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Do you ever teach?

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Those who cant do teach. That is the prevailing thought, especially in the sports world. This is not the case in the martial arts world however. This came to mind when I was recently asked by a parent upon my entering the dojo, “Do you ever teach class?” It was fair question, most people prefer to get taught by what they consider the highest ranked student of the school. When I am in a the dojo I am teaching whether I am in the class or not. I occasionally meet with each instructor before class to discuss what needs to be covered in the class and with whom.

Then I realized it goes further than that. In the same manner I am constantly learning the same applies to my teaching. I am always teaching. It is not something I just do at certain times of my week, but rather a state of being student/teacher is a natural way for me. I was not disturbed by the question. Our school has grown to the

point that there are students who have not seen me teach their class. I do however  make it a point to try and visit every class at some point during the month. When we started at the location we are now, I did teach every class since I was the only instructor there were no other options. But as time passed and the school has grown we now have several instructors and many more training to become instructors. One of my driving philosophies in having a dojo was the furtherance of our style. Continue reading Do you ever teach? →

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Why the dojo is not a gym

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 Its January so let me wish you a Happy New Year. This is the time of year where many people rededicate themselves to physical fitness. It is the time of New Years resolutions.
In our school January is the month of Kagami Biraki, the start of a new year. We usher it in with hard training and pushing ourselves past our perceived limits.Cultivating new energy for a new year.

Its very similar to what is happening in many gyms at this time of the year.. The dojo however is not a gym. Let me share my thoughts and show some of the similarities and then I will explain the differences. In both locations the purpose is to go and stress the body. You can work hard in both the gym and dojo.  Both places are designed to transform your body. Both require a commitment on your part. Both can be social settings and both produce results.
On the surface they seem interchangeable as if one is just an expression of the other. It would be a mistake to think so.
Let me explain the differences between the two.

A dojo is a sacred space.
This is the definition of sacred in the context of something that is worthy of spiritual respect or devotion, not in the context of any of the worlds religions. When you enter a dojo you respect the space because of what it symbolizes in your life. When you enter a gym, at least when I enter one there is no sense of the sacred demonstrated by me or that I can witness by the members of the facility.

A dojo is a place of transformation.
You will be transformed in a gym. If you are consistent and train with regularity your body will change. In a dojo the transformation runs deeper. When you train in a dojo you are faced with who you are at your core. The transformation takes place on an incremental level, subtly. You wont always be aware of it occurring, but it is happening.  You will experience the outward of transformation of your body like in a gym, but you will also experience an inward transformation. Your entire demeanor will change, you will acquire patience, with yourself , with others and with the process of growth. You learn to embrace the journey as opposed to being focused on the destination. This is a very different mindset from being in a gym where the goal is what matters.

Training in a dojo requires hard work
Training in a dojo is hard. It requires a level of commitment not usually seen in a gym. You must be willing to push yourself beyond what you think your limits are on a consistent basis. This is not to negate the hard work required in a gym, however the hard work required in a dojo transcends the physical and enters the spiritual. You are not only working on your body but your entire being as a whole, spirit mind and body are impacted.

Ego has no place in a dojo
There is no room for your ego in a dojo. It only serves as an obstacle to learning. You cant bring your ego into a dojo and expect to progress because it will constantly remind you of what the other people in the class are doing how much better you are or how much worse you are than those around you. It seems to be quite the opposite in a gym where ego gets fed on a regular basis. I can lift more than the next person, my body looks better and so on.

The dojo is a community
You may be a regular at a gym and even have training partners which make the training in a gym easier. When you commit to training in a dojo you become part of a community, a family. You learn not just be concerned about yourself but about the journey of your fellow classmates. The social setting in a gym is one of isolation in most cases. In a dojo your are on an individual path as well. The difference being that you are connected to those that came before you and after you. The sense of connectivity is what creates a dojo family. We have all walked the same path some have started before others, but we are still on the same path.
In a dojo you come just the way you are and are accepted. There is no ideal you need to measure up to. The only limits that exist are the ones you impose. The only comparison that exists is when you compare to yourself of the past. Each person in the dojo serves each other. We spur each other on when our energy wanes. When we think of quitting we reach out and extend a hand to help you continue.

Though they may be similar but, a dojo and a gym are not the same. They each serve a purpose and it depends on what you seek in your life and in your training that will determine where you invest your time and energy.

strong spirit-strong mind- strong body
Sensei Orlando

P.S. I wanted to share with all of you that I just released my latest book and you can find it HERE. It was a pleasure to write and I hope you enjoy it as well. If you do pick it up please leave a review.

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The Importance of Awareness

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An article was recently brought to my attention:

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/08/san-francisco-train-shooting_n_4066930.html)

In the article it describes:
Recently released footage from a Muni security camera allegedly shows that on Sept. 23, Nikhom Thephakayson pulled out a .45-caliber pistol, raised it, pointed it across the aisle, put it down and continued to pull it out multiple times, even wiping his nose with the handgun. Absorbed in their phones, not one of the dozens of passengers reacted until he fired a bullet into the back of Justin Valdez, 20, a sophomore at San Francisco State University.

Before you make any snap judgments about the people on the train lets examine ourselves for a moment.

How often do you check your phone while walking in the street, on the check out line or just waiting? 

When sitting/standing in the train or any other mass transit vehicle are you aware of the people around you or are you immersed in your phone ( or any other technological gadget) oblivious to who gets on or off? 

Do you text while you drive?

How often do you wear headphones (ear-buds) while outside, effectively cutting off your sense of hearing, which is in essence an early warning system?

After reading this article I took an informal survey as I rode the train in New York City. On one random subway car alone more than half the people in the car were immersed in some sort of device completely oblivious to those around them. Another large group were dozing or had their eyes closed.

As I walked down Broadway, I counted on one block ten people with ear-buds or headphones who would not have heard me if they were in danger and I needed to call out for their safety ( I tested this by just saying “Excuse me.” while behind or beside them. Only two people registered that they heard me.) The others couldn’t hear me because the music was audible from where I stood, about 3-4 feet away. Three people had to stop short at intersections before crossing the street because they were crossing against the flow of traffic and didn’t notice, they were all texting or reading their phones.

As I proceeded  on Broadway I attempted to get close enough to invade personal space, from the side, rear and front. I used ploys like asking for time and directions or just acted creepy and tried to get  real close. Yes it was a busy afternoon, but I really wanted to see what the level of awareness was. These exercises didn’t take more than an hour. Out of the twenty people I approached in a five block radius (I was on Broadway and 79th street), sixteen of them allowed me into their personal space. After I closed the distance I informed them that they each could have been a victim, some laughed it off and most dismissed it, it was the middle of the day after all and  no one gets attacked in broad daylight, right?

Its this awareness that we stress so much in self defense classes. Awareness or situational awareness as it is sometimes called is the act of not walking around in a fog.  You will often hear when people are attacked or when incidents occur that it just happened ” out of the blue” or “I never saw it coming”. In the case of blindside, ambush attacks or spontaneous acts, this may be possible, the other times however you just weren’t aware.

If you drive you need to be even more aware. I wont go into the amount of people I have seen driving and looking down at phones or just not focusing on whats in front of them. Considering that even a small vehicle can weigh a few tons its in our best interest to focus and be aware while driving what is essentially a large battering ram capable of wreaking devastating damage.

This lack of awareness is becoming more and more prevalent. Not only because of technology. I think the technology just facilitates it, but rather we need to shift our attitude of ” I’m not going to get involved, or ” It has nothing to do with me”. When we choose to be this way we are passively saying-I don’t care.

I invite you to try some of the exercises I did. See how close you can get to other people in normal settings
 ( please don’t get yourself arrested) without them noticing. Understand that those who would victimize others are doing the exact same thing.

Make the choice to be aware, look around on the bus, train and the street you walk down. Unplug the headphones / ear-buds and engage all of your senses. Cultivate a  radar of who and what is around you, this does not mean you walk around paranoid all of the time, but aware. One of the first things we teach in our self defense classes is awareness and its importance. It doesn’t matter how skilled or trained you are if you are walking around in a fog, oblivious to your surroundings.

Keep your eyes and ears open.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body
Sensei Orlando

class, coaching, jackson heights, karate, life, martial arts, philosophy, thoughts

Training and Deferred Gratification

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We live in a era of instant gratification, so it’s something of a paradox to practice something that has no immediate outward manifestation of achievement. When I am asked
“How long will it take until I get my black belt?” A few things come to mind. First of all my impression is that the person is not very serious about training if that is the first question. Those of us who do train understand that achieving the rank of shodan, or first degree black belt is really only the beginning of training. The next thought that surfaces is that the person in question has not absorbed the lesson of deferred gratification and is simply looking for a symbol of status.

Most martial arts are long arduous expressions of countless repetitions done over a long period of time. If you do not internalize the concept of deferred gratification you can quickly become frustrated and disillusioned that your progress is taking so long. This way of being usually comes from not understanding that to embark on the path of training, you have to learn to measure achievements in the span of years and decades.

So how do we learn to incorporate deferred gratification into our training? One way we do it is by not rushing through the ranks. If you allow the student to progress through the ranks at a measured pace, not looking to the next rank but trying to learn everything that is available to him or her at the current rank, the focus becomes less an attitude of “what’s next?” and more an acceptance of “what do I need to work on now?”

Not every school adopts this philosophy, which on occasion leads to getting black belts in 2 years, or 8 yr old black belts. If that works for a specific school, that is their prerogative. In our school it takes quite some time to achieve a high rank, not because we feel it should take a long time, but because other aspects of the character need to be molded, prepared and reach maturity before the responsibility of a black belt is given.

So how should you approach your training? In the moment, cognizant of the fact that a minute is made up of seconds, hours of minutes, days of hours, months of days, and years of months. When you approach your training like this, time becomes irrelevant.

strong spirit, strong mind, strong body
Sensei Orlando

coaching, greatness, ideas, jackson heights, karate, life, philosophy, thoughts, zen

Reverting to Simplicity

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I was walking down the sidewalk with my youngest son when he taught me a wonderful lesson. I was occupied in getting to our destination when he stopped. It was fall and the sidewalk was inundated with fallen leaves. He looked down at the multitude of leaves surrounding him, bent down and picked up two. One for me and one for his mommy. I asked him why he didn’t pick one for himself, and he showed me his pocket, which contained an assortment of leaves, acorns and other assorted “treasures”. Evidently he was much wealthier than I in the leaf department. What I learned from this seemingly innocent exchange is that I (like many of us) can get caught up in all the “extras” of life and overlook the simple treasures that surround us.

Some of the greatest pleasures in life are the simplest, a good book vs. one thousand channels. Water over the next super powered drink. Taking a walk as opposed to driving everywhere. The list is quite extensive. We have managed to surround ourselves with so much that we can literally be in a cocoon from life. How many of us have sat down next to our spouses or partners, watched a movie, but not actually speak with each other? In the larger scheme of things which would you weigh as more important, the movie or a great conversation with the person you have chosen to spend your life with.

Yet each day we are constantly rushing and moving towards, always towards something. So much so that we lose the moment we are in. In our training we have to, by nature of the training embrace the simple. Initially we learn the basics and it seems like a daunting task. After the basics are learned, the more advanced techniques are taught, what students learn is that the advanced techniques are built upon the basic simple ones. You must always revert to simplicity.

In our lives this is a worthwhile pursuit, instead of making our lives about the attainment of material things; let’s pare down what exists so we can appreciate the intangibles.

It is now winter, and there are no leaves on the sidewalk, but I still appreciate the one my son stopped to collect so that I can have a reminder to do the same- stop every so often and let loose my sense of wonder.

Live simply.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

class, greatness, ideas, jackson heights, life, martial arts, philosophy, thoughts, tradition, zen

Why wear a gi?

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A few months ago I was a teaching a children’s class when a comment was made to me. The context for the comment was regarding the expediency of getting the children dressed quickly to maximize their training time. The comment went something like “They don’t really need to dress in their uniforms, I mean I know it looks cool, but it’s taking long and it’s not about looks.” I’m paraphrasing and recalling to the best of my ability. At the time, I didn’t lend the statement much weight (I was trying to get a large class in limited time), but the comment stayed with me for some reason. I started to go over why we wear Dogi or Gi for short.

I researched the history of the gi and found that it had originated with judo founder Jigoro Kano, in addition to a multitude of facts. Everything I found still didn’t answer the fundamental question as to why we wear these items of clothing. Was it tradition? What about all the arts that now sport many different colored gi? Are they somehow inferior because they have opted to wear a different color? To this day, I have not found the ability of any martial art practitioner to be contained in the gi, white or otherwise.

So why wear it?
Part of it is tradition; I enjoy wearing a simple white gi. Notwithstanding all the symbolism about white being a color of purity, I have always preferred a white gi. In practical terms, it’s not actually the best color if you are engaged in hard training that involves blood and sweat. It requires another level of diligence on the part of the student in terms of your training – hygiene (no one enjoys training next to an unwashed gi for long).

The other part is that it is unpretentious and I really prefer simplicity. It took some time, but I came to an answer that satisfied my question. As I observed classes filled with students wearing their gi, I found that on the dojo floor we are all the same. When we don a gi we are leaving the outside world, outside. In a very real sense, it’s a ritual we perform when we put on our gi. We are preparing to face ourselves, our shortcomings, insecurities, faults and strengths. It is a physical act that prepares us for a mental shift. I have witnessed the transformation that occurs when a beginner dons a uniform. They may feel uncertain and unsure initially, but they are dressed the same way everyone else is with no difference, and over a short time are comfortable with the multitude of techniques they are being exposed to. The actual word dogi means “way clothes” and it’s what we wear on the path to self perfection.

In regards to the variety of colors and hues now available for gi, I have always felt that changing the uniform severs our links to the time and culture in which our arts were founded. From what I have seen and what has been shared with me, the norm in most Japanese dojos is austere and simple. You don’t see walls covered in trophies, flags, posters or other distractions. I personally find the gi with the flash and multitude of patches to be garish and uncalled for. Let your techniques and bearing speak for you, not your gi.

The gi we wear is a symbol of unity. On the dojo floor, there is no status – only rank. We all train together, sweat together and grow together, irrespective of how much or how little we make, what we do or do not own, or what position we may have in our jobs or careers. On the dojo floor we all share the common trait of the pursuit of self perfection. One of my senior students shared a profound insight with me recently – The dojo is one of the only places where you can just be. Much of that freedom is provided by wearing a garment that initially, appears to suppress your individuality. What you discover over time, is that free from the constraints of external expression you are capable of a deeper form of expression that is not dependent on what you are wearing.

Now when I’m asked by a prospective student “Do I have to train in a uniform?” My simple answer is-yes, you do.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

coaching, goals, greatness, ideas, jackson heights, karate, mind, philosophy, power, zen

Be Like Bamboo- Flexible in the midst of stress

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I have taken up running as of late. This is not to say that I didn’t run before, but unlike my running in the past, the running I am now undertaking has a certain sense of purpose to it. Inevitably at some point in my running, I encounter the moment that I feel every runner has faced. The moment when you hear that voice that says, maybe you should stop now, this is too difficult, why are you doing this? More on this later.

In our classes which, thanks to a very hot summer have an added challenge since several of the senior students don’t endorse running the air conditioner (much to the dismay of the junior adult students) it can be very easy to give up. It gets very hot very quickly and we train hard. What to do? Aside from the expected ( hydrating and stretching) what we need to do is be flexible and adapt, like the bamboo we can bend but not snap. There are many occasions in our lives when we are faced with situations that threaten to push us to the snapping point. What we must strive to do is bend with these situations, while keeping our centers and our senses of humor.
If we are to be like bamboo, we must be versatile. We must learn to adapt quickly and thrive in any type of situation. Bamboo is capable of growing 24 inches in one day depending on soil and climate. This makes it one of the fastest, if not the fastest growing woody plant. In terms of versatility, bamboo is a food source, used in construction, has medicinal properties, and is used in the textile industry. Musical instruments are made from it, and water can be desalinated with it.

We are taught in martial arts that force meeting force is not the ideal situation, but rather blending or creating an opening is what we should aim for. Being like bamboo is very much like this. When a stronger opposing force presses down on the plant it yields, and in so doing preserves its integrity. By bending with the wind or the storm it can weather these rough moments, to emerge whole and stronger afterwards. We would do well to take this lesson from bamboo, when a stronger force confronts us, do not meet it headlong, find a way to bend and overcome. By so doing you to will emerge whole and stronger.

Getting back to the running and that little voice that says you should quit. Barring any real injury ( I dont think performing any activity while injured is healthy), you need to evaluate where that voice is coming from and why. Is it an attachment we are dealing with? A perspective that is skewed? When you can ascertain why, then you can deal with the source of the voice or attitude that threatens to undermine you. Once the source is dealt with you can truly be like that plant that can weather typhoons and hurricanes and still remain standing.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

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Active Self Defense – Working from your Center

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In our most recent Self-Defense class we worked on using the center. It is an easy concept to understand, while also being one of the most difficult concepts to practice.

The premise is that if you are being attacked or are fending off an attack you want your opponent off balance and off center. You never want your opponent squarely over his base of power and at the same time, you want to remain over yours.

What comes into play is learning how to gauge distance, how to use your body and learning how to apply torque and twisting movements as well as when to take a step back, forward or to either side. Everything we do in self defense uses the concept of centering. When an arm is presented, if you allow the attacker to keep his arm close to his center, this provides leverage and makes it difficult to apply the correct biomechanical response to your advantage. When the same arm is moved away from the center, it becomes much easier to apply force and reinforce the biomechanics of the body, this allows for an easier execution of the self defense technique.

Likewise if you are being attacked, you should remain over your center and control where your balance and power are derived from. Remembering that much if not all of the power is generated from your hips using torque, centering becomes even more important. A lack of awareness in this area will result in poorly executed techniques and a lack of power in strikes.

Remember to always stay centered.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

class, community, jackson heights, philosophy, self-defense

Active Self-Defense – Learning to fall

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Last week, we went over some of our previous techniques, but I had a little surprise in store for the class. I brought out our tumbling mat and when it came time to learn our new technique, we practiced falling. It’s quite a sight to see a child at play, fall. They can run, fall, use the momentum and get up and keep running as if nothing happened. As we get older we have a tendency to forget some of the things that are natural to us as children. Falling is something children can do with style. If you have ever seen a child unleash a temper tantrum you know what I mean. The interesting part is that they can fling themselves to the ground, but not hurt themselves. When it comes to the realm of self defense, it’s important to know how to fall without hurting yourself, should you ever need to go to the ground or are taken to the ground. Intially we are rigid, but after some practice everyone in the class was getting the concept of “rolling to the floor”. The idea is to think of yourself as a sphere and rather than fall back flat on your back, roll yourself to the ground letting the shock and impact “roll through you” rather than your body absorbing the impact.

The other ability children seem to have inherently is making themselves “heavy”. We have all experienced this. A child is busy having fun and it’s time to cut the fun short. The child is not having it, he wants to continue having fun! You go to pick up your child and find that instead of weighing twenty pounds, he has discovered the secret of super gravity and now weighs one hundred pounds! We all have this ability and many times its essential in defending yourself to displace your weight in such a way that you are “heavier” than you may seem. If someone wants to grab you and lift you from the ground, from any angle of attack, you can displace your weight so that you are heavier.

As adults there are many things we have to “relearn”, but with enough practice we will find that these things, like falling and being heavy are part of us waiting to be rediscovered.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

class, community, jackson heights, philosophy, self-defense

Active Self Defense – The EWW Factor

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When I describe certain techniques in our self defense class I invariably get what I call the EWW factor. What I call the EWW factor is the expression I get every time I instruct someone in the group to shatter a knee or break a finger.
First the idea crosses the person’s mind, then the actuality sinks in, “I should do what?” Then the reaction of denial, “I can’t possibly do that to another person, after all I’m civilized” Here is where the mistake is being made. We somehow think that the person who wants to commit bodily harm is actually thinking of our well being . We default to our “nice” way of being because it’s all we know and practice often. I want to dispel that myth for you right now. Someone who is attacking you and wants to harm you or your loved ones deserves no kind of consideration. There are no rules when it comes to your defense.What you need to do is devastate that person immediately without hesitation. I can assure that you are being viewed as a resource: either you have money, valuables, or even your person is the target of the attacker. The person attacking you has stripped you of any vestige of humanity and views you as less than what you are. It is your job to correct that impression and to do so with the utmost ferocity.

When I say grab a finger and break it, or take an elbow and smash it into a face. What I am saying to you is that you need to do whatever it takes so you go home safe, sound and alive. If I emphasize a technique that shatters a knee, it’s so that person can no longer follow you to harm you.

Each Wednesday evening, we break through the “EWW” Factor as I demonstrate techniques and then have them done on me, not delicately, but hard and with intention. It’s great to see the realization dawn on a person’s face when they realize they can do a technique that doesn’t require strength, just a knowledge of bio-mechanics. If we do them often enough, the conditioning of “niceness” that we have can be overridden. We can be devastating and explosive if and when the need arises. Self Defense is 90% awareness and 10% technique. That being said, the 10% needs to be effective, powerful, and practical.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando