jamie yugawa

My thoughts on Dan Hardens Seminar in Kona

I attended Dan Hardens seminar in Kona Nov 17-18 (We actually spent a couple hours on the 16th also). I never met Dan before but have several guys at my Aikido dojo who have attended several of his seminars already. As far as previous IS/IP practitioners I have met I did touch hands with Sam Chin Sifu earlier this year (Sam is a monster martial artist!!) and have been trying to learn I Liq Chuan on my own with great help from Lipyeow Lim and Ashe Higgs.
On my first meeting with Dan he was a smiling ball of energy whose enthusiasm was quite infectious. He clearly outlined his system and was able to answer all questions to those who asked. We worked upon his methodology of "Pulling silk/Six directions", "Heaven/earth/man", "Winding" "Spiraling", "Open and close", and a couple of others. When working with us trying to teach us he gave great feedback and tips to achieve results. As a beginner I was actually able to feel and notice the changes in my body with great surprise. One of the interesting results was the use of dantien and how he showed us to connect it to our hands. Dan went through great lengths to demonstrate the use of dantien in his body mechanics. He also blasted me off his dantien when I put a fist on it. Simply amazing.
Upon touching hands with Dan it felt as if you could not "Enter" his body or space at all. The feeling which is hard to describe was IMO like "Losing my footing while ice skating on a sphere". I was completely at his mercy and could not get my footing or bearings( Just like Sam Chin Sifu). Dan proceeded to demonstrate the power you can generate through the concepts. I kicked me twice, the first was powerful was a typical kick, the second he demonstrated with the concepts and it felt as if he penetrated deep into the bone and muscle. Yeah it hurt! On another occasion he punched me in my chest normally and then with the body mechanics he teaches. The second one felt like it rung my skeletal structure like a bell and knocked the wind out of my lungs.
Dan was extremely personable and forthcoming with answers on all questions we asked. He even talked about his history in martial arts and how he put together his ideas from training. Dan's general knowledge of martial arts history was also quite impressive as he connected lineages and training methods to show how old some of these concepts actually are. He had great things to say about Morihei Ueshiba and how he developed Aikido. Dan clearly stated that O Sensei was an genius and is the model for which his training is based on. There was zero negativity nor egotistic bravado despite his obvious high skill level of martial prowess and ability. Dan Harden is the real deal and anyone who wants to become a better martial artist should touch hands with him and feel what IP/IS feels like.