Part 5 of an interview we did with Noonan Sensei some time ago. Noonan Sensei is currently the most senior ranked teacher of Chito-Ryu Karate-Do in Australia. In this episode we put Noonan Sensei in the hot seat, and ask him a number of questions from some other Chito-Ryu instructors from around Australia. —- Transcript —- 015 - Michael Noonan Sensei interview - part 5 Sandra: Welcome back everybody. Today we are in our final part of the five-part interview with Noonan Sensei. Martin: And of course, if you've missed any of the first four parts, be sure to go back and have a listen to them. Sandra: Okay, so in this episode, Martin, we have Noonan Sensei in the hot seat. Martin: Yeah, so we're going to be asking him lots of questions from, that have been given to us from some other Chito-Ryu instructors from around Australia. Sandra: All right, let's get straight into it. Martin: We've noticed everybody faces challenges in life, some big and some small, but not everyone has a way to navigate these problems. Sandra: It's not always easy, but we've found that we always keep coming back to what we've learned from our years in the dojo. Martin: And that's what this podcast is all about. Sandra: Helping us all find the solutions to life's problems, or even better yet, to remove the problems before they arise. Martin: This is Martin and Sandra Phillips, and welcome to the Karate4Life Podcast. All right, so we've got some hot seat questions for you from some of the different instructors around this one. First one from Adam Higgins Sensei on the Gold Coast. So, in your younger years, you went through some hard physical training, conditioning, and do you believe this is necessary for young karate-ka who wish to pursue? Noonan Sensei: Oh, that's a very good question. Do I think that physical, hard physical training is necessary? Yes, I do. I say that because, for me, it was because I didn't have any hard physical training. I didn't come into karate being athletic. I didn't come in as a gymnast or a great swimmer, or anything like that. So for me, definitely, it was necessary. Now, I can't speak for everybody. So there's probably certain people that might need a bit less of it, but I would say because the way we do technique is very unique, and the muscles we use also therefore must be tuned in a certain way, and certain ones must be strengthened. And so I would say that the exercises that we do are specific for the development of karate. I'll just make that clear. I don't believe that if you're a buff gym guy that that's enough physical exercise for karate. I'm not having a go at buff gym guys, but karate is so specific, and the things you need to develop and strengthen are so unusual in many ways, as you know. So yes, you do, but depending on what you've done before might be some variation in what you need to do, and how much. Martin: All right, next question from Mark Snow Sensei, who's just over in the corner, actually. Should have got him over here for this one. Can you explain shuhari in relation to your journey? Maybe just a brief explanation of what shuhari is first, I guess. Noonan Sensei: Okay, yeah. Shu is the basic part, to develop, to copy, you know, like a foundation. And the Ha part is to make it your own, and Ri part is to break away from that. Now, I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that give a broader, you can YouTube that and get a much better explanation, a much deeper one, but for the purpose of this conversation, that's pretty much it. How's it applied in my journey? Yeah, you know, I think it applies in everybody's journey. It's something that, if you really practice correctly, you can't escape from. If you don't follow this process, and I won't say it's, well, you know, I'm not sure, really. Maybe it's a long, drawn-out process where you've done this, and done that, and then you break. But in my mind, the longer I do it, I think it's a

Part 4 of an interview we did with Noonan Sensei some time ago. Noonan Sensei is currently the most senior ranked teacher of Chito-Ryu Karate-Do in Australia. In this episode he share some of his expereinces training with people from other styles and martial arts, and he also shares his views on what he considers to be the biggest problem with the martial arts industry. —- Transcript —- Sandra: Welcome back everybody. Today we are continuing with part four of the five-part interview with Noonan Sensei. Martin: And if you haven't already heard the first three parts, be sure to go back and listen to the previous episodes. Sandra: Yeah, in this episode Noonan Sensei shares his experiences training with other martial artists and his views on what he considers to be the biggest problem with the martial arts industry. Martin: We've noticed everybody faces challenges in life, some big and some small, but not everyone has a way to navigate these problems. Sandra: It's not always easy, but we've found that we always keep coming back to what we've learned from our years in the dojo. Martin: And that's what this podcast is all about. Sandra: Helping us all find the solutions to last problems or even better yet to remove the problems before they arise. Martin: This is Martin and Sandra Phillips and welcome to the Karate4Life podcast. I'm going to conintue on where Sandra left off and perhaps cover some things from a different angle. And, obviously over the years outside of Chito-Ryu, you've trained with quite a few different people, different martial arts, different styles of karate. What have you taken from that? Noonan Sensei: Look, I don't want to be a style slob because I don't really believe in that. And I think no matter what you do, if you practice it well, practice it deeply, you're going to find something. But I went to other places because I wanted to find, I wanted to see what people were doing. I didn't go there arrogant and arrogant and passionate. I went there to learn. And I wanted to find out right or wrong. If you, you know, my teacher was in Japan and I was here. So access to knowledge was a little difficult those days. And so right or wrong, I decided, you know what, I'm going to go and look at different styles. And I'd actually asked Sogen at the time what he thought of that idea. And he said, that's a good idea. And I think that shows you what kind of a teacher he is. That's a very confident teacher that can say, by all means, go and enjoy and see what you find. So previous to me, so previous to going to Japan as kids, we used to go and do some kickboxing and other things like that. But after I came back to Japan, I did study with the Tai Chi with Montague. And again, he's passed away. But he, I thought he was excellent. I thought he was a fabulous technician, a very powerful man, very practical. So I didn't agree with everything. But I certainly learned some things from him. I also did Wing Chun, which I appreciated as well. I found that gave me some knowledge in other areas, various, various styles of karate. I joined him, you know, joined together with, it wasn't that I was there day in day out, but I certainly got together with senior people and talked about karate, trained karate. There was a Tai Chi with Cathy Sensei, he came to Australia. That was the early 90s at the time. And I went to a camp with him, which I thoroughly enjoyed. There was, yeah, there was a whole bunch of people. But ultimately, I wasn't, you see, I wasn't, I didn't, I never felt that I was going to join another style or this or, ultimately, all I want to do is understand history more. And I thought that if I understand what everyone else is doing, maybe I'll understand what I'm doing a little deeper. So that's, that's the reason for that. Martin: I guess I kind of ask because I've, in all honesty, I've probably led a very narrow path, very sheltered life. I haven't really

Part 3 of an interview we did with Noonan Sensei some time ago. Noonan Sensei is currently the most senior ranked teacher of Chito-Ryu Karate-Do in Australia. In this episode he share a bit about the technical side of his training and his experiences training with 2nd Generation Soke. —- Transcript —- Sandra: Welcome back everybody. Today we are excited to be sharing with you part three of the five-part interview with Noonan-sensei. Martin: And if you haven't already heard the first parts, be sure to go back and listen to the previous episodes. Sandra: Yeah, do that before you go on to this one. But today, in today's episode, Noonan-sensei will continue sharing more about his experiences training in Japan, and he'll also share a few ideas on the technical side of his training, and that's going to be pretty interesting. Martin: We've noticed everybody faces challenges in life, some big and some small, but not everyone has a way to navigate these problems. Sandra: It's not always easy, but we found that we always keep coming back to what we've learned from our years in the dojo. Martin: And that's what this podcast is all about. Sandra: Helping us all find the solutions to last problems, or even better yet, to remove the problems before they arise. Martin: This is Martin and Sandra Phillips, and welcome to the Karate4Life Podcast. Sandra: So, could you share more about your training? You were being in a black belt. I was. Short down. Your first time going to Japan. Noonan Sensei: Yeah. Sandra: Could you share more about the things that you did? Was it more kumite based? Noonan Sensei: No, it was the same. Look, there was probably more basics than Soke does in the morning now. But I believe that's because he thinks our basics are not too bad now. So we're doing okay. So we'll get these out of the way quick and move on to the other stuff. That's what I, that's my, that's how I perceive it. But previous to that, it was always, we'd, I don't know how many punches we do, but it was like five, at least five minutes of seiken zuki or more. And then, you know, oi zuki, gyaku zuki, oshi zuki, rinten zuki, just over and over again. And then every single kick, gedan, chudan, kata, again, over and over and over and over again. Not a lot of stretching, a bit of conditioning, you know, quite a few push-ups and cat stretches were big at that time. So I was really into those. Some, a little bit of kaishu at that stage, that first stage, a little bit of open hand. But the biggest thing was he was always telling me, you know, tanden, you got to use your tanden. He liked the fact that I, and much to the chagrin of others, because it was probably, I wasn't sure, I know in Japanese culture, it's not that polite to keep questioning people about things. But I didn't know that, so I didn't care because I didn't know. So I just had a million questions and I used to just continually ask them and I know that it probably upset other people in the dojo, but I don't care now. Maybe I should, but it doesn't bother me now because it's helped me along my way. So I asked a lot of questions continually and all sorts of questions about everything, whether it was basic, kata, it didn't matter. But he was really responsive to that and I know many years later and in the 90s when he was talking to a couple of the gents from the United States, he said to them, you know, something along the lines of, words to the effect that, you know, he asked so many questions continually and that's good, you should ask. So I realised many, many years later, after people had told me that's bad, of course, you know, I got the rap on the knuckles and you shouldn't ask that many questions and blah, blah, blah. I got a rap on the knuckles for that from different people. I still kept asking questions though, because my, for me, my learning was more important than how polite asking question was or not. Make what, you know,

Part 2 of an interview we did with Noonan Sensei some time ago. Noonan Sensei is currently the most senior ranked teacher of Chito-Ryu Karate-Do in Australia. In this episode he share his experiences visiting Japan for the first time as a young man. —- Transcript —- Sandra: Hi there again. Today it's time to continue on with part two of the five-part interview with Noonan Sensei. Martin: And if you haven't already heard the first part, be sure to go back and listen to the previous episode. Sandra: Yeah, do that. It's great. And in this episode, Noonan Sensei will be sharing what it was like going to Japan to train for the very first time as a young man. Martin: We've noticed everybody faces challenges in life, some big and some small, but not everyone has a way to navigate these problems. Sandra: It's not always easy, but we found that we always keep coming back to what we've learned from our years in the dojo. Martin: And that's what this podcast is all about. Sandra: Helping us all find the solutions to life's problems, or even better yet, to remove the problems before they arise. Martin: This is Martin and Sandra Phillips, and welcome to the Karate4Life Podcast. Sandra: So I guess for you, I'm sure there were some really tough days in the dojo growing up, going from white belt to black belt. So has there been any times when you wanted to quit karate? So you've been training for a number of years? Noonan Sensei: Yeah, yeah. Not that I quit. One, I mean, I still remember it to this day. Steve Davison had hands like mallets, like little steel mallets. They were, it was like they were heavy. So he'd make a fist and his fist looked like a mallet. And I remember one day we were training and he did something and he hit me in the kidneys twice. Very fast, very sharp. There was no malice in it or anything like that, but it was just so, I don't know whether it was the pain of it or if it just had an emotional effect on my body. Because I know now, which I didn't know then, that sometimes if your organs experience some type of like penetrative hit, you know, and they get shaken up, sometimes they can cause an emotional reaction. I've seen that happen to people. But, so I don't know what it was, but tears just came to my eyes. And I've never, I don't think I've ever tried in the dojo. I don't think so anyway. But that day, I don't know how old I would have been, maybe 16, 17 or something like that. I couldn't, I just couldn't stop. And it was, you know, it was very embarrassing because you can do that. And get on with it. So, but I never felt like quitting at all. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes you stay, I feel like quitting, but you don't really feel like quitting. I think we all experienced that. We all know what that feels like. When I first went to Japan, you know, I had a big head and I felt I was a big shot. And I trained really hard here. And I did lots and lots, lots and lots, but I did all the tournaments that we used to do, that we could do, because there wasn't a lot of them. And I'd be the only guy in the dojo to enter. I'd just go by myself, because nobody else would be there. And ultimately, Steve Davis and Steve Sensei would turn up and just be there as a support for me. Or a couple of my buddies in the dojo would turn up, but they wouldn't fight. You see, they wouldn't enter. They'd just turn up to, I don't know, be my fan club or something. But anyway, so I felt pretty good about myself. And I went to Japan, and then it might have been the first morning training or whatever it was, it was very early on that I just realised that I'm way, way, way, way, way off the mark here. And no disrespect to my teachers whatsoever, as I've just explained to you, but technically, it was a different world. And I felt I just didn't understand any of this. And that was very, that was heartbreaking. I wouldn't say I was back in my room crying or anything, but I was pretty d

It's been a while since our last episode, but in today's episode we share part 1 of an interview we did with Noonan Sensei some time ago, sharing a bit about his journey and perspectives as the most senior ranked teacher of Chito-Ryu Karate-Do in Australia. —- Transcript —- Martin: Hey everyone, and today we'd love to share the first part of an interview we did with Noonan Sensei. A five-part series this one. Sandra: This is going to be so good, Martin. For those who don't know Noonan Sensei, he's currently the most senior-ranked Chito-Ryu Karate instructor in Australia, with the rank of 7th Dan, Kyoshi. Martin: And Noonan Sensei is based in Sydney and he runs a successful karate dojo? Sandra: Yes, he does. And so let's now hear from Noonan Sensei as he shares his recollections of his early years in the dojo. Martin: We've noticed everybody faces challenges in life, some big and some small, but not everyone has a way to navigate these problems. Sandra: It's not always easy, but we've found that we always keep coming back to what we've learned from our years in the dojo. Martin: And that's what this podcast is all about. Sandra: Helping us all find the solutions to last problems, or even better yet, to remove the problems before they arise. Martin: This is Martin and Sandra Phillips and welcome to the Karate4Life Podcast. Sandra: Okay, Noonan Sensei, thank you for joining us today. Noonan Sensei: Thank you. Sandra: And I guess I'm going to get straight into this, okay. So when I first met you, you would not remember. I was a green belt at a tournament in Newcastle and I remember you coming up to me and acknowledging my kata performance. You loved it. Noonan Sensei: Yeah, I think I do remember that, to be honest with you. I actually do remember that. Sandra: You're just so enthusiastic and I thought, whoa, who is this guy? And I remember that to this day. And it's funny how, you know, you get that feedback from your own teacher, but when somebody else comes to you and does that, it's like, that's extra special, right? And my second time. Noonan Sensei: Well, just to interrupt you, I don't do that. I don't do that lightly. I never give praise easily. If I thought your kata wasn't very good, I wouldn't have said anything, or I would have told you it wasn't very good, but it must have been very good because I do remember, and I may not have remembered that it was you, but I do remember doing that. Now that you've jogged my memory, yes, it was you. Sandra: Yeah, no, thank you. And I guess the second one I remember, which is an absolute massive highlight for me when I was training for one of my Soke Cup events, my husband, Martin, shared with me a video of you doing kumite in 1992 at the Soke Cup. And I could not believe the intensity and the timing. It was just incredible. I've been around sport karate for only a short time, but to see someone fight in that way, it was just mind-blowing. And to this day, I still refer to that video to this day and say, go and check it out. The timing's incredible. Noonan Sensei: Well, thank you. I had a good tournament that year. I didn't always have good tournaments, but that year I felt particularly good. And I think we still had the old Ippon and Wazaari those days. And I remember I particularly got a lot of Ippons that tournament, so I felt pretty good about things, to be honest. Sandra: That's really cool. So I guess I was reflecting on those things, right? And it's only two events in my life, but they're obviously very profound for me. But when I go and talk to my students about you, I don't think it's right just to share those two things. And I can share some more recent stories, fair enough, but it's like, well, who is this man? And I don't really know you that well when I think about it as far as your training history. I've learned a lot this week with you. It's been wonderful to learn about that. Bu

In the episode we going to wrap up our mini-series about ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, shi riki as we take a deeper look into the forth and final element riki: technique & power. The forth element, is literally power, but is often referred to as technique. This alludes to the fact that real power is created from correct technique, rather than physical strength. This final principle relies on the correct application of the preceding principles first, without proper use of eyes, legs & attitude, the opportunity to generate natural power through correct technique is lost. ---- Transcript ---- Martin: Hey everyone, this is Martin & Sandra Phillips and welcome back to the Karate 4 Life Podcast. Sandra: Today we want to dig a bit deeper into the basics of karate and life... Martin: ...taking a closer look at the forth and final element of ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, shi riki - technique and power. We've noticed that everyone faces challenges in life, some big some small. But not everyone has a way to navigate these problems. Sandra: It’s not always easy, but we’ve found that we always keep coming back to what we’ve learned from our years in the dojo. Martin: And that’s what this podcast is all about... Sandra: Helping us all find the solutions to life’s problems. Or even better yet, to remove the problems before they arise. Martin: This is Martin & Sandra Phillips and welcome to the Karate 4 Life Podcast. Sandra: Getting a bit excited today, Martin, as we come to a close with our Ichi Gan Ni Soku San Tan Shi Riki series. How are you feeling about this? Martin: It's really good to get it wrapped up. It's been a bit of a mission, hasn't it, to get through all of these? It's quite a lot of ground we've covered. Sandra: There's been some great feedback though. It's really been helping some people in their dōjō but also in their lives as well. We're learning that quite a few people are also having chats with their kids about this sort of stuff. Martin: Yes, it's really good to see how especially the parents, they listen to this and they take it in themselves as the parents of the training course, they take it in themselves and they're sharing with their kids and it's creating a bit of a conversation point. This is what we're doing this for in the first place is to hopefully get a bit of that happening. Sandra: Yes, it's fantastic, isn't it? Well, look, let's just get ourselves moving into this last episode for this particular series and see how we go. Martin: Ichi Gan Ni Soku San Tan Shi Riki. What's the saying Soke's Kyohon (Soke's teaching manual)? Sandra: We have Riki is technique. "Through diligent training of Kata and Kumite, technique will develop naturally." Now I know this disturbs you just a little bit. Do you want to share why it disturbs you certainly it gets you questioning? Martin: I'm always a little bit disturbed by this but it's okay, that's a good thing. Sandra: It gets you thinking deeply. Martin: It makes me think and I love that, I love that. Again, the character that's used to describe this Riki is literally power and yet in that description there, there's no description of power at all and I asked myself that question if the character says power, why are we not talking about power? This is technique, we're talking about technique. I did come up with a bit of an answer to this but I don't know you.... Sandra: Yes, but I mean we're having a chat a bit earlier as well and we both reflected on our journeys. We both agreed that when we first started our training, we focused on trying to be really powerful and being strong. Martin: That's the mistake that everybody makes, if the focus is on power, yes through the process of developing good technique you will generate natural power and that's the goal. If you focus on developing power, most people will misinterpret that and think physical strength which is the opposite of what we're

In the episode we continue going deeper into ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, shi riki as we take a deeper look into the third tan power: grit, determination, guts, tenacity, an indomitable spirit that won’t back down. Sometimes you just have to ask yourself the question, "How bad to you want it?" Technique alone won't win you a fight or get you out of a tough situation. We've seen it so many times in competition, the best fighters don't always win. It's not just about your speed, power, technique or even how well you understand the strategy of the game. "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog." ---- Transcript ---- Martin: Hey everyone, this is Martin & Sandra Phillips and welcome back to the Karate 4 Life Podcast. Sandra: Today we want to dig a bit deeper into the basics of karate and life, taker a closer look at the third element of ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, shi riki - grit & determination. Martin: We've noticed that everyone faces challenges in life, some big some small. But not everyone has a way to navigate these problems. Sandra: It’s not always easy, but we’ve found that we always keep coming back to what we’ve learned from our years in the dojo. Martin: And that’s what this podcast is all about... Sandra: Helping us all find the solutions to life’s problems. Or even better yet, to remove the problems before they arise. Martin: This is Martin & Sandra Phillips and welcome to the Karate 4 Life Podcast. Sandra: Moving forward Martin today, we are moving on to San Tan but I dare say without Ichi Gan Ni Soku, this won't be all that much fun. Martin: Yes, there's a reason this is number three. Although it's incredibly powerful and it can carry you a long way forward, I think it definitely worked best when you've got those foundations of the first two elements in place. Sandra: I guess Ichi Gan Ni Soku tend to I guess, position yourself, prepare yourself, creating that always ready feel about you. This is what really takes it to a whole lot new level and drives you towards wherever you want to go. Martin: Yes, it turns it up a notch, doesn't it? Sandra: Yes, and as we probably would learn very, very soon, it does enable you to do bold attacks. Whether it's in life or in a Dojo, makes it very, very possible when we add this element. Martin: Yes. It certainly does. May be we should explain what it's all about. Sandra: Yes, sure thing. We have San Tan, should we just read this from... Martin: Going back through it, so Ichi Gan, first, the eyes, Ni Soku, second, the stance or the legs, San Tan maybe we've coined it as grit and determination, which you kind of see from this explanation we're about to read out. This is from Soke's teaching manual the kyohon. Could you do the honours there? Sandra: Yes, sure thing. "Tan refers to the liver. Tan power is the foundation for cultivating ki power, will power, perseverance, and endurance. By cultivating Tan power, spirit sickness (Shikai), and other such weaknesses are gone. Correct judgment ability results and bold attacks are possible." Martin: Yes, there's a lot there hey. A lot there. I'll just get back to the very first part as I mentioned previously, Tan refers to the liver. I've done a little bit more research on this one. It's not specifically liver as an organ, but it's literally that colloquial term "the gut" when you have that gut feeling or somebody shows guts. Liver is probably a little bit of a misnomer there. The other one is probably worth repeating once again, is Tan is a different thing to Tanden as a term we hear here in the Dojo quite a bit. Tanden refers to the energy center located in the lower abdomen. While it's very much related to Tan power, they're not one and the same. They're two different things. Let's carry on anyway. Sandra: All right. Let's take a very different perspective on this one compared to what we have taken with Ichi

In the episode we continue going deeper into ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, shi riki as we take a deeper look into the second element the legs (stance). The stance is the foundation upon which we build, it grounds us and is the basis for all movements and actions that carry us forwards. ---- Transcript ---- Martin: Hey everyone, this is Martin & Sandra Phillips and welcome back to the Karate 4 Life Podcast. Sandra: Today we want to dig a bit deeper into the basics of karate and life, taker a closer look at the second element of ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, shi riki - the stance. Martin: We've noticed that everyone faces challenges in life, some big some small. But not everyone has a way to navigate these problems. Sandra: It’s not always easy, but we’ve found that we always keep coming back to what we’ve learned from our years in the dojo. Martin: And that’s what this podcast is all about... Sandra: Helping us all find the solutions to life’s problems. Or even better yet, to remove the problems before they arise. Martin: This is Martin & Sandra Phillips and welcome to the Karate 4 Life Podcast. Sandra: We've managed to wrap up Ichi Gan, the eyes, Martin, and we do need to move on to Ni Soku. Before we do that, I wanted to share with you I had quite a few people come and talked to me about the Ichi Gan, the eyes segment, and are really interested to learn a lot more about Ni Soku now. They're kind of hanging out. Martin: The pressure. Sandra: You've delayed this one coming out. You've had quite a busy time at the moment, but you should look at this a bit quicker I think. Martin: We need to get it moving. Sandra: Yes. Okay, so where should we start? Martin: I think we'll start the same way we did last time and look at Soke's text, his teaching manual the Kyohon. I might show our video again to read it out. Sandra: "The basis of all movement and posture. Always take care to unconsciously have correct and smooth stepping motion, stance, and way of evasion." Martin: That's simple stuff, really. Isn't it? Sandra: You try and do that well. Maybe if you work it out you can let me know. Martin: Yes. A simple idea, simple but not easy. Sandra: Okay. Well, let's see if we can break it down just a little bit more than that. When we were having a chat earlier, we were discussing three points as far as looking at the stance, looking at stability, mobility, and also power generation. Maybe let's go to the stability first, and let's see if we can unpack that just a little bit. Martin: Stability, I guess, that gets back to what we do with our brand new beginner students. The first thing we do when we're looking at stance is literally just getting the feet in the correct position. How wide is your stance? How long is your stance? How much do you bend your knees? Creating that position of stability, but, I guess, this is where we probably need to tie back to the eyes as well. As we talked about last time with the eyes, that creates that posture and that structure, and then the stance builds on that creating a full body structure. Sandra: Yes, so we have those little tests in class where there's a big strike shield coming whacking at you or whether it's a one-finger test on your belt, if you don't have your eyes in the correct position, it makes it very hard to maintain a strong stance. Martin: Yes, this is a bit of a paradox with teaching brand new students to get your feet in the right spot. Automatically most people look down at their feet. They look down at their feet, and they go, "Oh, okay. Are my feet in the right spot?" Then they might have their feet in the right spot, but because they've looked down, they've broken that structure. They've broken the posture. It kind of defeats the purpose of having their feet in the right spot in the first place because they don't have that stability. Sandra: Yes, so true. Then, as we tend to take people through their jo

In the episode we continue going deeper into ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, shi riki as we take a deeper look into the first element the eyes. The eyes are the most important of all the basics and the way we use them will effect everything else that follows. ---- Transcript ---- Martin: Hey everyone, this is Martin & Sandra Phillips and welcome back to the Karate 4 Life Podcast. Sandra: Today we want to dig a bit deeper into the basics of karate and life, taker a closer look at the first element of ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, shi riki -the eyes. Martin: We've noticed that everyone faces challenges in life, some big some small. But not everyone has a way to navigate these problems. Sandra: It’s not always easy, but we’ve found that we always keep coming back to what we’ve learned from our years in the dojo. Martin: And that’s what this podcast is all about... Sandra: Helping us all find the solutions to life’s problems. Or even better yet, to remove the problems before they arise. Martin: This is Martin & Sandra Phillips and welcome to the Karate 4 Life Podcast. Sandra: Martin, are you ready to do this today? Martin: I think so. I think so. We've been spending a little bit of time collecting our thoughts and doing a bit of a brain dump. Every time we look at this we seem to find new angles and new ways to approach things and go a little bit deeper, so we'll see how we go pulling it together. Sandra: Yes, and I guess for those who have been doing martial arts for a long time, and especially those who are way above our time in the Dojo. For myself personally, I know for you too, every time we discuss Ichi Gan with students of various ages, levels, it always seems to have a similar message, yet also very different. Different angles of how we actually attack those- Martin: Depending on the audience. Sandra: -conversations. Yes. Again, this could really blow out, really.... Martin: Yes, it could go so many different directions, maybe a list to help focus, we'll get back to that. The text from Soke's teaching manual, I might let you read there if that's okay. Sandra: Sure thing. Okay, so... "Ichi Gan, it is said that the spirit of a person is shown most through the eyes. In Budō, Gan represents the power of insight into the movement of the opponent's body, spirit, etc. Martin: Oh, wow. This is really looking at it from a technical point of view, and I guess to hear the saying, "The eyes are the window to the soul," as looking, not just at their physical body, but their emotional state and their mental state, and looking at how we do that. Perhaps, we'll get onto that in a little bit. Maybe we'll get back and look at it. Sandra: Yes, let's go really simple. Martin: We'll go really simple. Sandra: Really simple, and just think, okay, if we just go back to ourselves as individuals, so we look at as far as how we use the eyes for ourselves. Martin: As an individual, when I think eye focus, I think, "Where are my eyes fixed? Am I looking down? Am I looking up? Am I focused on something? Am I just in a bit of a daze?" Just by aligning the eyes, looking forwards, that in turn, helps to align the posture and creates a position of personal power. When the head comes down, when the eyes come down, the head comes down, the posture collapses. When you hold that for any extended period of time, you start to feel a little bit depressed. Sandra: Yes, low energy, not much flowing through you. Martin: Then, just by opening that up, opening it up, fixing the eyes off into the distance, looking forwards rather than backwards, it allows you to create that feeling of strength within yourself. Sandra: Yes. Would you also say that with that feeling, it tends to also help correct the posture? Martin: Oh, absolutely. Sandra: And create greater stability and balance...? Martin: Yes, one feeds into the other. The eyes feed into the posture, the posture feeds into the eye

We're very excited to be introducing an incredibly deep topic in this episode, but to be honest we feel like we're only just scratching the surface. It's a bit of a technical topic, but it's also a great metaphor for life. In the dojo, we always ask the question, "What is it that I need to focus on the most that will have the biggest impact on what I'm trying to do?" In going as deep as you can on these concepts in this podcast you'll always find a good answer to this question. Hopefully it is more than enough to get you curious and keen to learn more. This episode is just a start, in upcoming episodes we will go deeper and explore each of the elements of this concept in greater detail. ---- Transcript ---- Sandra: Hey everyone, this is Martin & Sandra Phillips and welcome back to the Karate 4 Life Podcast. Sandra: Today we want give you an introduction to the basics of karate and life. Martin: Otherwise know as ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, shi riki. We've noticed that everyone faces challenges in life, some big some small. But not everyone has a way to navigate these problems. Sandra: It’s not always easy, but we’ve found that we always keep coming back to what we’ve learned from our years in the dojo. Martin: And that’s what this podcast is about... Sandra: Helping us all find the solutions to life’s problems... Martin: Or even better yet, to remove the problems before they arise. Sandra: This is Martin & Sandra Phillips and welcome to the Karate 4 Life Podcast. Sandra: Wow, Martin I can't believe we're actually doing this one today. To be honest with you, when you first mentioned this, I thought, "You can't be serious." This is just-- Martin: It's a bit of a deep topic this one, isn't it? Sandra: It's so deep. It's insanely deep. I don't know how to explain it. It's going to be a tough few episodes for us coming up, I think, because we're only going to be scratching on the surface, if that. Martin: Yes, this is a bit like that. This really is the foundation for everything that we do in the dojo. We look at this concept, ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, shi riki, and it is the basis of all basics. It's the basis of everything that we do, not just in the dojo, but it's a fantastic metaphor for life as well, as we take these lessons outside of the dojo as well. Sandra: Yes. Even, I guess, right now, you could say, "A long story made short," just really appreciate these concepts and really apply them and go deep as you possibly can. Martin: We probably should explain what they are, shouldn't we? Sandra: We really should do that, yes. Okay. In the intro, we mentioned ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, and shi riki. I'm going to hand it over to you, because you're our Japanese kanji expert. If you could please do a little bit of a quick meaning of these four. Martin: Yes. Ichi gan, this first, is the eyes. Sandra: Ichi means number one, right? Martin: Number one. Ichi gan, yes. First, the eyes. Ni soku, the second, is legs or the stance. Sandra: Ni is number two and Soku is legs. Martin: San tan-- I'm going to pause here for a moment, because this one's often mistranslated and, to be honest, there's not really a great English version of this. San tan is often translated as tanden-- not really a translation, but just a Japanese word used. Tanden refers to the energy center in your body located in your lower abdomen. San tan is literally liver. Sandra: Yes? Martin: The liver. It kind of sounds a bit strange, but we'll get to that later. Sandra: We'll get to that. Martin: Shi riki, this fourth, is power. When you add these first three together, ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, shi riki-- because shi equals riki, that's the power. Sandra: Like a birthday cake. There's your ingredients; 1 + 2 + 3 = your cake that you just baked in the oven. Martin: That's the one. Yes. Good way to describe it. Sandra: If you think of it like that, we're going