One nasty Karateka...

[repz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5faGD5b6Zw

[french fri25]

ooooo man.... that guy is insane. never heard of him until now.

[Elky]

Elwyn Hall has had a bit of a resurgence of popularity on the internet thanks to that video clip.

He was a member of the KUGB (karate union of great britain) squad in the '80s and was well known as one of the scariest people you could face in competition. He was generally sent out as the first competitor in team competition to put the fear of God into the other team.

As far as I know he doesn't teach or compete any more.

You can see some of his team-mates (Ronnie Christopher, Frank Brennan) in this vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=292RJFjGCKA

[ninjer]

Are they doing point sparring? It looks like hes making contact with his strikes, but they constantly restart them in the middle of the fight.

[Elky]

Are they doing point sparring? It looks like hes making contact with his strikes, but they constantly restart them in the middle of the fight.

It's shobu ippon kumite (one-point fighting) - basically Judo rules applied to karate. The first person to throw a clean technique which renders the opponent defenceless wins.

[bushido_man96]

He was quick, that was for sure.

What I can't understand is why in the world no one ever kept their hands up in those fights.

[Elky]

He was quick, that was for sure.

What I can't understand is why in the world no one ever kept their hands up in those fights.

Because there's no point waving your hands in the air if your opponent is too far away to hit your head. And you discourage them from coming close enough to hit your head by hitting them if they do. Their guard tends to be mobile; the first instinct is to increase distance between yourself and your opponent to not allow them to hit you, then if they do manage to close the distance, you strike aggressively to drive them away and then try and guard your head as a last resort. Standing there with your hands in front of your face isn't a spectacularly good tactic - you're just inviting a boot to the ribs or a punch to the torso. It's easier to guard your head with distance.

[bushido_man96]

He was quick, that was for sure.

What I can't understand is why in the world no one ever kept their hands up in those fights.

Because there's no point waving your hands in the air if your opponent is too far away to hit your head. And you discourage them from coming close enough to hit your head by hitting them if they do. Their guard tends to be mobile; the first instinct is to increase distance between yourself and your opponent to not allow them to hit you, then if they do manage to close the distance, you strike aggressively to drive them away and then try and guard your head as a last resort. Standing there with your hands in front of your face isn't a spectacularly good tactic - you're just inviting a boot to the ribs or a punch to the torso. It's easier to guard your head with distance.

I find that much of what you explain here tends to be the case in a point-style sparring set up. I fight in class with my hands up, and if a kick comes low, I either swing down the arm to block it, or lower my elbow into the strike, giving them a nice stinger. However, if I were going to defend myself, I would much rather have the boxer or Muay Thai stance of having the arms up, protecting myself.

[french fri25]

i agree with bushido man. your hands are absolutely useless at your sides so you should either protect your torso or head. then its up to you to chose where you would rather get hit. in the head, or the ribs. i'd much rather get hit in the ribs than the head, so therefor, i keep my hands up.

[Elky]

I would much rather have the boxer or Muay Thai stance of having the arms up, protecting myself.

Even if your opponent's miles away?

i agree with bushido man. your hands are absolutely useless at your sides so you should either protect your torso or head.

These guys aren't rank amateurs and they're not WTF taekwondo competitors - they know what to do with their hands. Elwyn Hall wouldn't be duking it out with a guy in the street and trying to absorb blows into his forearm. It's bang, bang, bang and down they go. That's what karate's about.