Tomahawks and learning to stand.

Wow. It's been a long time. A lot has been going on lately with the class. Good stuff. We have a good group, and slowly moving forward. Slow is good. Gives me time to re-evaluate and watch. To think it through and adapt the lessons. Still, at times I wish it was faster. This whole teaching thing is a work in progress. More about that later maybe.

Two ideas floating around in my head recently. Thought I would get them out on here.

First, hatchets. Well, tomahawks, hatchets, small axes of any kind as a weapon. They seem to be everywhere lately. Even my sister has one now!

We played with this at the last Kobudo class for a change of pace. Using a tomahawk and knife or machete as paired weapons against a long or mid range weapon. Specifically a 6ft. staff or a sword (training katana). Some things we have seen still hold true. Two short weapons are faster. You need to be in close and you need a good, constant 'flow' of techniques. But it's not the similarities that I noticed.

This weapon is short but heavy on one end. It has a blade (in this case a single blade, no spike or hammer on back) that can be used for hacking and hooking. The weight is the first issue. Simply put, they don't move like escrima, sai or other common kobudo weapons. The 'hawk is top heavy by a lot and requires more of a chamber. The hooking works but can be a liability also. Especially against a stronger (two handed) weapon. And it interrupts the 'flow' when you stick too long.

Using the weapon in the way we were I noticed that the actual bladed surface never really got used much. At least, it wasn't cutting to meat very often. Lots of possible variables. I was working against the hands of my opponent a lot and never could get the blade involved in a way I felt was consistently effective. Then it hit me, I'm trying to use the tomahawk in the same way I would use kama (short Okinawan sickles). Seems like a similar weapon at first but it isn't. The weight and location of the blades make a big difference. The length of the blades too. With kama, when you hook the weapon and slide up to the hands you are cutting the fingers or wrist depending on the direction. And the removal of the blade is still a cutting motion. Same is true for hooking limbs. They really should come with safety goggles and a mop. In short, the Tomahawk taught me some things about the use of the kama.

Second thought. Structure. Frame. Setting a good, strong foundation to work from.

This has been something that we have been working a lot in class. It is one of the things that a new martial artist misses for a while but it's essential. Not that there is any secret to it. Most people have a sense of it I think. Everyone who has ever played a contact sport has felt it. At least briefly.

I am constantly seeing crossover between martial arts and weight-lifting. Structure applies to both. Using the skeleton to support what the muscles are doing. You can lock out and hold heavy weight overhead. The dynamic and harder part is getting the weight up there. You can extend a punch or block and hold it out. Connecting can be a challenge. With good structure (read "good technique"), you can snap it into place and resist a strong force once you are set. Even less than fully locked will do in many cases if the surrounding structure is right (this would have to include balance I guess). In one of my old dojos the instructor used to go around pushing, pulling and standing on students between counts of techniques. He was checking our stance. I get it now. Proper structure = good resistance = best transfer of power when applying your technique. In more direct martial arts terms, you can't punch as hard standing on the bed. You need to build in framework which lets you transfer power from the floor. Any cushion will bleed power off. Applies on the ground also, just not in the way we traditionally see it used.

This makes sense to me but communicating it in words can be difficult. I'm trying to get my students to FEEL it. Getting everyone to understand that stances are just traditional ways to find structure is the real goal.

Enough rambling for now.