Attack The Elbow

In order to understand kata and apply the principles contained therein, one ought to be able to identify what exactly is being depicted in the kata. Simple, provided you accept that everything in kata is about fighting an opponent within arm's length, and in this instance that an adversary's straight arm is an invitation to break it. The cup and saucer pose found throughout kata is a popular and recurring "image" of this principle.

Traditionally, the cup and saucer pose is referred to as a chambering, ostensibly for a backfist and sidekick.  Domingo, my partner in the video below, assures me that if I were to break his nose with a backfist, it might end the fight.  Domingo is too kind.  I spar knockdown karate with Domingo regularly. He's got more muscle and bone mass, and heaps more motivation. A backfist, I'm afraid, would only stoke the hellfire sure to follow such a foolish move.

In the video, I demonstrate an elbow attack from a clinch, such as I might find myself in if Domingo lands a glancing blow and I grab and hold, and a situation where Domingo is raining down punches and I cover-up. Of course, a lapel grab might also be a situation where an elbow attack might be warranted. The art is not memorizing an application for every scenario, but being able to apply the principle to any scenario. 

Note too that a full understanding of the straight arm attack principle is recognizing that anything can act as the fulcrum over which the elbow is destroyed. Future installments are planned to demonstrate this principle. Stay tuned and make yours, a better karate.

A Better Juji Uke with Pencak Silat

A seasoned karateka like you might dismiss the juji uke (or cross block) as one of those traditional karate artifacts you can't figure out: why go through the trouble of crossing your arms to block an attack when dodging or stepping away will do? You might even question committing both arms to a defense against what very likely would be a feint before the actual strike.  If you are among the minority of seasoned skeptics, take heart, this video clip is for you.

The ju in juji-uke refers to the number 10, which is rendered as 十 in Japanese. You can see where this is going. The crossed arms in the "block" are represented rather conveniently by 十.  Much confusion arises over how the block is applied. Tradition would have you cross the arms simultaneously as is done in kihon and kata. That tradition, I argue, would have you struck square in the face. A worthy opponent would fake and get you to commit everything, like the Maginot Line, to a defense that is easily circumvented.

Consider what the video clip above offers, a clever defense against a jab-cross combination, that utilizes position, control, and leverage to defeat the attacker. You are not merely waiting for the blows to rain down on you as you cover: you are setting up your opponent to walk into an ambush.  If you are wondering where the crossed arms come in, the defender does cross arms, though not simultaneously. In the basic application, it's the attacker's arms that get crossed. That's art. That's a better juji -uke.

Thought Experiment: the history

Last time, I suggested we try a thought experiment: assume something is wrong with our fundamental understanding of kata. How would we know and how would we fix it? If you remember the joke, in which a misunderstanding of basic principles becomes unquestioned "truth," the misunderstanding is resolved by going back to the source.

So let's go back to old Okinawa.  From the 11th century until 1477, when the king of Okinawa, Sho Shin, banned the private ownership of weapons, Okinawa enjoyed a burgeoning martial arts culture due to a political alliance with China (1377) and a rich trade with the neighboring peoples of South East Asia and of course Japan.  The banning of the private ownership of weapons in 1477, and a second ban on weapons ownership in 1609, when Japan took possession of Okinawa, forced the development of karate along a peculiar path.  These events created a motivation for unarmed fighting.  They created a reason for maintaining secrecy.

Billy Blanks, creator of Tae Bo, wasn't the first to market a wildly popular, albeit watered down, fighting system as exercise.  In 1901, Anko Itosu introduces such an exercise program to the Okinawan school system as part of its physical education curriculum.  In order to make the practice suitable for children many of the martial applications were deleted or obscured.  A few decades later, in 1931, Gichin Funakoshi, a student of Itosu,  introduces "karate" to the Japanese school system.  Again, like the prior introduction of martial arts to public education in Okinawa, there is a winnowing out of martial technique.  In addition, there was a deliberate obscuration of Chinese and other influences in karate, and a move towards sport.  If there were a great book of karate/kata, it should be clear by this brief history that many chapters were redacted.  So, when critics of bunkai say that there are no hidden technique in kata, they are partially correct.  It is no wonder that many karateka who have devoted years of practice and study know little of it.  How could they?

Returning to the joke that inspired this thought experiment, we are the monks who upon opening the sacred texts in the vault, find them to be neither original nor complete.  What to do?  Can we remain content with reduced content?  If your answer is in the affirmative to this last question, read no further.  You'll probably get upset.

towards a better karate

I am writing for a small audience of karate practitioners who believe their karate could be improved. If you see the rise of Mixed Martial Arts and begin to doubt your karate training, this blog is for you. If you have heard of hidden applications in kata, this blog is for you. If you are a practitioner of other martial arts like Judo, Aikido, or Tai Chi, and still hanker for more, this blog is for you. If you think kata sucks, this blog is for you. I fit the above profile and these are my thoughts on making a better karate.

The three K's
Traditional Karate may be said to be incomplete without it's three main components:kumite (sparring); kihon (basics); kata (forms). Kata is the DNA of karate. Like genes, kata give evidence of karate's origins, and also its potential. A better understanding of kata will help us determine where our karate may have gone wrong and how we might fix it. Naturally, any change in our understanding of kata will dramatically change our practice of kihon and kumite.

In the posts to follow I will explain how I interpret kata and make it integral to my karate training. For now, I will leave you with the thought that drives my obsession: Kata reveal that Karate is the original Mixed Martial Art.