Padwork. It’s the most simple but often satisfying part of Bushin training. On the whole I tend to find people are interested in basics and techniques, love sparring, and plod along with the other stuff. However, the pure mindless, Neanderthal approach to hitting pads what really seems to drive people on. Great for a work out, great for stress-relief and very satisfying.

Pads are actually an essential part of training for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it helps conditioning you to contact. It important to condition your wrist and knuckles when hitting. Hitting someone is a lot more painful than you think and if you’ve spent all your training hitting air, you can expect nothing less than a bust wrist and bruised knuckles.

Secondly, it helps you with power. Increasing it and controlling it. You need to be able to hit and hit hard at times…especially if your opponent is twice your size. When doing padwork, many make the mistake of slapping them. Its important to make sure you bang them. Hard. It should sound like a cannon firing not like you’re dusting their jacket. Padwork also helps you control your power so you can understand it better and know how much to use…especially when you are hitting certain weak points. It also improves your ki (internal energy) so you can explore your hidden power and be explosive.

Thirdly, reaction and speed. Reacting quickly to the pad holders commands or movements. The better the reactions the more chance you have of winning the fight. If the pad goes up, that’s your opponent dropping his guard so move in and capitalise. You need to move in fast and move back out fast again. React fast and move faster.

Stance, distancing, footwork. Keep your hands up at all times and return them back quickly after throwing the shots, especially the cross. Checking the guard is the best to make sure your doing this. You need to keep a good distance at all times as well. Follow the pad holder around and stick to them glue. Keep your heels up and light on your feet. Just because you are hitting hard don’t root yourself to the floor so you can’t escape. Be ready to attack and defend at all times.

Technique is really where its at. When you are finished getting all the aggression and tension out, you should actually settle down into a rhythm and start to improve your technique. Tighter hits, keeping your elbows in and throwing from the body and not the arms. Make sure you keep your structure and engage your gluts and traps. Shoulders relaxed and chin down. Work through simple combinations and build up. If its too complicated and your rhythm goes, then change the gear down to pick it up again. Usually 2 to 4 combos are the best. Anymore is not practical in fighting.

Holding the pads is just as important as hitting them. You need to make sure your elbows are in, you push back to provide more resistance (and save your wrists). Plus you need to hold them properly: in a proper fighting stance in close proximity to your face. You need to be clear with instructions and positions so you don’t break the hitters flow. You need to make it challenging: throwing in guard checks, tackles, kicks and moving all around. You are not a pad holder. You are their trainer, so keep them motivated, make them work hard and make them sweat.

Usually 10 mins is more than enough for a workout. However a good 20-30 mins with some technical work is a great way to improve your training dramatically. Try to keep doing it regularly otherwise you quickly lose your conditioning. Just remember, keep focused, don’t lose the pace and work hard…you will reap the benefits.

Happy New Year!

Akemshite Omedeto – Happy new year! Into 2012 and another fresh start. I hope you all have a great year! As usual we follow the Japanese celebration of kagami biraki (“opening the mirror ceremony”), where you reflect on the past year and enter a new period of your life to try and achieve a perfect self-reflection.

Have you set your new year resolutions? How did you do on the last ones? This was one of the toughest years of my life: family loss, debilitating injury, challenging economic times and constant personal challenges to overcome. My tantra of 2011 was “focus and stay strong”. I needed it a lot and it was exceptional useful. A couple of key phrases in fighting helps a lot. A couple of key phrases in life can be invaluable. I am reminded constantly how Bushin helps your everyday life…usually without you knowing it.

So how about 2012…what’s the tantra?

This year we are going to start using the Japanese word “osu” in the class. It is pronounced “uss” (although correctly would be pronounced “oss”). It’s a very traditional Japanese word, originally used in mainly karate and now widely used in BJJ and MMA. It’s originally thought to come from an abbreviation of the phrase ohayo gozaimasu (“good morning”) or onegaishimasu (“please”). It’s made up of two kanji (Japanese characters): osu, “to push”, and shinobu, “to endure”. i.e. it means persevering when pushed, or in other words never give up no matter how hard or arduous. The true inner strength and Bushin martial spirit.

Let’s kick off the year with renewed spirit and energy. We are back at it on Thurs 5^th Jan for some trademark turkey busting. Be there to start with a bang!

Sore dewa gambarimasho. Osu!

Dear all,

Thank you for your help and support in what has been a rollercoaster of a year. The club continues to grow in members and improve in standard, despite tough times. In my view, the highlights have been the acting performance at the Macmillan Charity demo and Jason & Aeron’s crash and bash blue stripe grading. I hope you have enjoyed the training and continue along the path.

Have a great Christmas break and hope you see in the New Year with a bang. Look forward to seeing you for the turkey bashing in January.

Best wishes of the season,

Cailey

We gave Isaac a good send off last week as he starts university on the south coast. Isaac started over a year ago with Bushin following a background in karate and others. His thirst for martial art knowledge was insatiable and continued to train in other styles, never short of a question or two. He recently graded to green belt, scoring highly on the sheet, and has been a consistent grade-on-grade improver. Although Isaac will be away for a few years getting to grips with uni life, there are plenty of quality martial art clubs to seek his teeth into. I trained for four years on the south coast and set up my own club when I was attending Southampton University. The club is still running to this day.

Cross-training, mixed martial arts and MMA are all the fad now. I remember when the concept was just starting to grow in the early to mid 1990s. In actual fact Bruce Lee pioneered and popularised it in the 1970s but it really wasn’t until cage fighting took off that martial artists really started to explore outwards. Most traditional styles are reluctant to “share” their students with other clubs and styles. This is especially strong in the Japanese styles which follow the tradition of “one style, one master”, where you are an apprentice to your master and it is deemed rude and disrespectful to train elsewhere. This was certainly the case when I learnt Shorinji Kempo in Japan. A short hop to the local karate club would have been a short hop out of the door.

However, nowadays it is seen to be far more acceptable. This is mainly because martial arts have progressed so dramatically over the last few decades and many teachers now realise that one style does not necessarily have all the answers, whether it’s technical or philosophical. I started cross-training half way through my martial career, branching out initially into Taekwondo, Wing Chun and Tai Chi. I found that I learnt more in few weeks that I had learnt in few years and my technique and application improved enormously. I also found that I appreciated my roots more because I could better understand the quality of a style and its instruction.

In Bushin I actively encourage cross-training. I still do it myself. It is not something to be ashamed of or kept secret. It should be embraced…after all most martial arts have similar aims and there are only so many ways you can be grabbed and be punched. Ultimately we all want to be better people, fight better, learn skills, get fit and sweaty, plus have a bit of fun. Most of the styles I’ve trained at over the years are similar in this regard. As long as it doesn’t distract you from your “home” style and you can still distinguish which dojo you are training in, there is no issue. I found most mixed martial artists are more rounded individuals, open minded and more skilful fighters. As Bruce said “Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own.”

My only hope is that my students get better and challenge me. If they do, I will improve…and then, ultimately, so will they. I look forward to the day when Isaac sails back to the Bushin shore, with a full cargo of martial art skills so we can all learn from him. Happy travels…

Summer is over and as we look into the grey Autumn skies it’s time to dust off the kit and put some body work in. Well done all those that trained hard through the summer period. For those others, it’s time to start training again. There is no better time than now. Not tomorrow, next week, not when you have more money…now!

The hardest thing without a doubt is to walk through the door of the dojo. However, when you do make the effort and get to training it makes it all worthwhile. At the end of the lesson, you feel fantastic: invigorated, worthy and honest. More importantly, you feel better about yourself and better about your life. After all, isn’t that the key to life?…making it better for yourself so you can enjoy it more.

Don’t go mad and train yourself into the ground. Just block off the two evenings into your diary and be consistent. Go rain or shame, emergencies accepted. Push yourself to be there and reap the benefits. Human willpower is a fantastic machine but very hard to find the on button and the gears. But you can do it. I know you can. With some effort you can work 12-14 hours a day, run a business, look after a family, socialise and still have time for your own training. I know because that’s what I do. But, if you don’t take the first step then you will never know…

Whatever your goal and motivation, martial arts are of fantastic benefit. You get fit, you get strong, your confidence improves, your self discipline increases, you make friends and most importantly you learn the useful skill of self defence…far better than pumping iron in the gym. The new motto on our website is “change your life”. If you want to laugh, sweat and cry then give it a try…