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.

Pay Attention

In what has become a recurring theme in my life as of late, my health has been compromised with a shoulder injury. I will need rotator cuff surgery to repair the damage that I incurred at my job this past October and I've been home since. Last year I had a full shoulder replacement on my left side; this time it's my right shoulder.  I'm still waiting for the so-called "Golden Years" to kick in. I really thought my golden time was in the bag; after all, I've taken care of myself my entire adult life, and I assumed my eventual physical decline would be a protracted soft landing. A recent blog post from a karate practitioner, however, puts it succintly:

The decline is not slow and incremental.

Recent research seems to suggest that it’s not a slow ticking clock that causes physical decline but actually, across the sexes there are two significant spikes in dramatic decline. One occurs in the mid 40’s; scientists knew this but initially thought that statistics were skewed by the menopause in woman in that age group—but no… men have identical declines.

The other spike is in the early 60’s. A Japanese Wado teacher warned me of this, “You wait till you hit the 60’s barrier” he cheerfully told me.

So that’s the bad news, but it’s better to be warned ahead of time than to live in ignorance and then be blindsided by it.

I was telling a co-worker that the good news for me is that I'm running out of things to break on my body. I'm starting to acquire the same number of artificial repairs and prosthetic joints as RoboCop, the cyborg law enforcer from the 80s movie of the same name. In a couple of years I plan to retire. Hopefully I can manage to work the remaining time without crippling myself every six months.
 

For now there's not much I can do. Two of my current pastimes are reading and meditating, the latter being long associated with the martial arts. Meditation is a practice that is simple yet deceptively difficult. The idea of sitting absolutely still while quieting the mind is antithetical in our culture. The goal is the elimation of thoughts by simply paying attention to them. Through this act of mindfulness, the cessation of mind-chatter becomes attainable. That's it. In cultivating this practice one can achieve a number of psychological and physical benefits that are so well documented I won't delve into it here.

 

Shoshin Nagamine, the famous founder of Matsubayahshi-ryu karate, became deeply drawn to Zen and meditation in his senior years. As a result, he achieved Satori (enlightenment) at the age of 62 and lived for another twenty-eight years, time that was well spent in his administration of karate on Okinawa and the rest of the world.

I'm not up to taking on the world, I just want to make it to my retirement in one piece. My wife has been telling me to "be more careful" when I'm working. Yes, we all need to be attentive in our daily lives, especially at the job. Pay attention! In my defense, sometimes certain events at work are unavoidable. 

 

Somewhere I read one pithy definition of meditation that stuck with me: "Paying attention to paying attention." This reminds me of a Zen parable:

The day before going off to war,  a soldier sought the counsel of the Zen master Ikkyu. "Master, will you please write for me some maxims of the highest wisdom? I need some insight that will guide me and allow me to prevail on the battlefield."

Ikkyu immediately took his brush and wrote the word: "Attention."

"Is that all?" asked the soldier. "Will you not add something more ?"

Ikkyu then wrote twice: "Attention. Attention."

"Well," remarked the soldier rather irritably, "I really don't see much depth or subtlety in what you have just written."

Then Ikkyu wrote the same word three times: "Attention. Attention. Attention."

Half-angered, the soldier demanded, "What does that word 'attention' mean anyway?"

Ikkyu answered gently, "Attention means attention."

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.

Learn Forbidden Martial Arts

A while back I penned a post about martial-art ads that appeared in the back of comic books, a popular grift that took place during the 1960s and 70s. This is an update sourced from the original author that is far more comprehensive and entertaining than the first. This latest installment includes ads offering home courses for karate and jiu-jitsu, but also an array of fictitious martial-art styles whose only existence and purpose was to literally make a quick buck. A sampling:

• Yubiwaza
• Ketsugo
• Poison Hand
• Aicondo

To be fair, there were some ads that featured karate hawked by legit instructors who ran schools, such as John Keehan (Count Dante—"The Deadliest Man Alive"), and Wallace Reumann, a Chito-ryu practitioner who trained under Hank Slominski—the latter who gave Elvis Presley his first black belt in 1960. Reumann's karate ads (which included a menacing "life like karate practice dummy" to whoop ass on) pushed the boundaries of appealing to the burgeoning masculinity and wariness of young men with doozies like this:

What would you do if you were insulted by a bully?...or if 3 or 4 hoodlums passed remarks about your girl?...or if you were suddenly mugged from behind?...or if someone came at you with a baseball bat?

If you're like millions of other Americans, you'd be absolutely helpless—and you'd be ashamed, humiliated, robbed, beaten, kicked—and pitiful in the eyes of your girl or friends.

To balance things out, this ad for Yubiwaza features a diminutive woman who turns the tables with this remarkable claim:

 I miss the days when you could get your money's worth for 99¢!

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.

Never Quit

I have a confession to make. I've been out of work for seven months (courtesy of some health issues I've previously discussed, but I go back at the end of September), and I'm not happy with the way I look. This morning on a doctor's scale I weighed a whopping 205 lbs., way up from my sparring heyday of 178. (I used to be 5 ft 10; I'm currently 5 ft 9. I have a medium frame.) A lot of this is just due to my inactivity, but also, to my defense, it's age related. I turn 63 in October, and my body just doesn't do what it used to do. Not just willful physical activity, whether it's performing job duties or exercising in my basement gym/dojo, but also trying to keep my weight down, recover from minor injuries, and incentive to do otherwise menial tasks. I find myself actually having to push myself to go on my daily one-mile walk. My strength and stamina in the gym over the years has diminished significantly, and when I confided this to a friend, he replied, "why bother pumping iron if you just keep getting weaker?"

"Alright," I replied. "What do you suppose would happen if I just completely stopped working out?"

Stopping my workouts is not an option for me. Perish the thought! But naturally I have to modify a routine to accommodate my pre-existing injuries. And as of late I need serious motivation—fortunately fate came to the rescue. The other day a co-worker texted me a bodybuilding routine Bruce Lee created in 1965, before he became a star cinematically (although by this time Lee was an in-demand martial arts instructor). This flow chart, I'm assuming, is a catalog of exercises to be performed in a single session. It's a list of mostly upper body/arm exercises, but I really like how the first item is squats. Never skip leg day. I'm glad Lee knew his priorities.

As Lee's status as a star rose he continued his self created bodybuilding routine that emphasized both strength and muscular endurance. At  5 ft 7 1⁄2 and 140 lbs, Lee was not not an overtly formidable presence. But his devotion to fitness paid off. Chuck Norris once said that Lee was, pound for pound, the strongest human being he has ever trained with.

While Lee was making gains in the gym, he began to adjust his diet and cardio exercises that accelerated his body's ability to burn fat. In the 1965 photo above, I would guess his body fat percentage to be about 12. The pic below taken from Enter The Dragon (1973) depicts a much leaner version of Lee, evident with a marked increase in muscular definition and striations. I'd put his body fat here at about 7 percent. Understand that this level of body fat is quite low, even for an athlete, and is very difficult to achieve without resorting to sports enhancing drugs. (There is no respectable evidence that Lee used steroids or the like to achieve his physique. I'm also fairly confident this photo has not been enhanced.)

In the 1960s, bodybuilding routines were considered taboo for some sports, especially boxing. There are traditional exercises in karate that emphasize grip strength and isometric tension, but little else that bear any semblance to a modern muscle building regimen. 

As a martial artist Lee was ahead of his time in a few ways (e.g., he loathed the concept of styles as he saw them as inherently dogmatic), and embraced modernity, innovation, and common sense. However, several years later, Lee was training with weights and endured a serious back injury that incapacitated him for some time. (A detailed account of this can be found in this article.) Lee was about 30 when this happened, and somehow plowed through this and continued with his movie career until his untimely death from an allergic reaction to a pain killer (for a headache) just a few years later. I sustained a similar, albeit less severe injury to my back performing barbell squats when I was 36. At the time, I was working for the same company I'm at now, didn't see a doctor, and didn't miss a single day of work. I was lucky, the problem eventually resolved itself. Youth has its advantages. An injury like that now would likely put me out on permanent disability. 

These days I still train when I'm up to it, but I don't do barbell squats or heavy lifting anymore. And definitely no sparring with someone I don't know. With age comes wisdom.

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.

We Can Rebuild Him

Father Time has once again taken its toll on my body. I'm annoyed, to put it mildly, that a lifetime of clean living, diet, and fitness has resulted in a now-beaten up body. Over the past three years I've incurred numerous episodes of arthritis that has resulted in herniated discs, knee and elbow pain, and as of late, a full-shoulder replacement surgery that has kept me out of work since roughly the beginning of the year. (See above—yes, that is my new left shoulder!) 

It's been suggested that my years of sparring and performing endless drills of kihon (karate basics) may have led to this, but I don't think so. My chiropractor friend says I should be able to punch through cement blocks now with my bionic implant. Yeah, sure.

While I was awaiting my procedure it was revealed during a pre-op test that I had atrial fibrillation (a-fib), and a later discovery of right-handed weakness and atrophy, the latter diagnosed by a pinched nerve in my cervical spine. I'm currently wearing a Holter monitor to address the a-fib. As funny as this may sound, I'm in otherwise good shape.

Though I haven't been working for several months, my union is still paying my medical insurance. I'm very grateful my other health issues came to light now so I can address everything during my leave of absence.

Sometimes good news is disguised as bad news, but you never really know. There may be a cosmic lesson hidden in this so-called misfortune of mine, but who knows? As the Stones sang, "You can't always get what you want...you just might find you get what you need."

For clarification, a Zen story:

 

There was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically. “Maybe,” the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed. “Maybe,” replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. “Maybe,” answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

“Maybe,” said the farmer.

Toxic Masculinity

There was a movie a few years back called The Art of Self Defense. Despite the unassuming title, the film explores the pitfalls of encountering the wrong dojo to train at. The lead character is a milquetoast pushover who's afraid of his own shadow. After getting beaten and robbed he decides he's had enough and ends up taking karate lessons from a deranged sensei who encourages his new charge to be a violent psychopath. The student takes his misguided teachings into the real world with predictable results. I won't spoil things by revealing more, but not surprisingly, the story does not end well. Cultish behavior is nothing new in the martial arts, and with the advent of social media, young men are finding inspiration in the rather vile corners of the internet. 

My son asked me recently if I ever heard of a retired kickboxing/MMA competitor named Andrew Tate. I hadn't, so with a little digging I found that after Tate retired from competition he started to monetize online courses on how to get rich and "male-female interactions." His Hustler's University turned out to be a pyramid scheme targeting young men who were buying into his hype to become an alpha male. An alpha is the apex of male aggression and dominance hierarchy in the animal kingdom. Primatologist Robert Sapolsky has studied this in non-human primates and its relation to the highly stratified social structure of baboons*. In humans, being an alpha male is associated with narcissism, entitlement and even misogyny. In layman's terms, human alpha males are highly predisposed to just being assholes.

Tate's net worth supposedly puts him in the neighborhood of 50 million USD, but has since been kicked off numerous social media platforms (where he earns most of his money) for inciting violence and dehumanizing speech, particularly aimed at women. As of this writing, Tate sits in a jail cell in Romania awaiting a judge's decision regarding Tate's (and three others') involvement in a human trafficking scheme using women to create pornography for profit, among other charges including rape. I don't know if Tate's years as a world champion martial arts competitor led to his self-indulgent dysfunctional worldview of male dominance. Maybe he got messed up as a kid. A long held psychology axiom states that events that occur during childhood can reveal themselves in unpredictable ways later in life. I doubt that an undertaking in a traditional martial art style during his formative years would've put him on the right path (budo), but who knows? Would an early-life intervention have made a difference in a guy like Tate?

Jason Wilson runs a youth program for troubled boys in Detroit called The Cave of Adullam Transformational Training Academy, a quasi-martial arts facility that "is not a martial arts school but a Transformational Training Academy." Wilson, the chief instructor who cites a background in jiu-jitsu, judo, and kempo (but doesn't hold rank in any of these styles), teaches young men in a traditional dojo-setting the values needed to become an upright man and a decent citizen. Wilson muses how some martial artists can attain a black belt in their chosen style, but remain a white belt in the game of life.

"When I first started the CATTA, there were many “Scared Straight” programs in Michigan, and I had even participated in a couple", says Wilson. "However, I quickly discovered that inflicting trauma will never help a boy release it but instead teach him to suppress it. Nowadays, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a Scared Straight or Bootcamp program because discipline without love is ineffectual."

Maybe that's the antidote to toxic masculinity in young men: The understanding that the best and even worst of us have an innate need to love and to be loved. And the sooner the better. As The Beatles famously sang, "Love is all you need."

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

*Robert M. Saplolsky 2017. Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst. Penguin Press.

A Pillar Of The Community

Here's a nice story for this time of the year. Meet Jeffrey Wall, a 16-year-old black belt practitioner in the art of Tang soo do who teaches senior citizens in his spare time. I saw this featured on on a cable news show tonight, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share this heartwarming and inspiring tale here. Enjoy!

Trump Gets His Black Belt

Yesterday at Mar-a-Lago, the former US president Donald Trump received an honorary 9th degree black belt in the Korean martial art of tae kwon do. It should be noted that Trump is not the only world political figure to be bestowed such an honor. In 2013, Russian president Vladimir Putin was awarded the same honor  during a visit to South Korea. 

Though neither man has actually ever practiced tae kwon do, Putin does hold a black belt in judo, an art he has been training in since he was 11. 

As an Okinawan karate practitioner, my articles on tae kwon do have been comparatively limited. So here is a good opportunity to list the philosophical tenets of the martial art:

 

• Courtesy: Politeness and respect for others, behaving in a well-mannered and civil fashion.
• Integrity: Showing good character, honesty, and decency.
• Perseverance: The willingness to continue to struggle against all odds to reach a goal.
• Self-Control: Keeping one's emotions, desires, and impulses in check, particularly in difficult or trying circumstances.
• Indomitable Spirit:  An attribute shown when a courageous person and his principles are pitted against overwhelming odds. Unconquerable.

 

Like other arts, tae kwon do endeavors to make not just good fighters, but good people who possess inner strength and moral rectitude. These are attributes anyone should aspire to. 

While one could only hope an 'honorary' black belt can produce such a result on its own, I respectfully have my doubts.

Spinal Health, Meditation, and Aging Gracefully

Recently an attorney admonished a high profile political figure for not having the "courage and spine" to commit to what could be construed as a treasonous act. This is relevant, as being upright is considered moralistic, a hallmark of martial arts philosophy. Notwithstanding the clever use of metaphors, having a strong spine is essential for overall physical health. I found this out at my job about two months ago when I attempted to lift a modestly heavy container onto a hand truck causing excruciating pain in my back. An MRI has revealed two herniated discs causing nerve impingements that make work (for now) impossible. In the meantime, a pair of steroid epidurals has eased some of my pain, hopefully with lasting results.

In a previous post I've talked about my earlier diagnosis with scoliosis (spine curvature) in a positive way; how the spinal rotation in my back may have actually aided my efforts to perform spin-kicks. When I tell other practitioners this, I'm usually met with incredulity. They think I'm nuts. I'm just trying to look on the bright side. It's a coping mechanism. But as I enter my 62nd year on this realm, making lemonade out of lemons is becoming trickier. I have scoliosis, herniated discs, and an arthritic spine, something I don't relish as I approach my retirement years. Forrest Morgan, author of Living the Martial Way, divulged in an interview that degenerative arthritis is the reason for his cessation in martial arts training, though he still enjoys low-impact cardio and weight training for fitness. I'm currently doing neither.

When I told a fellow karate-ka about my blown out discs, he said to me, in all sincerity, it likely occurred because when I meditate I may be concentrating too hard on my hara. The hara (or dantian), considered the seat of power (ki) in Japanese martial arts and the site of the third chakra in Indian mysticism, roughly corresponds to the physical location of the lumbar spine injury that is wreaking havoc on my ability to go to work or basically do anything else.

Who knows, maybe I am meditating the wrong way. Is that even possible? When Western medicine first encountered meditation in the early twentieth century it was posited that seizures, psychosis, and even death could occur to the overly eager neophyte navel-gazer. I have no plans to give up my regimen of meditation, however, my future is uncertain. One euphemism for karate is "self-defense"; I need to take care of myself. We all do. I have bills to pay, but I need to tend to my health, and I find myself at a crossroads. I'm not even sure what that means for me. Time will tell. I'll have to pick some destination, no matter how uncertain it may be right now. As Yogi Berra once offered, "When you get to the fork in the road, take it."

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.

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Unpopular Opinions

• Karate and other martial arts often have little street value. Want to really defend yourself? Get a gun and learn how to shoot.
• Running away from a fight isn't always cowardly. Sometimes it's just smart.
• Learning pre-arranged forms or kata will not make you a better fighter.
• Training with traditional weapons such as sai, or nunchaku have no practical utility. Like weapons? Learn a live stick fighting art, like Escrima.
• Punching a makiwara (striking post), or shin striking hard objects to toughen your limbs is self-mutilation.
• There are no "good" styles, only good teachers. And truth be told, there really are some bad styles.
• A high ranking instructor once told me that the more skill you have as a fighter the less you'll want to fight. My observations of some highly skilled karateka through the years leaves me to conclude: if only that were true.
• Masters and so-called luminaries in the martial arts are not life coaches. In matters unrelated to training, do not ask them for advice. Ever. They are not equipped to help you deal with your personal problems.
• Colored belts do more harm than good in developing competent practitioners.
• Realizing all the aforementioned items doesn't make you a pessimist. It makes you a realist. Enlightenment is not cosmic consciousness, but the rare ability to see things as they really are.

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.

Fake Martial-Arts Documentary

Here's a project that should see the light of day: A full-length feature film exposing fraudulent "martial artists" that con those easily deceived. We're told that some of the frauds themselves will be confronted, so get your popcorn ready. Exposing and confronting fake martial artists is great fun that I've showcased here and here.

Sometimes though it's not fun or funny at all, as one of the creators of this project has received death threats from exposing these people online, whether it's from their cult-like followers, or from the fake masters themselves. As an American diplomat said today, "you can't promote principled anti-corruption action without pissing off corrupt people."

The indie producers are trying to pitch the idea of this documentary to Netflix. Since the executives at Netflix are all big fans of my site, maybe they'll like this. Let's make this happen.

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?

Won't Get Fooled Again

I like a good laugh just like the next person, and for the last few years I've been running a gag blog post every April Fools' Day. In a weird twist of fate (and a bit to my chagrin) a few of my most popular posts are the ones tagged 'humor' and I don't think people are looking for laughs. My blog is subtitled Martial Arts, Philosophy and The Art of Living but most people aren't putting that into their search engines. Viewers want to know how to register their hands as deadly weapons, where they can learn Iron Crotch Kung Fu, and have info on some guy from Italy who holds black belts in 22 styles. You get the idea. Not really humor, but extreme and even bizarre stuff is what often piques people's interest in the martial arts. 'Body hardening workouts' and 'How to karate chop bricks' as search phrases find their way to my blog more often than inquiries into the loftier aims of martial arts, such as character, spirit, or even self-defense.

This site actually started life as part of a monthly newsletter for students at a karate school I used to train and teach at nearly twenty years ago. When the school closed I found another, but my days of writing a column were gone, so my wife suggested starting a blog to export my articles to. At the time I had a couple of dozen, and I wanted to keep future material philosophical in nature; writing posts on the traditions and history of combat systems, including references to authors that were experts in Japanese Martial Arts, such as Donn Draeger and Black Belt magazine contributor Dave Lowry.  After about a year of blogging, I acquired a modest online following.

To expand my newfound readership and to keep things interesting I began to lighten things up with the Top Ten Most Annoying Things in the Martial Arts and The Way of Spock. Later I uploaded videos from Enter The Dojo, a comedic web series starring Master Ken, a delusional instructor who hawks his self-proclaimed street lethal fighting system. In time I began to revise my humor into reservations I had for arts like The Drunken Style and dubious claims such as the ability to knock people out without touching them.

Several years ago I found and posted a video that featured someone performing so-called ki enhanced throws and takedowns on his students that looked suspicious, to put it mildly. The demonstrator came from a martial art I was familiar with. I had previously attended a one-day workshop in this style given by an active member of the NYPD that showcased brutally effective techniques, minus any of the woo nonsense in the video, and I mentioned that in my article. My point was that the video I put up was a grossly inaccurate and unfair representation of an otherwise legit style that was being peddled by a conman. Soon, my article in its entirety ended up on a very popular martial arts forum (with a link back to my blog) where many of the commenters were actually sympathetic to the "master" in the clip. Some of them claimed to have trained under him.

The comment section on this forum became a train wreck of believers versus realists. Rage ensued on both sides. The critical thinkers there had my back, but soon I began to receive threatening emails from wack jobs, including the chief instructor of a school. Somebody else derided my style (as if that mattered), and another promised God would retaliate for my flagrant disrespect. No, I argued, you cannot drop five people simultaneously with the flick of the wrist. Apparently I was the bad guy for pointing this out. It amazes me how certain "martial artists" don't like to have their fantasy bubbles burst.

The clip below features a similar demo with a different guy from the one I originally posted, now long removed by the owner. If you've never seen this before, brace yourself for a display in breathtaking stupidity:


Bear in mind that this is intended to be taken at face value. It's ridiculous, of course, so most of us can't help but laugh at this. Humor can be a way to cope with inanity, but in the form of satire (e.g., Master Ken) can be an antidote for credulity. I see it as providing a public service. So today if you can, goof on someone to enlighten them —  but do so with the best intentions. Happy April Fools' Day!