What are your thoughts on the last point mentioned by the sensei? Previous Episode: ruclips.net/video/aUT0nKfina0/видео.html Yusuke in Okinawa Season 2: ruclips.net/p/PL6uceGkw5VFmFMlNwF9ra2yPvZSsuqZXT Yusuke in Okinawa Season 1: ruclips.net/p/PL6uceGkw5VFkSWeQVK8hnrXt5LEwiV6JD
It's an interesting idea. I understand it as the point of your tanden is your "centre", instead of your head being the centre which we would often think. This centre point floats and moves freely. Your centre line sits on top of it like the mast of a sail boat, while your limbs act to accomodate this and interact with the environment. Both my HEMA group and my karate class (Matsubayashi Ryu) sometimes try to use simiar concepts... Imagine a remote controlled drone with a camera on top and little robotic arms and legs hanging off it - the drone is your tanden, the camera is your head. The drone (tanden) is the main part and its location is what is most important. The camera (head) is just a passenger which sits directly above the drone for balance, and the limbs just move to wherever they are needed for the drone to do its job wherever it is. I think the real key here is that you are so experienced in shotokan that your conditioned reflexes are getting in your way a bit, so you have to "unlearn" some of your skills to learn a different way of doing things. Really intersting videos. Thank you for sharing your ups and downs.
So to me, if you visualize the tanden as a 1 dimensional point in 3D space (X,Y,Z axes), the sensei is saying you should focus on that one point and moving it freely in all 3 dimensions simultaneously. Instead of focusing on your kamae, which includes the structure of your frame and linear movement, by only focusing on that one point you will lead from that point and all the other parts will fall into place. It's a much different way of looking at karate, but very similar to Chinese arts. This probably takes decades to incorporate and it's harder if you've done a lot of kata competition because that trains you to be more rigid and "creating a form".
after more than 30 years of practice, I think I got to the point where I am begining to understand what sensei told you. the last couple of years I come to the conclusion that I need to relax and move my center as I breath. I don't mind my feet or hands - if I move my center the right way everything will follow properly. so, I don't try to make a certain form, I try to relax, breath and move my center - the stance and the block/punch/kick/whatever will come naturaly. one blocks and attacks not with feet and fists, but from center. the center moves the limbs, so one should not focus on limbs but on center. to summarise: relax and move the center as you breath. at least this is what I understood so far on my do... and I think it's pretty close to what sensei told you.
From what I understand the 3 directions would be (1) sinking down as the foot touches the ground for stability, (2) swinging in the direction of the movement and (3) whipping in the opposite direction. This kind of wiggling motion also allows you to begin the next movement right away: the end of a movement is the beginning of the next one. This would also make sense with his continuous walk. Great video by the way, it takes a lot of humility to put yourself out there 👍
The fact that you were so upset shows great passion and respect for the art. If you cried look at it as your eyes being cleared and reborn for a fresh look to the art.
I started practicing Shotokan in 1978. Believe me, I too have almost cried. I like you Sensei I have tried other styles, this is the true key to unlocking your potential as a true practitioner of Karate. It is true that you only start to learn karate once you have obtained your Shodan. Keep going and learn to implement what you learn into what you already know.
I was also told you don't start really learning karate until you're a black belt. And it's true. Part of it is what you start to realize. Not just what you can do.
No instructors who haven't reached the correct point - teach you rigidness that keeps you from attaining mastery. Watch the movements of Anderson Silva at his best - he was completely relaxed. Fighting is a dance. If you have not learned this - you need to. The Book of Five Rings lets you know this - Second is the Water book. With water as the basis, the spirit becomes like water. Water adopts the shape of its receptacle; it is sometimes a trickle and sometimes a wild sea. Water has a clear blue color. By the clarity, things of Ichi school are shown in this book. If you master the principles of sword-fencing, when you freely beat one man, you beat any man in the world. The spirit of defeating a man is the same for ten million men. The strategist makes small things into big things, like building a great Buddha from a one foot model. I cannot write in detail how this is done. The principle of strategy is having one thing, to know ten thousand things. Things of Ichi school are written in this the Water book. Note he points directly to fighting being like water.
Hello Yusuke-sensei, thank you for the video. I think what the sensei meant by moving the tanden in all three dimensions is that you mustn't lock your centre of gravity into one dimension of movement. For example, if you are sitting too hard on your back leg in your neko-ashi, then you cannot move forward or backwards freely, only up and down, so you lock into that dimension (or the y axis). If your centre of gravity is too far back or forward, then you lock yourself into moving in a linear way in that dimension (x axis), etc. But I have never trained like this or heard this teaching, but from everything else the senseis said, this is at least a part of what I think Sensei meant by his comment.
I can't thank you enough for sharing this. As someone very new to karate (testing for green belt soon) It's very reassuring to see that the growth and understanding in karate is an ongoing process. While I may get down on myself because my understanding and knowledge of karate is still only that of a beginner, I can see through the videos you share that the whole idea behind karate is to always have the mindset of a beginner. We must remember to keep an open mind for learning and seeking out the wealth of knowledge that has accumulated in the centuries of practice and study of karate. Your willingness to let us see that even as a sensei you still sometimes struggle to comprehend and master the techniques of those who have a lifetime worth of experience, is a wonderful gift to your viewers. Twice each week, my husband, myself, and our 6 year old daughter go to our dojo. Your videos in the Okinawa series have shown me how important it is to see that when my family comes to karate, we stand on the mat as equals. Even after we earn our black belts, we are still students who are indebted to learn as eagerly and respectfully as on the first day of training. And even though our dojo is what some would call a "McDojo", that doesn't preclude seeking out more knowledge and having deep respect for the masters who have so much to teach us. Thanks to you and your excellent videos, I can take the lesson for each week from my dojo and add to it with the knowledge I gain watching you in Okinawa. A perfect example is this week's focus in my dojo being the back fist and reverse punches. Watching the Matsubayashi Ryu (episode 2) video gave me real insight about how to practice and why the moves are done a specific way. Watching your video on how to show respect in the dojo inspired me to put those tips to use. Even they aren't really necessary in the rules of my dojo, they are still a way to show my dedication and respect for karate. Living in an area without a "real" dojo shouldn't stop me from learning and practicing karate with proper respect and dedication to principals. With your videos, I am able to learn what the true masters in Okinawa would want me to know as a student of karate. Please keep making these videos and showing us how to learn karate with our hearts and minds as well as our bodies.
There’s a shogen ryu teacher a couple hours from me, I might look into cross training with him after I get my shodan. Look at how detailed and precise their basics are!
Well, what they are teaching in this video is so important everything else you do flows from the stance transitions. In Okinawan Karate we practice basics until we CANNOT screw it up anymore, because we just automatically do it correctly.
Thank you so much Mr. Nagano for putting this out for the rest of karate world to see. These Okinawan masters are jewels of our art and it won't be long before they pass to the other side. It is great that you documented little of their valuable teachings. As you indicated, these little tips and phrases they tell you will spark and haunt you, for many years to come. From my experience, I can tell you that tanden was an illusive thing for many decades. I heard it about it all through my training, but it was only recently that I actually felt the existence of it in my body. Like one of the senseis mentioned, it is a spot and you move it to direct the entire body, in 3D as he described. Some things can better be expressed in Japanese, "tanden no sonzai wa ishiki dake janaide, kanzen ni taiken suru koto ni narimasu."
The “one point” he was talking about is imagining your Tanden or center of gravity is like a ball and you are moving that ball as your whole body is surrounding it.Not arms and legs separate but the whole body as a unit. It’s a Tai chi, and Southern Mantis principle. Many of the principles they are showing are closely related to Southern Praying mantis Kung fu.
As a long time Tai chi practitioner right I knew immediately what they were talking about.. forward/back, left/right, up/down all revolve around the dan tian. I also agree with them that it takes decades to master. If you watch the older master, he is super relaxed, not trying to perform technique, but harmonizing his whole body. Our young guide must have patience.
This episode is fantastic! I practiced Shotokan for many years and then Tai Chi and other internal Chinese styles. This Shogen Ryu looks like it was what links it all and what I was looking for. Thank you for sharing your experience!
You are so humble and willing to learn, it makes theses videos so much more engaging… great work. It’s must have been hard to absorb some of that with two masters analyzing you.
I think what he meant by moving that "one point" is like levitating your centre point or centre axis of your body. It's like not thinking about your shoulders,arms or legs but simply flowing as if your levitating. This video just spoke to me emotionally because I cried when I thought I knew but I did not know
6:03 I was reminded of the American sensi, Rick Hotton, who speaks often about "relaxed heaviness" and "whippy action." His karate is beautiful and very powerful.
I remember my early martial arts journey with my Sensei telling me to relax. “I am relaxed!” I would say. Another 10 years and I realised how stiff I actually was. Then I trained with masters and it was like I was a beginner all over again. This clip brought all those memories flooding back. The maintenance of centre so that at any stage in the movement you are grounded but not static is hideously difficult to master (I don’t profess mastery). Relaxation is a top to bottom process: learning to relax the neck and shoulders, then the chest, down to the hips and legs is so hard. My sensei described it as having having your centre high in your chest when you’re tense, which means your whole balance is off. As you learn to relax more so that centre moves lower and lower. Sounds so easy but is so hard in practice. It just shows that the black belt is still only something that keeps your trousers up 😊
in the okinawan style i practiced we actually had natural breathing and didn't even kiai. everything in shorin ryu is more natural. it could be the same for that style
I train in Ry Kyu Kobudo which also teaches the one point center of gravity moving in 3 dimensions. It is very difficult as I also come from a Shotokan background. After 6 years of Kobudo Ive barely scratched its surface but what I have learned of it, has vastly improved my overall Karate technique! I encourage you to continue training this concept. Excellent video! I look forward to the next!
Yusuke sensei,this is one of your best videos yet. If we train long enough under good instruction we encounter these "shock" moments over and over as we self correct in search of the correct action. Through this we never become satisfied, but also we are making progress even when we don't think so. Thanks for sharing!
As a Kung Fu practitioner, I truly relate to that feeling! One of the worst things was when we had to practice a stick fighting form for hours after class at high speed and with many acrobatic movements. Everytime I made a mistake, there would be so much shouting and it happened many times a week until at one point I broke down crying because I really wanted to get it right. One would not get so emotional over such things unless one was truly passionate, which you truly are.
''That one point in your Tanden moves freely in this 3 dimensional space'' its exactly how Koichi Tohei descibes One Point in the lower abdomen ("seika no itten")and how you move using this.Its the same principle.Thats amazing.You must search about Koichi Tohei's book (Ki in daily life)and his teachings you will find so many similarities that its ''scary'' haha.Thank you so much for your videos!!!!
Asking someone to relax in the way they want is like saying; step 1: achieve enlightenment. It takes a very long time, especially for someone that practices externally. In regard to moving the tanden in a 3 dimensional space, I took it to mean moving your centre of balance at will, which is a very advanced concept
(I think) It basically means to let your movements flow from one to the other. As if walking, your centre (tanden) is stable, yet moving freely without the rest of the body taking up a specific "shape". Intention of technique is the function, not the form. You can see the instructors perform it slightly differently, yet bearing the same principles. We've a similar concept in Ashihara Karate, though explained differently. OSU!
Good observation & great point about the instructors performing it slightly differently. One could logically reason it is the age difference between the two masters or perhaps just where they are in their own development. Personally I would have liked to have seen the students of these 2 masters in action. I find that I can often learn, from watching karate students, just what is being emphasised.
This was a truly inspiring one for me. seeing how the two masters were in excellent shape and stressing relaxation, wait til the end to tighten on impact. This point has always been stressed to me in Isshinryu. You're smart opening yourself up to learn from these great masters and sharing it with us. Thank you for that! Not only hearing what they have to say, but watching them show you how it's done says everything! Remember, they've been doing way longer than you've been alive! Stay humble and you will grow leaps and bounds!
I am enjoying your series of videos training in Okinawa with Okinawan Masters. I studied in Okinawa for 8 years and offer my humble perspective from Seidokan Shorin Ryu and Motobu arts. "The One Point" and "moving the tanden in all three dimensions" are references to centered movement. The ability to transition effortlessly from and through stances fluidly is based upon a few things. 1) keeping the knees bent to a comfortable traveling level. 2) Weighting yourself over the ball of the foot, in all stances. Even when you have weight over the heels, the heels are not grounded, there is at least a sheet of paper width of air space between the heel and the ground with the ball of the foot suspending the body's weight. Else with the heel grounded you have a dead foot, and all mobility stops. This also stops effortless strength. With the weight distributed throughout all stance transitions through the balls of the feet, you can work up to paring the ankle and wrist joints. The point here is that each paired joint establishes a circumference where natural strength exists defined by the width of the lower pared body part. The wrists can move in that circumference well but extending outside of that circumference with the wrists is declining in one's natural strength potential. You are essentially giving your opponent a lever to capture if you extend beyond your body's structure. We have the sphere of control and outside of that is the sphere of influence. Next, we go to the next paired sent of lower and upper joints. The knees and the elbows. The same rules apply to them. Set by the distance of the knees the elbows can work inside that circumference with strength or lose strength when extending beyond that threshold. The same for the hips and shoulders. Maintaining these parameters will allow the 'one point' to move freely between the balls of the two feet balls. This structure allows for effortless power. If one does not extend beyond and lose power, centeredness can easily be achieved. So, to take this setup back to the video and your questions about what is moving the tanden in all three dimensions? Simply means floating your one point at the center of all of this balanced structure through stance transitions and the execution of outward movements. It is not extending beyond the sphere of control and create an imbalance whereas whipping motions executed draw the karateka into an uncentered position one needs to recover from. I hope this helps. I very much agree with Sensei about loosening up and being relaxed through your movements. My own Tamaie Sensei kept reminding me I am too tight through my movements, and he would often say about my punch, "(execution) relax, relax, relax, strong (contact)! (retraction) relax, relax, relax ...
XD haha awesome. Best dressing down I ever got was exactly like that: "movement looks beautiful! But completely useless!". We spent a week going back to embarrassingly basic drills - and it was the most useful instruction I have ever had. edit: tanden is the same as dantian 丹田 in Chinese martial arts, right? The center of balance of your body, so to speak, but not really the middle. When you can rotate your body freely around the "great field", all muscle-groups, all sinews, all of it is connected and under control. There's no displacement or unbalance as you move or use force, no hesitation or preparation in a movement; it's seamless. A good start is to do it like that, getting "relaxed power", like my teacher says. A guard-movement can be the same, to see the difference between a block and having unbroken power through an entire rotation movement. But then you have to practice for 60 years before it clicks :p
This brings back such wonderful memories of learning modern fencing from Maestro Danosi, a 75 year old Hungarian maestro many years ago. I had other maestros later over the years, but Maestro Danosi used to whip my shoulders (leaving welts) any time I did anything with tense muscles. These two senseis remind me so much of Maestro Danosi minus the whipping you, haha. Over the years I think newer fencing maestros stopped the practice of whipping you leaving welts any time you did anything wrong, but I think it's a very sensible and good technique because you can't see what you're doing wrongly. If a knee is out of place or an elbow sticking out or your shoulders tense or your thumb exposed or your foot in the wrong position you can be told it, but you can't see it. When the maestro whips you when you're out of form or technique, you immediately feel it and can immediately start correcting it. I think the reason you felt so frustrated was they were telling you good advice and telling you what was wrong, but you just can't see it when you're doing it. They should consider holding bamboo rods or the like and hitting you where they want you to be fixed. I think that would make it less frustrating :)
Just learning Karate recently (since June of 2021) and am only a purple belt level 0. My dojo practices Hayashi Ha Shitoryu Kai Karate, and I'm not sure whether it is the same as this or very similar, but we are taught to make sure everything is put into that one moment of power with a block or attack, and then everything is loose again. I don't have the flow of these masters, nor Yusuke, but it gives me a direction and a goal to strive toward every day seeing where I can improve in my Karate journey. Thank you for all the videos and the work you put in to helping all of us!
The center line is vital and this is the old style of 'this is they key, go away, train, then come back'. Now it is more 'pay pay'. This is exactly what good Chinese teachers do to. That old skilled generation was incredible.
Sensei, by your curiosity you are bringing a new perspective to the martial arts. A severely needed Renaissance!!! Texas Shito-Ryu. All respect to your journey and bringing us along. 🙏
theres a lot of archaic descriptions for concepts in martial arts. but the best description Ive ever heard for "one point" is the center of balance...or rather the focus point of balance and how it shifts with every micro degree of movement as you do...literally anything. thats why its such a pain to learn to be aware of, and then use it for your benefit
Don’t feel bad, this is exactly what it is like to learn from people with that much experience! They are completely natural and make it look easy , but they are doing a more advanced internal art which requires much more time to become “natural”
Yusuke-san, this is like every lesson for me,but after every one I feel the benefit of learning. I feel what you are experiencing, everytime I feel I am relaxed, somebody will tell me to "relax!". I hope you will take these lessons back into your karate :)
I’m not a karateka, but I have studied various martial arts for ~30 years. If I may, I believe the last point the Sensei made is with reference to your dantien or center. The center moves forward and all movement of your limbs revolves around that. If one is both loose and balanced, you can move in ways that seem illogical to your opponent as power can be delivered from any angle with speed. When you are stiff you work against yourself with antagonistic muscle and slow yourself down. This will also create double weightedness in root. You go from a root that is difficult to nail down/ find to a stiff object that can be uprooted and broken from anywhere contact is made. Just a thought. Great video, thanks for sharing!
I believe Sensei was saying that the Tanden point (center of gravity) must not be restricted by constricting the stomach as you execute the move.......it should be like a water bag, which bounces freely in the direction it is flung. So in other words, the more relaxed you keep the tanden center, the more that center of gravity can 'bounce', thus resulting in flexibility of movement and power. But the more rigid one is, takes time to keep flowing into the next movement like the Senseis were showing. Easier said then done, but you are at the right age! Thanks for a wonderful video!
The principles here remind me wing-Chun. Gaining speed through relaxation, focusing on balance, focusing on center of gravity, stiffness comes just when you hit etc.
To see these old masters move so gracefully and yet powerfully efficient is something else. They seem to have so integrated these precise movements of Kihon into something so natural, so human and so smoothly beautiful. Please convey my deepest respect to both gentlemen, and please accept my respect for your courage and perseverance in this journey you are on. #MyDeepestBowToYouAll.
in muay thai we keep the fist open on punches until the very end in order to help with that relaxed feeling. you move faster and more fluid when relaxed so you train to only stiffen the body when needed in bursts. if you just hold your fist out and open and close it and slowly raise your arm, once open, once closed, you can feel the huge difference in tension and how it effects movement. they were asking you to reproduce that same kind of thing along your whole body, which looks super difficult to do along with the stance you had to be in, not even to mention the added pressure
I'm Patrick from Malaysia🇲🇾 and I'm currently working in Japan. I started Karate since I was 13 and I'm mainly specializing in Shito ryu. Indeed, relaxation is the hardest part in Karate no matter what style we are. Our body will get even stiffer when we tend to be relax. In my opinion about the one point tanden, what i can think about is the theory of the den den daikoでんでん太鼓. We keep the stick up straight (body) by holding the stick with our finger(tanden) and spin it forward and backward. It takes very long time for our body to get use to it so it's normal we can't master it in short period. All we can do is set our own goal and keep practicing. And thanks for sharing all of these video, I've learned even more about Karate with all of your video.
Those wizened gentlemen are giving you pure gold. However, it will still take years to understand and assimilate what they are talking about into your daily practice if that’s the road you wish to take. Using the tanden (center), vertical axis and complete relaxation to override normal movements are the keys to a different system of movement and the real core that has been passed down. Please take heart in the fact that no one gets it in one lesson…not even those teachers. They were just being bluntly honest. It will take time, practice and insight to unlock what was freely given as its considered to be hidden in plain sight. I love your work ethic and curiosity, btw. Cheers.
The fate of many Shotokan practitioners when trying the one or other Okinawan style... I once started with Shotokan myself back in 1998. In late 2005/ early 2006 my Sensei became student of an Okinawan Master and the majority of students (I was one of them) followed. Now after this session you can relate to the struggle we as now ex-Shotokan practitioners had to learn the new stuff and get rid of the Shotokan habits. About weight distribution: that is one of the aspects why Shotokan people struggle with this. In Shotokan you have a weight distribution of 80% back leg, or even 90 % and the rest on the front leg. If you change this to 50 : 50, it will be much easier.
Tanden. Really important. I studied aikido and some daito Ryu jujitsu. Basically you want to “relax” or soften your limbs and use your tanden or center to move your arms and legs. It’s a long arduous process to stop using muscles and use more facial tissue with tanden. I highly recommend to google Dan harden and come to one of his seminars. He is a a guy that studied Japanese martial arts that found a way to train the tanden in a easier (but still hard manner). Also check out chris Li’s aikido sangenkai blog on internal power.
About moving your tanden- think of a ball in your hara, lower stomach. Attach a single point on that ball. Move THAT point up, down, left, right or diagonal. Doing this will influence your hip AND spine movement, spine in a small way comparatively. AFTER you get comfortable with that, add a second point on the complete opposite side of the first. Now your tandem will move equally on both sides. So when you do a gyakuzuki, you don’t just cut into the front hip, or push the back hip forward, but you do both at the same time.
In a world where theatrical and hyper athletic martial arts drills (some more valid than others) are promoted alongside the continuous trolling by internet experts; it is refreshing to see such an authentic and highly useful method (though subtle and difficult to grasp) being demonstrated. Thank you for sharing this, many can benefit tremendously from this crucial lesson.
This makes so much sense and is in line with very experienced boxing coaches saying "you should move like youre walking around in your livingroom." Thomas Yankello says something very similar about footwork.
Hey,can you make a video about kyokushin karate style? I'm from kyokushin karate and I'd really like to see you discuss or even visit a kyokushin karate sensei like you did in this video
If "tanden" is the same as "dantien", I think he is saying that with a relaxed body (and from practicing these drills), you'll be able to easily move yourself, from your center of gravity (tanden), to whatever position you like or need. He did not say the following, but I think how your opponent's energy is coming at you will determine your need. The idea is that your body will be responsive, balanced and strong, without the mind affecting your movement and without the stopping caused by the shaping of forms slowing you down.
I learned so much from this video I've been doing martial arts for over 30 years And that was a different kind of relaxation It was really good It's so good to see how much as a martial artist you have to learn.👍🏾👌🏾🥋👍🏾 Martial arts is really alive journey.🤔
I recommend practicing taiji with paul mcyntire back in tokyo. Kanazawa sensei said in an interview I read a while back that taiji (tai chi) taught him alot about how to move. That was one thing that made me want to study it. After doing shito ryu for 20 years, I started studying HME taiji and it’s made my karate 100x better. You will be able to relax the way they are asking you to in 3-6 years, rather than 10 or 20.
Bout to say the same. Much of the "hard" style arts can benefit from Tai Chi practice. It helps to unlock flow states of both body and mind while effectively keeping it's techniques shadowed by a rigid adherence to slow, fluid, precise movement.
So want to study Heaven Man Earth Taijiquan. Sifu Adam Mizner is inspiring with his internal skills with Jin expressions. Do you think the online discover Tai Chi classes of his are sufficient for relaxation and health? Or the two partner practices are essential for relaxation and health as well, not just the martial skills?
@@greg6509 I was fortunate to start my studies with a disciple of Adam’s in person, but the discover taiji course will get you the skills if you train diligently and sincerely. the solo training is the most important, so it’s not a huge issue if you don’t have a training partner, but there’s an online community on facebook through which you may find a practitioner in your area to train with, as well as get feedback on technique and ask questions. some of the senior students do zoom lessons which is a great benefit.
@@nathanpflughoeft1126 Thanks Nathan! One thing I can't find anywhere. Who were Adam's teachers in Master Huang methods? And also where did his old Yang Shahou style (I know probably not in the online course) come from? I'm debating on whether to join his course it Liang Dehua's taijiacademy online first. I really want both but realize I may not have that amount of time to practice two systems 😂
@@greg6509 adam got the yang shou hou stuff from a few different lineage holders and unified the system. I’m not sure where exactly he got all the huang stuff from but I know he studied with mark rasmus for some time, but I think he had another teacher from huang lineage but I’m not sure who.
Well, I´m no expert..But once upon a time I had to react instantly where I was working as a security guard..I was turning toward the door through which a loud drunk had pretented to exit, just in time to see a fist preparing to hit me. The reaction, block and slap was from position of almost total relaxation and yet the security camera put the the whole reaction betwteen frames at 25 frames per second...Since then I´ve tried to incorporate this into my training, :The idea of almost moving (or seeking to move) at the "speed of the idea" from A To B. as a kind of snapping of the whole body or rather mind/body from the center of gravity....
I think where the struggle is for you, when we do Kata we have to show emphasis on the power in the end of a movement with a pause. so this is in our muscle memory. So we have that stop and go built in into our training, where if used in a fight it needs to be relaxed for speed and the power then quickly back to relaxed and fluid. The movement is all derived from the center and hips so it must be relaxed to move effectively and anchored only when striking, same with the shoulders and arms only firm at the end of the strike. At the same time we learn these things in pieces, to help us understand when and were to use the power, then we have to learn how to make it fluid. I think it is wonderful you are getting to have this experience even though it is a little frustrating now, this is a vital piece in your continued journey to make you as efficient as possible if you ever need to use your skills. As fast as you are, you can be faster with less effort. This appears to be what they are trying to convey to you.
Thank you for sharing your video. I have been watching the last two about these great two masters with you showing the right power remaining relax and moving without any stiffness or form. I was finding this extremely insightful. I practice and teach Iwama Aikido (you may be view my RUclips channel by clicking on my icon picture) and what they spoke about is very much about what we are looking for when we practice Aikido. I find this extremely interesting to know that at high level, there is this kind of research in Karate as well as Aikido. Fascinating and by the way, you have been practicing and showing really beautiful Karate and I admire your enthusiasm and passion. You are definitely following Kaizen approach (like I do too), which is the best way to push yourself forward. The negative feelings you felt are putting you on another new level to make your Karate even better, I would rejoice this discovery and the fact that you felt like a beginner is actually one of the best feelings you can get when you desire to learn! Carry on and you will be getting much stronger! Thank you for doing this and making us see your journey with Karate! Domo Alligator Gozaimashita.
So, I currently train aikido. In aikido, much like Shogen-ryu, there's a heavy emphasis on moving from a "relaxed" muscular state. I'm nine years into my aikido training and I still struggle with it from time to time. It was also a very tough transition for me at first, as my prior art was Hung Gar kung fu, which shares some similarity in movement principles to Shotokan (at least when it comes to the beginner to mid levels of training). You might also want to check Jesse Encamp's channel; some time back he had a guest on the channel talking about how "relax" is sometimes a misleading description of what needs to be done. He suggested thinking of it at "releasing" strength, letting go of your external strength being a driver of your movement. Two ideas, if you genuinely want to pursue relaxed body movements (without having to relocate to train in Shogen-ryu fulltime): 1. Practice just the footwork exercises, without involving your hands or kicking. I think the typical snappiness of your Shotokan training is throwing you off. Once you get very comfortable moving your feet in a free flowing manner (without stopping at any given position), then try to work your hands back into it. 2. Enroll in a completely different art that emphasizes relaxed body movements (do so as supplementary training), then try Shogen-ryu again after a couple years (leave the camera crew at home). Aikido or Daito-ryu would be my top suggestions for this (I'm biased, of course). Both are different enough from karate that it would probably be easier to settle into a beginner mindset.
In the internal martial arts like taichi, xingyi and bagua, the tendan moves like a ball and all the 4 points ie 2 points at shoulders and 2 points hips/legs intersection are in sync (opening and closing). The center of mass moves the body and hands.
kihon is itself advanced training. It looks simple but there's a lot going on; relaxation is the key, both in your movement and in mushin. The tanden is your body's absolute center of gravity; it's the point through which all your energy flows, so you don't need to focus on moving your whole body, just that one point. When you advance, your tanden is moving in a straight line, and not bouncing around. That's not because you can't change levels (remember, your relaxation lets you react immediately to your environment), but because you are in complete control of your movement. This is practiced with every kihon, which is done every day, for decades.
I don't do martial arts but I can understand how nerve-wracking that must have been having them double teaming you with the critiques. Even still, as a fan of dancing, figure skating, etc. I saw immediately what they meant. Back in the old days of figure skating they would let people glide, jump, stop, do another element, stop, glide again, stop, jump and it was fine. Nowadays, you get penalized if you're not flowing the whole time. You can't take a breather. One element has to go into the other element or they think your skating skills aren't good. I'm not being racist when I saw your country has had the best skaters for a long time. You can watch any one of the young but seasoned guys, Shoma Uno, Yuzuru Hanyu etc. They're all super graceful and don't stop moving. When the sensei with the beard was showing you how, I immediately saw him gliding and that's what made me think of skating. The whole thing needs to be one fluid movement with no pausing or shifting your weight. That's why the centering your gravity thing is so important I think. I used to try to do yoga and align my chakras and all that. You have to get grounded. Like literally. So if you're meditating you have to sit so that you're balanced as if there is a string pulling you straight up and straight down, right through the middle, as if you're head was being pulled up by the middle of your scalp and your body was being pulled down through your perineum to the floor. I know that's sort of gross. But you're kind of sitting back on your foot and that's what they were complaining about. See right here 3:56. You look like you're about to sit. The sensei looks like he's about to spring forward. You can draw a straight line from his head through to his knee and back foot. You're making an angle. That angle is because you're stopping. Putting weight on your heel makes you stop. You shouldn't be putting your weight anywhere I don't think. You have to flow from one move to the next.
We all have to learn to be more relax in our karate. i find this very interesting and something I am going to look into further to practice more and hopefully be able to teach others as well.
The same thing happened to me. I went from shotokan to traditional Goju ryu and that was the first and most difficult for me. I'm still trying to improve that but little by little the mountain is climbing. Thanks for your work.
Yusuke San - when i see your karate i think wow i could stand to re-learn your crispness and speed. I wonder just a thought - if the mind set is different? Meaning that if to strive for the perfection of character is imbedded in the karate of mainland Japan, then the fluidity that the Okinawan karate of old still remains? It really doesn't take away from yours - it's just another element that was lost when it was transmitted to the mainland. You are still an inspiration Sir.
I recently became Shodan and one of the lessons taught was that of the Tanden. There are three of them but the one they’re referring to is the Seika Tanden. The one point in the three dimensional space is the very center of the Seika Tanden traversing in a straight line. This takes training and internal cultivation.
I don't know if this'll help, but one thing arts that emphasize being softer usually do is encourage you to just get used going through a technique's whole range of motion and giving a quick "snap" at the end. Loosening up in the shoulders help, also just a little in the hips. And this is from someone whose second officially learned art after Shorin Ryu was Tai Chi Chuan. What it really is is just losing a bit of tension and letting you mass "sag" or sink down relaxed without breaking your structure and moving your body in sequence. Body starts loose and moves loose, snaps into being solid on impact for a split snap of a second, then goes back to being loose. About the Tanden, my theory, apart from the Goju-type theory of using breathing to build a rhythm of hard and soft, the Tanden is really the center of your body mass. A major idea in Southern Chinese and Okinawan martial arts is moving through your body's center of mass in order to translate more of your body's momentum into a technique.
Shoto-kan is generally stiffer than other Karate styles and because of that it became popular in Japan because Japanese people in general are traditionally strict,very disciplined and formal in every action they do especially in martial arts training.
Relaxed is efficiency of movement. Tight muscles consume precious energy. A more centered balance means that you are able to respond more quickly to an attack. It is difficult to go from a static form to fluid one, but a it is a necessary one. I mess that up all the time.
Wow! Their practice is almost identical to some Southern gongfu styles like Southern Crane (Yong Quan White Crane, Calling Crane), Song Tai Zu Quan, et. al. There are qigong, neigong (气功， 内功）exercises to help develop it, but what the masters said is true, it takes years to develop, especially if you come from a more hard, external style. I came from American Kenpo and after 20 years of training my Chinese shifu still says I am too hard and not using my dantian （丹田）correctly, well---actually he says I am using it differently. Chen Tai Ji Quan, or at least Feng Zhi Qiang's lineage of Chen Tai Ji Quan, also has some good exercises on moving the dantian in three planes of motion. The method allows you to generate force from your center, rather than emphasizing the back, chest and arm muscles the way most external styles do.
8:57, Im guessing that what they meant is that your center of gravity needs to be able to flow, so that your center of gravity can move to its optimal point, making you hit harder. For example, a pinch might not be as powerful if you doesn't moves your hip because your weight is stagnant, but if you move your hip, it becomes a lot more powerful because you allowed your center of gravity to flow into it's optimal point. Just a guess
I have trained with both Tamaki Sensei and Tokashiki Sensei and we reviewed this concept of moving the tandem in a 3 dimensional space. The way they explained it was to think about a figure 8. Your spine is the center and your hip bones are the circles on either end. As you move you imagine a tea cup on both ends. No matter what direction you move the tea cup remains level so nothing is spilled. In this variant of Shogen Ryu (Matsubayashi Ryu) the goal is to always maintain your center. Your center (tandem) moves first and your feet then move to keep up with your center rather than the other way around. If you move this way your center effectively never stops moving and you can have smooth uninterrupted technique while always maintaining your balance. I think this was the correction they were trying to give.
I think this became clear for me when they said "be like water". Being loose and relaxed probably means we can adapt better to what's in front of us, being rigid and stiff sort of works for when we're in a specific stance but it may not work for moving itself. Naturally the human body stiffens up, maybe because that's an easier way to get stability. It seems that this style has a different approach which is not natural to the body so it'll take time to make it natural.
That point about the tanden may become more intuitive if understood in the same way that, say, a Taijiquan practitioner might think about the movements of the hips and waist. I'm not equipped to give the full story on this, but a friend of mine trained in Taijiquan has taught me a little bit in exchange for some Karate training, along these lines: the pelvis basically leads and the rest of body follows suit, with no resistance. Full relaxation. The pelvis leads and moves in a relatively autonomous 3-dimensional space, and wherever the pelvis goes, the rest of the body receives that motion and offers no resistance to its directional influence, going right along with it. As an exercise, imagine that the rest of the body doesn't exist, and imagine the rough area of the tanden as the "point" that moves. Practice moving the "point" in different directions: forward and backward, up and down--even circles: sinking and rising in a circular loop, or circling around in a horizontal loop. Then after doing that for a while, take your limbs through movements slowly and continuously, and imagine that your limbs are being moved by something other than your muscles--my friend had me imagine a sort of balloon of negative space between my core/tanden and my limbs. The point is still to have the pelvis/tanden/center of gravity be the centerpiece of all your movements, while the limbs follow its directional influence. (e.g.: if you roll the pelvis forward, your body and hands should also roll forward--if your pelvis sinks, moves toward the rear, rises, and then moves forward to complete a loop and end up where it started, your body and hands should follow along with the course that the pelvis takes. It was much easier to grasp, IMO, with someone physically there to show me what it looks like. Explaining with descriptive language feels somewhat difficult. A different point: I don't know if your training involved learning the habit of differentiating "shomen" from "hanmi" for the hip movement in different techniques (my limited exposure to Shotokan over a handful of years involved something like that), but when it came to trying to become less rigid/more "balanced", I realized that I had to unlearn (or at least compartmentalize) that tendency to favor "shomen" and "hanmi" for particular techniques, or for particular phases of a technique. And then I had to learn to treat them as exemplary moments in the free movement of the hips and body. A rhythm of movement less defined by what these sensei call the "one-two" timing will then become perceptible. Everything then flows like a wave. Think about that specific kind of movement that the hip does for the "returning wave" kick in Tekki/Naihanchi. Most people I know who really hone that kick develop something that cannot be called anything but a "wave-like" motion (hence the name). The deeper secret of that principle of movement is that it can be applied practically anywhere else once you've really got it. The slightly unorthodox experience of being a Matsubayashi-ryu practitioner in the midst of a lot of Shotokan people has made for some very interesting lessons in body dynamics.
If I ignore the back and forth I notice how far back your wieght is compared to the masters. Standing on your back leg was mentioned, vs being centered. Years ago I used a balance board for snowboarding and wakeboarding. I soon realized it helps martial arts as well. Maybe it will help someone here. Finds your center real quick or you fall down. Along with hands on hips stance switch practice. Love that you can get the old masters onto RUclips thank you so much! Karate isn't my style anymore. But from Korea to Thailand many RUclips videos are showing common ways to kick and block and I take away tips that I can use from them all.
To be honest, I was never able to truely learn this concept through the martial arts. What did help me learn this was partner dancing (particularly swing dancing), it was all about using your center to connect with your partner and yourself. This concept is very hard to teach by words alone, it needs to be felt.
I have something to add there. Hard to try in a comment section but essentially what he meant with the 3D comment is that you have to imagine your Hara, center, as a point in space. Floating. You move your center freely everywhere and with every little movement you simply imagine that only that center point is moving. Not you. When you concentrate in moving your center freely in space you forget the shoulders, hip and arms and everything moves as one. I could give you more details on it but I know what he is talking about because this is something I learned in Aikido from 9th Dan sensei Mifune (not to be confused with the Judo sensei Mifune). After years practicing I manage to learn how to move like that ecen when kneeling.
Answering your last quesion: It is a different kind of relaxation. What the master shows is more like how to be fluid and not just only 'relax'. It looks like some silat style (the one that Guru Cecep Rahman teaches)
What are your thoughts on the last point mentioned by the sensei?
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to be able to move in any direction freely :3
It's an interesting idea.
I understand it as the point of your tanden is your "centre", instead of your head being the centre which we would often think. This centre point floats and moves freely. Your centre line sits on top of it like the mast of a sail boat, while your limbs act to accomodate this and interact with the environment.
Both my HEMA group and my karate class (Matsubayashi Ryu) sometimes try to use simiar concepts...
Imagine a remote controlled drone with a camera on top and little robotic arms and legs hanging off it - the drone is your tanden, the camera is your head. The drone (tanden) is the main part and its location is what is most important. The camera (head) is just a passenger which sits directly above the drone for balance, and the limbs just move to wherever they are needed for the drone to do its job wherever it is.
I think the real key here is that you are so experienced in shotokan that your conditioned reflexes are getting in your way a bit, so you have to "unlearn" some of your skills to learn a different way of doing things.
Really intersting videos. Thank you for sharing your ups and downs.
So to me, if you visualize the tanden as a 1 dimensional point in 3D space (X,Y,Z axes), the sensei is saying you should focus on that one point and moving it freely in all 3 dimensions simultaneously. Instead of focusing on your kamae, which includes the structure of your frame and linear movement, by only focusing on that one point you will lead from that point and all the other parts will fall into place. It's a much different way of looking at karate, but very similar to Chinese arts. This probably takes decades to incorporate and it's harder if you've done a lot of kata competition because that trains you to be more rigid and "creating a form".
after more than 30 years of practice, I think I got to the point where I am begining to understand what sensei told you. the last couple of years I come to the conclusion that I need to relax and move my center as I breath. I don't mind my feet or hands - if I move my center the right way everything will follow properly. so, I don't try to make a certain form, I try to relax, breath and move my center - the stance and the block/punch/kick/whatever will come naturaly. one blocks and attacks not with feet and fists, but from center. the center moves the limbs, so one should not focus on limbs but on center.
to summarise: relax and move the center as you breath. at least this is what I understood so far on my do... and I think it's pretty close to what sensei told you.
From what I understand the 3 directions would be (1) sinking down as the foot touches the ground for stability, (2) swinging in the direction of the movement and (3) whipping in the opposite direction. This kind of wiggling motion also allows you to begin the next movement right away: the end of a movement is the beginning of the next one. This would also make sense with his continuous walk. Great video by the way, it takes a lot of humility to put yourself out there 👍
That’s rough, two masters drilling you at the same time, throwing a ton of advanced concepts at you very quickly.
I agree.
Not that advanced,.hes.just doing what hes been taught, no Ju all Go.
"You're not even close to getting this" That is so brutal. At 47, I would have been so frustrated. Amazing work.
The fact that you were so upset shows great passion and respect for the art.
If you cried look at it as your eyes being cleared and reborn for a fresh look to the art.
You're making me feel upset and inspired at the same time
I started practicing Shotokan in 1978. Believe me, I too have almost cried. I like you Sensei I have tried other styles, this is the true key to unlocking your potential as a true practitioner of Karate. It is true that you only start to learn karate once you have obtained your Shodan. Keep going and learn to implement what you learn into what you already know.
I absolutely agree!
I was also told you don't start really learning karate until you're a black belt. And it's true. Part of it is what you start to realize. Not just what you can do.
@@popcornzbd So so true!
Amen
Class of '86
Looks like this concept can also be applied to all martial arts.
these guys have so much passion for their art i get what these guys are saying though sometimes karate teaches you to be rigid in your movements
No instructors who haven't reached the correct point - teach you rigidness that keeps you from attaining mastery. Watch the movements of Anderson Silva at his best - he was completely relaxed. Fighting is a dance. If you have not learned this - you need to. The Book of Five Rings lets you know this -
Second is the Water book. With water as the basis, the spirit becomes like water.
Water adopts the shape of its receptacle; it is sometimes a trickle and sometimes a wild
sea. Water has a clear blue color. By the clarity, things of Ichi school are shown in this
book.
If you master the principles of sword-fencing, when you freely beat one man, you
beat any man in the world. The spirit of defeating a man is the same for ten million men.
The strategist makes small things into big things, like building a great Buddha from a one
foot model. I cannot write in detail how this is done. The principle of strategy is having one
thing, to know ten thousand things. Things of Ichi school are written in this the Water
book.
Note he points directly to fighting being like water.
Hello Yusuke-sensei, thank you for the video.
I think what the sensei meant by moving the tanden in all three dimensions is that you mustn't lock your centre of gravity into one dimension of movement. For example, if you are sitting too hard on your back leg in your neko-ashi, then you cannot move forward or backwards freely, only up and down, so you lock into that dimension (or the y axis). If your centre of gravity is too far back or forward, then you lock yourself into moving in a linear way in that dimension (x axis), etc.
But I have never trained like this or heard this teaching, but from everything else the senseis said, this is at least a part of what I think Sensei meant by his comment.
I can't thank you enough for sharing this.
As someone very new to karate (testing for green belt soon) It's very reassuring to see that the growth and understanding in karate is an ongoing process.
While I may get down on myself because my understanding and knowledge of karate is still only that of a beginner, I can see through the videos you share that the whole idea behind karate is to always have the mindset of a beginner. We must remember to keep an open mind for learning and seeking out the wealth of knowledge that has accumulated in the centuries of practice and study of karate.
Your willingness to let us see that even as a sensei you still sometimes struggle to comprehend and master the techniques of those who have a lifetime worth of experience, is a wonderful gift to your viewers.
Twice each week, my husband, myself, and our 6 year old daughter go to our dojo. Your videos in the Okinawa series have shown me how important it is to see that when my family comes to karate, we stand on the mat as equals. Even after we earn our black belts, we are still students who are indebted to learn as eagerly and respectfully as on the first day of training.
And even though our dojo is what some would call a "McDojo", that doesn't preclude seeking out more knowledge and having deep respect for the masters who have so much to teach us.
Thanks to you and your excellent videos, I can take the lesson for each week from my dojo and add to it with the knowledge I gain watching you in Okinawa.
A perfect example is this week's focus in my dojo being the back fist and reverse punches.
Watching the Matsubayashi Ryu (episode 2) video gave me real insight about how to practice and why the moves are done a specific way.
Watching your video on how to show respect in the dojo inspired me to put those tips to use. Even they aren't really necessary in the rules of my dojo, they are still a way to show my dedication and respect for karate.
Living in an area without a "real" dojo shouldn't stop me from learning and practicing karate with proper respect and dedication to principals.
With your videos, I am able to learn what the true masters in Okinawa would want me to know as a student of karate.
Please keep making these videos and showing us how to learn karate with our hearts and minds as well as our bodies.
what belt r u on now
I guess it's very hard to get relaxed when you're told to relax 😅😅
Don't look down... Looking down
Relax harder!
I kinda felt like a volcano back in those days
I'm sorry i couldn't tell my imstructor i wasn't made for this before he passed away with God
There’s a shogen ryu teacher a couple hours from me, I might look into cross training with him after I get my shodan. Look at how detailed and precise their basics are!
Well, what they are teaching in this video is so important everything else you do flows from the stance transitions. In Okinawan Karate we practice basics until we CANNOT screw it up anymore, because we just automatically do it correctly.
Thank you so much Mr. Nagano for putting this out for the rest of karate world to see. These Okinawan masters are jewels of our art and it won't be long before they pass to the other side. It is great that you documented little of their valuable teachings. As you indicated, these little tips and phrases they tell you will spark and haunt you, for many years to come. From my experience, I can tell you that tanden was an illusive thing for many decades. I heard it about it all through my training, but it was only recently that I actually felt the existence of it in my body. Like one of the senseis mentioned, it is a spot and you move it to direct the entire body, in 3D as he described. Some things can better be expressed in Japanese, "tanden no sonzai wa ishiki dake janaide, kanzen ni taiken suru koto ni narimasu."
The “one point” he was talking about is imagining your Tanden or center of gravity is like a ball and you are moving that ball as your whole body is surrounding it.Not arms and legs separate but the whole body as a unit. It’s a Tai chi, and Southern Mantis principle. Many of the principles they are showing are closely related to Southern Praying mantis Kung fu.
As a long time Tai chi practitioner right I knew immediately what they were talking about.. forward/back, left/right, up/down all revolve around the dan tian. I also agree with them that it takes decades to master. If you watch the older master, he is super relaxed, not trying to perform technique, but harmonizing his whole body. Our young guide must have patience.
This episode is fantastic! I practiced Shotokan for many years and then Tai Chi and other internal Chinese styles. This Shogen Ryu looks like it was what links it all and what I was looking for. Thank you for sharing your experience!
You are so humble and willing to learn, it makes theses videos so much more engaging… great work. It’s must have been hard to absorb some of that with two masters analyzing you.
I think what he meant by moving that "one point" is like levitating your centre point or centre axis of your body. It's like not thinking about your shoulders,arms or legs but simply flowing as if your levitating. This video just spoke to me emotionally because I cried when I thought I knew but I did not know
6:03 I was reminded of the American sensi, Rick Hotton, who speaks often about "relaxed heaviness" and "whippy action." His karate is beautiful and very powerful.
I remember my early martial arts journey with my Sensei telling me to relax. “I am relaxed!” I would say. Another 10 years and I realised how stiff I actually was. Then I trained with masters and it was like I was a beginner all over again. This clip brought all those memories flooding back. The maintenance of centre so that at any stage in the movement you are grounded but not static is hideously difficult to master (I don’t profess mastery). Relaxation is a top to bottom process: learning to relax the neck and shoulders, then the chest, down to the hips and legs is so hard. My sensei described it as having having your centre high in your chest when you’re tense, which means your whole balance is off. As you learn to relax more so that centre moves lower and lower. Sounds so easy but is so hard in practice. It just shows that the black belt is still only something that keeps your trousers up 😊
That was a engaging experience. I’m surprised that they didn’t get much into breathing alongside with being relaxed until it’s needed.
in the okinawan style i practiced we actually had natural breathing and didn't even kiai. everything in shorin ryu is more natural. it could be the same for that style
I train in Ry Kyu Kobudo which also teaches the one point center of gravity moving in 3 dimensions. It is very difficult as I also come from a Shotokan background. After 6 years of Kobudo Ive barely scratched its surface but what I have learned of it, has vastly improved my overall Karate technique! I encourage you to continue training this concept. Excellent video! I look forward to the next!
Yusuke sensei,this is one of your best videos yet. If we train long enough under good instruction we encounter these "shock" moments over and over as we self correct in search of the correct action. Through this we never become satisfied, but also we are making progress even when we don't think so. Thanks for sharing!
Loved this... This was so interesting and so very respectful.
As a Kung Fu practitioner, I truly relate to that feeling! One of the worst things was when we had to practice a stick fighting form for hours after class at high speed and with many acrobatic movements. Everytime I made a mistake, there would be so much shouting and it happened many times a week until at one point I broke down crying because I really wanted to get it right. One would not get so emotional over such things unless one was truly passionate, which you truly are.
There is no way you can relax with two masters rushing to fix you at the same time 😁
''That one point in your Tanden moves freely in this 3 dimensional space'' its exactly how Koichi Tohei descibes One Point in the lower abdomen ("seika no itten")and how you move using this.Its the same principle.Thats amazing.You must search about Koichi Tohei's book (Ki in daily life)and his teachings you will find so many similarities that its ''scary'' haha.Thank you so much for your videos!!!!
aaa i was looking forward to this so much
Asking someone to relax in the way they want is like saying; step 1: achieve enlightenment. It takes a very long time, especially for someone that practices externally. In regard to moving the tanden in a 3 dimensional space, I took it to mean moving your centre of balance at will, which is a very advanced concept
(I think) It basically means to let your movements flow from one to the other. As if walking, your centre (tanden) is stable, yet moving freely without the rest of the body taking up a specific "shape". Intention of technique is the function, not the form. You can see the instructors perform it slightly differently, yet bearing the same principles. We've a similar concept in Ashihara Karate, though explained differently.
OSU!
Good observation & great point about the instructors performing it slightly differently. One could logically reason it is the age difference between the two masters or perhaps just where they are in their own development.
Personally I would have liked to have seen the students of these 2 masters in action. I find that I can often learn, from watching karate students, just what is being emphasised.
This was a truly inspiring one for me. seeing how the two masters were in excellent shape and stressing relaxation, wait til the end to tighten on impact. This point has always been stressed to me in Isshinryu. You're smart opening yourself up to learn from these great masters and sharing it with us. Thank you for that! Not only hearing what they have to say, but watching them show you how it's done says everything! Remember, they've been doing way longer than you've been alive! Stay humble and you will grow leaps and bounds!
I am enjoying your series of videos training in Okinawa with Okinawan Masters. I studied in Okinawa for 8 years and offer my humble perspective from Seidokan Shorin Ryu and Motobu arts. "The One Point" and "moving the tanden in all three dimensions" are references to centered movement. The ability to transition effortlessly from and through stances fluidly is based upon a few things. 1) keeping the knees bent to a comfortable traveling level. 2) Weighting yourself over the ball of the foot, in all stances. Even when you have weight over the heels, the heels are not grounded, there is at least a sheet of paper width of air space between the heel and the ground with the ball of the foot suspending the body's weight. Else with the heel grounded you have a dead foot, and all mobility stops. This also stops effortless strength. With the weight distributed throughout all stance transitions through the balls of the feet, you can work up to paring the ankle and wrist joints. The point here is that each paired joint establishes a circumference where natural strength exists defined by the width of the lower pared body part. The wrists can move in that circumference well but extending outside of that circumference with the wrists is declining in one's natural strength potential. You are essentially giving your opponent a lever to capture if you extend beyond your body's structure. We have the sphere of control and outside of that is the sphere of influence. Next, we go to the next paired sent of lower and upper joints. The knees and the elbows. The same rules apply to them. Set by the distance of the knees the elbows can work inside that circumference with strength or lose strength when extending beyond that threshold. The same for the hips and shoulders. Maintaining these parameters will allow the 'one point' to move freely between the balls of the two feet balls. This structure allows for effortless power. If one does not extend beyond and lose power, centeredness can easily be achieved. So, to take this setup back to the video and your questions about what is moving the tanden in all three dimensions? Simply means floating your one point at the center of all of this balanced structure through stance transitions and the execution of outward movements. It is not extending beyond the sphere of control and create an imbalance whereas whipping motions executed draw the karateka into an uncentered position one needs to recover from. I hope this helps. I very much agree with Sensei about loosening up and being relaxed through your movements. My own Tamaie Sensei kept reminding me I am too tight through my movements, and he would often say about my punch, "(execution) relax, relax, relax, strong (contact)! (retraction) relax, relax, relax ...
I think this style is not compatible with Shotokan. Grounding is one of the key principles of Shotokan.
XD haha awesome. Best dressing down I ever got was exactly like that: "movement looks beautiful! But completely useless!". We spent a week going back to embarrassingly basic drills - and it was the most useful instruction I have ever had.
edit: tanden is the same as dantian 丹田 in Chinese martial arts, right? The center of balance of your body, so to speak, but not really the middle. When you can rotate your body freely around the "great field", all muscle-groups, all sinews, all of it is connected and under control. There's no displacement or unbalance as you move or use force, no hesitation or preparation in a movement; it's seamless. A good start is to do it like that, getting "relaxed power", like my teacher says. A guard-movement can be the same, to see the difference between a block and having unbroken power through an entire rotation movement.
But then you have to practice for 60 years before it clicks :p
This brings back such wonderful memories of learning modern fencing from Maestro Danosi, a 75 year old Hungarian maestro many years ago. I had other maestros later over the years, but Maestro Danosi used to whip my shoulders (leaving welts) any time I did anything with tense muscles. These two senseis remind me so much of Maestro Danosi minus the whipping you, haha. Over the years I think newer fencing maestros stopped the practice of whipping you leaving welts any time you did anything wrong, but I think it's a very sensible and good technique because you can't see what you're doing wrongly. If a knee is out of place or an elbow sticking out or your shoulders tense or your thumb exposed or your foot in the wrong position you can be told it, but you can't see it. When the maestro whips you when you're out of form or technique, you immediately feel it and can immediately start correcting it. I think the reason you felt so frustrated was they were telling you good advice and telling you what was wrong, but you just can't see it when you're doing it. They should consider holding bamboo rods or the like and hitting you where they want you to be fixed. I think that would make it less frustrating :)
Just learning Karate recently (since June of 2021) and am only a purple belt level 0. My dojo practices Hayashi Ha Shitoryu Kai Karate, and I'm not sure whether it is the same as this or very similar, but we are taught to make sure everything is put into that one moment of power with a block or attack, and then everything is loose again. I don't have the flow of these masters, nor Yusuke, but it gives me a direction and a goal to strive toward every day seeing where I can improve in my Karate journey. Thank you for all the videos and the work you put in to helping all of us!
The center line is vital and this is the old style of 'this is they key, go away, train, then come back'. Now it is more 'pay pay'. This is exactly what good Chinese teachers do to. That old skilled generation was incredible.
Sensei, by your curiosity you are bringing a new perspective to the martial arts. A severely needed Renaissance!!! Texas Shito-Ryu. All respect to your journey and bringing us along. 🙏
theres a lot of archaic descriptions for concepts in martial arts. but the best description Ive ever heard for "one point" is the center of balance...or rather the focus point of balance and how it shifts with every micro degree of movement as you do...literally anything. thats why its such a pain to learn to be aware of, and then use it for your benefit
You can see how influential Chinese martial arts are on the Okinawan schools with this video.
Don’t feel bad, this is exactly what it is like to learn from people with that much experience! They are completely natural and make it look easy , but they are doing a more advanced internal art which requires much more time to become “natural”
Muy bien excelente conocimiento. Gracias
Yusuke-san, this is like every lesson for me,but after every one I feel the benefit of learning. I feel what you are experiencing, everytime I feel I am relaxed, somebody will tell me to "relax!". I hope you will take these lessons back into your karate :)
The senseis are superb! You are lucky got direct instruction from them.
PS: I think it would be cool if you would try the rare karate style of Shindo Jinen Ryu! 😎
I’m not a karateka, but I have studied various martial arts for ~30 years. If I may, I believe the last point the Sensei made is with reference to your dantien or center. The center moves forward and all movement of your limbs revolves around that. If one is both loose and balanced, you can move in ways that seem illogical to your opponent as power can be delivered from any angle with speed. When you are stiff you work against yourself with antagonistic muscle and slow yourself down. This will also create double weightedness in root. You go from a root that is difficult to nail down/ find to a stiff object that can be uprooted and broken from anywhere contact is made. Just a thought. Great video, thanks for sharing!
I believe Sensei was saying that the Tanden point (center of gravity) must not be restricted by constricting the stomach as you execute the move.......it should be like a water bag, which bounces freely in the direction it is flung. So in other words, the more relaxed you keep the tanden center, the more that center of gravity can 'bounce', thus resulting in flexibility of movement and power. But the more rigid one is, takes time to keep flowing into the next movement like the Senseis were showing. Easier said then done, but you are at the right age! Thanks for a wonderful video!
The principles here remind me wing-Chun. Gaining speed through relaxation, focusing on balance, focusing on center of gravity, stiffness comes just when you hit etc.
To see these old masters move so gracefully and yet powerfully efficient is something else. They seem to have so integrated these precise movements of Kihon into something so natural, so human and so smoothly beautiful.
Please convey my deepest respect to both gentlemen, and please accept my respect for your courage and perseverance in this journey you are on.
#MyDeepestBowToYouAll.
in muay thai we keep the fist open on punches until the very end in order to help with that relaxed feeling. you move faster and more fluid when relaxed so you train to only stiffen the body when needed in bursts. if you just hold your fist out and open and close it and slowly raise your arm, once open, once closed, you can feel the huge difference in tension and how it effects movement. they were asking you to reproduce that same kind of thing along your whole body, which looks super difficult to do along with the stance you had to be in, not even to mention the added pressure
Amongst the masters, amazing!
Your energy (tandem) must flow freely before, during and after your technique. It is the vibrancy and relaxation of execution.
I'm Patrick from Malaysia🇲🇾 and I'm currently working in Japan. I started Karate since I was 13 and I'm mainly specializing in Shito ryu. Indeed, relaxation is the hardest part in Karate no matter what style we are. Our body will get even stiffer when we tend to be relax. In my opinion about the one point tanden, what i can think about is the theory of the den den daikoでんでん太鼓. We keep the stick up straight (body) by holding the stick with our finger(tanden) and spin it forward and backward. It takes very long time for our body to get use to it so it's normal we can't master it in short period. All we can do is set our own goal and keep practicing. And thanks for sharing all of these video, I've learned even more about Karate with all of your video.
Those wizened gentlemen are giving you pure gold. However, it will still take years to understand and assimilate what they are talking about into your daily practice if that’s the road you wish to take. Using the tanden (center), vertical axis and complete relaxation to override normal movements are the keys to a different system of movement and the real core that has been passed down. Please take heart in the fact that no one gets it in one lesson…not even those teachers. They were just being bluntly honest. It will take time, practice and insight to unlock what was freely given as its considered to be hidden in plain sight. I love your work ethic and curiosity, btw. Cheers.
The fate of many Shotokan practitioners when trying the one or other Okinawan style... I once started with Shotokan myself back in 1998. In late 2005/ early 2006 my Sensei became student of an Okinawan Master and the majority of students (I was one of them) followed. Now after this session you can relate to the struggle we as now ex-Shotokan practitioners had to learn the new stuff and get rid of the Shotokan habits.
About weight distribution: that is one of the aspects why Shotokan people struggle with this. In Shotokan you have a weight distribution of 80% back leg, or even 90 % and the rest on the front leg. If you change this to 50 : 50, it will be much easier.
Tanden. Really important. I studied aikido and some daito Ryu jujitsu. Basically you want to “relax” or soften your limbs and use your tanden or center to move your arms and legs. It’s a long arduous process to stop using muscles and use more facial tissue with tanden. I highly recommend to google Dan harden and come to one of his seminars. He is a a guy that studied Japanese martial arts that found a way to train the tanden in a easier (but still hard manner). Also check out chris Li’s aikido sangenkai blog on internal power.
About moving your tanden- think of a ball in your hara, lower stomach. Attach a single point on that ball. Move THAT point up, down, left, right or diagonal. Doing this will influence your hip AND spine movement, spine in a small way comparatively.
AFTER you get comfortable with that, add a second point on the complete opposite side of the first. Now your tandem will move equally on both sides. So when you do a gyakuzuki, you don’t just cut into the front hip, or push the back hip forward, but you do both at the same time.
Excellent point; I learnt that about 20 years ago with Chi Kung but I forgot it. I will put back into practice. Thanks
In a world where theatrical and hyper athletic martial arts drills (some more valid than others) are promoted alongside the continuous trolling by internet experts; it is refreshing to see such an authentic and highly useful method (though subtle and difficult to grasp) being demonstrated. Thank you for sharing this, many can benefit tremendously from this crucial lesson.
"When you form something, it takes time to the next one"
I can see this principle everywhere now, but is still so hard to apply....
That was a fantastic lesson! THX ...! I love these clips!
This makes so much sense and is in line with very experienced boxing coaches saying "you should move like youre walking around in your livingroom." Thomas Yankello says something very similar about footwork.
Hey,can you make a video about kyokushin karate style? I'm from kyokushin karate and I'd really like to see you discuss or even visit a kyokushin karate sensei like you did in this video
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing this!
If "tanden" is the same as "dantien", I think he is saying that with a relaxed body (and from practicing these drills), you'll be able to easily move yourself, from your center of gravity (tanden), to whatever position you like or need. He did not say the following, but I think how your opponent's energy is coming at you will determine your need. The idea is that your body will be responsive, balanced and strong, without the mind affecting your movement and without the stopping caused by the shaping of forms slowing you down.
Glad to see you doing these kinds of videos. You're an inspiration!
I learned so much from this video I've been doing martial arts for over 30 years And that was a different kind of relaxation It was really good It's so good to see how much as a martial artist you have to learn.👍🏾👌🏾🥋👍🏾
Martial arts is really alive journey.🤔
I recommend practicing taiji with paul mcyntire back in tokyo. Kanazawa sensei said in an interview I read a while back that taiji (tai chi) taught him alot about how to move. That was one thing that made me want to study it. After doing shito ryu for 20 years, I started studying HME taiji and it’s made my karate 100x better. You will be able to relax the way they are asking you to in 3-6 years, rather than 10 or 20.
Bout to say the same. Much of the "hard" style arts can benefit from Tai Chi practice. It helps to unlock flow states of both body and mind while effectively keeping it's techniques shadowed by a rigid adherence to slow, fluid, precise movement.
So want to study Heaven Man Earth Taijiquan. Sifu Adam Mizner is inspiring with his internal skills with Jin expressions. Do you think the online discover Tai Chi classes of his are sufficient for relaxation and health? Or the two partner practices are essential for relaxation and health as well, not just the martial skills?
@@greg6509 I was fortunate to start my studies with a disciple of Adam’s in person, but the discover taiji course will get you the skills if you train diligently and sincerely. the solo training is the most important, so it’s not a huge issue if you don’t have a training partner, but there’s an online community on facebook through which you may find a practitioner in your area to train with, as well as get feedback on technique and ask questions. some of the senior students do zoom lessons which is a great benefit.
@@nathanpflughoeft1126 Thanks Nathan! One thing I can't find anywhere. Who were Adam's teachers in Master Huang methods? And also where did his old Yang Shahou style (I know probably not in the online course) come from? I'm debating on whether to join his course it Liang Dehua's taijiacademy online first. I really want both but realize I may not have that amount of time to practice two systems 😂
@@greg6509 adam got the yang shou hou stuff from a few different lineage holders and unified the system. I’m not sure where exactly he got all the huang stuff from but I know he studied with mark rasmus for some time, but I think he had another teacher from huang lineage but I’m not sure who.
Really good video, lots of great Information
Well, I´m no expert..But once upon a time I had to react instantly where I was working as a security guard..I was turning toward the door through which a loud drunk had pretented to exit, just in time to see a fist preparing to hit me. The reaction, block and slap was from position of almost total relaxation and yet the security camera put the the whole reaction betwteen frames at 25 frames per second...Since then I´ve tried to incorporate this into my training, :The idea of almost moving (or seeking to move) at the "speed of the idea" from A To B. as a kind of snapping of the whole body or rather mind/body from the center of gravity....
I think where the struggle is for you, when we do Kata we have to show emphasis on the power in the end of a movement with a pause. so this is in our muscle memory. So we have that stop and go built in into our training, where if used in a fight it needs to be relaxed for speed and the power then quickly back to relaxed and fluid. The movement is all derived from the center and hips so it must be relaxed to move effectively and anchored only when striking, same with the shoulders and arms only firm at the end of the strike. At the same time we learn these things in pieces, to help us understand when and were to use the power, then we have to learn how to make it fluid. I think it is wonderful you are getting to have this experience even though it is a little frustrating now, this is a vital piece in your continued journey to make you as efficient as possible if you ever need to use your skills. As fast as you are, you can be faster with less effort. This appears to be what they are trying to convey to you.
Thank you for sharing your video. I have been watching the last two about these great two masters with you showing the right power remaining relax and moving without any stiffness or form. I was finding this extremely insightful. I practice and teach Iwama Aikido (you may be view my RUclips channel by clicking on my icon picture) and what they spoke about is very much about what we are looking for when we practice Aikido. I find this extremely interesting to know that at high level, there is this kind of research in Karate as well as Aikido. Fascinating and by the way, you have been practicing and showing really beautiful Karate and I admire your enthusiasm and passion. You are definitely following Kaizen approach (like I do too), which is the best way to push yourself forward. The negative feelings you felt are putting you on another new level to make your Karate even better, I would rejoice this discovery and the fact that you felt like a beginner is actually one of the best feelings you can get when you desire to learn! Carry on and you will be getting much stronger! Thank you for doing this and making us see your journey with Karate! Domo Alligator Gozaimashita.
So, I currently train aikido. In aikido, much like Shogen-ryu, there's a heavy emphasis on moving from a "relaxed" muscular state. I'm nine years into my aikido training and I still struggle with it from time to time. It was also a very tough transition for me at first, as my prior art was Hung Gar kung fu, which shares some similarity in movement principles to Shotokan (at least when it comes to the beginner to mid levels of training).
You might also want to check Jesse Encamp's channel; some time back he had a guest on the channel talking about how "relax" is sometimes a misleading description of what needs to be done. He suggested thinking of it at "releasing" strength, letting go of your external strength being a driver of your movement.
Two ideas, if you genuinely want to pursue relaxed body movements (without having to relocate to train in Shogen-ryu fulltime):
1. Practice just the footwork exercises, without involving your hands or kicking. I think the typical snappiness of your Shotokan training is throwing you off. Once you get very comfortable moving your feet in a free flowing manner (without stopping at any given position), then try to work your hands back into it.
2. Enroll in a completely different art that emphasizes relaxed body movements (do so as supplementary training), then try Shogen-ryu again after a couple years (leave the camera crew at home). Aikido or Daito-ryu would be my top suggestions for this (I'm biased, of course). Both are different enough from karate that it would probably be easier to settle into a beginner mindset.
In the internal martial arts like taichi, xingyi and bagua, the tendan moves like a ball and all the 4 points ie 2 points at shoulders and 2 points hips/legs intersection are in sync (opening and closing). The center of mass moves the body and hands.
Ahhhhhh, the realization in our Okinawan way of karate!
kihon is itself advanced training. It looks simple but there's a lot going on; relaxation is the key, both in your movement and in mushin.
The tanden is your body's absolute center of gravity; it's the point through which all your energy flows, so you don't need to focus on moving your whole body, just that one point. When you advance, your tanden is moving in a straight line, and not bouncing around. That's not because you can't change levels (remember, your relaxation lets you react immediately to your environment), but because you are in complete control of your movement. This is practiced with every kihon, which is done every day, for decades.
I don't do martial arts but I can understand how nerve-wracking that must have been having them double teaming you with the critiques. Even still, as a fan of dancing, figure skating, etc. I saw immediately what they meant.
Back in the old days of figure skating they would let people glide, jump, stop, do another element, stop, glide again, stop, jump and it was fine. Nowadays, you get penalized if you're not flowing the whole time. You can't take a breather. One element has to go into the other element or they think your skating skills aren't good. I'm not being racist when I saw your country has had the best skaters for a long time. You can watch any one of the young but seasoned guys, Shoma Uno, Yuzuru Hanyu etc. They're all super graceful and don't stop moving. When the sensei with the beard was showing you how, I immediately saw him gliding and that's what made me think of skating. The whole thing needs to be one fluid movement with no pausing or shifting your weight. That's why the centering your gravity thing is so important I think. I used to try to do yoga and align my chakras and all that. You have to get grounded. Like literally. So if you're meditating you have to sit so that you're balanced as if there is a string pulling you straight up and straight down, right through the middle, as if you're head was being pulled up by the middle of your scalp and your body was being pulled down through your perineum to the floor. I know that's sort of gross. But you're kind of sitting back on your foot and that's what they were complaining about. See right here 3:56. You look like you're about to sit. The sensei looks like he's about to spring forward. You can draw a straight line from his head through to his knee and back foot. You're making an angle. That angle is because you're stopping. Putting weight on your heel makes you stop. You shouldn't be putting your weight anywhere I don't think. You have to flow from one move to the next.
Great comment! Thanks for your input
We all have to learn to be more relax in our karate. i find this very interesting and something I am going to look into further to practice more and hopefully be able to teach others as well.
The same thing happened to me. I went from shotokan to traditional Goju ryu and that was the first and most difficult for me. I'm still trying to improve that but little by little the mountain is climbing.
Thanks for your work.
Yusuke San - when i see your karate i think wow i could stand to re-learn your crispness and speed. I wonder just a thought - if the mind set is different? Meaning that if to strive for the perfection of character is imbedded in the karate of mainland Japan, then the fluidity that the Okinawan karate of old still remains? It really doesn't take away from yours - it's just another element that was lost when it was transmitted to the mainland. You are still an inspiration Sir.
This is fascinating stuff! :)
Moving one point with whole body moving in unity,,,,, great budo OSS
I recently became Shodan and one of the lessons taught was that of the Tanden.
There are three of them but the one they’re referring to is the Seika Tanden. The one point in the three dimensional space is the very center of the Seika Tanden traversing in a straight line.
This takes training and internal cultivation.
I don't know if this'll help, but one thing arts that emphasize being softer usually do is encourage you to just get used going through a technique's whole range of motion and giving a quick "snap" at the end. Loosening up in the shoulders help, also just a little in the hips. And this is from someone whose second officially learned art after Shorin Ryu was Tai Chi Chuan. What it really is is just losing a bit of tension and letting you mass "sag" or sink down relaxed without breaking your structure and moving your body in sequence. Body starts loose and moves loose, snaps into being solid on impact for a split snap of a second, then goes back to being loose. About the Tanden, my theory, apart from the Goju-type theory of using breathing to build a rhythm of hard and soft, the Tanden is really the center of your body mass. A major idea in Southern Chinese and Okinawan martial arts is moving through your body's center of mass in order to translate more of your body's momentum into a technique.
Shoto-kan is generally stiffer than other Karate styles and because of that it became popular in Japan because Japanese people in general are traditionally strict,very disciplined and formal in every action they do especially in martial arts training.
You are doing a great job Sensei it can be surprising when training in a different style of Karate 🇦🇺🥋
I love these drills and I’ve been doing them for years
You are more patient than me. Good job!
I had the same experience moving from Shotokan to Shorin Ryu- it humbled me and caused me to explore the Chinese origins as well…
Soon you become History's Strongest Disciple Yusuke.
Relaxed is efficiency of movement. Tight muscles consume precious energy. A more centered balance means that you are able to respond more quickly to an attack.
It is difficult to go from a static form to fluid one, but a it is a necessary one.
I mess that up all the time.
Wow! Their practice is almost identical to some Southern gongfu styles like Southern Crane (Yong Quan White Crane, Calling Crane), Song Tai Zu Quan, et. al. There are qigong, neigong (气功， 内功）exercises to help develop it, but what the masters said is true, it takes years to develop, especially if you come from a more hard, external style. I came from American Kenpo and after 20 years of training my Chinese shifu still says I am too hard and not using my dantian （丹田）correctly, well---actually he says I am using it differently. Chen Tai Ji Quan, or at least Feng Zhi Qiang's lineage of Chen Tai Ji Quan, also has some good exercises on moving the dantian in three planes of motion. The method allows you to generate force from your center, rather than emphasizing the back, chest and arm muscles the way most external styles do.
8:57, Im guessing that what they meant is that your center of gravity needs to be able to flow, so that your center of gravity can move to its optimal point, making you hit harder. For example, a pinch might not be as powerful if you doesn't moves your hip because your weight is stagnant, but if you move your hip, it becomes a lot more powerful because you allowed your center of gravity to flow into it's optimal point. Just a guess
The video was impressive. Thanks👍❤
I have trained with both Tamaki Sensei and Tokashiki Sensei and we reviewed this concept of moving the tandem in a 3 dimensional space. The way they explained it was to think about a figure 8. Your spine is the center and your hip bones are the circles on either end. As you move you imagine a tea cup on both ends. No matter what direction you move the tea cup remains level so nothing is spilled. In this variant of Shogen Ryu (Matsubayashi Ryu) the goal is to always maintain your center. Your center (tandem) moves first and your feet then move to keep up with your center rather than the other way around. If you move this way your center effectively never stops moving and you can have smooth uninterrupted technique while always maintaining your balance. I think this was the correction they were trying to give.
I think this became clear for me when they said "be like water". Being loose and relaxed probably means we can adapt better to what's in front of us, being rigid and stiff sort of works for when we're in a specific stance but it may not work for moving itself. Naturally the human body stiffens up, maybe because that's an easier way to get stability. It seems that this style has a different approach which is not natural to the body so it'll take time to make it natural.
Great video!
This was amazing, thank you
That point about the tanden may become more intuitive if understood in the same way that, say, a Taijiquan practitioner might think about the movements of the hips and waist.
I'm not equipped to give the full story on this, but a friend of mine trained in Taijiquan has taught me a little bit in exchange for some Karate training, along these lines: the pelvis basically leads and the rest of body follows suit, with no resistance. Full relaxation. The pelvis leads and moves in a relatively autonomous 3-dimensional space, and wherever the pelvis goes, the rest of the body receives that motion and offers no resistance to its directional influence, going right along with it. As an exercise, imagine that the rest of the body doesn't exist, and imagine the rough area of the tanden as the "point" that moves. Practice moving the "point" in different directions: forward and backward, up and down--even circles: sinking and rising in a circular loop, or circling around in a horizontal loop.
Then after doing that for a while, take your limbs through movements slowly and continuously, and imagine that your limbs are being moved by something other than your muscles--my friend had me imagine a sort of balloon of negative space between my core/tanden and my limbs. The point is still to have the pelvis/tanden/center of gravity be the centerpiece of all your movements, while the limbs follow its directional influence. (e.g.: if you roll the pelvis forward, your body and hands should also roll forward--if your pelvis sinks, moves toward the rear, rises, and then moves forward to complete a loop and end up where it started, your body and hands should follow along with the course that the pelvis takes.
It was much easier to grasp, IMO, with someone physically there to show me what it looks like. Explaining with descriptive language feels somewhat difficult.
A different point: I don't know if your training involved learning the habit of differentiating "shomen" from "hanmi" for the hip movement in different techniques (my limited exposure to Shotokan over a handful of years involved something like that), but when it came to trying to become less rigid/more "balanced", I realized that I had to unlearn (or at least compartmentalize) that tendency to favor "shomen" and "hanmi" for particular techniques, or for particular phases of a technique. And then I had to learn to treat them as exemplary moments in the free movement of the hips and body. A rhythm of movement less defined by what these sensei call the "one-two" timing will then become perceptible. Everything then flows like a wave.
Think about that specific kind of movement that the hip does for the "returning wave" kick in Tekki/Naihanchi. Most people I know who really hone that kick develop something that cannot be called anything but a "wave-like" motion (hence the name). The deeper secret of that principle of movement is that it can be applied practically anywhere else once you've really got it.
The slightly unorthodox experience of being a Matsubayashi-ryu practitioner in the midst of a lot of Shotokan people has made for some very interesting lessons in body dynamics.
Try Wado Ryu next, I think it’s very unique as I think it includes some techniques done on floor, seemingly inspired from jiujutsu.
If I ignore the back and forth I notice how far back your wieght is compared to the masters. Standing on your back leg was mentioned, vs being centered. Years ago I used a balance board for snowboarding and wakeboarding. I soon realized it helps martial arts as well. Maybe it will help someone here. Finds your center real quick or you fall down. Along with hands on hips stance switch practice. Love that you can get the old masters onto RUclips thank you so much! Karate isn't my style anymore. But from Korea to Thailand many RUclips videos are showing common ways to kick and block and I take away tips that I can use from them all.
To be honest, I was never able to truely learn this concept through the martial arts. What did help me learn this was partner dancing (particularly swing dancing), it was all about using your center to connect with your partner and yourself. This concept is very hard to teach by words alone, it needs to be felt.
I have something to add there. Hard to try in a comment section but essentially what he meant with the 3D comment is that you have to imagine your Hara, center, as a point in space. Floating. You move your center freely everywhere and with every little movement you simply imagine that only that center point is moving. Not you. When you concentrate in moving your center freely in space you forget the shoulders, hip and arms and everything moves as one. I could give you more details on it but I know what he is talking about because this is something I learned in Aikido from 9th Dan sensei Mifune (not to be confused with the Judo sensei Mifune). After years practicing I manage to learn how to move like that ecen when kneeling.
It looks tuff 🥋good job I got a few pointers out of this one ☝️ to work on my stability.
Answering your last quesion: It is a different kind of relaxation. What the master shows is more like how to be fluid and not just only 'relax'. It looks like some silat style (the one that Guru Cecep Rahman teaches)