Last blog I said I would explain what I have been doing since May in a series of blogs.
Train - Lift - Shoot - This way
This blog lets focus on TRAIN
What have I been doing since May?
Well...
By pushing the limit of what was "allowed" I was able to train with #500 Rising and graduate from the first ever Instructional Foundations - Women’s Self Defense (500 Rising Instructor Course)
The 10th Anniversary of Violence Dynamics had to be changed drastically and often, and then changed again with mere hours notice, but I was able to train with brave, like minded people, and had a great time.
Mostly, I spent a lot of time being frustrated as fuck. I spent a lot of time not being "allowed" to train.
It got to the point I nearly broke. It was a very low point for me. I thought if I, Kasey "Fucking" Keckeisen, someone who is so obviously addicted to training, has lost passion for this, who the fuck is ever going to want to come back and train?
Then I was inspired. Cobra Kai never dies! I can't give up! Mostly because I don't want to see who I might become if I don't have the outlet of regular training to keep my head straight.
So I turned the set back of not being allowed to train into an opportunity to reimagine what I want to do. How do I want to train? How do I want to run the Dojo?
The Dojo is allowed to run relatively overhead free because of the Police Activity League which is geared toward youth 14-21 years old. The current student list has very few members in that demographic.
I decided to embrace the fun of Sport Jujitsu to provide a reason for young people to train.
I also felt that Sport Jujitsu / Para Jujitsu would be an excellent way to provide people (especially veterans) coping with disabilities a long term means to overcome their challenges through training and competition.
People practice Jujitsu for many different reasons. However, if you ask most people why they train they will say because it is FUN!
How is recreation a legitimate use of force? All contact sports are an agreement between the participants to the level and type of force that will be used for the fun of the game. A contact contract if you will. The sport aspect of Jujitsu is no different. The Keishoukan Dojo plays with many different rule sets with varying levels and types of contact including Freestyle Karate (Sabaki Challenge), Freestyle Judo, Combat Wrestling, and USJJF Sport Jujitsu, USJJF Para Jujitsu
What if I lose?
The Dojo is a safe place to do physically dangerous things. It is a safe place to lose.
Confidence is built through competence. Competence is built using modern sporting methods to prepare practitioners for the situations they may face and train them to deal with those situations in the most realistic manner safely possible.
Mutual welfare and benefit is a major tenant of Judo (a modern form of Jujitsu). The emphasis of these drills is placed on making each other better, as opposed to defeating your partner. Your brain can’t trust what it has never tested. Some things can only be tested against a resistive partner. You might not always “win” but you will always learn. Failure is a necessary step in the path to progress. At the Keishoukan, you are encouraged to test your limits, find them, struggle, and exceed them.
Won’t I get hurt?
Any contact activity has a chance of injury. So does getting out of bed or crossing the street. Nothing worth doing can be made 100% safe. However, our training is very 40 plus friendly. It makes no sense to train in order to protect yourself against injury from an assault, only to injure yourself at practice. Our training is designed to be safe, and fun for people of all ages and abilities. Games are structured so that you will be able to decide the intensity level of your training.
Recreation, the sport aspects of Jujitsu provides a means to learn through play, and to pressure test skills. Maintaining the traditions of the past while utilizing the best training methods of today. Martial art, especially martial sport is not self defense, however it provides a laboratory to experiment with physical confrontation and a means to develop endurance, strength, agility, and courage.
Finding a way to provide Sport Jujitsu for youth without taking away from the personal protection curriculum took all summer. As much as I was pissed that we were not "allowed" to train I was thankful for the time to plan. Because I am very proud of the end product.
The panoply of Jujitsu is too large to teach parts of every aspect every class. I had to find a logical way to simplify.
From my experience as a parent of athletes, long late practices suck - they add a lot of undue stress on the athlete's family. I figured the youth class should only be an hour. The adult class can continue as necessary.
Classes break down like this
Warm up 20 Min
Topic 1 for all 35 Min
Youth class ends - Adult class continues
Topic 2* 35 Min
Each week focuses on one aspect of Jujitsu needed for competition and an additional topic for more advanced competition (techniques reserved for adult competition) and personal protection.
Weeks 1 4 7 10 13
Strike First - Hits for Jits
Atmei Waza - Striking (This will look a lot like a Karate / Bareknuckle Boxing class)
Similar to WWII combatives, Atemi Waza (striking) builds the foundation of what will follow.
Bogyo (Defense) - Defense pfft - More Offense! Blocking is reactive at best and passive at worst. We will focus on strikes that also defend.
Shime Waza*
The strikes (hits that stick) practiced this week will be used to apply Shime Waza (strangles) for the adult class
Weeks 2 5 8 11 14
Strike Hard - With the planet
Nage Waza - Throws (This will look a lot like a Judo / Wrestling class)
To throw someone you must:
1 Move or grab2 Grab or move *the order of move or grab is interchangeable3 Off balance4 Fit in5 Execute
The strikes (hits that stick) that were trained in the previous week will be used to grab then move, and the defense (Bogyo) from the previous week will be used to move then grab to set up the throws that will be trained this week.
Kansetsu Waza* Join locks - (This will look a lot like the unholy union of a Catch Wrestling and Aikido class)
The strikes from the previous week will be used to attack joints
Weeks 3 6 9 12 15
No Mercy - Finish it
Katame Waza - Grappling Techniques (This will look a lot like a Wrestling / BJJ class)
Although this may look like a BJJ class we do not start on our back. So guess what? Groundwork will start with strikes that set up throws. Throws will be used to put them on the ground. Only then can ground work begin to gain a submission.
Buki Waza* Weapons Techniques (This will look a lot like a CQB / control tactics class)
The adult class will work combatives including the use of and defense against Stick (Hanbo), Knife (Tanto), and Firearms.
This training also gives me an opportunity to provide supplementary training to Law Enforcement (Taiho Jutsu) as part of the Transformative Justice Institute (much more on this in future blogs)
I hope to have the school open in January. I hope there are brave, like minded people willing to train again. I also have plans in place to be able to train even if I am not "allowed" to re-open the Dojo. I won't become the version of myself that doesn't train. Cobra Kai never dies!
The Budo Blog will return in This is the way part 3 - Lifting
