make that argument at all given their daily second-to-second exposure to the underbelly of society.

I could write for days on this topic.  Years on the mat, years teaching this material, experience in working with my old Sensei who at one time was head instructor to the local SWAT Team, experience in working with law enforcement, having on two separate occasions put together training programs for the DEA and for the Department of Diplomatic Protective Services (working in conjunction with Certified Police Instructors who actually started in Aikido before going into law enforcement), having experienced first hand the preference of immediate subconscious reflexive responses to sudden, unanticipated attacks out of no-where ............. have only strengthened my first response to anyone who has a problem in self-defense situations (esp. law and government) ........ stop lolly-gagging around, get on the mat, increase your training time, increase your mat hours, ask Sensei, ask other senior players, build reflexes, stop using the uniform, badge & gun as your first response, quit making excuses about having duty assignments (do the assignment & get back on the mat).

Train  ... or not ....

L.F. Wilkinson Sensei, Aikibudo Kancho

Aikibudokan, Houston, TX

January 2012

 

The 12 Volt Sensei

A growing trend in the martial arts world is that of "internal power". 

(key music, start intro-video da dum .... da dum .. dadumdadumdadumdumdum .... eeeeekk !!!!!.....

 

Back when I started training in the late 60's it was almost never mentioned; at least until everyone got past the judo phase and then the empty hand karate phase and then the PKA safe-kick/punch phase and then the Bruce Lee phase and then the kung fu/grasshopper phase and then we hit (almost simultaneously) the Aikido phase and the Ninja phase (which seemed to occur simultaneously with or shortly after the transcendental meditation phase) and then suddenly it was every where and Sensei had to fight off the young grasshopper wanna-bee's with his chop sticks every week.  Except that it wasn't called "internal power" but instead was "ki" or "chi". The phase I remember was "aiki" or just "ki" for short with no use of the phrase "ki power".

Then we got into the UFC/BJJ phase and all that came before, for the most part, went away in favor of more rationalistic thought esp. after the first UFC bout where all the "traditionalists" had their fundoichi's handed back to them. 

Suddenly many training regimens changed in response to that first UFC thrashing that we all saw on tv. 

• Some changed back to where they had originally started from but had left due to desires to grow their dojo (back to more practical, more hard training, broader view of their own history instead of the new marketing ploy). 
• Or, they changed for the worse ("Ok, kiddee's ... let's light our candles and hold hands .... hmmmm .. kumbaaaayaaaah my ...."). 
• Or they just stayed where (and where they had always been) since they had never left or "evolved", weren't into trophies and had never lost their effectiveness to begin with, having ignored all the "Aiki-Bunnies" running around.

I can live with the terms ki and chi since they're oriental and not easily understood and kinda' "global" since they cover about as much territory as you want them too; so in my mind they're actually easier to work with.  You can do a lot with them such as defining them logically and then applying that to training ... "No Little Johnny, you cannot levitate nor can you will your zafu to float across the floor with you on it like you're attendees at a TM festival.  Just focus, breath deep, relax, concentrate, control your fear and just whack him with gusto and mutual respect." .....  or  ..... "So Sensei, is that what ki is?  Sure if it makes you feel any better now get to work and gimmee' another 100 kote-gaeshi's and some ippon seonage to finish up with and then we'll talk about some concepts of kuzushi."

See .... problem solved without any smoke and mirrors involved and now everyone is happy with what aiki is .... just hard work and a focused game plan that takes place and evolves over years in the dojo as you strengthen your body, focus your mind and learn the kihon and then the kata and then the bunkai.

But today the idea behind them (ki and aiki and chi) has been "Americanized" and "marketed" and has been more clearly defined and labeled  as ... "internal power". 

Hmmm .....  In-ter-nal pow-er ..... Now just what is that?  Gas?  A strong constitution (or strong case of constipation)?  Too many vaso-dialators downed at one time and now they have to stand you in the corner until you can relax a little?  bwahaha     ...  I know ... maybe it's .... more of an electrical phenomena ...........

Naw ... that can't be it.  So what is it?

Humans are physical beings and subject to the laws of physics.  If you cannot control your body you fall down a lot.  The laws of mass, inertia, gravity, heat transfer, oxygen usage, proper eating and exercise, healthy life-style all impact us every moment of every day and failure to correctly observe the laws of nature and what our bodies are capable of will, and does, result in "fail" of whatever we're in the middle of at any moment.

Early martial arts were started by people who did not drive cars, eat "organic" food (it was ALL organic assuming you could get to it before the critters ate it, or ate you).  They worked hard every day because they had to and the old saying of "root hog or die" was observed daily.  So the MA started in small villages or on a farm somewhere and all the students entering the dojo already had strong bodies and focused minds (no work-no eat ..... no train hard-guy down the creek will kill me and steal my woman).  All-in-all pretty simple, pretty basic, primal in many regards and there was no mistaking how life went.

What do we have today?

Processed foods leading to obesity.  (So is that why all the Sensei I see look like they spend too much time at the buffet counter?  Come on man.  At least wear a girdle would ya' please? Jeeeezus!)

Little exercise leading to weak muscles and poor posture.  If folks spent more time at the gym and less time yelling at the plasma flat screen during Monday night football they'd be in better shape to do some ukemi.

People were mentally tougher since they most likely grew up having to fight for food at dinner or fight the kid down the path to get back something he stole from you.  Today if your kid touches someone he's in detention for days and lord help him if he actually (gasp..) gets into a fight and bloodies some little truant's nose for him.

Today's humans are as a rule (but not universally since some of us still grow up with some old-style discipline and hard work and the occasional fist up the side of our head)  ...... softer, less mentally tough, less able to work with physical stress, less able to deal with pain and much less able to fight thru pain and discomfort to keep moving forward and have lower frustration tolerance.

Comparing the two types of humans ..... the one's from rural times were physically tough and therefore able to generate physical power while today's people have to start from scratch and slowly build up physical power and fitness before they can even do the waza, much less worry about something like ki or chi.

So the "already fit" person goes to the dojo and is accepted for instruction.  He learns the waza and how to apply his already existing physical strength and only then goes to the temple where he's taught ki and chi and .... ok, ok, ok .... "internal power" so he's way down the road to mastery pretty quikly (on a relative basis) without Sensei having to work that dunlop disease off his belly, get him shape and then have to have instruction in how to use his body.

The "softee person" has no physical power, can't throw the uke and now assumes out of ignorance (or is told by an unethical instructor) it's because he has no ki and no chi charged up in his tanden and that he must "learn" and "accumulate" and go after that Mystical-Magical-Mystery-Tour that today is called "internal power".

The instructor is now faced with a choice.  Does he tell the little butterball the truth; that he needs to get into shape and stretch everything out and become stronger and then learn the ryu and understand how to use his body efficiently BEFORE he starts worrying about ki/chi/internal power? 

Or does the instructor take the route of least resistance .... that of teaching "internal power" to out of shape students who can't take decent ukemi, much less take hold of an opponent who is 6 inches taller and 50 to 100 pounds heavier and whack them with panache and proper principle?

Given our current "state of the culture" in which the easy way seems to be the only way, in which self-promotion is rampant, in which instant gratification is endemic, in which too many look for the "magic bullet", in which the deshi wants to be an instant simulacrum of Kwai Chang Cane/Obi-wan Kenobi/Seagal, and in which the Sensei has learned basic economics and understands how to market and bring home the bacon (not ot mention having a firm grasp of the principles of self-aggrandisement) then we end up in seminars, training clinics and dojos in which the hard work is simply pushed aside in favor of the fast way, the easy way, the mystical way.  The student, and eventually the Sensei all want to believe and this is what all too many times occurs .....

 

For a time when I was attending the university I finally graduated from (too much party down dude with my Frat-Rat brothers) I considered majoring in psychology.  One course (taught by a semi-madman who came to class stoned and who kept buming cookies from everyone, but was very skilled and knowledgeable in what he taught) explored the ideas, concepts and methodology behind hypnosis. 

There's not a blog big enough to lay out a comprehensive picture of this but suffice it to say that ever since the time of Mesmer and all the way back to the Egyptians these ideas have been used both on the individual level and on small groups.  What this video shows is a technique called "rapid induction" which was popularized by Milton Ericson (look these up in Wiki for more fascinating detail).  Having taken the college course work and having been to martial arts seminars and having seen this done   .... well ... you make up your own mind about the ideas (some but certainly not all) currently being floated around out there in the "No Touch Knockout Kingdom" and "Internal Power Land".

Here's something to consider.

Real "internal power" comes from refining, understanding and being able to use nature's principles of the natural body structure and composition (such as knowing the function of fascia for example).  If a student tries to take that giant leap forward into the higher level, more sophisticated waza and randori areas that are designed to enhance and polish the fundamental principles and kihon (without already having the body understanding and development in place) then he will quite simply fail. 

Martial arts kihon and kata are based in and are intended to be a way by which to learn, internalize and make intuitive all the patterns of stimulus/response to various combative conditions and situations that by their very structure are designed to push the present limits of the students' body and prepare them (that body) for the application of the ryu's principles.  Ergo .... no practice, no improved shape, no understanding of how to use the body to apply the basic kihon or kata, much less actual waza, bunkai and randori.

Proper practice, good conditioning, internalized intuitive responses, learned thru' repeated practice enables the student to apply the correct movement/step/use of muscle and limbs at the correct moment in time and space and do it all on a subconscious/intuitive level .... in essence the mind controlling body without conscious thought.  Until this point is reached in the students' development then all attempts to learn internal power is useless and without purpose since achieving this level of intuitive ability is, on its face, itself internal power of the highest sort.

"Internal power" is nothing more than a calm and focused mind, giving internalized and intuitive directions to a body that has been developed and can make the most efficient use possible of the mechanical design and advantages of being a bipedal/bilateral creature, alignment and posture, the natural elasticity of tissue, muscle, ligament, tendon and fascia, stretch and contraction reflexes and muscular strength to most correctly apply the principles of the martial art form to the opponent at the absolute correct moment of time and space in the most efficient manner possible.

Mind controls body with calm spirit; and at the highest levels of ability (achieved only after years and decades of steady training) all the potentials of the subconscious are brought into play and under control of the conscious mind.  Not in a magical sense but instead in the sense of looking at the opponent with such a calm state of mind and confidence in your ability that the opponent changes his mind about attacking but if he does, everything you do is made to look ridiculously easy.

That's all it is folks and I'm really sorry to have to be the one to tell you that it only takes a few thousand repetitions if not 10's of thousands to get there.

So I guess I'll see you on the mat.

 L.F. Wilkinson Sensei

Aikibudo Kancho

Aikibudokan, Houston, TX

October 2011

Tokui My Waza, Please

All of us have a favorite ice cream or dessert, way to fix a hamburger or a favorite beer.  In much the same way we also have a favorite technique in whatever martial art we practice.  The danger lies in favoring those (Tokui Waza) too much and ignoring the rest of the system that we are internalizing.

In the style of Aikido that I teach I show a broad range of ideas that to me are (and have always been) a part of Aikido; but then again, my Sensei was originally a Judo player before going into Aikido in the same way that Tomiki was in Judo under Kano prior to becoming a student under Ueshiba.  Our Aikido, therefore, can sometimes be much broader than so-called more "traditional" forms of Aikido in that it has strangulations and ne-waza and atemi and sacrifice throws and osae-komi and straight line waza and circular waza and hip throws and defensive ideas and offensive ideas and empty hand randori and tanto randori and on and on.

Out of this broad array of ideas any student will naturally gravitate to a small handful that he uses 85-95% of the time.  This "favoritism" is due in no small part to his; proclivity to "hit" or grab, stand or go to the ground, or use arms or legs and is heavily influenced by his MA background, current rank and what waza feel "easier" to do (e.g. which waza does his subconscious mind understand the best).  Any "favorite" idea that he has will, most esp. in a randori situation, appear over and over esp. as the pace picks up and he begins to work more and more from his subconscious programming and intuitive facilities.

As an example, while watching two senior players recently in a fairly fast session of  hand randori, I observed as one of the two continually grabbed the other, did a sacrifice throw and immediately moved into an osae-komi (pinning) position.  He had been working and thinking on sacrifice throws into groundwork and was going for any opening that he saw and this involved deliberately looking for an entry into that sacrifice throw.

The problem, as I saw it, was that in order to close with his opponent to the point at which he was able to grab (his opponent) he went by 2 or 3 standing waza that would have been easier to get to and to put into effect, and additionally he potentially exposed himself to several and various waza that his opponent could have easily taken hads he been just a little more seasoned in the hand randori.  In short; in order to go for his favorite idea of  the moment he avoided the easier idea(s) and exposed himself to defeat because at that moment his Tokui Waza .... was a sacrifice throw.

Since Aikido players are supposed to "do their thing" while standing and NOT go to the mat as a strategic idea of randori or self-defense (both are the same actually) then any attempt to use a takedown/sacrifice throw as a "randori strategy" means that it was essentially planned and deliberate; instead of being an intuitive response to a failed waza; or was happening as the attacker overwhelmed them, with the sacrifice throw occurring as a natural part of that event.

In this case the player doing the sacrifice throw used it as a strategy and ended up in the mount even tho' he has very limited skill sets in ne-waza.  He had fallen in love with the sacrifice and in so doing not only gave up standing waza that would have allowed him to effectively control the opponent, he also ended up in a ne-waza position that, given a fully trained groundwork specialist to go against, he would have been toast. 

Since he likes and is effective at sacrifice throws, at this point (in his MA/Aikido development) he should work on more fully developing his standing work, learn to let the sacrifice throw happen more naturally (as a resultant of a failure of his standing work) and then work on ne-waza ideas so that the next time he ends up on the ground, he'll have an effective, principled based set of strategies to fall back on; the ne-waza only occurring due to the absolute failure of his standing Aikido and as the end resultant of an effective sacrifice throw. 

This is a training strategy that, in my view, is the most effective for self-defense in the street where automatically (and strategically) going to the ground is simply not a good idea given fire plugs, concrete surfaces and the possibility of having his friends dance a tango on your skull as you roll around on the sidewalk with him.

Practice in my view should consist of a session of hand randori, a separate session of kata practice of sacrifice throws that are principally based in occurring off a failure of standing waza (and not as a "take-down" strategy), and then a separate session of kata/waza practice of ne-waza/grappling until full scale "rolling" can occur in a relaxed, principles based (no power games) setting. 

Each method should be studied separately (standing, sacrificing, rolling) so that each can develop its own Tokui Waza, specific to the requirements of each situation and based on your internalization of those concepts and principles and their application.  Then, when the standing work fails and the sacrifice throw happens naturally, the Aikido player will intuitively "fall" into the best sacrifice configuration for that failure (of the Aikido waza) and then will be able to either roll away or, deal with whatever ne-waza position he may find himself in.  As these separate training sessions begin to bear fruit and the player correctly internalizes each, only then allow all three to be expressed on the mat in the same randori session.  In this way, any response should be a principled response to stimuli and not a "planned" event; ergo ..... true Tokui Waza.

Trying to blend these ideas and fighting ways too soon and too ineffectively and without a full and in-depth understanding of the principles involved in each of the three will only blur the idea behind Tokui Waza and have a negative impact on each (standing, sacrificing and grappling).

Only by doing each separately can the understanding develop over time that the edges or boundaries between each are indeed small, but easily recognized once understanding is gained.  Additionally, the boundaries between each (standing, sacrificing, rolling) should not be breached as a "strategy".  An Aikido player stays upright and throws the opponent down.  He should not desire to go down with him if, for no other reason, than Aikido players are not grapplers and going to the ground in a real-life self-defense scenario is always a bad idea and should not become the Aikido players "Tokui Waza".

L.F. Wilkinson Sensei

Aikibudo Kancho

Aikibudokan, Houston, TX

March 2011

Coherent? - Yes or No

aka Strangle Me Now or Strangle Me Later But Lets Be Coherent About It ... ......................

The idea of synchronicity is that the conceptual relationship of minds, defined as the relationship between ideas, is intricately structured in its own logical way and gives rise to relationships that are not causal in nature. These relationships can manifest themselves as simultaneous occurrences that are meaningfully related.

Wiki on Jung's syncronicity.             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity

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I follow a lot of blogs and discussion groups.   Some I contribute to actively, some once-in-a-great-while and others I just lurk on like a ninja watching the passers-by.

Watching and lurking on a regular basis allows me to pick up on patterns of activity in the MA.  One such pattern (of syncronicity) I've observed over the last 2 years (almost 3 now) is increasing interest in the Aiki-verse in the offensive use of strangulations (to submit the opponent) and in what can only be considered offensive knife work (with defensive counters). 

We'll speak to strangulations now; tanto work later.

This interest seems to have occured on it's own, almost from a universal mind, as most of the dojo and Sensei involved in this interest very rarely communicate as they can be from different styles, organizations, and groups that have never had a relationship to each other.

For  the record;

*a strangulation is most correctly identified as the application of a neck lock (affecting the cervical vertibrae) and that causes unconsciousness by lowering the blood pressure in the brain thru' stimulation/massage of either the carotid baroreceptor or the nerve sheathing surrounding the branch point (of the carotid), done correctly total submission can occur in less than 8 seconds.

*a choke is using the hands to cut off the flow of air to the lungs by compressing the trachea, a neck lock is generally not involved with a choke.

Of the two; a strangulation is most effective and safest while a choke is unsafe (due to a possible crushing of and collapse of either or both the trachea/larynx) and not effective (due to a possible/approx. 1 to 2 minutes of oxygen remaining combined in the blood and the lungs).  In the real world of self-defense even 30 seconds of consciousness in the opponent can prove extremely problematic.

The exploration of strangulations is only slightly problematic.  In my mind the single largest issue is that probably 95% of all styles of Aikido do not train in ne-waza and yet most strangulations they teach are either on the ground in a grappling condition or they are highly modified for use in a standing condition.  Not to say that strangulations taught thusly (ne-waza strangulations modified for standing) won't work if applied correctly but the entry to the neck lock becomes an issue.

If you are going to teach strangulations in ne-waza then you'll need more (ne-waza) than just strangulations since you'll essentially be fighting a ne-waza specialist with both hand tied behind your back.  Your opportunity for the strangulation will, therefore, never open.

Many Aikido players appear to be of the opinion (based on observation of videos and on-line discussions) that if they simply "end up behind uke" then the strangulation will be easy to position for and once tore is positioned, easy to apply and submit uke.  Such is simply not the case.  Just because tore can find himself behind uke (say in an ushiro-ate entry point) does NOT mean that the entry to the neck lock will be successful. 

Entering and positioning for a presumed successful neck lock/strangulation doesn't mean that uke can be controlled and then submitted before uke applies a kaeshi-waza or at the very least blocks the proper hand positioning thus negating any attempt at neck lock and submission.

So in essence, the failure of Aikido players to focus on correct entry to the neck lock means that  they have failed to account for a coherence in their understanding of the concept.  They have failed to account for the most critical part of the entire waza; a successful entry which IMHO is about 80% of the effort, the remaining 20% being the correct hand positioning over the sweet spot.

This teaching and training of ne-waza configured strangulations applied in a standing condition is a lack of coherence; that is, the failure to apply a standing principle to a standing waza (and in this same fashion as applying a ne-waza principle to a ne-waza condition).  Standing conditions and ne-waza conditions make use of many of the same fundamental principles but overall, they're just not the same and knowing one does not necessarily or easily translate to the other.

We have over the last 2 years begun to teach standing strangulations that were originally designed for use while in armor and to be applied only standing.  All entries therefore are designed to break uke's posture upon the initial entry and then force them to turn their head to expose the throat, this allowing an easy(ier) entry for the hands to position before taking the strangulation and then the neck lock.

We also teach blocks of ne-waza in which the strangulations taught utilize a ne-waza approach and entry but are done within the boundaries and conditions of ne-waza and the rotation of opportunity (pin, strangulation, joint-lock ..... repeat .....).  This coherence in principle (as the waza utilizes it) makes the waza more productive in its' efficacy and the control and submission of uke.

The point here is to understand that we should not simply take something from somewhere else because you think Aikido lacks the idea or has a "hole" in its effectiveness, but instead to consistently apply the principle of your MA ryu/style. 

Mixing different ideas from different MA without considering the underlying principle that makes it work is not wise when expanding your study.  Just because something works in karate or judo doesn't necessarily mean it will be fully functional principle-wise in Aikido; and vice versa.  Fundamentals and firm adherence to the underlying principle of your art form (and their application to the newly inserted material) is always, always, always the only way in which to train.

L.F. Wilkinson Sensei

Aikibudo Kancho

Aikibudokan, Houston, TX

February 2011

But Coach; 1,000 rep's Just To Warm Up?

Yep!  Drop and gimme a 1,000 private (er, ah Aikido-ka).

Pedagogy refers to strategies of instruction or methods (of instruction).  It is a concept most important when teaching new skills to the student as the specific methodology can help or hinder the speed or depth of learning.

Overlearning is such a pedagogical concept, one that specifies that an newly acquired skill should be practiced well beyond the initial point of grasping that skill and should, by definition, be practiced beyond the the point at which that skill is mastered.

Once a skill is "mastered" then we must consider how and under what conditions that skill will be utilized.  If the skill is one designed for a "relaxed" situation (table etiquette would be a simplistic example) then "simple mastery" is an acceptable level of mastery and expertise.

We train in martial arts however; an activity in which, by definition, the skill sets we learn have to be better than just good, better than mere mastery.  In a potential life and death situation (or at the very least one in which we could be seriously injured) mastery is simply insufficient.  Over-mastery is therefore required.

Over-mastery is accomplished by over-learning in which the newly acquired skills (and skill sets) are practiced way-way-way beyond the intial point of understanding, functionality or mastery, and in which the regular practice of those skill sets continues, essentially forever.  This over-mastery leads to automaticity which wikipedia defines as "the ability to do things without occupying the mind with the low-level details required, allowing it to become an automatic response pattern or habit.  It is the result of learning, repitition and practice".

An example of automaticity would be the ability to walk and talk simultaneously and not trip over a little red wagon or a word.  (There are some people however for whom this level of skill is difficult; e.g. LBJ once described a fellow politician as a man so uncoordinated as to be unable to " ... fart and chew gum at the same time ... ".)

In the Tomiki Ryu there are certain kihon and kata sets that should be practiced each keiko without fail including; ukemi, walking, tegatana, 17 attack movements and some degree of either toshu or tanto randori that is designed to teach principles (and not rough randori or shiai).  Since these are the fundamental sets as designed by Tomiki and since they are the foundational corner stones for all that comes after, the continual over-practice of these fundamentals leads to over-mastery. 

In addition to their being the fundamental illustrations of fundamental principles AND their being the foundations of randori (much like Nage no Kata from Kodokan Judo) then the continual over-practice and over-mastery of these ensures that they can be effectively utilized in stressful situations in which adrenalin takes control and fine motor skills (and emotional control) go out the window and in which automaticity becomes a critical survival skill (such as in a self-defense situation).

As the old saw goes, "Practice makes perfect".

Don't be a slacker.  When you go to train then train. Don't engage in koochi-waza.  Don't train in a scatter-shot method of doing the fundamentals just every once in a while.  Rep's, rep's and more rep's.

The sake comes apres' keiko.

L.F. Wilkinson Sensei

Aikibudo Kancho

Aikibudokan, Houston, TX

Frbruary 2011

Fundamentals; It's Always About Fundamentals

Last couple of Saturdays we've spent the class covering multiple attack(s) training.  The Tomiki Ryu has a greater focus on individual (toshu or hand) randori but when the mood strikes we'll bunch up and go after it; or as an old S. Texas saying goes, "All you big guys line up and all you little guys bunch up; it's time to dance."

Multiple attacks (in my view) provide a window into the Aikido players' head in that some uke attack with full vigor, others with less vigor and others holding back as if they are concerned about the ukemi; their not knowing with certainty the exact type, configuration or force the fall (they are getting set to take) will contain.

So with that said; some of the worst Aikido players I have ever had the misfortune to lay my tired eyes on are those who, afraid to take a fully dynamic fall, never really and truly commit to an attack whether that be in kihon & kata training or in randori.  Since they are afraid of the ukemi, they never really do a fully commited attack and conversely, since they know not how to attack they never "feel" what happens when they attack and loose control after tore snaps that kuzushi on them.  If they are afraid of the ukemi then it's likely that their uke also has a certain fear level and will also not fully commit.  Bottom line; you cannot understand the tore unless you understand the uke, and vice versa.

So now the issue takes on multiple layers of problem;

• they never fully attack (always slightly holding back ever so subtly) so they do not know what it feels like to totally lose control as the attacker, so they have no visceral "feel" for what an attacker will undergo when attacking,
• they are unaware of "holding back" and thus do not have full "awareness" of the interaction of forces onging in the uke/tore relationship,
• since they have no visceral "feel" for what uke will have to live thru' then they have no appreciation for the waza they are applying and never develop a complete understanding of it nor will they be able to make "on-the-fly" adjustments based on uke's reaction at any given moment (since they have never gone thru' it themselves),
• since their uke will also likely have "lesser" ukemi skills, then they will not have the opportunity to really, truly bear down and throw it with full gusto,
• since they can't throw with full gusto then they will never comprehend the full dynamic range of the waza and will not be able to throw against a fully resisting uke.

Solution?

Ukemi ..... ukemi again ..... lots and lots of ukemi ..... lots and lots of QUALITY ukemi. 

What is that .......... that "quality" ukemi?

They only way to fully develop ability in ukemi is to be thrown multiple times (tens' of thousands actually) in every possible configuration of a throw.  Kote-gaeshi, ushiro kote-gaeshi, sumi-otoshi, uke-otoshi, projection rolls forward, backward & sideways, koshi-nage, aiki-nage, shoman-ate, sacrifice throws, even be throw in judo throws such as o-goshi, ippon seo-nage, kata-guruma, foot sweeps, uchi-mata, be throw in all type and manner of Aikido and Judo throws ........ even be body slammed a few times just to get that one in also (crash mat highly rec0mmended for that one).

The idea here is two-fold; first,be thrown in any and every possible configuration a throw can possibly take and second, be thrown in each configuration a sufficient number of times in order to allow your subconscious mind to be able to take control the moment a throw begins and at full speed-full tilt boogie & high velocity, automatically recognize the configuration and by turning in mid-air, orient your body such that a safe "landing" becomes easy(ier) and safer.  And, to be able to do so even if the throw is a complete suprise and totally unexpected.  And, to be able to do so whether being thrown fast or slow or anywhere in between.

Ukemi is a hyper-critical element of training in MA and the ability to take any throw is the mark of a high-level player since it results long-term in being able to fully commit to an attack, viscerally understand the gyrations ukes undergoes as the planet rises to meet and greet them, and be able to adjust on-the-fly to the dynamics of a throw; any throw both as tore and as uke.

Players who train in dojo with a poor falling surface or too-small area are unfortunate as they simply do not have the physical plant and equipment to fully experience dynamic waza from the aspects of both uke and tore.  But, an adjustment can be made by having some extra crash mats so that they can be thrown with gusto (safely) or, the Sensei can have the class take turns working in a small group such that the available falling space can be maximized even if it means the class lines up and only one or two people are being thrown at any given moment.

The adjustment must be made so that the experience can be garnered and maximized.  Good ukemi skills are simply too critical for fully developing the Bushi to not pay heed to the need.

L.F. Wilkinson Sensei

Aikibudo Kancho, Aikibudokan, Houston, TX

January 2011

 

Advice for New Teachers

Part of running a doj0 consists, or should consist, of allowing your senior black belts to teach on a regular/semi-regular basis.  This is due to many factors including both the obvious and the non-obvious.

• Sensei may want to take a vacation and needs a substitute,
• Sensei could be sick for a while,
• The dojo may want to expand classes and may actually need additional teachers to cover more Aikido, weapons or grappling sessions,
• Perpetuation of the system (aka Sensei died last week or Sensei retired last week so who takes over now?),
• Maybe the senior Yudansha have some good ideas that could benefit everyone (including Sensei) that haven't been heard yet (because Sensei teaches everything),
• and lastly, how can a dojo develop really good players who understand and who can communicate the principles and the ryu to beginners unless they actually acquire some experience by doing so?

If you've never taught before and you walk into class one night and Sensei looks over and says, "OK, it's your turn in barrel", then here are a couple of ideas that might  help.

• Pick a topic you know.
• Pick a topic that you know people have questions about and may not understand.
• Think about that topic before starting the lesson.
• Instead of trying to teach every single thing you know about that waza or principle, pick 1, no more than 2 facets of the topic and focus on those.  Trying to cover everything confuses the lesson and no one will be able to remember all that "stuff" anyway.
• As you teach the lesson, don't look out and see a large group of people staring back at you and not smiling; instead, see only one person and direct your lesson at them and then teach until they smile or nod or look like they understand.  Then go to someone else; in short, in order to avoid being intimidated by a large group, shrink your target to something that you can emotionally manage.
• As you teach the lesson, hone in on that one item (or two) and attack it from more than one angle .... "stand here and do this, or change your position slightly and then do this".  Remember that people learn in different manners so if you teach only with one method or idea then only a small percentage will understand so teach the topic from angle #1 to get it across to 10% of the audience, then change your approach to angle #2 and the next 10% will get it, then change it again.
• Don't change your approach to the topic more than about 2x to 3x elsewise you'll start to sound redundant and repetitive and bore folks.  Depending on the topic and the experience of the group you'll never get 100% understanding so go for part understanding and part "I kinda get it".
• For those who don't fully understand intellectually don't worry .... that's what lots of practice is for.  The body can do before the brain catches up.
• Keep the lesson as short as you can until you gain more seasoning as a teacher/group leader and can start to teach more consisely.  Too much discussion bores and takes away from the practice.
• Remember that teaching is not that difficult IF you cover a topic that you know.

If you don't know a topic that well then remember; practice is the best way to develop both abiltiy and understanding so grasshopper, the answer is obvious .... go to class.

 

L.F. Wilkinson Sensei

Aikibudo Kancho

Aikibudokan, Houston, TX

Henka - Not Just Another Pretty Face

Mates (not the Australian Drinking Buddy Type but an actual spousal unit) are much like martial arts.  They can be pretty on the outside while the inside is hollowed out and non-supportive of our life goals.  Without some substance inside the person (or the henka) you can look good with the trophy on your arm and yet have nothing to fall back on when the feces flows merrily thru' the oscillator.

Kihon waza and henka (variations) are like that spousal unit; looking good but not real functional.

Kihon is not kihon waza, and henka most certainly is not.  If you do not have good, solid, intuitive and fundamentally sound kihon then any kihon waza (an evolved expression of the kihon) will simply result in essentially a pretty face and not much else; and you can just forget about good henka as a bad kihon waza will by definition result in an even worse variation (of that kihon waza).  In short, it won't impress anyone but the guy in the mirror looking back at you and the uneducated neophyte on the side of the mat.

This becomes even more important once we realize that henka is not simply a "variation" of a base form but can also be considered a dynamically altered, created and self-evolving kihon waza done on-the-fly as the relationship with the opponent continually evolves; or a dynamic physical koan if you like. 

This is why focusing on "variations" in kihon waza and kata practice can become so dangerous.  When henka are created dynamically they become a unique, one time only in the universe event that can that only be effective through a use of kihon.  Training in kihon waza or kata by doing multiple variations of any given or specific waza will eventually lead to an ingraining of that exploration/variation and the possible internalizing of something that works well in practice with a cooperative uke but utterly fails against a skilled opponent in a dynamic environment.  The human mind tends to lock onto anything that "feels good" so by spending to much time living in "clouds" of waza, we may tend to unconsciously repeat fewer and fewer variations based upon our being successful with that few and because they feel good and provide some level of positive feedback.

Once you cut it down to the bare essentials; kihon in any martial art is not technique.  Yes, yes ..... I know there are lots of books out there that says that they are one in the same but they just are not.

There are critically distinct differences between the two.  If you have bad kihon then you will in turn have bad kihon waza since kihon waza is nothing more than a physical "koan-ic" expression of all three of the base kihon (fundamental principles).

These are and in no specific order; timing, distance and positioning or Sen, Ma-ai and Happo no Kuzushi.  Or if you like and just to be a bit expressive; sen-ma-ha (sen, ma-ai, happo) or SMH.  Please notice that these are specific to a measurement of time and space relative to the opponent and are NOT waza per se.

There simply is not a technique in existence that can be executed without tori establishing control of all 3 of these simultaneously.  A failure to acquire positive control of one will eventually lead to a failure of the other two in toto'.  This failure may be partially compensated for by excessive use of power, speed and trickery but those have limited utility against  a seasoned player and will eventually depart us as we age.

Regardless of whether tori is in defensive, offensive, provocative or reactive mode, anything he does or will do sucessfully is dependent upon an understanding of how to control, manipulate or respond in a dynamic fashion to changes in timing, distance and angles of attack/position/off balance.

Too many martial artists, failing to realize the importance of these rush through the monotonous, daily and methodical practice of kihon and the most basic of kihon waza (which in and of themselves allow us to further internalize the kihon) and get right into a study of henka and variations by the score.  This results in bad habits, bad reactions and ineffective waza when attempted against a skilled player with good fundamentals.

Or, since I began this by talking about mates then a rush to get a date with the head cheerleader without understanding the personality and depth of character behind the face can result in great tragedy, not to mention not having a date for New Year's Eve.

We read stories about master martial artists saying that they use "technique of no-technique" or somewhere in the past our Sensei tells us that he uses no specific technique, only fundamentals and we ponder upon that, not really understanding.

Consider this; if you use perfect control of SMH then true, you may not use an actual kihon waza or henka but by having and maintaining primary control of where you and your opponent are in time and space (since you at that juncture have a symbiotic relationship) you may find that you do not need an actual waza as uke may be so far out-of-round that they throw themselves down, thus saving you the effort.  You in effect create an environment in which you are at home while they are lost in the woods; chasing the rabbit down the wrong trail like Alice but never catching up until they fall down the hole.

The difference in acquiring this understanding and use of SMH is in the mindset existent as we approach training.  SMH must be acquired by drill training and not technique-only or even randori based training. 

Uchikome in Judo or training in basics in Aikido are not real "techniques" or "variations" so-to-speak but they are drills that are practiced to understand the SMH of a throw or joint lock/take-down.  It is only after the drill has been done a sufficient number of times that the waza that may be joined onto the end (if desired) can be understood.

By drilling SMH until it becomes us and we become it, you enter an encounter and find that you are always in a position of safety and strategic effectiveness while the opponent/uke is not positioned to do much about it.  This is where the need or choice to actually do waza becomes an option for you to consider and can be a function of whether or not the opponent/uke continues their actions against you or chooses to call it a day.

L.F. Wilkinson Sensei

Aikibudo Kancho

Aikibudokan, Houston, TX

February 2010