Today I trained at the Cornell Plantations. It is a wonderful place to visit.
I practiced on the two bridges that cross the Grossman and Houston ponds. These wetlands provide an important wildlife habitat. You can hear birds singing and frogs croaking in these videos.
Grossman Pond - Cornell Plantations
Houston Pond - Cornell Plantations
In the first three videos, I practice on a wooden beam. An important aspect of martial arts training is body position. You always need to know where your feet are. Chinese-Okinawan kata are usually designed so you wind up on the same spot. Training on narrow surfaces is beneficial for this.
In this segment, I practice two basic movements. The first movement is well suited to a narrow stance. The second movement benefits from a wider stance, which, you can see, I initially find challenging on the narrow surface, so I shift to a more narrow, less balanced stance for the training.
This is a repetition of the first basic thrusting technique shown above. One benefit of living in Ithaca is that we have first-rate, professional, courteous Law Enforcement. I practice with my stick in public places all over Ithaca, and, as you can see below, get friendly support from our LEOs. Unless you have a school/gym with a high ceiling, it is best to practice the spear outside. If you want to practice in a public place, some LEOs might raise an issue. So it might be best to stop by your local P.D. and ask to speak with an officer about where and when training in public places could be an issue. I believe the smaller the stick, the less of a problem. In general, I train in public with a broomstick-length weapon. Those would likely be less of a problem with LEOs.
I do have personal rules to follow when practicing in public. I never swing my weapon near others. If someone wants to come and ask questions, I never swing my weapon. Sometimes small children are fascinated. I let the parents know right away that I don’t swing my stick anywhere near children.
I occasionally get a request to spar, especially among the young. I tell people that in the public, there is a lot of risk of sparring. If they persist, I mention that the skill to spar only comes after many years of training, and that I still have quite a ways to go. I ask them if they would like to train with me for a few years, that we could spar after.
I like to practice on bridges, and because of the gorges surrounding Ithaca, we have a lot of them here. I will have a lot of bridge training video in the future. Whenever I notice someone getting near the bridge I always stop and give lots of room for people to pass.
Since I practice in Ithaca, I only rarely get the odd drive-by heckler, but some are fun. “Ah Daniel-san” is my favorite.
In a previous post, I taught taught a basic form that benefits from practice on a narrow surface. I practice it twice here.
At the Gazebo on the Houston Pond bridge, I met lovely group of women: a 98 year old Kendall resident, her niece and her daughter. You can hear their conversation in the background.
The niece, visiting from London is a former Phys Ed teacher. Prior to that she played Lacrosse for the British national team.
The daughter, Myra White, was visiting from Boston. You can see Myra in this next video crossing the bridge at 2:00. Myra is a Harvard Professor and management consultant and you can find some of her useful management tips at management-issues.com. Here is her latest column, How Stress Impacts Decision Makers, just published today.
Myra comments that she had studied Tai Chi with a Boston teacher who had taught some Tai Chi movements with a long staff.
We have had a lot of rain the past few days, and the bridge was very slippery. You can see me sliding at 4:30. It is beneficial to train on slick surfaces. It requires lots of body control, and you use muscle groups in different ways to maintain your center of balance.
Some movements, especially those designed to cover distance, need to be modified. I will review these movements again in a later post to better demonstrate those that are designed to cover distance.
At 6:00 minutes I practice the full beginner form. Before I start, I compare the opening movement of this form with the form I posted a couple of days ago. Clip 4 (7:30)
I really enjoy training at the Plantations. This is a video of basics training from a year ago.