Sea kayaking is a lot like martial arts. The judo principles of “balance, leverage, and momentum” are needed in ocean adventure kayaking. In judo, you want to keep your balance while your opponent loses his. While kayaking, you definitely want to stay up and not fall over. Right?
Leverage is used in judo to obtain mechanical advantage, as seen in chokes and joint locks. Kayakers leverage by proper use of the paddle and rudder for speed and ease of maneuvering.
In judo, aikido, tai chi, and other martial arts, the opponent’s momentum is used to throw or manipulate him. Likewise, kayakers use the momentum of breaking surf to get a good ride. In martial arts and kayaking, the three judo principles used in concert should produce maximum effect using minimum effort.
Body, Mind, and Spirit
Common among all martial arts is the building of a strong and supple body through the physical act of practicing, lots of practicing. In execution of techniques, typical martial arts are more anaerobic and explosive, and typical sea kayaking is more aerobic in that a person may paddle several miles at a given pace. However, paddling in waves and rocks is more like a martial art in that quick, agile, and aggressive moves follow stillness.
Control of one’s mind is essential in martial arts and kayaking. In tai chi, yi (the mind) pushes chi (energy) through the body as desired. I do the same thing when kayaking in ocean whitewater. Occasionally, while kayaking, I need to perform an almost superhuman feat, and my calm mind directs my energy to burst through a huge breaking wave. My mind dissipates fear and concentrates force in martial arts and in kayaking.
But without shin (spirit), mind and body would be adrift in both martial arts and kayaking. Shin is fighting spirit. It’s the spark that motivates the Muay Thai boxer to rally and win after taking a beating. It’s the impetus that impels a kayaker who loses his boat in storm surf to keep swimming to safety when his body wants to surrender. Advanced martial artists constantly work on upping their spirit. We kayakers should work on this more. A strong spirit imbues you with courage. Without courage, kayakers are afraid to take risks—afraid of surf, storms, and rock gardens.
Techniques and Equipment
Techniques are usually emphasized in martial arts. For example, in jujitsu, there are myriad ways of throwing someone, choking, or locking joints—or combining these. In the jujitsu system I study, we have over 20 lists with about 20 techniques on each, with numerous variations for each technique. Even something simple like karate’s forward kick has dozens of ways it can be done. You can kick from your front or back foot and can aim high for the head or chest, low for the knee or shin, or anywhere in between. You can snap your kick for impact or thrust your kick to push your opponent backwards. You can forward kick once or multiple times with one leg or both legs and contact with the heel, the instep, or the ball of the foot. And the list goes on.
Kayaking, in contrast, has fewer techniques. We have forward and back paddling strokes, sweeps, pries, sculls and draws, and a few others. But in ocean whitewater, you combine these into ninja strokes and constantly switch from a forward power stroke to a hanging draw to a quick pry to a bow rudder—and that’s just to stay in one position behind a wash rock for five seconds. We also have rolls, rescues, and navigation methods, but in general martial systems are more comprehensive than kayaking.
Many martial styles have uniforms (e.g., a judo gi), protection (such as pads, mouth guards, and kendo armor), and weapons (which range from samurai swords, knives, halberds, staffs and sticks to iron fans and throwing stars). Kayaking is even more equipment dependent (boats, paddles, life jackets, protective clothing, and ancillary gadgets and gizmos). My personal belief is that if you are a dedicated martial artist or kayaker, technique is more important than equipment. Otherwise, if you want to stay safe on the streets, carry a machine gun. Why practice kicks and holds for decades? If you want to stay safe on the water, ride the ferry. Why tire your body in a tiny boat?
The Main Advantage of Each Discipline
The biggest advantage of martial arts is that it permeates every aspect of your life. Good martial artists pay attention in all situations, are ready for action at any time, and apply martial principles to everyday situations. “Wax on, wax off, grasshopper.” For sea kayakers, taking up a martial art (hwarang do, krav maga, wing chun, iaido, bagua, silat—any martial art) in earnest will vastly improve your kayaking. You will be more disciplined, more in command of your body, more alert, and braver. The force will be with you.
The main advantage of sea kayaking in perilous conditions (as the Tsunami Rangers do) is that it is life and death. On the mat, though we practice dangerous techniques such as neck breaking, we are v-e-r-y careful. Training partners are so expensive. Even “no holds barred” contests have safety rules such as no eye gouging. But the sea cares not for your safety. It will come up behind you and wham! It will hit you again and again, even after you have expired. Every instant you kayak in cold, turbulent water with rocks sticking up you risk your life. Only you can save it.
And that is why whitewater sea kayaking is a martial art. It gives practitioners a chance to act with abandon in dangerous circumstances. In today’s world, you can’t just go out and engage in a real sword duel to prove your mettle. But you can test yourself on the water. It’s still legal. For martial artists, taking up whitewater kayaking or another dynamic life-and-death activity (e.g, bull riding) in earnest will let you experience the fear and thrill of living on the edge. You will no longer doubt if you can defend yourself in a real situation. You will know you can.
(Thanks to martial sea kayakers Wayne Hanley and John Kirk-Anderson for their thoughts and inspiration, and to Troy Shehorn, a consummate martial artist and a heckuva river rafter).
If you are a martial artist or sea kayaker, please post your comments or questions on this column by pushing the comments button directly below and sharing your thoughts.
I merely skimmed the surface of martial arts, so please feel free to add in whatever I missed or messed up on.
I dabbled in martial arts on off in my junior years but my first real taste of “combat” really came through the sport of rugby. It had many similarities to judo – use of momentum & leverage to attack the opposition, knowing the true art of falling over without breaking or dislocating bones etc. So much so that a Judo Sensei invited me one year to join his club and enter the University Games Judo Tournament some 7 weeks later. He reasoned that in the sport of judo, I would need to know how to fall, I would need to be able take a bit of a pounding, and importantly, I would need to feel inclined to attack it with spirit. I took him up on his offer and trained three times a day every day until the tournament, where I was taught a number of lessons. Humility, when a Black Belt slammed me through the mat in under 2 seconds in my first bout. The benefit of surprise, when I used a classic front on football tackle to floor an opponent in my next bout, and a little about my own pain threshold, when one of my fingers was shattered during my final bout (which I went on to win somehow). I never returned to Judo after that (returning to rugby instead) but the lessons I learned, particularly around how to fall over, saved my life a year later when I was hit by a car. As my broken body flipped over the car, I performed a breakfall as I landed which observers swear saved me from a broken back.
Of course now I’m on the water and not involved so much in combat against man or car, but the questions of balance and momentum translate directly into boat control and particularly rolling. For me the ocean continues to be a dojo, a place of training and learning. And importantly, still teaches me humility.
Very cool, only wish we could be ‘yaking up here w/3’ of new pow. I’ll be lagging in the yak & bike sports this yr for sure…(but the skiing is epic)
Well written and thoughtful as always Eric. One point of yours I would like to expand on is Spirit (Shin, also Kokoro in Japanese) and the role it plays.
Spirit can be interpreted in many ways: ardour, passion, zeal, enthusiasm, etc.
In training / combat there are techniques that will only succeed if they are done with spirit, in this case a strong belief that they will succeed, in other words they need to be done with conviction or confidence. We have a saying that “even the wrong technique done with confidence can work, but the right thing done half hearted can never be more than half right”, it is the same in kayaking.
It can be a Catch 22, we need confidence to succeed, but we rely on success to give us confidence. Our Spirit develops from the “trying” whether we succeed or fail, maybe we will succeed the first time or maybe it will be the time after that or the one after that, as long as we keep trying we are growing our Spirit, our inner strength. This can be said to be true for anything we have a passion for, be it martial arts or kayaking.
Thank you all for your comments. Fat Paddler’s judo story reminds me of competing in judo in college where I received lots of painful lessons. Judo is a sport where shin, kokoro is very important when contesting.
I’ve found that my martial arts training in jujitsu and tai chi helps me in many different ways, but especially in outdoors activities. I have much better focus and present-mind awareness, and I know how to make the best use of my capabilities.
That’s right, John. Martial arts helps with focus, awareness, and as you say, making “the best use of my capabilities.” This holds true for sea kayaking, but also other outdoor activities such as mountain bike riding, alpine skiing, rock climbing, river rafting–any risky outdoor pursuit that requires concentration, coordination, confidence, and competence.
I like FP’s description of the ocean as a dojo. Actually, I suppose we could say that all of life is just a big mat in the universal dojo. That said, I know my jujitsu experience helped me kayak when I started paddling with you, Eric. I’d never kayaked before, and after 15 years I’ve still only taken one stroke clinic and never learned to roll, but I have no problem going out in caves and surf and rock gardens as long as I am with people I trust and the conditions aren’t too big. My ability to take a fall and the conditioning I get on the mat helps tremendously in coming out of my boat, getting back in, surfing, and crashing. My understanding of “shin” has gotten me through more than one gnarly situation and although I have been concerned out on the water, I have never panicked, and honestly don’t think I would. As Wayne said, even the wrong technique done with commitment is better than the right one done half-heartedly.
Eric, Good comparison on the techniques of martial arts and kayaking. One more element I would like to add is rhythm or cadence, which adds to inertia or “momentum”. The ocean has a beat and if you work with that movement you can add “leverage” to your paddle stroke and get the “timing” correct. You may not want to be predictable when sparing in the martial arts but in sea kayaking in tight complex situations you do want to know that others around you are in the same sequence of steps (strokes) – more like in dance, the ocean is a ballroom. –Kuk
So, the question now: “Is the ocean a giant dojo or a giant ballroom?” Timing is very important in kayaking and board surfing, as in knowing when a wave will break and taking off at the ideal time to maximize a surf ride. And that timing to the beat is certainly like dancing.
Timing in martial arts is also important. In judo, for instance, a good judoka will entrain his opponent into a waltzing rhythm and then suddenly change motion in between beats; and the the other guy, still in the original rhythm, falls down when the mutual balance suddenly changes. So, a judo player is dancing too (although you won’t get many dates if you throw your partner on the ballroom floor in the middle of a tango–or heck, maybe you would!).
August Howell : This is a great article! Since I’m a black belt in karate, I really see what you mean about the balance, the momentum and the tai chi. My instructors are always talking about this. I didn’t know you had a secret life as a Judo master Eric. This relates a lot to surfing to. Balancing, the harmony of the mind and body, and the moves and techniques. I really want to see you and talk comic books and surfing. Hope to see you soon!
Wow, Eric I didn’t know either that you had a secret life as a comic book Judo master. Or is that Jedi comic book master? K.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let’s set the record straight, here. First, thanks August, I’m glad you liked the article. And I like what you said about harmony of mind and body. But I’m not a judo “master.” I competed in judo in college and was a brown belt. I’m a second degree black belt in jujitsu, but am far from being a master. I practice tai chi but have no rank, and in fact, know only one form from the Chen system. I studied Bok Fu kung fu and made only the rank of purple belt, which is pretty low. But I do love martial arts and am interested in them all. If I only had more time.
As for the comic books, Jim. Let me ‘splain. August and I like comic books (who doesn’t?), and we’re hoping to get together one of these days and do some serious philosophizing about Star Wars comics and Green Lantern maybe, since there is a movie coming out and I want August to see it when it does.
Great pictures!
Glad you like them, Micaila. The kayaking and beach shots were taken by Michael Powers, Nancy Soares took the shot of Troy doing the throw, and I took the other shots.
To my readers: my esteemed colleague Diego Cienfuegos contacted me with these comments about martial arts. He said martial arts are testable in real life. He mentioned that the military, police, security personnel, government agents and others in similar vocations always face lethal possibilities with humans as part of their job. In time, they learn what works and what doesn’t. That is true.
Diego added that just about anyone can face violence from humans if they interact with criminals, go to bars, hang out in the bad part of town, or have violent relatives. And, it’s always possible to be in the wrong place and be home when a burgler enters, or get robbed on the street, or be involved in a road rage incident, or be minding your own business when someone goes on a shooting spree and many other possibilities. Even if you’re a kid a bully can pick a fight with you in the schoolyard. Diego’s point is that most people have had one if not several violent occurrences in their lifetimes, and thus have an inkling of what to do in such a situation.
Finally, he added that a martial artist can put himself in harm’s way by joining or starting an underground fight club. Or they can train for and participate in friendly but very rough Dog Brothers stick fighting contests or something similar. Diego’s main point is that there is always a way to test your mettle.
Martial arts failed to improve my very poor spatial cognition. Katas? Forgetaboutit. Learn a dance routine? Ditto. Mama tried hard to teach me the box step. No way in hell I could get the moves. But in terms of mental spirit, tenacity, concentration, timing, balance, realism, humility, facing and coming to grips with fear etc. etc., every minute I spent on the mat in a Karate, Tae Kwon Do, or Aikido dojo was worth it’s weight in gold. I’m not even half-good at any of those martial arts; half-assed is much closer to the mark; but practicing them has always been very, very good for me.
Nice blog Eric. Some really good points there for paddlers.
We will never have the brute strength to defeat the power of water and so need to apply Jigaro Kano’s principle: Maximum Efficiency with Minimum Effort, a fundamental of Judo.
The idea appeals to a lazy bugger like me.
Cheers
JKA
JKA, Thanks for commenting. As you are a fellow jujitsuka and sea kayaker, your opinion matters to me. I’m very glad you made it through the Christchurch earthquake. It seems that mother nature has been quite active as of late.
Nice post Eric. You bring up lots of good points. Being a T’ai-Chi practitioner, when I look at the parallels between kayaking and martial arts, I also see things like being constantly willing to abandon your plan and improvise with what’s happening now, going with the flow rather than “pushing the river” or in this case “pushing the ocean” which is even harder!, looking for maximum bang for the energy buck by working as efficiently as possible, and in general seeking the right amount of force versus surrender (Yin/Yang) that is always involved in keeping balance. And balancing, of course, not being a static thing, but a dynamic vibration around a balance point, requires being constantly adaptable, constantly listening, constantly ready for change, and constantly aware that gravity always wins, it’s just a question of how much style, presence, and skill you can show before you go down!
Excellent observations, Gene! Thank you.
Dear sporter: from an Iranian sporter to another sporter . I am in iran I am thr master of aikido
And ju-jitsu . I wish that I will practice in your gyms . I want to come to your country for learn your sport. With dest wishes
Navid mahmoodi
http://www.selfdefeneceaikido.com
Navid, there are many aikido and jujitsu gyms in America. When you visit America, you will find many martial artists who will welcome you to their mat.
Best wishes,
Eric
Hi Eric,
Nice article. I am an avid sea kayaker and aikido black belt. I agree with you about kayak-do or aiki-kayak as I prefer to name it. In aikido with use some concepts very aplicable to sea kayakers like maai ( distance and timing ), irimi ( entering ) or tenkan ( letting pass ), randori ( flowing with the forces ) and zanshin ( awareness in all directions ). I even wrote and article about that ( in spanish ) a couple of years ago. Anyway, great blog and great your book about Nami no senshi.
Good ki,
Martin
Martin,
Thanks for bringing up important concepts such as irimi and zanshin (one of my favorite Japanese concepts). Martin, have you read my NAMI NO SENSHI (Wave Warrior) book? I would like to hear what you think of it.
I am very interested in your sea kayaking/martial arts article you wrote in Spanish (my Spanish is poor but will improve). Is it possible you could email it to me at tsunamiranger@gmail.com? Thank you.
Hi Eric,
I am in the middle of your book now. I will get back to you with my thoughts. About my article, you can find it in here
http://www.ecodeporte.cl/KayakdeMar/Columna/Kayak-Mar-Columna-Aiki-Kayak.asp.
Good ki-yaking
Martin
PS : I read your other two books and they are at the top of my favorites.
Martin,
I read your Aiki Kayak article and enjoyed it. Gracias. First I read it in Spanish and then tried to translate it with Google, but it was still working on the translation 5 minutes later when I gave up.
How does Kiyakodo sound?
Hi Eric,
Never heard of kiyakodo, How do you eat it ?
I am attaching a translated version of my article.
Bets regards
Martin
Aiki Kayak
What has to do a martial art like aikido with sea kayaking? Apparently nothing, and yet everything. The principles behind this martial art (and others such as Tai Chi, Kung Fu, Hapkido, Judo, etc.) are universal principles of harmony and balance that result in stability, efficiency and a more fluid control of the boat .
Aikido is a martial art based on the aiki jujutsu (art of softness or flexibility) and its main approach is non-resistance and harmony with the opponent through the understanding of the oneness of all. Literally “aiki” is translated as harmony with vital energy (ai, harmony and ki, the vital energy).
I practice aikido since before learning to paddle. The influence of this art is very evident in all sports I have practiced. Many of the teachings of aikido are applicable not only to kayak, but such diverse activities such as mountaineering, skiing, climbing, biking, golf and even in business.
If we see a beginner paddling we will realize that he pulls the paddle through the water with the arm, while an experienced kayaker, push a boat from the hips resting on the blade itself, turning the torso with arms semi stretched , staying relaxed with the center of gravity low and stable.
Similarly, as in the case of the Japanese wooden practice sword (bokken) of aikido, the paddler prolongs their arms to the paddle blades, as if they were part of his body, likewise the hull of the kayak as part of his lower body. In this way the kayaker moves in unity with kayak and paddle, effortlessly in harmony. This can be intuitively noticed when we see a good paddler in the water, as if he made no effort to move and maneuver the kayak.
Another important aspect is relaxation: the aikidoka as the expert kayaker, move relaxedly. The tension is only needed to drive the movements of the boat.
Yeah right, tell me, but martial arts do have an opponent. Indeed, aikido seeks the harmonious flow (ai) with the energy (ki) of the opponent. In the kayak, the opponents are the elements: wind, waves, currents, tides, weather, etc..
The principles of distance and timing (ma-ai) are essential as we face the destructive power of the waves for example. We have no change overpowering a big wave frontally, but we can use these principles to harmonize with it and eventually use their power for our benefit (as surfers well know). It’s about handling distance and time to be in the right place at the right time. Go forward (irimi) or let pass (tenkan).
The strength of the elements present, especially at sea, gives us no choice but to flow with them. A sea confused and upset, makes beginners to tighten up and soon end up swimming. The aiki kayaker remains relaxed, flowing with the forces around him without resistance (randori), alert in all directions (zanshin).
But there will be times when circumstances put us directly under their control and we must learn to recognize this time … then let us get carried away (ukemi) tangentially out of the line of attack to later recover our center, our balance. Translated into the language of the kayak, we’ll let the force of the wave pass, and wait for the time to do a roll and recover.
It also applies to more strategic issues, like an expedition. If conditions are not suitable for paddling, we just wait. There is no way we can beat a storm, but we can let pass, waiting quietly in the tent (tenmaku), eating noodles (ramen).
Hai Dozo,
Martin,
Thanks for the translation of your article. My readers not fluent in Spanish will appreciate it. I was happy that I understood 3/4 of the original with my very limited Spanish vocabulary.
As for Kiyakodo, it’s a make-up word with Ki (energy), Yako (for kayak), and Do (for the Way). So, if you and I started a school for Tsunami Senshi, we could call it Kiyakodokan or our style Kiyakodo Ryu.
LOL, I like it. The way of the ki and the kayak. That could well describe our passions in one word !
Good aiki
martin
http://www.jahanrazm.ir