The Importance of a Strong Foundation

Me teaching in Switzerland.

A couple of DKI-Germany guys practicing application to the tai chi chuan movement called "boxing the ears." As my student's students had corrected me on my double-weighting of this move, I used this teaching moment to show the principle of "not double-weighting" and to show how even "grandmasters" continue to be students even of beginners. Everyone is my sensei.

This is Gabby Roloff working with Ralph Hodl. Ralph was my host, a great guy and now, a good friend. Gabby Roloff is one of the 7 people to whom Professor Remy Presas designated as inheriters of Modern Arnis with the designation "Master of Tapi Tapi. I was deeply honored to have Gabby at my seminar.

This is Enrico Gassmann, who served as translator. Enrico spent part of his childhood in upstate New York, so his English is great. One interesting thing is that the Swiss speak a very specific dialect called "Swiss-German." As a result, the German students present (a couple of them spoke great English as well) would offer a different translation – one more German-proper. It was like dueling-translators. Very cool and impressive to a mono-glot such as myself.

Gabby Roloff and me. I was so glad to have her at the seminar, that I had this picture taken first thing Saturday morning.

I just returned from Europe. In my last post, I told you a bit about the training in Germany. I then trained people in Switzerland. I was sponsored by Ralph Hodl. Ralph did this as a last-minute favor. Originally, I had been invited by DKI Germany's Gebhard Lamme. But, about a month ago, Gebhard was diagnosed with cancer and had to begin immediate treatments. So, he had to cancel all the seminars he was hosting till fall. Unfortunately, I already had my tickets, etc., and a seminar confirmed in Hanover with Kurt Steube. So, I contacted Ralph to see if we could cobble something together really quickly in Zurich. Ralph did a great job of setting things up, and even served as tour guide, so that we (my wife and I) got to see lots of interesting and beautiful places in Switzerland.

The European karateka seem very good. They are very traditional, and in that sense have solid basics. As a result, many of them easily understood and could do the concepts I was explaining. And here, I don't mean just the pressure points.

People who love martial arts, but who received very poor instruction, will gravitate toward kyusho-jitsu in the hopes of finding something which will cancel out the useless crap they learned. These martial artists often see Kyusho as a kind of stand-alone strategy. But, anyone who has ever trained with me knows that I see kyusho-jitsu as part of an integrated strategy. Fundamentally, I believe in breaking down the opponent's structure and immobilizing him by striking pressure points, dominating the combative space, claiming the advantageous position, trapping the arms and controlling the legs. I try to build redundant elements into my technique so I am not dependent on any one aspect to insure success. This means my approach does not depend on pressure points, or position, or trapping, but uses all these to win. So, as I often say to people who train with me expecting nothing but a pure pressure point lecture, "I also use pressure points!"

Good solid basics – proper stances, a clear understanding of movement, good body alignment – make everything easier and more effective. Whenever someone's stance is wrong, they have trouble doing what I teach. When their body is out of alignment they have trouble doing what I teach. But, when the basic foundation is there, everything comes so much easier.

As I taught in Germany and Switzerland, I was impressed by how many had good form and were able to understand and do what I was teaching. I wish I saw a similar commitment to, and understanding of, basics in the U.S.

I guess what I'm trying to say is,

Thanks for reading,

Now, Go Train (your basics)!

CT