Kembudo-Kai Kempoka
Senior Master
As many irritated readers may know by now, I had the opportunity to shoot der sheize with Doc Chapel on a small number of occasions. He has made some changes in how the basics are taught, some of which are specifically designed to create stronger bases or platforms from which to execute the basics.
In a previous thread, he invited the reader to step back into a neutral bow, and have someone push on them from the anterior-to-posterior line (from your 12:00, towards your 6:00). The ability to resist this pushing well is weakened because the act of stepping backwards disengages several important neurological and biomechanical mechanisms that lend stability to the pelvis and lower extremities, all the way up to the base of the skull. "Stamping" the lead foot after stepping back re-sets these mechanisms, and makes it harder for your partner to press you backwards out of your stance. It is a part of -- or contributes to -- what Doc refers to as the "statue effect". That is to say, when someone is pressing on you from the front to back, your body should have the character of a statue. Rather than folding and collapsing, it should skid accross the floor on a solid, unyielding base. The yields you make in kenpo should be voluntary & strategic, and not due to weakened supporting structures. This stamping thing is only a small part of initiating the statue effect; there are many components to maintaining that type of structural stability throughout any given SD tech.
I had an awesome chance to put the statue effect to use over the weekend. Having been a participant, speaker, and author in the "mens movement", I frequently attend seminars geared towards getting men back in touch with some of the various mytho-poetic, archetypal energies they have been encouraged to dissociate from in modern society. At one this last weekend, there was an exercise that basically consisted of one man expressing his grief or rage "as only a man can, in the company of men" by flying off the handle while being restrained by a standing dogpile pressing in against him. As one man depletes his energy, another takes up the expression, and the dogpile moves to restraining him. This dogpile/swarm takes on movement, and migrates around an open floor with quite a bit of energy.
Some men were getting hurt a bit by going down under the pile as it migrated right over them. Others got pinned between moving piles of different groups. I was part of a pile that was about to press me where I didn't want to go, so I stepped back into a neutral bow, stamped my lead foot, and placed my hands/arms in an "Anti-Grapple" position, and stopped the migration of a scrum with the energy of over 20 men. The pile surged into me, but I didn't move, so it slid away like a wave. But it came back. I had broken my platform, so the pile started moving me. I hit the BAM/PAM thing again, skidded a couple inches before they lost the momentum of that surge, then settled in. The next wave came, and I couldn't be moved. The surge had to go around me like water around a boulder in a creek.
It was a hell of a thing, and there were even a few guys who noticed it, and asked me what the hell I did that caused a whole scrum to steer around me. Of course I couldn't/wouldn't/didn't answer. But dang, it was pretty cool. So, being the odd ball I am, I wanted to see if I could do it again. Considering this exercise went on for over 2 hours, till each of the 200+ men in attendence got their turn in the middle, I had ample opportunity to experiment in addition to participating in supporting the decathecting guys in the middle by being part of the piles. I would position myself in the path of a migrating pile, hit the stance with the BAM+AGM, and let the group collide with me. They would come to a stop, press a bit, then like an octopus in a reef, spill around. When I tried it without the alignment mechanisms, my stance would just collapse under the pressure of the mayhem. Not a true scientific experiment, but an interesting personal experiment, nonetheless.
Considering the amount of deeply emotional testosterone-driven adrenaline pushing in each of the swarms, it was pretty bitchin' to be able to stop and steer the momentum of a whole crew like that.
Retooling kenpo basics, techs and forms just to include these mechanisms alone would be a very time consuming, thought provoking, and challengnig endeavor. Re-learning kenpo to include these components is an even larger endeavor, especially with a deeply engrained history of old habits.
I've had 4 hours of sleep in as many says, so I'm outta here.
Regards,
Dave
In a previous thread, he invited the reader to step back into a neutral bow, and have someone push on them from the anterior-to-posterior line (from your 12:00, towards your 6:00). The ability to resist this pushing well is weakened because the act of stepping backwards disengages several important neurological and biomechanical mechanisms that lend stability to the pelvis and lower extremities, all the way up to the base of the skull. "Stamping" the lead foot after stepping back re-sets these mechanisms, and makes it harder for your partner to press you backwards out of your stance. It is a part of -- or contributes to -- what Doc refers to as the "statue effect". That is to say, when someone is pressing on you from the front to back, your body should have the character of a statue. Rather than folding and collapsing, it should skid accross the floor on a solid, unyielding base. The yields you make in kenpo should be voluntary & strategic, and not due to weakened supporting structures. This stamping thing is only a small part of initiating the statue effect; there are many components to maintaining that type of structural stability throughout any given SD tech.
I had an awesome chance to put the statue effect to use over the weekend. Having been a participant, speaker, and author in the "mens movement", I frequently attend seminars geared towards getting men back in touch with some of the various mytho-poetic, archetypal energies they have been encouraged to dissociate from in modern society. At one this last weekend, there was an exercise that basically consisted of one man expressing his grief or rage "as only a man can, in the company of men" by flying off the handle while being restrained by a standing dogpile pressing in against him. As one man depletes his energy, another takes up the expression, and the dogpile moves to restraining him. This dogpile/swarm takes on movement, and migrates around an open floor with quite a bit of energy.
Some men were getting hurt a bit by going down under the pile as it migrated right over them. Others got pinned between moving piles of different groups. I was part of a pile that was about to press me where I didn't want to go, so I stepped back into a neutral bow, stamped my lead foot, and placed my hands/arms in an "Anti-Grapple" position, and stopped the migration of a scrum with the energy of over 20 men. The pile surged into me, but I didn't move, so it slid away like a wave. But it came back. I had broken my platform, so the pile started moving me. I hit the BAM/PAM thing again, skidded a couple inches before they lost the momentum of that surge, then settled in. The next wave came, and I couldn't be moved. The surge had to go around me like water around a boulder in a creek.
It was a hell of a thing, and there were even a few guys who noticed it, and asked me what the hell I did that caused a whole scrum to steer around me. Of course I couldn't/wouldn't/didn't answer. But dang, it was pretty cool. So, being the odd ball I am, I wanted to see if I could do it again. Considering this exercise went on for over 2 hours, till each of the 200+ men in attendence got their turn in the middle, I had ample opportunity to experiment in addition to participating in supporting the decathecting guys in the middle by being part of the piles. I would position myself in the path of a migrating pile, hit the stance with the BAM+AGM, and let the group collide with me. They would come to a stop, press a bit, then like an octopus in a reef, spill around. When I tried it without the alignment mechanisms, my stance would just collapse under the pressure of the mayhem. Not a true scientific experiment, but an interesting personal experiment, nonetheless.
Considering the amount of deeply emotional testosterone-driven adrenaline pushing in each of the swarms, it was pretty bitchin' to be able to stop and steer the momentum of a whole crew like that.
Retooling kenpo basics, techs and forms just to include these mechanisms alone would be a very time consuming, thought provoking, and challengnig endeavor. Re-learning kenpo to include these components is an even larger endeavor, especially with a deeply engrained history of old habits.
I've had 4 hours of sleep in as many says, so I'm outta here.
Regards,
Dave
A while back I was accused of not understanding the dynamics of a street fight. Maybe I can learn something here. How does standing static/in one position, or being slid accross a smooth surface by an attacker (which is lucky because you don't necessarily find that too often) figure into that? Presumably nobody's punching, kicking, and using the myriad of other principles that Kenpo suggests. Are you wearing him out? I mean he can only push for so long.
