As a man of medicine, and therefore a man of science, Doc Cohe approached Ju-Jitsu as a scientific endeavor. He studied, he observed, he documented, and he experimented. And then he began again, repeated, and refined.
With scientific rigor, he classified and fashioned the original 38 moves we all measured ourselves to for the Black Belt. He codified how we move, how we punch and how we block into specific, repeatable models. We have the books to prove it.
I would suggest to the reader that one of his most successful students in this sense was Sensei Richard Faustini. To take a class at the Faustini institute of Martial Arts, in Emerson, New Jersey is to receive instruction in psychology intermixed with law enforcement, anatomy, legal structures, physiology, and sections of the nervous system found only in Grays Anatomy. You will receive all this before breaking a sweat. And then you will most definitely break a sweat.
But back in the 1980s, I recall my Sensei, another man of science, and Sensei Faustini, spending great amounts of time off to the side of the mat, or in the back of the TAAZ bar, going over their philosophies. Occasionally I was used by them as a demonstration aid. I remember finding out what the Carotid/Vegas connection was as I saw stars and had to be revived.
Later, in the 1990s I took seminars with Sensei Faustini and limped off the mat after practicing controlled femoral and brachial nerve strikes. Doc would smile wryly when I reported later, over coffee on his veranda in Grasonville, Maryland, what I had practiced with his old student, and where he appeared to be going with it.
I have been very lucky to work occasionally with Sensei Faustini today, to see that all this science definitely has a place in his style, Heiho Shindo, and ours.
Heiho Shindo, as far as I can tell, is more accurately described as a martial “science” than a martial “art.” It is designed meticulously to achieve combat success in diverse and uncontrolled environments. If you have the chance, I highly recommend introducing yourself to Sensei Richard Faustini, and seeing the Heiho Shindo style in action in his dojo.
Each problem that I solved became a rule, which served afterwards to solve other problems.
Rene Descartes
A Tale of Two Symbols
When I see the Hakko Ryu symbol, I see a beautiful representation of the different directions of manipulations that need to occur on the uki. I see the fall line, the float line, and most importantly, I see the centerline. I think I’m beginning to understand how these lines work.
What I do not see is where Tori needs to be. That is the scientific problem I believe that our Sensei, in building the Tsugashi Do symbol, was attempting to solve. How to “not get hit” in a repeatable, empirical, “teachable” way.
The symbol, the Tsugiashi-Do kata, and all the add-on katas inform the practitioner where “they” (Tori) need to be, as opposed to what has to happen to Uki. In that sense, the creation of the Tsugiashi-Do style was the solution to a scientific problem in pure form. It was true scientific advancement.
Last summer, at the Hakko Ryu Taikai outside of Boston, Massachusetts, a senior Shihan took me aside and asked me what the symbol on the back of my Gi represented (Sensei Mike Wilson and I wore our usual Gi tops, with the Tsugiashi Do symbol on the back, proudly for all three days). I told him that my sensei believed that remembering where to move to avoid an attack was important enough that we should all have it on our backs, so we wouldn’t forget. He nodded thoughtfully, and said “Good idea.”
Perhaps a third symbol?
Earlier this Spring, I was privileged to receive some beginning weapons training at the Faustini Institute of Martial Arts. The photograph here is Shodai Sensei Faustini laying out the rudimentary fundamentals of moving with and against bladed weapons. It requires a more complex and more nuanced set of evasions and attacks (because of the blade and the vulnerabilities of the human anatomy), which requires a new symbol to commit these movements to memory. It was extremely illuminating. Again, if you have the opportunity, I high recommend vising the Faustini Institute of Martial Science (which I could argue could also be called the Faustini Institute of Martial Sciences) and observing some training there.
To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.
- Albert Einstein
We've Been Busy!
On June 23rd, advanced black belt training was conducted in Bayville, NJ. Nancy Guerrero and Brian M. Guerrero continued refining Nidan techniques, while Kevin McKinney, Joel Berger, and Chris Ourand continued refining their Sandan techniques. Concentration was on Combat Kata.
On July 8th, advanced black belt training was conducted at Tom Fox’s dojo in Kent Island, Maryland. Concentration was on the Hombu series for Sandan, and focus was given to “Zanshin” (projecting spirit) as well as demonstration etiquette.
And most recently, on July 12th, Sensei Perry Jorgenson made a visit to Mike Wilson’s dojo in Montville, NJ. Scot made a personal request for more review and practice on “Perry’s 10-point exercise.” Everyone had a great time. Especially Scot.
August 2, 2019
Thank you Sensei Scott – another excellent Shinbun – you carry the torch!
August 3, 2019
Scot,
Thank you for the kind words, thoroughly enjoyed our training sessions together.
Working with Soke Cohe and being one of his students was an honor and privilage. He would always show me something then tell me to go off and play and show him what I came up with.
He always made me think outside the box and see more than the eyes actually saw.
So many of us owe so much to this man. God bless him!
Talk soon
Rich
August 5, 2019
I’d like to hear more about Perry’s 10 point exercise. He is living history.
August 10, 2019
Always very informative and refreshing.
Thank you Seisei Scot.