Izumizu-ha

Connect with me, or connect with my rank?

 

Connect with you to find common ground. IMHO.

You stated that you teach kids Aikido. I teach martial arts too. Alright, we have one thing in common. What do you want to talk about?

 

Actually, there is one six year old in the class, and that is only because he and his dad train together (as in they are both on the mats at the same time; they can practice with anyone). There are some 15 and 16 year olds, but generally I do not teach kids. For instance I would not have a class with six year olds in it, ten year olds, unless their parents also trained and practiced as in the case with this six year old. Again, just my choice.

Now that wasn't so hard was it? You didn't need my rank or style that I practice, and we can still talk and discuss, can't we?

Besides, in a way, I think you and I have already connected, and I didn't base this on your rank, style, years in training. In fact I never asked you these things, nor do I feel the need to.

 

Fallacy.

No, this is another blatant example of you trying to excuse your questionable content on this website.

You've indicated that you teach, you've indicated that you have a teacher, you've offered advice to others on specific aspects of a martial discipline, you are not all of the things quoted above.

So either you know your subject (which I question) or you don't, thus far izumizu, I haven't seen much of the former.

If you want to stay completely hidden behind your alias here then that's your choice but please don't think for a second that (I for one) people aren't going to challenge you on whatever material you process through this forum when, it's either questionable or entirely wrong. Why? Because you could be all of the things you've suggested, and under that premise, you have no reason to be suggesting training methods, advice and other information.

Given that we, you, and I know that's not the case, the fact that you wish to be coy about who you are, who your teacher(s) are, what style of aikido you study and, what grade you hold after nearly 20 years of study means that you'll have to respect our perspective in questioning the material you post. Until that is, the quality and accuracy of said material improves.

 

Didn't we already establish this either in this thread or in another?

 

Stop playing stupid games.

If this was in fact "established" before why did you then post this drivel only a few posts back?

 

Dave, you already said you were going to refute everything I say here on MAP. No big deal, then you add your previous post saying you are going to do this.

At this point, you knowing my rank will not change your approach to what I say. You didn't know it before, why will that change things now. So as far as you are concerned the concepts and ideas I espouse here on MAP are there for you to refute, and these concepts since you refute them must be quite new to your MA training, and new to the MA in general.

After all, they are my own invention, never before heard of in the MA universe, I can understand why you might take issue with them never having heard them before.

So, as far as you should be concerned, my rank is zero, and I am okay with that. Refute away, mate

 

Why do you KEEP harping on about your rank, I stopped asking you for it.

And, if you thought a little bit more about some of the things you posted here, I wouldn't have half the opportunities to questions what you say.

Edit:
Incidentally, this is how many times you've harped on about rank long after I stopped asking - in this thread alone.

 

Excellent. Good to know. I'll work on some new concepts that might please you in the manner in which I say them as I further bring light onto these new concepts I have discovered in the martial arts.

I feel like we are connecting already!

 

Don't patronise me, just stop posting gibberish.

 

Yes we can - we could talk about lots of things. We could discuss one of my many hobbies, just as Dave and I could talk firearms. Me, an avid but amateur shooter, and Dave a professional soldier (well, a Rockape kind of is... ).

We could compare techniques or list the most fun stuff we've got to play with etc.

However, imagine the response I got if I went on a shooting forum and gave tips out on how I have learned to shoot better - without backing my tips up with my background or experience? The boys and girls would be up in arms (hehe I am brill) and screaming for me to put up or shut up. Sure, I am just posting pointers I use myself and not forcing them on others - but beginners may read my comments and think they are excellent - when they are anything but.

We don't want you to shut up, and we don't want you to leave or be jaded by what is a generally good forum - but Dave, me, one or two others feel like the senior shooters above. If you are going to put training info out there, back it up with a mini-bio. If you are a rank beginner, no probs. Your training tips may inspire others to take up what it is you are doing, but with an understanding they are just another beginners' method, and not aiki canon. If you are one of the seniors, then say so as it will add meat to the bones of what you are offering. Somewhere in betweeen? Fine. People can use pointers that you have given knowing your place in the budo hierarchy and add the appropriate amount of credence to your offerings.

Personally, I ain't interested in your rank (as I know a couple of low-graded kendoka who are incredible as they have spent 25+ years training without bothering with grading) - but I am interested in your time served both as a student and a teacher. I am interested in what your strengths and weaknesses are - and where you think you are along the budo path, skill-wise. You any good? What does your teacher think about your current level of ability? Come to think of it, do you still train with your teacher?

I ain't asking for pics of your mrs naked. I'm just interested in your current level of training.

 

That never crossed my mind.

Excellent. Don't let me get in the way of that feeling.

Won't do that, will answer some of your questions below.

Twenty six years in the martial arts. 10 months shy of twenty years in aikido. I wear a black belt, and have been graded to at least that rank.
I

- Interesting. I hate shihonage. I excell in and love kokyunage.

Skill wise...never satisfied.

Guess that would depend on the scale.

Guess that would depend on the day.

Still visit with train from time to time.

$10.00 each

EDIT: Started teaching (more like running class...couldn't say I was really teaching since at that time I did not really understand what I was doing) on rare occaision as a kyu rank at times when most of dojo was away for seminars that I did not/could not attend. Found myself teaching more and more around year 15/16. Started teaching on a regular basis about two years ago.

 

Strengths v weaknesses? I wasn't looking for techniques.

Depends on scale/day? Come on, don't cop out. You're doing well so far.

$10 sounds like a lot of money for stuff I can view for free on her website.

 

Don't know howelse to answer. I guess one of my weaknesses as a teacher is I don't really break things down and explain things well in my class. Strengths? Again, never thought about these things before in relation to myself...ummmm....

They awarded me the rank, didn't they? It wasn't because I was good at dusting the shomen. Any good? Maybe just real lucky most of the time...again, I don't really focus on these types of questions in relation to myself or others. We all have things to work on to make us better, if I say I'm good, I can always be better. So this question does not apply.

She has her own website???

 

I have 26 years, like you - and I constantly analyse where there are shortfalls in both myself and my technique, and where my strengths are and how best to capitalise on them.

I am a little surprised you don't do this.

 

Hi Izumizu,

This is probably a futile effort, but I have read through all this, and feel something may have been missed, and it's lead to the place we're at now. You have managed to consistently demonstrate little knowledge/understanding of the use of a sword (as in Kenjutsu, as opposed to Aikiken), even to the point of not picking up on corrections (continually using the same incorrect terminology, despite being repeatedly corrected). This has initially started with your "accuracy drill", which you stated was extrapolated from an exercise shown to you by your teacher.

I'm going to suggest that the reason you are being asked (or have been asked) about your actual experience, and your ranking as an indication of the level to which you have achieved skill in your art (you may also remember that you have been asked about any actual kenjutsu training you may have experienced, which was none?) is due primarily to the common mistakes in knowledge and understanding that you are showing, which indicates a lack of both.

To illustrate that, if we take this back to your exercise itself, and the way you extrapolated it, it came from your instructor guiding you to use the lines of the mats on the floor where you were training to ensure your sword was coming down straight, yeah? From there you felt that the exercise was about accuracy, as you felt the aim was to cut directly along the line, indicating a perfectly straight-line cut. From my perspective, you most likely got even this initial exercise wrong, and focused on the wrong aspect of it.

What the exercise your instructor guided you through sounds like to me is far more about the correct movement of the sword, what is refered to as the hasuji, which is the back of the blade following the front (sharpened side) perfectly. If you find that your cut goes from one side of the line to another, then your initial kamae was off (with the way you were holding the sword), or your grip was off, or your tenouchi was off, and the sword was "pulled" one way or the other. This type of "bad cutting" can stress a real sword, leading to it being damaged, or bent in tameshigiri or actual use. In short, the exercise was to get your cutting mechanics in order, not to get you "accurate". So to focus on the idea of accuracy as the aim of that exercise, and to then take that aim and try to develop other exercises around it in a similar manner, you really did miss the point. Would you say that is a possiblity?

 

@Chris
I fully understand the purpose behind the guidance my instructor gave me in training with the bokken. My instructor did not devise these drills for me as far as the coin or d ring are concerned. They are something I did myself, in my own home, as a form of solo training, in addition to all of the other training drills I also mentioned that I do with the bokken.

Based on the years of monotonous solo training I have done, I have found that I both enjoy this part of my training (of which these drills are not the main focus of my training) and that my accuracy with the bokken has improved. As I combine them now with speed and accuracy, I find that that also tends to improve.

Following that, the questions posed to me in this thread caused me to ask myself...certainly I am not the only one who has devised a form of solo training that is not standardly taught as part of a ryu ha, hence the posts from Skoss, and the other folks on martialtalk.com.

Solo training can help in many ways, but does not equate to practice with a partner, which never was an issue. Nor was it an issue to be under the tutelage of an instructor. There are many things one can do in the form of solo training. Running and swimming are some of them as well.

I did not invent an entire ryu system out of these solo training drills, nor the slicing of eggs and cucumbers as in the showmanship video posted earlier in this thread (which I actually enjoyed the demonstration).

Swinging the sword accurately/correctly is, well, of primary importance in being able to be accurate with the sword, IMO. I offered a variety of solo training drills that would well extend into an hour and a half solo work out, with the introduction of these two drills starting out with this...One of the other things I like to do for target practice is from sitting in seiza...I also mentioned one can roll up a towel and place tape across it to practice that way as well. My apologies if that conjurs up immages of me, izumizu, sitting in seiza striking a coin for ten hours a day. If I'm not mistaken, a wara is a target. Anything can be a target. If you have to hit a target, it may not always be in the best, most perfectly aligned place in which to practice your target striking/hitting. Evolve a little, take some of the skills you have and develop them. Take some initiative and develop new skills. Enjoy your practice, mix it up a little, afterall, solo training can become quite boring after say year 15 or so.

As far as being a futile effort, I am open to discuss anything. As seen already, mappers may not like, or agree with, or understand what I say.

 

I have to say, that reading something from someone who refers to themselves in the third person is somewhat creepy.

 

I mentioned a couple in terms of technique already...

This is something that is intuitive, and not something I have expressed in words before. It's like when a girl asks you to describe how you are feeling. You can tell them you feel happy, disapointed, excited...but they want to know more than that, and it's hard for me to put my feelings into words.

I guess that is a weakness...

I tend to procrastinate. I'm never on time for work....

Strengths...well, I'm persistant, have an over abundance of patience.

 

I only do that to seperate that I am izumizu here on MAP, Dave, and that you are dealing with me through my screen name. It is not something I do in my daily conversations, and izumizu can stop doing that if you like