20th June 2010 - Paris / martial arts...

This weekend, I participated to a master class of martial arts... with Kono Yoshinori sensei (interview in French>>>) who is actually one of the most famous/popular people as researcher of the body through martial arts, especially he searches, if I understood, the nature of the body, the way to use the body through ancient martial arts.


What was amazing in this class for me is that I could look his flexibly/instant decision to react to any situations, it's like the improvisation of the dance as an idea, but that should come from his continuous exercises and minute researches of years of instants with endless curiosity...

This time, it was the workshop for martial artist(? we can say that?).
One difficult thing for me... we make many times the practice, means the work with someone who always has the long experience of martial arts... During, I always had the much embarrassed feeling that I don't know anything. They should teach me from a simple form to start to practice... pff! (Sorry for them who passed the time with me...)

But still..., I have to say, many people also seemed lost (not much like me, though). Because Kono sensei doesn't show one form of the technique, but the essence of the movement. So, to explain some thing he shows many many forms then we, being used to be taught from the form, could not catch easily what he really shows to us.

On the other hand, being surrounded by the participants: almost of them are practitioners of martial arts of different kinds, I also got impressed of their "discipliness". They are very discipled... maybe to be humble, to be patient, to respect the teachings/masters/other people....
It seems so good for me of today, 'cause many times artists fall in the idea of the originality: it's ME who created, it's ME who invented...
Yes, it should be them who did it, but still they/we live in the running time. We stand up on the history of our ancestors... But, it's also important not to stop in the old time and to try something we know from other point of view... then we would be able to transform that into another thing... It's that I think.
SO, IF the "discipleness" is well transferred, the martial arts people should respect the accumulation of the devotion to the study of the past through the masters in their front...
(As I don't know the world of martial arts, there should people who think that "I" am strong!... as every place... maybe... we are human being.)



What I might have caught from Kono sensei's teaching, it's important to feel/search the resonance/connection in every parts of the body, from one part of another.
For example, if you tend the arm, which way you can keep hands more comfortable: the palms up? the back up? or palms to the centre? Or if you bend arms and bring hands near to the shoulders/breasts?


A practical technique: keep hand open and aligned from the elbow to the middle finger, it allows to keep shoulder down and then brings more strength than when you keep hand close, for example when someone strongly takes your arms or when you bring something with your forearm.


I should have read in his book, that's why I felt like that.......... he seemed to be keeping the body like a flock of swimming fishes or flying small birds which changes the direction together immediately. The body is consisted with many many small body but all connected.


Well, I was surfing on internet to get the information about him in Japan. Then, it was inevitable not to see the sites with slanders to Kono sensei: like what he said to other people or someone should be much stronger than him... the detail of his life like everyone's one. So again, I don't know about martial arts and the world of the martial arts or himself... and also I'm not interested in the comparison with one measure. I don't care at all if he is the strongest person on the Earth or the most great alive master of the world but the energy he sacrifices for the research which serves enormously to us is unfailingly precious today and few people could do... It's very much respectful like many masters of all disciples who can bring us to be awake on something.

Oh, I add one thing to finish, I like some things when it has some space left to joke... then, from that side, I also liked what he showed us: for example throwing someone who attacks him he flows and lands on in seiza position...!