I used to frequently get involved in mosh pits when I was a teen! Then one day I was involved in a massive, several hundred person crush at a music festival that left me with a lifelong shoulder injury and a delayed-reaction hatred of crowds that intensifies each year.
Crowds can be very dangerous, the force of that many bodies all moving chaotically and suddenly is like having a few cars suddenly thrown at you. I feel like every year or so I read about a couple horrifying events, usually in Asia or the Middle East, where some giant crowds of thousands of people ion a public area suddenly goes awry and people literally get trampled to death. The last one was I think about a massive Halloween party in Seoul in a neighborhood I've walked in, and something like this happened, scary.
Yeah, it's a mosh pit where everyone wants to F you up ={}
I still have damage to part of my wrist I feel from an earlier injury, from my nidan test, and that initial injury being caused mostly a partner who was acting dumb..being kicked is not too pleasant. I don't mind being hit, it's a good way to practice--actually, since then I've had some time to think about it, and I think part of the problem is this is that in Kokikai at least, we go from 0 to 100 with these tests, as randori is not something people typically practice in their dojos. I've heard various explanations for this, and none of them really makes sense to me. In my first dojo, in which I had a teacher operating at a very high level who had practiced under his teacher in Japan for 7 years, Mochizuku, one of the top direct students of Ueshiba, randori at a more low grade level was regularly built into practice. This is a much more intelligent way to do things, in my opinion. It's like doing lower grade aerobic hikes before you lead up to backpacking (which everyone agrees is a good idea) vs having only jogged in a flat park then going backpacking. Whether a mosh pit or a dojo, I think the ultimate point is to practice as long and hard as we can..in a way that is most sustainable for people.
The interesting thing is I feel like I've had a lot of randori practice in the dojo and that's helped. I guess other dojos don't talk about it / practice it as much. I completely agree with you that it should be part of practice if we are going to do it at all.
And I've practiced (in the dojo) being an uke in a multi-person freestyle. Practicing being an uke is even more important for safety than practicing the nage role, I think, practicing keeping hands up near the face for defense and being aware of the surroundings, putting hands on and holding onto other ukes if needed, switching from strike to grab as you get to the nage.
The culture at camp has shifted a bit in recent years to allow other experienced ukes to participate in freestyles, without so much of an emphasis on young men who have no idea what they are doing. Less flailing and kicking, more fast and safe.
But yeah, I learned how to do a freestyle in the dojo, and was not allowed to participate in most camp freestyles until recently. I was uke for 3 freestyles at camps in the first ten years of my practice then this spring I was uke in 6 freestyles in one camp. I didn't learn how to do that at camp.
Completely agree that the point is to practice sustainably. Absolutely.
I've also never been in a mosh pit but I started doing martial arts a few years ago (hapkido) and really enjoy the physicality too! I've been dipping my toes into sparring and it's interesting because I'm pretty broadly non violent so it might seem weird but it actually doesn't feel violent? just like a healthy outlet for aggression and competitiveness and a chance to try applying what I'm learning. I'm not sure if that's how aikido feels, maybe it's similar?
Thanks for sharing, Rebecca! That's so cool that you do hapkido!
Yes, I agree with what you said about not feeling violent, for aikido as well. When we strike and attack, it's not meant to cause damage and the "attacker" is usually in a positive, happy mood. If the attacker doesn't attack, in aikido, no one can practice. :) So I feel like it's a sometimes competitive but nonviolent practice, absolutely!
Bear with me here, it's not a mosh pit, and it's not an aikido freestyle session, but I do often find myself in a bed with either
A) my wife
B) my wife plus my youngest child
C) my youngest child after my wife gave up and left for the couch
D) my oldest child, wherein my wife left the moment he showed up
and in each of these cases, if I need to sleep on my side and face them (ah, the plight of the side-sleeper!), I do so with a hand up covering my face. And it's silly that I should have to protect my eyeballs in my own bed where I sleep at night, but this posture has become a ritual for me that allows me to be close to any/all of them while also allowing them to sleep in a way that is comforting (which is why my children show up in my bed in the first place). I still get kicked in the stomach, I still get sneezed on. And we all still get the snuggles we need.
Heh, I love this, thanks for sharing, Robin! This is reminding me of a camping in the backyard sleepover with my neighbors and their young kids. One of the kids decided to sleep sideways across our legs under the tarp roof we set up. The adults didn't get a lot of sleep.
I used to frequently get involved in mosh pits when I was a teen! Then one day I was involved in a massive, several hundred person crush at a music festival that left me with a lifelong shoulder injury and a delayed-reaction hatred of crowds that intensifies each year.
Wow, that sounds very scary. I'm sorry that you were injured. Crowds certainly can be dangerous. Thanks for sharing, Jude.
Crowds can be very dangerous, the force of that many bodies all moving chaotically and suddenly is like having a few cars suddenly thrown at you. I feel like every year or so I read about a couple horrifying events, usually in Asia or the Middle East, where some giant crowds of thousands of people ion a public area suddenly goes awry and people literally get trampled to death. The last one was I think about a massive Halloween party in Seoul in a neighborhood I've walked in, and something like this happened, scary.
Omg were you at the same Sinead O'Connor concert I was???
Haha no it was the Manic Street Preachers and likely in another continent
Yeah, it's a mosh pit where everyone wants to F you up ={}
I still have damage to part of my wrist I feel from an earlier injury, from my nidan test, and that initial injury being caused mostly a partner who was acting dumb..being kicked is not too pleasant. I don't mind being hit, it's a good way to practice--actually, since then I've had some time to think about it, and I think part of the problem is this is that in Kokikai at least, we go from 0 to 100 with these tests, as randori is not something people typically practice in their dojos. I've heard various explanations for this, and none of them really makes sense to me. In my first dojo, in which I had a teacher operating at a very high level who had practiced under his teacher in Japan for 7 years, Mochizuku, one of the top direct students of Ueshiba, randori at a more low grade level was regularly built into practice. This is a much more intelligent way to do things, in my opinion. It's like doing lower grade aerobic hikes before you lead up to backpacking (which everyone agrees is a good idea) vs having only jogged in a flat park then going backpacking. Whether a mosh pit or a dojo, I think the ultimate point is to practice as long and hard as we can..in a way that is most sustainable for people.
I'm sorry you were injured. That's terrible.
The interesting thing is I feel like I've had a lot of randori practice in the dojo and that's helped. I guess other dojos don't talk about it / practice it as much. I completely agree with you that it should be part of practice if we are going to do it at all.
And I've practiced (in the dojo) being an uke in a multi-person freestyle. Practicing being an uke is even more important for safety than practicing the nage role, I think, practicing keeping hands up near the face for defense and being aware of the surroundings, putting hands on and holding onto other ukes if needed, switching from strike to grab as you get to the nage.
The culture at camp has shifted a bit in recent years to allow other experienced ukes to participate in freestyles, without so much of an emphasis on young men who have no idea what they are doing. Less flailing and kicking, more fast and safe.
But yeah, I learned how to do a freestyle in the dojo, and was not allowed to participate in most camp freestyles until recently. I was uke for 3 freestyles at camps in the first ten years of my practice then this spring I was uke in 6 freestyles in one camp. I didn't learn how to do that at camp.
Completely agree that the point is to practice sustainably. Absolutely.
I've also never been in a mosh pit but I started doing martial arts a few years ago (hapkido) and really enjoy the physicality too! I've been dipping my toes into sparring and it's interesting because I'm pretty broadly non violent so it might seem weird but it actually doesn't feel violent? just like a healthy outlet for aggression and competitiveness and a chance to try applying what I'm learning. I'm not sure if that's how aikido feels, maybe it's similar?
Thanks for sharing, Rebecca! That's so cool that you do hapkido!
Yes, I agree with what you said about not feeling violent, for aikido as well. When we strike and attack, it's not meant to cause damage and the "attacker" is usually in a positive, happy mood. If the attacker doesn't attack, in aikido, no one can practice. :) So I feel like it's a sometimes competitive but nonviolent practice, absolutely!
Bear with me here, it's not a mosh pit, and it's not an aikido freestyle session, but I do often find myself in a bed with either
A) my wife
B) my wife plus my youngest child
C) my youngest child after my wife gave up and left for the couch
D) my oldest child, wherein my wife left the moment he showed up
and in each of these cases, if I need to sleep on my side and face them (ah, the plight of the side-sleeper!), I do so with a hand up covering my face. And it's silly that I should have to protect my eyeballs in my own bed where I sleep at night, but this posture has become a ritual for me that allows me to be close to any/all of them while also allowing them to sleep in a way that is comforting (which is why my children show up in my bed in the first place). I still get kicked in the stomach, I still get sneezed on. And we all still get the snuggles we need.
Heh, I love this, thanks for sharing, Robin! This is reminding me of a camping in the backyard sleepover with my neighbors and their young kids. One of the kids decided to sleep sideways across our legs under the tarp roof we set up. The adults didn't get a lot of sleep.