The Power Of Ki-Ai, Part Two

Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Mushashi, a Ronin (masterless) Samurai had killed sixty men in sword duels by the time he was thirty-years-old.
In his classic book on strategy "The Book Of Five Rings" he describes "The three shouts":
"The three shouts are divided thus; before, during and after. Shout according to the situation.The voice is a thing of life. We shout against fires and so on, against the wind and the waves. The voice shows energy.
In large-scale strategy, at the start of battle we shout as loudly as possible. During the fight, the voice is low-pitched, shouting out as we attack. After the contest, we shout in the wake of our victory. These are the three shouts.
In single combat, we make as if to cut and shout "Ei!" at the same time to disturb the enemy, then in the wake of our shout we cut with the long sword. We shout after we have cut down the enemy- this to announce victory. This is called "sen go no koe" (before and after voice). We do not shout simultaneously with flourishing the long sword. We shout during the fight to get into rythm. Research this deeply".

Zeitgeist

Well, I know it's been available for a while, but I finally got around to watching the movie "Zeitgeist", available at THIS LINK.

"Zeitgeist" deconstructs everything we know about modern life, including the origins of Christianity, previous world wars, the conspiracy behind 9-11, and the master plan for world control.
Much of the information is readily available through various sources, but it does tie things together in one two-hour disturbing package.
You know, the funny thing about conspiracy theories is that some of them are not theories. "Zeitgeist" is overflowing with actual quotes, news articles and interviews documenting the events that have steered the last few centuries. I am sure that if I surf the fetid waters of the internet I will find some myth-buster attempts to marginalize this video, but taken as a whole "Zeitgeist" is an impressive wake-up call for a somnambulant populace.
I'm curious what others think about this flick, I am very familiar with many of it's themes and messages. The first couple of minutes are a voice-over with a dark screen, the visual begins about three minutes in. If you haven't seen it, pour yourself a stiff drink and gird yourself for some disturbing images and information.

The Power Of Ki-Ai

I've been thinking about how to put this post together for days now. For readers familiar with Dojo Rat, you know we have touched on the esoteric and somewhat occult aspects of the martial arts. I really wanted to introduce this post with a video of the Knife-fight scene between Paul and Feyd in the movie "Dune". If you haven't seen it, I can hardly describe it, except that Paul uses his voice -- a "KI-AI" to literally blow his opponent apart. Very Sci-Fi. Unfortunately, that video has been removed from the net, probably do to copyright issues.
The thing is, there really is something to it. Check out THIS ARTICLE, which talks about Master Mas Oyama in Tokyo. Remember, this is the guy that killed Bulls with his bare hands. (considered an animal rights violation by today's standards). This is a first-hand account of the power of the Ki-ai.
My mentor and senior instructor under Tae Kwon Do master Tae Hong Choi was very good at a deep, powerful Ki-ai. I myself sing a little, and play guitar. I actually trained in a church choir when I was a kid, and I'm pretty barrel-chested. I picked up that deep, from-the-gut Ki-ai and actually used it. I used in tournaments to accent my points. I always used it starting sparring matches, to judge my opponent's reaction. And I have used it twice to back down dogs that were chasing me. The first time, I was in California helping a girlfriend move. I went through a farm district on a light run, and found myself being chased by three dogs. They'll chase anything that runs. I couldn't outrun them, so I turned and let out a huge Ki-ai and stood my ground. The dogs turned and went yelping back to their property. It happened again several years later with two dogs in a suburban neighborhood.
Master Uyeshiba of Aikido was an expert in The Kotodama, or "Sacred sounds". The highlighted link explains some of this. Uyeshiba was said to have used it to disappear and reappear behind his attacker. When asked, he said "you can't use this too many times", refering that it took immense ammounts of energy to perform this feat and drew from prenatal Chi/Ki. I believe The use of sacred sounds goes back into antiquity, perhaps to Ancient Egyptian Hermetic theory. Of course, we know now that EVERYTHING is in a state of vibration. Water, rocks, glass, plants and animals. Everything. Now, If you can shatter a glass with an opera note, just what is happening?
Why not shatter a spirit?
Why not shatter an ego?
Why not shatter an attacker's aggression?

Open Forum

I always tell my friends who play sports:
Why don't you do something safe, like Karate???

Feel free to use the comment section today for an open forum
--D.R.

More Push Hands Patterns

Instructor Michael Gilman

A fellow Dojo Rat and I attended another three-hour training session with our Tai Chi Chuan instructor Michael Gilman Saturday.
This time, we worked on the short Da Lu form (Great Rollback) which uses elbow and shoulder strikes in a two-man form. It starts with the defender using a rollback against a palm strike to the face, locking opponents shoulder and arm. The person being locked steps deep into the rollback-guy's center with a elbow or shoulder, the rollback-guy adjusts and locks the elbow firmly. Then the pattern is reversed and continues, working in diagonals hitting all four corners of the room. I'll try to post a video of that later.
Here, Michael Gilman and assistant Stephanie demonstrate some of the push hands patterns. After a review of these patterns, we went from doing the push hands pattern then moving into the Da Lu form, and then back into the push hands pattern again.
It becomes very active and spontaneous, moving from Da Lu to push hands and back.
More on this later...
Michael Gilmans's website is lINKED HERE, stop by and take a look!

Get a Grip

Finger-locking Drill

Lights, Camera, Dojo Rats, Action!
We'll have to brush-up on presentation a little, but we're back in video business again.
Here's a little drill on how to acquire finger-locks. As stated, the idea is not to hold somebody down, but to provide a momentary painful distraction to hit. Like the Ryukyu Kenpo guys say, lock to strike, strike to lock.
Try to snake your fingers in to prevent him from reacting and pulling back. As with all joint locks, make sure there is no slack in the structure of the technique, preventing him from wiggling out.

Lost In Translation