California Uke

This morning we had a guest at the dojo, a udansha from California who trains under Phong Sensei. He’s Vietnamese-American and hadn’t been back to Vietnam in 32 years. Consequently, when he got going on the mat he was sweating hard. Combine that with his physical build (short, stocky, think wrists and a musculature wired like coils of steel springs), and you have a very challenging uke. His limbs scarcely moved and his grip readily slipped off. I really struggled to get a hold on him and apply technique. My most effective efforts were some sutemi waza; I’ve really started to get into yoko otoshi.

He admonished me to keep flowing. If I don’t get one technique keep moving into the next. That was nice to hear. It’s not stressed enough, I think. Also, he talked about keeping my hands centered and demonstrated what he meant with a version of sankyo that reminded me of watching videos of Tissier Sensei.

Later, he called attention to initial movement, speaking of Saotome Sensei and the way he enters irimi, a slight movement taking him deep and off the line, small, calm, specific, hands rising and cutting down in perfect sword form.

I guess I don’t have any conclusions to make today. I’m more or less just thinking things through, and making myself aware that I am going to have to pay more attention to centering, relaxing, maintaining good form. In my effort to move and flow, I may be sacrificing form and composure. Perhaps I need to look again at my jiyu waza practice; I think I am on the right track but maybe just a shift in attitude would help, maybe a shift to something more centered, balanced, calm and sword oriented.

And since I neglected to talk about a visit from Phong Sensei some weeks back, I'll just say that I found him very impressive. He is a surprisingly small person, but so joyfully dynamic and powerful in his technique. Here are a few pictures: