Even Masters Have More to Learn

I have always been impressed by the eagerness of my sensei (George Dillman) to learn more and understand better. I saw the same quality in Professor Wally Jay. And, I hope I have something of that in me, as well. Maybe that is the quality which all masters must have to be masters. If so, I got to witness it in some senior Korean masters. You see, A few days of ago, I taught a group of very high ranking Taekwondo practitioners. At least one of them was from the Korean Tigers team (check them out on You Tube). And others were prominent competitors, coaches and teachers.

What was interesting for me was the eagerness of these masters to learn the techniques and principles of kyusho-jitsu and bunkai. For three hours, they peppered me with questions about their forms, and were delighted at what the movements represented. The experience showed me again how truly profound the teachings we (DKI/KJK) share are. And it showed me again how valuable our teachings are for those who have passed their competitive years. So, I guess the lesson is, keep studying, keep learning, keep working.

Thanks for reading,

Now, go train!

CT

Wally Jay, June 16, 1917 - May 29, 2011

I was at George Dillman’s Martial Arts Training Camp for a weekend training session. I knew before arriving – all of us knew – that Professor Wally Jay had been hospitalized for a stroke. I asked Sensei Dillman, “Is there any news on Wally?” (“Wally” – it says something about the man that one of the most respected teachers in the world was spoken of in such a familiar fashion.) “It doesn’t look good,” George replied. So, I was not surprised when I walked into his office Sunday morning to ask a question, only to find him sitting behind his desk with tears in his eyes. “Wally died,” he told me.

Since I am a clergyman, I led an impromptu funeral service at the camp, interrupting the training to announce the news. So many of the senior instructors present knew Wally, some very well. Those who didn’t know Wally himself, know Leon Jay, Wally’s son, and heir of Small Circle Jujitsu, so there was much emotion in the room. For those of you who were not present, I would like to share something of our service (as accurately as my memory permits).

Will Higginbotham, who was very close to Wally, was teaching. I walked up with a paper napkin in my hand, as he was saying to the group, “Ok, let’s get up and try that.” “No,” I said, handing Will the napkin (we knew he would be crying), “We have learned that Professor Wally Jay died during the early hours of this morning.” Stunned (but not surprised) silence fell on everyone. Then I read a few words from the apostle Paul: “The things that I have taught to you, teach to reliable individuals who will be able to teach it to others also.”

“We are the people Professor taught, it is our responsibility to teach others also. But, it is not just about his jujitsu. Wally Jay was a remarkable human being and we must teach those values as well. I would like to tell you the story of when I first met Wally. It was during a combined Wally Jay/George Dillman seminar. At one point, we were practicing one of sensei Dillman’s joint manipulation techniques. Unfamiliar with the particular movement being practiced, Professor Jay walked over to the nearest of Dillman’s students (who happened to be me) and said, ‘Show me how to do that.’ I was deeply impressed by the fact that there was no ego in the way of the Professor’s desire to learn something he didn’t already know, and how willing he was to learn from anyone.”

I then asked the senior teachers to share one story about Professor. Will Higginbotham spoke about a call he received from Professor. “He called me and said he wanted to come to my house for a couple of days before teaching a seminar. He arrived with his notebook in hand, and began asking me questions.” For two days, Wally pumped Higginbotham for information on pressure points – occasionally stopping to show Higginbotham same nuance or subtlety of Small Circle Jujitsu. “I was honored to be receiving such instruction from Professor. But, it was Professor Jay who took my hand and said, ‘Thank you for teaching me.’”

Ken Smith, one of Professor Remy Presas’ most senior students echoed the sentiment. “The first time I met Wally Jay was at a Wally Jay/Remy Presas seminar. We were training sinawali, and Wally picked up a pair of sticks. Remy said to me, ‘Ken, you go teach Wally.’ So, I went over to teach Wally Jay, shaking with fear. While we were practicing, Wally accidentally hit me in the hand, but that was ok. Then, a little later, I accidentally hit Wally Jay in the hand. I felt so bad, and was apologizing, but Wally just smiled, and said, ‘Don’t worry, soon we will be putting down the sticks, and then it will be my turn.’” Ken’s final words were, “Now Remy has a training partner with him in heaven.”

Kim Dillman Foreman remembered when Wally, Remy and George began to first do their big three seminars. “I would get up, and Remy and Wally would already be up, trading techniques and information. And because I was up first, I got to be the designated uke. Wally was such a kind and gracious man, he was like a father to so many of us.”

Matt Brown, another of Dillman’s senior students, spoke of a time (the last time) when Wally had been at the Dillman training camp. The topic of training had included work on “toate” (methods of affecting a person without physical contact). Students were working on moving each other by projecting energy. Matt said, “Wally comes up to me and says, ‘Matt, see if that works on me.’ So, I was trying to move Wally using my chi. ‘Is it working, Professor?’ I asked. ‘I can’t tell,’ Wally responded. ‘I’m 85 years old, I always sway back and forth.’”

Then it came George Dillman's turn to speak. At first sensei couldn’t say anything, but only covered his face with his hands. Then, with tear streaked cheeks and a smile of happy memories he told us, “If you knew Wally and Bernice, you knew they always over-packed for a trip. So a couple of younger guys had been helping carry these large bags of luggage to the hotel room. Wally had unzipped a bag part way and was starting to unpack, when they asked him his secret to living so long and with such vitality. ‘First, you must live a healthy life,’ he told them. ‘Don’t smoke and don’t drink.’ But Wally’s bag was so heavy it was unzipping itself, and as he was telling them about healthy living, out fell a big bag of Snickers bars. I laughed at him, and he looked at me and said, ‘You gotta have at least one vice.’ After that, I called some of my students, and told them that they should bring Wally bags of Snickers Bars when they picked him up at the airport. So then Wally called me and said, ‘You told them!’

“And another time, we were were teaching a seminar together in Minnesota. Wally had this one guy in a leg lock. His other leg was on the floor, and I said, ‘I think you can knock him out!’ ‘How?’ said Wally. I told him to stomp the leg on the floor, hitting along the spleen meridian. ‘But what if he get’s hurt?’ Wally asked. ‘That’s ok.’ I said, ‘I’ll tell ‘em that you did it.’”

That story made me smile, because I was the guy Wally had in a leg lock.

I finished our impromptu service by reminding everyone of the scripture that tells us, “There is a time to be born and a time to die.” I followed with a prayer, entrusting Wally’s soul to the mercy of our Creator, expressing our faith that our lives continue in God’s love, and asking for God’s comfort upon Wally’s family and all who mourn his passing. Then I reminded everyone again that it was our responsibility to preserve and pass on Professor’s teachings and example. And, with the final Amen, I said, “We need to honor Wally Jay, now, by practicing finger locks.” And so, we returned to our training, focusing on the small circle concepts that had become so central to our practice of pressure point methods and joint manipulation. And we all, like sensei Dillman, smiled with tear-filled eyes as we celebrated Wally Jay in his teachings.

Sai-jitsu

A while ago, when I taught a sai-jitsu seminar, I learned that one attendee would be a teacher from one of those American-Karate-Black-Belt-Schools-of-Excellence-of-America schools. I figured the poor guy would be completely and hopelessly lost when exposed to genuine classical sai usage (as opposed to competition flash). So, I was watching for him to arrive, and he did. But, then I noticed his sai, not holographic toys, but actually decent Shureido® brand.

I went up to talk with him, and he told me that he had wanted to supplement his contemporary American Competition Karate Style with something traditional. So, he began to study a solid and very legitimate kobudo system. I figured he would be right at home during the training. Well, that was almost true.

During the seminar, I taught methods of the sai which are in accordance to the nature and shape of the weapon. However, these methods differ considerably from what is typically taught. So, my traditionally trained guest was stunned and dismayed to be performing the exact movement he was taught, but to devastating effect, (finding that even the subtle aspects of the movement were integral to the technique).

What is significant is that classical sai methods are very obvious (once you have been shown them, it is like, "Duh!") and kind of easy to perform (the weapon does the work). My experience is that, once a person learns the classical use of a weapon – any weapon, really – it becomes incredibly easy to understand how most weapons are to be used. And reading the kata becomes pretty easy. However, classical weapons use is not cool, not flashy, and not nice – just real.

I'll be teaching classical methods for bo and sai in Romeoville, IL, on May 14. Join me if you can (brown & black belts only for the sai-jitsu training). Until then, thanks for reading.

Now, go train.

CT

Managing Dan Rank

The management of dan rank is difficult in any group. For example, how should we handle the person who has trained for a long time, but hasn't attained the skill or understanding to receive a promotion? Should a black belt be awarded on the basis of years of training? And what about the economic needs of the school to use ranking as a means of student retention? (When asked by a senior student about the rank awarded to an unqualified individual, one Grandmaster commented, "Oh, that is just business.") And what about the individual who thinks they deserve the rank, even though the testing authority has not agreed? (I have seen people become angry at the testing board for not passing them, rather than asking why they have not risen to the standard.) And what of the rank-chasers, those who go from group to group, enticed into a new organization with the promise of promotion? (By the way, I've been accused of being a rank-chaser. Oh well.)

Organizationally, rank is a complication as well. Promotion can both help and hurt a group's growth. For example, if a group is reaching into a new area of the world (the way DKI – Dillman Karate International – has) it is common for the first person of rank who joins to become the local head, and to receive a rank indicating that position of leadership. But, often, as others join, much better practitioners become part of the group, yet, they are given lower rankings so they do not seem like a threat the the leader.

And, who should decide rank in an organization, anyway? Should the individual teacher have authority over his or her student's rank? Should the head of the organization make the decision? Should the organization itself, through a testing board, be the sole arbiter of rank?

Within the gathering of my own students, I decided to try a hybrid approach. I hold my students responsible for overseeing the ranking of their own students up to the rank of nidan. But then, for sandan, every candidate must test before our board, and no sandan rank is issued without the board test. (And, I hold myself to this standard and refuse to issue any sandan rank on my own.) In this way, we try to create a "choke point", a place where all advancing students are subjected to a quality assurance measure. This helps the organization to insure that similarly ranked students in different schools and clubs have similar skill sets, knowledge levels and technical abilities. This helps different teachers to evaluate their students against the students of other teachers, in order to identify areas of instruction where improvement is needed. And this helps the individual student to know that, upon passing and promotion, their sandan rank legitimately represents a genuine achievement.

Our testing board is assembled in two parts, the evaluation team and the grading team.

The evaluation team is composed of 4th - 6th dans. They evaluate the candidates' performance on objective and specific criteria. Candidates are judged on technical skill (correctness of movement, body mechanics and technique); on application competency (the ability to demonstrate actual ability against an opponent in both the fixed settings of kata breakdown, and the dynamic setting of the stress drill bogu-randori); and knowledge of the required areas of content (kyusho-jitsu and tuité-jitsu). After the test the scores are tallied and the determination is made whether the candidate has passed the evaluation portion of the test. The first-time candidate cannot receive promotion without passing the evaluation portion, but, passing the evaluation portion is not a guarantee of promotion.

The grading team is composed of 7th dan and above, and has the task of determining the actual rank a passing candidate receives. This is because we are sometimes receiving people into the group who already have years of experience in the martial arts. We need them to go through the sandan board test as a way of insuring that they have the skills to represent DKI, but, if they have the years of training and the level of skill to warrant a rank higher than sandan, it is not appropriate to under-rank for the sake of some kind of rite of passage.

I mentioned that a person cannot be promoted on their first board test unless they pass the evaluation portion. However, there is more to rank than simple fulfillment of a set of technical requirements. For example, everyone has some physical limitation which interferes with their ability to perform exactly. Part of mastery in the martial arts is overcoming our limitations and finding effective ways to compensate for our weaknesses. So, sometimes truly great martial artists have very poor skills in certain areas. How can they be properly rated? And this is also part of the role of the grading team. As senior instructors, the grading team members have the skills to evaluate the bigger picture, to measure the martial artist as a whole. So, the grading team, after consultation with the evaluation team, makes the final determination on pass/fail for returning candidates. And those candidates can be promoted even if they come short on the technical portions, provided that their overall performance reveals that they have the competency which corresponds to the rank.

Our theory is that this combination of functions allows us to balance objective quality control with respect to specific content and competencies, against a more global view of the entire martial artist. But, in the process, we have also found that the board itself must grow. In order for criteria to be fairly and consistently applied, the graders have had to receive training in what they are grading and what they are looking for. We have developed a specific testing procedure, scoring sheet for the evaluation team, and clearly articulated roles for the examiners to try to standardize the testing process (so each candidate "takes the same test"). And here, again, balance has become an issue.

What is it we are after, martial artists who can mimic a set of expectations, or martial artists who have a creative grasp of the material? We need for the candidates to have solid technical skills (for the sake of quality control and maximum growth) but we also need for them to demonstrate the less quantifiable attributes of creativity and flexibility in performance. As a result, our testing procedure includes major sections of open demonstration (kata bunkai portions), during which the candidate demonstrates for the board whatever the candidate chooses, rather than performing a preset group of techniques. So, we have had candidates demonstrate application of kata wearing (and utilizing in the bunkai) law enforcement gear, demonstrate empty hand kata bunkai as cross-interpreted with Modern Arnis, demonstrate standing kata movements as ground grappling, demonstrate novel pressure point knockouts and surprising takes on movement and use. And every test ends with the question, "Is there anything else you would like to show us or demonstrate?" – a chance for candidates to share areas of additional knowledge and skill.

Our sandan test is very challenging, and many candidates do not pass (though many return to try again), but, it does assure that I present to my Sensei only those who can truly represent what Dillman Karate International is all about. And it also insures that within DKI, KJK is known as a source and center of excellence.

Thanks for reading, now go train.

CT

The Withdrawing Hand

When I first studied martial arts (40 years ago) I was instructed to pull one hand back strongly to my hip or (in a few cases) abdomen. Pull it back strongly, I was instructed, to strengthen the outgoing hand. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, Isaac Newton figured out. So, by pulling back strongly, I was to add force to my strike. I never questioned this, because I'm a sucker for science-themed explanations.

Years later, I met Sensei George Dillman. He said the withdrawing hand (hiki-te) is extremely important as a devastating component of pressure point techniques. "Watch this hand," he would quietly tell me whenever I asked him to show me a new point or a new knock-out. As a result, I now seek to be a student of hiki-te, an aficionado of the withdrawing hand. Enjoy this little video mini-blog.

Annual Training Event

I never set out to have students. In fact, I did things designed to make it difficult for people to train with me. Funny how that didn't stop anyone. As a result, I have a group of very skillful martial artists, all black belts, who train with me. And they have students of their own, so I'm a grandpa-sensei.

For some years now, we have held an annual (two-day) training event in Madison, WI, which we call the Annual Gathering. Anyway, I've attached the flier. If you want to come, send me an email at

christhomasmartialarts@gmail.com

and I'll reply with one of those paypal "buy it now" thingees. It's kind of cool because, instead of telling you to "go train," now I can invite you to "come train."

CT

More on Traditional Movements

My teacher, George Dillman, likes to say to people at a seminar, "Ask questions; good questions make a good seminar." Well, Ken asked a simple question about how to interpret traditional movements, and it turns out to have been a good question, because, here I am, still answering it. Really, you're getting this for free while people pay good money to have me teach them this stuff. Anyway, enjoy.