Dale Seago on Mythbusters

[Dale Seago]

Pain is it's own reward!
Give thanks for your pain and ask for more!

Pain is just fear leaving your body.

[Bugbear]

Pain is just fear leaving your body.

The only body I know is the body being made in my mind.

[Bugbear]

Well, I have my full range of motion again. It's still a little tender, but not bad! Thanks for asking. Darned cocky 13 year old... (Of course, he has a good reason to be cocky... He's getting quick!)

Whipper snapper.
Glad you're ok, Hawk.

[Nighthawk]

Whipper snapper.
Glad you're ok, Hawk.

You know, the thing with this whipper snapper is... He's my student! In Justin Kyoshi's school, you have to train a student from a novice to the point where he/she is proficient in the art before you can test for your second degree black belt. I don't have my first degree black belt yet, and this kid is already getting good. He's advanced so fast, it's amazing! I wish I could take all of the credit... but as he's got natural talent, and a drive to excel, I can only take some of the credit. I am rather proud of this kid, and the part I've been lucky enough to play in his training. I'm pretty good, but this kid is going to be amazing by the time he's 18.

Pain is just fear leaving your body.

Well, I can't attest to that... All I know is that when I asked Justin to fix my thumb (he being a shiatsu masseuse as well as brilliant martial arts instructor) he grabbed my hand and just about brought me to tears... and then made it feel better! I have come to the conclusion that to be a martial arts instructor, you have to have a bit of a sadistic streak. As I plan to take over for Mike Sensei when he opens his own dojo next year, I better start working on that... I have no sadism in me at all! Both Justin and Mike seem to delight in the new torture of the evening...

Dale, if you're interested, this our school's website:

http://www.goldeneagleshotokan.com/

[Bugbear]

You know, the thing with this whipper snapper is... He's my student! In Justin Kyoshi's school, you have to train a student from a novice to the point where he/she is proficient in the art before you can test for your second degree black belt. I don't have my first degree black belt yet, and this kid is already getting good. He's advanced so fast, it's amazing! I wish I could take all of the credit... but as he's got natural talent, and a drive to excel, I can only take some of the credit. I am rather proud of this kid, and the part I've been lucky enough to play in his training. I'm pretty good, but this kid is going to be amazing by the time he's 18.

In other words... you're training him how to kick your butt.

[Nighthawk]

In other words... you're training him how to kick your butt.

...and it would seem I'm doing too good a job!!

[Dale Seago]

Pain is it's own reward!
Give thanks for your pain and ask for more!

Pain is just fear leaving your body.

I just want to point out that when I made the above comment I was doing so as a bit of a joke in reference to a view commonly held in what might be called "low-level" martial arts, and in higher-level ones by people who only understand them at a superficial level. It's the sort of mentality that equates martial art with athletic effort manifesting mainly in speed and muscle-power. I'm doing this because it's been conveyed to me by readers of that comment that some may feel the latter view is actually what I'm advocating.

In actuality, in the Bujinkan great emphasis is placed on proper structural alignment, weight shifting, correct sequencing of muscle groups in a movement, etc., etc. exactly as in Tai Chi in order not only to be maximally efficient but to avoid damaging one's own body in training.

And we don't even perceive things in the same way as a lot of more modern systems in interacting with an opponent. From my website:

What really distinguishes Bujinkan budo from other martial arts?

One thing is that as a comprehensive or “total” life-protection system, it does not “specialize” in particular kinds of applications as many arts do. That is, it does not “emphasize” primarily grappling and throwing as in judo; striking and kicking as in karate; or any particular weapon as in kendo. Everything is used freely, including unconventional weapons; unconventional applications of common weapons; and concealed weapons. This is one aspect of the Bujinkan’s happo bikenjutsu or “secret sword” methods.

Much more significant, however, is the fact that the physical training is approached via a completely different conceptual paradigm from that of other martial arts. In other systems the focus is on learning particular techniques and applying them against an opponent. In Bujinkan budo as Hatsumi sensei is teaching it, there is a very different way of viewing one’s relationship with the opponent. Just as in a Japanese Zen garden the shapes of the spaces between objects are every bit as important as the nature and positions of the objects themselves in the overall composition, so in our martial art perceiving and controlling the shape of the space between yourself and the opponent is critical to mastery.

One way of thinking about this is that if you try to deal with an opponent’s weapon (fist, knife, gun, etc.) the person himself may still kill you. It is more effective to try to control the opponent himself, because then you control the weapon also; but in that case you still will have a fight on your hands and the outcome is still in doubt. If you control the space your opponent wishes to use, however, he is totally neutralized and all his efforts are ineffective. Senior U.S. Bujinkan instructor and former Marine officer Jack Hoban, has expressed this idea eloquently in military terms: Your unit can try to outshoot an enemy force, but it can be a grueling ordeal with heavy casualties on both sides. . .and you may be defeated. But if you control the terrain around the enemy so that you can reach him easily, while he cannot fire on you and cannot maneuver without exposing himself to your own fire, his defeat is inevitable. . .and you may save lives on the “enemy” side as well as your own. Whether the opponent lives or dies thus becomes, in a very profound sense, his own decision.

Another way of expressing the concept is that where other arts tend to operate from left-brain hemisphere processes (linear, logical, focused on performance of technique), Bujinkan budo draws more on right-brain hemisphere intuition and perception of shape, pattern, and the total context of the situation.

It's sort of a Lovecraftian other-dimensional way of seeing, feeling, and moving "Not in the spaces known to Man but between them. . ."

[Bugbear]

I was joking in my comments too. I think I heard a wrestling coach say that once long ago.

* Talking about my post that is being quoted.

[Chirs]

I just want to point out that when I made the above comment I was doing so as a bit of a joke in reference to a view commonly held in what might be called "low-level" martial arts, and in higher-level ones by people who only understand them at a superficial level. It's the sort of mentality that equates martial art with athletic effort manifesting mainly in speed and muscle-power. I'm doing this because it's been conveyed to me by readers of that comment that some may feel the latter view is actually what I'm advocating.

In actuality, in the Bujinkan great emphasis is placed on proper structural alignment, weight shifting, correct sequencing of muscle groups in a movement, etc., etc. exactly as in Tai Chi in order not only to be maximally efficient but to avoid damaging one's own body in training.
...

I am glad you clarified that. I was wondering if I'd misunderstood you as a reasonable person.

I knew a man who practised ninjitsu and everything I understood from him is more in accord with what you have quoted from your web site. And, in fact, one could see that philosophy in his general behaviour. He always seemed to have a sense of where he was and where others were, both physically and non-physically. He always demonstrated an awareness that went beyond the obvious.

[Nighthawk]

So what you're saying, Dale, is that your style is a genuine martial art. Martial arts should give emphasis on proper physiology. That again is one of the many things that you and Justin Kyoshi have in common- he actually specializing in training people with disabilities and teaching them how best to work within their own unique physiology.