And here’s an excerpt from an Iain Abernathy interview by Geoff Thompson. Interesting about katas, grappling, and real fighting.
Geoff Thompson: From my own experience of kata/bunkai practice, classes learn a given applications, do it a couple of times, and then move on to something else. Do you think that there is room in the contemporary dojo to incorporate grappling - as taught in kata - into the curriculum proper?
IA: There simply has to be. Without the inclusion of the close range aspects, on a consistent basis, the art is essentially incomplete. Grappling is part of karate and it is my view that it must be included in regular practice. The striking should always be the priority however. It has been said that the essence of karate is found in ending the fight with a single blow. Close range fighting includes both striking and grappling and it is important to use the right method at the right time. When an opponent makes their initial grip, it is not our aim to become involved in a long drawn out wrestling match. The more time we spend entangled with an opponent, the more time their unentangled colleagues will have to repeatedly strike us. Grappling an opponent into submission can take time, whereas a well placed strike can end a fight in a split second. A great many of the kata’s grappling techniques free limbs and position opponents so decisive strikes can take place. The danger is that we place so much emphasis on the striking that we totally omit the grappling. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link and hence grappling should be a part of regular practice.
Geoff Thompson: This would mean that when karataka spar, any range would be allowed and many of the fights would end up in grappling and then on the ground. Is the karate world ready for this?
IA: Some are and some aren’t. It is my understanding that a significant number of Okinawan & Japanese dojos train in this way, so one would not think it should be a problem. But I guess it must be because so few are practising in this way already. This omission is probably down to individuals failing to understand the need for skills at all ranges. Whether the karate world is ready or not, the omission of close range techniques will leave the student woefully unprepared for a live confrontation. If the karateka understands the nature of live fights and has sufficiently practised and understood their katas, I feel they would embrace all-range sparring as a means to further develop their skills.
Geoff Thompson: At this level true karate - certainly in the sparring or in a real fight - would not look unlike the fights on the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship).
IA: In terms of the fighting being at every range, then yes, it would be similar. In other respects it would be radically different. Karate was designed specifically for use in a civilian environment against untrained attackers. It was never intended for use on a battlefield or in a sporting arena against a trained fighter. The methods in karate were designed by monks, sailors, scholars and other civilians. The type of attacks such people were likely to encounter would be the attacks of the violent and untrained, e.g. wild swings, tackles, head butts etc. as opposed to the skilled combinations of a trained fighter.
As a result, the katas do not contain the counters to counters to counters that a samurai on a battlefield, or the modern combat sports practitioner, would need. The counters that do exist in the katas are typically responses to an opponent stopping the karateka from gouging the eyes, seizing the throat or crushing the testicles, typically by grabbing the wrist before the technique can be completed. The katas also contain strikes to weak points, stamps, small joint manipulation etc. The UFC does not allow such techniques and the katas do not provide methods for countering a skilled fighter in a rule bound environment.
Obviously, the more brutal methods are omitted from sparring but they can be indicated. If I firmly take hold of the inside leg of my partners Gi, I could just have easily seized the testicles. This would be acknowledged and the bout stopped. Another major difference is the amount of time spent on the ground. In some UFC bouts, fighters have remained on the floor for over half an hour. To do so in reality would effectively amount to suicide. In our ground fighting practice, if one participant should regain their feet whilst the other is prone, the vertical fighter is declared the winner. So in both real fights and sparring, karate would look different from the UFC in some ways but would be similar in others.
