Jo, Ha, Kyu

In his treatise 'The Life Giving Sword' Yagyu Munenori refers to Jo, Ha and Kyu as three states or rhythms of combat. These three terms are also prevalent in Noh theatre and Japanese music in general. I won't go into all of them here but will concentrate on Jo which in theatrical writings is described as the beginning or introduction. Munenori however, describes it as 'the combat before the fight'. This initially sounds counter-intuitive but I've been thinking about it and this is my take on what he meant. Before any combat there is a build up to the moment the opponents clash; this is the time Munenori is referring to. In fencing terms it's the time when you are waiting to get on the piste, the mental imagery you project about the fight, the energy and body language with which you step onto the piste, the moment you make eye contact for the first time with your opponent before the salute, then the salute itself. All this is part of the fight itself and will determine and influence your behaviour over the course of a competition. It's also going to determine whether your mental attitude to the fight is correct and ultimately influence your performance to a greater or lesser degree. This period of time is going to vary depending on you, the circumstances you are in and your own temperament. It might be seconds or minutes (But probably not the whole time; that might be a little forced and mean you don't have many friends...) It is also something that cannot be 'faked' so I'm not advocating you try to impersonate Arnold Schwarzenegger in terminator mode, you have to find your own state of Jo for yourself in order for it to be meaningful.
It's an aspect of any martial art or combat sport that is often not acknowledged by coaches and athletes except at the highest level but it is a vital component to good performance and it's worth considering at any level of participation. If your mind and approach is wrong your fencing or technique will be correspondingly affected. There is an old Japanese expression that goes "Saya no uchi de katsu" which translates as "Victory is in the scabbard". As Musashi says you need to study this well....

I'm not bored, I'm just watching camp fires.

In the classic tome 'The Art of War' Sun Tzu talks about watching emeny camp fires at night to see if they are moving around, either in signs of panic or preparing for a night attack. He also advises that clamour by night indicates nervousness. Very sensible advice I'm sure you would agree. However, the subtle point of this advice is in order for these observations to be made the observer must be calm and focussed, not nervous or distracted. It is in this state that the opportunity to observe the enemy can be taken. How many times at competition do you see other fencers engrossed in their i-pods, or talking with others or bouncing around like mad things? Wouldn't it be better to be watching to see if anything can be gleaned from the opponent's behaviour?
Sometimes at the club I can be found sitting cross legged at the side of the hall watching what's going on. Many people wander up to me and ask "Are you bored?" Well, no, not really, I'm just watching the enemy camp fires.....

Choshi, Hyoshi and Ma no tori-kata

Now I know the title of this post may look a little weird but I have been recently re-reading the book "The Karate Way" by Dave Lowry. I don't do Karate but if I did I'd probably try to do it a lot like Dave Lowry. I tend to read anything of his at least three times as not only does he know a lot about the afore-mentioned art but he also practices Ken-jutsu, calligraphy, cha-do, sushi and is generally extremely knowledgable about Japanese culture and martial arts. Indeed this blog was inspired by his book "Autumn Lightning; the Education of an American Samurai". I always find reading one of his books an inspiring and relaxing experience, probably akin to what I imagine smoking a favourite pipe would be like, were I to actually be a pipe smoker! Mr Lowry's writings tend to focus on traditional martial arts but are just as applicable to fencing and life in general.*
Anyway to cut to the chase and back to the title, these are three terms that I hadn't really considered on the first reading of the book but struck me this time round. Hyoshi refers to the timing of a technique, the cadence of the attacks and strikes etc. Keeping the beat of the techniques going. (The character for Hysohi is actually representative of a child clapping). Translate this into beats, change beats, engagements, attacks etc in fencing and you can see the correlation. Each one has it's own special timing that needs to be correct to succeed.
Ma No Tori-Kata relates to the utilisation of space during a match or bout (Ma is the term for space , kata is the term for structure). Have you noticed how most really striking pictures have a slightly off center quality of space? Particularly in Japanese art where the composition may only be in one third of the space available, leaving a large amount of area that is empty. This is use of Ma or space. In a fencing match there are a number of flavours of this concept. Using the full length of the piste; using the space between you and the opponent to trigger attacks, parry or negate a technique etc, even moving laterally in the limited space we have can all be constructive use of space. A fencer used to close in work can be flustered by an opening distance. Conversely, a fencer who prefers compound attacks will be stymied if you close on them.
Choshi is slightly more complex and could best be described as the rhythm or pace of the entire encounter. Why does this matter? Well, consider what happens if you come onto the piste in a relaxed fashion... it's possible this will rub off on your opponent as well, perhaps giving you the chance to exploit a quick change of rhythm? Or what about the fencer who gets more and more exasperated as they fall further behind, their very exasperation causing them to get more flustered and deepen the spiral? From then on, their entire day just gets worse. Or the fencer who builds momentum throughout an entire competition, getting better and more effective as they go. All examples of choshi and all within some form of control by you, the fencer.
As usual with something the Japanese Budoka have given a name to, these concepts are well worth considering further.


* Enough of the eulogising; in short, if anything about Japanese martial arts appeals to you, read Dave Lowry!

Lungeing at Conclusions

In WW2 both the allies and the axis forces used the hand grenade. The allied used a oval shape grenade which looked a bit like a pineapple but the Germans had a grenade with a stick handle. Why did two so obviously different designs arise for the same object? (Bear with me reader, I am hastening toward a point here.) Basically, the Germans used their grenades much more in an offensive capacity whilst the allies had planned to use them more defensively i.e. popping one over the edge of a trench and keeping your head down. By putting a stick on it, the German grenade could be thrown further and more accurately. It didn't have as big a payload but it could be deployed more accurately, which suited the German tactics of blitzkrieg and rapid counter-attacking on positions they had just lost.
So what in the name of Bodhidharma's beard does this have to do with fencing?
Well, it's dawned on me recently that the lunge is the same technique but has totally different applications in epee and foil. In foil the lunge has to be parried by the opponent if they want to score a defensive hit, therefore it can be used by the attacker to provoke or deceive. It also has to be deeper in order to hit the body. In epee the defender can also score against your lunge, but in a more passive way i.e. simply by ignoring it and countering in time or before the lunge even lands. This kind of takes away some of the lunges effectiveness in epee and brings into question the payback of cost against result of a good lunge to body. I've seen a lot of good lunges in epee that have only resulted in a hit against the lungeing fencer. However I still believe it has it's place in epee, it just needs to be applied in the right way. As for that right way...? Well, I'll leave you to think about that for yourselves...!

Fencing: it's mental!

Last night was the first week of our Easter competition so it was the poule round of the epee for me. I found myself in a quite daunting group and my first thought was "I'm going to have to do well to break even here!" I usually set myself a target of being in the top half of the final tableau so I felt I had some work to do to get there. Not only that I had arrived with a splitting headache and was having problems concentrating on anything, let alone fencing. However, whether I had sub-consciously rid myself of expectations by thinking this I don't know but I arrived at my last match with 3 victories and 2 defeats. I SO wanted that last match to make it 4-2! Trouble was I was fencing Abi, one of my regular sparring partners and she has had the hoo-doo on me in our last few fights. Still, I felt good about things and soon found myself leading 3-1 at which point I thought "OK now just don't do anything daft, just run down the clock" which I managed to do for 20-30 seconds then conceded two hits to make it 3-3. At that point my instinct was to just attack blindly, in fact it was almost an imperative screaming at me "DO SOMETHING!!" However I reigned this in because my past experience has taught me when I do this I open myself to a counter, normally because the adrenalin excess overcomes my point control. What I didn't want to do right now was attack to the body wildly, I needed to control myself and pick off the arm. It was actually really difficult to keep calm at this point but I did and went 4-3 up. Then Abi pulled a point back to make it 4-4! I thought I had nailed it but her hit had been quicker than mine. Now all my instincts were in over-drive, demanding a headlong attack response but this time I could control it better and remain calm (I wasn't tense I was just very very alert!) And lo and behold I got that final hit and boy, did it feel good. I was obviously pleased to have made it 4-2 in terms of victories but I was also more pleased with the way I'd approached it mentally.
I've always maintained that fencing is 50% a mental activity and I certainly saw and heard things that backed that up last night. However, it's very easy to realise this intellectually; it's a lot harder to restrain the physicality in the midst of sporting combat. It's something I am determined to get better at. I am reminded of two of Musashi's tenets for sword mastery... "Forge yourself in the Way" and "Learn to see everything accurately"......

I am a Judge... I am The Law!

It's quite noticeable how fencers don't really like acting as judges for steam foil matches. This is particularly prevalent amongst the young fencers, the majority of whom seem to just disappear into some wonderful world of gazing into the distance or biting their nails, when called to judge. This doesn't apply to all of them but it also appears to happen to some adult fencers as well, so what is it about judging that causes such a malaise and how can it be made more engaging as an activity? There are some basic things to remember:
• Make sure you know which fencer you should be watching and keep focussed on them. In other words you are watching the fencer in front of you to see if they are hit not if they made a hit.
• Keep behind the fencer on your side at all times. I've seen judges get hit because they stood too close. Ouch.
• Do not talk to 'your' fencer, even if he is your best mate. Never offer advice!
• Put your hand up when you've seen a hit; Presidents are not psychic! Many a time I've stopped a fight when presiding because I've seen a hit and then the judge agrees with me, despite not having put their hand up. If I hadn't seen it what would have happened?
• Avoid scratching your head, out of the corner of the President's eye this can look like you're signalling a hit!
• Always use definite and clear language when responding to the President. All that is required is 'on target', 'off target', 'no hit' or 'abstain'. Anything else is superfluous.
• Avoid subtle and well intended hints to the President like "do you mean the initial hit?" thus implying that the President has missed something. This is not your call to make and an electric box would not tell the President the right of way when simultaneous hits occur so neither should you.
• If you don't know, do not under any circumstances make it up!
To my mind, if you get all the above right there seems to be quite a lot going for judging; it gives you an insight into how someone fences and it gives you an insight into the ways fights can ebb and flow. It also gives you confidence that you are 'seeing' the situation correctly. In general it boosts your understanding of the whole thing but I suppose in our quick-fix age it's not 'doing anything' so it's regarded as rather dull. The other great thing is that all you have to do is watch; you don't even have to make any decisions as that's the President's job. No opinions necessary, just a good eye and attention span. A final thing to remember is that if you are participating in a poule and you are not taking your judging responsibilities seriously it will quite probably rebound on you at some stage... No one likes to have their best hit missed by a non-attentive judge and what goes around comes around eventually!