The Okie-Do List of Principles

All these are subject to change

1.  The Principle of the Mat:

     The guy who has the best relationship with the mat is going to win.  If you aint afraid of falling down you have one up on the other guy.  If you know what to do when you get there then that is just a bowl of cherries for you.

2.  Ukemi principle

    Receiving end education, or the school of hopefully not so hard knocks.   Every technique needs to be be felt in from begininng to end.  So a guy has to ask how much training up does it actually take to actually learn something.  BJJ has a little ukemi and a whole lot of rolling around.  Thats why those guys get very good very soon if they show up to class, because its all mat time.  And most techniques can be felt on the first day in the door.  Judo has a lot of learning how to fall, and I cant actually say how long it takes before you can be tossed all over to be educated, but I would assume its a little while.  Aikido has the longest train up to it, the longest ukemi maturation process because you are getting thrown by the joints.  Thats why I have been really hard on Aikido on this blog, especially geriatric aikido, that should have gone Tai Chi 20 years ago.

3.  The Anti-fragile principle;
          Little knocks and bumps and bruises make you stronger.  The human immune system is made to absorb small problems and become better.   A joint lock here, a shomenate 17 style there.  A misfit on gyukugamate that bumps your snout and makes you tear up just a little.  Everything done in a controlled way with a mat, under the agreement of everybody gets a turn.  So if you do it to me, then I do it to you.


4.  Slowing Down is seeing, but not living principle
           You slow down so your hands and body can feel what is going on, so your Intuition can "see."  But speed and variation in timing is what  has always killed the cat, not so much curiosity. At least on the Interstate.  Slowing down is not a permanent state, and expecting everyone to slow down so things work is  cloud kookooland thinking.


5.  Bullshizznit detection principle

    Beware of hero worshiping, and name dropping to justify things.   And avoid the I'm awesome because I learned it in Japan or from an actual Japanese guy.  Going to the horses mouth is usually the best policy, but going to any horses mouth and trying to pass them off as Secretariat, or Seabiscuit  is the same as being a fudging liar.  Also, beware of the folks who dont want to post videos because its way too secret.  Nobody cares.  And odds are some teenage MMA fan will troll it anyway.  Thats a fact of life.  ( I would really like to see all of Karl Geis videos put out there on the Youtube.  The world deserves it, its a unique take on things.  And if 15 people dig it then its worth it, but it will be more than 15.  Otherwise, nobody is going to know, and nobody is going to care.)

6.   Anti-certification principle/Anti-obi wan kenobi principle

      Think of years on the mat instead of Dan rank.    And also pay attention to how fat they are. If they can't muster up the spiritual power to say no to a second helping, then evaulate authenticity  from there. Their wife may be an amazing cook, so give them a pass. If they are fat and still believe in punching the guy then listen, they are a realist.  But they are fat and like to talk about ki, and connection, and internal power, effortless power, or other nonsense then ask them how effortless was their last trip to the bathroom?  If they can still pee over a tall fence, and take a dump two or three times a day, then they may have truly found some sort of internal power secret.  Give them ten percent of your paycheck and move into their garage and become their man servant.

7.  Technical History principle

  If you are teaching Tomiki Aikido then there are no mysteries.  This guy named his techniques push down, pull down, and arm turn, not dragon breathing fire, or horse whips tail.  Know how one things relates to another because your student can look up it up on Youtube. New sacred scrolls dating way back to 1962 get unearthed all the time.

8.  Ignore the Third Rate principle

     Never put up with a guy who is trying to be a third rate Morty Youshiba, Karl Geis, or Tomiki.  Don't hang around someone trying to cook mexican food who has never ate mexican food.  A guy who gets pissed when you call his burrito an enchilada, and you know darn good an well its a enchilada.

9.  Kata aint practice principle
 
 Kata is a method to preserve historic techniques from another country.  If you practice kata then you can call your self a martial artist, but dont try to sell me on anything..  You do things for the look and the feel, and the presentation. You may like dressing up in a dress and this is the only socially acceptable way to get away with it. I can't speak for you.   But at the end of a the day you might as well be ballet dancing.  Longterm kata training helps you improvise when the shizznit hits the fan, but most folks that swear by kata like improvising as much as Rainman liked  missing the  "Peoples Court".    And any white mans kata is automatically bullshizznit in my book.  And doing kata over and over and over is like preparing for a day that never comes if you think they have some sort of combative, self defense benefit.   Best just do em cause you like em and leave it at that.

10.  If you keep making that face it will freeze that way principle

   Just because you teach something and people actually repeat the movement doesnt make it real, or effective.  The more you say things out loud over and over and over the more they become real.  Remember it all works if people are trained to make it work.  This why randori must have rules, and a way to "win".  A Tomiki Tanto Randori player may be as much of a badass as a badmitton player, but the guy is going to know when he gets better, and what works over time.  Same or Judo, or BJJ.   A structured randori system is the best thing you can have, and the worst thing thing you can have.  But it has to be allowed to go that way person by person.