Mid-Atlantic II - Dana pictures

[Bill Glasheen]

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. This thread is a continuation of the Fantastic Mid-Atlantic Regional thread, where I chose to spend my time studying how Dana does the Takara/Nakamatsu whip-power sanchin thrust. This power generation method can be used for other techniques, but sanchin is a great place to start practicing the principles of movement involved.

I'll separate this into three posts. In each of these posts, we view Dana in three stages of her sanchin thrust.

* Part A is the chamber, where she rotates back, flexes (compresses) her rear leg, and extends her spine.

* Part B is where she extends the rear leg and counterrotates. She begins to extend the arm, but the forearm is still fully supinated.

* Part C is where she finishes the thrust (full extension with pronation) while flexing her spine ("crunching").

- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

The pictures say it all here.

PART A
Note: Ignore the head turn. Dana is talking to the class to her right.


PART B


PART C


- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

Here we get a better look at what she is doing. Dana's being a little more demonstrative in this sequence.

PART A

Note the compressed back leg, body rotated back a bit, and right butt cheek sticking out.



PART B

Now Dana has extended the rear leg and rotated forward. Since her spine is still arched back, it forces her left butt cheek to stick out a bit. The arm has extended in a path forward (actually not quite straight) with the elbow tracking right along the side and then front right of the body.



PART C

In the final phase of the sequence, she snaps a contraction of the abdominal muscles while finishing the extension and pronating the arm. Note that the lumbar curve (lordosis) has completely disappeared. There is just a hint of the upper body curving forward (thoracic kyphosis).


- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

Sometimes the chi-sters like to talk about the opening and closing of the qua. It's not my language, but it's a view. Basically look at how the femoral triangle (creases in the front hip) flexes. Dana's pointing this out here with her hands.


PART A
Here the right front hip creases quite a bit.



PART B

Here the right hip crease is gone, but the left front hip is creasing just a bit.



PART C

In the final snap of the upper abdominals (with relaxation of the hip flexors), both creases disappear.


- Bill

[Dana Sheets]

So I need to say a few things here...
1) This is exaggeration training. I know I've said it before but I'll keep saying it just to be very clear. You do this training big for awhile until you figure out how your body moves, then you can make it small.

2) In the first photo - "front" - because I'm turned to talk to people my torso is much more rotated than it should be. The idea is to sink into the back leg but not to pull back that striking shoulder. As you sink that shoulder naturally drifts back some - that's fine. But you don't want to be thinking about doing any extra twisting above the hips. It's all about sinking - not twisting. Also in the next picture your hand and elbow should line up and point at the target straight ahead - in the photo mine are out of alingment because I was exaggerating the elbow rub against the body.

3) My butt is a bit too far out. And the powers that be saw fit to give me a generous caboose...oh whatever. Anyway - again the goal is to sink into that leg, the focus is not on sticking out your butt. As much as possible you should keep you tuckus from pushing out.

4) Front part "C" you're seeing an exaggeration of the final tuck. I was trying to be clear that you don't rotate your hip backwards - you're instead snapping the hip underneath. So the ideal is your traditional underneath sanchin position - though not quite as locked down as some do it.

5) Oh my word I didn't think those picts of me pointing at the qua would look quite that special...but they do. Anyway - what I said over and over during the seminar is that in the traditional Chinese arts they say you should be able to crack a walnut open when you close that crease. So you need to find out for yourself how you can use those to help make and move power.

6) Bring on your questions...I know it all looks pretty crazy...so I'll do my best to help Bill explain what's going on.

Thanks,
Dana

ps - Bill calls this Takara/Nakamatsu - but I have no idea if Nakamatsu Sensei has shared this training method with his teacher. Mr. Takara never suggested this level of exaggeration to me. He only suggested that I strive to "coordinate my whole body". Mr. Nakamatsu is the one I can say does directly encourage this level of exaggeration for training purposes.

[Bill Glasheen]

You make me chuckle, Dana.

First, I wish the camera would be that kind to me. You need to have folks take pictures of you doing Uechi some time to appreciate just how good folks like Uechi Kanei are. Those folks are some of the most studied martial artists in history - by photo. It's really, really difficult to find fault with them, once you understand what they are doing. Meanwhile, the camera doesn't lie. It makes the rest of us look really, really bad in comparison.

Yes, your head is turned (first and third picture in the FRONT sequence), and it is because you are talking to the class. I will make note of that above (do an edit) so folks don't get confused. It is a teaching artifact in the sequence.

Next, I'll start by saying that Dana is happily spoken for (and I approve, BTW ). Fine... That being said, a good "caboose" in athletics (and in life) is virtue, and not vice. Go to the Olympics some time and look at the sprinters on the track. Check out the best leapers on the basketball court. Hell, check out my wife who I met in the gym and was a champion women's bodybuilder.

Yes, we can have a little fun if we must... We could always digress to Dana Carvey's Church Chat skits (for example, with Rob Lowe and Sean Penn). Fine...

I'd venture to say that Dana's "caboose" is the reason why this tiny woman can generate so much power. It's not about bench press strength; it's about strength in the core muscles, and getting it all to work together.

That being said, the transiently promenant gluteal cheek is part moon (oops.. ), and part finger pointing at the moon. When you see that cheek pop out (in combination with the curve in the lower back or lumbar lordosis), what you see is the prestretching of both the gluteal muscles and the prestretching of the abdominal muscles. That's potential energy, baby. Do it quickly, and it graduates to neuromuscular energy (a.k.a. plyometrics). I wasn't being leud by presenting that pictoral perspective. This dynamic posture is the genesis of the energy wave that courses from floor to tip of finger.

And finally, I agree - exaggeration is the operating word here. You can't see what Dana is doing without having her make the motions very big. This is both part of teaching and part of learning. As part of my own teaching, I use break down and build up as a device to teach, internalize, and reinforce important basic principles.

Go with it. Have faith in the process. Process is key here.

In the end, the technique looks like nothing more than a quiver or a wiggle. It almost looks like bad form. But the "artifact" is the most important element in getting the whip to crack here.

- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

Previously I had used the atlatl as example of stored energy in a bending rod. Just today I thought of another great example.

Check out Sergei Bubka storing energy in his vaulting pole. Here's a world record holder executing his craft.



Now...think Dana's spine. Also, add in the fact that she has more than just flexion in her movement. She has flexion, compression, and torsion.

- Bill

[Van Canna]

I have seen you in action, Dana, and you do pack a potent whipping strike.

One thing, though: Some seniors, I have talked to, feel that in Uechi-Ryu _ there is no hip or body movement, none whatsoever, and that the "limbic" movements, are all that is necessary in a "natural whip action" !

Is Nakamtsu's method accepted by all other Okinawan Masters, or criticized? Example.. Okikukai..?

I have heard stories...

[Joe Graziano]

Hi Van,

If I may chime in here, I think Dana (my friend Bob Kaiser's student) has done a wonderful job of explaining and demonstrating some of Mr. Nakamatsu's concepts. As you know, Mr. Nakamatsu is my teacher Walter's senpai under Mr. Takara. He is also a contemporary of my other fine teacher Mr. Gushi.

I have observed Mr. Nakamatsu at his home/dojo on Okinawa (with Walter-sensei) and at his good friend Walter's dojo. He is truly a genious, no doubt about it.

What sometimes gets lost in the translation is the distinction between practice and performance. As Dana tried to point out, this is exaggeration - for a training purpose.

If I may paraphrase my esteemed teacher Walter, the beauty should come last, because without speed and power, you've got no effect. Basically he says, don't emulate your (model or) teacher's looks, but do what you have to for the effect. And if it takes more exaggeration on your part to get the effect, so be it. As you become more proficient, you don't need the same degree of exaggeration for the same effect.

While I do think Dana needs to keep her forward quad flexed more, I think she essentially has the right idea and I applaud her for trying to explain it on an open forum.

Joe

[Dana Sheets]

Hi Joe and thanks for your comments. And yes - three years in I've gotten the back leg and hip figured out (for now) - the front leg is my next challenge. When I was up in Philly last week Earnie Sumpter commented that my root has come up a bit......all part of the process at this point. I think my front leg will help me bring my center back down.

I should also mention that since I've been doing this for awhile I've gotten a good deal more flexible in my ankles. Please don't try to force yourself lower than you should. Get down as low as you can and try to remember what it feels like to have all those muscles activated to help with the explosion. And then make it your own.

Van - I can't speakto what other Okikukai seniors think of this training. I didn't ask and they didn't offer. Blessed be my ignorance. All I can say is that Mr. Takara told me my non-exaggerated movements are on the right track and that now I need to work on flow and grace. Other teachers said similar things - that I'm fine on power, now it is time for me to work on bringing it all together. Keep in mind I didn't present my kata to them with exaggerated Nakamatsu style - that's just a training tool. I showed them my best - which means the smallest, most efficient ripple I can manage instead of a big wave.

[Van Canna]

Joe, Dana,

Thanks for the comments.

It was of interest to me because I have heard that Takara sensei does not teach this type of mechanics, in spite of what I learned otherwise when working out with you and Walter, Joe.

Who knows. But to me it seems a very powerful one, and I love it. Dana’s kata is one of the strongest I have ever seen anywhere. And she can use it in scenarios and fighting as well.

Other Uechi, I see, is very poor in power generation.

My student Seth, who has been training with master Uehara in Tokyo for two years, showed another very powerful method to me.

Very different, but extremely powerful. He indicated that there is much hip snapping, and I will be in possession of a DVD showing the method.

He said there is a woman [Dan rank] at the dojo, who shows the hip motion in a very powerful manner.


So many different methods. What is the so-called “Real Uechi”?

[Joe Graziano]

Van,

What is the so-called "real" Uechi. Darned if I know. I do know that the path is a wonderful ride. I do know that having been there, I understand where on the path Dana and others junior to me are at. I know that for me and thanks to my teachers I've developed a fairly good amount of speed and power and that at my level now I need to continue to work more and more on beauty - on that effortless power. What Walter-san refers to as increasing the gap between effort and effect. (Minimum effort with maximum effect.)

I don't know yet, but I can appreciate where Walter-san, you, and other of my seniors are at: Developing a "masterful" bearing/performance perhaps?

I can tell you, having recently had the honor and pleasure of training under Masters Takara, Inada, and Nakahodo, as well as Senior Teachers Walter Mattson and James Thompson, the path is such a tremendous joy that I and my friends of many years have been fortunate to share. Sometimes I think that I and my friends in the so-called second generation of American Uechi are the most fortunate of all. We've been privileged to follow our seniors and just study without the responsibilities that they've had.

I can also tell you that it is nothing short of awe inspiring to see Master Takara et. al. perform not only effortlessly but truly masterfully and with such happiness. fulfillment, and richness, that I can only begin to appreciate at my level.

I think we the devoted, can join together with e.g. Pedro Martinez and others in saying, "I live for this."

Joe

[Bill Glasheen]

Have you folks ever studied Uechi Kanei's "body wave" when he does a shomen geri? The guy's hands even fly out. I used to think it was such terrible form until I started studying these mechanics. Now I think differently. This man could still crack a nasty front snap kick in his sixties. Scary...

Interestingly enough, I've had better luck deconstructing and reconstructing the kick whip than I have the upper body thrust whip. I think it's because of my track background combined with my exposure to Ray Berry. It wasn't until very recently that I finally figured out what Dana was doing, and realized it was another variation of the same principle.

So... What is "real Uechi" when Kanei Uechi himself undulates as he kicks?

- Bill

[Joe Graziano]

Bill,

FWIW, I have heard that Mr. Uechi was conceding to a bad back with regard to his kicking technique. If true, 1) He deserves even more credit for the power he was able to generate given his handicap, and 2) We should emulate his effect and not necessarily his form.

Mr. Takamiyagi is another renowned great kicker. A friend of mine has developed a tremendously powerful kick based on his study of Mr. Takamiyagi's form. For him, essentially following his form, while making adjustments for the difference in his body build, etc. worked.

I suppose it's as Mr. Nakamatsu is fond of pointing out - the "keiko" concept. This involves not just blindly following your role model, whoever that may be (and of course it may be different people for different techniques) but "thinking about" how you can develop the same speed and power given your body build, handicaps, etc.

In the end we need to get the most from ourselves given our unique limitations. The enlightened teachers know us individually and teach us how to practice to be the best we can be. The enlightened students embark on a course of how do "I" (very individual here), given my limitations get "there" (my individual goal) from here.

[Van Canna]

Joe

I don't know yet, but I can appreciate where Walter-san, you, and other of my seniors are at: Developing a "masterful" bearing/performance perhaps?

Thanks for your kindness, Joe.

I can also tell you that it is nothing short of awe inspiring to see Master Takara et. al. perform not only effortlessly but truly masterfully and with such happiness. fulfillment, and richness, that I can only begin to appreciate at my level.

Well said, and really what Uechi is all about..

Joe

the "keiko" concept. This involves not just blindly following your role model, whoever that may be (and of course it may be different people for different techniques) but "thinking about" how you can develop the same speed and power given your body build, handicaps, etc.

That’s the mark of a good teacher. Vinnie Christiano, while in Okinawa, studied under Nakahodo sensei, who said to him that the smart student will assimilate only the “ways of doing” that benefit him individually, and not to be concerned with the different ways of teaching from the many seniors.

The problem, as we see it constantly, is someone who will try to tell you that your Uechi is all wet, because he knows the real way as per the “best sensei” he trained under.

Gets tiring..

In the end we need to get the most from ourselves given our unique limitations.

Amen..It is an individual journey…

Have you folks ever studied Uechi Kanei's "body wave" when he does a shomen geri?

Bill, there are some seniors who don’t believe in any “wave” and will give you an argument on this, as it does not square with their interpretations…

As I said..tiring…