Another of my favorite books is Hanshi Stan Schmidt’s Spirit of the Empty Hand
. South African Schmidt was the highest ranking non-Japanese JKA Shotokan practitioner in the world for many years. He traveled often to train at JKA headquarters in Tokyo and had many tales to tell. Rather than write an autobiographical book on it, he chose a different approach. He wrote about a fictional karateka who travels to Japan to train, weaving stories from his own experiences and those of several friends and students, into a single story.
. South African Schmidt was the highest ranking non-Japanese JKA Shotokan practitioner in the world for many years. He traveled often to train at JKA headquarters in Tokyo and had many tales to tell. Rather than write an autobiographical book on it, he chose a different approach. He wrote about a fictional karateka who travels to Japan to train, weaving stories from his own experiences and those of several friends and students, into a single story.As with Moving Zen
, Spirit of the Empty Hand is a fun read, full of humor but also insights into Japanese life and dojo etiquette. Spirit of the Empty Hand probably contains far more technical information for the martial artist, allowing him to go away with greater knowledge about higher martial arts concepts.
, Spirit of the Empty Hand is a fun read, full of humor but also insights into Japanese life and dojo etiquette. Spirit of the Empty Hand probably contains far more technical information for the martial artist, allowing him to go away with greater knowledge about higher martial arts concepts.I mentioned in my writeup of Moving Zen that I had learned something from it that not only helped me in my own karate at the time but I also found useful while a national coach and advising members of our national team when competing in international competition. I scanned through my copy of Moving Zen and couldn’t find the exchange. I searched for my copy of Spirit of the Empty Hand but haven’t found it yet. But I’m pretty sure the exchange in question was in that book, not Moving Zen. The exchange was between the ficitional karateka and Sensei Tabata, I think. They were talking over lunch at a restaurant. The conversation went as follows – as I remember it:
that I had learned something from it that not only helped me in my own karate at the time but I also found useful while a national coach and advising members of our national team when competing in international competition. I scanned through my copy of Moving Zen and couldn’t find the exchange. I searched for my copy of Spirit of the Empty Hand but haven’t found it yet. But I’m pretty sure the exchange in question was in that book, not Moving Zen. The exchange was between the ficitional karateka and Sensei Tabata, I think. They were talking over lunch at a restaurant. The conversation went as follows – as I remember it:Karateka: What’s the most important thing in karate?
Tabata: Distance.
Karateka: What do you mean by “distance”?
Tabata: I have told you too much already.
It launched a huge amount of thought and experimentation on my part at the time. (This was many years ago.) I came to several very useful conclusions. But what do you think he meant by this?
(Again, I've linked both books to Amazon books, for those who haven't yet read these classics.)
From my (youthful) martial perspective, I can only begin to guess. Distance is the greatest defensive weapon we have, the great equalizer. It buys us time to think and plan a defense, or it can be a defense itself. Offensively, it is the first and often greatest obstacle we have to overcome. Your opponent doesn't even need a defensive stance if you can't get close enough to hit him. Likewise, distance determines your attack options. Close distance requires elbows & knees, medium distance punches and a few kicks, and a further distance, perhaps only kicks (though whether they are wise to use above knee level in anything other than sparring is a different topic).
ReplyDeleteDistance also determines power, and perception of speed. Locks and controlling movements are more powerful when they are closer to us, brought into our own center. We, as humans, are weaker when we extend ourselves past our centers, whether we are throwing someone or lifting a box. As for perception of speed, less distance to travel means a technique is perceived as being faster. In sparring, this is a vital concept, as traditionally it is the first, not the best, point that counts.
All of these concepts so far are between you and an opponent. Distance is also important in the everyday basics of training, i.e. how far apart your feet are in different stances, distance you cover while stepping in kata or basics, etc. I believe the concept of distance when training alone is about establishing your center, and once it is established, keeping it while moving. This prepares us for the time when we need to use our center (and distance) with an opponent, whether it be sparring or in a self-defense situation.
That is, at least, my take on distance. I am positive there are perspectives on distance I am completely oblivious to, and several concepts I mentioned that may be entirely wrong. I am quite curious as to your take on it Hanshi :).
Respectfully,
Ryan Dunlap
You did a hell of a job! You broke it down very nicely, adding to my knowledge of it. Yes, distance is the great equalizer of superior speed. And if they can't reach you, they can't hurt you. This holds in all univeses. Offensively, it is the great obstacle to overcome - bridging the gap. Top fighters control distance to an extremely fine degree. They make you think you can reach them, when you can't. The best will allow you to come up perhaps a 1/4 inch short, then hammer you. They will also make you think they can't hit you, when they can. And there are drills for achieving all of this. I once had as a student Brian Oldfield, world record holder in the shot put for many years and one of the greatest athletes of all time. He was asked to fight Mohammed Ali in an exhibition bout. During the fight, he said Ali began bending his knees and pulling his hands in closer. He said it was an optical illusion, looking like he was moving further away... then lashed out and hit him right in the face. That story also sent me on another mental journey to think of different ways to misdirect an opponent. I bet you'll be able to take that same story and come up woth some good suggestions as well. Thanks and great job! Jim
ReplyDeleteHanshi,
ReplyDeleteI have been chewing on what you said for awhile, and as far as misdirection where distance is concerned, the only other thing I can think of is angular movement. Direct forward and backward movement are hard to disguise without help (such as hands moving closer and knees bending), it is too obvious your distance is changing. The same can be said for direct sideways movement, which has a disadvantage when on the offensive because it adds distance and puts you in a more difficult position.
Angular movement, on the other hand, can be utilized to mask forward or backward motion. Moving to the outside of someone's vision reduces depth perception enough to disguise the full distance you covered, and while your opponent may move to counter, their distance is miscalculated until they re-target you with their eyes. Peripheral vision is great for picking up movement, but not for depth. While your opponent is re-targeting you and processing, they haven't adjusted for the correct distance, at which point you have a clear advantage. The same can be said for defensive angular movement (its not retreating, its advancing in a different direction), it is easy to mask the actual distance you travel, creating an opening for a good counter-attack while giving you distance (and time) to avoid your opponent.
As for misdirection, this is a concept I have not given much thought towards until recently. All self-defense is taught to beginners at a very basic level. Bad guy grabs your wrist, you step back, make a circle with your own wrist, they let go, you kiai. Very basic, but it has to be for beginners. At a higher belt when understanding of deeper concepts is possible, you revisit the "older" defenses and add to them to make them more effective. What is taught at white belt to white belts (especially kids) won't typically be street ready as it is taught. The idea is correct, but more needs to be added. Misdirection is one of these things.
The great thing about misdirection in a self-defense situation is there are no rules as to what the distraction can be. You can slap, bite, pinch, scream, kick, glance, tickle, sneeze, or any other number of things to break the focus of your attacker. Your self-defense has a much higher chance of working if the bad guy forgets to hold on to you. Obviously there are many other concepts that go into self-defense, but misdirection is a key to any good defense.
I would be curious to hear any other ideas you have on misdirection, as this is a concept I haven't really explored yet on my own. A guiding light would be very much appreciated, if you have the time.
Thank you for providing this blog Hanshi, it has given me much to ponder and many stories to marvel at.
Respectfully,
Ryan Dunlap
You came up with some great ideas. I’ll probably write something up on this subject (lateral mobility and triangular attacks) at some point in the near future. Although misdirection can be utilized in a variety of ways, I think I was thinking about techniques that enable you to move inside an opponent’s range, while making him think you’re outside it. Try this – from a right leg back fighting stance, ease forward towards an opponent while moving (grinding) our right fist like you mean to hit him with an inverted punch. An opponent will often become so fixated on defending against the Rabbit Punch and staying just out of its range that they’ll let you get close enough to hit them with a left (front) hand jab. Thanks for the great input and for reading, Jim
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