Disqus - Latest Comments for mokurendojo

Re: 2017 Conservation Successes from Around the World

mokurendojo — Fri, 22 Dec 2017 11:23:51 -0000

That's great! Keep up the good work! When I saw this article it spawned an idea for a post on my blog in which I referenced your article!
http://roamingparkers.com/2...

Re: Real Aikido in Action

mokurendojo — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:04:12 -0000

I agree - sorta - but not quite.

I like the story and have used it often as an example of compassionate aiki. The old man took a risk, but apparently he was already at risk with a drunk crazy guy escalating to a rampage right next to him. The old man might have become a victim by acting but he just as well might have become a victim by not acting. He had nothing to lose by acting.

I don't know that everybody should act every time in situations like this, but I generally think more people should be willing to act more often.

For more on my ideas surrounding this, see these old posts of mine...

http://www.mokurendojo.com/...

Re: Interview: Forrest Morgan, Author “Living the Martial Way” (Part 2)

mokurendojo — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:54:26 -0000

Very fine interview - thanks guys, for putting in the time to share Mr. Morgan's experience with us.

Re: this is a test

mokurendojo — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:49:47 -0000

at least they sorta work - the comments count doesn't seem to work, and my dashboard at Disqus showed the comment then it disappeared there but it's still here.

Re: this is a test

mokurendojo — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:46:32 -0000

all of a sudden the comments are working on this post! What is different? Aargh!

Re: Name that atemi!

mokurendojo — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:36:31 -0000

I agree completely - atemi should be a fluid, flexible, organic thing. Whatever is appropriate - whatever is aiki.

WRT the kata - I see these three atemi as sort of like the three axes in a coordinate system. They allow tori to rapidly determine what sort of situation he's in even when the actual variant that ends up being thrown is not exactly on any of the axes.

Re: Name that atemi!

mokurendojo — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:14:49 -0000

It sure looks a lot like gyaku when you first see it, but look again - tori is standing inside uke's feet holding and striking as in shomenate. Also, look at the feet - both guys have their right feet forward, that puts them (by definition) in an aigamae position...

Re: http://www.mokurendojo.com/2008/10/want-to-be-great-at-baseball-learn.html

mokurendojo — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:17:58 -0000

Comments from my Pre-Disqus days...

Ikigai said...
Very cool story. It's neat when the core principles of martial arts seep into other aspects of daily life. This is a great example. I doubt anyone connected aikido with baseball before this occurrence.

October 23, 2008 11:44 AM
Dojo Rat said...
Centering, visualization, Ki/chi, atheletics and martial arts-- This little story has a lot of information in it - Thanks Pat

October 23, 2008 11:54 AM
Anonymous said...
IIRC Oh was tutored by Koichi Tohei, the much younger top instructor at the aikido HQ. Tohei was ever looking for other ways to make this into a business..

October 27, 2008 11:08 AM
Anonymous said...
Yes it was Tohei Sensei that worked with Oh teaching him Ki Principles, not O'Sensei. And he wasn't looking to make a buisiness or would have been sure to have credit in every source out there.

November 22, 2008 4:51 AM
Martial art schools said...
I just started aikido again, I began in 2004 and had to stop. I hope I turn out as good as you seem. Nice blog/site. :-)

February 16, 2009 7:59 AM
Patrick Parker said...
Thanks, Glad you enjoy my blog. Keep on stopping by and leaving comments!

February 16, 2009 12:00 PM

Re: Ninja invisibility

mokurendojo — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:15:52 -0000

A comment from my pre-Disqus days...

Dan Paden said...
Interesting. If you ever read Steve Stark's book about his training with Seiyu Oyata, his account of his first time sparring with Oyata Sensei will sound familiar. He notes repeatedly that he never saw Oyata Sensei move, yet he was hit repeatedly.

And Kiyoshi Arakaki states in his book that "The essential principle of Okinawan karate is to move without seeming to do so."

There are times that I think that there's really only one martial art.

March 14, 2008 9:41 PM

Re: Two helpful handfuls; To fall or not to fall...

mokurendojo — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:24:36 -0000

Ha, yeah, "Don't resist, just fall, but don't jump for him either" is like some crazy aiki koan!

Re: Two helpful handfuls; To fall or not to fall...

mokurendojo — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:49:27 -0000

Hey! Great having you reading my blog and leaving comments, David. Good point you made there - that is a really fun mode to play aiki - leaving uke hanging on the side of a cliff every time he takes a step and declining to put the force into it to push him over the edge. Every so often, uke will spazz out on the edge of the cliff and sail himself.

Re: Never do an escape in judo!

mokurendojo — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:28:43 -0000

I agree. I tell my students if they can entangle a leg then begin using that to their advantage. If the ref stops it before they can do anything, fine, but entangling and laying around in order to bore the ref is lame.

Re: Never do an escape in judo!

mokurendojo — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:27:17 -0000

Dang! No argument! That's like no randori!

Re: Strange answers about atemi and brushoff

mokurendojo — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:22:13 -0000

Ha. I suspect your right RE: thinking on it some more. The only thing that seems to have been constant in my martial arts practice for the last 20 some-odd years is the flux in my thought processes.

I also like the idea of trying all this out on Dojo Rat!

Re: The lost facet of judo

mokurendojo — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:49:48 -0000

Good points, Rob, and to some degree I wrote that post the way I did just to provoke some thoughtful responses (that's the way I roll ;-) But I think you probably have to admit there's a core of something to think about in there.

It's not that judo does not have kumikata, or that judo guys can't strike, or even that those classes of techniques are exclusively the domain of aikido. Heck I actually think aikido and judo are the same thing practiced slightly different ways.

But you can't say that you practice your judo the same when you know the guy won't push your nose in as when you think he might. Under the rules of engagement typically played in judo randori and shiai, you _know_ you cannot be touched on the face. This frees you up to try a lot of stuff that you otherwise couldn't try with impunity.

I think If you are going to play judo in a fashion that translates well to the possibility of face-punching, then you'll likely want to change how you go about kumikata, how you pass from free-motion to clench, and what throws you might try.

Aiki guys, on the other hand, usually play randori assuming that the guy will push your nose in any time you give him the chance. For example, you have the tomiki guys who do shiai but you never see judo throws happen in tomiki tournaments. It's not that those guys don't know those throws - they are mostly judo guys too. It's not even that judo throws are outlawed in tomiki tournaments. It's that the addition of atemi changes the mix of likely outcomes.

And regarding the idea that any technique can be countered by doing the right thing at the right time, that's absolutely right, but hand-in-the-face counters most variations of most judo throws most of the time (if you don't practice dealing with it through kumikata and taisabaki).

Re: Brush-off applied to atemi

mokurendojo — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:31:04 -0000

Good point, Dan. I haven't been ignoring you, just thinking.

You're right. If youre disengaging just to choose to re-engage, that's mostly a waste of time. So, don't re-engage if it's up to you. evade, avoid, and run away. The rest of the aiki only comes into play when uke exerts enough or the situation conspires to prevent you from fleeing.

if tori is actively (and intelligently) retreating then uke has to put that much more energy into the attack just to get to tori. That extra energy makes the subsequent aiki work that much better.

Of course, there are situations that tori is bound to go and engage. I'm not talking about those situations right now.

Re: My favorite deashibarai clip

mokurendojo — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:57:54 -0000

Yeah, the Camarillo brothers are almost as good as the Parker brothers. (Keep that name in the back of your mind for the next 15-or-so years ;-)

Re: My favorite deashibarai clip

mokurendojo — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:56:16 -0000

Me too! I had to watch it over and over and over just because of the ultra-sweet timing. It's not often in a tournament that you see power, timing, and speed combined that way!

Re: Brush-off applied to atemi

mokurendojo — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:05:29 -0000

Hey, cool! You're welcome to disagree with me on this forum or any other so long as you are knowledgable and civil. You are both. I don't have too much tolerance for YouTube boobs who don't try to understand but still leave terse, negative comments with lots of ROTFL's and "sux" and that sort of thing. I'm glad to have you reading and watching and especially thinking and questioning what I do here.

But I think you're wrong on this one ;-)

You've given me material for at least one more post and probably more. That's one way that you know a good blog post - is when the comments give you material for more than one more post. Anyway, give me a day or two to write a coherent response.

Anyone else out there with thoughts on this?

Re: The slow blade penetrates the shield

mokurendojo — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 08:30:04 -0000

Cool story and a good friend to show you that. In a lot of cases, it's not so much how fast you move, but when you arrive that counts most.

Re: The slow blade penetrates the shield

mokurendojo — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 08:26:10 -0000

Thanks. I enjoy having you reading and watching what i post here - and I especially enjoy having you think about it and comment on it.

Re: Learning and faith

mokurendojo — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 07:40:19 -0000

Thank you. I'm glad you like my blog. I ejoyed reading over your blog too - particularly about your recent vacation to Sardinia. We are planning to go on vacation next week to the beach. Can't wait!

Re: Rope Trick

mokurendojo — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:57:59 -0000

Sure we can. It's just that when you're around we usually have people (me) to use as spotters - but we can break out the rope and play next time.

Re: Rope Trick

mokurendojo — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:43:25 -0000

Ha, Glad you liked that ;-) You have to do some playing with the length of the rope to get it right. What I did was I tied multiple knots in the rope at various intervals and then you lie down in a sidefall position and reach up to judge how long the rope needs to be (which knot to hold)

You can also just as easily do this with a crash pad or mattress under you.

Re: Atemiwaza facilitates ukiwaza

mokurendojo — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:40:00 -0000

Ooh! I can feel the noodle starting to sizzle! Am I understanding this right:

maeotoshi is early shihonage
sumiotoshi is early tenkai kotehineri
hikiotoshi is early kotegaeshi

I can see where that comes from, but I'll have to play it to integrate it. Cool!