karate blocks

[martialartsresearcher]

hey guys, does anyone know why people say karate blocks are useless in a real street SD situation? i know it better for someone to dodge attack, but still thanks guys.

[Ozaru]

They say it because they are ignorant. It is sometimes better to dodge an attack, sometimes it is not an option, for instance if you are backed into a corner. Blocks are useful if you dont have time or room to dodge. They are also helpful if you want to block and throw, block and counterattack.

 

What people say and what people mean are often two very different things.

 

What they say: Blocking is useless on the street

 

What they mean: I'm much too slow to block even the simplest attack from an untrained fighter.

 

COME ON Everyone knows street fighters

 

1. Get Mad

 

2. Throw the Wild Right Cross

 

3. Throw The left hook, right cross

 

4. If that doesn't work they go for the tackle

 

If you know whats coming, then you should prepare to defend against it.

[Drunken Monkey]

and then there's the fact that most people put there see blocks as being used in isolation.

 

it's like the guys out there who ask you to try and block all of their attempts to hit you,

 

not realising that the simplest way to stop the hits is to hit him...

[JerryLove]

The vast majority of schools which teach Karate/TKD blocks do not teach an effective defese technique. The way blocking is taught in these schools is inherently slow and lacks enough oomph to actually stop a hard swing.

 

There is also the general statement that "blocking" (not to be confused with passing, slipping, and striking) is not a good approach. You've gotten your arm hit instead of something else, but still it is you htat have gotten hit.

[Drunken Monkey]

i'm gonna have to be honest here and admit that i have no idea how karate or tkd is taught or how they train.

[Guy_Who_Fights]

I am surprised at the amount of praise traditional blocks are receiving here, because I would be very impressed if all of the people who have posted here use crisp, textbook Karate blocks in sparring. Unless you block every punch and kick in sparring with traditional Karate blocks (chambering the block, pulling hand to hip, etc.) and never take a hit because they are so effective, perhaps you should rethink the amount of praise you give those blocks.

 

I have faught countless Karate and Tae Kwon Do practitioners and cannot recall a single one of them actually using a traditional block against any of my attacks.

 

This post is not meant as a real attack on everyone here, but do think about it please. Long ago I too supported the traditional blocks.

[delta1]

and then there's the fact that most people put there see blocks as being used in isolation.

 

Yup. That's probably the biggest one. Most people see someone train 'block, step out into a stance, and punch', and they say 'that would never work on the street.' They don't see the martial application, where those three things happen all at the same time, nor the more advanced techniques where your strikes double as blocks or checks. They don't see the principles being taught: dealing with the attack, assuming a solid stance, delivering a mechanically powerful punch to the appropriate target. They just see 'by the time you've steped, I've hit you again.' Wrong! As I steped, I hit you once and have already selected my next target!

[TangSooGuy]

Well, I'll hop on the bandwagon. I hate to sound like one of those bogus masters who says "our techniques are too dangerous..."

 

However, using traditional martial arts blocks in the sense that i think most peope are talking about here really would be dangerous. many of them are designed to be limb destruction techniques, where the block actually is an attack.

 

Now there is "soft" blocking, or defelction, or passing as well, and many of the same principals of traditional blocking can be applied to this idea, but i don't think that's what most people are saying.

 

I guarantee that if I tried to attack some of the instructors I've had, and they blocked the technique "for real" using a traditional block, i wouldn't be continuing to attack them, because I'd be in too much pain....

 

Now chain a block together with a counter, or a series of counterattacks, and you can get particularly brutal.

 

The problem does not lie within blocking, but in how most people practice blocking. I've seen blocks by black belts that are far too slow and lacking in power to stop any technique, let alone cause any pain/damage to the attacker.

 

Another problem is that people tend to expect blocks to be useful immediately upon learning how to position their arms, and it just doesn't work that way.

[kempocos]

TANGSOO ad DELTA put it very well, in training we breakdown the flow of the block/couter. This is so the stance , arm postion and movement can be done corretlyand fluid. In the heat of an attack these should be as one, and the time spent drilling has conditioned the required muscles to move respond fast and with power.

[JerryLove]

I guarantee that if I tried to attack some of the instructors I've had, and they blocked the technique "for real" using a traditional block, i wouldn't be continuing to attack them, because I'd be in too much pain....

Conversely, a 6-month student at my school would achieve much the same result.... which begs the question: "if that's how your response works, can most eveyone do that; Or only the very high-level people?"

 

It's not useful unless it works pretty early (considering it's taught early).