Second day of BATS kickstarted at 9:30am. Or a little bit thereabouts.
This day was quite focused on one of the main enjoyment aspects of Shorinji Kempo: Pain.
In the morning, 3rd dan and aboves got excellent teaching from Swedish senseis Alex and Anders.
And we tried some pretty neat stuff, such as obi dori. Which means pull from one's belt.
Alex sensei was confident that this demonstration will end well for him...
Let's see about that...
Now, let's have a look at a valuable lessson of getting your opponent off balance...
Here we go: Throwing your opponent around could get it working.
Wait a minute! How did he end up on top...!?!
That must be the magic of Shorinji Kempo, called pain, clearly demonstrated by my family members in the photo below.
Jan has not experienced enough pain in his life either, that can be the only interpretation of why he has felt the need to grab Timo's neck.
When you have 'Not enough pain', this is what that looks like...
After lunch we enjoyed a super interesting lecture by Alex sensei on how to restart your opponent's OODA loop. This is a military term on human beings analysing and acting on any given situation. So first we observe, then we orient, then we decide and finally we act. Then the loop starts all over again.
We go through the loop all the time in our lives, gathering information
on how others behave. The best self defence? Relys on re-starting one's
opponent's OODA loop.
There are of course many interesting ways of achieving that. We imagined a situation where people approach us on a dark street after a night of partying. Possible ways of re-starting opponent's OODA loop included:
* Pretending you have a weapon (problematic if they call your bluff)
* Unexpected movements or sounds
* Pretending that you are talking to someone behind the people approaching (and then running away)
* Asking questions
* "You seem very familiar... Don't I know you...? From Prison maybe?"
And so on.
In the afternoon we put the OODA loop into practise when doing randori. These pictures however are from later in the afternoon.
The high belts met downstairs for another 'killing our wrists and throwing each other around' session.
It sure takes two to tango in this martial art.
Some of the best teaching of this Gasshuku came from Russia. It is such a pleasure to follow Alexei sensei's hints and points. He is a rock star.
But then again, this Gasshuku was full of rock stars of Shorinji Kempo. That's what makes BATS such a special place to visit...
Rockstars and then some ordinary kenshis from somewhere cold.
Somewhere, where the Winter is always coming...
