bassaiguy

I was teaching a small group yesterday practical self-defense applications from kata and traditional karate. I have one student who has a red belt in another style from a larger dojo in the area. His technique is usually pretty good. His application suffers sometimes, however, because he is too controlled. I see this a lot in students who have little practical experience, but good experience in the dojo, my nickname for this is dojo disease. In this case I was instructing the student to push me like he meant it -like he was being a bully and wanted to dump me on the ground or shove me through the wall. He took one step, put his hands on my shoulders, pushed and stopped. I asked him to push again and he stepped in and faked a push off to one side of my body - no contact! I told him to push me like a football player would shove a blocking dummy and to keep pushing. Even after several tries my student had a difficult time making himself aggressively push. Now, I'm not teaching pushing. What I wanted to demonstrate was evasion and response to common aggressive techniques, but without an active partner it is very hard to demonstrate effective defense. I know there is a time and place to passively practice techniques with a partner, but isn't there also a time and place to throw on some headgear and pressure test your techniques? Why is it so hard to get my dojo trained students to buy into this?

It took me about five years to get my black belt in Moo Duk KWan, but that was back in the late 80s-early 90s. I took six years to earn my black belt in karate (due to interuptions), but only three years to earn my second degree. I would say that 3-4 years is average in a karate style like Shito-ryu. If you think of a black belt as like a high school diploma then four years or so is about right.

We worked on self-defense in street clothes today. Specifically worked on evasion and response to push from the front, front arm haymaker, rear arm haymaker and grab to the body. Then we geared up one student and circled around and practiced attacking him at random in a group with basic street tactics to see if the responses worked (they did, but folks were surprised at how often they got hit). Street applications of Shotokan - Osu!

When I did TKD Moo Duk Kwan our belts were: White Yellow Green Green - one stripe Green - two stripes Red Red- one stripe Red - two stripes Black This was from '84-'89, though (so basically the stone ages). I suspect that more levels have been added now.

Even hard-hitting karate can (and should) include pressure point training. Funakoshi and Nakayama both included pressure point charts in their karate texts even though Shotokan is not known for its emphasis on kyusho jutsu or tuite. There is even a Shotokan organization which supposedly emphasizes this more (Kissaki-kai Karate), but I've never trained with them. The important thing to remember in my opinion is that when you're really into a fight, and fatigue and adrenaline kick in, your fine motor skills are going out the window. So, I look at pressure point training as the ideal, but not the end all, be all of dento karate. An example of this is in the Shotokan kata Hangetsu (Seisan, for others). There is the double ippon-ken to the chest. In an ideal world the fore-knuckle strikes are to a pressure point just below the nipple (men, you can feel a small impression below your nipples. However, you should not ask to feel up your female partners for "pressure point" training or you'll deserve the black eye you'll probably get). In reality, I'm not sure it would ever be possible to find, let alone strike with one knuckle, these exact spots on a moving and dressed opponent during combat. It's probably worthwhile training, but I wouldn't bet my life on it.

Another sex offender has popped up in the ranks of martial arts instructors, this time in my neck of the woods. Here's a link: http://bangordailynews.com/2013/03/08/news/mid-maine/martial-arts-instructor-accused-of-having-sex-with-student/?ref=polbeat There aren't that many full-time MA instructors in Maine and I've only briefly heard of this guy. Apparently, he was a BJJ instructor hired to teach the special BJJ program at a karate school. This is one of the things that has always scared me about opening my own school. What liability do the owners and other staff have? How can you recruit and train staff to avoid these incidents. What would you do as an instructor/owner of a school if one of your employees did this? After the high profile incidents in England over the past few years and similar incidents in the States is there any way to avoid this?

PM me if you need help.

Tang Soo Do (aka Moo Duk Kwan and Soo Bahk Do) is the Korean version of Japanese karate. It's a very popular style. It's roots are in the Shotokan and, to a lesser extent, the Shito-ryu traditions. Although some of the terminology you learn may be Korean instead of Japanese, the techniques are very similar. Your forms may be nearly identical to Japanese kata or may differ depending on which branch of Tang Soo Do your club is associated with. Some clubs use the older (Japanese-style) forms, while other groups have some newer kata created over the past fifty years. High level Tang Soo Do people may have some forms that include Chang Chuan and Tai Chi Chuan influences from Chinese martial arts. If you're worried you're not learning real karate I wouldn't sweat it, Tang Soo Do is Korean karate.

Shotokan and before that Moo Duk Kwan (Korean karate), Osu!

It seems like you're spinning a lot. Maybe because you have some apprehension or fear of going straight in? I often tell my new-ish students to stand their ground. If you find yourself backing up a lot or getting pushed back - don't. Unless you're fighting full-contact or are at a higher rank you shouldn't have to worry about being hit too hard. So, don't back up and see what happens when you throw straight attacks like front kicks and front punches. If your opponent gets close cover up and piston those punches to your opponents ribs. Don't spin, don't throw wide round kicks, etc. You are the freight train and your track runs through your opponent. (Oh yeah, I'm Shotokan by the way )

Good luck! Steady training is the key. I've been training for over 25 years. 2nd dan Shotokan, 1st dan Moo Duk Kwan TKD, green belt Judo, a bit if grappling and a fair amount of Defensive Tactics/Practical MA. I guess I'm under-ranked for the time I've been training, but after awhile it's more for the experience and friendships than the ranks for me.

I've seen several occasions where a BB who has left training for awhile will put on a white belt when he comes back until the instructor gives him permission to where black again. In fact, I think it would be disrespectful of a student not to do this. I hate seeing BBs who never practice, but still try to lord their rank over others. I also have seen a kyu grade demoted from brown belt back to green belt, but since it was at a non-commercial dojo the implications had no financial effect on the instructor. In professional dojo I think that would be a tough decision.

There used t be a company called Earth Gi that made hemp gi. They seem to be out of business. There is a South African company called Gassho that apparently makes hemp karate gi. Anybody have experience with either company? I have a hemp judo gi I picked up nearly twenty years ago that's still going strong (strangely it's only shrunk around the midsection) and I'd love to have a hemp karate gi. Alternately, if anyone knows of a company that makes hemp fabric I'd be interested in the link. Thanks.

Shotokan's Chinte has three little hops at the end. There used to be a forum called e-budo where there was a thread that went on for about two years regarding the Chinte hops. It's a strange move because if you just wanted to get back to the start point you could simply step back, but the three hops have become standard. There is some bunkai for the move, but I think they are pretty far-fetched. From my research, certain Chinese and Okinawan forms have always ended on the same spot, but some did not. So it's not a Shotokan invention to end where you start. It IS however a Shotokan invention for EVERY kata to start and end at the same place.

I think that some of the problem as it relates to Japanese karate is that the terminology of bunkai/oyo was not commonly used in the early days even though the practice was seemingly part of early Japanese karate. For example, in Karate-do Kyohan, Funakoshi states that kumite is really the application of kata techniques. I'm paraphrasing because I'm at work and don't have the text in front of me, but what he is referring to is ippon kumite and yakusoku kumite. He also gives little hints in the text such as in his commentary to the instructions for Jion where he states that the kata should be 'particularly studied for fighting' or words to that effect. I think kata analysis was "lost" in the 40s because of the war and the 50s & 60s because of the emphasis on competition to enhance the prestige of various karate groups over one another (JKA vs FAJKO, for example), but I don't think it was ever divorced from karate totally in the way that some critics seem to say.

Here's a good example of what you guys are talking about (I think). Wish I could claim it as mine, but it is was posted on a private group I belong to.

Very nice write-up on your blog. I've wanted to attend one of Morris' seminars for awhile. If he ever makes it to the Northeast I'll make sure to go. I wonder, did he mention his other group (not Kissaki-kai) the ISOK? I used to be a member before he was chair and I'm considering rejoining.

Many people (myself included) dream of being full-time MA instructors. However, most teachers have other jobs and teach part-time. This is true in Okinawa and Japan, as well as the US. I wonder if there are some fields that attract MA teachers and students more than others? I'm not sure, though. It seems my teachers over the years have been a pretty eclectic bunch. My teachers have been: School bus driver Construction worker Bartender Graduate student Medical doctor University professor Police officer (retired) Full-Time MA teacher As for me, I'm a high school teacher (and former cop). I'm just a part-time MA teacher, too. So, is their a career path that attracts MA weirdos like us?

Good luck. I hope you invent the next great gear!

Try gentle extension exercises aka Mackenzie Exercises. Here's a link: Good luck

Truth

I've never fought in Kyokushin style competition, but I have used blocks in self-defense situations, as ps1 said mostly as hammer-fist strikes or forearm smashes. Jodan age uke, for exmple, is a very basic block, but it can be used effectively against an opponent's jaw when they try for a tackle. My advise to new students of Shotokan (even if they're not new to MA) is to practice the blocks as they have been given to us. The reason we repeat them in kata and gohon kumite so much is so we can apply them automatically when the need arises. Also, pressure test them a bit with your buddies in the dojo. A lot of students hate kihon kumite and think it's boring, but that's because they don't treat it as KUMITE and don't push each other. Once my students get to green belt I put a bit of pressure on them when we do kihon kumite.

My grandfather, who gave me my first exposure to MA, used to say, "Sometimes you have to be willing to take a hit to get in on a guy." He didn't mean that you have take a punch to the jaw, what he was saying is that sometimes you have to allow your opponent to open himself up by taking a swing. I look at blocks in kata in that light. We're not being passive in the face of aggression as much as we are being strategic in the application of our techniques. I also think that ShoriKid is right when he discussed the various ways that blocks interrupt and break down our opponent's flow. Finally, many styles have historically done a lot of conditioning, which effectively turned blocking limbs into hard attacking limbs. Many schools have gone away from this. In my Shotokan classes I've added conditioning drills I've stolen from Kyokushin and Okinawan karate to emphasize this. We also do traditional Shotokan gohon kumite with contact to emphasize the importance and power of blocking.

For lineage purposes more than anything else I joined the association that my teacher (who is now independent) was formerly a member. I didn't really care about rank. I'm nidan and have been for about ten years. Who knows if I'll ever bother to test again. But I wanted to train with some of the guys my instructor used to talk about, meet their students, etc. If any of my students ever get to the point of testing for blackbelt I'll set up a testing board with my teacher, myself and a few advanced blackbelt friends. That's how they did it in the old days. I'm also a member of ISOK, which is an association for blackbelts only to help them learn, grade and meet colleagues. It's a small group, but I think the idea is great and I hope it grows.

I'm a Shotokan guy for many years, but I've also trained in TSD and judo. So, my experience with Okinawan systems is slight, but I've had good friends in Okinawan karate. Given your criteria I'd look at Okinawa Kempo as a full-contact, traditional Okinawan style. I've seen their kata and kumite and have always wanted to try it. You might also have good luck with Isshin-ryu and Uechi-ryu schools although some Uechi-ryu I've seen has been "lighter" than others. Good luck.