2 posts / 0 new
Last post
John M Avilla
John M Avilla's picture
Possible application for opening "salutation" in Jion, Jitte etc

Towards the beginning of this video (3:30) the interviewer puts his hands in what I would call a prayer position. It is different from the type of opening salutation we see in the forementioned Kata but not by much. Check out the video and let me know what you think. If nothing else, it is never a waste of time to hear what Rickson has to say.

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Covering the dialogue stages is a vital part of any worth while self-protection approach. There’s a lot of important things mentioned there. His explanation of weight distribution during an initial clinch is very good. I’m not convinced by the “rubbing hands” position though. Nor am I keen on letting the enemy put hands on without an attempt to avoid it. Personally, I would stagger the arms in a “fence” position. The lead hand would be used as a trigger for pre-emption as the enemy moved forward in an attempt to facilitate escape as early as possible. That is covered in this video:

 

If the enemy initiated motion before pre-emption would be possible, then I’d use the lead hand to attack the throat / set a datum and then strike to facilitate escape. I have no public video on this (there is one in the app), but this Instagram post explained the basic idea (https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs05zyRlXf6/):

At today’s dojo session we looked at dealing with the enemy launching an attack before we’ve been able to preempt. Photos from top left: 1) Maintain a fence during dialogue. Keep lead hand on the enemy’s centreline. Hands should be natural (“talk with the hands” so the control is subtle). 2) Before being able to pre-empt, enemy lurches forward to launch their attack. Drop head out of enemy’s high-line as you hit throat with the web of your lead hand. This interrupts enemy’s attack and gives you the datum for the following strike. 3) Gain initiative by rapidly striking with the back hand. Aim above your other hand. Enemy may well flinch to protect their head. 4) Kick enemy’s leg in order to limit their ability to give chase. Then take opportunity to escape.

The ”praying position” does not permit the same distance management in my view. It’s also easy for the enemy to get their arms over yours – in both dialogue and after – and that can lead to a loss of advantage. I totally agree with getting the hands up in a natural way, but I’d not go that route.

As regards the “Jion salutation”, I think the simplest application is the “curved hand” is grabbing the neck and the “closed hand” is seizing the throat. That flows on well with the rest of the kata too.

All the best,

Iain