Donn F. Draeger

[ashe]

the bushi had their own ways of eating and going to the toilet that left them less susceptible to surprise attack

can you imagine having the sudden urge to take a dump when your dressed in full hakama and gi, and have it be dead of winter to boot?

[Andy_S]

Ashe:

A pal of mine teaching Aikido in Seoul was in his rigout when he was suddenly possessed of the urge to de-mud. (He had just eaten a very spicey stew, which is something you should not do before training). For some reason, the bog in the building he was teaching in was closed or occupied - but needs must! He dashed out into the alley behind the building, dropped his scrots, adopted a horse stance, relaxed bowels and planted a large steamer. He was very grateful that he was wearing a hakama that night

True story.

[Ron Panunto]

Another good thread going down the toilet.

[Bhassler]

I believe there was also a rather strict tradition that no one should be higher than the resident warlord/emperor, etc. when you were in their presence, so if you wanted to whack some ninja's who attacked in the midst of the royal dinner without embarrassing yourself by being too tall, you had to be able to fight from your knees. Gotta love traditional Japanese-- polite even unto death.

[Chanchu]

Really fantastic clips great to see Sensei Draeger and his teacher in action.
thanks!

[yeniseri]

This idea of being at constant danger of attacked inside and when seated: Really? How often did this happen, compared to incidents of being attacked when one is on one's feet?

The question still stands: Why were Japanese more at risk of being attacked while sitting compared to Chinese, Koreans, Thais, etc, who spend little (or any) training time preparing for this eventuality.

I am sure there are McKinley's in today's world who practice SD from a barstool - after all, being spanked in a boozer is a pretty common occurance. But I would be surprised if it took up more than 1 percent of their time.

Thinking out loud, I wonder if it is a ritual conceit....? After all, many MA classes in Japan start with sitting mediation and bowing, etc, etc, so it might make sense to start your practice from said position. But that does not reflect tactical likelihood ("Ah, so! Always be prepared to be attacked when sitting...") it reflects dojo tradition.

This is my take on it!
This is a lot of stuff in Japanese culture that is 'hidden' (not shown in public) and seiza is part of that culture.
People were often killed/assinated in that position and it became part of 'dojo culture' to train in techniques where you would be attacked from/in. It has persisted to this day just as rice culture must be maintained as saki as cultural identity b carried into the future! Even though Japanese culture was one of the first Asian cultues to (extrnally) modernize, the cultural traits remain in place!