The insights provided by Happoken no Kata (Part 3)

You will recall from the previous post that the question was raised as to why a blocking technique is used in conjunction with an evasive bodymovement in happoken no kata taught by Jan de Jong.

The above image of happoken no kata is taken from Minoru Mochizuki's book, Nihonden Jujutsu: Kuroobi Aikido; Traditional Japanese Jujutsu: Black Belt Aikido (1978).

The kata performer assumes a parallel stance when performing the first block. That makes sense. If no evasive bodymovement is executed in response to an attack, then a blocking technique is required in order to avoid potentially injurious contact with the body. The block in the Yoseikan kata is required because the performer does not execute an evasive body movement.

It could be argued that JDJ introduced the evasive zenkutsu dachi to the happoken kata because the Yoseikan parallel stance appears weak/insipid, however, that introduction then changes the need for a blocking technique.

This is a systems thinking issue. Systems thinking is often contrasted with analysis and associated with synthesis, however, Ackoff (1999) explains that systems thinking involves both analysis and synthesis. Analysis involves breaking a whole into its constituent parts and studying those parts in isolation. Synthesis involves putting the parts back together and studying how they work together in order to achieve the objective of the system. Analysis yields knowledge about the whole and understanding of the parts (seeing the trees); synthesis yields understanding of the whole (seeing the forest). Systems thinking involves both analysis and synthesis thereby yielding both knowledge and understanding of the parts and the whole (seeing the trees and the forest).

If the reason for JDJ's change from the original parallel stance to zenkutsu dachi was to introduce a 'stronger' stance into the kata, then it was an example of analytic thinking being employed and an example of how analytic thinking can cause problems (think the cane toad solution to the cane beetle in Australia). 

This then goes into looking at defences as 'phases.' Breaking a defence or technique down into phases makes it easier to teach, learn, and to identify and correct performance errors. For instance, the phases of a golf swing are backswing, swing, impact, and follow through. The phases of a defence taught in the mon grades of JDJ's jujutsu and aikido system are taken from Yoseikan and are uke waza (receiving technique), kuzushi waza (unbalancing technique), and waza (technique). Change any part of that system and it can have effects on the other parts of that system and the accomplishment of the objective of the system. In this case, a change in the uke waza in terms of introducing an evasive bodymoment meant that the blocking technique became redundant. It also meant that the first and second strikes were ineffective.

The parallel stance of the original kata is a bit insipid. It wasn't until I saw this kata performed by European Yoseikan practitioners on YouTube that the insight (see the first part in this series) was complete. The Yoseikan practitioners turned to the side of their parallel stance when executing the strikes and final block while dropping their knee which increased the stability and strength of the stance when performing those techniques. It is very similar to the pasang stance of Indonesia pencak silat that is a major feature of the style of pencak silat that I helped introduce into JDJ's pencak silat teachings.

This approach increases the kintic energy in the strike and the reach by half a body's width.

But wait, there's more. You could argue that the stance in the above Yoseikan image for the first block has changed to kokutsu dachi. And why not? It still makes sense. The stance in the second block could also be kokutsu dachi, but it could also be zenkutsu dachi as in Edgar Kruyning's book, The Art of Ju-Jutsu: The Legacy of Minoru Mochizuki' Yoseikan.

But wait, there's even more. Kruyning's first stance in his book has the wait going forward rather than backward, like a zenkutsu dachi but with the feet inline.

Kruyning' version of happoken includes different strikes. Why not? This becomes a truly versatile kata if one studies it and with a 'What's going on here?' mindset. It has to be said that the martial arts often does not encourage that type of mindset instead preferring blind obedience.

The insights provided by Happoken no Kata (Part 2)

Jan de Jong's version of happoken no kata starts off in a neutral parallel stance.

The performer then takes a step forward with their right leg and turns to their left into a zenkutsu dachi stance (forward leaning stance) while executing a chudan uchi uke (middle inside block).

'What's going on here?' Refer to 'insights' in previous post.

The performer executed an evasive bodymovement (EBM) along with a 'blocking' technique. What is the purpose of the blocking technique? It isn't to avoid injurious contact with the body because the EBM takes care of that problem.

You should always ask what the purpose of a 'block' is when used in conjunction with an EBM because it is not to avoid injurious contact with the body. The EBM takes care of that problem.

A classic example when a 'block' is used in conjunction with an EBM and has a purposes is the use of an EBM and a block to perform a foot sweep: entering and maeude deai osae uke (pressing forearm block; see The Textbook of Modern Karate, Okazki and Strecivic). In this case the block is used to unbalance the opponent, so it serves a purpose. The first 'block' in JDJ's happoken does not serve a purpose.

The above photo involves Hans de Jong executing the abovementioned technique on me, however, it is not the greatest representation of the technique because it was taken for a booklet that HDJ was going o use for seminar purposes and he didn't have a professional photographer, so he had to hold me up somewhat so the photo could be taken.

For all who are involved in the JDJ jujutsu and aikido tradition, the maeude deai osae uke is a blocking technique. It is a true blocking technique in that it stops the attack from moving forward. It is used to unbalance the opponent, however, it is still a true blocking technique. Never forget that and your defensive technique will be all the better for it.

So why does JDJ's happoken no kata's first sequence include a 'blocking' technique when it appears to serve no purpose? That will be the subject of the next post.