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PASmith
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Bunkai Jutsu youtube

I've set myself the task of watching Iain's entire Youtube output...in order...from oldest to newest. Trying to get a really good sense of his methods and drills. Try and learn what they are imparting.*

*Some context...

I'm just getting over a back injury that very nearly saw me out of martial arts altogether. One of those injuries that lays you out for weeks and seems like it will be the injury that ends it all. As a result I now have a dried out disc in my lower back and restricted mobility, flexibility and some sciatica in that area. I have good days and bad days. It was a pretty bleak time for a while TBH. I have slowly recovered to some degree, but I'm still wary of my back and I'm not sparring or doing anything "random". Linework, patterns/kata, padwork, etc I can control within my limits much better. Hopefully that will change as I learn to trust my back again.

By way of trying to get myself back into training and moving I booked on a recent seminar with Iain but I'll be honest I was nervous and a bit worried about it. But, as I suspected I would, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's sparked the fire again. I'm determined to try and have at least one last hurrah as I go into middle age. I feel I've circled around Iain's stuff for years now (a couple of seminars when I can, DVD's and books) but meeting him again I realised how much his outlook and output has influenced my training and views in martial arts for years now. So I'm on a bit of a quest to really try and ingrain Iain's methods into what I do.

PASmith
PASmith's picture

On second thoughts maybe this should be in 'self development'?

Josh Pittman
Josh Pittman's picture

I sympathize. I have a herniated disc in my back, and the nervous energy building up from not being able to train hard is killing me. However, I went through this about ten years ago, and patiently keeping up with the physical therapy exercises I was given eventually enabled me to return to full training capacity. If you keep training cautiously but seriously, you might get more than one last hurrah. Here's hoping, anyway...

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

PASmith wrote:
I've set myself the task of watching Iain's entire Youtube output...in order...from oldest to newest. Trying to get a really good sense of his methods and drills. Try and learn what they are imparting.

Be sure to take regular breaks :-)

PASmith wrote:
I'm just getting over a back injury that very nearly saw me out of martial arts altogether.

I’m sorry to hear that. It did not seem to be impacting your movement when we last met up. You were moving well.

PASmith wrote:
By way of trying to get myself back into training and moving I booked on a recent seminar with Iain but I'll be honest I was nervous and a bit worried about it. But, as I suspected I would, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's sparked the fire again.

It was great to meet up and I’m really pleased it proved useful.

PASmith wrote:
So I'm on a bit of a quest to really try and ingrain Iain's methods into what I do.

I think you get it, but let me know if I can be of any help with anything. Again, I’m really pleased you’re finding it all of use.

PASmith wrote:
I have slowly recovered to some degree, but I'm still wary of my back and I'm not sparring or doing anything "random". Linework, patterns/kata, padwork, etc I can control within my limits much better. Hopefully that will change as I learn to trust my back again.

That sounds really sensible to me. It took me a while to recover when I dislocated by knee and, although my limits have expanded back to pretty much back to what they were, I am always careful to work within those limits. I’m still careful on certain throws and my partners know that certain kicks, certain takedowns and all knee bars are off limits.

Injuries aside, I think we all need to change how we train as we age too. I know a gentleman in his 80s who does a few kata every day and that really inspires me. I think one of karate’s (and related systems) strengths is that it can be practised from childhood to old age. Sure, the type of practise changes, but we can still keep practising. If I’m lucky enough to live into my 80s, I probably won’t be sparring, smashing pads, etc; but a gentle walk through the kata that have been an ever-present part of my practise is sure to be enjoyable and beneficial.

One of my teachers (now in his 70s) once told me it was his ambition to die mid roundhouse. All very tongue in cheek, but what he means is he wants to keep training until the very end. How and what we train will change, but hopefully we can keep going in a way we enjoy and get benefit from.

All the best,

Iain

PASmith
PASmith's picture

I’m sorry to hear that. It did not seem to be impacting your movement when we last met up. You were moving well.

Imagine how I'd move without a bad back! But thank you. I had to pull away from some of the hip and cross buttock throws as I know they will aggravate the back. I may have been moving OK in the seminar but not so well the following Monday and Tuesday. But it was worth it. :)

With watching your output and DVD's (books, etc) I feel I'm getting a sense of the "style" of the bunkai side of karate (as opposed the style of individual named styles or sports karate). When you start to get into it a "style" kind of emerges that has certain characteristics and principals that then informs how I view other kata and techniques. There's a "style" that seems to overarch the various combinations and bunkai. I'm starting to automatically ask myself questions about kata or pattern movements. Such as...

What am I holding onto here? And what am I doing with it? Locate/push/pull/stabilise?

How close am I? Is it a realistic range?

How am I compromising his posture or balance while maintaining my own?

Where is my attack line in relation to his? How can I move him or myself to improve this?

What are both hands doing rather than just the, seemingly, "active" one?

Which bit of him am I smashing and with what? Are there less obvious answers to this?

Would this movement be better viewed as throw, lock, limb control, etc?

With questions like that even new (to me) movements start to be much more relatable and decipherable.