Training Virtue

Faith, hope, and love remain, writes St. Paul in the familiar second reading from 1st Corinthians for today's Mass, but the greatest of these is love. Love is the greatest virtue. Without love, the habitual practice of the other virtues loses meaning. Love is the anchor.

What is the greatest virtue in the practice of shotokan karate and crossfit? The development of strength over time is certainly a contender. And flexibility another. Sharper technique, more focused power, better kata, fiercer sparring, more correct form in weight lifting, all these are training virtues.

But showing up is the greatest training virtue it seems to me because all the other training virtues rely on this. The 11th Precept of Karate by Funakoshi Sensei states "Karate is like boiling water, if you do not heat it constantly, it will cool." Go to CrossFit. Go to the dojo. Show up. Because by showing up, we cultivate the habit of doing something that is better than not doing.

And the virtue in regular training is the training of regular virtue.

Haito and The Art of War

At first glance haito zuki, or ridge-hand strike is awesome. But is it?

In the clip Kagawa Sensei steps in and to the side of the line of attack of his opponent, i.e., cooperative stationary target. The haito zuki is cool because it attacks the attacker from behind even though Kagawa faces him from the front. But is this practical for self-defense application?

The Art of War asserts all warfare is based on deception. The first time I watched the haito zuki clip it surprised me and in that sense, I suppose it has some practical value as a surprise feint or distraction for a more powerful counter attack.

On the other hand, I think training haito with the intent of surprising an opponent or sparring partner may actually telegraph the intent to surprise, as if to say, hey, I'm going to be sneaky right now. Ready? Here it comes! But used judiciously haito zuki might be effective.

Tabata

Tonight we did tabata intervals. One round was as many air squats as possible in twenty seconds, rest ten seconds, then as many burpees as possible in twenty seconds, then rest for ten seconds. We did eight rounds. Score was lowest reps in any given round. My score was 12 squats and 5 burpees.

I'm working on the kata Jitte. Tabata sets are conditioning exercises that should build stamina for doing Jitte many, many times.

One Body

I love the second reading from Corinthians for today's Mass. St. Paul talks about how, though made up a many parts, the body is one. He uses this many parts-one essence as a metaphor for describing how each of us brings a different skill set to various roles that can benefit the whole. "Some people God has designated in the church to be first, apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then, mighty deeds; then, gifts of healing, assistance, administration, and varieties of tongues." Different people, one body in Christ. (1 Cor. 12:28)

I also love reading and thinking about the writings of shotokan's founder, the school teacher from Okinawa, Gichin Funakoshi. The 5th of his 20 Precepts translates "Spirit first, technique second." When I am judging kata performance at tournaments and there are two fairly equally matched karateka doing the same kata, I try to apply this precept in determining the winner. If techniques are equally well executed, who has the better spirit? By which athlete would I least like to be hit with one of those techniques? Who is merely walking through the kata and who is orchestrating the body's parts for one purpose?

Precept 17 is wonderful too. "Beginners must master low stance and posture, natural body positions are for the advanced." Different parts, one activity; different ages, same activity.

St. Paul wrote, "Now you are Christ's body and individually parts of it."

Weighted Planks and Kata

Last night at CrossFit Works we did weighted planks. We put 45 pound plates on our mid-backs and did the yogo plank posture, laying on the floor holding body straight like a plank, supported on toes and elbows, for as long as possible. I held it for about 1:40 minute first round and 1:14 second round. It's hard but feels good.

Kata requires a strong core. The movements in shotokan kata are supposed to be sharp and crisp, as in this demo of the kata Unsu by Yahara Sensei. Notice how the arm and leg techniques appear to be anchored to the floor through the body's core. The power generated in this way is amazing.

Strong core, strong kata.

Jitte and Snatch

Jitte is an awesome kata from the shotokan movement encyclopedia. The first move performed with a bo could be interpreted as a block or strike at an incoming attack. Performed without a weapon, this same movement conjures up the image of a block and simultaneous attack at the opponent's hand holding a staff. The most challenging movement sequences in this kata are the three stomping kicks and simultaneous double blocks/strikes with arms overhead. The physical challenge is to lift the legs in high, twisting kicks and generate power from the floor by holding back the hips and upper body in a way that generates kinetic power before a last-instant release.

CrossFit's incorporation of Olympic weightlifting like the snatch has improved my ability to do Jitte more effectively, particularly the three most challenging movements. What I've noticed is the increased flexibility in my shoulders as well as a greater ability to anchor them on a stronger core.

Come to think of it, the first move in Jitte could also be seen as moving from a standing to a prayerful posture, with right palm open and upward-directed, as if the body were saying thank you my Lord.

Gyaku Zuki and Existence

Reverse punch is a glorious technique to execute. Your feet are planted flat on the floor for stability, your hips move sharply in the direction of the target, and your pullback arm is the equal and opposite movement that adds power and focus.

I think Aristotle is right that we come to know the world through our senses. Perception may be flawed, like an unstable stance in doing gyaku zuki, but it is the contact with the world that matters. This computer is not a dream in my or someone else's mind. It is real.

We are real, created creatures in a non-arbitrary universe. To do gyaku zuki is to celebrate the gift of existence. How wonderful to feel the rotation, the building power, the crisp stop of focus at the target when all tendons, muscles, and bones are directed to one purpose.

Gyaku zuki is meditation in motion, a prayerful reminder of who is who and what is what.

Core Fitness

My karate teachers often spoke about where a technique's power originates in the body. Power they said is centered in tanden, literally "red field," the area about one or two inches below and behind the navel. It is the body's center of gravity, the core.

CrossFit is sometimes described as developing core fitness. Instead of short distance isolation exercises, like bicep curls, crossfit emphasizes multiple joint compound exercises like thrusters, lifting a medium weight from the floor over your head. This approach really works for me. We do next to no crunches in CrossFit Works and very few situps. But my tanden area has never been more fit. All the exercises require in some way a strong core.

The big error of the Enlightenment I think was de-emphasizing spiritual, or civilization's core fitness. Some Enlightenment thinkers argued God was a human invention. This error, confusing who is the Creator and who is the Created Creature, is dangerous. Think of the horrors it has allowed that passes for progress or "civilization's advancement."

I think both physical and spiritual core fitness is essential.

Ashi Bari Mediation

I love de ashi bari, foot sweep. Only get it right about one in one hundred attempts, but when it works, it is so elegant to see the opponent falling helplessly to the ground. It is one of those wonderful movements in shotokan that requires a tiny amount of physical effort which then generates an enormous result. The challenge is to get the timing right. This is finesse, not brute force. Sweep the leg too early or too late, you're vulnerable to counter-attack. Sweep it just at the right time before he sets weight on front leg, down he goes. Like in this example.

Training ashi bari this weekend in the dojo got me thinking about the nature of temptation. The expression "the devil made me do it" is not quite right theologically speaking. It implies the temptee is powerless against the temptor.  In ashi bari, the sweeper doesn't change the sweepee's direction of travel, only taps one of his legs to break balance. In temptation, the sinner is headed in the wrong direction by his own free will and the devil just taps the leg a bit to break balance. Down goes the sinner.

Moral? Practice ashi bari frequently. Think about countering the devil's ashi bari with counter-measures.

Blind With Purpose

My favorite scene in Denzel Washington's movie The Book of Eli is when we get a close look at his eyes. He appears to be blind and this information compels a re-thinking of all the previous scenes. A blind man with purpose goes farther and straighter and more effectively than sighted men without purpose. But how can this be?  The Book of Eli is like a Christian version of the Zatoishi series. The big difference is purpose. Denzel is deadly because he has one. Zatoishi is deadly even without one.

Kumite

Here's 1:50 minutes of shotokan kumite. The last fight in the sequence shows a much smaller karateka knock down a much larger one. Executed correctly, these techniques are very powerful.

Combo

Much in my life deals with combining things. I got married, for instance. There's a combination. I combined Catholic social doctrine with economic analysis when I wrote Apostles and Markets. That was a combination. And I have trained shotokan karate off and on for about 33 years and now do CrossFit. There's another combination.

So this new blog is going to explore all kinds of ways of combining things to get new things. Combining karate and crossfit has enabled me to do both these activities better.

Combos.