What’s the most important thing in karate? – Part III

I think it was in Gichin Funakoshi’s autobiography that he introduced a bit of a riddle. He spoke about “the expansion and contraction of the body.” Karateka have been trying to figure out exactly what he meant ever since.

Some believe he was talking about extension and contraction of the muscles in executing a technique. You extend a punch, then retract it by contracting the opposing muscles – triceps out, biceps back.

Others have speculated that he meant the expansion of the body in inhalation and its contraction during exhalation. Generally, we exhale for power, as when executing a punch. At other times, we inhale for power, such as in one of the moves near the end of the Shotokan version of Gojushiho Sho kata. The standard surface interpretation of this move holds that we inhale to expand our chests as we extend and raise both arms to break a bear hug.

A third interpretation is that it refers to the expansion and contraction of the distance between bodies in a fight or match. Smart, highly skilled fighters generally masterfully control the distance between them and their opponents, closing (contracting) the distance when attacking, then moving away out of range (expanding the distance) when defending.

I have no idea what he actually meant as he never, to my knowledge, clarified it. I’ve seen some who claimed to “know” what he meant. But in logic, there is a difference between “knowing” something and “believing” it. Knowing means you have objective proof, something like you could present to a judge in court. A belief generally lacks verification and its support lies merely upon a person’s opinion. And those who would put words into others mouths have historically been greatly off. (A famous case was when the Chinese unearthed the first copy of Sun Tzu’s Art of War and asked their greatest martial minds to fill in the gaps, where sections of the bamboo strips on which it had been written were badly damaged. When they later unearthed another copy, with the missing sections intact, they found that those who had confidently, in some case arrogantly, filled in the previously missing sections were far off.)

Funakoshi Sensei could have meant none of the three interpretations I’ve put forward. He could also have meant one of them, two of them, or all three.

Perhaps there were applications there that went beyond what he actually had in mind when he said it. Perhaps there were other meanings, things he was aware of but didn’t mean when he made this specific statement. Or, perhaps there could be interpretations, things to be taken from it, that even he didn’t realize at the time.

We acquire and expand our knowledge via three sources. One, instruction from others. Two, personal experience. And, three, analysis and reflection. In the case of “expansion and contraction”, I take all I can from it that is of value to me and my students.

Someone once asked a famous poet, Robert Browning I think, what he meant by a line in one of his poems. “What did it mean to you?” he asked in return. The woman went on for five minutes about all the things she had gotten from the line, most of it clearly things he never intended or realized were there. “That’s what I meant,” he told her.

Great minds are often more than just repositories of knowledge, they are often also mediums through which great visions are channeled. So, for me, the question isn’t “What did he mean by this?” but rather “What are all the useful bits I can take from it?”

Well, I’m starting to ramble so I will stop for now. Thanks again from your support. I truly appreciate it.

Email from an old student

Sorry to take so long in posting another installment. I’ve started a few stories and have been unhappy with each as they are thus far. I will post them as they come together.

But something happened this week that I would like to pass on to you guys. I received the following email from a former student – someone who trained with me in the early ‘70s. I’ll replace his real name with “John Doe” as I haven’t gotten permission from him to post it. (He didn’t turn me down. I just decided to pass it along today and didn’t have time to ask.) His email to me is as follows:

“Dear Sensei Jim, I was one of your students many years ago - 1970-1974. I will always value your teaching. It was an honor to be your student, sir. (John Doe), Lieutenant Colonel, Special Forces, Retired”

I sent him a response, thanking him for remembering me and taking the time to contact me after all these years. I was so proud of him and honored that I may have been instrumental in assisting him in some small way achieve success and survive at such a dangerous and worthy undertaking that there were tears in my eyes as I wrote it.

Over the years, I have received several such messages and treasure them. One was from a student who had been suffering from a secret drug addiction while a student and claimed I had given him the strength to overcome it and become successful in life. Another was failing at school, one report card had all F’s, and credited me with motivating him, and giving him the self-discipline to raise it to all A’s within one school year. (Several had drug related issues that karate helped them defeat.)

Gichin Funakoshi said we must practice our techniques as if our very lives depended upon the effectiveness of every rep. And that has always been my goal, to practice as I wanted to be able to throw something in a real encounter.

But something this week’s email from my former student helped remind me was the need, as instructors, to teach as if our students’ lives depended upon how and what we teach them – as they well may. To name but a few, we need to teach them to throw their techniques with speed, power, penetration, and extension. We need to condition their bodies to throw and receive strong attacks. They need to learn effective tactics and strategies that will enable them to capitalize upon their strengths and prevent their opponents from capitalizing upon their weaknesses. They need to be made mentally strong enough to continue fighting even when injured, as most will be in a real fight. Knowing what to do in a fight and being able to do it are two separate and distinct skills. So it’s critical we teach them both what to do and take them through drills that better prepare them for responding spontaneously to attacks.

I used to say that students learn more with their eyes than their ears. So how we behave, the role models we become or fail to become, effects how our students will behave themselves. Our strength, our ethics, our morality, our work ethic will become theirs. So we must always be some worthy of emulation.

Enough for this time. Thanks again for reading.

Hanshi Eihachi Ota's Three Questions

The following article was submitted by an old friend and long time karateka, Kyoshi Michael George. Thank you Kyoshi George for sharing this with us.

GM Jim Harrison (left), Kyoshi Mike George (center),
and GM Bob Yarnall (right)

A few years ago my friend Hanshi Eihachi Ota asked me to answer 3 questions. He said he would post my answers to his web page and did. If I answered these today, I might change a few things but not much. I know this is about Shorin Ryu, but others might find it helpful. The following are my answers:

Question 1. What improvements do we need for a successful Shorin Ryu style today?

Have an open mind. Bruce Lee once said “That the usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness.” To put it another way, “the usefulness of the mind is its openness.” I believe that we should strive to learn all that has come before and all that has been passed down to us from past teachers. But, we also need to be open to new knowledge and methods.

We need to…

• Be creative in the ways we teach.

• Find people who can be mentors and take advantage of their experience.

• Brainstorm with other teachers and coaches.

• Create a positive environment and team chemistry for our students to be a part of.

• Be good communicators.

• Teach our student to set goals for themselves - long term as well as short term. Process goals as well as outcomes.

Question 2. In your opinion, what are the mandatory characteristics of a Shorin Ryu role model and leader?

• He or she must be able to motivate and communicate.

• He or she should be as fit as age and health will allow. Students often come in to a new dojo looking to get in shape as well as to acquire self discipline. If the instructor is out of shape, what message is he or she sending to his students?

• Beginning students should always be taught tradition, as it is vital if they are to have a good start.

• A sensei should have a good understanding of the principles of his or her style and be able to plan and deliver meaningful instructions, taking into account the varying needs, interests and abilities of his/her students.

Question 3. What areas of knowledge must a Shorin Ryu practitioner have to be considered a master?

I have a problem with the notion that anyone ever really becomes a master. But I will try to give you my thoughts on what it takes to be considered a Renshi (one who knows), Kyoshi (one who teaches), and Hanshi (a model for the whole). A comparison may be made to our college and university system of degrees - Bachelor, Master, and PhD.

To start with he or she must know all kata and bunkai (application) for their system, as well as their system’s technical requirements. From this point, one is just getting started. I also feel that a person needs to be part sports psychologist, part personal trainer, and part student with an unending quest for knowledge.

What’s the most important thing in karate? – Part II

Just as a reminder, this is one of an occasional series of posts I’ll be writing in response to requests I cover some of the more basic material I taught when one of the coaches for the USA karate team at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Also, some of the coming material will be from what I taught our grass-roots (dojo) coaches while I was co-head of the national Coaches Education Committee. These were the people who produced the athletes who fed into the USA Karate Team pool from which we drew those who represented the USA in international competition.

This post continues my discussion of the subject of distance control.

The value of distance rests on the principle that if someone can’t reach you, they can’t hurt you. If you stay beyond their reach, and prevent them from ever getting any closer, you're safe. If they have a weapon and you stay beyond the reach or range of that weapon, they shouldn’t be able to hurt you with it.

Obviously, such a distance cannot always be calculated, created, or maintained, due to a variety of factors, such as when sucker punched, attacked while in a confined or restricted space, a long-range weapon is produced unexpectedly, etc. I’m not speaking about those times or locations, only situations in which you will be given sufficient warning and space – principally during competition but at times on the street as well.

In the old days, most competitors lined up within striking range of each other, often toe to toe. These were “quick draw” contests that were often won quickly. (I won matches in less than five seconds and lost others equally fast.) Contests were ippon shobu, one point matches back then, where the first person to score a full point – or two half points – was declared the winner. From that distance, where both combatants were within easy reach, speed was the major determiner of the outcome. The general rule from that distance was that the person to fire first usually won. So speed became a critical factor. The faster man usually won.

I tell my students that they never want to allow genetics or luck to determine if they live or die. (A loss in the ring generally represents a competitive death – unless it’s a round-robin or double elimination event.) We have no control over either genetics or luck. So to prevent our survival from resting in the hands of one or both of these, we must espouse tactics and strategies that enable us to control the fighting environment in such a manner that things get tilted as strongly as possible in our direction, taking it out of the hands of genetics (superior speed or reach) or luck. One of the major tools for achieving this is distance control.

You never want to discover that an opponent is faster or armed the hard way, which is likely to happen if you allow an opponent to set up within their preferred range.

You want to force them to always stay just outside the reach of their longest body weapon. If you allow them to setup close enough for them to lash out with a jab or punch or front kick, for example, there are people out there so fast you will never see them move. You will only feel the impact. From this range, they can hit you in one motion, before you (as the Japanese say) can say “ah.” By keeping them outside the reach of their preferred techniques, you force them to take a step before launching their techniques, force them to use techniques that are not their best, or force them to launch their favorite techniques but in a different manner – ie, overextending it, etc. – creating a weakness. By forcing them to take a step before launching, you turn their techniques into two-beat actions. From closer range, everything lands on a single beat. This gives you no warning. It’s their speed against yours. By backing up a bit, forcing them to take a step before launching, you get the first beat as a warning (the technique will land on the 2^nd beat), giving you an opportunity to evade, block, hit them, etc.

I’ll go into greater detail on this in future posts. Some people always try to find some flaw in anything, some situation they can image to "prove" a technique won’t work. One young guy once asked me, after an explanation like that above, “But what would you do if he had an atomic bomb? Your distance control wouldn’t work!” He looked at me like he was serious and wanted a serious defense of my position. I told him to do what they told us to do in the army, if an atomic bomb was detonated over a place where we did battle. If it was to the right, we flattened out backs against the dirt wall of our trench to the right. If it was to the left, we sat against the left, using the earth to shield us. But if it was directly overhead, we were to put our arms under our knees, grab our ears, pull our heads down, and kiss our butts goodbye!

Techniques are like tools in a toolbox. No one tool fits every situation. That’s why a good, journeyman carpenter (and good, journeyman martial artist) has many of them, different tools for different jobs. This is just one of them, there to be used when conditions are right.

Happy Holidays!

Wish everyone a wonderful holidays with family and friends and a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year! I'll get back to posting again soon.

Kata: Heart of the Art

Renshi Simon Keegan

The following article was submitted by Renshi Simon Keegan. He has published many articles on the martial arts and I consider him a very dedicated martial artist and a friend. Enjoy!

When I began Karate, I viewed kata simply as a performance art within the martial art. I saw no practical function to it other than to attain gymnastic ability. Now however I view kata as a vital and practical core of the martial arts.

But in explaining the importance of Karate Kata I would first like to correct a few misconceptions concerning traditional Karate - many of which were misconceptions that I held.

Most people who claim to do "traditional Karate" are actually studying an art that only dates back to about 1924.

It would be rather like a boxer claiming to study "traditional prize fighting" or an Olympic fencer claiming to study classical swordsmanship.

If you study Shotokan, Wado Ryu or Taekwondo, you are not studying a "battlefield" art or an art older than 100 years old. You are studying an art created in Japan (or Korea in the case of Taekwondo) that was loosely based on Okinawan Karate.

When Gichin Funakoshi began to formalise what became known as Shotokan he discarded many of the conventions of Okinawan Karate and adopted certain Japanese ways.

He adopted the Judogi, the Dan-I grading system and formalised kata, kihon and kumite according to the requirements of modern Budo.

Kumite adopted the Ippon principle seen in Judo and Kendo of "one hit one kill."

Kihon consisted of taking moves out of kata and practicing them in their most basic application - as a block, kick or strike.

Kata were largely practised as a form of calisthetics - to gain perfection of form, speed, endurance, posture and timing.

Kumite became a kind of protype kickboxing and kata became a performance art.

When a Karateka wanted to practice self defence without being bound by the rules of kumite, they would practice a kind of kumite called "ippon kumite" whereby you would defend against an attack with a fairly finite finishing move such as a throw and strike.

When Karate was marketed internationally it was sold as the elite percussive (striking) fighting art. Unlike boxing, kicks were allowed. In kata, one could show other techniques like elbows and knees and in kihon one could break bits of wood with a single chop.

For many you were either a kumite fighter or a kata performer. If you didn't have the speed and aggression to fight, you could always concentrate on your kata and win trophies for that instead.

When I was a child my dad first shared some techniques with me that he had learnt from his boyhood Jujutsu (and later Karate) it was simply what amounted to "dirty fighting" - no kata, no stylised moves. He taught me to punch and throw a sneaky elbow in with the same arm - a good elbow strike will slice open somebody's eyebrow. He also taught me a very important principle that I have never bettered in 20 odd years since - always hit them first, and give them a good kicking when they're down. "Never kick a man when he's down" did not apply in 1950s Liverpool when my dad was first taught.

There was a very good Karatedo school near to where I lived. I had friends who trained there, but I did not fancy it because I perceived the emphasis on kata to be weak and unrealistic.

When I joined a formal Karate club as a teenager, I was attracted by my sensei's emphasis on fighting.

We did lots of sparring, both semi-contact and full contact. We also grappled on the ground and did lots of self defence. Although there were other aspects to the training myself and my peers prided ourselves on being able to "handle" ourselves.

My friend was training in a traditional Goju Ryu club and all he ever seemed to do was kata, and predictably when we sparred with him he didn't have the skills we had.

Kata seemed to be a necessary evil to us. We fought all lesson and then for the last 15 minutes, did some kata. Maybe it was a Japanese thing, take the rough with the smooth. I certainly never found much value in it.

Remember that in the early 1990s nobody I knew had the internet so if you wanted to read up on kata you had to buy a book, and my local town wasn't exactly cosmopolitan when it came to specialist cultural arts!

Granted, some of the kata - particularly Bassai Dai - looked dynamic when the black belts did them, but our kata like the first three Taikyoku forms seemed like an exercise in being obsessed with Gedan Barai - a move we never did in sparring.

In about 1996 I found an old book on Ed Parker's Kenpo Karate. The book was from the 1960s I would guess and emphasised Karate's Chinese - rather than Japanese - origins. It showed Chinese weaponry but also showed a two man drill featuring many of the moves I knew from kata but done in close quarters.

It inspired me to look beyond Japanese Karate's 1920s birth and look at how the Okinawans and Chinese practiced their forms.

Then I asked Sensei about the meaning of the moves in kata and very mysteriously he said: "A block is a strike and a block is a throw."

It started to fit together. Maybe I needed to forget about the long range techniques that we used in Karate sparring and concentrate on the self defence moves I had learnt. Sensei had taught us lots of Judo throws, Aikido locks and so on. Maybe it was these moves that were within the kata.

I was also studying the Yang Style Long form in Tai Chi and once again I saw techniques that were open to interpretation. Some of them were fairly obviously punches - but what about "Fair Lady Works Shuttles", "Needle at Sea Bottom" and "Carry Tiger to Mountain" - it was almost as if the person designing the forms wanted us to choose our own applications.

Around 2001, I met an instructor who introduced me to what he called TNT - the TNT stood for "techniques not taught" namely the nasty breaking, ripping and pressure point techniques found within kata. He also re-aquainted me with the idea of two-man flow drills.

So I came to realise that Kata was not just a dance or a pointless tradition - or a classical mess as Bruce Lee called it.

As I trained and graded in Shotokan, Jujutsu, Tai Chi and Goju Ryu I realised kata was a database of techniques. Every throw I could find in Judo, I found in a Karate kata. Every lock, throw, twist and crank in Aikido is in a Karate kata.

My real syllabus was not the A4 booklet in my kitbag my real syllabus was kata.

I began to catalogue every single technique in every single kata I knew and came up with a variation of realistic bunkai based on real "street" attacks.

As a previous blog summed up, Kata is a mneumonic (memory aid) to act as a database of techniques already learnt.

In other words, the old practitioners learnt a technique (say a wrist lock) and then when they learnt the kata, they recognised the movement and were able to understand the kata based on a lesson already imparted.

For people who would say "kata is useless in a fight" I would say "skipping is useless in a boxing match - so why do boxers do it?"

In "traditional" (post 1920) Karate, you have over a dozen forms (kata) per style - Shotokan has upwards of 25 kata and Goju Ryu has about 14.

But in old Toshu Jutsu (Karate Jutsu) as in the styles of Quan Fa that preceded it, each style only had one form. Remember Gichin Funakoshi saying that for nine years he only learnt Naihanchi (Tekki) - Choki Motobu seemed to favour the same form and rarely practiced any other.

In Tai Chi (Taiji Quan) there was the Yang family. And each member of the Yang family practiced the same form. Yang Lu Chan practiced his form one way, and Yang Ban Hou practiced it another. Nowadays we call this form the "108 step" but back then it didn't need a name. It was just the Yang family "Quan" - it was their style, their form, their syllabus and their way of keeping healthy.

Similarly in Fujian, you may have learned Tiger Quan, Crane Quan, Lion Quan etc and the idea of style and form were one and the same.

Eventually Fujian (particularly the vaunted Kojo Dojo) came to be a melting pot and drop-in centre for martial artists and practitioners of different STYLES learned each others' forms.

Think of it like this, in Tai Chi, a Yang master could have learned a Wu style form. But he would not be a master of Wu style, just a practitioner of one aspect of the style - namely the form.

Karate masters like Funakoshi and Mabuni took a hotchpotch of forms from different styles and attempted to make them into one style, respectively Shoto Ryu and Shito Ryu. But the idea of one style having 27 forms is a pretty modern one.

This is why I treat each kata group as a separate style.

That means learning each form and its capabilities to the nth degree.

So when we learn the Pinan kata (Heian 1-5) we first learn the form, then examine the bunkai, the oyo and the variations. Can we find throws within it? Can we find locks, what about vital points strikes. Will the technique work on the ground? Can we apply the defence in the heat of the moment? Does it usual natural responses and body mechanics?

Does the kata have the potential to be performed with a weapon? In my school we practice Heian Shodan with Sai, Heian Nidan and Sandan with Nunchaku, Heian Yondan with Tonfa and Dip Dao and Heian Godan with Rokushaku Bo.

Remember Karate began as the original "No-Holds-Barred" mixed martial art.

The art began to take shape in the 16th and 17th century when old Okinawan wrestling (Tegumi) was combined with old Siamese boxing (Muay Boran) a combination known in Okinawa as Ti'gwa.

In the 1700s, Chinese Kung Fu began to greatly influence the fighting methods and it became known as Toshu Jutsu (or Toshukuken or Tode Jutsu) meaning "Chinese hand skills."

The great pioneer in the 1800s was Sokon Matsumura. He combined his Okinawan training with Chinese Shaolin Kung Fu, Japanese Bujutsu (he was a master of Jigen Ryu and trained in Satsuma) and also trained under a Vietnamese master.

Matsumura soaked up every martial art he could and refined it into his Shuri Te system.

With an eclectic mix of Okinawan, Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese boxing, in the 1800s Toshu Jutsu was also exposed to the west - from Danish sailors on board trawlers to Commodore Perry's marines.

By the late 1800s, Matsumura's art was a truly effective "mixed martial art."

When each style (Quan) and kata (Quan) were as one, the Jutsu (science) was in the passing on of three areas - the ability to defend in a violent situation, the ability to develop efficient technique and the ability to impart these skills through drills and practice.

I teach according to these three sciences. The Science of Violence (SOT), the Science of Technique (SOT) and the Science of Learning (SOL).

We will first examine the elements of the SOV.

SOV1. Attacking range

There are only a finite number of distances from which an assailant can launch an attack. The opponent may be at “long range”, so far away from us that the only way he could hit us is with a projectile or firearm attack or medium long range where maybe they could attack us with a hand-held weapon. The next distance is “kicking range” where the only way he could reach us is with a kicking attack. So we know that if the opponent is five foot away we don’t have to worry about throws! Then we have “punching range”, typically the type of distance between two boxers. Here the opponent can reach us with a kick or a punch. The next range is “close range”. We are too close for the opponent to kick but he can still punch with hooks, he can also use knees and elbows and can clinch. This is the range favoured in MMA when one man has the other pinned up against the cage and “dirty boxing” commences.

The next range is the full clinch. We don’t really need to worry about kicks or punches as much as but the main threats are throws and trips. Finally we have the groundwork range, with both opponents grappling or pounding on the floor. So there we have it: just seven fighting ranges. The real skill is twofold, firstly we must learn to defend against appropriate attacks at appropriate ranges. The second skill is mixing and matching the fighting ranges. For example you are on the floor and the opponent is stood.

SOV2. Habitual Attacks

To explain the nature of habitual attacks I can do no better than to refer to the pioneering research of Hanshi Patrick McCarthy. The principle of the Habitual Acts of Physical Violence (HAPVs) is that violent attacks are not random they are habitual. McCarthy Sensei cites 36 main attacks. These include punches, kicks, grabs, trips, locks, distractions and posturing.

They key to understanding the Science of Violence is combining knowledge of habitual attacks with the appropriate attacking range and ensuring no range is neglected.

SOT1. Understanding the syllabus

Many martial arts schools use a syllabus as a means only to assist in grading revision or as a curriculum outline. A truly successful syllabus should of course include all the elements necessary for a student to pass a grading but it should also ensure that the student is learning the skills at the appropriate stage of their development. At academic school we are taught the ABCs, then we are taught how to form words, then sentences, the joined-up writing, then prose and poetry and so on. A martial arts syllabus should not teach the poetry of the art before the ABCs. A good martial arts system should emphasise both quantity and quality. By quantity I do not mean learning a thousand kata. By quantity I mean a full complement of techniques. Strikes, locks, throws, hold-downs, reversals, escapes and perhaps some weapons training. But quality should also be paramount. Not just to make the student look “pretty” enough to pass a grading or tough enough to score an Ippon, but in order that their techniques are performed with efficacy.

SOT2. Understanding Defence

Just as there are only four fighting ranges and a habitual set of attacks there are also a finite number of ways we can defend against a technique. In fact there are four* We can

1) Block the attack. To obstruct it before it becomes effective

2) Parry the attack, redirect it or blend with it

3) Avoid the attack, duck, weave, or run away

4) We cause pain to the attacker which makes him voluntarily (or involuntarily!) cease the attack. Once we understand there are a finite number of ranges, each of which only cater to a finite number of attacks and each of these can only be defended in a finite number of ways, we start to realise that martial arts are a very precise science.

*The four defences: I must give credit to Hanshi Terry Wingrove for teaching me this principle.

SOT3. Understanding Technique

Did you ever show a technique from your style to an advanced martial artist from another style who, despite never having seen that particular technique before still managed to do the technique better than you? This is because after reaching a certain level of skill, how the technique seems to manifest itself is unimportant. What matters are principles common to all techniques in all arts, from archery to Sumo.

The Five Major Principles of Martial Arts

1) Relax. There is no technique that is better as a result of being tense, locked-up and rigid

2) Breathe. Breathing is emphasised in arts like archery, Tai Chi and Iaido. But is also important in more external arts. Learn to breath fully, naturally and move in time with your breath

3) Use the waist and/or hips. All movement must originate from the midsection. A baseball hitter would not dream of moving the bat using only his arms.

4) Two directions. This is the most abstract of the concepts. Every technique make use of two directions or more. When we punch we not only move one hand forward, we move the other back. When we block we do so diagonally. When we apply a wrist lock the wrist is moved backwards and to the side. When we cut with a sword we come down in a chopping action but also arc inwards in a cutting action.

5) Train slowly. Learn to practice each technique at Tai Chi speed to ensure perfect attention to detail. Also, as the defender you can afford to move slower than the attacker. If he is punching you in the face his fist has to travel two feet in distance, whereas your face only has to move a few inches to avoid it. So why try to move at the same speed as the attacker.

*The five principles: I must give credit to Renshi Reiner Parsons for teaching me this lesson.

Other common principles in martial arts

1) When you are studying for self defence, remember there are no rules (and not like in MMA where there are no rules apart from about 30 exceptions!). There are few techniques that are not improved by first distracting the opponent. Spit in his eyes, flick him in the groin, throw your coffee in his face, rake your car keys across his eyes, throw a handful of coins in his face. You only need to buy yourself a fraction of a second.

2) Kiai. Whether you view a Kiai as a war-cry, a harmony of energy or a way of expelling all the air from your stomach, this under-rated technique will pay off

3) Keep good stature. This means keeping the elbows and shoulders down, the spine straight and the hips relaxed.

4) Keep techniques finite. A reverse hook kick to the shoulder blade may score a point in the Dojo but can you rely on it to end a confrontation? If you can’t use a technique that guarantees the opponent is knocked out, use a technique that at least puts him on his backside.

All of these principles are contained within Kata.

SOL1. Making it work for you

Once we begin to understand the Science of Violence and the Science of Technique we need to learn how exactly we can learn these techniques so well and so thoroughly that they become instinctive. It is great to be able to perform a technique well in the Dojo (and even better to perform it well in a competition or grading) but what is the use if you cannot perform it when it really matters, on the street?

And so we practice the individual techniques (Kihon) applying the principles of technique to them. Then we work with a partner (Kumite) and he attacks us (the Science of Violence) and depending on his range and his attack, we use a technique to defend against it, then we get in our retaliation.

This is our ABC: Avoid, Block, Counter.

Now we need to practice the technique by drilling it. We can use shadowboxing, Kata, flowdrills or simple repetition. We practice, practice, practice and then practice some more. Eventually it doesn’t matter from which angle the attack comes because our defence is so well drilled it seems to spring from nowhere.

But now we have learn the technique and drilled it, we need to somehow simulate the state of mind and environment we might find outside. The opponent is angry, fast, coming at us powerfully and violently. Can we still pull the trick out of the bag? For this we use sparring. Kickboxing style, Judo style and MMA style.

SOL2. Managing your mindset

When your first practice a technique your state of mind is Kime, full focus and concentration on the task in hand. Learning the technique, examining it and getting it right.

The next state of mind is Zanshin. Awareness of surroundings, awareness of the opponent’s actions.

The final state of mind is Mushin (no mind). The ability to perform the technique without thinking about the opponent’s attack or your defences.

SOL3. Have faith in your system

I believe that the men who created the Kata that we practice knew what they were doing. I believe they understood violence, technique and learning and so encrypted all the necessary techniques into our Kata. There are lovely Aikido-style moves in Heian Shodan, wonderful grappling techniques in Heian Sandan and so great throws in Bassai Dai. And if ever you get attacked in a confined space, you’ll truly value Tekki Shodan….

Practice the techniques and then try to find them in the Kata you already know. Karate kata are a wealth of self defence techniques.

Instead of saying "Karate is limited because it has no throws, so I'm studying Judo as well," why not find the throws in Karate?

Kata is an important aspect of Toshu Jutsu, but not when taught as a dance. Kata must be taught as a living, breathing fighting system.

Simon Keegan, 4th Dan Renshi

Hakuda Kempo Toshu Jutsu

Chief Instructor: Bushinkai Academy of Martial Arts

Director: United Kingdom Budo Federation

Chairman: The Empire Martial Arts Association

Web: www.bushinkai.org.uk

Email: kaicho@runbox.com

"What's the most important thing in karate?"

“What’s the most important thing in karate?”

“Distance!”

“Why distance?”

“I have told you too much already.”

This was an exchange between a low ranking black belt and a respected master, as reported in Stan Schmidt’s book, Spirit of the Empty Hand. If I remember right, the story is fictional but based on Shihan Schmidt’s actual experiences during his many trips to train at JKA headquarters in Japan. (For those who don’t know him, Shihan Schmidt is a hugely respected Shotokan karateka. During its peak, his skill and knowledge made him the highest ranking non-Japanese within the large, very powerful organization.)

I read Spirit of the Empty Hand soon after its release in 1984. Like the black belt in the story, I wanted to know the answer. Why did the speaker feel that distance was so important? I gave it a great deal of thought and a lot of trial and error over the years in an attempt to discover the full importance of distance to both combat and competition.

I don’t know if distance is the most important factor in karate. I’ve generally felt that having a good eye and the speed to deliver an effective technique or counter at the most opportune time would get my vote. But the ability to properly control distance can be critical in certain situations – where it is controllable – especially if an average competitive fighter hopes to defeat a faster or superior one.

In the 70s or early 80s, I taught many-time World and Olympic Shot Put Champion, Brian Oldfield. He was a huge guy, blindingly fast, extremely powerful, surely one of the greatest athletes of all time. A mutual friend sent him to me because he was thinking of going into full contact kickboxing. I’ll likely do a separate post or two on Brian, who had an extraordinary life and shared with me many fascinating incidents – including breaking the handcuffs whenever the police tried to arrest him for brawling. But one of the things he did at one point was fight an exhibition match with Mohammed Ali at Madison Square Garden, when Ali was still at his peak. Brian told me that during their match Ali did this thing where he slowly bent his knees and compressed his body, giving the illusion that he was moving away, out of range. Then, he would lash out with a jab and pop Brian in the face.

This gave me some food for thought relative to the subject at hand. The more I watched top fighters (especially after I became one of the national coaches and traveled extensively for international competition), the more I found that the very best in the world were masters at controlling distance, often using types of optical illusions and misdirection to their advantage. (When I competed myself in the late 60s and early 70s, I didn’t always fight smartly. I relied on speed, timing, fearlessness/stupidity, and a handful of basic techniques.)

The smartest fighters make their opponents think they’re safe, that they can’t reach them, when they can. And, they make their opponents think they (their opponents) can reach them, when they can’t. In the latter case, their opponents’ techniques will fall just short, leaving them open to counterattack.

I’ll talk more about this in my next post. Take care and thanks for your readership. (I’ve already had a few articles submitted by other instructors and will be posting more of those as well.