Taking Control of the Technique

I had an interesting email discussion the other day about how sometimes it appears that in Yoshinkan we push against a push or pull against a pull. I don't think that this is the case, however it is one way to teach the initial movement to the side in many katatemochi techniques that would be easily understandable for a beginner.

For example...

Katate mochi nikajo osae ichi:

When uke pulls shite's wrist in the initial attack shite moves to the side and makes a small "U" shape with the hand. This *appears* to have the effect of pulling against uke's pull to make the "U" properly.

Katate mochi nikajo osae ni:

When uke pushes shite's wrist in the initial attack shite moves to the side and makes a small "U" shape with the hand. This *appears* to have the effect of pushing against uke's push to make the "U" properly.

In both cases (ichi and ni) there is a point right at the beginning where it appears that shite is going against uke's power (ie. pulling a pull or pushing a push). This is a very key observation because obviously in Yoshinkan we don't want to do that! We want to go with the movement and change the direction of uke's power in order to have uke get all tangled up, unbalanced and splatted.

So the question is "What's happening here and why does it look like that?"

My answer to this question is that it all goes back to your kamae. When you have a solid kamae and someone pulls or pushes you your kamae should absorb that power so for an instant (a nano-second) you don't move. Thanks to Newton we know that if you push/pull against something immovable it will appear that it is pushing/pulling back even though it is not moving. I think that this is the case in the beginning of the techniques mentioned above. It is not that shite pulls against uke's pull or that shite pushes against uke's push but because the kamae is strong uke might feel that affect. In reality shite is not doing anything except standing strong for that initial nano-second.

The next question is "What does that give us?"

I think that initial nano-second is where shite takes control of the technique from uke. Uke attacks and by standing strong for a very brief (nano-second) moment uke loses their momentum, balance and initiative and shite takes it. Then the technique becomes fairly easy to do (okay...maybe not easy) because you already have taken the initiative from uke. Once that initial nano-second is over you move with and change the direction of uke's initial power, but now you are in control of it. Its also true that it is easier to change the direction of that initial attack because you've messed up uke's timing, balance, momentum and initiative.

This is often true when uke strikes and shite blocks as well. For a nano-second shite blocks a strike strongly and that bit of kamae strength used messes up uke's timing, balance, momentum and initiative long enough for shite to take control of the technique.

I would like to emphasize that I am not saying that you push against a push or pull against a pull, although I can understand this to be an easy "white lie" to show/tell beginners who many not have the concept of "strong kamae" and all that implies in their minds.

I am advocating a strongly balanced kamae that lets you absorb uke's attack for a very, very brief moment - just enough time to mess with their timing and expectation - so that you can take control of the technique away from them. Since they initiate the attack the initiative belongs to them in the beginning. You want to take that away from them as soon as possible so that you can splat 'em. Hard.

This method of taking the initiative does not apply to all techniques, however I think that it is something worth thinking about in most grabbing techinques and many striking techniques. Next time you're practicing a technique see if it applies.

Osu!