Advice for a kenshi, and then some

[Hobbes]

Hello, Steve. I took the plunge from lurking, fascinating stuff, awaiting the 5MM dvd, and would appreciate some feedback on one area to start with, and hopefully more later, from you and all.

I've been doing kendo for about 9 months, now, and I've confronted a lot thru it that is immediately specific to my physical situation, as well as my mental/emotional/spiritual-philosophical, as well. I'm 40, which makes me about 20-25 yrs older than most folks at the dojo, and not staggering at the end of class has become a top priority. More importantly, I noticed that being winded puts an immediate damper on my desire to "attack" the training drills and engage in fresh jigeiko (free sparring) partners.

Which in turn affects my ability to develp the strongly recommended "big technique"/"positive style" as opposed to the little quick moves/"negative style" (basically, as I understand it, you Attack, fully committed, using large moves that would be work with real swords, generating gaps in your opponent's technique that you then exploit, as opposed to waiting in any sense and using small quick moves with the bamboo sword that wouldn't be possible with real metal).

For me, kendo is a very, very yang activity, very draining, and I need to counter balance it, with conditioning work, meditation, sleep and nutritional changes, flexibility, and more importantly, work addressing the stress of simulated "combat" - curtailing any reflexive "avoidance" behaviors (avoiding the next partner, avoiding class for X number of reasons, avoiding the attack mindset). Your 5 MM and Coach Sonnon's material I think will give me a base or framework to approach these issues, which are a microcosm of life issues in general. I have a 36 lb. kettlebell, and would appreciate your thoughs on devising an approach that includes clubbells, breathing, the works - this as a starting point (the "trinity" I'm familiar with is "family, work, budo," which directly parallels Family, career, and bodywork in your system).

I'm in a particularly literal frame of mind at the moment, a product of a long week drunk on fatigue poisons; please forgive the above focus on the mundane.

[Steven Barnes]

Dear Hobbs--

Begin and end your day with a brief, centering meditation. Unless or until you find another, the heartbeat technique will do fine. You are specifically dealing with your arousal states, and must learn to quiet the nervous system--it is just trying to keep you safe. Kettlebells can be GREAT for developing burst endurance. You might try 30 minutes of breathing ladders: 1 swing on each side, take one breath. Two swings on each side, take two breaths. Three swings...etc.
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Flexibility and alignment are critical physical factors which will help you avoid injury. Warrior Wellness joint rotation before your Tibetans (or short yoga routine) can work beautifully.
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Here's a possibility for endurance: use both your sword and your KB's. do a breathing ladder integrating the use of both: 1 KB lift, one sword swing, one breath. 2 KB lifts, two sword swings, 2 breaths. Etc. Integrate performance breathing. This might be extremely efficient!

Remember: First health, then fitness, THEN skill. Be certain you have a good base of cardio-vascular fitness and strength before you get more serious about your practise. Then, run those kids into the ground, guy!

Steve

[Hobbes]

I've got a breathing-based meditation going, now, with a stretching/yoga-based flexibility accompaniment (a little something until I get to try the 5 MM). And I'm working on devising something for myself with sword suburi/iai kata, as well as kettlebells for strength and indurance (I'm trying a program by KB instructor Mike Mahler: 1 min jumprope, 10-20 swings, 1 min rest, repeat with various other swing variations, working up to 10 sets, bleh).

One problem I've had is what a regimen should look like. Do Warrior Wellness plus Clubbells for Circular Strength explain the basics and routines and neuromuscular retraining philosophy? Maximology? I'm all for health > fitness > technique, which is why I've chosen to start with 5 MM (especially to get a handle on Lifewriting), but for the concepts you've referred to, for a weapons-based martial artist with conditioning, strength, and fear/reactivity/consistency issues, which references would clarify and teach applicable exercises?

[Hobbes]

Every time I turn around, another post or blog entry of yours seems to answer my next questions

Your entry on the upcoming Mastery Workshop reminded me that this is a board about the 5 MM, and properly so. Health IS more important than fitness, which is more important than specific technique, these days. It doesn't make much sense to optimize my kendo if the regimen to do so makes me a grouchier dad, or robs me of sleep, or distracts me from critical tasks at work. If you're not naturally self-balancing, then learning a system that enables that is a fine, fine thing - and for it to work in any specific area, like helping with martial arts, it should also work in other Life areas.

There are martial ways that do this, some more so than others: the principles you learn for long weapons translate to short weapons, which translate to empty hand, so thankfully you don't have to learn 3 distinct sets of techniques to save your life. What I like about the premise behind 5 MM is that it offers a kernel that applies to personal health and martial studies and career planning, etc, all based in bodywork and meditation/journaling.

Kendo, for me, is a microcosm of my own life issues, largely because its intense physicality and tradition enforce confrontations with my own limits that cannot be ignored. They're the same limits that I see active in other parts of my life. I look forward to navigating them in this and all arenas.

[Hobbes]

Just got the 5 MM DVD - query on the breathing technique: is there a reason that the emphasis is on the exhale being active, and the inhale being more passive? This is the reverse of the way the body "usually" breathes (the relaxation being the exhale as everything "falls" closed), and many meditations seem to focus at least as much if not more on the inhale/drawing in and down of chi part of breathing.

[Steven Barnes]

As I understand it, if you breathe in this fashion, your body gets the "proper" proportion of oxygen for a given activity. Remember: this is just a perspective on breathing, and all breathing techniques take a slightly different angle on this critical aspect of training and be-ing. I think that also, by allowing the structure and motion to "breathe" for you, you are training your body to function better under stress, taking the emphasis off "gulping air" and onto the proper use of the body. Believe me, once you've internalized this, it will make a different kind of sense of ANY other practice you have. Remember: the Five Minute Miracle is not about competing with, or replacing your other practices. It is about opening your mind to the possibility of training, literally, 24 hours a day. Or as Musashi said, "let your combat stance be your everyday stance, and let your everyday stance be your combat stance."

[Hobbes]

Fascinating.

Getting towards a place where training is constant...now that would be something. That would, I think, be the ultimate training goal, a major step up from grabbing training in 5, 10, or 15 minute snatches whenever possible (even that would be better than waiting for the "perfect" hour, a near impossibility with family, kids, work, etc.).

I'm working on the breathing technique, and it does seem to translate into a deep, aware, deliberate kind of rhythm, at least with regular daily activity. Looking forward to seeing how things look after more regular use, and in motion.

[DaveyfaeGlasgow]

Kendo is a way. It is not to be trivilialised. What grade are you?

[Hobbes]

I agree with both of your statements. That is why I am seeking to improve my stamina, and thereby my ability to focus and improve. I have been a member of my dojo for 9 months.

I am a bit puzzled by your choice of the word "triviliased," to put it mildly.