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Why wear a gi?

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A few months ago I was a teaching a children’s class when a comment was made to me. The context for the comment was regarding the expediency of getting the children dressed quickly to maximize their training time. The comment went something like “They don’t really need to dress in their uniforms, I mean I know it looks cool, but it’s taking long and it’s not about looks.” I’m paraphrasing and recalling to the best of my ability. At the time, I didn’t lend the statement much weight (I was trying to get a large class in limited time), but the comment stayed with me for some reason. I started to go over why we wear Dogi or Gi for short.

I researched the history of the gi and found that it had originated with judo founder Jigoro Kano, in addition to a multitude of facts. Everything I found still didn’t answer the fundamental question as to why we wear these items of clothing. Was it tradition? What about all the arts that now sport many different colored gi? Are they somehow inferior because they have opted to wear a different color? To this day, I have not found the ability of any martial art practitioner to be contained in the gi, white or otherwise.

So why wear it?
Part of it is tradition; I enjoy wearing a simple white gi. Notwithstanding all the symbolism about white being a color of purity, I have always preferred a white gi. In practical terms, it’s not actually the best color if you are engaged in hard training that involves blood and sweat. It requires another level of diligence on the part of the student in terms of your training – hygiene (no one enjoys training next to an unwashed gi for long).

The other part is that it is unpretentious and I really prefer simplicity. It took some time, but I came to an answer that satisfied my question. As I observed classes filled with students wearing their gi, I found that on the dojo floor we are all the same. When we don a gi we are leaving the outside world, outside. In a very real sense, it’s a ritual we perform when we put on our gi. We are preparing to face ourselves, our shortcomings, insecurities, faults and strengths. It is a physical act that prepares us for a mental shift. I have witnessed the transformation that occurs when a beginner dons a uniform. They may feel uncertain and unsure initially, but they are dressed the same way everyone else is with no difference, and over a short time are comfortable with the multitude of techniques they are being exposed to. The actual word dogi means “way clothes” and it’s what we wear on the path to self perfection.

In regards to the variety of colors and hues now available for gi, I have always felt that changing the uniform severs our links to the time and culture in which our arts were founded. From what I have seen and what has been shared with me, the norm in most Japanese dojos is austere and simple. You don’t see walls covered in trophies, flags, posters or other distractions. I personally find the gi with the flash and multitude of patches to be garish and uncalled for. Let your techniques and bearing speak for you, not your gi.

The gi we wear is a symbol of unity. On the dojo floor, there is no status – only rank. We all train together, sweat together and grow together, irrespective of how much or how little we make, what we do or do not own, or what position we may have in our jobs or careers. On the dojo floor we all share the common trait of the pursuit of self perfection. One of my senior students shared a profound insight with me recently – The dojo is one of the only places where you can just be. Much of that freedom is provided by wearing a garment that initially, appears to suppress your individuality. What you discover over time, is that free from the constraints of external expression you are capable of a deeper form of expression that is not dependent on what you are wearing.

Now when I’m asked by a prospective student “Do I have to train in a uniform?” My simple answer is-yes, you do.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

class, coaching, community, ideas, karate, philosophy, tradition, zen

Martial Art or Martial Way?

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I have been asked on several occasions what kind of Martial Art do we study? For some reason the question has always made me pause, not because I don’t study a martial art (as loosely defined by society) but because I have never equivocated my training with an art. I have never viewed myself as a martial artist but rather a follower of a Way. I have always felt that the term martial artist lends itself to open interpretations and falls victim to what most people perceive to be the disciplines practiced by those of us that have chosen to practice or follow the path of martial ways. These opinions are usually fuelled (erroneously) by the media and the entertainment industry.

Many reading this may feel it is a matter of semantics, and I have found in my own personal experience that unless a person is actively pursuing a discipline, all of them get lumped together under an umbrella of “it’s just kicking and punching – so it must all be the same.”

So what is a martial art ? The term martial art is used to loosely describe the many combative systems and sports that exist here in the West. If we examine them closely however, we will discover that they are not all truly martial in nature or arts for that matter. The literal sense of the term martial, implies that it must have a military application, and historically many of the combative systems that exist today have their roots in systems that were used in military settings.

The same can be said for those systems that were developed by the “civilian” populace (like Karate) and many of the combative systems were employed in military and paramilitary settings. For this reason I think the literal definition is too limiting. In fact many of the “civil” arts are part of the curricula for the military forces today.

The real difference is found when a combative system makes the transition to combat sport. I find that one of the stark contrasts is that within the realm of “sport” there are rules and a framework to contain those rules. What may work on the tournament/arena floor, can be completely ineffective in an actual combat situation. The danger then becomes a false feeling of preparedness. A sport practitioner may feel they are practicing a martial art but they may be mistaken. It is certainly not a martial way, but if that isn’t, then what is?

In order to shed some light on this term (martial way) we need to go to the Japanese terms of bugei and bujutsu – both which mean literally “martial art” and the term budo (martial way). Where a practitioner of a bujutsu system is focused on learning how to prevail and succeed in combat, a budo practitioner has embarked on a system of physical, mental and spiritual discipline to in order to perfect his character and self. This is not to say the bujutsu systems do not require physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, but it is not their focus. Several of my instructors and Sensei have taught me that to achieve the “do” you have to enter through the “jutsu“. Which means that while a system or art may be effective as a fighting system it needs to have the components both jutsu and do to be effective. Too much in either direction can lead to imbalance.

So which should you pursue? Only you can answer that question. Yes I know I sound very much like those teachers who answer a question with a question. The truth of the matter is that we each come to the Martial Arts for unique reasons, be it confidence, discipline, learning to fight etc. I can only say that personally for me the Martial Way is a way a living. Which is why I say, when asked, that I practice Budo or budo karate (which is a subject for another post).

What I do and I hope encourage my students to do, is live in way that reflects a life of discipline and pursuit of excellence not just in the dojo or training hall but in life. My training is not just something I “do” on certain days of the week. It is not interchangeable with other activities, because its a way of living, not an activity I just engage in. It means sacrifice at times, hard work and perseverance.

So distilled to its essence, a martial art is something you endeavour to do and become proficient at, while a martial way is a method of living. They are not mutually exclusive although at times it may seem to be the case. In fact, they are and can be two halves of a whole. Strive to maintain balance in the do or Tao (from the Chinese) and the jutsu.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body
Sensei Orlando

class, community, jackson heights, self-defense

Active Self Defense – Working from your Center

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In our most recent Self-Defense class we worked on using the center. It is an easy concept to understand, while also being one of the most difficult concepts to practice.

The premise is that if you are being attacked or are fending off an attack you want your opponent off balance and off center. You never want your opponent squarely over his base of power and at the same time, you want to remain over yours.

What comes into play is learning how to gauge distance, how to use your body and learning how to apply torque and twisting movements as well as when to take a step back, forward or to either side. Everything we do in self defense uses the concept of centering. When an arm is presented, if you allow the attacker to keep his arm close to his center, this provides leverage and makes it difficult to apply the correct biomechanical response to your advantage. When the same arm is moved away from the center, it becomes much easier to apply force and reinforce the biomechanics of the body, this allows for an easier execution of the self defense technique.

Likewise if you are being attacked, you should remain over your center and control where your balance and power are derived from. Remembering that much if not all of the power is generated from your hips using torque, centering becomes even more important. A lack of awareness in this area will result in poorly executed techniques and a lack of power in strikes.

Remember to always stay centered.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

class, community, jackson heights, philosophy, self-defense

Active Self-Defense – Learning to fall

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Last week, we went over some of our previous techniques, but I had a little surprise in store for the class. I brought out our tumbling mat and when it came time to learn our new technique, we practiced falling. It’s quite a sight to see a child at play, fall. They can run, fall, use the momentum and get up and keep running as if nothing happened. As we get older we have a tendency to forget some of the things that are natural to us as children. Falling is something children can do with style. If you have ever seen a child unleash a temper tantrum you know what I mean. The interesting part is that they can fling themselves to the ground, but not hurt themselves. When it comes to the realm of self defense, it’s important to know how to fall without hurting yourself, should you ever need to go to the ground or are taken to the ground. Intially we are rigid, but after some practice everyone in the class was getting the concept of “rolling to the floor”. The idea is to think of yourself as a sphere and rather than fall back flat on your back, roll yourself to the ground letting the shock and impact “roll through you” rather than your body absorbing the impact.

The other ability children seem to have inherently is making themselves “heavy”. We have all experienced this. A child is busy having fun and it’s time to cut the fun short. The child is not having it, he wants to continue having fun! You go to pick up your child and find that instead of weighing twenty pounds, he has discovered the secret of super gravity and now weighs one hundred pounds! We all have this ability and many times its essential in defending yourself to displace your weight in such a way that you are “heavier” than you may seem. If someone wants to grab you and lift you from the ground, from any angle of attack, you can displace your weight so that you are heavier.

As adults there are many things we have to “relearn”, but with enough practice we will find that these things, like falling and being heavy are part of us waiting to be rediscovered.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

class, community, jackson heights, philosophy, self-defense

Active Self Defense – The EWW Factor

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When I describe certain techniques in our self defense class I invariably get what I call the EWW factor. What I call the EWW factor is the expression I get every time I instruct someone in the group to shatter a knee or break a finger.
First the idea crosses the person’s mind, then the actuality sinks in, “I should do what?” Then the reaction of denial, “I can’t possibly do that to another person, after all I’m civilized” Here is where the mistake is being made. We somehow think that the person who wants to commit bodily harm is actually thinking of our well being . We default to our “nice” way of being because it’s all we know and practice often. I want to dispel that myth for you right now. Someone who is attacking you and wants to harm you or your loved ones deserves no kind of consideration. There are no rules when it comes to your defense.What you need to do is devastate that person immediately without hesitation. I can assure that you are being viewed as a resource: either you have money, valuables, or even your person is the target of the attacker. The person attacking you has stripped you of any vestige of humanity and views you as less than what you are. It is your job to correct that impression and to do so with the utmost ferocity.

When I say grab a finger and break it, or take an elbow and smash it into a face. What I am saying to you is that you need to do whatever it takes so you go home safe, sound and alive. If I emphasize a technique that shatters a knee, it’s so that person can no longer follow you to harm you.

Each Wednesday evening, we break through the “EWW” Factor as I demonstrate techniques and then have them done on me, not delicately, but hard and with intention. It’s great to see the realization dawn on a person’s face when they realize they can do a technique that doesn’t require strength, just a knowledge of bio-mechanics. If we do them often enough, the conditioning of “niceness” that we have can be overridden. We can be devastating and explosive if and when the need arises. Self Defense is 90% awareness and 10% technique. That being said, the 10% needs to be effective, powerful, and practical.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando
class, community, jackson heights, martial arts, self-defense

Active Self Defense – Why it should be simple

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Last week we had quite an interesting class and it drove home an essential point of self defense. What happens if I ever have to use what I know ? What happens to my brain and my body? More importantly will I be able to use what I know or have learned ?

One of the reasons why I make the techniques simple and using gross motor movements is that when the body is in a stressed state (i.e. being attacked) it starts to release adrenaline. In small doses, adrenaline is great for your body and when it feels threatened, the body releases this chemical as a defense mechanism, in preparation for the “fight or flight” response. One of the major effects that I am concerned with regarding this adrenaline dump is the loss of fine motor skills. I think we have all seen movies and I have even been to some schools that teach intricate, five step self defense moves that require pinpoint accuracy and the precise use of angles. I’m not bashing these techniques, but in a real life fight for your life situation, you would be very lucky to remember past steps one and two. It’s just not going to happen. So what is the answer?

Make the techniques reflexive actions whenever possible. If someone is choking you from behind, your first action is to grab that arm and stop the choking, not drop into deep meditation and use your chi to explode your attacker away from you. I’m kidding, but you get the idea.
The counter to a headlock should include the reflexive action of grabbing the attacker’s arm and using it to your advantage. This is how it should be whenever possible.

I’m all for intricate techniques and they have their time and place. That place is not on the street when your life, or the lives of your loved ones are on the line.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

class, community, jackson heights, self-defense

Active Self Defense – Women’s Defense

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We had a great class this week and we discussed one of the basic principles of self defense: Awareness. I want to thank everyone who made it to class this week and made it a worthwhile learning and teaching experience.

This week we addressed a situation that is particularly feminine: The hair pull. What do you do if an attacker grabs you by the hair? Needless to say there are many options as to what your response can be. The initial reaction , the reflexive one, is to pull away which actually puts you at a disadvantage. so we worked on negating this reflex and utilized a few techniques that allowed the victim to lock the arm and strike at vital points.

It was quite the learning experience as we worked with different heights and different angles of attack. Kat deserves honorable mention for being our designated victim (hopefully not too much this class) and I want to welcome Maia to the class. I also want to commend Lori who made it to class despite her oral surgery, it was great having you there.

Going back to awareness, especially in the case of the hair pull, it’s not going to happen when you are on a deserted street, although it can. It will usually happen when you can be distracted and in a crowd of people. What I suggest to the class was to increase your sphere of personal space.
Instead of the usual 18″ that personal space is supposed to be make it closer to 36″ inches or 3 feet. What this does is that it gives you a greater reaction time and also works on your awareness. Practice being aware of anyone who enters this sphere of space around you.

I look forward to seeing the group next week.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

class, community, jackson heights, self-defense

Active Self Defense – Making an Impact

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For our weekly Self defense class, we discussed what to do when confronted with a gang or more than one attacker. I’m sorry to disappoint the ninja fans out there, but what you should do when confronted with this situation is what I have discussed all along… avoid. If at all possible, you should never, ever confront a gang on your own, it happens to be the worse of all scenarios, you are outnumbered, outmatched and you don’t know if any of the gang members are armed. (When I use the word “gang” here I am referring to a group of people who are intent on doing harm and/or vandalism. I am not referring to any particular affiliation.)

I want to thank Michael who brought a variation to the wrist grab this week that made it challenging for some of the group to escape, and this is what we are all about. I bring real-life scenarios to the class and use the experiences we have to make our classes excellent. We also worked again on the headlock as a few of the students went home and practiced on spouses or friends and found that they couldn’t escape.

We addressed the points that were missing in the technique and found that you could escape if you follow the steps (Tuck your chin, turn your head to the fist and push the elbow, barring that -grab the fingers and start breaking!).

This week we also worked on making an impact: using our palm heels and elbows to strike. I am of the philosophy that unless you have lots of years of training, it’s hard to soft and soft to hard. If you are going to strike a hard part of the body you use what’s considered a soft part of your body and vice-versa. So out came the body pad and everyone got to feel what it was like to actually hit something. Its quite different from hitting air which has little to no resistance and then hitting a 230lb attacker coming at you with the intent to harm you. I think its an exercise we must practice often as it helps dispel the myths with create in our heads from movies that one punch will take a person down.

Overall each class has become an excellent learning experience for both the class and myself and I look forward to each Wednesday!

strong spirit-strong mind- strong body

Sensei Orlando

class, community, jackson heights, self-defense

Active Self Defense – Violence Part #2

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This week we continued to discuss violence, where it happens, how it happens, and in most cases why it happens.

It was, as usual a very interesting class. We went over our previous techniques and learned a new very useful technique (escaping the neck choke from the front). I want to give a special thanks to the designated victim this week, Kat, who red faced, was still able to point out to me that choking a person while explaining a technique is not the best way to get a technique across (especially for the person being choked) Thank you Kat. I want to thank our new attendees Linda Sue and Darryl who joined us this week.

Observations were made in regards to what it means to avoid dangerous situations. It is always better to avoid than to have to run and it is better to run than talk your way out of a situation, better to talk your way out than fight, and better to fight than to die.

I know this may sound morbid, but if your life or that of a loved one is on the line you better fight with everything you have. That being said if you are never in the situation to begin with (avoidance) then you will never have to use what you learn in our class. That is the ideal. I will never be proud or impressed if a student comes to me to tell me how he destroyed or hurt someone. My first question will always be, how did you get in that position in the first place? Just because you know how to hurt someone does not mean you should? – the only caveat to this is if you feel you are in imminent danger.

Our exercise for this week was simple: If you were an attacker, who would be your potential victim? How would you look for them? Which indicators told you that this person was a likely candidate to be attacked? Likewise which person would you stay away from? I look forward to the results from this exercise.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

class, community, jackson heights, self-defense

Active Self-Defense – Violence

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Last night (Wednesday) we had another self-defense class. I must say I’m very impressed with how well the students are grasping the concepts.

We operate under the premise of educate-prevent-implement. It is important to understand the basics of self defense and educate yourself or get educated. It is important that whenever possible, you want to avoid and prevent any type of physical confrontation, whether that be by changing direction, crossing the street, entering a crowded area, or dialing 911. The last part of the training is the implementation.

In self-defense the actual physical aspect of self defense is a very small percentage. This doesn’t mean it’s not useful or practical to know how the body works and how to manipulate an attacker’s body. I always say that the physical aspect of self defense is used when you are ambushed and facing imminent harm. Someone who broadcasts to you that they want to hurt you, is giving you your greatest weapon: Time. They are letting you get prepared to flee, if you can, deescalate, if need be, or get a weapon if absolutely necessary.

Self-defense is most importantly about using your head. It’s about cultivating awareness, and yes I beat that concept into the ground each and every class because we have a tendency to walk around in a fog, unconscious, unaware of our surroundings and the people within them. So each class we expand a bit on the concepts and techniques, with the knowledge that we are not training to go toe to toe with an attacker. Our purpose is to incapacitate, distract, create an opening and get somewhere safe as quickly as possible with as little harm to ourselves as possible. I emphasize that many times.

We hear or read about violence and we never imagine that it can occur to us. We have this frame of mind that we are generally nice people and could never imagine being violent with another person, so we expect and wrongly assume that everyone else thinks the same way.

Violence is real, it can happen to you and it can happen to me. The sooner we grasp that idea, the sooner we can react to avoid or prevent it from happening to any of us.

I want to thank our newcomers last night: Tammy, Ron and Rosanna for joining us. Each time someone new joins, it brings new energy and makes the class that more enjoyable and satisfying. Thanks to all of you, who continue to attend each week, learning, practicing and asking the tough questions.

be safe

Sensei Orlando