Technique of the Week (June 6th, 2010)

Sensei Lorenzo Aguon, Ueshiro Hawaii Karate Dojo Honolulu, Hawaii

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Taking "GAN" Every Where We Go

We've all heard the term "Gan" (EYES). But we seldom pay attention to how important it is in our training, the application of our techniques, and how we react to certain situations.

We are always told to look first before we root ourselves and explode into our techniques. Now, let's take "Gan" with us outside the dojo and into our daily lives. Gan plays vital roles in everything we do and can make us better and sharper in tasks we go about in our routines.

Take for instance, driving. Watching out for every movement the cars make around us can increase our chances of getting into a bad situation or even an accident. Always scanning the streets for pedestrians or kids playing by the roadside. The eyes simply tell the brain that a ball rolled onto the street and a child comes running after it. The brain then tells the feet to slam on the brakes of the car. All this happens in a "blink of an eye". Gan helps us to react fast.

Some of us who have kids learn to watch all their movements as they play in a playground. We see every movement they make as they climb a ladder, swing, go down a slide, hang on the monkey bars....yet we react in a split of a second when we get a hint that they are going to slip or fall. We are there to catch them.

All this is done because we train "Gan".

Now back into the dojo...when we train yakusoku kumite. We train our peripheral vision. We see our opponent flinch, we see his/her hand move, we see the feet nudge, and we simply react with the proper technique....thanks to training "GAN".

Let's train "Gan" every where we go.

Domo Arigato.
Sensei Lorenzo Aguon
Ueshiro Hawaii Karate Dojo
725 Kapiolani Boulevard Suite 101
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
www.uhkdojo.com