Covid and the Mind

 

A collecting together of all the blogs between January 2021 and March 2022 relating to Covid, mental health and in a small way karate.

January Covid Blues

february-turmoil-something-positive

beware-ides-of-march-and-april-showers

kata-covid-and-mind

suicidal-thoughts

kata-and-cbt

living-with-consequences

the-waiting-game

A nerd post - Upper body Kusanku

I am always looking for new things to add to my exercise / training to keep mind and body active.  Recently Noah Legel posted a video (on Instagram and Facebook) of himself peforming an upeer body only version of Kusanku.   Thefirst thing that struck me were that some of the open elements were similar to parts of eight brocades, the second thing that struck was that all the way through there were twists and stretches that would add up to a good workout for someone like me.   This is the link to Noah's kata:

Noah Legel - Upper body Kusanku

I don't know how many times I tried simply to try to follow it to learn the basics of the movements, but I found that challenging to say the least.  So eventually I decided to apply a technique I had used in the past to help me learn, which was to write out the moves as an aide memoire.  If you are working from memory and lose track, it is quite painful to try to load up the video and try to find the exactpoint you want.  I find it easier to skim read through a text to find the point I went wrong at or I need to pick up from.  Below is the description I came up with and at the end is a video of me having a go at the kata based on the text.

Naihanchi Dachi, Naihanchi hands push down.

Lean forward, extend crossed hands in front

Go back to upright position, hands above head

Arms describe a circle, stopping at 180 degrees, with lower arms and open hands vertical

Complete the circle, left hand cupping right

Left side shuto uke, right hand palm up under

Right side shuto uke, left hand palm up under.

Drop hands to rhs, then bring back up, closing fists and forming cup on rhs

Left hand extend, RH punch, LH hikate, RH outside receive, twisting body in line

LH punch, RH hikate, LH outside receive, twisting body in line

LH drops across body, RH backfirst behind.

LH Shuto uke in front, RH under, RH shuto uke in front LH under

LH Shuto uke in front, RH under, LH hikate, RH vertical spear hand.

RH retracts slightly, then horizontal spear hand chin height, LH pseudo jodan uke with palm open across forehead

LH gidan uke bending forward, RH pseudo jodan uke with closed fist across forehead

Still bending foreward, crossed wrists RH in front of LH

Come upright, RH hikate, LH chudan tsuki

RH horizontal spear hand chin height, LH pseudo jodan uke with palm open across forehead

LH gidan uke bending forward, RH pseudo jodan uke with closed fist across forehead

Still bending foreward, crossed wrists RH in front of LH

Come upright, RH hikate, LH chudan tsuki

Pull in LH to right Hip, chudan uke to LHS, RH elbow strike cupped by left arm

Pull in RH to left hip, chudan uke to RHS, LH elbow strike cupped by right arm

LH shuto uke to left side, RH under, quarter turn to right, RH shuto uke, LH under

RH shuto uke to right side, quarter turn to left, LH shuto uke, RH under

Centre, RH horizontal spear hand chin height, LH pseudo jodan uke with palm open across forehead

Extend LH, RH outside receive, twist body in line, LH hikate

Extend LH, RH outside receive, twist body in line, LH hikate

LH chudan tsuki, RH hikate, RH chudan tsuki LH hikate

Hands down LH open RH closed, then bring together in front of face, open cupping closed

Hands down to hip height, open and palm down, to either side

LH Shuto uke in front, RH under, RH shuto uke in front LH under

Turn to left, LH outside receive, RH hikate, RH chudan tsuki LH hikate, LH chudan tsuki , RH hikate

Turn to right, RH outside receive, LH hikate, LH chudan tsuki RH hikate, RH chudan tsuki , LH hikate

RH outside receive, backfist to the rear

LH shuto uke, RH under, RH vertical spearhand LH under

Sweep RH back behind head, LH chudan tsuki, RH hikate.

RH elbow strike to front, Left arm cupping

Turn to right, RH outside receive, LH to LHS of body, vertical lower arm outside receive

Both hands circle inwards, RH passes in front of LH, LH down into gidan uke,  RH back into outside block behind

RH punches down behind left, so now have crossed wrists, LH on top

Upper torso comes back to vertical, crossed wrists in front of chin, palms open from fists on way up

Bring hands down, so palms level with chin, curl fingers inward, from little finger back, to form fists

Right hand outside block, LH to hikate, circle RH down then up vertical arm outside receive to RHS

Hands down and feet together to Nainhanchi close (before final hand together).  Bow.

The following video was filmed in a number of parts and then joined in sequence, as although I remember a fair bit of the first part, I find myself either losing my way of forgetting the moves in the latter part.  these parts were all done by reading, practicing then attempting to perform.

Thank you for reading :)

One dance I would like to learn....

 

I could never in  million years claim to be a dancer, but there is an established connection between dance and karate in Okinwa.  Apparently, one of the most obvious connections appears in a traditional harvest festival performance, as cited by Motobu Naoki in:

"Kāmi nu Kū" Dance and Koryū Motobu Passai

That is the full article, but it also contains a link to the actual performance itself:

About 14 minutes in is a dance performance of Passai, maybe the oldest known version.  So I don't need to learn karate to learn kata, I could also learn to dance..... An interesting idea, but I don't think so!! ☺☺☺

Thank you as ever to Andreas Quast and Motobu Naoki for bringing this into the limelight.

The Waiting Game

 

One of the most stressful experiences at any point in your life is the waiting game. However, it seemed more tense this time round than on any previous occasion.   Being removed from your post as a result of an adverse mental health experience doesn't help, even when the company the employs you assure you of their good intentions, especially at the age of 61 with a family.

Working in the Security Industry meant at this time were always going to be delays due to the prevailing circumstances.  However, even being aware of the circumstances doesn't help lessen the tension.  The only way I found through this was to focus on one thing at a time, keep up my CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) routine and try to find things to distract.

There are many issues which I need to resolve, but 90% of them require some solid basis on which to plan, which is precisely what I haven't had.  These were the hardest to put to one side, but it was a must as dwelling on them would have done me no good.  I found out about what my employer had in mind round about mid February, but it has taken until now for this to really feel concrete.  I begin work officially in my new role on the 1st of April coming, practically on the 4th of April.

In the time spent waiting, I have started practicing the frame works for 4 of the 5 Pinan kata (this is going back to December, when I was originally signed as fit to returned to work in a controlled manner) and started on a couple of kata with Sai.  Now I'm starting to build up my personal practice time, as I haven't made it back to the dojo yet due to family and health considerations.  But the Waiting Game is almost over, and hopefully I can start to slowly start pulling the pieces together and getting some things in life back on track.  

I want to say a big "Thank You" to my Sensei, family and friends for their support during this time.

REY 26/03/2022

Quadrant drill

The Quadrant Drill was originally taught to us as a paired exercise in the Dojo.   There are two roles, one primarily the aggressor and the other primarily the defender.   The role focussed on here is the  aggressor role, and it is this part that became a staple part of the video lessons of our dojo, along with the 5 pad drills based on the Naihanchi kata.  I will also add text descriptions of the complementary action of the defender role where I can remember them.

Quardrant Drill, 1st 3 elements

The first three elements are: Jab, Cross, Hook

The counters: FH parry, move head away from parry

BH parry, move head away from parry

Step in, triangle block (forearm to neck)

Quadrant Drill, 2nd 3 elements

The second three elements are: Hammer fist, Looping left, Hook

Counters are, Cross arm block,

Triangle block to right,

Triangle block to left

Quadrant Drill  part 3, 6 elements

The next 6 elements are: LH backhand, Right elbow, LH uppercut to ribs, RH uppercut to ribs, LH shuto to RH side of neck and hold, RH shuto to LH side of the neck.

Counters are: Step back into Cat stance, shuto parry,
Step in to elbow attack, back of LH, re-enforced by open RH over the top of the right arm of attacker,
RH gedan uke, LH gedan uke,
No counters to shutos, brace arms for knee strikes

Quadrant Drill Part 4, switches and knees

The next three elements are: hands clasp behind neck in gable grip (fingers and thumb on each hand together); switch stance, dragging head left then left knee; switch stance, dragging head right then right knee.

Counter: Braced arms to receive knee strikes.

Quadrant Drill Part 5, head, sweep, shoulder

The final three elements of the first part of the drill are as follows: (release gable grip to allow to come back up) Head butt, sweep arms down, Shoulder barge, with rear hand up by front shoulder.

Counters: Braced hands to receive head butt

Quadrant Drill Part 6, 2nd half of drill.

The first part of the drill formed the main focus for most of the time when going through the quadrant drill during Covid, but we did recap the second half too on many occasions.  The elements for this part tended to not be separated out so much, but gone through as a succession, and that it how I will cover them here:

Mawashi Geri; Mawashi Geri holding kicking leg extended; Mawashi Geri with follow through back to stance; Ashi Uke; Mai Geri to mid section; Mai Geri to mid section; Mai Geri to groin; Back fist. followed four punches to upper torso; Three punches to mid section; Duck and weaver under punches; Arm trap; Back off.

With counters, I only ever learnt as far as the Ashi Uke part, that I can remember.  So to the first Mai Geri, the counter is Ashi Uke, to the Mai Geri with extended kicking leg the counter is trapping the kicking leg between hip and arm and to the final Mai Geri is to step back and scopp round with the front hand.  For the Ashi Uke, there is a return Mai Geri.

Below are a few videos taken of the Quadrant Drill during Covid through both 2020 and 2021.  I still include the Quadrant Drill in my solo practice to this day.

Quadrant Drill x2 3 July 2021

Quadrant drill 08 March 2021

Quadrant drill April 26 2020

REY 26/03/2022

Kata with Sai

I haven't formally been trained in Sai, but some time back, attending a session online with Sensei Tuari Dawson wetted my appetite.  Since been given Sai as a birthday present, I have occasionally used Sai with kata to see how they might fit.  This year however, due to personal circumstances, most of my practice and training has been solo and I found myself picking up the Sai more often.

Sanchin with Sai

I started off with Sanchin, which for some reason seemed to fit, and have been doing that for a couple of months now.  However, on my birthday, a message from one of my FB friends took me back to a video shared with me a couple of years ago.  It was of another standard kata, but done with Sai.  The first time round, I hadn't recognised it, but it was essentially Pinan Nidan.  Well, not quite.  

Pinan Nidan with Sai

I have tried it out a few times, and this weekend if formed the basis of a discussion with PJ Broomy.  Two things came out of this:

Firstly the kata is actually a blend of Taigyoku Shodan and Pinan Nidan
Secondly, I need to work on my Sai manipulation, as I still have a lot to learn.

PJ has kindly guided me to some YouTube material by Tuari Dawson, so time to get studying....

Living with the Consequences

A while back I wrote a blog titled "Suicidal Thoughts", based on the issues that caused me to contemplate suicide.  This is the follow up.

As as result of my speaking to the doctor, I was signed off work and undertook a course of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help we work through the issues that had put me in such a position.   This was backed up by counselling through a service provided by my employer.  Basically it was a mix of financial worries, the worries caused by COVID-19 and my co-morbidities and family issues that had been there since the start of COVID.  In part I had turned to alcohol as a part of my coping mechanism, which had made things worse.

Working through the course persuaded me that I needed to drastically cut down my intake, and also to evaluate my feelings before reacting to situations.  The reduction in alcohol intake stays in effect to this day, an I believe for the most part I now react in a more reasoned and reasonable manner to most situations.  I also have to keep working at dealing with each situation independently, rather than dwelling too long on the "what ifs" of different combinations of things.

My progress was such that I was signed as fit to return to work with specific provisions, just before Christmas.   The approach was agreed by both my own doctor and my company's Occupational Health Consultant, but could not be discussed by my company or contractual employers until the new year, due to the holiday period.  So Christmas and New Year came and went, an I was hoping for a reasonably quick response.  Since the trigger for my thoughts had been the fear of using public transport, the provisions were based around a phased return to work, firstly working from home then gradually starting to return to the office one, two then three days a week before returning there full time.

The role I held on the contract was one which did require me to be in the office when fully occupied, but I had successfully carried out the main duties from home for the vast majority of the COVID period.   Therefore I was hopeful that the approach would be accepted.   However, as time went by with no official word other than that my manager on the contract had to hand the situation over to his manager, as he was extremely busy, January passed by without any word, and the doubts began to set in.

The focal point for each day became my exercises for bringing myself into the "now", combined with breathing and relaxation.   These as I had previously mentioned in "Kata and CBT" I had worked in with my Karate practice, as meditation forms a part of the routine for that discipline as well, at least the concept of "Mokuso" or empty mind.  I also spent part of the time learning new kata, courtesy of Videos from Noah Legel.  That, and doing some of the tasks that had been outstanding for a while.

There were other trials and tribulations along the way, but it obviously began to sink in that things were very likely not going to be as they were before.   This in turn brought new worries, which began to take a hold to some extent.  Battling these became added to the other issues I had already outlined to deal with, but the worst part as I am sure anyone will know, is the waiting.

I finally had my meeting with HR in early February, accompanied by one of the company directors, who had taken an interest in my case.   At the meeting I learnt of their concerns and intention to offer me a new role, working fin house and from home, with flexible hours.   This would address many of the worries I had, but obviously would mean some adjustments.   Then started another wait to see if this would come to pass.  The email finally came today, just as I was starting to write this blog.  Now I have to consider a fresh start and new challenges, but at least I am still here to tell the tale 😊.

REY 17/02/2022

An aide-memoire to Kihon Gata

Very early on in my karate journey, I was introduced to my dojo's kihon gata.  These are the routines practiced alongside kihon and kata that form the main element for beginners and intermediate students, all the way through to those who are looking to go for their black belts.   I produced the below aide memoire to her me to remember them.

Kihon Kata	Simple Description
Shodan	2 punch combination, Mae Geri
Nidan	Mae Geri, 2 punch combination
Sandan	2 punch combination, Mawashi Geri off front leg
Yondan	Mawashi Geri off front leg, 2 punch combination
Godan	Right Mawashi Geri (land in front), left Mawashi geri (land in front), reverse punch, jab.
Rokudan	Ashi uke, jab, cross, Mawashi Geri
Nanadan	Mae Geri (land in front) right jab, back kick
Hachidan	Mae Geri (land in front), back kick, reverse punch
Kyudan	Shuffle, backhand forehand punch, shuffle, backhand forehand punch, right then left mawashi geri, spinning kick
Judan	Shuffle, backhand forehand punch, shuffle, backhand forehand punch, right then left mawashi geri, hisa geri

 Before Covid so rudely interrupted things, I had got as far as my blue belt and was expected to know up to kihon gata Godan, as well as starting to learn Naihanchi Nidan.  However, we have always been encouraged to try to learn as far as we can in preparation for things to come.

Since I still practice on my own (with Zoom lessons as well of course, circumstances permitting), due to my own worries because of my health conditions, I decided to try and make all 10 a part of my solo practices, amongst other things.  Apart from the middle two kihon gata, they.can be considered as pairs.

Shoan and Nidan, Sandan and Yondan, Nanadan and Hachidan, then Kyudan and Judan can all be considered as related to one another, and this is how I like to practice them.  Below are the videos of the pairings of Kihon gata taken from my last solo practice, along with a sequential video of the 10 together.  This is to act as a marker for how far I have come so far, and hopefully for me to measure how much I have improved in later years.

           SHODAN and NIDAN

SANDAN and YONDAN

GODAN and ROKUDAN

NANADAN and HACHIDAN

KYUDAN and JUDAN

And finally all 10 of the kihon gata done as a sequence:

I think given practice, I should eventually be able to comfortably remember them all.  However, my favourite is still Judan, as it's the only one that features my favourite knee strike, also it's much easier to execute than the spinning back kick (or is it a hook kick now?), which takes it's place in Kyudan.  That is something I struggle with, as spinning tends to lead to me disorienting myself in the process.

Here's to more practice to come 😄

September to December Karate Diary

September to December 2021 was quite a rough period for me, but karate practice as ever was a part of my routine to keep going.  I worked it in with my mental health techniques as well, in the form of Kata for mindfulness and relaxation.  Below are a few sample videos and the playlists for Shorts, Solo Practice and Lessons for this time. 

September to December 2021 Shorts

September to December 2021 Solo

September to December 2021 lessons

Kata and CBT.

I'm currently undertaking an online course in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to help me unravel the Gordian knot described in "Suicidal thoughts".  Part of this is to practice three sets of techniques each day to help with mindfulness and relaxation.  Basically you have:

• Awareness, going through each part of your body in turn to explore what you can feel
• Tensioning, tensing and relaxing muscles to help relieve tension
• Breathing, feeling each breath to bring you into the now and focus on the present

This reminds me of a lot of the techniques I have learnt through Karate, such as the relaxation and cardio slow kata learnt with Robey Jenkins, the tensioning in Sanchin from PJ Broomy and the breathing learnt from Noah Legel, in Tensho.

As a result, and due to my need to get back into deliberately practice every day, I decided to see whether I could combine the two.  So I perform Naihanchi Shodan, Sanchin and Tensho in sequence.  Naihanchi, I perform slowly, paying attention to how my body moves and feels.  Sanchin, I am currently experimenting with tensioning on 1 rep in 2 and 1 rep in three for the whole body and relaxing in between.  In Tensho, it is a case of using the breathing much as is done in Mokuso, to empty the mind and come into the present.

The two videos shown are from the last couple of days, one with the 1 in 2 Sanchin, the other with the 1 in 3 Sanchin.  Very much a work in progress, but ironic that I chose without thinking the three kata labelled as fundamental kata to Karate by Miyagi Chojun.  I didn't even think about that until it was pointed out by PJ Broomy.  

Will document how it goes in a later blog.