Terms

Today in class I had a bit of an a-ha moment.  Isolation is the opposite of organization.

Seems a little obscure from Kung Fu, right?  I came to the realization when we were going over the arm bar (because that’s the theme of the week) and some ways to escape the arm bar when your partner is trying to close it on you.  To close the arm bar, you want to isolate the arm away from the core of the body so that all you have to fight is your partner’s arm strength.  To resist the arm bar, you want to bring your arm back into your core so that you can move freely.  That bringing back in is getting yourself organized – as opposed to having a piece of yourself (arm) isolated.

Admittedly, organization is kind of a strange word when it comes to talking about body parts.  It doesn’t get used that way in everyday conversation but the more I thought about it, the more it appealed to me.  To organize your thoughts means to grab a bunch of loose ends and clump them into coherency.  To organize your room means to pick up all the clothes, books and stuff off the floor and put them where you can easily find them.  To organize your limbs is to make sure that your partner can not pin or submit you easily.

Organize yourself.  Isolate your partner.