Opportunities

 

(thanks for the inspiration Cikgu)

Great class last night. A full floor of dedicated kalistas, passionate in training and hungry for more. Experienced practitioners and new faces mixed together - learning, sharing. It's why I teach. I can imagine my teacher, Punong Guro Fred Evrard, watching me from heaven, pleased.

We finished with Panantukan, Filipino kickboxing. I set up a simple drill where we use the knee spike against the lead leg. It's a simple, brutally effective attack that when done correctly finishes any fight. This time, we used it with a clear telegraph to the defender - a big setup to show we were intent on attacking the lead leg with a knee spike. This is not normally the way we fight in KM, but there was a purpose here. Once the defender sees the incoming knee strike, they fear it and move their leg away. This exposes an attack of opportunity on the remaining leg that is usually very successful.

I used this specific combination to illustrate an important point, which became my mini-talk to close the class as we bowed out.

Opportunity is a very important element of fighting, just as it is a very important element of life. I think it exists in three different stages of evolution.

Recognizing Opportunity
As a beginner, we do our best to mimic and memorize the techniques our teachers show us. We focus on our footwork and body mechanics and do our best to create consistency in how we move, so that we can repeat the techniques correctly and commit them to muscle memory. Part of this training is learning the foundations of strategy. We explore and discover how to set up and maintain our focused guard, and learn what happens when we don't. As well, we start to see where opportunities can open up on our opponent. We learn about the inside and outside lines, high/medium/low lines, largo/medio/corto distances and how they can be used. Learning to recognize opportunities is critically important because until we do, we cannot act to take advantage of them. 

Seizing Opportunity
The next evolution is learning to seize opportunity. It is one thing to realize there is a chance or an opening. It is yet another thing to have the decisiveness to take action on it. We are by nature creatures of fear and apprehension. Many would say we are biased to inaction and the status quo (at least without the right training). Seizing opportunities requires rapid assessment of risk/reward and a mindset that accepts taking risk when the odds favor it. In fighting, this could be a short path to victory. It could also mean getting hit (or worse). As per the motto of the British SAS "who dares wins".

Creating Opportunity

The highest level goes beyond just recognizing when opportunities arise and then having the decisiveness to act on them when we see them. It involves something deeper and more important. The most successful people learn how to create opportunities. They no longer wait for the moment to arrive, they make the moment happen and then leverage it when it does. In fighting, as per my drill, we use one attack to open another. We use feints, deception, misdirection to cause confusion in our opponent. We attack multiple targets at the same time in order to make it impossible to avoid getting hit. We use body position, balance, weight shift and posture with our footwork to be in uncomfortable places where the opponent struggles to follow. These are the tools of an expert fighter.

In life, too, we must train to be decisive and to create opportunities for our success. We cannot sit idly by hoping it will be handed to us. Winners make it happen.

By dedicated training in martial arts, I hope we can all develop the discipline to push past our fears and doubts and go into the world ready to create the lives we want. I hope we can learn to create the opportunities we need to grow and become the very best versions of ourselves, living lives we can look back on with pride.

See you at class. 

The Legacy of Club 545

 

It's hard to believe it's been twenty years, 20 years, since Club 545 started.

It began in 2005 almost as a dare - a semi-private Yoshinkan aikido lesson in Roppongi, two students and an instructor, starting at 5:45 AM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The class would be taught in the old school way, the way of the intensive Senshusei course, which has produced nearly every high-ranking Yoshinkan instructor around the world. Myself and my partner, Chris, an English former London cop turned investment banker working nearby, agreed to do it. If he could, I could. If Sensei Mike could, we could.

I used to get the 5:09 train from Jiyugaoka in order to get there just on time. I'd be so sleepy I could hardly open my eyes. All I wanted was to go back to bed. Still, we did it. Some mornings were hard. Others were harder. Still, we kept going. The 0700 class would come in as we were finishing our class and bowing out. They looked at us as if we were insane. We were. During the practice, we went 100%. We never pulled our punches or toned down our techniques. The risk of injury was constant. Even injured, we trained.

After a few months, we heard that others wanted to join our madness. Enter Saori and David. Saori was a slight, frail Japanese office lady. Quiet and shy, but with fluent English. We told her plainly that we didn't think she could handle it. She nodded. We told her she would not get special treatment. She nodded.

I still remember the first class, David standing strong and resolute. His muscles rippling under his dogi. Curious smile on his face. In stark contrast, Saori standing in kamae with her little hands shaking, eyes focused in concentration.

Day after day, class after class, she kept at it. She never gave up. Just like us, she attended every class. Just like us, she trained hard every class - injured or not. Over time, her hands stopped shaking and her kamae became steady, unshakeable. Confident. Her movements automatic.

While I was in Singapore from 2008 - 2010, two important things happened: First, I passed my black belt grading in Yoshinkan aikido, tested in Kuala Lumpur by my teacher, Shihan Ramlan Ortega of Shudokan Malaysia and his teacher, the legendary founder of the Shudokan, Shuseki Shihan Joe Thambu. It was an unforgettable weekend, one of the greatest moments of my life. A waypoint on the Aikido journey I started in Chicago in 1987. The second thing that happened was meeting Guro Fred Evrard and Guro Lila Evrard, the founders of Kali Majapahit, a couple who would change the direction of my martial arts journey forever. I started training in Kali Majapahit in 2008 and have continued to this day (I'm teaching tonight, actually), opening the first overseas branch of KM in Tokyo in 2011. I have neither forgotten nor abandoned my Yoshinkan foundation, and those who observe my flow can see it deeply embedded in how I move and how I think about martial arts. Sadly, Roppongi Yoshinkan is no more. The legacy and spirit of Club 545, however, remains.

I continued on my journey. I am very happy to say Saori-sensei continued on hers. I recently heard the news that she successfully passed her grading for 5th degree black belt. It's an amazing achievement and worthy of great praise. Very few students ever reach black belt at all. Even fewer reach 4th degree black belt. 5th degree black belt is probably 1-2% of all black belts globally in Yoshinkan. There are thousands ranked between 1st degree and 3rd degree (including me). Achieving this rank and recognition requires decades of focused, intense training. She is no longer a little girl, over the years she has grown to become a warrior. A teacher and leader. A true budoka. I am very proud to have been able to witness the start of her journey and thrilled to celebrate this latest milestone. 

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS SAORI-SENSEI!!

Long live CLUB 545!!

OSU!!