Karate & Morally Correct Behaviour

I was recently working with a partner 'performing' some self-defence upon him when i paused to consider some of the things i was actually doing.

In this particular instance my partner had kicked Mae Geri Chudan and i had performed a leading hand Shuto Gedan Barai followed by an Ushiro Geri Chudan, and then a rapid, Ushiro Ashi Barai and then a strike to his now fallen body at the head neck groin etc from a Shigo-Dachi stance.

Technical to apply  (slightly)
Dangerous to apply (very)

If this technique works out in aggressor / defender situation, I started to ask myself, is the follow through morally acceptable. After all I would have quite aggressively thrown my opponent to the ground with an Ushiro Ashi Barai. His hitting the ground with his back, or head is very likely, making my follow through not only unnecessary in most cases - (there are no mats in the streets) but actually quite gratuitous.

Its food for thought as we normally train a series of fighting counters in such a manner that we cease to think after we start a fighting series / defensive combination. My point being that without a set of equally important moral set of values, we run the risk of teaching people to only answer to their actions after they have completed them.

We always talk about how Karate instils discipline.

Physically - Yes.
Mentally - Yes
Morally - Questionable.

Lets face facts not all Dojo's are run by saints, and whilst traditional Okinawan, or Japanese techniques are taught in our Dojo, I often ask how often are traditional moral values taught, and are students being taught to understand that their moral compass is in their own hands - to shatter as they will or to follow through with morally acceptable behaviour - even, or especially more so in a fighting situation.

As always Food for thought.

Teaching Kata

As a first dan Black belt, one of the more interesting things, i get to now do is teach Kata.

Now admittedly i have been teaching Kata since I attained my Brown Belt, but one thing remains the same, Kata is difficult to teach as more than an abstract concept of fighting to newbies. In fact even to people who have been training for a long time. The difference now is the degree of latitude i get when i teach.

More than once though, i have been questioned as to the overall effectiveness of Kata in fighting & self-defence, a question which i respond with by alluding to the overall benefits found through the understanding of the concepts of Karate as passed down from age to age.

Still thats a bit deep for day one. And when teaching always at the back of my mind is a desire to break the rote concept which whilst a good way to learn the form of a Kata; it is not a great way to get someone to learn from a Kata.

Besides the great physical benefits from Kata, i.e. teaching a student to learn how to ground his techniques with the correct form, the foundations of stability as well as the ability when applying a Kata at speed to learn how to co-ordinate a series of technical attacks and defences, Kata gives an insight into the history and depth of what is called true Karate.

Less the issue of hidden techniques, as well as other parts of the Karate mythos, but more from the perspective of learning how to apply techniques using a visual learning form, as opposed to an oral one. Its an important way to learn your karate in that karate is about in many ways understanding how to apply techniques in defensive and offenssive situations without forethought.

Should it be taught solely in isolation without practical bunkai - No.
Should it be taught merely as a syllabus tool - definitely not.

Can we learn more from Kata than we already have?

That ultimately depends on your dojo. But it also i believe it depends on how you teach kata. After all form for forms sake, is like style without substance.

Karate and Life

I am neither oriental, nor am I am wizened old Karate master with many years of experience which give me the wisdom to apply my Karate to my life. I am merely a Karate student who for the past ten years has practiced Karate and seen that as I have practiced things have changed in and around me; sometimes in part due to Karate itself.

Through tough times

I have that all that can be done is just to pull up my socks and just approach life as best I can giving my best despite the worst of circumstances. In Karate I have learned that merely being there can sometimes be enough, and then since you are there giving 100% to whatever you are doing can help you incrementally to where you need to be.

I am not a wonder at Karate, but I am the product of my determination, my life is too.

Through sad times

In so far as much as it’s easy to impute a form of stoicism on a martial artist I guess I am as emotionally affected by events in life as much as the best or worst man. Sometimes though I have found the ability to manage myself in ways that I have learned in Karate which enables me to manage how I respond to the things which life can sometimes throw at me, with a sense of resilience and verisimilitude and the knowledge of who I am. I may not be able the change the things happening around me, but sometimes just knowing who I am can be enough.

Through sickness and Injury

It’s one thing to be heartsick however, it’s something else to be sick in body and soul, and that is one area where I have grown; through learning that by my taking small steps towards recovery and never giving up despite pain and injury, I can make it. Right from the first days of Karate where I injured myself through enthusiastic fervor to my measured days where I am right now where injury is the result of misjudgment and sometimes plain old bad luck. It’s the simple fact that I hold onto something deep within me which keeps me going through life.

Through the good times

But my Karate is not just for the doom and gloom, it’s also an appreciation of life. It’s amazing what change of perspective can happen through successfully managing to accomplish goals inside and outside the dojo. And in both cases how you respond to them counts for lot. My moments of accomplishment in Karate are celebrated loud and wide because whilst they may not be your accomplishments they are mine, and personally I have learned that it’s not worth waiting for people to celebrate you, when you have done something good, take some time to celebrate yourself.

It is my hope that by sharing the way Karate has benefited me, you might be able to look at yourself and see how Karate has benefited you.

Fighting Style Preferences Part Two

Having discussed some of the facets which define a fighter, it’s actually worth looking at some of the ways in which attributes define themselves.

In their simplest form a fighter will tend to be either an Aggressor or a Defender. But truthfully these are pretty broad over simplifications to assign to someone.

Here are some of the fighting categories which I have noted:

• ·Kicker Aggressor – A kicker aggressor is used to describe a fighter who overwhelming prevalence is to kick his way into and out of situations. He tends to be middle-lightweight but can be found as a heavy weight fighter (who if fast can be considered worth avoiding)

o   Kickers like to range their attacks with the really supple allowing themselves to close the range, for close quarters kicks i.e. Chudan – Mae Geri, Mikazuki Geri (Crescent Kick), Ushiro-Mwashi Geri, or even Ushiro Geri.

o   Much as the head is the traditional easy target for kickers, actually the body offers less risk for the kicker when used particularly in street situations and the fact that their feet are their primary form of attack makes kickers less likely to against unknown quantities (in terms of aggressors) go for the head.

• ·Punch Aggressor – The flip side of the kicker aggressor is the punch aggressor. A fighter who will tend to focus on continual rapid punches, and blocks. The punch aggressor can be any weight group but is most effective, for middle to heavy weight. Not that light weights should consider this fighting style not for them as it offers much if combined with other techniques. The weakness though is that the punch aggressor rarely thinks with anything other than his hands and can frequently be driven back by the kick aggressor.

o   The real weakness of the punch aggressor particularly with reference to the kick aggressor is the particular reliance on body weight as a major dynamic during confrontation. Two punch aggressors fighting wage a war of attrition which the stronger will normally win.

o   Advantages of Punch Aggressors are a reliance on Ashi Sabaki to help create opportunities and openings for piercing techniques (after all this is not boxing but Karate)

o   Favoured combinations involve countering to riposte with a (classic in Shukokai terms) gyakuzuki – oi zuki volley which can be used to drive an opponent.

o   This is in some dojo the starting point for a lot of fighters before they become adept at kicks.

• ·Kicker Defender – Simply put a kicker defender is a passive opponent who will not initiate an attack but will rather mix-and-match in a situation waiting for an opening for their kicks.

o   Kicker defenders usually get swamped by Punch Aggressors as well as some of the other combinations including ironically kicker aggressors.

o   Their passivity however is usually to setup an attack which if timed well can be effective.

• Puncher Defender – A puncher defender is an opponent who will wait for a committed attack before countering and following through with a punching technique. In some respects unlike the kicker defender, the puncher defender has the ability to shepherd his opponent through strategically leading his opponent into a series of engagements which eventually tire him out and allow the puncher to assert himself.

o   A puncher defender works on timing and Ashi Sabaki as well as a strong follow through. As the attacker commits to an attack, the puncher defender moves out and gives himself room essentially to either block and counter or merely to give himself to setup something dire or merely to wear his opponent down.

o   The disadvantages of this preference is that it relies on you committing to be very much on the defensive which cannot always be reliable, and their passive nature tends to turn them into dancers, constantly jumping targets always thinking they will be attacked first.

• Sweepers – A sweeper is a heavy believer in Ashi Sabaki. They tend to be a Puncher Aggressor/Defender who follows through with a foot sweep (Ashi Barai). To all of the previously stated forms a sweeper is a very aggressive opponent. A sweeper thinks only of one thing getting you down on the ground so that he can then follow through with some aggressive combinations whilst you are on the ground.

o   Sweepers use a best of both worlds approach which is usually always a setup. i.e. Opening themselves up for a Jodan Mawashi Geri, which when blocked results in an immediate Ushiro ashi braai. Or punching and kicking through with a volley of techniques which are concluded with an Ashi braai taking the opponent to the ground followed by more punches.

o   Sweepers are technical fighters whose weight is less of a factor than you think, as a well-timed Ashi Barai is more of technical action involving leverage and destabilisation than brute force. Light weights take note, you can use this. Heavy weights and Middle weights though are equally effective with their weight also adding to the techniques effectiveness.

• Mix and Match - A mix and match fighter is a bit of everything, he will punch when he can kick when he can and sweep when he can. His overwhelming strength can be his ability to us each of the above fighting preferences but his weakness is also in that he uses each of the styles but tends to master none.

o   The best mix and match fighters have the advantage of the fact that their ability to flow through each style offers a level of unpredictability which is their strength. However the sum of a mix and match fighter tends not to be equal to a Kicker Aggressor/Puncher Aggressor/Sweeper.

o   Any weight range can be a mix and match fighter. In many ways it is an ideal to work towards in Karate, but specialisation in a fighting area tends to generate results which seem better.

Conclusion

So reading all the above you have a pretty generalised description of the Fighting Style preferences which people have a tendency to adapt in Karate. Knowing your body and your fighting abilities facilitates the style you will use. My last word on this topic though is that there is no perfect fighting style, there is merely what works and what does not.

Fighting Style Preferences

Fighting Style Preferences (Part One)

One of the most fascinating aspects of Martial Arts is learning in a class and seeing different individuals develop different styles of fighting. I thought I would briefly discuss in two articles some of the differing factors which affect and help determine a fight style preference and what some of those preferences are.

What strikes me the most is the degree to which everyone seeks to develop a stable state in their fighting whereby they tend to use techniques which are congruent with their:

·        Age

·        Weight

·        Height

·        Technical Ability

·        Level of Aggression

·        Degree of fear

Age

 

A person’s age is a determinant only in the fact that the level of technical exposure to karate in most average cases results in a junior class member not necessarily adapting beyond basic combinations. Through repeated light sparring with a senior student, it is possible to note an increase in flow but a lot of the structure is still to a certain degree led by the teacher on hand.

Whereas with a semi-mature to mature student who is starting Karate the Age determinant tends to highlight technical capabilities through what I call a better adapt and connect mind-set, whereby the student is able to adapt the basic karate structures and develop them into something more than the sum of the teaching.

Weight

A person’s weight is a big factor in the way a fighting preference is developed in that in for instance:

·        A Heavy Weight: their weight will either prove to be something which defines the scope of their techniques making them either short or hard as opposed to long and flowing;  attacks or defence. A heavy weight fighter predominantly likes to follow through with their weight adding it to their techniques. A heavy weight fighter conversely tends to not be as flexible, and agile as a light weight or medium weight fighter.

o   This doesn’t cover issues of technique over power. The maxim that when two people fight the stronger (in this case Heavy Weight loosely translates to strength) fighter bows to the fighter with both strength and technique. An issue which in some cases I would dispute. Sometimes strengths trumps power and sometimes power trumps technique. But one thing is for sure a lighter fighter fighting a heavy weight without either is at a serious disadvantage.

·        A Medium Weight: Truthfully this is where I would classify the body of Karate fighters in general in that medium weights abilities tend towards leveraging his intermediate mass to facilitate faster sequences of fighting techniques. The tendency is for greater fluidity than a heavy weight with a greater array of attacking combinations with the emphasis being more of the sum of all the attacking combinations being the determinant as opposed to the power of a key technique. Comparative to a lightweight the greater difference is probably in the area of number of techniques and the power of the techniques themselves.

·        A Light Weight: Being a light weight generally means that fighting tends to be more technical involving less direct exposure to the power attacks of the greater weight ranges. With an emphasis on deflection, quick counters, fast evasions and fast techniques, a light weight more than any of the other two categories develops a strong emphasis on fighting strategy particularly in combinations of light weight vs. heavy/medium weight.

Technical Ability

Technical ability in Karate is a combination of:

1. Amount of techniques known 
2. Ability to apply those techniques
3. Amount of imagination

A popular local Karateka here in Zimbabwe is known for applying pretty much two techniques when fighting in tournaments – Gyakuzuki and Uraken-uchi.

My point in saying that is that my statement ‘amount of techniques known’ does not necessarily correlate to an Encyclopaedia of Karate techniques but more techniques which have been learned and known to the extent that they can be imaginatively be applied in a variety of situations.

Technical ability is all about visualisation. Some fighting combinations are best felt in the moment of the fight than they are sequenced into step-by-step training. What this then implies is that Technical Ability is directly related to the amount of practice which is performed in the fighting style of choice.

What this also means is that technical ability is less a factor of the time spent training Karate as opposed to the time spent actually training how to fight whilst doing karate. A distinction which whilst subtle in some respects makes a total difference once people start fighting.

Level of Aggression

A fighter’s level of aggression is pretty much related to the style of fighter that he is and will be covered in a bit more depth in a later article.

In the most basic of sense your aggression to pursue and take advantage of your opponent’s weakness defines who will define the route in which your fighting will take. Irrespective of weight size. I have seen light weights take down heavy weights purely on the basis of their innate aggression and desire to capitalise on their opponent’s weakness however small those weaknesses may be.

All fighters require a level of aggression be they a defender or an attacker. The degree to which you apply it is then related to your technical ability to exploit the weakness that you perceive.

Aggression is not brutality. Brutality is power without focus. It results in overkill. i.e. a kick where a punch is needed or a strike to a vulnerable point in an already defeated opponent. Brutality is the dark side of an aggressive attack such that an aggressor can fall victim to the fighter with a greater management of their own power.

Let me point out there are unavoidable times for levels of brutality – let me be blunt when your life is at stake and you have the option of death to you or your loved ones, then brutality is a sad expression of a morally challenging situation. But to train with brutality as anything other than an exception is not wise.

Degree of fear

My comments above are related to fear in a sense because only a person consumed with their fear lets their techniques devolve into outright brutality. But fear is a very important part of our fighting.

It is important to understand that a fighter who is totally without fear is a person who will fight without thinking through consequences or repercussions. I am a strong believer that that there must be a level of fear which you manage your responses to fighting situations.

Fear is not a negative commodity if it can encourage clear headedness as well as an ability to evaluate a situation and derive conclusions in the heat of the moment which define a fights outcome. For instance, I remember once walking in the wrong side of town during the evening – essentially I was back tracking looking for my wallet which had dropped out of my pocket early one evening. As I was walking two men ran up to me; immediately I was faced with a situation where I had to respond immediately.

The situation was I was in the wrong part of town and two men running towards me as they were could only mean one thing; I was about to get mugged. As the first person reached me, I turned towards him and committed myself to the fact that I had to defend myself at once, and threw a punch to his head; the strike knocked him to the ground and his partner stopped and then seeing that the situation was no longer a surprise attack picked up his partner and fled.

My degree of fear in that situation was such that I had to come up with a counter to whatever was happening without letting my fear create a case where I for instance fled, and was for example driven to a place where I could get corralled and waylaid.

How a fighter thus manages his fear strongly determines how a fighter fights.

Conclusion of Part One

Having covered the actual determinants which define a fighter, my next article will cover the actual fighting styles themselves. Note, by fighting – in this article I am referring more to Jiyuu Kumite or free and full contact sparring. Tournaments operate using different fighting principles although some of what I have said here can still be considered applicable.

In general should you ever be put in a situation where you have to fight it is my experience that all of the above factors come into play.

Tips for improving self defence techniques

Beyond Kata, Kihon and Kumite there is plain old self defence.

Now depending on where you train the techniques can be rooted in Bunkai or they can be derived less from Bunkai but more natural fighting situations where for instance your attacker does not leave his hand in the air after executing a Jodan tsuki.

Where I train self-defence is usually trained on a solid surface (encouraging as much caution as you would use in the street), and does not usually aim for techniques which are fundamentally flashy or that involve the use of vast amounts of power (Kicks to the head are thus rare).

Emphasis is placed on a few basic principles:

• Avoid the initial attack(s)
• Respond with a fast and practical combination.
• Finish your opponent with the technique or render the situation in such a manner that evasion is feasible.

Avoid the initial attack(s)

This step cannot be under emphasised. Whether it is through Ashi-Sabaki to pivot your body away from the attacks to blocking the attacks directly practice-practice-practice blocking standard and non-standard attacks. Your opponents for instance are in real world situations not likely to use a Jodan choku tsuki when attacking practice defending round house punches (probably the most common) 

Respond with a fast and practical combination

Speed, Speed, Speed is the essence you must always think of self-defence as actions which must take place within a matter of seconds. This is all about responding as quickly as possible to prevent your assailant/opponent from taking advantage of any hesitation after your initial block.

Think in terms of series of movements as opposed to movements in step-by-step form.

Of course normally you train step by step (and I encourage you to make each step perfect when doing so)

But the key is to package you response with speed.

Finish your opponent.

Self-defence is about engaging an attacking party. Therefore the fact that you have had to reluctantly apply yourself to defending yourself there should be a strong desire to ensure that what has been started by them will be finished by you.

This is not revenge this is merely an attempt to ensure that the assailant does not get up and continue what he previously started.

Forget what you have seen in the movies, self-defence is not pretty and is desired only when you have no choice. Most of what you have been taught can kill, and or maim, which is why self-defence is closely linked to self-discipline, which helps prevent a lot of the situations where self-defence is required.

Kata as a form of moving meditation

One of the most common sights in any dojo is the sight of Karateka seated in an uncomfortable looking posture performing zazen.

Seated meditation. 

Now pretty much for most people it starts and ends with clearing their heads of any junk before or after a karate session and it ends there.

I am neither a Buddhist nor a Taoist and I have no intention to worry about how when they sit it has particular aspects to them compared to me.

What intrigues me more though is the sight of Karateka going through their Kata.

Kata is beautiful to behold and deadly to consider.

I have always enjoyed the fluidity of motion and concentration power the unlimited possibilities offered by the Kata themselves. And let’s not forget the benefits of muscle memory through muscle groups remembering the stances of katas et al.

In some ways it can be possible to think of Kata as a form of Dozen (Moving Meditation)

Now here is where I have issues. Meditation in itself is focused on the inside whereas a kata through its function and its form is based on externalization of self. The awareness of attack and defence. Of threat and response.

Meditation. Hardly.

But meditation principles are involved. The key to all meditation is removing your forebrain from the process 

of focus and concentration so your hind brain (forgive the crude analogy) can release itself for other things.

And to a certain strained extent I can understand where the concept lightly meets. I have often used the mere thoughts of the structure of a kata to help clear my mind by removing my forebrain from the issues at hand and using my hind brain to then allow a level of release – its proved effective on many occasions.

But kata as a meditation is a dangerous concept to a student or a teacher who is ultimately practicing a ‘form ‘of self-defence. And dangerously turns movement with intent to movement for the sake of movement as opposed to the sake of self defence which after all is the heart of Karate