Piece Of Cake

Recently, we have a nice new addition to the dojo.  He is a somewhat shy, but enthusiastic teenager named Masahiro.  It is fun practicing with him because he is very curious and openminded.  Occasionally, he would pull things here and there to challenge you in a non-malicious, non-cocky way.  He is always polite and respectful, though he wants to find out if things really work.  I love this kind of young people.

This evening, we were doing an iriminage (entrance throw) from tsuki (punch).  The entrance is a series of gentle touches with one's palms to deflect the attacker's punch downwards before executing the throw by raising the inside arm up and then down.  While you may practice it as a technique, I consider it more an exercise for sensitivity training.  The first part of the technique is kind of like doing StepMaster at the gym: the nage (the one performing the technique) stays at the same level while the uke (the attacker) goes lower each time the nage puts a hand on him.  It is really fun.

I was the uke for demo.  Afterwards, I turned to Masahiro,  "You watched the demo.  Show me what you saw."  At first he was very heavy-handed and attempted to either pull or push my arm down.  I switched roles with him to let him experience it.  He went straight down before he even knew it.  He got up with really big eyes and asked,"What did you do?"  So, I repeated a few more times, but did every single one slightly differently.  "I can do it many different ways, but you feel the same, right?  The common core among the variations is what this technique is about."  The next few rounds, I coached him to use his body gently but in a connected manner.  Mashiro is a bright and sensitive boy.  Very quickly, he got the hang of it.

"Now you know how to do it, try to do it with a calmer mind.  Don't get too excited.  Keep your cool. Try not to let me feel your emotions through your touch."  It took a few tries, but he began to get the idea.  A few times when he got too eager, he disrupted his own flow.  Every time I caught him, he broke out a big smile and confessed, "Yeah, I lost control.  I almost got it."  The bright young man got better at it every time.

"See?  It's so easy!" I praised him.  Masahiro looked at me with a shy little smile, "It's getting better, but I am not quite there yet."  "But you got the idea: if you are cool as a cucumber, the world is a piece of cake!  It's that simple," I assured him.

Masahiro looked up and started thinking out loud, "So, if one can eliminate the internal enemy, he does not have to worry about the external enemies because they do not matter anymore."

This might be the wisest thing from the mouth of a teenager ever.  I was really impressed.

"You got it, Young Man.  Always remember: You be the cucumber, then I'll be the cake."

"Cucumber and cake?"  Masahiro looked at me with a big frown.  "No!  They don't go together very well," Masahiro licked his lips and shook his head with a naughty, squinty smile.