The Top Ten Principles Of Yachigusa Ryu Aiki Bugei - #7 Feet Always Pull and #8 Hands Always Push
Since I first stated that the techniques taught at my school were based on principles, and that we focus more on understanding the principles that makes things work than the techniques themselves, people have e-mailed me asking me if I could explain these principles in more detail.
Unfortunately, trying to explain many of these principals in writing is very difficult, since many can’t be explained in words alone. However, I will try my best to describe these principles for the “blog” readers, using words, charts and pictures.
Keep in mind though, that in order to sometimes fully understand a principle you have to also understand other principles that relate to it. Most principles aren’t fully useable on their own, and have to be integrated with others.
To be honest, when I started to write explanations for the top ten principles I had no idea how to properly explain this one. I also knew that photographs would basically be useless since on a static image a push can look like a pull, and a pull can look like a push.
In addition, the terminology used to describe these principles may just be a matter of linguistics. Many arm movements that we consider a "push" could reasonably be called a "pull" from other points of view. I speculate that many martial art practitioners, especially those involved with older Budo arts that have a multitude of joint locks and projections, already utilize these principles even if they are unaware of whether the movement they make is a push or a pull—or even why it matters.
I know that in my case, I had never thought about it until I heard Don Angier, Soke of Yanagi Ryu, explain this principle at a seminar. Then it dawned on me why my teacher was so “fanatic” about moving my arms and feet in such a specific manner. Thus, while I knew these principles already, I credit Mr. Angier for the terminology, since prior to him I had no word/phrase to explain these concepts.
Of course, it still took me a few years more of examination before I discovered that these principles were always applicable and yet more years to start to explain them properly. My explanations are often made with physical demonstrations showing the different reactions pushing and/or pulling make on one’s uke (person receiving the technique) during a technique.
Fortunately, while I may lack the skills to adequately explain these two principles in writing on my own, I have some very intelligent senior students (one of whom has a degree in physics) who were patient enough to discuss the best way to explain these two principles based on their personal insights.
Basically, and most importantly, both principles mean exactly what they say. In any given martial arts technique involving a throw or projection, one's feet always pull, and one's hands always push. If you push with your feet or pull with your arms the technique will be more difficult.
According to Spencer, (my student with the physics degree) when you push you increase pressure and make yourself bigger. When you pull you decrease pressure and make yourself smaller.
Per Spencer:
Now I’ll be honest, I never thought of it the way Spencer explained it above, but it makes sense.
As for me, I’ve always found that pulling with the arms usually requires too much strength, and that my opponent rarely moves into the position I want him to go to. In fact, in most instances my opponent either falls on me, becomes too heavy for me to move, twists around me, or crowds me so much that I don’t have enough space to position myself correctly. In a life or death confrontation, none of these mistakes, even if they are minor, are acceptable.
When it comes to using my feet, I notice that if I use them to push my opponent, my opponent rarely if ever becomes weighted (grounded to the floor); all I end up doing is either bouncing off him or making him step away, neither direction being good for much. In fact, if I’m bouncing backwards my instability can certainly be used against me, and clearly it makes it hard to recover my momentum. In addition, by not pulling with the legs I certainly need to use more power to be effective.
Since I was taught that in order to be an effective fighter one must first be in control of themselves and their movements, I’ve adopted the principles of Hands Always Push/Feet Always Pull in to make sure that I consistently perform my techniques.
Back in the 80’s when I did judo in college, I rarely questioned my coaches when they said to “push and pull” my opponent to break his kazushi (balance). I always assumed they meant push with the hands, and pull with the feet. However, I once went to a judo seminar where “pulling” with the hands was actually how the instructor described the entry for the throw. Funny thing was the throw was Osoto-gari (major outside reaping throw), which if analyzed is a clear illustration of a push with the hands/pull with your feet technique—more so that almost any other judo throw one could name.
Of course, when discussing how to do osoto-gari, whether one thinks that either or both hands make a pushing and/or pulling motion is really a matter of perspective. I really have no intention of upsetting any judoka who wish to believe in their methodology, terminology, or explanations. If the techniques works, explain it anyway you want to.
However, let me take a moment to explain my assertion.
First of all, I don’t think anyone will argue that the feet pull in this throw. The sweeping motion is clearly pulling the opponent’s leg from underneath them.
As for the hands, I was always taught the hands moved in a sort of steering wheel motion. This is the kind of the motion one would make to avoid a sudden obstacle in the road while driving. It turns out that when we drive, we “push” the steering wheel, few if any of us pull the steering wheel. In fact in the police academy you are specifically taught to move the steering wheel in such a manner.
The fact is when it comes to the handwork used to complete osoto-gari, one hand pushes the uke back, while the other hand pushes the uke down and to the side. Neither hand movement is a pull. In addition, during the pull with the legs, the hands often continue pushing the uke to the ground adding even more force to the throw.
Example:
#1 – Osoto-gari done correctly using the push with the hands/pull with the feet principle.
#2 – Osoto-gari done incorrectly, using a pull with one hand and a push with the second. While the movement might look similar in the photo, in this case the "pull" of the left arm was done with the biceps while the "push" above was done with the triceps.
Note the difference of the uke’s body position in both sets of photos. When osoto-gari is done correctly the hands make room for the tori to pass and enter in. The uke is also leaning less to the side and more to the back, over the foot that is about to be swept. When done incorrectly the tori is forced to come around the uke completely changing the uke’s body position, and making the throw much harder to complete, if it’s even possible to complete at this point.
I could go on and describe several other judo throws in this same manner, but I won't. If you’re really interested you can test the difference pushing and pulling with your hands will make on your own. Chances are you’ve already experienced both results, without even realizing what went right or what went wrong when trying to do a specific technique.
However, I would be remiss if I didn’t give you one last technique to contemplate, which is another aspect of the hands always push principle. In this case it has to do with chokeholds. To illustrate my point I will discuss a commonly taught constriction technique called kata-juji-jime (half cross choke).
The above is an illustration of how most judoka are taught to do this technique, which is extremely effective. It is actually my favorite constriction, and this technique helped me win several matches during my college years.
However, before I did judo I was taught this same technique, the difference being I was never on the ground when I applied it. I was also never taught to pull my hands in order to apply pressure as I was told to do by my judo coach.
The way I was taught was to push/bring my elbows together, which brings my hands together sort of like the working ends of a vise grip. This method not only allowed me to use all of my arms muscles to apply pressure, in a very natural motion, but also placed my opponent in a position where he could be immediately brought to the ground.
Like I said it’s just something to think about, and experiment with. (** Constrictions techniques should never be attempted in practice without a qualified instructor present since they are extremely dangerous. **)
The above photograph is an example of a projection done with a pull of the legs. While the hands form the connection and help direct the opponent to the side, it is the rear kneeling drop that takes the attacker past his triangulation point and to the ground.
If one were attempting this technique with the use of a pull with hands the results would be quite different. Sure, the person would still fall, but he would fall directly into the person doing the technique. Ouch! The technique would also require a lot more force to execute, force that could be felt, and countered.
The sudden rear drop is also unexpected, and allows the tori to use all their weight against the uke.
#2
The above is an example of a projection done with the push of the hands. The right hand is raised and pushes to the left. The left hand goes dead, allowing the uke’s weight to push it back. There is no pulling action, the left arm does nothing but go dead.
Once the uke’s stability is completely broken there is a slight body drop and back-pressure (see forthcoming essay on the principle of Back Pressure) is applied.
Whether the strict accuracy of "Hands Always Push and Feet Always Pull" is a case of linguistic quibbling or not is arguable. I use this terminology because it suits my needs, and I can show what happens in a given technique if I use one or the other method.
My intention in sharing our principles is not to tell others how they should train, or to say I’m so gifted and skilled that my way is right and the only way things should be done. These principles, and the way I apply them work for me, and my students. They are right for us.
Like Bruce Lee stated, his martial art system was all about whatever works for you. Whatever is right for you is how you should practice.
Unfortunately, trying to explain many of these principals in writing is very difficult, since many can’t be explained in words alone. However, I will try my best to describe these principles for the “blog” readers, using words, charts and pictures.
Keep in mind though, that in order to sometimes fully understand a principle you have to also understand other principles that relate to it. Most principles aren’t fully useable on their own, and have to be integrated with others.
Feet Always Pull / Hands Always Push
(Aka: Feet Never Push / Hands Never Pull)To be honest, when I started to write explanations for the top ten principles I had no idea how to properly explain this one. I also knew that photographs would basically be useless since on a static image a push can look like a pull, and a pull can look like a push.
In addition, the terminology used to describe these principles may just be a matter of linguistics. Many arm movements that we consider a "push" could reasonably be called a "pull" from other points of view. I speculate that many martial art practitioners, especially those involved with older Budo arts that have a multitude of joint locks and projections, already utilize these principles even if they are unaware of whether the movement they make is a push or a pull—or even why it matters.
I know that in my case, I had never thought about it until I heard Don Angier, Soke of Yanagi Ryu, explain this principle at a seminar. Then it dawned on me why my teacher was so “fanatic” about moving my arms and feet in such a specific manner. Thus, while I knew these principles already, I credit Mr. Angier for the terminology, since prior to him I had no word/phrase to explain these concepts.
Of course, it still took me a few years more of examination before I discovered that these principles were always applicable and yet more years to start to explain them properly. My explanations are often made with physical demonstrations showing the different reactions pushing and/or pulling make on one’s uke (person receiving the technique) during a technique.
Fortunately, while I may lack the skills to adequately explain these two principles in writing on my own, I have some very intelligent senior students (one of whom has a degree in physics) who were patient enough to discuss the best way to explain these two principles based on their personal insights.
Basically, and most importantly, both principles mean exactly what they say. In any given martial arts technique involving a throw or projection, one's feet always pull, and one's hands always push. If you push with your feet or pull with your arms the technique will be more difficult.
According to Spencer, (my student with the physics degree) when you push you increase pressure and make yourself bigger. When you pull you decrease pressure and make yourself smaller.
Per Spencer:
“With Aiki techniques it is vital that you don’t let the pressure you have on the uke’s body with your hands slip, if it does you will lose kazushi. If you pull your arms, you will reduce that pressure and create space inside the technique that the uke can wiggle around in and readjust. Thus you must always push to keep your uke tied up with no space.
With your feet (which are only connected to the uke via your hands) on the other hand, pressure is created by decreasing the space between your bodies, which is accomplished by pulling. In addition, for the same direction of motion, pulling with the front leg is smoother than pushing with the back leg; if you push you risk bumping the uke’s hip away from you.”
Now I’ll be honest, I never thought of it the way Spencer explained it above, but it makes sense.
As for me, I’ve always found that pulling with the arms usually requires too much strength, and that my opponent rarely moves into the position I want him to go to. In fact, in most instances my opponent either falls on me, becomes too heavy for me to move, twists around me, or crowds me so much that I don’t have enough space to position myself correctly. In a life or death confrontation, none of these mistakes, even if they are minor, are acceptable.
When it comes to using my feet, I notice that if I use them to push my opponent, my opponent rarely if ever becomes weighted (grounded to the floor); all I end up doing is either bouncing off him or making him step away, neither direction being good for much. In fact, if I’m bouncing backwards my instability can certainly be used against me, and clearly it makes it hard to recover my momentum. In addition, by not pulling with the legs I certainly need to use more power to be effective.
Since I was taught that in order to be an effective fighter one must first be in control of themselves and their movements, I’ve adopted the principles of Hands Always Push/Feet Always Pull in to make sure that I consistently perform my techniques.
Back in the 80’s when I did judo in college, I rarely questioned my coaches when they said to “push and pull” my opponent to break his kazushi (balance). I always assumed they meant push with the hands, and pull with the feet. However, I once went to a judo seminar where “pulling” with the hands was actually how the instructor described the entry for the throw. Funny thing was the throw was Osoto-gari (major outside reaping throw), which if analyzed is a clear illustration of a push with the hands/pull with your feet technique—more so that almost any other judo throw one could name.
Of course, when discussing how to do osoto-gari, whether one thinks that either or both hands make a pushing and/or pulling motion is really a matter of perspective. I really have no intention of upsetting any judoka who wish to believe in their methodology, terminology, or explanations. If the techniques works, explain it anyway you want to.
However, let me take a moment to explain my assertion.
First of all, I don’t think anyone will argue that the feet pull in this throw. The sweeping motion is clearly pulling the opponent’s leg from underneath them.
As for the hands, I was always taught the hands moved in a sort of steering wheel motion. This is the kind of the motion one would make to avoid a sudden obstacle in the road while driving. It turns out that when we drive, we “push” the steering wheel, few if any of us pull the steering wheel. In fact in the police academy you are specifically taught to move the steering wheel in such a manner.
The fact is when it comes to the handwork used to complete osoto-gari, one hand pushes the uke back, while the other hand pushes the uke down and to the side. Neither hand movement is a pull. In addition, during the pull with the legs, the hands often continue pushing the uke to the ground adding even more force to the throw.
Example:
#1 – Osoto-gari done correctly using the push with the hands/pull with the feet principle.
#2 – Osoto-gari done incorrectly, using a pull with one hand and a push with the second. While the movement might look similar in the photo, in this case the "pull" of the left arm was done with the biceps while the "push" above was done with the triceps.
Note the difference of the uke’s body position in both sets of photos. When osoto-gari is done correctly the hands make room for the tori to pass and enter in. The uke is also leaning less to the side and more to the back, over the foot that is about to be swept. When done incorrectly the tori is forced to come around the uke completely changing the uke’s body position, and making the throw much harder to complete, if it’s even possible to complete at this point.
I could go on and describe several other judo throws in this same manner, but I won't. If you’re really interested you can test the difference pushing and pulling with your hands will make on your own. Chances are you’ve already experienced both results, without even realizing what went right or what went wrong when trying to do a specific technique.
However, I would be remiss if I didn’t give you one last technique to contemplate, which is another aspect of the hands always push principle. In this case it has to do with chokeholds. To illustrate my point I will discuss a commonly taught constriction technique called kata-juji-jime (half cross choke).
The above is an illustration of how most judoka are taught to do this technique, which is extremely effective. It is actually my favorite constriction, and this technique helped me win several matches during my college years.
However, before I did judo I was taught this same technique, the difference being I was never on the ground when I applied it. I was also never taught to pull my hands in order to apply pressure as I was told to do by my judo coach.
The way I was taught was to push/bring my elbows together, which brings my hands together sort of like the working ends of a vise grip. This method not only allowed me to use all of my arms muscles to apply pressure, in a very natural motion, but also placed my opponent in a position where he could be immediately brought to the ground.
Like I said it’s just something to think about, and experiment with. (** Constrictions techniques should never be attempted in practice without a qualified instructor present since they are extremely dangerous. **)
Other Examples
#1The above photograph is an example of a projection done with a pull of the legs. While the hands form the connection and help direct the opponent to the side, it is the rear kneeling drop that takes the attacker past his triangulation point and to the ground.
If one were attempting this technique with the use of a pull with hands the results would be quite different. Sure, the person would still fall, but he would fall directly into the person doing the technique. Ouch! The technique would also require a lot more force to execute, force that could be felt, and countered.
The sudden rear drop is also unexpected, and allows the tori to use all their weight against the uke.
#2
The above is an example of a projection done with the push of the hands. The right hand is raised and pushes to the left. The left hand goes dead, allowing the uke’s weight to push it back. There is no pulling action, the left arm does nothing but go dead.
Once the uke’s stability is completely broken there is a slight body drop and back-pressure (see forthcoming essay on the principle of Back Pressure) is applied.
Whether the strict accuracy of "Hands Always Push and Feet Always Pull" is a case of linguistic quibbling or not is arguable. I use this terminology because it suits my needs, and I can show what happens in a given technique if I use one or the other method.
My intention in sharing our principles is not to tell others how they should train, or to say I’m so gifted and skilled that my way is right and the only way things should be done. These principles, and the way I apply them work for me, and my students. They are right for us.
Like Bruce Lee stated, his martial art system was all about whatever works for you. Whatever is right for you is how you should practice.
Labels: Essays, Principles, Technical
<< Home