Friday Knight News
“The warrior learns of the spiritual realm by dwelling on the cutting edge of the sword, standing at the edge of the fire pit, venturing right up to the edge of starvation if necessary. Vibrant and intense living is the warrior's form of worship.” Stephen K. Hayes
Every day I go outside and strike the makiwara before I do three miles on the road. I find that on most mornings I look forward to this ritual. I like the way striking the makiwara makes me feel. It centers me, it calms me, it forces me into proper alignment, it sharpens my focus and relaxes me. Then on some days it seems pointless. After all, how often have you ever been attacked by a 4x4 post that was half buried in the ground?
People say that I am disciplined, dedicated, or even deranged it all depends on who you ask. I used to strike the makiwara 2-3 times a day but now I find once a day is sufficient. I even switch off with the iron palm bag now and again. I have found that even my approach to these two different training aids has merged over the years. Still while I have never been attacked by a half buried post, this training has contributed to my ending several fights, robberies and at least 3 knife attacks on the street with a single blow. These were all pre-law enforcement situations, I have had more knife situations, but had different solutions to them.
Discipline is not something that you have it is something that you do. If you do it for long enough, you have a habit of discipline. But even having the habit alone is not enough to sustain you. On days when you're either too hot or too cold, habit can fail because habit doesn't make you perform. If you stop training or make a break in your routine because you are angry or depressed, tired or stuck on a plateau that makes you believe everything you are doing is pointless, then habit will only get you going through the motions at best. Then again, sometimes it will not even do that much for you. Let's face it sometimes even the most disciplined people do not feel like training. That is where mental skills come into play.
For example I have been doing both calisthenics and martial art training at lease from the time I was twelve years old. By the time I was a teenager I was doing thousands of reputations of calisthenics a day plus an average of ten thousand various martial art techniques at least three times a week. After some work injuries and as I grew older I altered my training routine. I include striking the makiwara as part of the kempo like elements of aikijujutsu. By introducing simplification into the process I find that I can be practicing several applications at once. In this way the kata and waza of aikijujutsu and kenjutsu engages my mind so that the mundane routine can be constantly varied without changing anything except for my thinking. This key element of being able to extrapolate multiple meanings and applications from each movement helps fight off boredom.
As an example I posted a clip of a hook punch, it doesn't look like a standard boxing hook punch, but that is because it isn't. There are at least three alternative applications of the technique shown, first of which is that it is a straight lead until the point that misses the target. It's not supposed to miss the target but that sometimes happens. At this point the fist is whipped back either striking with an open palm to the opposite side of the opponent's head or striking behind the ear with a rabbit punch. It can also be a forearm strike. That gives us three variations right there, but it can be either a pre-loaded back fist or hammer fist combination too. Of course these few adaptations are only merely scratches on the surface of the variations to this one movement.
"Of old the expert in battle would first make himself invincible and then wait for his enemy to expose his vulnerability." Sun Tzu
(boxing style)
The following (link below) is the example that I was speaking about on how various principles can affect a hook punch. I'm sure most people in the martial arts know how to throw a same side hook punch, (seen in the example above). It shows on the focus how the left hand can strike the right jaw. The angle of the hook punch may change from the side to an upper angle making it an uppercut. However, the following hook (link below), reaches around from behind the head to land a left hand on the left side of the attackers head, or right to the right side. The targets are the sternomastoid and the medulla oblongata. I throw everything off of a straight motion as it is the shortest distance. The angles and different (body) weapons are just incidental. The longer the strike is the bigger the circle becomes. I just try to cut angles to shorten the circle making it look like a straight line. When the body turns you are still facing the attacker. The ridge hand/ridge fist or palm strikes the target in a rabbit punch manner from dirty boxing; 1/4 step pivot. This move sets up many others. I can use this as a lead, hook. forearm strike, elbow, deflections several types, and throws. Of course, if you can land the straight strike that feeds this blow that is even better. The open hand can strike with different weapons to various targets of opportunity, eye poke etc.
Hook Punch
There are several other applications to this seemingly oddly positioned hook punch. Of course we have as many variations with the standard hook punches which there are a host of variations of them in their own right. I also have to vary my routines to accommodate various injuries I have accumulated over the years which often dictates what techniques I will be practicing on any given day. The trick is to stay mentally sharp and to trick yourself into training even when you don't feel like it by looking at it from a fresh perspective. This gives you a little reprieve from the expected punishment of training. Below is listed some of my standard daily routine.
Misogi: (Cold water dowsing.)
Shokuji: (Healthy dietary measures.)
Musha Shugyo: (Travel for improvement/ road work.)
Mokuso: (Meditation)
Taiso: (Flexibility)
Aiki-Jujutsu: (Keiko)
Kenjutsu: (Keiko)
Personal choice of calisthenics and/or kettle bell training. (3 to 5 sets)
Jace Lee The Shift (Book 4 of the Dream-Walker)
Jace Lee The Shift: We find a new apprentice, Adam, that is fighting for his life. He is struggling to understand the amazing skills of his mentor, Jace Lee; a younger man that has trained under Xander Davidson. All the while his mentor attempts to reconcile the fact that his skills do not match up with the other Dream Walkers.
Jace Lee No Agenda (Dream Walker Book 5)
Jace Lee No Agenda: Jace Lee attempts to find himself on a self-imposed vision quest of sorts. Instead he finds himself being stalked by the same group that had previously sought after his teacher, (Xander Davidson). Instead of mastering his odd Dream Walking skills he finds love and the potential loss of his powers.
Jace Lee and the Tutelage of Ming Wu: Dream Walker 6
Jace Lee The Tutelage of Ming Wu: Jace Lee rejoins his teacher Xander Davidson as they cope with a possible combined threat (the mysterious), Ming Wu and the Council that has continuously monitored the Dream Walkers.
Every day I go outside and strike the makiwara before I do three miles on the road. I find that on most mornings I look forward to this ritual. I like the way striking the makiwara makes me feel. It centers me, it calms me, it forces me into proper alignment, it sharpens my focus and relaxes me. Then on some days it seems pointless. After all, how often have you ever been attacked by a 4x4 post that was half buried in the ground?
People say that I am disciplined, dedicated, or even deranged it all depends on who you ask. I used to strike the makiwara 2-3 times a day but now I find once a day is sufficient. I even switch off with the iron palm bag now and again. I have found that even my approach to these two different training aids has merged over the years. Still while I have never been attacked by a half buried post, this training has contributed to my ending several fights, robberies and at least 3 knife attacks on the street with a single blow. These were all pre-law enforcement situations, I have had more knife situations, but had different solutions to them.
Discipline is not something that you have it is something that you do. If you do it for long enough, you have a habit of discipline. But even having the habit alone is not enough to sustain you. On days when you're either too hot or too cold, habit can fail because habit doesn't make you perform. If you stop training or make a break in your routine because you are angry or depressed, tired or stuck on a plateau that makes you believe everything you are doing is pointless, then habit will only get you going through the motions at best. Then again, sometimes it will not even do that much for you. Let's face it sometimes even the most disciplined people do not feel like training. That is where mental skills come into play.
For example I have been doing both calisthenics and martial art training at lease from the time I was twelve years old. By the time I was a teenager I was doing thousands of reputations of calisthenics a day plus an average of ten thousand various martial art techniques at least three times a week. After some work injuries and as I grew older I altered my training routine. I include striking the makiwara as part of the kempo like elements of aikijujutsu. By introducing simplification into the process I find that I can be practicing several applications at once. In this way the kata and waza of aikijujutsu and kenjutsu engages my mind so that the mundane routine can be constantly varied without changing anything except for my thinking. This key element of being able to extrapolate multiple meanings and applications from each movement helps fight off boredom.
As an example I posted a clip of a hook punch, it doesn't look like a standard boxing hook punch, but that is because it isn't. There are at least three alternative applications of the technique shown, first of which is that it is a straight lead until the point that misses the target. It's not supposed to miss the target but that sometimes happens. At this point the fist is whipped back either striking with an open palm to the opposite side of the opponent's head or striking behind the ear with a rabbit punch. It can also be a forearm strike. That gives us three variations right there, but it can be either a pre-loaded back fist or hammer fist combination too. Of course these few adaptations are only merely scratches on the surface of the variations to this one movement.
"Of old the expert in battle would first make himself invincible and then wait for his enemy to expose his vulnerability." Sun Tzu
(boxing style)
The following (link below) is the example that I was speaking about on how various principles can affect a hook punch. I'm sure most people in the martial arts know how to throw a same side hook punch, (seen in the example above). It shows on the focus how the left hand can strike the right jaw. The angle of the hook punch may change from the side to an upper angle making it an uppercut. However, the following hook (link below), reaches around from behind the head to land a left hand on the left side of the attackers head, or right to the right side. The targets are the sternomastoid and the medulla oblongata. I throw everything off of a straight motion as it is the shortest distance. The angles and different (body) weapons are just incidental. The longer the strike is the bigger the circle becomes. I just try to cut angles to shorten the circle making it look like a straight line. When the body turns you are still facing the attacker. The ridge hand/ridge fist or palm strikes the target in a rabbit punch manner from dirty boxing; 1/4 step pivot. This move sets up many others. I can use this as a lead, hook. forearm strike, elbow, deflections several types, and throws. Of course, if you can land the straight strike that feeds this blow that is even better. The open hand can strike with different weapons to various targets of opportunity, eye poke etc.
Hook Punch
Misogi: (Cold water dowsing.)
Shokuji: (Healthy dietary measures.)
Musha Shugyo: (Travel for improvement/ road work.)
Mokuso: (Meditation)
Taiso: (Flexibility)
Aiki-Jujutsu: (Keiko)
Kenjutsu: (Keiko)
Personal choice of calisthenics and/or kettle bell training. (3 to 5 sets)
My stories are about martial arts adventures that are intertwined with paranormal or supernatural events. The following links are to the Kindle version books from the "Dream Walker” series. Our adventurers find themselves on a quest where they are confronted with both conspiracy and mystery. Their challenge is to unite their mind and body skills together utilizing what they have learned in the martial arts with the transcendental power of dream mediation. They attempt to do this while they are trying to make a life for themselves and elude those that seek to use and control them.
Conversations with a Sage (Book 1 of the Dream-Walker)
Conversations with a Sage: This explores Xander Davidson's early encounters with the mysterious fog like Dream Walking martial art sages. He ponders if they are real or if they are only remnants of his dreams. He mainly keeps this secret world to himself as he tries to copes with abuse, growing up without support or guidance and the mystery of his family's past.
Conversations with a Sage: This explores Xander Davidson's early encounters with the mysterious fog like Dream Walking martial art sages. He ponders if they are real or if they are only remnants of his dreams. He mainly keeps this secret world to himself as he tries to copes with abuse, growing up without support or guidance and the mystery of his family's past.
Xander and the Assassins Gift (Book 2 of the Dream-Walker)
The Assassins Gift: Xander Davidson struggles with the conspiracy of his family and the group that is actively trying to manipulate him to join them or die. The young Dream Walkers learns an early lesson to be careful about whom they let into their circle.
Warriors of Perception (Book 3 of the Dream-Walker)
Warriors of Perception: Xander Davidson and his band of friends embark on a mission to free themselves from their oppressors. They bravely face the challenge all the while vying for the right moment to turn the tables.
The Assassins Gift: Xander Davidson struggles with the conspiracy of his family and the group that is actively trying to manipulate him to join them or die. The young Dream Walkers learns an early lesson to be careful about whom they let into their circle.
Warriors of Perception (Book 3 of the Dream-Walker)
Warriors of Perception: Xander Davidson and his band of friends embark on a mission to free themselves from their oppressors. They bravely face the challenge all the while vying for the right moment to turn the tables.
Jace Lee The Shift (Book 4 of the Dream-Walker)
Jace Lee The Shift: We find a new apprentice, Adam, that is fighting for his life. He is struggling to understand the amazing skills of his mentor, Jace Lee; a younger man that has trained under Xander Davidson. All the while his mentor attempts to reconcile the fact that his skills do not match up with the other Dream Walkers.
Jace Lee No Agenda (Dream Walker Book 5)
Jace Lee No Agenda: Jace Lee attempts to find himself on a self-imposed vision quest of sorts. Instead he finds himself being stalked by the same group that had previously sought after his teacher, (Xander Davidson). Instead of mastering his odd Dream Walking skills he finds love and the potential loss of his powers.
Jace Lee The Tutelage of Ming Wu: Jace Lee rejoins his teacher Xander Davidson as they cope with a possible combined threat (the mysterious), Ming Wu and the Council that has continuously monitored the Dream Walkers.
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