The Lost Art of Visualization

In the POST-Taika world we live in, there have been a lot more people coming out of the woodwork and posting videos.  One of the reasons that RyuTe® is not very well known is that Taika had a ban on video uploads on the net whereas all the exiles didn’t have to follow those rules, thus many more people have heard of Ryukyu Kempo than of RyuTe®.  That is kind of sad when you think that Taika used the name Ryukyu Kempo for 15 years after immigrating to the United States (1977 to 1992) and used the name RyuTe® Ren Mei for 20 years before his death.  But as usual, I got sidetracked from the post topic…

In the recent release of all the masters scurrying to fill the void, I am noticing a lot of things when people are posting videos of exercises and techniques I've been exposed to for years……the lack of Visualization.

Visualization: The ability to see not only where your opponent is in relation to the exercise you are performing, but their anatomy, their kinesthetic movements and your changing relations and positions during the exercise.

We all probably have our favorite exercises, and for me that would be the original 1995 Spider Web, as well as the multitude of various add-ons and complete remix that occurred later up to about 2000.  Seeing this exercise and others resurface, particularly on the net over the past two years has brought to light a problem I see with a lot of artist, and for me Spider Web was the exercise that brought this to light in my own study back in 1995. 

Back at Taika’s dojo in 1995 and later at the 1996 Summer Camp at Tall Oaks, I would watch the sessions as everyone learned this exercise and as Taika explained the practical application of it.  We would do each little section and then perform the techniques on a live body.  Regrettably, when we got home most of us didn't have a willing body to abuse, so you did the exercise but not the practical hands on part.  I spent a vast amount of time on this exercise and it is where I first learned to really try and visualize my opponent.  This got my hands, feet, and general body motions refined over time.  It was a great learning experience and still probably the exercise I enjoy and understand the best.

Now what started this rant, was me seeing versions of this starting to surface on the net.  I've seen versions in real life as well, and I’m not saying by any means that I’m perfect, but I think some people need to slow down and look at themselves when they perform an exercise.  Really take the time to analyze yourself.  I’m seeing some wild wacky things now that Taika is gone.  I recently watched a video where the opponent’s arms, of the particular practitioner, would have to be about two feet thick.  I don’t care if this practitioner is visualizing Arnold Schwarzenegger during his peak performance years, his arms are not that thick.  Perhaps this individual was visualizing a space alien and preparing for an invasion.  There was also some amazingly useless hand flourishes and other portions that if done on a real opponent would just simply not work.  Everyone that learned this exercise at any of the seminars back in the 90’s also got the bunkai or practical part with it in various paired exercises.  This is one of the great things about picking Spider Web for learning visualization as opposed to one of the 14 kata in the system.  You actually are 100% sure of all the bunkai because Taika gave it all to us, right up front.  

In training, you should use visualization to understand what you are doing.  Even from the simple steps of visualizing a mirrored opponent in a horse stance and learning to land your ‘middle punch’ exactly where the brachial plexus tie-in is every single time.  You are learning to aim.  Then you can step it up and add your movement to the visualization and then the movement of your imaginary friend.  This is something you should do painfully slow at first.  Slight movements and snail speed.  Imagine what your opponent is doing, and think if that is how you would logically act if you were the opponent.  Include in your visualization them bending over, them falling back or shifting, et cetera.  One great thing that many martial arts styles don’t believe in, is kata.  Kata and exercises (which in reality are just unnamed kata) build up muscle memory and make things instinctual.  If you are going to make things instinctual, it would probably be in your best interest to do the moves correctly.

VISUALIZE!!

I continue to work on this exercise.  I do it fast, I do it slow, and sometimes in between.  But I do it with visualization, always thinking about the positions of my opponent.  I teach it to my students by saying things to lead them to visualization like, the opponent throws his right punch towards your face, you parry and hook his wrist, et cetera.  And most importantly, I check for drift by watching my instructor, Taika Seiyu Oyata, performing the steps and paired techniques on one of my most cherished videos.