Advanced Tips:
Controlling Your Opponent's Sabaki
By Ivica Zdravkovic, Shinbukan Dojo
Can you still remember your first sparring with your sensei? How did you feel back then? Did you have the impression that your sensei actually controls your body and your movements? This is what I experienced in karate, judo and kenjutsu sparring. For me, it was one of the most fascinating things about martial arts: I felt as if my whole body was under mysterious control of invisible cords pulled by my senior teachers. That is what this short text is about. How to gain control over your opponent by using few simple "tips & tricks"...
Miyamoto Musashi wrote in his famous Go Rin No Sho the following inspiring lines:
"The commander knows the troops" applies everywhere in fights in my Way of strategy. Using the wisdom of strategy, think of the enemy as your own troops. When you think in this way you can move him at will and be able to chase him around. You become the general and the enemy becomes your troops. You must master this."
(The Book of Fire)
Of course, as all of the parts of Go Rin No Sho, this one also has many hidden messages. But. lets focus on the most superficial one: "...you can move him at will..." This is exactly what has happened to most of us during our early days of practice: our sensei moved us around as if we were hypnotized.
Yet, we also know that this had nothing to do with some power of will, or with any other "telekinetic" or supernatural abilities. It was, simply, result of many years of practice, that brought sabaki, weapon techniques, metsuke and all other things into such harmony which simply ties the beginner.
In kenjutsu sparring, we
regularly try to get in control over the opponent's sword. This is done by several
groups of techniques, including kensen, sabaki, suriage, semme te, ude osae,
etc. But, in the same time, as we walk around with our swords crossed, we are
(consciously or subconsciously) trying to control the space and the movements
of our opponent too.
In order to achieve better understanding of required harmony between sabaki,
sword movements, metsuke and other fundamental things, we in Serbian Budo Council
have offered a type of almost meditative drill. This interesting exercise was
presented in my CD "Japanese fencing" back in 1997, and you can se
the photo illustrating it:
Try to imagine a cone that has the base somewhere behind your opponent, completely
surrounds his body, and ends somewhere in your tsuka. Now, move the tsuka. Try
moving it in such a manner that you control the imaginary cone. Move the cone.
Eventually, while doing a proper sabaki, try moving the whole cone with your
opponent inside. That is the very essence of getting in control. With small
changes of your guard, small kensen motions and displacement of your tsuka,
you move the entire space in front of you, along with your opponent...
As any other drill that scratches the sphere of metaphysics, this one requires time to become effective. But, the prize is more than valuable. I hope you will enjoy this exercise as much as I did, and your students will accept it as open-minded as mine did.
(Please, visit the website of Zdravkovic sensei at the Shinbukan Dojo )