The Harder They Fall

We used to do push-ups on our knuckles in karate class, a practice of which I do not have fond memories of. It didn't matter where I trained, the knuckle push-up was a time-honored staple. I think from a physiological perspective aligning one's wrist vertically (as opposed to hands flat on the floor) is better for the sake of the wrist joint. I've done my fair share of push-ups, I've had no aversion to hard training in the past, but pressing knuckles into a hardwood floor can be trying. The idea is that it conditions the fist for sparring, but I'm skeptical. Routines that include focus mitts and the heavy bag are more practical and sensible. 

 

A traditional karate dojo has a hardwood floor. Isshinryu's founder, Shimabuku, had an outdoor training area that was surrounded by a brick wall that supposedly had shards of glass glued to the tops to dissuade the local Okinawan youth from climbing atop to peer in. Photos from that time reveal what looks like a concrete floor. Years later, Angi Uezu built a dojo with a concrete slab that had springs underneath, presumably to absorb shocks from jumping and landing. Great for the spine, I guess. Not so much if you land on your head.

In combat sports such as karate, tae kwon do and amateur boxing (some organizations), head gear is mandatory. The head gear is primarily designed to protect the user, not from getting hit in the face, but from falling. I've seen boxing matches where professionals (who don't wear head gear) get knocked out on their feet, then fare worse from landing  on their heads. I cracked a wisdom tooth at a tournament years ago when I was dropped with a side kick onto the hard gym floor of a local high school. This despite wearing head gear and a mouth piece, the latter of which is designed to keep the jaw from breaking, while no consideration is shown for the dentition.

There is a circuit of underground fight clubs such as King Of The Streets where combatants fight on a hard surface, no-holds-barred. Illegal and absolutely insane. Street fights can turn fatal when someone falls and hits their head on the pavement. 

 

Head trauma from years of boxing, kickboxing, MMA, and other sports have shown that dementia, Parkinson's Disease, and other neurological disorders associated with CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) can manifest themselves, typically long after retirement.  

Whatever style you practice, do it on mats if you can. When sparring, move your head and protect yourself at all times. Loving your art shouldn't mean you have to pay for it later.

In Memoriam: Angi Uezu (1935-2024)

While I was researching traditional karate in anticipation of writing a post, I stumbled upon the sad news that Master Angi Uezu of Isshinryu karate passed away a few days ago at age 89. Uezu Sensei was the son-in-law of Tatsuo Shimabuku, the founder of Isshinryu. Originally studying to be an accountant, he began training under Shimabuku starting around 1955. It was about this period that Marines stationed on Okinawa began their training in Isshinryu in accordance with a contract that the US military had with Shimabuku, paying him 300 USD per month. Despite suffering a stroke a while back, Uezu rehabilitated himself enough to return to karate training and teaching. Somewhere I have a collection of VHS cassettes from the 1980s featuring the master's rendition of kata and their applications that are truly awe inspiring. They were my cheat sheets when I couldn't get to the dojo.

It's just as well I didn't post my response to this well-written piece by Tim Shaw on defining traditional karate; there's not much I could add anyway. Though Isshinryu is considered a style of traditional karate here in the US, it is a recently created system that is considered a "maverick" style on Okinawa. Although I never met him, Uezu Sensei was one of Isshinryu's finest exponents. I would also like to direct those interested to a video uploaded by longtime instructor, Michael Calandra, who delves into the master's life and his influence on Isshinryu karate.

Deconstructing Seisan

 

Here's a fine demonstration of Seisan, the first kata taught in Isshinryu karate. Seisan is not unique to Isshinryu, but is an ancient form found in many systems of karate. Kata is typically practiced as a solo form, but eventually the student is taught how to deconstruct the kata itself (bunkai) and how to apply the self-defense moves within (oyo). Later upon testing, students are asked to show (with a partner) sections of various kata and their proper application. Here we see this particular kata in its entirety in a theoretical matchup versus multiple assailants. The guttural breathing you hear adds power to the technique.

The master featured in the video (the defender at the center) is Arcenio Advincula. He trained directly under the founder of Isshinryu karate, Tatsuo Shimabuku, during his US military hitch on Okinawa starting in 1958. Years ago I took a workshop given by Advincula-sensei that was attended by at least two dozen Isshinryu karate teachers and students on Long Island. One of my instructors got into a rather heated exchange with the master over a stupid technical issue that did not end well for the former. Pro tip: never argue with a Marine giving a karate demonstration.

The Mythos of Kata

A student once asked me if it was possible to learn karate without learning the pre-arranged forms (kata). Of course it's possible. But this notion of "knowing karate" without kata is taken as an affront to a tradition and culture that is foreign to many of us. But let me ask you this: do you think memorizing an entire catalogue of block-and-strike sequences will allow you to prevail in a fight? And how many forms are there in your karate syllabus? In Isshinryu there are a total of eight karate (empty handed) kata, but some styles contain dozens! Why so many? Conversely, Chojun Miyagi, the famous founder of Goju-ryu karate, would exhort his students to train on just a single (!) form for years before being considered for advancement. Entire books have been written on the Sanchin kata, an ancient form of Chinese origin that emphasizes isometric muscle contractions and constricted breathing techniques used to refine ki (chi or qi).

A high ranking Isshinryu instructor once described a training session he once had many years ago with Grand Master Seikichi Odo of Okinawa Kenpo karate. A veritable "collector of kata", Odo-sensei was described as having a petite build, barely over five feet tall, but possessed an innate kind of strength that was indescribable. In karate, chinkuchi refers to a type of focused energy that is the stuff of legends. In reality, developing this kind of mystical super human strength is probably the by-product of decades of training and performing certain moves tens of thousands of times.

I put the word mythos in this blog title to be a bit provocative. It's just a recurring theme in culture or tradition that may or may not be true. But is it a myth that kata will translate into being a competent fighter? 

Consider this tale:

Kuwada had begun martial arts training with the desire of becoming feared by all men. But he soon discovered there was no short-cut to his transformation into a master.

Discouraged by the incessant kata training, Kuwada asked his sensei, "When are we going to learn something else? I've been here for quite some time, and it's kata, kata, kata, everyday."

When the sensei gave no reply, Kuwada went to the assistant to the master and made the same inquiry. He was told, "The kata training is to polish your mind. It is better to shave your mind than your head. Understand?"

Kuwada did not understand, and in protest, he left the dojo, embarking on a notorious career as the best street fighter in Shuri. He was tough. No doubt about it. "A fight a night" was Kuwada's motto, and he often bragged, "I'm not afraid of a living man."

One night, Kuwada eyed a stranger walking calmly alongside a stone wall. It irritated Kuwada to see such composure in a person. He ran to the cross section of the road and waited for the man to pass.

When he did, Kuwada jumped out and threw a punch, but the man avoided the blow and grabbed Kuwada's arm. As he pulled Kuwada toward him, the man calmly stared into his eyes. Kuwada tried to pull away, but he could not. For the first time in his life, Kuwada felt a strange emotion—fear of defeat.   

When the man let him go, Kuwada ran, but he glared back to see the man calmly walk away as if nothing had happened. Kuwada later discovered the man was a master of kata; a martial artist who had never engaged in a fight in his life.*

 The summation of the story, "He who conquers himself is the greatest warrior" is banal. Tales like this are meant to be inspiring, but they're misleading. If you've never engaged in a fight, you'll never be prepared for the real thing by being a "master of kata". As Okinawan street fighting pioneer Choki Motobu (d. 1944) advised,“Nothing is more harmful to the world than a martial art that is not effective in actual self-defense.”

 

*Richard Kim 1974. The Weaponless Warriors. Ohara Publications, Inc.

Magic

Lately, on martial arts threads I see online, it seems that traditional martial arts (TMA) have fallen out of favor. Apparently if you're not training for life-and-death or the Octagon, you're spinning your wheels. But in the idealistic past we've had TMA heroes gracing the big or little screen that seemed larger than life. Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and the TV show Kung Fu inspired us. It was David Carradine's portrayal of Caine, the Shaolin monk turned cowboy that inspired me to bug my parents to enroll me in my first martial arts class. Carradine was not really a kung fu practitioner of note, but that didn't matter to me. Norris once quipped that Carradine was about as qualified a martial artist as he (Norris) was a gifted stage actor, but I digress. Both of them presented martial arts in a very positive way. I miss that. And in its place we have to witness internet squabbles over full-contact sports like Muay Thai and judo, versus aikido, wing chun, tae kwon do, karate, or any other TMA du jour that's on the radar of these basement-dwelling chat-room pseudo cage fighters when they should be out looking for a job. To be fair, not all critics fall into this category. But then, the qualified critics, those with real combat, security, or fighting experience, (usually) can't be bothered airing their grievances on reddit. 

In 1984, The Karate Kid movie became a surprise hit. And in its wake, martial arts schools flourished. Enrollment doubled and tripled overnight, especially with kids, but what made this movie unique was the feature of the tournament. So between charging for lessons, belts and tournaments, karate school owners raked in the bucks. It's my opinion that kata and point-matches for trophies and colored belts have been both good and detrimental to karate. By the early 90s MMA came to the US, courtesy of a Brazilian clan's rendition of jiu-jitsu. A corner was turned, and there was no going back. 

In the old days, TMA were held as magic. We believed, because we had Kato and Lone Wolf McQuade and Mr. Miyagi there to give us faith. They were the good guys. I believed, because I wanted to believe that the style of karate that I espoused gave me a chance to be something greater than I was. Maybe I was naïve. I was young, what did I know? 

Today, critcal thinking reigns, so when we see a video of a "master" knocking out his student via hypnotic gaze, we know better. But these cringey clips, along with qi strikes and 7-year-old black belts, these things by default get relegated to TMA. And that's a shame. Still in spite of it all, the karate that I know, somehow, still possesses something magical.

⁠

Legend of the Fist

Just came across a fine work by the renown karate historian and philosopher Patrick McCarthy, Legend of the Fist. With help from his wife Yuriko, McCarthy Sensei has painstakingly translated dozens of newspaper and magazine articles from Okinawa and mainland Japan beginning in the late 19th century to modern day. More than thirty years in the making, this collection of essays and interviews not only reveals the true spirit of karatedo, but also the social mores and customs of Okinawan and Japanese culture that served as the impetus in the development of karatedo⁠—karate as a way of life.

The book is full of axioms and advice from the early masters about fighting techniques and decorum when outside the dojo. One interesting account depicts the intense rivalry between Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan in Japan, and Okinawan street-fighting expert Choki Motobu. Motobu's views on his aversion to using kicks in a real fight, his pursuit for drinking and having fun, and his time spent with a certain crime lord make Motobu an outlier in the chronicles of karate history.

Translated from Japanese to English, articles include stories about mixed matches featuring exponents of karate and judo, commentary on Western boxing, and a brief discussion of the classical text, Bubishi. The author has written a previous book on the "Bible of Karate."

Patrick McCarthy (Hanshi, 9th dan), a true devotee to the traditional fighting arts, believes that the way of karate transcends the mere physical; that the training and cultivating of mind, body, and spirit form the triumvirate essential to the development of the aspiring karateka. At just over 300 pages, Legend of the Fist is a worthy, concise read, and the author promises a Volume #2 is in the making.

Another Rant About Kata Training

Karate Obsession has a well-written post on what defines traditional karate. Among other things the article discusses the history of karate's ranking system, views on cross training, and modern notions such as loyalty to one's teacher or style and the urban legend of one-strike-one-kill. What caught my eye in this concise essay has to do with kata, solo forms found in karate that date back to antiquity. The author takes a dubious look at utilizing kata applications with multiple attackers (!) in heavily scripted attack-and-defense scenarios.

These are characterized by having multiple attackers arrange themselves so that they surround the person performing the kata (typically standing in a front stance with their lead arm down as if they had just done a gedan-barai) in such a way that they will be lined up to attack the performer along the enbusen (performance line) of the kata, and then attacking with strict, sterilized karate strikes. The defense is similarly sterilized, consisting of techniques that are used in ways that are unrealistic and tactically poor, hikite (pulling hand) being pulled to the hip without anything grasped in it, postures used as formal “setups” for other techniques, and a general reliance on knowing exactly what kind of attacks the attackers will use. These can be very dynamic and precise performances, but they are merely that — performances. The only thing karateka get better at by practicing this way is performing.

I've seen this before. Somewhere I have a VHS tape from the 80s with Angi Uezu of Isshinryu karate performing these drills with his black-belt students students working bunkai (components of kata) from all the forms found in the style's syllabus. After a fine demonstration of a kata as a solo form, the narrator would ask, "What is the master doing?" Then the secrets would be revealed! He would have his people surround him, two to four at a time, and then repeat the same kata to fend off off the advances of these "attacks." Performances indeed, and truth be told they were meticulous and impressive. In my experience I've never practiced this type of kata drill anywhere, ever. Bunkai was always trained in a one-on-one fashion in whatever dojo I was in. In time as you get better, some spontaneity and creativeness should be encouraged so the drill doesn't get stale or feel rehearsed. Ultimately, making these drills feel real is imperative.

I've heard the theory that kata represents fighting attackers from various angles, but that's a misunderstanding of why kata was created. It's more like a primer for techniques. It's not meant to mimic an actual fight, let alone with more than one assailant. From another source, here's a more holistic view:

In reality, from a street-fighting point of view, it is pretty much impossible to use the moves of kata to fight against multiple attackers at once. The vast majority of kata techniques are designed to deal with a single attacker who is directly in front of you. Although there are a few movements in certain kata where the imaginary enemy strikes from behind, there is always one opponent at a time. Defense against a large group is generally handled by strategically engaging one person at a time in a manner that confounds the other's ability to reach you.*

Regardless of how you train them, I have mixed feelings about kata.^† To be sure, learning kata without understanding them is meaningless. Bunkai as self-defense could be taught without ever seeing the whole kata by itself. I've seen oyo (applications) so heavily modified from the kata to make it usable for self-defense that it bears little semblance to the original form. In the end, it's really about the quality of instruction and the manner of how kata is taught.



* Lawrence A. Kane and Kris Wilder 2005. The Way of Kata: A Comprehensive Guide for Deciphering Martial Applications. YMAA Publication Center, Inc.

† As I see it, kata has survived for three reasons, none of them having anything to do with efficacy or even tradition: 1. Kata training takes up class time. 2. Kata is used for promotion. 3. Kata is an event at tournaments.

The Dojo Is My Universe

When you look out of your eyes at nature happening out there, you're looking at you. That's the real you. ⁠— Alan Watts

In a recently published research paper titled Sense of Coherence and Connectedness to Nature as Predictors of Motivation for Practicing Karate, 127 karate practitioners were examined to determine the connection between nature and motivations for training. The gist of the paper is that mental health and a sense of well-being is associated with karate training done in a natural setting. It's not surprising that people enjoy practicing outdoors on a nice day. Male and female trainees were observed and findings showed that feeling emotionally connected to the natural world was important for the physical fitness objective for both sexes. The study was undertaken, in part, due to a "pandemic of physical inactivity" and also because...

Martial arts belong to a particular group of sport disciplines which are very rarely practiced outdoors, especially when it comes to tournaments and competitions. Therefore, carrying out at least some parts of the training process in natural open spaces is justified, which would make it possible to use natural environmental elements as part of the training. The idea of harmonizing the training of martial arts with nature is also hidden in the well-known Japanese calligraphy of old warriors under the name “Sekai-dojo”―My “dojo“ (my gym), is my universe. All budo (martial art) students eventually realize that their behavior has changed and has been greatly influenced by the martial art discipline they practice. They become more conscious, braver, more careful, more attentive, and more respectful of others. They are able to better acquire natural principles in their philosophical context. They are able to exercise greater willpower, frankness, and generosity. This is followed by the next step: Introducing these virtues into ordinary life outside the dojo (gym). After this happens, the whole world becomes a large, wide dojo. Research shows that this attitude is particularly visible in athletes who engage in traditional forms of karate, which place an emphasis on values. Outdoor physical activity also provides more opportunities to achieve states of mental relaxation, which is so important in fighting sports that some even consider it fundamental.

The study goes on to show the relationship between Eastern philosophy and traditional martial arts. The connection to nature, however, was highly correlated to physical fitness goals associated with karate training. The paper also delves into the different goals of men and women for training in karate.

It's an interesting work that examines the karate way, it's unison with the natural environment, and ultimately, the path to overcoming one’s weaknesses.

Neat Tricks

Eric Shahan, a martial arts practitioner who specializes in translating classic Japanese texts into English has translated a treatise on acquiring supernatural powers in a new book, Twelve Rules Of The Sword, that was passed down verbally from a 17th century samurai school. Among other things, the rules for prevailing in combat involves saying two prayers and writing Sanskrit characters on your palms. Could be a tad time consuming when the heat is on. But supposedly the book also discusses some practical strategies for combat, similar to those found in The Book Of Five Rings, which deals more with the psychology of fighting than physical techniques. Training, attitude and situational awareness, while paramount in the martial arts, are far from magical concepts.

In Okinawan karate, performing the kata Sanchin over and over is supposed to develop otherworldly stamina and strength. The ancient form, of Chinese origin, is akin to a dynamic-tension routine that was hawked in comic books by bodybuilder Charles Atlas in past decades. It's a slow motion punch-and-block sequence that mimics pushing and pulling a heavy weight with isometric contractions and forced breathing. Entire books have been written on the single topic of Sanchin. The kata is a staple in many schools of karate, especially Goju-ryu. Its founder, Chojun Miyagi, made his students perform Sanchin many times each day, with the idea that it would transform them mentally, physically, and spiritually. Miyagi himself was built like a bull and purportedly could perform superhuman feats. In one public demonstration in 1924, he...

[T]hrust his hand into a bunch of bamboos and pulled out one from the center. He stuck his hand into a slab of meat and tore off chunks. He put white chalk on the bottom of his feet, jumped up, and kicked the ceiling — leaving his foot-prints on the ceiling for all to see. Spectators hit him with long bo (staffs) with no effect. He tore off the bark of a tree (with his fingers). And with his big toe he punctured a hole in a kerosene can...He did many more feats which had to be believed.*

These types of feats today are rare. Most modern demos involve crowd-pleasers like self defense moves and board breaking. Gymnastic feats like tricking or parkour (the latter which is derived from military obstacle course training) flood the internet. Most recently we have the Bottle Cap Challenge, originally uploaded by Farabi Davletchin, a champion taekwondo fighter from Kazakhstan. The trick involves setting up a bottle of some beverage roughly chest high, and executing a variant of a spinning hook kick which grazes the pre-loosened bottle cap, spinning it off the top while leaving the remaining bottle untouched.

Everyone seems to be getting in on the action with their own clips, including famous martial arts actor Jason Statham (see above). Pretty impressive for a guy over fifty. If Chuck Norris were a bit younger he would have a go at this.^† Hell, maybe I'll give it a shot. Still, Miyagi would probably outdo everyone with his barefoot hole-in-the-kerosene can move. Then again, Miyagi also said at the conclusion of his demo, "Karate is a total commitment. I have not done anything that someone else cannot do, or, for that matter, you. There is no halfway measure. Either you do it or you don't. Nothing is impossible."

Indeed. There is no magic.


* Richard Kim 1974. The Weaponless Warriors. Ohara Publications. (Originally written by journalist Tojuda Anshu.)
† Want to feel old? Norris will be eighty next year. Can you believe it?

Strike First!

The title of this post comes from part of the motto of the Cobra Kai school from The Karate Kid movie. Cobra Kai is now a series on YouTube.* Yes, after 34 years, Daniel-san and bad guy Johnny ("Sweep The Leg") are back! These guys are in their fifties now, and they're still at it. Fifty is the new thirty-five. I'm pretty sure Johnny is still hawking "Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy" at his new Cobra Kai school. This idea is diametrically opposed, deliberately I assume, to one of the most fundamental tenets found in karate, among other styles. But the Cobra Kai "Strike First" stance takes no prisoners. "Strike Hard" is a no-brainer, I suppose. "Mercy is for the weak" is dysfunctional; roles can be reversed. What goes around, comes around.

In 1938, Gichin Funakoshi put forth 20 precepts for karate students to train and live by. His Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate contains the famous excerpt karate ni sente nashi, or "There is no first strike in karate." This basically implies that you don't provoke a fight; it does not mean that in the midst of what looks like a potential altercation — after all other options have failed — you wait to get laid out on the sidewalk. Deescalation isn't always available. Unprovoked attacks and sucker punches happen. If you're lucky enough to factor in time and distance, then reading intent or energy (shin or ki) is possible.

In traditional karate, there are two basic strategies in dealing with an aggressor:

• Go no sen. This means "after the attack." A basic example would be an aggressor steps in with a punch, you block and counter with a strike.
• Sen no sen. This is "before the attack." An aggressor announces he wants to kill you, and without hesitation you strike. This is like the old military aphorism "The best defense is a good offense."

It's easy to see how both of these concepts can be misconstrued. Waiting for an attack with the sole purpose for a counter and strike is a recipe for disaster. And the legal ramifications of kicking someone in the head because he flips you off should be obvious.

These concepts are not exclusive to karate, and there are more no sen principles in other arts, such as Kendo and Aikido. These strategies go into much greater depth than I describe. For a deeper study into these principles dealing with situational assessment in actual combat, check out The Book of Five Rings by the Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi (c. 1645).


* This is only on YouTube's new "premium" channel. So yes, that means it ain't free. It's either a monthly rate, or pay-per-view.

Old School Karate Point-Fighting

Traditional karate bouts are scored with points. After a strike such as a punch or kick is scored, a point is awarded, whereupon the fighting is stopped by the referee. The combatants return to their marks, square off, and — hajime! — the action resumes. So, it's a stop-and-go-affair, it lacks flow, say like a boxing match, or most combative fighting sports that have more-or-less continuous action. The idea of the point-match in karate is that all strikes are considered the equivalent of atemi — lethal strikes. I go into more depth about point-fighting in this post.

In a karate match, every strike delivered should be with the intent to annihilate your opponent, especially if you regard your techniques as "lethal." But karate point matches get some flack for looking like a game of tag, with players maintaining a bizarre fighting range so as to not get scored on. Long range strikes and tactics are favored as there is virtually no in-fighting. The emphasis on distance management, and de-emphasis on launching an attack lacks combative realism. Obviously, training this way is counterproductive for preparing you for the real thing.

A few years ago I posted an article about point-fighters who were reluctant to commit to executing anything for fear of getting countered and losing. It can make for a spectacle. A kenpo practitioner emailed me recently about that post, and asked me if I knew of any famous karate competitors that didn't engage in what he called larping.*

Check out this sample of a bout between Jim Harrison and Fred Wren from 1968:

Supposedly both guys were taken to the hospital after this match.^† Obviously, neither guy had any reservations about going all out. Harrison and Wren were legends in their day, and both guys should've been carried out on their shields. It's worth noting that this fight, far from the train wreck it may appear to be, is a technical montage of sweeps, take-downs and brutal hand and foot combinations — all without any discernible protective gear. Bear in mind that this match happened 50 years ago; sport karate has come a long way since. But along the way, maybe the old school spirit of things have been lost. It all depends what you're training for. Remember, how you train is how it happens.


* Larp; acronym for "live action role-playing." Think American Civil War or medieval knight reenactments with costumes to duplicate historic events for appreciation of an era and/or culture. Enough said.
^† I realize there are a plethora of brutal matches to be found online, and that certain styles, such as Kyokushin karate, emphasize heavy knockdown fighting, sans head shots. The Harrison-Wren bout just really stood out for me because of its unique intensity, and its place in American karate history. For anyone interested in the source video here it is.

Olympic Karate and The Okinawan Karate Kaikan

Earlier this year, a multi-purpose training hall and exhibition center — The Okinawan Karate Kaikan — opened in Tomigusuku City, Okinawa. A multi-purpose venue, it's a training facility for karateka that includes a museum, classrooms for teaching seminars, a general dojo and a "Special Dojo" featuring red tiled ceilings and traditional adornments used exclusively for testing high ranking black belt candidates. The creation of The Okinawan Karate Kaikan coincides nicely with even bigger news: For the first time, Karate will be an event for the Summer Games in the 2020 Olympics to be held in Tokyo.* This is both timely and appropriate, as the art of Judo made its Olympic debut in the same city in 1964.

In advance of the upcoming Olympics to be held on the mainland, Okinawan businesses are anticipating an economic ripple event from the expected rise in tourism. There are a number of attractions on the island to attract martial arts enthusiasts from abroad, including some 400 karate schools. For nightlife, there's even a Dojo Bar in Naha City that features old style karate memorabilia and decor. As an enticement to come to the island, The Dojo Bar, in collaboration with KARATEbyJesse, is running a Okinawan Karate Nerd Programme that's a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for two young Karate Nerds between the ages of 18-35 to fly to Okinawa and live there for 6-12 months and experience the Way of Karate at its source."

As for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, there's no doubt there are purists who will deride the idea of karate in the Games. Indeed, when Gichin Funakoshi introduced Okinawan karate to the Japanese mainland in 1922, he was diametrically opposed to the idea of karate tournaments; in his view, competition was antithetical to the true spirit of karate. Compare this notion to that of the founder of Judo, Jigaro Kano, who set out to promote his martial art specifically with the Olympics in mind. In Kano's vision, the Olympics would be the perfect vehicle to spread judo to the world. For him, judo-the-sport and judo-the-martial way were both compatible and complimentary to each other.

So far Olympic Karate will feature two events for individual competition: Kumite (fighting) and Kata (forms). Scoring will be based on World Karate Federation (WKF) rules. Therefore, for senior men and women (over 21) there will be five weight classes each. Kata will be the empty-handed variety, no weapons. Although this is sport, the WKF is still intent to preserve the tradition in karate. Nothing gaudy like camouflage belts; the gi (uniform) must be white. Vital area shots are prohibited, as are low kicks and strikes delivered with excessive contact. So much for tradition.^† Strikes to the head, face, and neck are allowed but must be delivered like a "touch" (or as one instructor I had wryly put it, 'touch one side of the face to the other'). Hand guards, mouth-pieces, shin and foot protectors are mandatory, but curiously, groin protectors are optional.

Through the years sport karate has had to endure its share of problems and politics. I'm not certain karate can avoid the scandals and controversies that have been pervasive in Olympic competition for so long. Perhaps Funakoshi was right.


* This was actually announced last year.
^† That's a joke. Heavy sparring usually provides a good metrics for handling pressure, among other things. An astute ref can determine when "excessive contact" can be regarded as what Mike Tyson used to call "bad intentions." Not very sportive.

My Black Belt Beats Your Black Belt

A friend of a friend (both guys are longtime Isshinryu karate practitioners) is a part-owner of a successful Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) school in the Hamptons of Long Island, NY. I went to his dojo years ago when he was still doing karate; he was fairly new to BJJ and showed some impressive on-the-ground techniques (his uke [attacker] was 6'8, 300 + pounds). At the time I was dabbling in aikido and tai chi, so the rough and tumble techniques of BJJ were refreshing, so to speak. I had no interest in regular BJJ training, but I respected its apparent effectiveness. My friend's friend has since developed some early onset arthritic joints (he's in his early 30s) from the habitual grabbing of other players' gi (judo jacket), armbars, and the like. His fingers in particular are messed up and will likely worsen, but no cauliflower ears so far.


His new school is a gold mine given that he's in a ritzy area and that he's teaching BJJ. His classes ain't cheap. Because BJJ has more "street cred" (his term) than most traditional martial-art styles, he can charge more — a lot more than the average karate school. I've discussed the efficacy of striking vs. grappling styles in this post, but one thing that really separates BJJ from the rest of the traditional pack of styles is this: for a typical student it takes about 12 years to get to black belt. This is roughly twice as long as it takes to acquire a black belt in karate or many other styles. While BJJ is still regarded as a "traditional" martial art — in that players practice in a gi, go bare feet, and adhere to colored belts for rank — its derision of other traditional arts has become a marketing ploy. From the website of one BJJ school in Texas:

Karate: the vast majority of what is called Karate today is about as effective as interpretive dance. Wide stances, complete lack of takedown defense or awareness of submissions and a general watering down of its belt systems have made Karate kind of hilarious. There are some styles that have proven to be effective, so never assume that someone who does Karate is ineffective, but generalizations can be made.


Taekwondo: perhaps the most popular and most derided Asian martial art, TKD has become a sort of a joke in that it is, on a fundamental level, simply tag played with ones feet. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is superior to Taekwondo because, simply put there is no distance management taught in most standard Taekwondo curriculums making it, on a fundamental level, ineffective…especially when someone that know what they are doing grabs you.

Taekwondo may have surpassed judo as the most popular style on the planet, thanks in part to its inclusion in the Olympics (like judo), but also (unlike judo) for its reputation for quick promotion and prepubescent black belts, resulting in its new moniker "take-one's-dough." In fairness, we have karate "McDojos" doing similar things for the almighty buck. To reiterate, the BJJ guy is raking it in. It's all in the marketing.

Out Of Print, But Not Outdated

Now available online is a book penned by karate master Gichin Funakoshi, Rentan goshin toudi jutsu (Toudi arts: Polish your courage for self defense). Toudi, or to-te was the term originally used for karate before its codification on mainland Japan in the 1920s.

First published in March of 1925, this version is the sixth printing from just thirteen months later. It's a PDF format and in Japanese. There are over 200 photos, and two things I noticed were the high stances which are not a staple of Japanese karate, and nage waza (throwing techniques) that are given short shrift in most schools of karate. This was apparently before Funakoshi, who arrived in Japan in 1922, made some very deliberate changes to the Okinawa-te he learned back home. Funakoshi's style of karate eventually came to be known as Shotokan, a term the master supposedly never used or felt comfortable with.

The book is divided into four parts. The first part in an introduction into karate's history and formal etiquette required during training. The second part describes — using photos — how to make a fist, open-hand techniques including spear-hand and split finger jabs, stances (again, not very deep except for what looks like a lone illustration of zenkutsu-dachi from the kata Kusanku), embusen (starting point and directional line for kata), and directions for how to use a makiwara (striking post, usually bound with wicker). The third part is devoted to the complete kata canon of his system. The final section is entitled "Karate Research Gossip" which chronicles karate's development dating back to antiquity. [SOURCE]

Replete with illustrations, there are no English translations of this book to my knowledge.

For more works of this ilk go here.

Faking To Win

In those days, when Japanese stylists threw a kick they never faked or feinted — the kick went straight to the target. They were not accustomed to someone faking a kick to one area and landing it elsewhere.

— Chuck Norris on sport-karate strategy, c. 1967.*

In Wansu kata, the fourth karate form taught in Isshinryu, at some point the defender executes an uppercut immediately followed by a front kick. I have been told that Shimabuku referred to this maneuver as "bullshit", i.e., the uppercut is just a fake setup for the real damage inflictor, in this case the front kick. A very similar strategy can be found in the Kusanku kata: backfist to the face while simultaneously executing a foward-leg front kick. Check out the image below of Ed McGrath attempting this very trick for his black belt test against his instructor Don Nagle in 1959:

McGrath paid for his efforts with a broken nose, but he did earn his shodan in Isshinryu. In MMA there's something called a "Superman Punch" that involves the player faking a jump kick followed by an airborne punch to the face. Although less "fake-ish", another variation of this has the attacker catapulting off the side of the cage to deliver the flying haymaker:

In karate, a faked front kick (or foot sweep) followed by a round kick to the head works well, speaking from experience. Fakes or feints should be used sparingly and look realistic enough to elicit a response; once the opponent has committed to reacting to the faux move, the live technique can then be delivered. To sell the fake technique requires speed, timing, range/distance (ma-ai), and being able to read the opponent.

* Chuck Norris 1989. The Secret of Inner Strength: My Story. Charter Books.

The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate

In 1917 Gichin Funakoshi, an elementary school teacher and Okinawan-te master, traveled to mainland Japan in a preliminary effort to introduce his fighting art to government officials and members of the Butoku Kai martial arts ministry. Five years later he returned to begin a tour of demonstrations held at universities. He reasoned, correctly, that learned men tended to be physically unfit. His main pitch was that a regimen of karate training could produce health benefits in addition to skills in self-defense. His student base grew quickly and by the 1930s the "empty-hand way" (as it was now called) had a larger following in Japan than on Okinawa.*

Funakoshi made fundamental changes to karate in Japan that included adopting the belt-ranking system from judo and its introduction as a do form, or life art. Thus karate-do was born. More than just a method of fighting, karate skills could be actualized in many aspects of everyday living as exemplified in the following list of aphorisms that was first published in 1938:



1. Karate-do begins with courtesy and ends with rei (respect).

2. There is no first strike in karate.

3. Karate is an aid to justice.

4. First know yourself before attempting to know others.

5. Spirit first, technique second.

6. Always be ready to release your mind (or heart).

7. Accidents arise from negligence.

8. Do not think that karate training is only in the dojo.

9. It will take your entire life to learn karate, there is no limit.

10. Put your everyday living into karate and you will find myo (subtle secrets).

11. Karate is like boiling water, if you do not heat it constantly, it will cool.

12. Do not think that you have to win, think rather that you do not have to lose.

13. Victory depends on your ability to distinguish vulnerable points from invulnerable ones.

14. The out come of the battle depends on how you handle weakness and strength.

15. Think of your opponents hands and feet as swords.

16. When you leave home, think that you have numerous opponents waiting for you.

17. Beginners must master low stance and posture, natural body positions are for the advanced.

18. Practicing a kata exactly is one thing, engaging in a real fight is another.

19. Do not forget to correctly apply: the strength and weakness of power, stretching and contraction of
the body, and slowness and speed of techniques.

20. Always think and devise ways to live the precepts of karate-do every day.


* Donn Draeger 1974. Modern Bujutsu & Budo. Weatherhill, Inc.

Some Thoughts About Kata

"Mike" is a green belt with about two years of training. He'll be graduating from law school soon; smart kid. He has good questions, always, among them this time-honored one:

"Is it possible to learn karate without kata (solo practice forms)"

Before I answer that let's go over some features of karate forms.

The kata...

• contains the essence of short range self-defense techniques that cannot be gleaned from sportive play.
• is arranged in sequential moves which are conducive for memorization.
• each provides a link to the past and may represent what was at one time a distinct fighting system unto itself.*

This list is hardly exhaustive. The last item, the kata as a "distinct style", really has no advantage in training, but could provide a technical glimpse into the modern style of karate one is currently involved in.

I do believe it is possible to learn the techniques of karate sans kata. But to present a traditional karate-style course without kata is artistically and culturally untenable. As a colleague of mine also pointed out, doing so would be an affront to the style's founder (or current sōke) if your still citing said style as your base.

Kata training is good if you don't have a live partner to work with. Pairing up and testing the kata's self-defense applications brings a refreshing sense of realism into practice. But you can work any self-defense move in this way without it having its roots in an ancient form.

With the growing popularity of arts that don't teach forms such as Krav Maga and Muay Thai how have kata survived this long?

I believe the usefulness of karate forms have evolved for the benefit of instructors and students — not the art.

Kata...

• takes up class time and possibly staves off the boredom of partaking in otherwise monotonous drills.
• provides an alternative to sparring, especially for tournaments.^†
• is used as a requisite for belt promotion.

Mike's question is an old one, but a good one. And I don't hesitate to admit I have mixed feelings about kata, especially when practiced as a solo form without a live partner. If Mike wants his purple belt he's going to have to dissect Chinto and (try to) explain how a double jump kick devised two centuries ago within this form can still work today.




*Actually, I'm not too sure about this. This odd legend of singular kata as an entire fighting art may have come from the story of Chinto, a 19th century kung-fu master and the namesake for the kata I mentioned towards the end of my post.

^†Isshinryu's founder, Shimabuku, had black belts that didn't spar. Needless to say they had their kata down cold. Free-style sparring is not for everyone. Movie buffs take note, Jet Li and Cynthia Rothrock were champion forms competitors prior to acting.

Misperceptions

Look at this poster. The guy on the left is depicted as a musclebound thug covered in tattoos with cauliflower ears engaging in a blood sport. Maybe we should be grateful there is such a thing as MMA or this character would be in prison or the nuthouse, right?

Now observe the gentleman on the right. He's bowing in respect, an obvious by-product of self-mastery developed from a long time of training in an honored fighting tradition that ultimately has lofty, even peaceful aims. He is a disciple (and perhaps a teacher) of Budo — the martial arts.

Basically what this image is saying is that Traditional Martial Arts (TMA) are civilized and cultivate good qualities in its adherents while MMA is legalized headbashing that provides little more than a buglight for violent whackjobs. This just reinforces some unfair stereotypes, especially to laypeople. There are good and bad people in all walks of life. Don't be so fast to judge a book by its cover.

It's true that MMA has no official philosophy or written tenets of life principles like those found in TMA. But MMA doesn't automatically produce a crop of bad guys anymore than TMA can unconditionally change otherwise unsavory types into good citizens. As karate master Yasuhiro Konishi once said, "Karate aims to build character, improve human behavior, and cultivate modesty; it does not, however, guarantee it."

The Reluctant Point-Fighter

The attitude of destroying the enemy with one cut is based on the attitude of "going in" to the attack. If not, your spirit is lacking and your resolve is less than complete. You must always close in on the enemy regardless of the indications of the enemy's strength.

— Miyamoto Musashi

In karate and tae kwon do sparring, scoring is kept by counting hand and foot strikes that make contact as points. The point system came about from the idea that atemi (vital strikes) are indeed lethal. Obviously real atemi are prohibited in sportive matches, and as such point-matches morph into a game of glorified tag. What happens is that players tend to fight from exaggerated fighting ranges (ma-ai) with hands held low (especially in TKD), and at times not fully committing to techniques, especially kicks. Combatants are trying to score, but are especially leery of getting countered or "tagged." For these reasons, a point-match is nothing like a realistic fight.

This is clearly a problem if you fancy your art as a viable means of self-defense. In sportive arts like boxing, wrestling and judo, players are fully committed to hitting, getting hit, throwing and getting taken down, even in practice drills. Realize that how you train on the mat is how it happens in real life.

Somebody once told me that the difference between black belts and those at the lower echelon was really a degree of self-interest. "Black belts don't care," he said. What he meant was the BBs aren't concerned with the outcome of committing to a combination of techniques against the opponent. They're more centered in the here-and-now. That means visualizing the attack and following through without being hindered with the mental baggage of a counter. Still, judges don't want to see matches that look like a train wreck or game of chicken.

The bane of the point-match isn't whether or not a technique is so devastating that it can maim or kill, but the aversion to being hit in return. That doesn't mean to disregard defensive techniques completely during a match. Just don't be so mindful of your opponent's strategy that it impinges your game plan. The Japanese concept of kobo-ichi is just another way of saying the old adage "the best defense is a good offense."

Iron Fist Training

Let me state that this is not a tutorial on how to develop manos de piedra - "hands of stone" - which is the famous moniker of prizefighter Roberto Duran. My use of a provocative title may be misleading. For the record I don't subscribe to the idea that hands can be conditioned into something akin to an anvil . Hands did not evolve to break open body parts and certain traditional training methods to toughen them can wreak havoc. Actually, this post was inspired by an impromptu sparring session I had this past weekend (my first in quite a while) that resulted in the first two knuckles on my left hand to swell to frightening proportions. I wore cotton hand-guards that leave the fingers exposed, and while my striking force was left in reserve for the most part, apparently, that wasn't good enough. This is really the result of chronic damage from years of sparring. (Note to readers: When you feel pain from an activity, stopping said activity is advised.) A colleague told me I should perform pushups on my knuckles to avert future injury. Another suggested training on a more time-honored method: The makiwara. I don't think so to either one.

A grandmaster of Matsubayashi-ryu once told me that any respectable dojo should have a makiwara on the premises. A makiwara is a wooden striking post designed to develop punching prowess and accuracy, not to put callouses on knuckles. Karateka that have knuckles that look like they're jacked on steriods may look impressive and could be held as a perverse badge of honor. Ego trips like this can go either way as one Okinawan karate historian tells:

Arakaki's father often warned him about making large black callouses on his knuckles. One reason was that, as his father was a merchant, customers would, on seeing the swollen and deformed hands, be easily frightened away. Another reason was that local ruffians would often try to pick fights on the pseudo-karate-ka who flouted such grotesque trophies. 'After practice on the makiwara,' Arakaki told me, 'it is a good idea to wash one's hands in salt water (or urine) and then alcohol; if the skin is cut, always carefully sterilise the affected area.'¹

There's a market that offers a wide range of liniments with names like "Iron Hit Wine" and "Tiger Balm" that, while pricey at roughly $20 for a 2 oz. dose, provides a more sanitary method of treatment than urine. Once during an Isshinryu karate demonstration held for US marines on Okinawa, Tatsuo Shimabuku cut his hand while driving a spike through a slab of wood. There was no liniment or any first-aid handy, so in a pinch he applied some dirt to the wound to stop the bleeding.

I've never trained on a makiwara, which is supposedly of Chinese origin, not Okinawan as many believe.² Indeed, the Chinese method of "Iron Bone Hand" training, developed as a method for maiming and killing, appears in Article 20 of the Bubishi stating:

The Iron Bone Hand technique can only be developed through relentless training. After thrusting the bare hand into a container filled with hot sand on a daily basis for many weeks, the fingers gradually become conditioned enough to initiate the secondary stage of training. After thrusting the bare hand into a container filled with gravel on a daily basis for many weeks, the fingers will become even more conditioned so that the final stage of conditioning can be initiated. The final stage of conditioning requires one to thrust the bare hand into a container of even larger stones. This special kind of conditioning will lead to hand deformity and the loss of one's fingernails. Alternative training methods often include thrusting the bare hand into bundles of wrapped bamboo in an effort to condition the fingers for lethal stabbing and poking.³

There's a tenet of unknown origin that advises to "attack soft tissue with a hard-surface hand-strike, and a hard area with a soft-surface hand-strike." Hammerfist, shuto (blade-hand), and palm-heel use the fleshier part of the hand that tend to be less injurious than a closed-fist if your target area is someone's head. In boxing, heavy hitters occasionally break their hands delivering the KO punch, this in spite of wrapping their hands in plenty of gauze and donning 10 or 12 oz. gloves. You'll also never see a boxer hit any kind of a bag without gloves. And some karate men, such as Isshinryu's Angi Uezu, have been known to doggedly hit that makiwara bare-handed. Somebody's wrong here.



1. Mark Bishop 1999. Okinawan Karate: Teachers, styles and secret techniques. Tuttle Publishing.
2. Ibid.
3. Patrick McCarthy 1995. The Bible of Karate: Bubishi. Tuttle Publishing.