How To Be A 'Class A' Karate-ka

Peter Urban (l.) vs. Don Nagle in an exhibition match, New York, 1962

One of the first books written on karate authored by an American was The Karate Dojo: Traditions and Tales of a Martial Art by Peter Urban. Urban studied Goju-ryu in Japan under Gogen Yamaguchi before establishing a school in Chinatown, New York.

First published in 1967, the reader should appreciate that this was an era of massive cultural upheaval in the US, some of it for the worse: crime and drug abuse were on the increase, in addition to an unprecedented "lack of respect for authority" as Urban saw it. One of his goals was to have authoritarians learn karate so they could command respect from their otherwise disrespectful charges.

The blackboard jungle that is all too common in American cities would cease to exist if teenagers knew that their teachers' knowledge encompassed more than history or mathematics, that they also had knowledge of the art of self-defense.

Urban also sought to have karate become an integral part of law enforcement training and to be taught in public schools. He felt that crime, neurosis and unhappiness would be reduced if society embraced the spiritual tenets of karate that fostered discipline, self-improvement and character.

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Aside from the guidance of a competent sensei, Urban's view was that trainees should be held responsible for their own progress. He is very stern about putting karate into a sincere and proper perspective. Throughout the book we find passages relating to fearlessness, forgoing the effects of pain and how "true Karatemen" should train while on the mat and behave when out and about.

The centerpiece of the book features a chart on self-examination utilizing attributes that fall into three basic classes: A, B and C. A is the stuff of black belts and masters. The B variety are hobbyists on a good day. C guys are losers or manic depressives or both.

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In the same section a second chart dispenses with philosophy and focuses on the sparring and training habits of Class A "Lightweight", "Middleweight" and "Heavyweight" trainees.

The Karate Dojo, while not the best of its genre, is still a decent book and at 145 pages is a quick read. Peter Urban was karate pioneer in the US who truly sought to bring his art to become a mainstay of American culture and society.

The Way of Holmes

Just viewed the new movie Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Highly recommended. Holmes' character, nicely portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. and originally penned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is part sleuth, part whack job and all martial arts extraordinaire.

Holmes' "curse", as he calls it, is an all encompassing, all consuming sense of acute awareness that gives him surveillance of his surroundings with impeccable scrutiny and detail. His ninja-like methods of stealth includes cross-dressing and "urban camouflage", the latter of which allows him to blend in with anything from a bookcase to a sofa. The cinematic Holmes also possesses a form of strategic precognition that plays out in his consciousness how an altercation with one or more adversaries could likely happen. Similar to reenacting kata in your head, so to speak. Sans for his irrational fear of horses, Holmes is calm and steady regardless of circumstances.

Holmes' martial prowess, on screen played out with typical Hollywood flair, gets comparatively short shrift in the original written version. Doyle does mention on one occasion that Holmes is a practitioner of "baritsu [sic], a system of Japanese wrestling."


In truth, Bartitsu was developed in 1898 by E.W. Barton-Wright, a British judoka who combined elements of grappling, la canne (stick fighting suitable for a walking cane or an umbrella), fisticuffs, and any other nasty method of street fighting he picked up during his long travels abroad working as a civil engineer for railway and mining companies. Barton-Wright spent three years in Japan studying jiu-jitsu and then judo under Jigoro Kano. Kano-san would've been more than happy to give his English disciple a black belt with the promise of bringing judo back to the United Kingdom. But the promising student had other ideas.

Upon his return to England, Barton-Wright promptly established his "new art of self defense" and the popularity of Bartitsu quickly spread throughout London. Barton-Wright was interested in promoting his style as a combative system; he felt sports such as boxing were hampered by rules and favored attributes such as size and strength. As such Bartitsu was also marketed towards women's self defense.

The Bartitsu Club was also a haven for boxers, fencers, savateurs (French kickboxers) and grapplers of various systems including jiu-jitsu and schwingen, a style of Swiss wrestling. In addition to self-defense, Barton-Wright provided physical therapy at his venue.

By 1903 the apparent novelty of Bartitsu had lost its steam. In its place, jiu-jitsu and judo continued to thrive in England. Barton-Wright eventually resumed his physical therapy practice but continued to teach Bartitsu privately until about 1920.

In recent years there has been a revival in interest in Bartitsu, due in part I'm sure, to the relatively recent development of MMA, (the ancient Greek art of Pankration underwent a similar resurrection) and will likely get an even bigger surge from a pair of really cool Sherlock Holmes flicks. The "new art" of Bartitsu is new once again. It's elementary.

Don't Quit Your Day Job

Somebody I know wants to open a karate school and devote himself to it full time. He says he's done plenty of research and introspection on the matter and believes he's up to the task. A lot of uncertainty here, I tell my friend, as the state of the economy and the current lack of popularity of traditional martial arts would be potential obstacles. Martial arts clubs come and go frequently, even when times are good.

I will say that the ones that do endure seem to be run by people that are doing it exclusively, full time. Maybe that's the secret.

I'll share another "secret" with you. If you want to stay in the martial arts game for the long haul you must consider teaching.

But is becoming a professional martial arts teacher an advisable career choice?

The average salary for a martial arts instructor where I live is at present $40K/yr. Now if you started at something like that it wouldn't be too bad. The cost of living is murder in Greater New York; forty grand won't get you too far here. Subsidizing your income with something else sounds like the ticket, but like I said, it's the full timers that seem to have the most success. One local guy who runs an American kenpo school has been at the same site for twenty-two years! That's extraordinary. He has a huge place with hundreds of students. Again, teaching martial arts is all he does.

When Tatsuo Shimabuku was commissioned by the US government to teach karate to Marines in the fifties he was paid $300/mo. for his services. Prior to that he was a farmer, but even after he got his teaching gig he still maintained a fortune telling business that he ran on the opposite side of his dojo under his real name, Shinkichi. Somebody who trained with him on Okinawa told me his fortune telling services were in high demand as his predictions were 97 percent accurate. Shimabuku's contemporaries must have seen him as a sell-out for teaching US servicemen karate for money (in due time many of them followed suit anyway) but Shimabuku correctly predicted he would be laughing all the way to the bank.

Abuse of Power

Recently a karate school owner told me he picked up an entire family of students courtesy of abuse attributed to their former instructor. Apparently the young boy spilled water on the deck and was summarily back fisted in the chest by the burly sensei. Great marketing ploy. One wonders if this genius has a good attorney to counter these episodes. Sadly, stories of this ilk are fairly common. In fact this particular account is relatively tame.

The following comes from a news report concerning a judo club in Japan:

A Japanese court on Wednesday found a martial arts instructor guilty over the death of a six-year-old boy, a court official said, in the first criminal case over judo training in Japan.

It is the first criminal case filed by Japanese prosecutors against judo trainers, according to a victims' group, despite over 100 child deaths blamed on harsh training or hazing between 1983 and 2010.

The 36-year-old instructor, who owned a private judo club in Osaka, admitted he threw the boy excessively in training. The boy died in November last year from brain swelling, local reports said.

In Japan, judo hazing has a lengthy history and I suppose it was only a matter a time before this practice had a trickle-down effect to the kids' class.

Whenever there is a rigid hierarchy in place with passive or helpless bystanders there exists the propensity for anything from bullying to full blown physical abuse. We see this in institutions such as prisons, public schools, hospitals and nursing homes.

In 1971 the social psychologist Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment at Stanford University to simulate a prison environment using students as prisoners and guards. The "prisoners" were even picked up at home donning jail garb and brought to the basement of the school's psychology department to begin their "sentence." But the experiment had to be stopped after just six days as the behavior of the "guards" far exceeded the expectations of Zimbardo and his colleagues. Prisoners were subjected to being sprayed with fire extinguishers, cleaning toilets with their bare hands and performing pushups with the guards standing on their backs, among other things I'd rather not go into.

This sort of dehumanizing behavior can translate into the power structure of a martial arts school. Some sensei let their own sense of power get the better of them. As one blogger puts succinctly:

The instructor's ego is one of the most dangerous opponents the student will ever face. Sometimes it is obvious. Martial arts has a hierarchy and a power dynamic and in too many places competency is not tested and compassion is assumed. It is a sweet spot for bullies and predators. Where else can you hurt people and they pay you and say, "Thank you, Master." What bully wouldn't get off on that?

Indeed. The following illustrates thusly:

DISCLAIMER: explicitly violent

Enhance Your Kata

If you believe that learning one new kata after another is the only way you'll advance in rank at your school you're right. You would also be right to conclude that knowing the full canon of kata your system offers as opposed to a few or even none will not make you a better practitioner. Thus, your assertion that kata has survived hitherto is likely due to their usage for promotions and as a handy way to kill class time is further proof of your astuteness. Congratulations, you've been cursed with the capacity for critical thinking.

Realize that learning kata just to get your next belt or trophy at the local tournament will not lead to any kind of enlightenment. Neither will churning out hackneyed renditions of kata day after day. Variations (henka) in training methods are key to applying and understanding combative principles. Plus, it's more fun learning that way.

Here are some useful ideas to jazz up your kata regimen. They'll work equally well with either the empty-handed or weapons (kobudo) variety:

• Opposite side. This means just what it says. Everything is done as if it were a mirror image. If your form opens with a left middle-block followed by a right reverse punch, switch to a right middle-block followed by a left reverse punch, and so on. The late Glenn Morris, author of Martial Arts Madness opined that performing opposite side kata will help "open your meridians" or invisible energy channels in your body. For my black belt test (shodan) I was required to know the first five karate kata (of eight) on the opposite side. It was a pain to figure out, and no, I didn't feel my meridians open.

• High speed. This method makes practical sense. Speed is essential in external styles such as karate. Besides, nobody is going to attack you at tournament kata speed anyway. The trick here is to not make the form look like a train wreck when you're trying to fly through it.

• Low speed. Perform your kata like a tai chi form. Slowing down the form will bring a heightened awareness to whether you're executing your techniques properly and accurately. Here's an opportunity to take stock of important things like stance-depth and foot alignment which have the propensity to get glossed over during normal sessions of kata training.

• Defend against attackers. I have heard that kata really began as two-person forms; only later did they become solo exercises. Can you perform your kata in its entirety against the arranged "attacks" found in the form? Performing the kata against two or more choreographed attackers is a great way to demonstrate what the functions of the whole kata is really all about. In Isshinryu karate Bo-bo kumite is a two-person form that simulates what a sparring session could look like featuring a pair of practitioners attacking and defending using 6-foot staffs. With a bit of tweaking this form can be made to look like real combat.

These are just a few suggestions to enhance your kata routine. In truth, I've never been a huge fan of kata. Still, I practice them religiously and I probably will as long as I'm able to. Have fun!

The Way of Spock

Striking Thought's post on Captain Kirk's fighting prowess immediately conjured up images of his first officer's skill in Vulcan kyushu waza. Kirk was a hack compared to Mr. Spock.

Actually, there may be some real science to the Vulcan nerve pinch, applied exclusively to the base of the neck. The neck is home to the apex of the (cervical) spine which enters the medulla and a ganglia of neurons, synapses and baroreceptors which are responsible for blood flow to the brain via the carotid artery.*

A shuto to the side of the neck, delivered properly, will cause unconsciousness, but high level exponents can perform a variant of this rather neat trick with little effort. I've been assured by colleagues that Seiyu Oyata of Ryu-te karate has developed a variety of hand strikes that specifically target the carotid sinus on the neck that has put the lights out on enough uke to quiet naysayers and skeptics. (On a side note: Oyata is the real deal as his services for demonstrating bunkai [forms applications] were in high demand in my area at one time. High ranking people from various Okinawan karate styles turned out in droves at his workshops and then modified his tutorials to fit their syllabi. Alas, nobody could duplicate his deft touch-to-the-neck KO move.)

Now if I can just figure out this mind-meld thing Spock does I'm in business.

*Lawrence A. Kane and Kris Wilder 2005. The Way of Kata: A Comprehensive Guide to Deciphering Martial Applications. YMMA Publication Center.

Bizarre Self-Defense

An email I received entitled "13 Things Your Burglar Won't Tell You" included a piece about one Val Glinka who teaches a peculiar self-defense tip at an Ohio public school. Apparently this story has been circulating for a couple of years but this is the first time I've seen it. Here's the gist of it:

Val Glinka teaches self-defense to students at Sylvania Southview High School . For decades, he's suggested putting a can of wasp and hornet spray near your door or bed.

Glinka says, "This is better than anything I can teach them."

Glinka considers it inexpensive, easy to find, and more effective than mace or pepper spray. The cans typically shoot 20 to 30 feet; so if someone tries to break into your home, Glinka says, "spray the culprit in the eyes". It's a tip he's given to students for decades.

It's also one he wants everyone to hear. If you're looking for protection, Glinka says look to the spray.

"That's going to give you a chance to call the police; maybe get out."

With a little research we find that this Val Glinka does exist and the story about insecticide as a crime deterrent may not be all hooey. There are, however, legal ramifications involving the use of a product controlled by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for purposes other than its intended design. Interestingly, using a Louisville Slugger for purposes other than baseball doesn't bear exactly the same liability.

I'm not convinced bug spray would actually be more effective than pepper spray in a self-defense scenario such as a break-in. Actually, I have my doubts. Just keep your doors locked at night and keep that baseball bat handy.