West Coast Swing: The Extension of Principles

From Body to Bo with Sensei Cody Stewart

The West Coast of Canada is known for various things (swing dancing, cowboys and mountains to name a few), but hidden between the four corners of Calgary is one of the most talented martial artists I have seen. Between June 6^th and 16^th, 2013 I had various opportunities to train with Sensei Cody Stewart at his dojo at the University of Calgary and a Yamane Ryu bojutsu seminar taught by him in Chilliwack, British Columbia. Sensei Cody is a Shidoin and currently working towards his Renshi in Koryu Uchinadi Kenpo Jutsu (KU for short). Not only this, but Sensei Cody holds a Yondan in KU, a Nidan in Tae Kwon Do, a Shodan in Wado Kai and really knows how to swing a stick around. In the following, I will share my experience training with Sensei Cody, in terms of what he taught during our training sessions and seminar, his teaching style and what I gained both in terms of technical and philosophical understanding through my trip through the lens of the learning principle of Shuhari.  

Sensei Don Shapland & Sensei Cody Stewart

         

Shu/守 “learning from tradition”

I feel my initial training sessions with Sensei Cody represents shu of the learning process. At the University of Calgary we stuck with the Nyumon (entry level) curriculum, focusing on the basics and fundamental elements of body mechanics.

Leading up to my arrival, I was given the opportunity to attend all the classes offered by the Bunbukan Karate Club—the dojo Sensei Cody teaches with—headed by Sensei Alan Colter (Nidan KU).  Upon arriving at the class, I was welcomed to the dojo by the critical stare of Sensei Cody.  Sensei Cody has been described by some of his students as rather “picky”. I view Sensei Cody more like that of a four-year-old tracking a bug in the grass: inquisitively watching, but always on the verge of gently stomping on you—depending, of course, on how well you perform your techniques.   

            Sensei Cody started my stomping.... I mean “lesson” from the beginning, tsuki waza—a series of 210 punches. One and a half movement in, I hear “Stop!”

I thought, “Seriously?”

            I was given at least 5 things to work on! Starting from my feet to the top of my head, I was given things to improve on to promote greater power and stability. Picky, yes, but this is only in the effort to offer greater insight into what we were practicing; maybe, Sensei Cody would be better defined as “intellectually generous”.

            After this, we also worked on Shi Ho Uke waza level 1, Heishu waza, Keri waza and their respective partner drills, as well as Taisabaki Oyo waza 1 through 6. While working on these, Sensei Cody demonstrated his technical expertise; his understanding of body mechanics is only outdone by his keen eye for detail. For any student who seeks perfection in any movement, I highly recommend this instructor for you. Sensei Cody’s technical skill and understanding is not only reflected in his ability to apply them, but also in his ability to explain them.  As a learner, Sensei Cody appears to be a kinesthetic and visual learner, but his teaching of the Nyumon material was highly inclusive, extending to all learning types. 

            Moreover, Sensei Cody’s teaching skills not only applied to teaching on an individual level, which I was so fortunate to experience, but also in a seminar format. While teaching at the Yamane Ryu and KU fundamentals seminar in BC, hosted by Sensei Don Shapland, we worked through the basics of Tanbo and Bo with proper form being emphasized, such as extending through the point of contact, remembering what part of the weapon you want to hit with and most importantly AIM! Sensei Cody’s demonstration of technique for the visual learners was always impressive; he would say, “It’s just like this!” BAM! Disarm.  For the kinesthetic learners, he would walk around and work with those who needed that help. For those who were principle-based students, he would say, “as a general rule...” For auditory learners, he would draw examples and create conversation. What I found most impressive was his ability to extend basic principles of leverage to all the weapons we used, extending from our own body to Tanbo to Bo. For example, we learned how to apply chokes as applications for Naifanchin using our own body, the gi, as well as with the Bo and Tanbo, by creating a class two lever around the neck; the hand gripping the weapon or garment acts as a fulcrum, the neck as the load and the other hand applies effort to the opposite end of the weapon to create pressure on the carotid artery or esophagus.

            Here, I look at coming back to basics as a way of “learning from tradition”. By emphasizing the proper body mechanics in our one-on-one lessons, I will be able to extend those to all my drills, whether solo- or partner-based practices, as well as apply them to extensions of the body, like the Bo or Tanbo.

             

Sensei Alan & Myla White (a promising young martial artist)
working through a short Tanbo drill

           

Ha/破 “breaking from tradition”  

Whilst going through the Nyumon, Sensei Cody shared simple ways of looking at the Oyo’s in a more practical manner. For example, instead of rolling out of the Oyo for chudan dai ichi, Sensei Cody suggested pressing the opponent’s arm into their face forcing them to look to the ground, then stepping away into a fighting position. In this instance, instead of rolling out and doing the courtesy bow to our partner after finishing a section of the drill, I was taught to maintain the perspective that our “partner” was the “opponent”. This breaks from the traditional practice of bowing. I felt I was able to maintain the intent of each application, as there was never an identification of roles such as “I am the Tori”, “This is my uke”, or “we are partners”; the person who stood before me was the opponent, nothing else. 

Furthermore, the idea of the “opponent” I found to be especially important while dealing with Bo or Tanbo. The application of basic techniques found, for example, in Pechin Kumi Bo—Yamane Ryu’s basic partner drill—was entirely dependent on one’s ability to maintain intent: blinding flash of the obvious, just like ALL drills. It was shocking that in a room full of martial artists, of whom I was included, it was so hard to try and hit each other in the head. I too, found myself unintentionally missing the opponent; something that I am sure tested Sensei Cody’s patience.  But, herein lies the point, to not just have intent, but to also have conscious intent. It is very easy to fall stagnate within drill-based practices, weapon or not, hence it is important to sometimes to step outside the drill and break from what is usually taught to keep you on your toes and conscious of what, as martial artists, we are trying to do: replicate fighting. We did exactly this in our application of Bo techniques; taking small sections of Pechin Kumi Bo, we explored the “what-if scenarios”. This is one of Sensei Cody’s strengths, as he paradoxically has the ability to escape the drill by staying within it; by this, I mean that if we found that we had poorly executed our technique or the opponent responded unexpectedly leading to a different position than found in the drill, we were taught to adapt and overcome, but not with a new or advanced technique, but with techniques that were already found within the drill, just performed in a different order or context. 

 Brad White (another great practice partner)
defending against Sensei Gary

The Sultans of Swing

It is important to note that in order to gain greater insight into the practical aspects of our art; we are highly dependent on the people we train with to move from Shu to Ha. In addition to working with Sensei Cody I had the opportunity to work with his students, Alan Colter, Gary Raposo, Kai Kleinitz and Cadence Mandybura. In the martial arts, I’ve been told a person is only as a good as their practice partner, if this is true, than anyone lucky enough to work with these individual will surely improve tenfold.  While at the Yamane Ryu Seminar, I found Sensei Gary to be a joy to work with, as far one can be joy while having them attack you with a 6 foot stick. Not only did he consistently remind me to aim, but also made me laugh. I have had previous experience working with Sensei Kai and I very much looked forward to working with him this time around. A beautifully patient man, Kai provides balance; he is neither too passive nor overtly aggressive.  When first learning a technique, as with Sensei Gary, Sensei Kai only gives in if the technique is correctly executed irrelevant to power of either individual.  I was fortunate enough to also attend Sensei Alan Colter’s classes and work with him in the seminar, a highly organized individual; he structured his class by connecting tegumi to various other grappling techniques and found strength in the Nyumon. While working tegumi with Sensei Cody I was paired with Sensei Cadence. A very pleasant young lady, I admired Sensei Cadence’s ability to ask so many intelligent questions, and her ability to connect concepts. Whenever I go to a seminar I search out the best in the room in order to get the most out of my trip, if you have the opportunity I highly recommend running as fast as you can to these fine martial artists to learn and practice.  Again, practicing with people with the right mind frame—that of conscious intent—aids us in moving from the Shu to Ha to Ri. It is not just up to us, but the people with whom we train to motivate, question and challenge us in order to gain greater enlightenment of the drills and kata we practice.

Me & the Sultans of Swing

Ri/離 “To Separate”

            It is the principle of Ri I find to be the most difficult to write about. It is this stage that is associated with creativity and enlightenment; while on my trip I have gained a better understanding of the principles of creating power and applying leverage and learning to move from drill to drill, assisting me in reacting more effectively to confrontation; despite this, I find I feel greater frustration. In many instances while training with Sensei Cody, as mentioned before I very much felt like a bug in the hands of a four-year-old. This is not just due to Sensei Cody’s playful nature, but also just like a bug, I was always drawn towards the light. There were so many enlightening moments concerning the psychological and technical aspects of the methodology of Koryu Uchinadi Kenpo Jutsu and Yamane Ryu as a style; I fear I cannot remember them all. Yet, while remembering each enlightening moment, I find that these blinding flashes of the obvious cast a shadow over the path one should take in terms of how to practice. With the knowledge that there is much to be realized in the basic drills and solo practices, while at the same time, knowing how much can be found exploring outside them, I am left with the dilemma of whether I should do only as I am taught, or follow the principles that lie within those teachings.

            Despite my frustration, I found traveling to Calgary and BC to train to be highly rewarding, intellectually, physically and personally. While training with Sensei Cody and his students I experienced a microcosm of shuhari.  Overall, Sensei Cody’s technical skill and understanding is something I aspire to and he is both a talented martial artist and an engaging instructor with amazing comprehension of the principles that allows one to be proficient in any fighting system.  I highly recommend Sensei Cody for anyone looking to gain insight into the creative application of these principles.

For more information on Koryu Uchinadi classes or seminars on the West Coast, please visit: 
 http://www.bunbukan.ca
 http://www.koryu-uchinadi.com/irkrs-seminars
 http://www.wacademy.net

 What you can look forward to next: Chinese Temple Art: Transferring Time and Meaning