Breeding Rottweilers
Published: Wed, 11/20/13
There is a story that Geoff Thompson recounts from time to time. I
originally read this tale in 'Mind My Back' but Mr Thompson
isn't shy of repeating it elsewhere including using it in the
script of a short film he wrote for Ray Winstone. One of
Geoff's colleagues on the door (during the ten year period he
worked as a doorman in clubs and bars in Coventry) had an
altercation with a woman. On this occasion the incident didn't
go beyond the verbal but, as was often the case the punter thought
that they would finish off with a threatening comment. In this
case the woman's closing comment was. "I breed
Rottweilers you know." To which the reply came, quick as a
flash. "Well, you have got the hips for it!" You have
got to admit it, it is a great line.
However this story also brings up an interesting cultural clash
which has caused problems when teaching Martial Arts. The problem
has arisen because the Japanese put a great emphasis on using using
the hips. When teaching Martial Arts with a Japanese influence
there will be numerous instructions and explanations such as.
"The power all comes from the hips." or "It is all
in the hip movement." or "Lower your hips for more
stability." and so on. I do it myself as those who have
trained with me may remember.
But are there problems, not so much in translation, The Japanese
word Koshi does mean 'hips' but rather in cultural
interpretation. To a Westerner references to hips often have
feminine slant to their meaning. It may be insulting as we saw in
the story above. If complimentary, then there tend to be allusions
to sexiness , as in the popular song 'a wiggle in the hips...
that's what I like.' To say about a woman that she has
'good child bearing hips' is open to various
interpretations, by no means all indicating that she will make the
ideal mother and wife. So when we keep emphasising the hips there
is subconsciously going to be a sense that we mean 'move like a
sexy woman' which is not quite getting the message over. Fine
if you are teaching belly dancing but somehow not quite making the
point if you are teaching the art of felling an opponent with one
blow. This applies equally whether the student is male or female.
So what do the Japanese mean by 'using the hips'? Well,
the clue may be in the insults they make using references to the
hips. Just two examples taken from Dave Lowery's book
'Traditions'. Koshi nukeru means 'the hips are
loose', literally you have lost your nerve. A koshinuke is a
person 'without hips', literally, a coward. In our
equivalents to these allusions we would use terms like, 'he
hung his head and his shoulders drooped' or 'he has no
backbone'. For all kinds of reasons we see power and strength
coming from the back and shoulders, the Japanese see it coming from
the lower part of the abdomen and the pelvis.
This distinction is actually quite recent and tomorrow I will make
an argument for using a better word than hips.
regards
Graham
PS Dave Lowry's books on Japanese Martial arts are quite
fascinating. Check them out on Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=dave+lowry&rh=n%3A266239%2Ck%3Adave+lowry