Shihan Dan Ordoins Seminar at KMD 2011 – Part 4 and 5

I apologize for the wait between posts of the seminar, unfortunately I failed to put up the entry for the seminar last month so I am putting up the ones from the last two months. I hope you enjoy them, peace!

We briefly played with the concept of Shihodori when training with Shihan Dan. The concept is easy enough to comprehend, but requires practice of application. What Shihan Dan demonstrated to us was that any singular technique can be applied in multiple directions. These would basically be the four planes of movement we pay extra attention to in our Water syllabus. These are not the directions forward, back, left and right but the four dimensions between them. Applying the same technique across these four planes creates a very unique feeling for each of them. This is something very fun to play with. My Sensei then shared with us how one can use the shihodori concept and use those four directions to create infinite possibilities. These directions can be taken across different levels; high, mid-level, low and everything in between. I applied these concepts to my play for the remainder of the seminar.

The seminar began with us practicing sectional or isolation movement. The importance have the ability to mobilize specific body parts independently from others became apparent later on in the seminar when we were examining other waza when we practiced closing the distance on our uke. One of our first exercises with this concept was dropping back into a kamae while leaving our hands suspended at the same plane, kind of like a mime moving behind his glass wall. This concept became a fundamental factor for many of the other waza we played with throughout the day. Being able to move around a part of your body without moving it itself allows you to create an infinite number of illusions once applied; such as Shihan Dan’s three levels of punching (which I suggest you ask him to share with you because these concepts create feelings difficult for me to describe in words). Sectional movement gives you the ghostly ability to move around an opponent’s grip. They may hold your limb but as you let the limb rest where it is to create the illusion in their mind that they have it, you may move freely in and/or around the uke. This is something you must feel to appreciate, and once you do, you will feel as though you have gained some supernatural power. I have seen Sensei apply this concept many times and now I have this tool to incorporate into my waza as well. Sectional movement is something that I must incorporate into every technique I apply henceforth because it is a priceless addition to everything involving distancing and timing in combat. If you can achieve a certain level of mastery of sectional movement, once you have made contact with the opponent, he is now at the whims of your sorcery because the mind games have begun.

Life in every breath – RSR

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