The Importance of Kata

Bigger Stronger Leaner
21

Kata is a great way to do some training when alone. I wonder how old some of you guys are. I am 56 and am envious of you young guys who have the ability to make rapid gains in training. After a certain age kata became very important to me, probably around age 45 or so. I see it as a way to stay agile and mobile and hopefully thus able to still defend my self, stay fit, and maintain balance as I age. Bunkai is the way to test kata. A noncooperative opponent is essential to keep self defense skills.

Trust me, you all will get old. Kata may be something that you don’t appreciate in your 20’s and 30’s. It may be more relevent later in life for you. Kata is a lifetime study, no mystical way to defend yourself, but don’t underestimate its’ importance to you over the long haul.

22

I personally believe kata has credibility in training for KUMITE. As a karate instructor I find it effective in developing good transitions in stance movement and grounding, as well as the setting and use of the hips in striking. I dont think it has a direct effect on sparring ability but providing you focus on the finer details of what your doing and approach it with the right attitude, certain aspects of your own fighting style WILL be tested and improved.

23

[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:
If a beginner would ask me straight: “should I do Kata?”
I would have to tell him not to.

There are a lot of reasons and arguments both pro and contra, but the two that weigh most heavily are:

  1. Most Katas are bs and most [TMA] teachers are full of it, too. So don’t.

  2. There is usually only one, axact way to do a Kata, the sooner you realize that this is a copout, the better.
    With shadowboxing, you learn to establish your rythm and your own style.
    Most Kata are just a way of behaving like a programmed robot for half a minute or two.

Each of these arguments would completely suffice on it’s own.
That doesn’t mean Katas are generally useless.[/quote]

Something is only useless or a waste of time if you cannot benefit from it. What can have a huge impact on how much you benefit from kata, is what you are taught, how well you are taught, combined with how intelligent and creative you are in making it your own.

The system you are learning can have a huge affect on what you are learning. Back at the turn of the last century when master Itosu was adapting karate so he could teach it to kids in the Okinawan school system as a part of gym class, he developed a new type of kata that was simplified so they could teach it to kids. Those kata were called Pinan and there are five of them. So a lot of Okinawan karate systems start new students with Pinan. When Itosu’s student Gichin Funakoshi introduced karate to Japan he taught Pinan as part of the Shotokan system. Later when some of Funahoshi’s Korean students developed a Korean karate system out of shotokan they made Pinan part of Tae Kwon Do only they call them Heian.

If you are in a system that starts new students on Pinans you have my pity. Because they are fairly simple and mindless. So I can understand why people who have studied karate get the idea that kata are useless. Because a lot of systems start students out on Pinan and them move on to other simplified kata as they move up through the ranks. So it takes a time to get to anything good in a lot of systems.

On the other hand the Okinawan system I study Isshinryu does not use simplified kata like Pinans. Isshinryu was originally intended to be an advanced system that was taught to black belts and was meant to take them to another level with their karate. That is why all 8 of the Isshinru kata taught from white belt to black belt are black belt level kata. So I have a different perspective because all the kata I learned have a variety of techniques in them.

So something to bear in mind in this discussion of kata is that even amongst people who have years of training there can be an extreme difference in levels of knowledge because not all systems are equal.

Which brings me to my next point. Within systems you can find a great degree of variance in the knowledge and skill levels of teachers. I got really lucky with my teachers, because they have a really good knowledge of the system and ability to teach. That is why watching youtube videos of Isshinryu katas for the most part is depressing. There are some awful kata videos out there performed by black belts who outrank me who are making mistakes I knew not to make when I was a yellow belt.

Another big factor in causing people to have a negative opinion of kata is ego. Which brings me to my two last points. Some people are just not particularly bright or creative so they are not able to come up with anything on their own from kata. Rather than admit to their own shortcomings which would hurt their pride they use the rationalization that kata is useless to explain their failing and giving up.

24

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

[quote]Sifu wrote:

[quote]farmermaggot wrote:

[quote]admbaum wrote:
Kata’s, I think, are like shadow boxing. Its all about developing muscle memory. Most people think they can throw a jab, but when the actually do it they are completely off and will probably never actually land one. Shadow boxing helps develop your muscle memory similar to kata’s. I trained a little karate at a McDojo many years ago and didnt gain much from it. [/quote]

Allow me to be more specific. In a Kempo kata, you step, you stop, then punch. You step again, slight pause, then punch. There seems to be a disconnect between what the lower body does and what the arms are doing. Blocking and striking are done with the arms, while the body is stable, but stationary. From what I’ve been able to see online, this is fairly typical with karate. This seems to lack the total body dynamic that boxing and MT have. And it only makes me doubt this system more when I see its practitioners never use it during sparring.

Since I’m basically an inexperienced maggot in the martial arts world I’m hoping to see a discussion from those of you who aren’t maggots. Are traditional striking arts that use kata just kickboxing in disguise with a lot of posturing added on to make it look exotic? [/quote]

Forms should have a flow to them. They should not have a start, stop, start, stop, mechanical quality to them. From what I have seen of Kempo in particular they really like to flow their techniques rapid fire.

There actually needs to be a precise timing to your stepping and striking so that your movement from stance to stance is part of your power generation. So your lower and upper body should have a co-ordination to them, though it may not be one that you are familiar with.

Striking in martial arts is different from boxing because in martial arts there are other factors you have to take into consideration that boxers don’t have to think about. For example, boxers can put a full body commitment into a punch that can put them in an imbalanced position because they don’t have to worry about their opponent grappling them and using their imbalance to get them down for some ground and pound. Another thing is punches aren’t your only or deadliest technique.
[/quote]

I would disagree that boxers are ever taught to commit to punches to the point of putting themselves in unbalanced positions. Balance and proper body positioning are actually heavily emphasized in boxing. But I would agree that the striking does differ.

In boxing people are generally taught the mindset of conserving energy and feeling out their opponent. For them this makes perfect sense, since boxing matches are several rounds long and the boxer knows that they need to save enough in the tank to be able to potentially last all of the rounds.

This is in stark contrast to real fighting, which are usually usually made up of a burst/flurry of energy and tend to end rather quickly.

This is true, although different boxing coaches teach slightly more or less squared body positioning. The leg kick thing is definitely not taken into consideration though.

Absolutely.

The only thing is that you can’t really learn effective grappling skills (chin na or otherwise) from a kata. You’ve got to train them on another person and actually feel the slight adjustments that must be made to get them right. I’d prefer things like flow drills or even just pure technical practice on a partner over katas for such skills. I guess that once you already had the skills you could practice stuff in the air, but I don’t think it’s really all that great a method.

Also, one of my training partners has trained with Yang Jwing-Ming in Chin Na and liked what he taught. This individual is also a black belt under Wally Jay in Small Circle Jujitsu and has some nasty locking skills.
[/quote]

Whether or not one is unbalanced is a matter of perspective. From the perspective of a boxer or a boxing coach they are perfectly well balanced so long as a miss doesn’t cause them to go lurching forward or fall through the ropes and out of the ring. As I wrote before a martial artist faces factors that a boxer does not have to take into consideration and make allowances for.

A boxer is free to throw punches in a manner that takes them right up to the limit of their stability for two primary reasons. The best way for an opponent to take them beyond the limit of their stability is grabbing and pulling. Grabbing and pulling is against the rules of boxing. Another reason is in boxing there is no advantage to be gained from throwing an opponent down nor does falling down put a boxer in a disadvantaged position because striking a downed opponent is against the rules of boxing.

In martial arts maintaining stability is a much higher priority because getting taken down puts you in a really bad position. Also your follow up technique is not necessarily going to be another punch. Nor is a punch the only way that a martial artist can take an opponent out.

My purpose in mentioning Chin na, was in no way a suggestion that forms are the best way to practice it. I was trying to point out that there are subtle movements in kata that someone who does not know what they are seeing may not notice or they may think of it as some flowery move that is just meant to look pretty and doesn’t do anything.

Dr. Yang is quite a good teacher. Not only does he teach Chin na and Tai chi, he also teaches White Crane Kung Fu. White Crane Kung Fu is the basis of Okinawan Karate. So if a karate stylist wants to further their knowledge of karate White Crane is an excellent style to study.

Another teacher my teachers studied with who taught a lot of really good joint locking and other techniques was Arnis Grandmaster Remy Presas. These next videos will show some of the levels that you can take Chin Na to beyond simple empty hand and also give some idea of where you can go with Arnis. Something to notice in these videos and the previous Jwing Ming videos is how they use stances and movement between stances to enhance their techniques or even make them work. Stance work is a very important yet under appreciated aspect of kata that you aren’t going to get just bouncing around on your ties shadow boxing or practicing footwork.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVWMq-sYTnc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er99t7SvuUg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVhZBDgcUxQ

25

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

[quote]farmermaggot wrote:
Good points. Your second paragraph reminds me of some of what Marc Macyoung wrote regarding proper body movement. Maybe the real purpose (or best use) of kata is not to mimick fighting but to provide an opportunity to practice proper movement in terms of weight transfer and coordinating momentum. Maybe when you practice something prearranged you take your decision making process out of it and just work on efficiency, rhythm and proper coordination of power. Provided you were taught what to feel for by your teacher.

I’m not sure if Macyoung would apply his logic to kata but it makes the lifetime of repetition understandable if you are working on suble aspects of your movement.
[/quote]

The real benefit of kata is the repetition of techniques with the goal/objective of performing the movements as perfectly as possible. This makes sense, as in order to reach a very high level of proficiency with any skill it must be practiced over and over with perfect execution as the goal each and every time.

That doesn’t mean that one has to practice katas in order to practice skills over and over perfectly though. You could just practice hitting the pads/mitts or bags with the goal of perfect execution each time and get the same benefits and then some (since actually hitting stuff teaches you how to do things like transfer your weight, be in the correct body positioning, follow through, recovery, etc… better than just doing skills in the air). [/quote]

There are other benefits to kata. One thing that I have gained from kata is practicing mine kept me doing I didn’t like or couldn’t make work way back when I was 26 years old. But 21 years later some of the things I didn’t like or couldn’t make work I’m good at now and I actually like them. Or studying another system I learned a different interpretation for a move that made more sense than the one I was taught. Having a kata movement that I could mentally tie that interpretation to also made is easier to remember it.

Hitting bags or mitts isn’t always practical because they always require something more than yourself. You have to have a bag and/or somewhere to hang it. Mitts require someone to hold them. For kata you just need yourself. While hitting something can be a very good way of developing our striking, it does not preclude us from making gains by practicing technique without actually hitting something.

The problem is you are taking a narrow minded view of hitting something is better than not hitting something so you can just eliminate it. In reality both modalities of training can give you something. When you are hitting a bag or a mitt it is very easy for that target to become your point of focus. But if you take the target away all you have left to focus on is yourself. I’ve made gains from using both methods so I know it works.

26

Learning traditional karate means learning kata. As I stated before, doing kata does not show you should fight but rather how you can fight. Learning a kata and its meanings take time and effort. This means learning karate is not for everyone. There is nothing wrong with this. There are other arts that can teach you combat much faster. There are many students who practice karate who do not put much interest in kata. There is nothing wrong with that either, but those students who also realize that they are not truly practicing traditional karate. What is traditional karate? [Glad you asked] It is the method of learning a method of combat by learning a set of patterned movements through repetiton. Once these movements are learned, they should be analized by the user to create techniques for combat. [bunkai] Karate is a striking art. It is very simple in its movements. It should look like the barenuckle boxing of old. Its grappling techniques, should be very simple. Sweeps, trips, basic armlocks and chokes should be used. Its counters to any attack should be simple: strike, off balance opponent and contine striking until you can escape or until you beat your opponent to the groung. The use of weapons should be employed, especialy the knife. Please do not tell me the masters of old did not carry any. Even if there was a weapons ban, anything could have been made into a sharp object. Any good expert in self defence will know the importance of being armed. Weaponless warriors they were not. If you want to learn kata as it was supposed to be learned and are willing to put the time to learn it, you will not be disappionted.

27

Interesting stuff in here.

Sifu, I’m going to go out on a limb here and make a request of you. For educational purposes, could you post a video of you performing your best Isshinryu kata? You mentioned that the ones on Youtube are depressing. You could change that. Maybe my reluctance with practicing kata comes from the fact that I’ve never seen it done correctly.

Anyone want to second this?

28

Farmermaggot, though I am not a student of Isshinryu, I agree with Sifu that most kata videos on Youtube are depressing. When you practice your kata, you should have in your mind a person who is trying to kill you. Image an 220lb. ex-con who wants to take your life away. He does not want beat you up, he wants you dead. Now that you have a person like that in your mind, perform your kata.

Full speed, full power, with all you got because you are not getting a second chance if you mess up. Life or death. The founder of Shotokan karate said you should be deadly serious in your training. Your opponent should always be in your head. Next, learn bunkai that you would use against such a person. You are not going to try to put him in a lock, or throw him. You are going to put him down fast and hard.

Open and closed handed strikes, knees, elbows, and head butts are the way to go. [learn kino mutai, filipino biting, could make a difference in such a conflict] Grappling should only be used if you fall to the ground and need to get up. [every boxer and karate student should know how to escape the mount.] Add weapon traing, heavy bag hitting and heavy weightlifting, and you have a traing program the founding fathers of karate would be proud of.

If I could recommend one book for you to read about kata check out “The Way Of Kata” by Lawrence Kane. The guy kknows his stuff and is one of the few good books about kata bunkai out there today. Its not a picture book with a guy doing unrealistic bunkai, but rather it shows how find good bunkai within kata.

29

[quote]farmermaggot wrote:
Interesting stuff in here.

Sifu, I’m going to go out on a limb here and make a request of you. For educational purposes, could you post a video of you performing your best Isshinryu kata? You mentioned that the ones on Youtube are depressing. You could change that. Maybe my reluctance with practicing kata comes from the fact that I’ve never seen it done correctly.

Anyone want to second this? [/quote]

No I do not.

Your initial instinct was entirely correct.

Kata is not, as some people are misrepresenting it, some form of shadow boxing or muscle memory device which enables individuals to practise and perfect moves which they can perform in combat.

Kata requires the execution of a sequence of moves and postures which bear little relation to any fighting reality and simply cannot be replicated in real life against resisting opponensts. You said so yourself before you began to lose your grip.

Just think how in every area of life where pressured performance is necessary-from combat missions in the military to flying a plane to giving a speech in public- the task is to make the training and practice as close as possible to the reality. Reversing this process and suggesting that you should train in a way different from how fighting occurs is lunacy.

Surely we all saw this years ago as karate players engaging in full contact degenerated rapidly into bad kickboxers.

If you feel that holding out one fist in the air and another by your hip while imagining you are blocking and downing an opponent will enable you to do so for real then by all means go ahead and do it.

You know what though? In all activities which are pressure tested against non compliant opposition I would take real preparation over a vivid imagination.

30

[quote]peterm533 wrote:

[quote]farmermaggot wrote:
Interesting stuff in here.

Sifu, I’m going to go out on a limb here and make a request of you. For educational purposes, could you post a video of you performing your best Isshinryu kata? You mentioned that the ones on Youtube are depressing. You could change that. Maybe my reluctance with practicing kata comes from the fact that I’ve never seen it done correctly.

Anyone want to second this? [/quote]

No I do not.

Your initial instinct was entirely correct.

Kata is not, as some people are misrepresenting it, some form of shadow boxing or muscle memory device which enables individuals to practise and perfect moves which they can perform in combat.

Kata requires the execution of a sequence of moves and postures which bear little relation to any fighting reality and simply cannot be replicated in real life against resisting opponensts. You said so yourself before you began to lose your grip.

Just think how in every area of life where pressured performance is necessary-from combat missions in the military to flying a plane to giving a speech in public- the task is to make the training and practice as close as possible to the reality. Reversing this process and suggesting that you should train in a way different from how fighting occurs is lunacy.

Surely we all saw this years ago as karate players engaging in full contact degenerated rapidly into bad kickboxers.

If you feel that holding out one fist in the air and another by your hip while imagining you are blocking and downing an opponent will enable you to do so for real then by all means go ahead and do it.

You know what though? In all activities which are pressure tested against non compliant opposition I would take real preparation over a vivid imagination.

[/quote]

This is the argument against all TMA’s in general. It is made only by the dimwitted who cannot fathom that there is a difference between sport sparring and actual combat, and cannot believe that the types of encounters TMAs were developed for do not, in anyway, mirror a sporting event.

Your whole post is garbage.

31

Hey peterm533, then what is kata? Have you read my two previous posts? Kata is not how you should fight but rather how could you fight. It is like learning to cook from a book. Learn by dooing the meal by coping directly off the book. In time, you begin to add or remove ingredients until you make it your own. Kata is a teaching tool. Once you learn the movements, you break them down into combinations against a live opponent. Whats wrong with performing a kata 100 times until you learn it?

Whats wrong with breaking a kata down into combinations and performing it 100 times? Whats wrong with practing those combos with an opponent 100 times in order to know how it feels against someone who hits back? Those karate players you mentioned were thought wrong because their teachers did not know what they were doing. That movement you mentioned with the one fist in the air and the other by the hip could be a jab with an open or closed fist.

The hand by the hip could be a hook to the body. That arm by the hip could also be grabbing an opponent into a knee or a headbutt. Its up the person doing the kata to decide what they want it to be. Do you have any karate training yourself. If you did apparently your teachers did not teach you well or you were not paying attention.

32

Nice reply FightinIrish26

33

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:

[quote]peterm533 wrote:

[quote]farmermaggot wrote:
Interesting stuff in here.

Sifu, I’m going to go out on a limb here and make a request of you. For educational purposes, could you post a video of you performing your best Isshinryu kata? You mentioned that the ones on Youtube are depressing. You could change that. Maybe my reluctance with practicing kata comes from the fact that I’ve never seen it done correctly.

Anyone want to second this? [/quote]

No I do not.

Your initial instinct was entirely correct.

Kata is not, as some people are misrepresenting it, some form of shadow boxing or muscle memory device which enables individuals to practise and perfect moves which they can perform in combat.

Kata requires the execution of a sequence of moves and postures which bear little relation to any fighting reality and simply cannot be replicated in real life against resisting opponensts. You said so yourself before you began to lose your grip.

Just think how in every area of life where pressured performance is necessary-from combat missions in the military to flying a plane to giving a speech in public- the task is to make the training and practice as close as possible to the reality. Reversing this process and suggesting that you should train in a way different from how fighting occurs is lunacy.

Surely we all saw this years ago as karate players engaging in full contact degenerated rapidly into bad kickboxers.

If you feel that holding out one fist in the air and another by your hip while imagining you are blocking and downing an opponent will enable you to do so for real then by all means go ahead and do it.

You know what though? In all activities which are pressure tested against non compliant opposition I would take real preparation over a vivid imagination.

[/quote]

This is the argument against all TMA’s in general. It is made only by the dimwitted who cannot fathom that there is a difference between sport sparring and actual combat, and cannot believe that the types of encounters TMAs were developed for do not, in anyway, mirror a sporting event.

Your whole post is garbage.
[/quote]

The question put by the OP was the relation between KATA and fighting ability.

It is not whether the encounters TMAâ??s address mirror a sporting event.

My point is simply that you should train how you intend to perform. Practising moves in a manner which you do not use for real is nonsensical and believing that you can learn to apply those moves against a non compliant opponent by some trick of the imagination is
pure fantasy.

34

[quote]farmermaggot wrote:
Interesting stuff in here.

Sifu, I’m going to go out on a limb here and make a request of you. For educational purposes, could you post a video of you performing your best Isshinryu kata? You mentioned that the ones on Youtube are depressing. You could change that. Maybe my reluctance with practicing kata comes from the fact that I’ve never seen it done correctly.

Anyone want to second this? [/quote]

Since I don’t own a video camera, nor do I have a place or person to do the filming it isn’t going to happen anytime soon. Besides I like having a little bit of anonymity here. It is why I’m not a T-Nation myspace friend. I might do it one of these days but at the moment getting a heavyweight Gi so I can study BJJ is a higher priority than getting a ninja outfit.

But here are some examples of good kata. I’ll start with Master Angi Uezu who is Tatsuo Shimabuku son in law. Here he is performing Seisan which the first kata we teach to yellow belts.

One of the most important aspects of Seisan kata is Seisan stance. One of the ways you can tell if a person has good kata is by watching their stance as they move through the kata. If Master Uezu were to stop at any point in his kata and check his stance using the method in the video below you would see that he is in a proper stance.

35

[quote]booboo1126 wrote:
Hey peterm533, then what is kata? Have you read my two previous posts? Kata is not how you should fight but rather how could you fight. It is like learning to cook from a book. Learn by dooing the meal by coping directly off the book. In time, you begin to add or remove ingredients until you make it your own. Kata is a teaching tool. Once you learn the movements, you break them down into combinations against a live opponent. Whats wrong with performing a kata 100 times until you learn it?

Whats wrong with breaking a kata down into combinations and performing it 100 times? Whats wrong with practing those combos with an opponent 100 times in order to know how it feels against someone who hits back? Those karate players you mentioned were thought wrong because their teachers did not know what they were doing. That movement you mentioned with the one fist in the air and the other by the hip could be a jab with an open or closed fist.

The hand by the hip could be a hook to the body. That arm by the hip could also be grabbing an opponent into a knee or a headbutt. Its up the person doing the kata to decide what they want it to be. Do you have any karate training yourself. If you did apparently your teachers did not teach you well or you were not paying attention.
[/quote]

Yes I did and I am afraid that I agree with none of it.

The cooking analogy is completely flawed but there is of course nothing at all wrong in practising KATA 100 times or 1000 times if your goal is to perform KATA.

What does not make sense is to believe that practising one set of moves aginst an imaginary opponent will assist in performing a different set of moves agaisnt a real resisting opponent.

Asking me if I have any karate experience and then asserting that either I was not taught well or did not learn properly rather negates the purpose of asking the question in the first place.

36

Sifu- Awesome videos you posted there. Farmermaggot, I do not know if you have spoken to the instructor, but ask him if his teaching revoles around kata bunkai training or is it sport based. I would check out the book I suggested before you decide to join and make your decision from there. The problem we face with karate and kata in general is that for many, many years there have been too many people teaching things to others that they truly do not understand. If we as karateka want to see the art we have grown to love survive, we have to get back to our roots and remember that: karate was and is a fighting art. I believe they used weapons besides the kubudo type weapons you might in a typical school. The Filipino islands and the Malasian islands are close by, they used knives and I think the Okinawans did too. Our bunkai must be made simple and easy to remember in a stressful situation. [thats why its easier to remember a punch than a throw or lock] we must leave the sporting aspect aside and remember when those who made kata did not have winning a tournament or a trophy in mind, they wanted to survive a physical confrontation. Good luck to you and your decision. Have to go now and practice my kata :]

37

I like the responses of Sifu and Irish. I’d like comments on this uechi practitioner who I think, at least for me, is what I strive for as a uechi and TMA guy.

I commented earlier on kata keeping you able to defend your self in older age. Mr Shinjo in the above vids is 60.

This guy is 70:

The late Mr. Toyama at 77:

I know that some are going to criticize, but how else can one train for the long haul? After a certain age kata nad bunkai are, in my opinion, the way to train. TMA with a little cross training in jujitsu can keep you sharp for a lifetime.

38

[quote]Josann wrote:
I like the responses of Sifu and Irish. I’d like comments on this uechi practitioner who I think, at least for me, is what I strive for as a uechi and TMA guy.

I commented earlier on kata keeping you able to defend your self in older age. Mr Shinjo in the above vids is 60.

This guy is 70:

The late Mr. Toyama at 77:

I know that some are going to criticize, but how else can one train for the long haul? After a certain age kata nad bunkai are, in my opinion, the way to train. TMA with a little cross training in jujitsu can keep you sharp for a lifetime.

[/quote]

Personally I think it is impressive to see older practitioners who still have a high level of mobility and agility. Traditionally martial arts were seen as something that was supposed to be good for your health. It is unfortunate that there are those who do not consider maintaining ones health as they age to be as worthy of an accomplishment as smashing someones face into a bloody mess to get a trophy.

Those videos were interesting. The first one showed a lot of classical karate chop down the base. That Seisan video barely looked like the Isshinryu version which itself is almost identical to the Shorinryu version that it originated from. Which makes sense considering that Uechi Ryu is Southern Chinese Pangai Noon kung fu.

Here is Isshinryu master Tsuyoshi Uechi doing Seisan.

Compare that to Shobayashi Shorin Ryu Grandmaster Eizo Shimabuku version of Seisan. This is almost identical to the version that his older brother Tatsuo used for Isshinryu.

Here is a video of Master Shimabuku doing ippon kumite. The way my teachers would have us practice this wasn’t as formal or structured, our Kamae (ready stance) was a relaxed position which is more natural. This is a good way to train for self defense.

39

Quote from Sifu: Here is a video of Master Shimabuku doing ippon kumite. The way my teachers would have us practice this wasn’t as formal or structured, our Kamae (ready stance) was a relaxed position which is more natural. This is a good way to train for self defense.

Agree 100%. I like to do bunkai, especially the uechi seisan bunkai, from the hands down position to mimic what goeas down in a sudden encounter. this capitalizes and trains the body’s natural “flinch response” which consists of the hands coming up to protect the face. (Anybody familiar with reality based trainer Tony Blauer’s S.P.E.A.R. System?)Training with the hands partial up is also as some systems teach a ready stance of hands in front of the body when a situation may escalate and possible become physical. Cops are taught this and some systems use the closed gate position from a lot of katas as a way to reinforce this. Many have their own variation of how to spring into action from this kind of position.

Also like the comment from Sifu about aging and training. As amatter of fact the picture Sifu has as his avatar is Kanei Uechi, the founder of the style’s son in his mid 50’s. Pretty formidible and fit guy.

And don’t worry Irish. I don’t think anybody cares if you are really Irish or not. Enjoy your postings and contributions to intelligent discussion.

40

Nice videos, guys. I’m going to have to chew on this a while. I’m imagining how a boxer and a karate guy would each handle a knife attack, and whose abilities I’d rather have in that situation. Maybe toe to toe, the boxer would have more finesse than the karate guy but the karate guy would have more tools in his toolbox and would maintain his ability over the course of his life. Since I’m 37 I have to start thinking about that shit. I don’t heal as fast as I used to.