Chin Na in Israel

Here's one for Bob over at "Striking Thoughts", who is currently enrolled in a very painful Chin na school right now...

We know that Israel is the home of the ultimately practical "Krav Maga" self-defense system, but it looks like there's a few good Internal artists there also!
"In this clip, Efi Dinar, from the Nanking Tai Chi School of martial arts in Israel, demonstrates only a few of the various techniques taught in the ancient art of Chin Na".
-- I love the concepts and movement. Notice about half-way through when the "attacker" spins out of the shoulder/elbow lock, the instructor demonstrates several ways to salvage the technique for a takedown.
My only criticizm would be that these techniques are pretty hard to set up against a resisting opponent, unless you have a set-up strike first.
STRIKE TO LOCK, LOCK TO STRIKE-
While stylisticly different, you see here many techniques that would also be found in Aikido and traditional Jujitsu.

Chin Na Defense Against Grab

Here again are Dojo Rats Brown Dragon and Zacky Chan demonstrating a nice Chin na defense against a lapel grab. As described, this technique requires a training partner with flexable shoulders, or serious damage can occur.
This technique can also be found on page 135-136 of "Practical Chin Na", by Zhao Da Yuan and Tim Cartmell. The Chinese name for the technique is ""The Precious Pestle Is Quickly Turned". No kidding. I'm not sure Zac will like being refered to as a "precious pestle".
None-the-less, we perform the technique here pretty much as described in "Practical Chin Na", except we have a keg of beer in our Dojo. Be careful with your training partner on this one, as there is serious potential for damage to the shoulder and elbow.

Mike Martello On Locking And Throwing

Since Mike was in town last week, we'll take a look at some more of his work. Here is his description of this practice, some of the comments refer to parts one and two of this three part series:

(Mike): Yuejia Sanshou, Qinna, Small Shuai and Fun...

Some basic practical ideas with my students...

Again, these ideas here are very raw in approach and energy, as I am refining via the practical practices. I use my students in a raw approach so they can get the basic foundations of the ideas and connected flow of the two people, by simple transmission through the playing. I allow them to use power and force if they catch me then great, its a learning process after all...
I use my students as training partners (not students with no skill) and as myself practicing ideas so i can learn deeper of the internal mechanisms and connections. What looks subtle, soft and flowery is nothing of the kind. I am around 5ft1 and 135 lbs, I cannot use power to do what I show, its logistics, size and strength, all which I just don't have...
Here is a great comment, translated from a chinese forum...
"Good, it really shows how Taiji can make the small overcome the strong. In the first clip, the foreign students use physical force, dumb strength against their teacher. They have not grasped Taiji's usage of smart power; their waists and upperbodies are too stiff, they don't have twisting and turning, their centers move along with their strength, once their teacher dissolves their power they will immediately lose their balance. They have not yet understand the theory of the necessity of having both Yin and Yang, upward and downward powers, left and right movements etc. In the second clip is all pushing exercises, to test the Zhanzhuang/stances. We welcome Mike Laoshi to Beijing this summer for cultural exchange."
I want to share because it explains exactly what I am trying to achieve myself and to teach the foundations to my students...
It is hard ideas because one needs to be soft but not empty, relaxed and full as to be able to allow someone else's force to be placed on our body for feedback... If the force causes the muscles, tendons to get stiffness's then more relaxed practicing conditioning is needed... Conversely when is able to have a huge a force on them relaxed then one needs to play with the force softly to exercise the inner connections to build stronger... Yin reinforces Yang, without Yang getting stiff and so on....
Of course these are all training methods that allow two people to play soft or strong, but not get to hurt and explore methods and train the IMA...

I hope all enjoy objectively.
mike martello

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.

Mike Martello On Chin Na Grappling

Mike Martello

Some of you may have seen this video before, it's one of my favorites. This is the type of grappling I like, it deals with defense from strikes, combines striking, locking sweeping, and choking. There is obviously no heavy clothing or Gi to grip, so locking the wrist, elbow, shoulder and neck is necessary. If you watch, in many of the techniques he begins with a high or low pass of the opponents arm, then works into a locking technique. Mike Martello is a very talented internal-style martial artist. He's coming to the Seattle area this fall, I hope to travel down and have an opportunity to train with him.

More On Aikido And Chinese Internal Arts

Mike Martello On Throwing And Locking

Mike sent me this video yesterday and I thought it was a very good representation of the similarities between Chinese Internal Arts and Aikido.
As discussed in the previous post (Is Aikido Of Chinese Origin?), Master Ueshiba traveled to China in 1936 and was impressed with the Chinese martial arts he saw. As quoted, Ueshiba could "see something once and observe exactly what they were doing".
Now, my point is not so much that Ueshiba borrowed spiraling and circular techniques from Chinese arts (which is generally believed), but Aikido is clearly different from the harsh and more liner Daitoryu Jujutsu. Additionally, Ueshiba was a spiritualist and follower of the Shinto Omoto Kyo ("Great Origin") cult, and certainly was familiar with Taoist teachings. It is of course the Taoist arts that replicate nature in the grand circular and spiraling movements.
Rather than split hairs on lineage and heritage, perhaps it is more important to accept paralell development and simply note the similarities and differences in the Japanese/Chinese arts. For instance, both Daitoryu and Aikido are based on the art of the sword. Many of the thrusts with the empty hand are not simply thrusts, they are "cuts". Footwork was also based on the art of the sword--but Ueshiba greatly expanded on it after his trips to China. Also, in Daitoryu and Aikido, the grappling aspect is the body of the art.
By comparison, Chinese arts replicate nature (wave hands like clouds, old man carries fish on back, etc.) rather than techniques based on sword work. Also, the grappling of Chin-na is a seperate study in Chinese arts, not the body of the art itself. The sub-categories in Chinese arts are; striking with the hands, kicking with the feet, wrestling and chin na (siezing or capturing a limb). Chin na is further broken down into: dividing the muscle/tendon, misplacing the bone, sealing the breath (cutting off air), Dim Mak (pressing or blocking a vein, artery), and Dian Xue (cavity press, or pressing a chi meridian channel.
In this respect, modern Aikido is much more cautious about not crippling the opponent, as was due to Ueshiba's latent spirituality. Daitoryu and Chin na have no such issue with completely disabling an opponent-- ("twist the neck to kill a chicken", etc.)
But on to the video:
Here Mike Martello demonstrates techniques from the Chinese systems, and they are very, very close to Aikido techniques. The first throw is "Shio-nage", right out of Aikido. At 3:53 on the video clock Mike uses his first "San-kyo" control wristlock. At 5:13 Mike begins to loose his technique and transitions into "Kaiten Nage- or "rotary throw", by pushing the opponents head down and completing the throw. At 6:00 he uses an arm-bar throw that is not found in Aikido as far as I know. At 7:14 he begins transitions from "Nikkyo to Kote Gaeshi" wrist lock and throw. At 8:08, another Kaiten Nage- rotary throw. At 8:24 he begins some foot sweeps, which I don't believe is standard in Aikido. And finally, at 9:04 Mike sets up an arm trap which I only remember as the " #10 throw" from Aikido, and transitions back to "San-Kyo" for control.
I hope this attention to detail isn't boring people to death, but it is very exciting to me. When I first started studying Yang Tai Chi Chuan about eleven years ago, I had a lot of trouble seeing the practical application, even with my Karate background. Soon after, while studying Aikido with my instructor Chuck McCarty, I began seeing all those applications for the Yang form in our Aikido techniques.
I hope to post further thoughts on this angle of study in the future, and encourage people with similar intrests to feel free and submit their ideas...

A Salute To Mike Martello

Chin Na


Basic Bagua Class

These video's are of Mike Martello, who may be the best non-asian internal stylist I have seen yet. The Chin Na is a re-post but I wanted to include it to contrast it to the slow, classical and elusive movements of the Bagua Kung Fu. Martello is only 5'2" but really packs some power in a small frame. Many of his other video's show him training with his teacher in Taiwan, and his website says he is based in Belgium, Taiwan and New York.
Here is a post he wrote on Youtube about his decision to give up all hard style arts, something which is difficult due to years of training.
Mike Martello:
A small rant below, open to comments...

Many years ago 10yrs and a bit more, I decided to quit, stop all my hard styles, Baji, HsingI and Chen, lets say to retrain the inner connections. Not forget just stop, I felt I was using wrong intentions and ws being guided to the wrong idea of practice because I realized even the teachers were off in their approach...

I decided this after I met teacher Wang Chieh who demonstrated to me the idea of inner power and smoothness, and I knew I did not embody what he so seamlessly showed me, but I knew this is what I was searching for as soon as I made first contact to his arms and his center just engulfed me by light touch..

So I decided at that point all my training was wrong mind idea but which was good for foundation training and form training, but lacked real IMA. I knew to myself as many people are so afraid to say to themselves or confront themselves, once they have achieved a good level, to say I am empty and still don't know why, yes strong but empty inside. Many know what I mean and then overdo strength to make up for what they don't understand, and perceive they think they understand...

Well for me the answer was easy, I am no fool and play no fools games... When I am told if you practice it will come and years of hard training which brought me great forms and basic fighting self-defense skills, is NOT inner strength... Not inner power that enlightens ones mind and spirit...

One hears the stories of masters that can do wonderful things with there chi and mind and power that we want to train to achieve so idea, but we never get there, either bad teacher or style or whatever we blame it on, but ourselves for not opening our eyes... Our culture and food and the way we perceive CMA is all wrong for most... You never leave your town but you found the magic bullet in martial arts and all of a sudden you become sifu?? Man we are distorted aren't we...

One must travel and go down the mountain to understand why ones inner connection lacks what we train so hard for... I am sorry for such hard words, but I feel this way by watching all the crap out there, being a good fighter does not equal IMA... So decided to retrain and be honest to say to myself these ideas and learn from the beginning again....

Its a phenonomen for martial artists, they search and practice and find there power but never truly know themselves... The ones who read this and understand will laugh to themselves because I speak open heart... Sorry for the rant...

I hope all enjoy objectively.
mike martello

Counter-Lock Flow Drill

I realize now we have to do this with a brighter background, but here's some more lock- flow stuff.