Using blocking techniques

[Taikudo-ka]

Ibouchet, one advantage blocking could have over just dodging is that the block can set you up for the counterstrike as well, all in one move. Just about every block is also chambering the hand for a strike, you just have to think about what strikes could be applied from that position.

 

You can even use this "aggresively" in sparring by "blocking" away an opponents guard, then striking before they can recover. Of course the blocking motion itself can also be a strike.

[Jade_Lotus]

not all blocks are effective. find the ones that are, you learn this through practice. Once you find them you must practice it with much diligence, if you have to think about the block in a real street confrontation, then you will NOT be successfull. Learn to recall it only on reflex. This is done through many many hours of dedication. Months, years, of training. Patience is a virtue, learn this well.

[LeaF]

perhaps this is a little late to respond to this buit anyway...

A rule of thumb I try and teach is don't block what will not hurt you This is why I don't compete in point sparring LOL. However lots of times blocking will leave you open. A good fighter will set you up.

 

Some things that appear not to be dangerous can be.... I understand what you are saying but I tend to take a more cautous approach... If I get one shot on him and he has none on me then that is far better then him having 5 shots on me and me having 6 on him ... I am not a big huge guy but I do believe I am very quick and being slim helps this and perhaps our different body types helps explain why we believe differently

[AndrewGreen]

-"

 

I don't see how I could practise my blocking technique "exactly as I fight"... stuff has to be flying at me for it to work.

 

If this is the case, then perhaps there is an error in your method of practice. or maybe your practicing something which was in fact not intended as a block...

[lbouchet]

Ibouchet, one advantage blocking could have over just dodging is that the block can set you up for the counterstrike as well, all in one move. Just about every block is also chambering the hand for a strike, you just have to think about what strikes could be applied from that position]]

 

Or you have to think about what else is coming that you might have to block again.

 

In ninjutsu we don't just "dodge". It's actually avoiding and striking at the same time. So whereas if someone threw you a haymaker, say, and you blocked to set you up for a counterstrike, we would (in one example) move in immediately, hammer the bicep as it comes around in mid-swing, then right away do one of a million different things that will cripple/crumple the opponent to the ground in no time flat. All in one motion. When you block, you're staying "in the line of fire" -- you've avoided one punch, but what if he was coming in with some huge double punch/kick combo? By moving, you can avoid all that and it's totally your advantage now. You've repositioned yourself out of the line of fire, and now you're opponent has to reposition himself to face you again. But by now you're in so close that the opponent can't throw anything at you (you're in the guy's face), which throws him off and lets you do your thing. Very effective. Besides, if you opponent is twice as big as you, can you expect to block very well? I'm sure size matters in this case. If you flow around him like water you'll take him down no matter what. Interesting point -- soke Hatsumi, currently the 34th grandmaster of ninjutsu, first started learning ninjutsu when as a judo instructor at an American army base in Japan he was defeated by a big burly American. That got him wondering what use judo was if you couldn't use it to defeat just anyone. So he went out and found an art that taught principles that even a small person could use against a much larger one and still win. My instructor, before he got into ninjutsu, was a blackbelt in taekwondo, and he was used to fighting in straight, linear motions, you know, blocking. etc. He got creamed by a "ninja" one day because whenever he threw a punch or a kick, the ninja simply ended up on his inside or behind him or wherever, and before he could re-adjust his position to attack again, he'd been hit enough times in enough areas to have crippled him if it had been a real fight. That's why he ended up switching to ninjutsu.

 

Anyway, enough useless story telling. I'm just trying to relate how avoiding/striking can sometimes be better than blocking, but it's damn hard to do by writing -- better to actually see the techniques!

 

Thoughts?

[searcher]

I agree with withers in that how you train is how you fight, so if you train to use them you will. And besides what purpose would it be to train to use something that is not going to be used.