Iain Abernethy Articles

8/3/2019 Iain Abernethy Articles

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Iain Abernethy (5. Dan Shotokan Karate):

Articles-Kata-Basic Bunkai-How to spar for

the street, etc.

About Iain

Aug 5th, 2009 by iain

Iain Abernethy has been involved in the martial arts since childhood. Iain holds the rankof 5th Dan with both the British Combat Association (one of the world’s leading groupsfor close-quarter combat, self-protection and practical martial arts) and Karate England(the official governing body for Karate in England).

Iain regularly writes for the UK’s leading martial arts magazines and he is a member of

the “Combat Hall of Fame”. One of the leading exponents of applied karate, Iain haswritten a number of critically acclaimed books on the practical application of traditionalmartial arts and is well known for his work on the pragmatic use of the techniques andconcepts recorded in the traditional kata.

Iain is in great demand on the seminar circuit and teaches many seminars on hisapproach to practical karate both here in the UK and overseas. The bunkai that Iainteaches are not prearranged karateka vs. karateka applications. Nor are they static,complex, elaborate or reliant upon finite movement. Iain’s approach to karate makeskata application practical, simple, direct and accessible to all.

www.IainAbernethy.com

The practical application of karate.

What is Kata?

There are many different views on what kata is. Kata has been said to be the soul of karate, a repository of forgotten ‗secrets‘, a form of moving mediation, a ‗map‘ of the combative landscape, a pointless dance, or an

archaic relic that should be abandoned. To my way of thinking kata can be all those things and all those views

can have merit. Essentially it comes down to what is meant by the word ‗kata‘, the background of the individual

martial artist and their experience of kata. In this article I‘d like to explore what karate kata is to me and why I

think the way I do.

To clearly identify what kata is, we also need to identify what kata is not. I don‘t see kata as being an

alternative to live practise. The main reason I hold that view is that kata is obviously a poor substitute for

sparring because it does not involve a free flowing exchange between the karateka and an opponent or

opponents. Another reason I don‘t view kata as being an alternative to live practise is because none of the old

masters said it was. The writings from the past clearly point to a link between kata and kumite (sparring); but atno point do they suggest they are interchangeable:

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Hironori Otsuka (Wado-Ryu karate) wrote, ―Martial Arts

progress from kata, to kumite, to combat.‖ In his 1926 book

Ryukyu Karate Kempo Choki Motobu wrote, ―Kumite is an

actual fight using many basic styles of kata to grapple with the

opponent.‖ Gichin Funakoshi (Karate-do Kyohan), ―Sparring

does not exist apart from the kata but for the practise of the

kata.‖ Chojin Miyagi (founder of Goju-Ryu) wrote in his

Karate-do Gaisetsu (outline of karate-do), ―Through sparring

practice the practical meaning of kata becomes apparent.‖

There are plenty of other examples aside from the above,

but what we can plainly see is the view that kumite and

kata are linked. What we do not see is the view that kata is the equivalent of sparring. Nor do we see the

view on the other extreme that kata has no link to sparring. So if kata does have a link to kumite, what is

the nature of that link? To answer that question we need to look at how kata came into existence in the

first place.

Kata were predominately created to record the fighting methods of a given individual. Let‘s look at Kushanku

kata (called ‗Kanku-Dai‘ in Shotokan karate) as an example. History tells us that there was a Chinese officialwho went by the title of Kushanku, and that one of his students was a gentleman called Tode Sakugawa.

Kushanku is said to have came to Okinawa in the 1750s and whilst there he gave demonstrations of his fighting

methods. According to one eye witness – the captain of a ship that ran ashore on Okinawa and was hence

interviewed by the authorities – Kushanku was a small man and his methods included placing one hand on the

opponent whilst striking with the other hand. We are also told that Kushanku also made use of effective

‗piercing‘ leg movements.

Tode Sakugawa became a student of Kushanku and it is he who is credited with creating the kata of the same

name. Kushanku kata therefore exists to record the fighting system of Kushanku the man. Having created the

kata, it was no doubt used by Sakugawa to rehearse and reinforce Kushaku‘s teachings when training on his

own. The fact that Sakugawa taught the kata to others shows that the kata was also used as a method tocommunicate these teachings to subsequent generations.

It would not be possible to record every single one of Kushaku’s techniques. However, it would be

possible to record techniques that illustrate the key principles of Kushaku’s teachings. Through the

practise of these techniques, the student could identify these key principles and therefore practise a whole

host of methods that expressed those principles; whether or not these specific examples are found within

the kata. The idea that kata is predominately a record of principles, as opposed to techniques, is

expressed in the writings of a number of the past masters.

Gichin Funakoshi’s 18th precept of karate was, "Kata must always be performed exactly; Combat is

another matter". In Genwa Nakasone's explanations of that precept - which Funakoshi endorsed - hestates, "In actual combat it will not do to be shackled by the rituals of kata. Instead, the practitioner

should transcend kata, moving freely according to the opponent's strengths and weakness".

Hironori Otsuka (founder of Wado Ryu) wrote ―It is obvious that these kata must be trained and practised

sufficiently, but one must not be 'stuck' in them. One must withdraw from the kata to produce forms with no

limits or else it becomes useless. It is important to alter the form of the trained kata without hesitation to

produce countless other forms of training. Essentially, it is a habit - created over long periods of training.

Because it is a habit, it comes to life with no hesitation - by the subconscious mind.‖ (Wado-Ryu Karate page

19-20).

Kenwa Mabuni (founder of Shito-Ryu) in 1934 wrote (Karate Kenkyu / How to Correctly Perform Kata), ―It is

impossible to create two-person drills containing all of the techniques and their variations. However, if one

practices kata correctly, it will serve as a foundation for performing any of the large number of variations that



may be needed.‖ (A great full English translation by Mark Tankosich can be found online by googling ―Mark

Tankosich Kenwa Mabuni Karate Kenkyu‖).

From the above we can see that kata was viewed as something to be

transcended. It was not about specific examples, but the principles

exhibited and communicated by those specific examples. To take a

line from the martial arts classic Enter the Dragon: “It is like a

finger pointing at the moon: don’t concentrate on the finger or

you will miss all that heavenly glory”. So it is with kata: If we

concentrate too much on the example, we miss the principle that

the example is supposed to communicate.

We have now seen that the old masters said that kata and kumite are

related. We have also seen that kata were created to record

techniques that encompass the key principles of a given fighting system. I‘d now like to return to the nature of

the link between kata and kumite.

I think a good analogy between kata and kumite is that of recipes and cooking. A recipe is a set of instructions

that allows the chef to cook good food. Kata is a set of instructions that allow the practitioner to explore agiven set of combative concepts. Owning a recipe book does not make one a chef. In the same way

knowing kata does not make you a martial artist. A chef needs to cook and the martial artist needs to

fight. Saying that kata is a substitute to kumite is a bit like saying we should eat recipe books. The chef

takes the recipes into the kitchen and cooks inline with those recipes. Likewise, the martial artist needs to

take the principles of kata into sparring. Kata is a record of the principles to be given free reign in

sparring.

I think we are now in a position to answer the question, ―What is karate kata?‖ In light of all we have discussed,

karate kata can chiefly be defined as:

A physical solo template, consisting of combative motions, created to record the key principles of a givenfighting system so that those principles can be passed on to subsequent generations.

Based on the writings of the past masters, what I know of karate‘s history, and my own reasoning, this is what

karate kata is to me. As discussed previously, it can be other things too. However, first and foremost kata is a

record of combative principles. To effectively make use of those combative principles we need to move beyond

the solo form to practise the techniques with a partner (in a realistic fashion) so that we can internalise the

underlying concepts and then freely express those concepts in sparring and in combat. I‘ll cover this process in

more detail in coming articles. We will also explore the ―secondary‖ aspects of kata too in the hope of covering

all the positives and pitfalls of kata. However, for now I hope you‘ve enjoyed this exploration of what karate

kata is and, regardless of weather you agree with me or not, I also hope this article has provided food for

thought.

It’s all Kata!

Oct 18th, 2006 by iain

Two of my training sessions this week got me thinking (yet again) about what kata truly

is. I was teaching a seminar in Morpeth on Sunday (a great day!) and therefore had totrain first thing in the morning as I’d be busy for the rest of the day. Not a problem as Ilike training in the morning as I feel it sets me up for the whole day.

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I began training at around 7am and decided to work solely on kata. Seeing as theweather was good (clean and fresh) I decided to train in my back yard rather then go tothe dojo.

An hour or so later I’d run though the kata that I regularly work on, and I felt good! I’dpractised a wide range of combative motions, had a good work out, focused my mind,and improved my coordination, relaxation, explosiveness and breathing. All I needed for

such a great work out was an empty space and knowledge of kata.

The following day I’d arranged to meet up with one of my training partners. On thisoccasion we did loads of impact work, some trapping and limb control drills, and 20minutes of sparring (working mainly on grips and takedowns).

To the causal observer I did kata on the first day, and on the second day I didn’t.However, I don’t think that that’s the case!

On the second day my partner and I started by working on strikes. The strikes are in thekata so it could be argued (correctly in my view) that I was refining kata techniques. Wethen did some trapping and limb control drills. All but one of these drills was taken fromthe Pinan / Heian kata (the other was from Jion kata). So again, we were drilling katatechniques. The final thing we did was 20 minutes of sparring … kata based sparring! Allthe grips drills and takedowns we used are all found in kata. So yet again we’re workingwith kata techniques.

Both days were 100% kata. It’s a mistake to only think of “kata” as being the solo form.To my mind, it’s still kata when I drill the techniques on pads or with a partner (in bothcompliant and non-compliant ways). The solo form is what guides our group trainingand a form of supplementary solo training.

On the days where you have a partner, you’d undoubtedly be better to practise yourkata with and against that partner. However, when you’ve not got a partner, you canpractice the solo form. It’s all kata!

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« The Weights

Some Sad News »

New Podcasts: Fear & Kata-Based-Sparring

Nov 21st, 2006 by iain

At the foot of this post you’ll find two new podcasts! Why two you ask? Well the honestanswer is that, now I’ve got to grips with the technology, I’m having a lot of fun playingwith it! They are also quite quick to produce (both podcasts made within a few hours)

and therefore they are proving a very efficient way to communicate a lot of information.

When you listen to the podcasts you’ll notice that we now have some title music! Thanksto Colin Scott of Night-Shift Music for creating the music for me. I really like it!

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1 – The first podcast is called “The Benefits of Fear” and is around 15 minutes long. Thepodcast discusses the three main ways in which fear is good for us; both from a martialperspective and from the view point for helping us achieve all the things we want fromlife. This podcast also covers some of the issues discussed in more depth in my newMental Strength DVD.

2 – The second podcast is called “Kata-Based-Sparring” and is also around 15 minutes

long. On this podcast I discuss the four stages of kata training, the need to take thetechniques and methods of the kata into live training (solo kata and compliant drills arenot enough), what kata-based-sparring is, and some of the basics of how to structure it.It’s an area of my approach to kata that is of great interest to people and I hope thepodcast will add something to your understanding of it (details of the associated DVDcan be found HERE).

Both Podcasts can be downloaded to listen to on your computer or MP3 player. You canalso listen to the podcast online using the blog’s built in player. Click on the required linkbelow and enjoy!

All the best,

Iain

The Four Stages of Kata Practise

Practically all karateka practise kata; however, most only practise the

initial stage and therefore they do not develop a rounded and more

complete understanding of what kata has to offer. In this article we

shall discuss all four stages of kata practise.

The first stage is the practise of the solo form and is what most people

think of when they talk about kata practise. The first thing that akarateka learns is the actual physical sequence of the kata; the body

mechanics required for maximum efficiency; the correct mental

attitude etc. This is a very important stage of kata practise. If you are

unable to perform the movements of the form in an efficient way when

there is no opponent present, you will have absolutely no chance of being able to make those same techniques

work when an aggressive opponent is trying to cause you physical harm!

The initial stage of solo performance is often where kata practise begins and ends in many modern dojos. One

of the main reasons for this is that the criteria used for determining the quality of a kata is frequently just its

visual appearance. If the kata looks good, then it is good! This is obviously a flawed way(maneira defeituosa) to

view kata when you consider that the katas are supposed to have a functional and pragmatic purpose. To mymind, it is better to judge a kata against its pragmatic use; if the karateka can successfully apply the techniques

of the kata, then their kata is good, regardless of what it looks like. Please don't misunderstand me; I'm in no

way saying that poor solo performance is acceptable, just that the goal should always be function as opposed to

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appearance. A functional kata will often be striking to the eye, but the aesthetics of the kata are essentially an

irrelevant by-product rather than the whole purpose of kata training.

Gichin Funakoshi (the founder of Shotokan karate) in his book 'Karate-Do Kyohan' stated, "Once a form has

been learned, it must be practised repeatedly until it can be applied in an emergency, for knowledge of just the

sequence of a form in karate is useless ". Although the solo performance of a kata is very important, it should

not be viewed as the entirety of kata practise. As Funakoshi himself said, unless you can actually apply the

techniques of the kata in an emergency, simply knowing how to perform the solo sequence is " useless ". We

need to be sure we progress our training onto the subsequent stages.

The second stage of kata practise is to study the functional application of the movements of the kata (bunkai).

You need to practise applying the techniques of the kata with your practise partners. At this point it is probably

worth pointing out the important distinction between realistic bunkai and the more common long range,

choreographed karateka vs. karateka battles that are so often seen. The katas were never designed for fighting

other karateka; they were intended to be a record of realistic techniques for use in a civilian environment (self-

protection). In real situations, people do not assume a stance and then execute an oi-zuki from ten-feet away! If

we accept that kata were designed for use in real situations, then we must also accept that in a real situation we

are very unlikely to face a fellow karateka, especially one who executes their techniques in such a contrived and

formal manner (you can thank your lucky stars if you ever did!). The applications of the kata should be simple,close-range and not dependant on the attacker performing certain actions in a certain way.

Once you have gained an understanding of the practical application of the techniques of the kata, you should

begin to include variations of those techniques in your training. It should be remembered that a kata is meant to

record an entire, stand-alone combative system. However, it would not be practical to record every single

aspect of that system or the kata would become ridiculously long. It would be far better to record techniques

that succinctly express the key principles of the system.

An analogy I like to use to explain how a form records a complete system is that of an acorn and an oak tree

(my apologies to those who've heard this before :-). An oak tree is vast, both in terms of its size and years lived,

but everything about that tree, and everything required to reproduce it, is found in a single acorn. A fightingsystem produces a kata in the same way that an oak tree produces acorns. Both the acorn and the kata are not as

vast as the thing that created them, but they record them perfectly. For an acorn to become an oak tree it must

be correctly planted and nurtured. For a kata to become a fighting system it must be correctly studied and

practised. It is here that we find one of modern karate's biggest failings, in that the katas are rarely studied

sufficiently. To return to my analogy, we have the seeds but we don't plant them!

Hironori Otsuka (founder of Wado-Ryu karate) once wrote; " It is obvious that these kata must be trained and

practised sufficiently, but one must not be 'stuck' in them. One must withdraw from the kata to produce forms

with no limits or else it becomes useless. It is important to alter the form of the trained kata without hesitation

to produce countless other forms of training. Essentially, it is a habit - created over long periods of training.

Because it is a habit, it comes to life with no hesitation - by the subconscious mind. " ('Wado-Ryu Karate' page19-20). I believe that Otsuka is telling us to practise varying the applications of the kata or else we run the risk

of being 'stuck' in the form and hence becoming limited fighters. We need to follow Otsuka's advice and

practise so that the form can be utilised, without hesitation, in any situation in which we should find ourselves.

Katas express good examples of the core principles of the combative system that is being recorded. Katas do

not record every single technique, combination and variation in the entire system! How could they? So to get

the most out of kata we need to practise varying the techniques of the kata whilst staying true to the principles

that the techniques represent. This is the third stage of kata practise.

The fourth and most neglected stage is to practise applying the techniques, variations and principles of the kata

in live practise. The only way to ensure that you will be able to utilize techniques in a live situation is topractise your techniques in live situations. You need to engage in live any-range sparring if you are to make

your kata practise worthwhile. No amount of solo practice or drilling the techniques with a compliant partner

will give you the skills needed to apply what you have learnt in a live situation.



In recent years we have seen more and more karateka begin to include bunkai practise in their training. And

whilst this is to be applauded, it is of little use unless we take things one step further and engage in kata-based

sparring (see my books 'Bunkai-Jutsu' and 'Karate's Grappling Methods' for further details).

Live sparring and the solo performance of a kata may look radically different, but they are essentially exactly

the same. As an analogy, think of a kata as being like a block of ice. The shape of the block of ice is constant.

However, if heat is added, the ice will turn into water and its shape will adapt to fit its circumstances. Likewise,

a kata also is constant, but in the heat of combat it will also adapt to its circumstances. The block of ice and the

free flowing water may look very different, but they are essentially identical (the same molecules of hydrogen

and oxygen). In the same way, a form will often look different to the techniques being applied in an ever-

changing live fight, but they are also essentially identical (the same fighting principles). Although the four

stages of kata practise may look different, it is vital that you understand that all of them are identical at their

core. All four stages are 'kata', not just the solo performance.

These four stages are by no means unique to Karate. In boxing, for example, a student would first be taught the

mechanics of the basic punches (stage one). They would then practice applying those punches against bags,

focus mitts and a padded up compliant partner (stage two). Once competence had been achieved, the student

would practise combinations, blending the punches etc (stage three). And finally they would get in the ring andtry it for real (stage four).

Whilst a student would initially start at stage one and progress to stage four, it should be remembered that the

preceding stages should not be abandoned and they must also be practised. Stage four practise is undoubtedly

the most realistic; however, you should not abandon the other three stages when you are competent enough to

engage in kata-based sparring. The practise of the solo form will allow you to refine technique, visualisation

and mental attitude without the pressure induced by an opponent (it's also a good way to train on the days

where your partners are unable to get to training). The practise of the bunkai (stage two) and variations (stage

three) will also help you to improve technique. You will also become a more versatile fighter as your

understanding of the kata's core principles improves through stage three training. Conversely, as your ability to

apply the techniques of the kata in live practise increases, so will the quality of your solo form as the kata willbecome more meaningful and mentally intense.

The katas truly are works of genius that have a great deal to offer the pragmatically minded karateka. To unlock

the whole of what kata has offer, you need to practise your katas in their entirety. Whilst the solo aspect of the

form is very important, it only represents the first initial stage. It is only when you move beyond the solo form

onto the subsequent stages that is becomes apparent how pragmatic and holistic karate can be. I'll close by

thanking you for taking the time to read this article; I sincerely hope that you found it useful.

Iain Abernethy

Administrator

posted November 09, 2009 08:06 AMNovember 09, 2009 08:06 AM

Hi All,

I'm wanting to generate a holistic list of the benefits of kata (combative and non-combative). The plan is then to poll people on this lists - i.e. people put them in order of importance - so we get a "hierarchy of benefits".

So under this thread, I don't want any discussion on the benefits, just for people to list

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them so I have the basis for the poll (which will then be a good place to discuss themall). So here's a few obvious ones to get us started:

Kata allows us to learn / internalise combative principles.

Kata allows us to learn / internalise combative techniques.

Kata gives us the "syllabusss" to work from.

Kata helps develop muscle control / coordinated movement.

Kata strengthens the body.

And so on!

Please add as many as you can think of and when we are done I'll organise things sopeople can vote on which they see as most to least important.

Thanks in advance for you help.

All the best,

Iain

[ November 09, 2009, 08:06 AM: Message edited by: Iain Abernethy ]

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Society of Applied Traditional Martial Arts

The expediential growth in those returning to practicing the traditional

martial arts in a practical way means that there is now a pressing need

for a dedicated society so practitioners of applied traditional martial arts

can band together for the benefit of both their art and themselves.

The bodies set up to promote sporting offshoots or a particular style or

methodology – as useful as they can be for their members – do little topromote and enhance what we see as the most important aspect of the

traditional martial arts.

I‘ve felt for some time that an open and inclusive society is needed for

pragmatic traditionalists and we are getting ready to launch such a body

in 2010! This body will be called ―The Society for Applied Traditional Martial Arts‖ (SATMA) and is

open to all traditional martial artists from all over the globe.

Many martial arts bodies have a recurring bad habit of trying to limit the freedom of their members and

hence I want this body to promote and enhance the wide variety of pragmatic approaches without

imposing unnecessary limits upon people.

SATMA will not be an ―association‖. It will be a society wholly dedicated to the promotion and

furtherance of applied traditional martial arts. Associations typically deal with things like coaching






qualifications, insurance, providing representatives for competitions etc. That is not the role of SATMA

and we would encourage those who wish to join us to stay members of their existing associations for the

benefits that such membership can bring. We envisage that SATMA will run parallel to the good work

already being done by many of the better associations.

SATMA is being set up as an independent society of likeminded individuals who believe that applied

traditionalism needs a body to address the specific issues associated with our pragmatic approaches to

the traditional martial arts.

SATMA will be totally dedicated to, and focused on, the promotion and study of the practical aspects of

the traditional arts. We therefore will not be engaged in activities such as selling on insurance etc. Those

who therefore have insurance through the other bodies to which they belong, or who have it

independently, do not therefore need to pay for a service they do not need.

We won‘t be demanding that people who join also affiliate all their members. Instructors can join on

their own. For those who do wish to make all their students members, we are going to make it really

cheap so that instructors are not forced, through financial considerations or anything else, to make ―them

or us‖ decisions. The way it will work is that once an instructor has joined, they can make their students

SATMA members for a small nominal fee.

We will be totally happy with all SATMA members being members of as many or as few other bodies as

they wish. As I say, it is not our job to impose restrictions on members; just the opposite in fact!

SATMA is also going to be 100% non-sporting. What individual members do is up to them, but SATMA

itself is not involved in the sporting side of the arts in any way whatsoever and hence membership will

not conflict with those other bodies who are focussed on sport.

SATMA will promote all practical approaches to all the traditional martial arts and will have no ―chief

instructor‖ or dictatorial hierarchy. This is a group in which diversity in approach (providing it remains

practical) is encouraged and deemed valuable.

SATMA is being put together to meet the following objectives and to provide the following services:

• To provide a dedicated body for practically minded traditionalists that is open to all and does not

restrict individual approaches.

• To promote the practise of applied traditional martial arts.

• To promote those individuals, groups and instructors who are contributing to the furtherance of applied

traditional martial arts and to help get them the recognition they deserve.

• To ensure instructors of applied traditional martial arts from all over the globe can network, learn from

each other, and help each other to advance.

• To promote the groups, materials and seminars of instructors of applied traditional martial arts to as

wide an audience as possible.

• To make available quality study materials and to provide permanent product discounts for

commercially available items.

• To provide a private online forum for SATMA instructors from across the globe so they can network,offer each other support and help each other advance.

• To provide a private monthly online newsletter which will include information on applied traditional



martial arts for all SATMA instructors; and to which all SATMA instructors are encourage to contribute

and use to promote their activities.

• Regular postal newsletters for news of SATMA activities and to promote SATMA events (which will

include the events of SATMA instructors).

• To recognise gradings in the applied and practical aspects of applied traditional martial arts so people

do not have to test against a sporting or ―aesthetic‖ criteria in order to advance in rank.

• To help provide grading opportunities for senior people and to recognise existing grades (proof of

existing grade will be required).

• To give instructors the freedom and support (if needed) to develop their own syllabuses, to

independently test against those syllabuses, and to have the grades awarded by member instructors

recorded, registered and certificated by SATMA. These grades will be certificated as being awarded by

the instructors in question and registered with SATMA.

• Instructors will also have the option of having their syllabuses ―SATMA Approved‖. This is in no way

mandatory and individual instructors are free to decide if it is for them or not. However, there arebenefits to syllabus approval. Gradings conducted by member instructors against a SATMA approved

syllabus will also be certificated as ―approved by SATMA‖ (as opposed to simply ―registered‖).

• For a syllabus to be approved by SATMA it obviously needs to be screened by us. It is not our

intention to dictate details and this will be a broad criteria – not specific detail – to ensure approved

syllabuses include what I‘m sure you‘ll agree are ―must-haves‖ and will almost certainly be things you

are doing already. This will include things such as a holistic methodology (i.e. include striking and

grappling), the use of impact equipment, include live non-compliant practise, awareness training, escape

skills, bunkai / application of forms (for those groups who practice forms), etc. Help can be provided in

designing such a syllabus. Groups who have SATMA approved syllabuses may make use of that

approval in the promotion of their group.

• To allow member instructors to use the SATMA umbrella to promote themselves and their groups.

• Further details will be forthcoming shortly.

Helen and I are currently getting all the paperwork together and setting up systems; in addition to all the

practical stuff like organising membership books, certificates, t-shirts, member gi badges, instructor gi

badges, etc. As soon as we have everything finalised we will be sure to let you know.

If the ―Society of Applied Traditional Martial Arts‖ sounds like something that could be of interest toyou, please drop us a note at [email protected] and we‘ll ensure that you‘re among the first to

receive detailed information.

© Iain Abernethy : 2003 - 2009

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17 - Patrick McCarthy in Italy Update

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A message from Paolo Gasbarri:

Brown belts over the age of 16 can now also attend!

I organize next May 2010 the first Koryu-Uchinadi with Sensei Patrick McCarthy(www.koryu-uchinadi.com) Seminar in Rome, Italy.

(http://www.martialartsview.com/index-100.html) Sensei Patrick McCarthy have greatreputation in the world and his life spent in search and study of martial arts andespecially the great work he translated, the BUBISHI (ancient Chinese text on which allthe founding masters of Karate styles were inspired for their studies and personalinterpretation of this Art), has meant that the Master McCarthy, had a great recognitionin Japan by Dai Nippon Butokukai being written there, next to the big names of thefounders of the current Masters of Karate styles: Funakoshi, Mabuni, Miyagi, Otsuka,Konishi, Sakagami, Nagamine et al. This seminar will be of great martial culture for allparticipants Karate styles and if you can to partecipate with us I'll very happy. SenseiMcCarthy come in Italy and in Rome for the first time and he is very happy to present

Koryu-uchinadi in another Nation in the world.

The Seminary will have a selective number of participants and these will consist of amaximum of 100/120 . We wish to give the opportunity to everyone, to follow thelessons of Master McCarthy with the possibility of tranquillity; to see, to try, to ask, tobe corrected, therefore we want all to have the pleasure to insert their own cultural andmartial input into this historical event. Filming will be not allowed, either recreationaland professional, however everyone will be able to take pictures and to have beautifulmemories in their own photo albums.

I remind you that The Stage has international character and many martial arts peoplefrom Europe are considering in taking advantage of this great event in order to spend aweekend in May in ROME...think about it ! Therefore, as soon as the enrolment moduleis available, I suggest you do not waste time in booking! The cost of the two days of TheStage will be € 70 (total) for reservations booked before March the 31st 2010 and € 80for those who reserve before April the 30th 2010. After these dates registrations will berefused.

For the registration, we will proceed in this way:- complete all parts of the registration module.- pay the fee.

- send both the registration module and the banking payment receipt to my e-mailaddress: [email protected]

CUMULATIVE BANK PAYMENTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED; EVERY SINGLE PERSON SHALLHAVE HIS OWN BANK PAYMENT AND HIS OWN MODULE.

As soon as I will get both documents (registration + payment receipts), I will send youan e-mail containing a number between 1 to 120 which is assigned to you. Only whenyou will receive your assigned number will you be sure to participate in The Stage. Assoon as the registrations are completed, it will be inserted in this site with a list of the

persons enrolled, so that all can be aware of how many places still available. Dearcolleagues, it's all by now, I hope for your participation and yours Tam Tam Advertisingfor this EXTRAORDINARY EVENT.

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Karate's Three Bigest

Mistakes

Although I‘ve trained in a few different arts, it is karate that

remains my central passion. I love the art of karate and I am a

great believer in it. However, I believe that we do the art a greatdisservice if we deny it has any faults and take the view that the art

has reached a state of perfection.

A few months ago (Nov 2009) I put out a podcast via my website

called ―Karate‘s three biggest mistakes‖. The idea was to point out

what I felt were common mistakes in much of karate practise in

the hope of stimulating discussion. Although the podcast was produced from the perspective of

someone who loves the art of karate and wants to see it thrive, I felt sure that by daring to point outthat the art was not perfect that I was sure to be branded a ―heretic‖ by some of karate‘s more

dogmatic practitioners. However, I was completely wrong! The podcast received more downloads

and feedback than any other we have done and all of it was in agreement and felt it was a positivething that these errors had been articulated.

I‘d like to articulate these same errors for readers of this article in the hope that they also find value

in airing what I feel are the three most common, and yet frequently unseen, mistakes in karate.

Personally, I‘d rather put forward solutions and suggest how things could be made better.

However, people will only be interested in potential solutions if they are aware there is a problem

in the first place.

I hope you‘ll forgive me for being a little ―negative‖ and that you appreciate that my p urpose in

pointing out these errors is to encourage us to think of positive solutions and to help ensure that

both the art of karate and its practitioners can reach their maximum potential.

So without further ado, here is the first mistake made by many karateka:

1 – Failing to differentiate between environments / contexts

In the martial arts we often have discussions on what works and what does not. The trouble is thatthe question, ―Does this work?‖ is completely meaningless without first establishing the context.

Do we mean will this work in the dojo? Will this work in a boxing match? A karate tournament? In

self-defence? In a cage fight? Unless we know the context, we can‘t answer the question of ―Does

this work?‖ in a meaningful way.

The problem we have is that, in my experience, the majority of karateka fail to differentiate

between environments and the reason they do this is because they are not aware there is any

difference. Everything gets lumped (amontoados) together and training methods, concepts and

techniques that work well in one environment are inadvertently transposed to another environmentin which they don‘t work.

To help make things clearer let‘s take a couple of techniques and see how their effectiveness

changes as we change environment. For starters, let‘s take a controlled head height hook kick.

Does this work? In a karate tournament, yes it does. It works great! But will it work in any other

environment?

In boxing it would get you knocked out or disqualified. In MMA the fact the kick was controlled

would make it pointless as you would achieve nothing and would open yourself up to being



countered. In self-defence you rarely have the room to kick and such a risky method that won‘t

yield any results is to be highly discouraged. So the technique will work superbly well in one

environment, but is pointless or dangerous in the others.

What about deliberately taking the fight to the ground with a skilled takedown? It would get you

disqualified in boxing and karate competitions. In self-defence it would leave you vulnerable to

getting kicked or stabbed by the acquaintances of the person taken to the floor; even if you were

winning the ground fight with the person taken down. In MMA though, a dynamic and wellexecuted takedown could put you in a very advantageous position and would be very popular with

both judges and the audience.

What about techniques for disengagement so we can run away. Such methods are vitally important

for self-defence, but running off the mat or out of the ring or cage is not going to lead to success in

other environments.

We could go on with this ad infinitum, but I hope I have

made it clear that defining the environment is vitally

important when it comes to determining ―what works‖. It is

therefore a major problem when people fail to define theenvironment.

Most karate people simply turn up and practise ―karate‖,

they never identify all the subcategorises of their practise.

The result is the students fail to identify what will lead to

success in any given environment. This can be disastrous!

In my own dojo, I always identify what environment we are training for in any given

moment. My students know when they are training for self-defence, fighting (and if you think

that is the same as self-defence then you are also failing to differentiate between

environments), attribute training and fun. And if we did any competition, which we don’t,they would be clear when they were training for that too.

A big contributor to this problem is people over valuing the crossover between environments. This

leads to things merging and again this leads to confusion. In common dojo sparring, we move

around looking for and creating openings, apply our techniques and then move out so the process

can begin again. Even if we do this full contact, it is ―fighting‖ with one person and is still nothing

like what is required for self-defence should a situation degenerate into physical conflict. True,

there will be some cross over but it will only ever be a small cross over and we should ensure that

our training is 100% relevant to the environment we are training for, rather than being 5% relevant

by default.

One of the great things about always being 100% relevant and 100% focused on a given

environment is that it means we avoid the temptation to cram everything into one box in order to

justify practise.

When we train the self-protection side of what we do, we are 100% focused on it and everything

we do is 100% relevant. However, when we practise things like complex ankle locks and advanced

kicking we know this is not relevant to self-protection and it is something we are doing entirely for

the fun of it. There is no need to create a false link to self-protection in order to justify the practise

of such techniques. We do them because they are interesting and fun to play with. The students

know we do such things for fun and not for self-protection. We differentiate between environmentsso that we train in a focused manner, so that the students are never confused, and we also free

ourselves to have fun with other elements of our martial arts too.

I‘d strongly encourage you to differentiate between environments and not lump (junte) all of karate



together into one homogonous unfocused mass. We can do it all, but we should always be 100%sure what environment we are training for in any given instance. Training for an unfocused ―all‖ ,

all the time is a recipe for disaster as we fail to identify what will be successful in the various

environments we may train for.

2 - The introduction of artificial success criteria (Failing to measure by effect)

The second mistake is related to the first. When we are unclear on what environment we aretraining for, we also fail to clearly identify what will lead to success in those environments. Things

get confused and the goal of training gets lost. This often leads to the introduction of artificial

success criteria. True success criteria is always directly linked to the environment we are training

for. If we are training for competition then the success criteria is winning tournaments. The

training should therefore be conducted with that aim in mind and ―success‖ will be determined by

whether we win or not.

When we are training for self-protection, the success criteria will be avoidance of dangerous

situations in the first instance, disengaging and escaping from dangerous situations in the

second instance, and quickly incapacitating the enemy or enemies if any of the previous

proves impossible. Training should be conducted with these goals in mind and successdetermined by our ability to achieve these goals.

The problem we have in karate these days is that we have taken our eye off the ball and introduced

artificial success criteria that frequently run contrary to our goals (and as we discussed these goals

are often either not set or are unfocused).

A punch is fundamentally designed to damage other human beings so that they can no longer

function. A punch should therefore be judged by the success criteria of its ability to incapacitate.

We should train our punches with that goal in mind such that our training increases the ability of

our punches to incapacitate. A punch should be deemed ―good‖ if it can damage people.

However, in karate these days we rarely use this functional success criteria and instead have

introduced artificial success criteria such as what a punch looks like or how closely it conforms to

the arbitrary dictates of a given ―style‖. We therefore don‘t train for powerful punches that can

damage others, we train to produce punches that look nice and tick all the boxes of our style. These

artificial criteria tend to take precedence and hence we no

longer measure by effect.

Now I know that some people reading this will think that by

stating that we should be measuring by effect that I‘m

endorsing sloppy technique. Are you one of them? If you arethen you have to ask yourself why you associate effective

with sloppy? Surely if the criteria of your style is correct, it

would coincide with what is also highly effective? If you do

think ―effective‖ is ―sloppy‖, I would say that it is because in

your heart of hearts you know that what you define as ―good

technique‖ is ineffective.

As I say, sometimes when I say we should measure by effect,

people wrongly assume that the ―functional technique‖ I am

endorsing is clumsy or crude (i.e. just a big muscular swing

of a fist) and hence inferior to a highly refined and aestheticmartial arts technique. That‘s one million miles away from

the truth in my view as a technique should be simultaneously

highly refined, aesthetic and functional.



We can, and should, be measuring by effect and relentlessly working to increase that effect. The

end result will be a highly polished technique – which will be pleasing to the eye – that is highlyfunctional. The technique is good because it works incredibly well. We don‘t define ―good‖ by a

set of criteria which may or may not be linked to functionality.

We need to return to measure everything by effect. The more effective it is, the better it is. Sure it

will look good and it may well be inline with the criteria set by your group or style (if the group or

style also measures by effect). But these are secondary considerations and functionality mustalways be what we pursue as the primary goal. To do anything else will lead to a reduction in

functionality as we will be putting the cart before the horse.

I‘d just like to conclude this section by pointing out that ―effectiveness‖ is always deter mined by

the environment and hence this mistake is linked to the first. And both are linked to the third

mistake of modern karate which we shall now discuss.

3 - Failing to judge personal training by personal results

If we have successfully defined the environment and are training to ensure success within that

environment, we are well on our way to getting the most out of our training. However, there is onemore trap that I see many karateka falling into. And that is failing to judge their personal trainingby their personal results.

In recent times the MMA world has been incredibly impressed by Lyoto Machida‘s performances

in the UFC. As I‘m sure you know, Machida has a strong background in Shotokan karate and

hence I have heard quite a few Shotokan practitioners saying that this proves karate‘s

effectiveness. But does it?

Machida has not made the first mistake as he has differentiated between environments and trains

specifically for the MMA environment. Not only that, he has also not made the second mistake as

his ―success criteria‖ is effectiveness in MMA. His training is therefore perfectly set up to address

the needs of MMA combat.

The Shotokan practitioner – or any other form of karateka for that matter – who trains twice a

week in sessions that consist of nothing more that 30 minutes of line work, 30 minutes of solo kata

and then 30 minutes of light sparring (that does not allow low kicks, hooks punches, grabbing,

grappling, ground-work, heavy contact, etc.) cannot compare what they do with what Machida

does. They are entirely different.

Machida‘s success does therefore not prove that all Shotokan practitioners will be UFC champions

nor does it prove the effectiveness of line work and air punching in preparing MMA fighters.Personal training can only be judged by personal results. You can‘t say Machida‘s success has any

bearing on your own training. You are as good as you are … you are not as good as Machida just

because you both label what you do as ―Shotokan‖.

I‘ve also heard people make similar claims about Gavin Mulholland and his students. Their

success in the cage does not prove the effectiveness of karate overall in MMA, it just proves the

effectiveness of the way Gavin trains his guys for MMA (which is a just one part of their overall

approach to karate). Again, you‘ll notice how mistakes 1 and 2 are not made.

The other thing I often come across is my thinking and viewpoints being used as proof that kata is

effective … by people who train in an entirely different fashion! As I‘m sure you kno w I am agreat believer in kata and I feel it does have a massive amount to offer the practically minded

karateka. But it has to be approached in the right way.



Endless solo kata with the sole purpose of making it look good so you can win competitions or

pass gradings (see mistake 2: this is another example of artificial success criteria at work) will not

lead to combative effectiveness. Studying the bunkai and

giving the methods contained within kata free range in

sparring will lead to combative effectiveness though.

There is an ever growing number of karateka who are

returning to a holistic and pragmatic approach to karate. Imeet these people all the time and what they do is very

effective. I would imagine that many of the people reading

this fall into the category of those pursuing effectiveness.However, karateka who don‘t study bunkai, and who don‘t

use that knowledge in their training, should not use the

effectiveness of those who do to justify what they do. The

reason for this is that although both groups operate under

the name of ―karate‖ they are not training in the same

way.

I also frequently see people in karate pointing to the exceptionally talented (the exceptions to therule if you will) to justify practises that are inappropriate for the majority and they themselves.

This is another example of failing to judge personal training by personal results.

For example, when I have said that head-height kicking is not a wise idea in real situations, it is not

uncommon for people to point to people like Terry O‘Neil. Terry O‘Neil in an amazingly talented

karateka and it‘s true that he has used head height kicks effectively in real situations. However, can

you kick as well as Terry O‘Neil? If not, I would suggest you keep the kicks low if you kick at all.

Today‘s elite and yesterday‘s masters can‘t fight your battles for you. It‘s what you can do

personally that counts.

Don‘t base your training on the exceptional abilities of others; base your training on what it will do

for you personally. And likewise, don‘t fall into the trap of claiming the positive benefits of other

approaches for yourself when you train differently.

It‘s not about claiming the ability of exceptional individuals as your own, and it‘s also not about

claiming ability through a shared label of ―karate‖. You should only judge the effectiveness of

your personal training by what it has done for you personally.

Conclusion

As I said at the beginning of this article, these three mistakes are so important because people do

not realise that they are making them. There are other common errors to be sure, but what makes

these three so problematic is that people don‘t recognise or understand the problem in the first

place. And because of that, they either don‘t bother to solve them or they fail to do so because they

never understood the nature of these problems in the first place. So let‘s quickly recap:

1 – Failing to differentiate between environments / contexts

To solve this, be 100% sure what you are training for at any given moment and be sure that all

training is 100% relevant to that environment. No trying to cram everything into the generic

―karate‖ box. Understand that modern karate has many subcomponents and that thesesubcomponents need to be trained individually if confusion is to be avoided and effectiveness

attained. No over emphasising the ―cross-overs‖ and the ―by- products‖. Keep all training 100%

focused and 100% relevant to whatever you are training for at any given instance.



2 - The introduction of artificial success criteria (Failing to measure by effect)

Always measure the value of a technique or training methods by the results it yields. Don‘t judge

things by artificial success criteria such as how something looks or ―style purity‖. Measuring by

effect and relentlessly working to enhance that effect should be what the martial arts are all about.

The only way to achieve effectiveness is to specifically train for effectiveness. Training for another

artificial goal, or no goal at all, and hoping we will become effective by default, is not going to

lead to effectiveness.

3 - Failing to judge personal training by personal results

Inextricably linked to the previous two mistakes is the need to judge personal training by personal

results. How do you train and is that working for you? It‘s no t about claiming effectiveness from

the way others train or the exceptional abilities of exceptional individuals. It‘s all about whether

your training is working for you. Other people‘s ability means nothing because you are not them.

And other people‘s training regimens mean nothing to you if you are training differently.

It may well be the case that your training does not fall foul of these mistakes. After all, you

obviously have an interest in pragmatic karate … as is evidenced by the fact you have read t his far.However, it‘s always a good idea to check just in case you are one of the people who does not

realise they are making these mistakes.

If you are clear on what environment you are training for, and you know what it takes to be

successful in that environment, and you always measure your personal skills by the effect you can

personally attain, then you are sure to develop high levels of skill and martial efficiency. Your

karate, and hence karate generally, will thrive when you steer clear of these common mistakes.

Back to Articles

© Iain Abernethy : 2003 - 2010

Styles: Are They Killing Karate?

Tell another martial artist that you practise karate and it is very likely that they will immediately then ask you,

―what style?‖. From this it would seem that the notion of style is felt to be important. However, this raises many

questions: How did all these various styles come into existence? Are they really that important? Should the

existing styles be preserved? Or perhaps we should be looking to create new styles? In this article I‘d like tolook at the notion of style and suggest that, whilst the styles handed down to us are of great value, if we place

too much emphasis on ―style‖ it can be detrimental to karate.

The most widely practised style of karate today is almost certainly Shotokan

karate. As I‘m sure most of those reading this will know, it was Gichin

Funakoshi who is attributed as being the founder of this style of karate. So

what did Funakoshi himself have to say about the style he founded?

Towards the end of his life, Gichin Funakoshi wrote the following in his book

Karate-Do: My Way of Life, ―One serious problem, in my opinion, which

besets present day karate-do is the prevalence of divergent schools. I believethis will have a deleterious effect on the future development of the art … There

is no place in contemporary karate-do for different schools … Indeed, I have

heard myself and my colleagues referred to as the Shotokan school, but I

strongly object to this attempt at classification.‖ Funakoshi goes on to say that

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he believes all karate is one and that it is this approach that will best serve the future of karate. So it seems that

Funakoshi was not a fan of the idea of schools or styles and, if he were around today, he would probably be

unhappy at being labelled as the founder of the Shotokan style. Funakoshi‘s objection to styles seems to be

primarily based on his concern that styles would be divisive and would see karate separate into various factions.

Other masters were more comfortable with the idea of styles, but Funakoshi was in no way alone in his worry

that styles could be divisive and detrimental to karate. Kenwa Mabuni, the founder of Shito-Ryu, is also on

record of saying that he felt all karate was one and what people considered to be styles were simply variations

in the expression of karate‘s common principles. So we know that the idea of styles was not universally

endorsed and that two of modern karate‘s founders felt that that karate as a whole should be valued more than

its various expressions. But where did these ―various expressions‖ or styles originate from?

When we talk about karate styles, it is commonly accepted that Shotokan, Shito-Ryu, Wado-Ryu and Goju-Ryu

are the four styles that are most widely practised across the globe. I‘d now like to briefly look at the formation

of each of these styles.

Shotokan: Gichin Funakoshi studied under Anko Azato, Anko Itosu, and, to a lesser degree, Bushi Matsumura.

It was Funakoshi‘s personal synthesis and expression of what he learnt from these teachers that formed the

nucleus of what is now called Shotokan (although, as we have seen, Funakoshi himself did not like that term).Funakoshi borrowed a number of ideas from Judo (i.e. the uniform, grading system, etc). Shotokan was further

developed by Gichin Funakoshi‘s son, Gigo Funakoshi.

Shito-Ryu: Kenwa Mabuni studied under both Anko Itosu and Kanryo Higaonna. Mabuni synthesised the

methods of both men into what became know as Shito-Ryu. Indeed, the name reflects this synthesis as ―Shito‖

is derived from the first kanji characters used in writing ―Itosu‖ & ―Higaonna‖. When I interviewed Haruyoshi

Yamada 9th dan – who studied under Chojiro Tani, who was in turn a student of Kenwa Mabuni – in 2006 he

told me that Kenwa Mabuni also practised Shin-den Fudo-ryu Jujutsu and taught this style of jujutsu to Chojiro

Tani. However, it would seem that Mabuni kept this aspect of his personal martial practise separate from his

karate style.

Goju-Ryu: Chojun Miyagi studied Naha-Te karate under Kanryo Higashionna. Miyagi, like his teacher, made

a number of trips to China to learn more to further develop his martial arts knowledge. Miyagi himself did not

give a name to his system until one of his senior students, Jinan Shinzato, was asked to name it following a

demonstration he gave in Tokyo in 1930. Jinan Shinzato is said to have said struggled to accurately name the

style he practised and it is said that he reluctantly settled on ―Naha-te‖, but felt this did not accurately reflect

what Miyagi was now teaching. He returned to Okinawa, explained his predicament to Miyagi who decided that

Goju-Ryu (Hard-Soft School) would be a good title for what they now practised.

Wado-Ryu: Before taking up karate, Hironori Otsuka originally studied Shindo-Yoshin-Ryu Jujutsu under

Tasusaburo Nakayama. Later, he studied karate under Gichin Funakoshi, Kenwa Mabuni and Choki Motobu.

Otsuka‘s Wado is a fusion of his jujutsu and the various interpretations of karate as taught to him by his variousteachers.

What should be noted straight away is that Funakoshi, Mabuni, Otsuka and Miyagi did not preserve karate as it

was passed on to them. They fused various expressions of karate together and also gained both technical and

cultural influences from Chinese systems, Jujutsu and even Judo. These new styles were not ―pure‖ or passed

on in an unchanging way across the centuries; they were a ―mongrel mix‖ of what the founders considered the

best aspects of all their influences. The past masters mixed things together, left things out, and created things

that were their own. This was far from being a ―free for all‖ though. This development of these ―new traditions‖

was done according to the process of Shuhari.

Shuhari is the process through which martial arts are said to evolve. Each syllable represents a specific kanji

character and the process of Shuhari is best explained by looking at the meanings of each individual character.



Shu: The meaning of this character is ―to defend‖ or ―to obey‖. In martial arts, this stage would be the learning

of the fundamentals of our chosen style. The student does not yet have enough knowledge or experience to be

able to effectively deviate from the fundamentals and hence it is important that they strictly adhere to them.Essentially this stage is ―learning by copying‖.

Ha: The meaning of ―Ha‖ is ―to diverge‖ or to ―break away‖. A martial artist who has reached this stage will be

working to find their own personal expression of the fundamentals introduced by the preceding stage. They will

be working out what they feel is most effective and making corresponding changes to their training and

teaching. Essentially this stage is ―learning by experimenting‖.

Ri: The final character means ―to leave‖ or ―to go away‖. At this stage the martial artist has moved away from

the earlier stages of their martial art and – although what they now do can still trace its origins to their early

training – is now uniquely theirs. It has ―left‖ what they originally did and may now need its own name to

adequately define it. Essentially this stage is ―learning by creating‖.

The martial artist who has reached the ―Ri‖ stage will encourage their students

to copy their teachings (Shu) and the whole process begins again.

If you look at the history of the four main styles discussed earlier, you can seethe Shuhari process at work. The masters who formulated the modern styles

started by faithfully copying the teachings of their own masters. At a certain

point, the master develops their own expression of these teachings; and thisincluded the fusing together of various separate methods i.e. different martial

arts styles and alternative expressions of karate. Finally what the master is

doing has moved so far from the original teachings that it has became

something new. This is the point where a new label is needed and, as soon as

that label is given, a new ―style‖ is born.

As I said earlier, this developing of new styles was not a ―free for all‖ and

these new styles were not born of political infighting, financial interest or ego.They came into existence as genuinely new expressions of previous existing

systems. So where does this leave us and how does the idea of styles and Shuhari apply to us today?

As I see it, one of the biggest problems facing karate today, and martial arts generally, is the abandoning of the

Shuhari ideal. I would suggest to you that in the majority of cases ―Shuhari‖ has been replaced with ‖Shu-Shu-Shu‖. The existing styles are frequently regarded as sacrosanct with any minor change being viewed as a form

of heresy. This is not good for karate, it is not in-keeping with what the past masters themselves did, and it is

not inline with traditional practises.

One of the main reasons for ―Shu-Shu-Shu‖ becoming so prevalent is the modern disconnect between problem

and solution. The past masters originally sought what they considered to be the best solution to the problem of violence. A problem arose when martial artists stopped measuring against efficiency in combat and started

introducing artificial criteria such as ―style purity‖. Whether something was ―good‖ or not was no longer

measured against its efficiently in combat, but instead ―good‖ was always measured against how close any

given motion was to a rigid ―style criteria‖. The element of ―ha‖ or ―divergence‖ was actively discouraged,

even if that divergence would increase combative efficiency. ―Shu‖ – or the ability to strictly copy a teacher‘s

movements – was all that the grading system rewarded and is all that people trained for.

This problem can perhaps be seen most clearly when discussing kata. The original purpose of kata was to

record and communicate combative techniques and concepts. Kata could be viewed as a set of instructions or a

syllabus that would guide a practitioner‘s study and practise. Kata is the map to guide the student through the

landscape of conflict. The trouble has been that people stopped trying to navigate their way through conflict and

started endlessly copying maps instead! It mattered little if people could ―utilise the map in the territory‖ so

long as they were able to accurately copy out the map.



The actually expression of the combative principles within kata became an irrelevance. The goal changed. It

was now all about faithful copying and keeping the kata ―pure‖. Those who navigated the territory and, as a

result of their experience, suggested updating the map were condemned as heretics. The map was no longer

something functional, but a work of art to be copied and admired, but not understood or used.

In all fields it is very important that we faithfully and accurately understand the teachings and findings of the

previous generation. This information is invaluable as it removes the need for each generation to start from

scratch. If we always had to start from scratch, each generation would have to start with fire and the wheel and

hence humanity would make no progress.

In the field of physics, school children throughout the world learn Sir Isaac Newton‘s laws of motion. There is

no need to rediscover these laws as the work has already been done. Some students may go on to study physics

at a high level and eventually work at the cutting edge of the field. They aim to come up with better theories to

explain the physical universe. In doing so they are seeking what Newton himself sought. They are honouring

him by building on his research. They would not honour him if they abandoned the search he was key part of

and instead sought to preserve the ―infallible equations‖ of ―Newton-Ryu‖.

In the martial arts, ―styles‖ can become a barrier to progress if they are viewed as something that must always

be preserved and can never be deviated from. This preservation prevents the process of Shuhari, diverts us fromthe quest that the masters themselves were on, can prevent improvements in combative efficiently, and will

ultimately lead to the stagnation and death of the ―style‖. Styles are not sacrosanct and it is important that we

allow karate to live and to evolve.

The styles that have been handed down to us are invaluable. They form the

basis of what we do and we should be incredibly grateful to the founders of

these styles for ensuring we don‘t have to start from the beginning. We should

faithfully copy their teachings so we gain a good understanding of their own

discoveries. However, there will eventually come a point where we should

continue to copy the example of the founders of these styles and introduce our

own expression of the core concepts. Eventually we may even do what theydid and go on to formulate and teach our own personal expression of karate.

Using ―style purity‖ to stifle growth is not ―traditional‖ and is bad for karate as

a whole. We can see evidence of this in the loss on combative efficiency that

―form over function‖ karate has produced. We should return to seeing styles as

being the foundation study that eventually frees us to express karate in our own

way. We should be constantly striving to better understand the problem of

violence and improve on the solutions offered by previous generations. If we

can make such an improvement it is because of the superb job the past masters

did in preparing us to do just that. We are in no way suggesting we are ―better than them‖ when we suggest

improvements. We are acknowledging their genius when we suggest improvements!

To use what I think is a very apt quotation from English author John of Salisbury (1159), ― We are like dwarfs

on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of

any sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up

by their giant size‖. We do the past masters a great disservice if we allow ourselves to be lifted up by them only

to close our eyes! Karate should evolve and styles are at their most valuable when they facilitate effective

evolution by passing on what the previous generation discovered so we can use it as our base. Sadly, the

prevailing view of styles today, far from effectively facilitating evolution, actually prevents that evolution and

encourages stagnation.

I am in agreement with Mabuni and Funakoshi when they said that all karate was one. That does not mean that

all expressions of karate should be exactly the same or unchanging. Instead it means that all the various

expressions are simply braches of the same tree. When a tree grows it produces new branches. These new



branches are good for the health of the whole tree. Like a tree, karate will be at its most healthy when allowed

to grow.

Back to Articles

The Pinan / Heian Series

as a Fighting System: Part One

The Pinan / Heian series are often the first katas taught in the majority of modern dojos. This can lead to the

Pinan / Heian katas being thought of as nothing more than introductory forms that are really only suitable for

children and junior grades. However, it is my belief that the Pinan / Heian katas are grossly undervalued and do

in fact represent a coherent fighting system in their own right. It is this viewpoint that we will be exploring inthis series of articles.

It was Anko Itosu who developed the Pinan / Heian katas. Itosu was born in the Shuri Region of Okinawa in the

1830s. In Gichin Funakoshi's book, ' Karate-do Nyumon ', Anko Itosu is described as being of average height

with a huge chest that gave him 'the silhouette of a barrel.' Funakoshi goes on to say that despite Itosu's long

flowing beard he had the face of an innocent child. It is also said that Itosu possessed great physical strength -

in particular his grip strength was said to be exceptional - and that he was a very able martial artist.

The word 'Pinan' is made up of two ideograms. The original Okinawan pronunciation of the first ideogram is

'pin', whereas the Japanese pronounce it 'hei.' Wado-Ryu & Shito-Ryu practitioners tend to favour the

Okinawan pronunciation of 'Pinan', whereas Shotokan stylists favour the Japanese pronunciation of 'Heian'.Regardless of favoured pronunciation, the word 'Pinan' means, 'peaceful mind'.

In 'Karate-Do Kyohan' Gichin Funakoshi, who was a student of Itosu's, said that the name 'Pinan' was chosen

for the series because once these katas have been mastered, the karateka can be confident in their ability to

defend themselves in most situations. If this is true, it would mean that the Pinan series would need to include

techniques for uses at all ranges of fighting. In addition to the familiar strikes, they would also need to include

throws, takedowns, holds, chokes, locks etc. It is my understanding that the Pinan series does indeed include all

these methods; however, it would be fair to say that these methods are not widely practised.

As mentioned earlier, the Pinan katas are often thought of as training methods for beginners or children and

therefore they are often undervalued by more experienced karateka. One of the reasons for the Pinan seriesbeing viewed in this way is the fact that they were established in the early 1900s, which was around the same

time that Itosu was introducing karate onto the curriculum of Okinawan schools. Some say that the Pinans are

merely watered down versions of the advanced kata and were developed solely for children. If this were the

case then why did Itosu also teach the Pinans to his adult students? Also, why did he choose a name which is

said to be related to the combative function of the katas if they have no combative function?

It is far more likely that Itosu had developed the Pinans over a period of time prior to the introduction of karate

onto the Okinawan school system and meant for them to be a synthesis of his favoured methods. When Itosu

was introducing karate into the Okinawan schools, the Pinans would be the natural choice of kata because they

are relatively short. The main difference between the adults' and children's training would simply be a matter of

approach. The children would be taught the solo forms, without their applications, and would perform them as a

form of group exercise; whereas, the adults would be taught the complete fighting system. As time has passed,

it is the 'children's approach' that has became the most widely practised.






In addition to the change in emphasis from fighting skills to group exercise, the order in which the Pinan katas

are taught has also changed over time. In the vast majority of today's dojos, it is the second of the series (Pinan

Nidan) which is the first kata taught. The reason for this is that Pinan Shodan is generally accepted as being

technically more demanding than Pinan Nidan. This difference in technical difficulty prompted Gichin

Funakoshi to rename 'Heian Nidan' as 'Heian Shodan' and vice-versa so that within Shotokan the names for the

forms reflect the modern order of teaching. So why did Itosu choose the order for the series that he did? Why

was Pinan Shodan (now Heian Nidan in Shotokan) originally the first one taught?

As we have already discussed, in most of today's dojos the Pinan / Heian series are practised as a form of

exercise, and the modern teaching order of the katas reflects their relative technical difficulty. So what was

Itosu's original order based upon if not their technical difficulty? It is my belief that Itosu designed the Pinan /

Heian series to be a coherent fighting system and that the original order of the katas reflects the order in which

these fighting methods should be taught i.e. the first stages of the fight are taught first.

If allowed to progress, a physical altercation will generally go through a series of stages: Pre-fight (verbal

exchanges, aggressive body language), limbs coming into range (strikes, attempted grabs etc), grips being

established, and finally grappling. Not every single fight will progress in exactly this way, but it should be

obvious that a grip cannot be established until limbs come into range, and there will be no grappling until some

kind of grip has been established. We should always aim to end fights as soon as possible so that the fight doesnot progress. Therefore, when teaching self-protection, it makes sense that we should deal with the earliest

stages of the fight first. I believe this is the approach adopted by Itosu when formulating the Pinan Series.

The pre-fight ritual (aggressive language, posturing, controlling distance etc) would not be effectively recorded

within a kata and should be something taught prior to a student leaning 'fighting skills'. Therefore, if my theory

is correct, the original order of the Pinan series should deal with the initial exchange of limbs first; they should

then progress to dealing with grips being established; and finally move on to techniques for use when grappling.

This is exactly what the Pinan series does when taught and practised in the original order.

Upon analysis of the applications of the five Pinan katas, we can see that Pinan Shodan (Heian Nidan in

Shotokan) contains techniques that predominately deal with the initial exchange of limbs. Pinan Nidan (HeianShodan) predominately covers techniques that follow on from the initial grip. This includes techniques where

you have grabbed an opponent, and techniques to counter an opponent's grip. Pinan Sandan is a grappling kata

that includes a number of throws, takedowns, locks and other grappling techniques that can be utilised when

you and the opponent are locked in a clinch. Over this series of articles we will see that by the end of the first

three katas we have techniques that can be applied at all stages of a fight; exactly as the name 'Pinan' is said to

represent. So what do Yodan and Godan teach?

In addition to the main progression based on the stages of a live fight, the Pinan series also includes a sub-

progression based upon the relative technical difficulty of the applications. This is not to be confused with the

technical difficulty of the solo performance of the katas, although the relative difficulties are not unrelated.

Both Yodan and Godan build on the techniques and concepts introduced in the first three forms. In generalterms, Yodan introduces some more advanced techniques and ideas - including how these concepts can be used

in combination - and Godan develops these ideas yet further to include yet longer combinations and transitions.

In each of these articles we will look at some examples from each of the Pinan / Heian katas to illustrate just

how wide ranging they are in terms of their content, and to observe the progression in ranges and technical

difficulty that we have just discussed. If you'd like a detailed look at the applications for the entire Pinan /

Heian series, please see my video, ' Bunkai-Jutsu Volume 1: The Pinan / Heian Series'.

In this first part, we will look at a couple of applications from Pinan Shodan (Heian Nidan) that will help us to

understand the progression which is central to understanding the whole Pinan series. The most frequently

occurring motion in Pinan Shodan is the Shuto-uke or 'Knife-Hand Block'. This movement is performed in a

number of differing ways depending upon the style of karate being practised. However, regardless of the exact

details, the Shuto-uke's primary purpose is to deflect and trap the opponent's arms before delivering a disabling

http://www.iainabernethy.com/videos/videos_karates_bunkai_jutsu1.asp






strike. Pinan Shodan is primarily about the initial exchange of limbs and it is therefore not surprising that

Shuto-uke occurs so frequently within it.

For the purposes of this article we will look at two applications of the Shuto-ukes that are performed at forty-

five degrees. As you may already know, the reason the techniques are performed at an angle is to instruct the

kata's practitioner that they should be at that angle, in relation to their opponent, when applying the technique.

The opponent has attacked with a telegraphed wild swing. The karateka has shifted to a forty-five degree angle

so that they are off the line of attack. As an additional measure, both arms are brought up in an instinctive cover

in order to further reduce the chances of the opponent's strike landing (Fig 1). When the karateka feels the

opponent's arm collide with theirs, the left arm wraps around the opponent's arm and then continues to pull

them in the direction of the punch so that they are moved off balance. A strike is then delivered to the base of

the opponent's skull (Fig 2).

We can also utilise the Shuto-ukes at forty-five degrees should we shift to the outside. The opponent's arm hasbeen parried across as the karateka shifts to a forty-five degree angle. This motion will limit any follow up from

the opponent and will position the karateka to deliver a follow-up strike (Fig 3). The instant the karateka is in

position, a strike is delivered to the base of the opponent's skull (Fig 4).



We can see how the two applications we have looked at from Pinan Shodan (Heian Nidan) deal with the initial

exchange of limbs and that they ensure that the karateka gains an advantage over the opponent. What we can

already see is that the first kata of the series (in the original order) contains techniques for the first stages of thefight. This is primarily, although not exclusively, what Pinan Shodan addresses. There are a small number of

techniques in Pinan Shodan that move on from this stage of the fight; however all those techniques are very

simple to apply. What we can say is that all the applications of Pinan Shodan (Heian Nidan) are the kind of

techniques that we would initially teach to beginners. The techniques of Pinan Shodan either deal with the first

stages of the fight, or are simple enough to be applied by those with relatively little skill and experience. Hence,

so long as we are interested in the practical application of the Pinan / Heian series and not just theirperformance, we can begin to see the logic behind the original order of teaching.

Once the techniques recorded in Pinan Shodan have been thoroughly understood, we should then move on to

slightly more demanding methods (all techniques in the series are relatively straight forward, as is required for

combative effectiveness) and techniques that address in more detail the subsequent stages of the fight. As weshall see in the second part of this series of articles, it is exactly those kinds of methods that Pinan Nidan (Heian

Shodan) records.


as a Fighting System: Part Two

In the first part of this series we examined how the Pinan / Heian katas represents a complete fighting system

that contains techniques for use at all stages and all ranges of a fight. We also discussed that whilst the order in

which the forms are taught today is based upon the relative technical difficulty of the solo performance of thekatas (Pinan Nidan first), the original order is mainly based upon the progression of a live fight (Pinan Shodan

first). If allowed to progress, a physical altercation will generally go through a series of stages: Pre-fight (verbal



exchanges, aggressive body language), limbs coming into range (strikes, attempted grabs etc), grips being

established, and finally grappling.

Pinan Shodan (Heian Nidan in Shotokan) predominately deals with the initial exchange of limbs. In part one,

we saw a couple of applications from Pinan Shodan that illustrated this idea. We will now move on to discuss a

couple of the applications of Pinan Nidan (Heian Shodan) kata. This kata progresses from the initial exchange

of limbs and mainly deals with techniques that can be used when a grip has first become established. This can

either mean you securing a grip on the opponent, or the opponent securing a grip on you.

The very first movement in the form deals with a surprise attack from the rear. Because you have been taken by

surprise, you have been unable to deal with the initial exchange of limbs and the opponent has secured a grip

around the tops of your arms. After distracting the opponent with either a rear head-butt, stamp to the feet,

reaching back and grabbing the testicles etc, wrap your fingers around the opponent's index finger (Fig 1). Bend

the opponent's finger back and raise your arms in order to break their grip (Fig 2). Assume long cat stance -

which will position you so that your elbow is in line with the opponent's centre line - and deliver a rear elbow

strike (Fig 3). A hard strike anywhere along the opponent's centreline is likely to do significant damage.

In part one, we saw how the shuto-uke or 'knife-hand block' can be used to redirect an opponent's attempted

grab and open them up for a strike. If we have been unsuccessful at avoiding an opponent's attempt to grab us,

Pinan Nidan (Heian Shodan) contains techniques we can use at that stage of the fight.

The opponent has managed to secure a grip upon your clothing. The 'rising head block' can be used to counter

this grip (Fig 4). Trap the opponent's wrist (as in hikite) and strike the inside of the opponent's upper forearm

using your free arm. As you deliver the strike, step backward into Zenkutsu-dachi (basic front stance) in order

to put bodyweight into the strike and to position the body so that you are less vulnerable to being struck by the

opponent's head. This movement will cause the opponent's head to shoot forwards and turn. The opponent's free



hand will also be made to shoot backward. This will prevent the opponent from effectively delivering any rear

hand strike (Fig 5). The 'rising block' is then performed. The forearm will hit the opponent's jaw as their head

drops forward (be very careful in practice). This is a very powerful strike that requires little skill in the way of

accuracy because the forearm is such a large striking weapon and the opponent's most likely response is

considered (Fig 6).

The examples so far show how movements from Pinan Nidan (Heian Shodan) can be used when the opponent

has grabbed you. The kata also contains numerous techniques that can be used when you have secured a grip on

the opponent. The following technique is an application of the 'lower-blocks' and punches found after the three

'rising blocks'.

During the fight, your arms have clashed with the opponent's arm. You have seized the opponent's wrist and

positioned your forearm above their elbow (Fig 7). Pull the opponent's hand to your waist as you rotate their

forearm. Keep your forearm in contact with the opponent's arm and push down and around in an arcing fashion.

As you rotate the opponent's forearm, the position of their elbow will also rotate. It is for this reason that your

pushing arm must move in an arc in order to keep applying pressure to the correct point. This rotation of the

arm makes it very difficult for the opponent to resist the lock due to the constantly changing direction of the

force. Step around with your back foot in order to add bodyweight to the technique and to increase your

mechanical advantage. This is the application of the 'lower-block' (Fig 8). In Wado-Ryu and Shito-Ryu the

technique is normally performed at a forty-five degree angle. In Shotokan it is performed at a ninety degree

angle. Both work. Now that the opponent is off balance and their head has dropped down, you should seize the

opponent's shoulder and apply a downward pressure. This will ensure that you maintain control over theopponent and it will prevent them from regaining an upright position. Step forwards and deliver a strike to the

base of the opponent's skull (Fig 9).



In part one of this series of articles, we discussed the background to the Pinan / Heian Series and saw how

Pinan Shodan (Heian Nidan) contains techniques for use during the initial stage of the fight where the limbs are

being freely exchanged. If the fight progresses beyond the free exchange of limbs, the next stage tends to be the

establishment of an initial grip. As we have seen, it is this stage of the fight that Pinan Nidan (Heian Shodan)

predominately focuses on. Once a grip has been firmly established it is normal for the fight to quickly move

into grappling / fighting from a clinch. As we shall see in part three, Pinan / Heian Sandan is a grappling kata

that contains many techniques for use at that range. It is hoped that you are beginning to appreciate the logical

progression of the Pinan series, the highly effective techniques they contain, and that this series of katas does

indeed represent a coherent fighting system.

Go to Part 3


as a Fighting System: Part Three

Welcome to part three of this series of articles. In the first part of this series we looked at the background of the

Pinan / Heian katas and discussed how they are said to represent a coherent fighting system that contains

techniques for use at all stages and all ranges of a fight. We also discussed that the modern order in which the

forms are taught is based upon the technical difficulty of the solo performance of the forms; whereas the

original order (Pinan Shodan / Heian Nidan first) is based upon stages of a live fight. If allowed to progress, aphysical altercation will generally go through a series of stages: Pre-fight (verbal exchanges, aggressive body

language), limbs coming into range (strikes, attempted grabs etc), grips being established, and finally grappling.

http://www.iainabernethy.com/articles/Pinan3.asp





In part one, we saw how Pinan Shodan (Heian Nidan in Shotokan) predominately deals with the initial

exchange of limbs. In part two, we saw how Pinan Nidan (Heian Shodan) moves on to deal with techniques that

can be applied once the initial grip has been established. In part three, we will look at what happens next and

how Pinan / Heian Sandan is in fact a grappling form that deals with techniques that can be used when fighting

from a clinch.

This first application we shall look at is how the first seven moves of Pinan / Heian Sandan map out an arm-

lock and a takedown that flows on from an attempt to seize the throat, groin or eyes whilst fighting from a

clinch.

The opponent has seized your wrist in order to prevent you from attacking their groin (Fig 1). Reach across and

seize your opponent's elbow (Fig 2). Rotate your seized arm upwards as you pull the opponent's elbow towards

you. You will recognise this motion as the first 'block' of the kata (Fig 3).

Straighten your legs, pull down on the opponent's wrist and push up on their elbow. This will lock the

opponent's shoulder. This movement is the application of the simultaneous 'lower-block' and 'outer-block' (Fig

4). The kata then proceeds to map out all remaining ways in which your wrist could be seized (left, right, hand

up, hand down etc). It's a bit lengthy to explain here, but if you watch the first video in my Bunkai-Jutsu series,

you can see it fully explained on there. Once the various options have been mapped out, the kata concludes the

sequence with a ninety-degree turn to the front. This motion is informing us that, regardless of the initial grip,

we should turn ninety-degrees, whilst continuing to rotate the opponent's arm, in order to force the opponent

onto the floor (Fig 5).




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Later on in the form, we have the one-hundred and eighty degree turn with the hands being placed on the hip.

We then step forward with the right foot into horse-stance and execute a 'forearm block'. The application of this

technique is a headlock followed by a cross-buttocks throw. We can again see how Pinan / Heian Sandan is a

grappling form.

From the clinch shown, secure the back of the opponent's head and push your body forwards in order to head-

butt the opponent. On the head-butt, you should ensure that you hit the opponent below their eyebrows, with the

area above your eyebrows (Fig 6). Keep a tight hold of the opponent's triceps as you turn your body and feed

your right arm around the back of the opponent's neck. Pull on the opponent's arm and pull their head in

towards your body so that you secure a strong headlock. As you apply the headlock, bring your rear foot

towards the opponent. This is the application of the turn where the hands are placed on the hips (Fig 7).

Step forwards with your right foot as you push your hips backward so that the left side of your hip is touching

the opponent's body. Pull the opponent in the direction of the step so that their upper-body is bent over your hip



and their feet are lifted off the ground. This is the application of the step forward into horse-stance and the

'forearm block' (Fig 8). It is vital that you push your hips far enough back so that they block the path of the

opponent's legs. Continue to pull with the arms and push with the legs so that the opponent is taken over the

back of your hips and onto the floor (Fig 9). Once the opponent's balance has been broken you should release

your grip otherwise you will end up on the floor. This release is one of the functions of the following 'strike'.

As a grappling kata, Pinan / Heian Sandan contains a number of throws and takedowns. We shall now see how

the end motion can also be applied as a throw (Fig 10). This movement is frequently labelled as a punch and

elbow to the rear. However, this application does not consider the purpose of the turn and the fact that the

punch will be around one foot short of the target. The step up, turn and arm motion are best applied as a hip

throw. From a clinch, you should secure a grip on the opponent's triceps and feed your other arm around the

opponent's back. The step and turn, as recorded in the kata, will correctly position you for the throw. You

should then lift the opponent with your legs and move the arms as per the kata (the 'punch' and 'elbow,) to

throw the opponent over your hip (Fig 11).



Although it is not practical to discuss every application in Pinan Sandan in an article such as this, it is hoped

that the examples that we have covered show how Pinan Sandan is indeed a grappling form. It is also hoped

that you can see the logical progression in ranges as we have examined some of the applications from the first

three Pinan katas. As we have seen, Pinan Shodan (Heian Nidan) predominately deals with the initial exchange

of limbs; Pinan Nidan (Heian Shodan) predominately deals with the initial grip being established; and Pinan /

Heian Sandan covers techniques to be used when fighting from a clinch. So what do Yodan and Godan cover?

As you may remember from part one of this series, in addition to the main progression in content that is based

on the progression of a live fight, the Pinan / Heian series also includes a sub-progression based on the relative

technical difficulty of the applications. Therefore, both Yodan and Godan build upon the techniques and

concepts introduced in the first three forms. In general terms, Yodan introduces some more advanced

techniques and ideas - including how techniques can be used in combination whilst maintaining control over the

opponent - and Godan develops these ideas yet further to include yet longer combinations and transitions. We

will look at some examples from Pinan / Heian Yodan in part four of this series.

Go to Part 4


as a Fighting System: Part Four

Welcome to part four of this series of articles on the Pinan and Heian katas as a fighting system. In the first of

this series of articles, we looked at the background of the Pinan / Heian katas and discussed how they are said to

represent a complete fighting system that contains techniques for use at all stages and all ranges of a fight. We

also discussed that whilst the modern order in which the forms are taught is based upon the relative technical

difficulty of the solo performance of the forms, the original order is based upon the progression of a live fight.

We saw in part one how Pinan Shodan (Heian Nidan in Shotokan) predominately deals with the initial

exchange of limbs, in part two we saw how Pinan Nidan (Pinan Shodan) moves on to mainly deal with

techniques that can be applied once the initial grip has been established, and in part three we looked at how

Pinan / Heian Sandan deals with techniques that can be used when fighting from a clinch.

As you may remember from part one of this series, in addition to the main progression in content - which is

based on the progression of a live fight - the Pinan Series also includes a sub-progression based on the relative

technical difficulty of the applications. Once a karateka is familiar with the applications of the first three forms,

they will have acquired the fundamental skills for fighting on their feet, regardless of distance (we'll briefly

look at where ground work fits in to the Pinan series in part five). What Yodan and Godan then do is further

develop the skills acquired through the study of the first three forms. In this article, we will look at some of the

applications of Pinan / Heian Yodan and, in particular, show how the form develops the skills needed to

continuously control an opponent's motion at close-range.

The best place to start is probably the first few moves of the form. When we look at this application, you will

notice how the opponent is continuously controlled and how the technique requires a marginally greater skill

level then the techniques recorded in the first three katas in the Pinan / Heian series.

The first two moves of the form are identical apart from the fact that they are performed on opposite sides. The

first movement shows what should be done if the opponent's right hand was trapped. The second movement

shows what position should be assumed if the opponent's left hand was trapped. The third and forth movements

obviously follow on from the second movement and would need to be reversed if it was the right hand that was

trapped.

We shall show the application of this sequence assuming it is the left hand that has been trapped, as this isprobably the easiest to follow. During the fight, the opponent's left wrist has been seized. Move to the outside,

so that you are sideways to the opponent. Remember that a sideway motion in a kata means that you should be

sideways relative to the opponent when applying that technique. Place the edge of your free hand just above the

opponent's elbow joint. This is the application of the initial 'open-handed block' (Fig 1). Pull on the opponent's






wrist as you push just above their elbow joint. Simultaneously shift your weight in the direction of the pull (as

per the kata) in order to enhance the execution of the technique. This will cause the opponent to instinctively

move away from the lock and will position their head directly in front of you (Fig 2). Seize the opponent's

shoulder in order to prevent them from moving or regaining an upright position. Your bodyweight is then

shifted forwards as a punch is delivered to the base of the opponent's skull. The grab and strike being the

application of the 'lower cross-block' (Fig 3).

On the application we have just discussed, you will notice how we shift our weight in order to enhance the

effect of both the lock and the punch. You will also notice how the arm-lock is used to control the opponent's

motion and to position them for the following strike. Control over the opponent is never lost and this is one of

the key principles developed by this form.

The next example we shall look at is a technique that can be used when the opponent has seized your clothing.

This combination requires a greater skill level than the more direct methods for dealing with grips that are

found in Pinan Nidan (Heian Shodan). Therefore, this particular method is not introduced until first the three

katas are understood and the student has grasped the more fundamental methods. Once again, you will also

notice how the opponent is continuously controlled.

This technique is the application of the sequence where the hands are stacked above one another prior to the

delivery of a simultaneous kick and an extension of the arm. The sequence is performed at ninety-degrees

which, as we have already discussed, means that you should be at ninety-degrees to your opponent when

applying the technique. The opponent has managed to secure a grip on your clothing (Fig 4). At this point theopponent's back hand is posing the greatest danger. Seize the opponent's hand and turn to the side. This will

move you out of the line of any punch and will lock the opponent's arm (Fig 5). Notice how the turn to the side



is a fundamental part of the movement that lessens the chances of you being hit whilst disadvantaging the

opponent.

The kata then tells us to pull the opponent back by their hair whilst a simultaneous kick is delivered to the knee

(Fig 6). In the Wado-Ryu and Shito-Ryu versions of the form, a front kick is executed and the hair pull is

labelled as a 'lower-block'. In the Shotokan version of the form, a side kick is executed and the hair pull is

labelled as a 'back-fist strike'. Both versions work well and are effectively interchangeable. Following the kick

and pull, the opponent's head is then controlled and an elbow strike is delivered to the opponent's jaw (Fig 7).

We can see how Yodan helps to develop the skills needed to continuously control an opponent as you move

from technique to technique.

Pinan Yodan contains a great many combination techniques that continuously control the opponent and I'd refer

you to the first volume of my Bunkai-Jutsu video series if you'd like to learn some more. However, it is hopedthat the two examples shown in this article will help to illustrate the progression beyond the more fundamental

methods introduced in the first three Pinan / Heian katas.











In the final part of this series of articles, we will look at some of the combinations found in Pinan / Heian

Godan. As you will see, Godan contains the most advanced techniques in the Pinan / Heian series.

Go to Part 5


as a Fighting System: Part Five

Welcome to the final part of this series of articles on the Pinan / Heian katas as a fighting system. So far in this

series we looked at the background of the Pinan katas and discussed that they are said to represent a complete

fighting system that contains techniques for use at all stages and all ranges of a fight. We also discussed that

whilst the modern order in which the Pinan series are taught is based upon the relative technical difficulty of the

solo performance of the forms, the original order is based upon the progression of a live fight.

We have seen how Pinan Shodan (Heian Nidan in Shotokan) predominately deals with the initial exchange of

limbs; how Pinan Nidan (Pinan Shodan) moves on to deal with techniques that can be applied once the initial

grip has been established; we looked at how Pinan / Heian Sandan deals with techniques that can be used when

fighting from a clinch; and we saw how Pinan Yodan introduces more advanced techniques and the more

sophisticated use of techniques in combination.

In this final article, we will examine some of the applications of Pinan / Heian Godan. As the final stage of the

Pinan / Heian system, you will see how Godan contains the longest transitions of the whole series. We will see

how the kata teaches us how to blend techniques together as we move from technique to technique and from

range to range. A good example of this type of transition is the sequence flowing on from the 'lower cross-

block'.

An attempt to crush the opponent's testicles is checked (Fig 1). Quickly place your free arm under the

opponent's wrist. This is the application of the 'lower cross-block' (Fig 2). Pull your arms towards you in order

to cause pain and lock the wrist (Fig 3).






The opponent will instinctively rise onto their toes in an attempt to alleviate the pain. Thrust both hands upward

in order to break the opponent's grip. Keep contact with the opponent's arm in order to maintain control. This

stripping action is the application of the 'upper cross-block' (Fig 4). Push down strongly on the opponent's

elbow as you apply a slight upward pressure on the wrist. Depending upon the style, this movement is either

performed to the front or to the side. There is little difference between the two methods in terms of the actual

effect (Fig 5).



Keep hold of the opponent's wrist. Pull your hand to your hip, as a punch is delivered to the base of the

opponent's skull (Fig 6). Seize the opponent's shoulder in order to maintain control over the opponent's motion

and step forward to deliver a final strong blow (Fig 7).

By examining the previous example from Pinan / Heian Godan we can see that this combination is longer than

the ones seen in the other Pinan / Heian katas. This again reflects the logical progression of the whole series. It

would make little sense to practise such transitions if a student did not have a firm grasp of the fundamentals

that were introduced by the first three katas, and the more advanced principles and combinations introduced by

Pinan / Heian Yodan.

We shall now look at another more advanced transition found in Pinan Godan. In this sequence, we will see a

trapping and striking motion, move into a throw and finally the sequence is completed with a ground-fighting

arm-lock. This sequence is commonly labelled as a 'reinforced block' followed by a 'rising punch' and then a

jump into 'lower cross-block'.



During the dialogue stage of the altercation, the opponent has managed to secure both your wrists (Fig 8).

Rotate your right hand so that the gap between the opponent's thumb and fingers is upwards. Use your left hand

to slap the inside of the opponent's wrist as you drive upwards with your right hand. This will trap the

opponent's hand, free your right hand, and allow you to deliver an uppercut strike to the opponent's chin. This

movement is the application of the 'reinforced block' (Fig 9).

Pull your left hand back and grab the opponent's left wrist. Take your right hand under the opponent's arm. This

movement is the application of the 'rising punch' (Fig 10). Execute a shoulder throw (Fig 11).

As soon as the opponent is on the floor, wrap your arm around your opponent's arm. Cut into the opponent's

elbow with your forearm in order to bend their arm (Fig 12). Trap the opponent's arm under your armpit. Place

your right hand on the opponent's upper arm, just below their elbow joint. Grab the wrist of your right hand

with your left hand. This grip will lock the opponent's arm into position (Fig 13). Take your right leg over the

opponent's body. Turn your body ninety-degrees to twist the opponent's Humerus outside its natural range of



motion. This lock is the function of the 'lower cross-block'. Notice how the reverse cat-stance prevents the

opponent from shuffling around and alleviating the pressure (Fig 14).

Throughout this series of articles we have seen how the Pinan / Heian katas are far from the 'introductory kata'they are often presented as and that they do in fact represent a coherent fighting system that progresses in a

logical order. We have also seen how the forms cover the various ranges and stages of an altercation. However,

one range we have not covered until this point is fighting on the ground.

The whole subject of using karate techniques on the ground is too lengthy to go into here and I'd refer you to

my books, videos and articles if you'd like to know more. However, for the purposes of this article it should

suffice to say that we can make use of many of the locks, chokes, strikes etc recorded in the Pinan / Heian series

whether we are in a vertical or horizontal position. It should also be understood that in a real situation weshould aim to spend as little time on the ground as possible and therefore the katas prefer to demonstrate their

grappling principles from a vertical position. This is because being vertical is the preferred option and the katas

always endeavour to encourage the correct strategy. With this in mind, you'll appreciate why the Pinan / Heian

series leaves it until the final form in the series to introduce the direct application of a ground-fighting

technique. Only when all the preceding forms have been fully understood will the karateka have a firm grasp of

the technical principles and correct combative strategies to make the use of such a technique effective and

appropriate to the circumstances.

In the first part of this series, we found out that the word 'Pinan' or 'Heian' (same word, differing pronunciation)

means 'peaceful mind.' It is said that the creator of these katas, Anko Itosu, chose this name to reflect the fact

that once the Pinan / Heian Series and their applications have been mastered, the karateka can be confident in

their ability to defend themselves in most situations. I definitely believe this to be the case.















The Okinawan school children were taught the kata so that they could gain the benefits of increased discipline

and physical fitness, but the combative meanings of the movements were deliberately obscured in order to

ensure training was safe and appropriate for those of a young age. Therefore terms like "Inner-Block", "Outer-

Block", "Rising-Block" etc stem from the "watered down" children's karate and not the potent fighting art

developed by the warriors of Okinawa .

Karate arrived on mainland Japan at a time where all the martial arts were undergoing a significant change. The

emphasis was shifting from pragmatic fighting skills to sport, character development and physical recreation.

The battlefield systems of Kenjutsu morphed into Kendo, The modern sport of Judo was developed from the

samurai systems of Jujutsu etc. These new "martial ways" were seen as the future of the martial arts in a

modern Japan . Again, this cultural trend also resulted in kata being taught for their own sake, instead of as a

record of combative techniques and principles. The version of karate that spread worldwide was therefore a

version that did not include bunkai study, and made use of the "children's terminology".

The facts we've just covered are fundamentally all the history you need to know to begin your study of kata

application. So if the movements we commonly call "blocks" were originally never intended to be applied as

blocks, what are they?

Although modern karate tends to be practised at long-range, a distance where blocking can work, real fights arevery close and very fast. There simply isn't the time or space to react to an opponent's technique. Blocking is

therefore not a significant part of live situations. The experienced warriors who formulated the kata will have

experienced the ferocity of close-range combat, so they are unlikely to have included much blocking in the

kata. It really is very important to remember that modern labels are not accurate descriptions of function.

In this series of articles, we'll be looking at the basic functions of "the blocks" and examining the fundamental

principles behind these movements. So let's start at the beginning and look at a basic application for one of the

first "blocks" normally taught; the "rising block".

Being a "civilian art", the techniques of the kata deal with the methodology of civilian combat (in contrast to

the methods that would be used on the battlefield or competitive environment). In the civilian environment, onecommon scenario is the opponent seizing the clothing in an attempt to prevent you from fleeing, to maintain

punching distance (stop you moving back), or intimidate you.

Obviously, you should do everything you can to prevent the opponent getting a grip on you, but if they do, you

can use the "rising block" motion to incapacitate the opponent.



The Basics of Bunkai: Part 2

In this second article, we'll be looking at the basic application (bunkai) for the knife-hand block or "shuto-uke".

As we established in part one, due to a series of historical events, the modern terms used to label kata

movements are not descriptions of the movement's combative function. We also established the majority of live

situations take place at close-range. At close-range, we do not have the time or space to react to an opponent's

actions and therefore blocking is of little use. The kata were created to record and rehearse the techniques and

concepts of close-range civilian altercations. We can therefore see that despite the modern labels, the kata are

unlikely to contain any blocks. To be clear, the kata do contain some defensive techniques, but nothing that

could be accurately described as a block. So what is the function of the movement now labelled as "knife-hand

block" if it's not a block?

When we examined the use of "rising block" in part one, we saw how the hand on the hip played an important

function and is held there for a good reason. We also established that all parts of the movement have

importance and function. When modern karateka look at the "knife-hand block", they often fail to consider why

the "blocking hand" is first pulled past the ear, why the other hand is moved forwards, and why it should come

to rest across the chest. If the movement was meant to be a block, none of those actions are relevant. So why do

we perform the movement in the way we do? As we'll see, the movement is not a block and all parts play a part

in disabling an opponent.

One of the reasons the knife-hand block appears so frequently in kata is that this important movement can be

applied in many ways (we'll cover the idea of multiple function in later articles). In this article we will look at

two ways the knife-hand block can be used when the opponent's arms come into contact with yours. At close

range, the lack of distance and the amount of "traffic" means that arms bouncing off one another is not at all

uncommon. In my experience, this clash of arms is particularly likely when you are covering up and shifting

forwards in an attempt to get inside punching range and tie up the opponent's limbs. Sometimes no contact will

be made and you can go straight for a clinch. Other times, the arms will clash with the opponent's and at this

point the "knife-hand block" can be used.

The arms will essentially clash in two ways: an "outside clash" (where your hand is to the outside of theopponent's), or an "inside clash" (where your clashing hand is to the inside).

Version 1: Outside Clash

The arms have clashed and this provides the stimulus to execute the technique (Figure 1). Upon feeling the

clash, slap down the opponent's elbow as you move your other arm back (Figure 2). It is important to slap the

elbow as opposed to the wrist otherwise complete control of the arm is not gained and the opponent may still be

able to elbow you. Pushing on the elbow will give you momentary control of the arm, prevent the opponent

from effectively turning their body into a backhand punch and open them up for the following strike.

Shift your weight forward whilst keeping your hand on the opponent's elbow. Because the opponent's arm is outof the way, you could have relatively little trouble delivering a forearm strike into the base of the opponent's

skull (Figure 3).



has innumerable flaws. However, as we'll start to explain in part three, the movement can be used as a control

and strike, a choke, a shoulder lock and a wrist lock.

I hope this article has got you reappraising "knife-hand block" and has helped introduce you to some more basic

elements of bunkai training.


In this series of articles we are exploring the basics of kata application (bunkai). Theaim of these articles is to open up this fascinating area of martial study for those whoare relatively new to karate and similar arts, or who are new to bunkai study.

Earlier in this series, we established that at close-range blocking is highly unlikely towork (too close and too fast). We also covered that the kata motions now labelled as"blocks" in modern dojos, were never originally intended to be used as blocks.

The "x-block" is perhaps one of the most obviously flawed techniques should it beapplied as a block. The most common modern interpretation of the movement isthrusting both arms downward to stop a kick or low punch. It is highly unlikely that thiswould work. Even if we do manage to get our arms to the opponent's striking limb, itleaves the head dangerously exposed and, in the case of a kick, it is very likely to resultin damage to the blocker's arms. It is very unlikely that the warriors who formulated thekata would have even considered the use of such a technique. So if they weren't usingthe motion as a block, what where they using it for?

As we'll see, the motion now labelled as "x-block" has a number of differing applications

depending upon the exact way in which the technique is performed and the context of the kata (what moves are before and after it). One of the first uses we'll look at is usingthe "x-block" to strangle an opponent.

You have wrapped the opponent's arm and gained control of the back of the neck(Figure 1). Head-butt the opponent in order to distract and weaken them (Figure 2).Quickly place your hand on the back of the opponent's head and push down (Figure 3).Feed your other arm across the back of the opponent's neck and continue to push down(Figure 4). Use your free arm to reach underneath and grab the opponent's clothing.Pull on the clothing to effect a strangle (Figure 5). IMPORTANT: Never practise chokes

or strangles unless you are under the direct supervision of a suitably qualified andexperienced person.



In the photo, you'll notice that my body position is identical to the "x-block" in manykata. Also notice how the front stance prevents you from being easily pushed over anddrops your weight into the technique. One of the basic rules of bunkai study is that thestance always serves a practical purpose and adds to the effect and efficiency of thetechnique.

"X-block" is also often performed in kata from reverse cat stance.

If we stick with looking at the motion from a stranglingperspective, assuming reverse cat stance will drop the weight yetfurther, and although there will be some loss of stability, this isoffset by the fact that the opponent's posture is greatly disruptedand the effects of the strangle are increased (Figure 6).

Before we move on to look at some alternative applications for themotion, I'd like to quickly mention the role of the grip and thehead-butt. One of the other keys to understanding kata is that they only record the vitalcore information. Supporting knowledge such as basic gripping skills and anunderstanding of the importance of disrupting an opponent prior to a technique (thistime in the form of a head-butt) are generally not shown for two main reasons: Firstly,the kata were designed by fighters for other fighters. They therefore assume that suchknowledge is self-evident and therefore there is no need to repeatedly record it.Secondly, the kata are summaries of fighting systems. Hence it would make little senseto repeatedly show the same ideas over and over and "swell" the kata for no gain. We'llreturn to this idea later in this series. For now, it's enough to understand that a basicknowledge of supporting methods and concepts are required as part of your kata /

bunkai study.

We've now seen two ways in which the "x-block" can be used to

strangle an opponent unconscious (there are others). Another wayin which kata makes use of the "x-block" motion is to maintainadvantage and strike an opponent should they be bent at the waist(many of the kata motions preceding "x-blocks" position theopponent in that way). One hand seizes the opponent's shoulder andapplies a downward pressure. This will momentarily control theopponent's motion and allow the other hand to powerfully andaccurately strike the opponent on the base of the skull (Figure 7).

In Part 3 we've looked at some of the basic bunkai (application) of the "x-block". There

are of course other ways in which the motion can be used in a practical way. In Part 4,we'll continue our exploration of basic bunkai and show how "x-block" can also be usedto take an opponent to the floor and to lock up the joints of the arm.



Click HERE to be taken to Part 4


Welcome to the fourth part of the basic bunkai series. "Bunkai" refers to the analysisand the practical application of the techniques of traditional kata. In previous articles

we've looked at some of the basic applications for common kata movements such asage-uke, shuto-uke and gedan-juji-uke. We've also looked at some of the fundamentalconcepts of bunkai which are the keys to this area of martial study.

In this article we're going to look at more applications of the "lower x-block" from reverse-cat-stance (Figure 1) . In Part 1 of this series weestablished that the modern labels commonly attributed to katamovements have nothing to do with the intended function of thatmovement. Just because a movement is now labelled as a "block", doesnot mean it was originally intended to be applied as a block. In the lastarticle we saw how "lower x-block" could be applied as a strangle, andhow assuming reverse-cat-stance would increase the effect of thatstrangle.

The stances in kata are "snapshots" that show how the bodyweight should be distributedand shifted. I feel that "stance" is sometimes a misleading word because it hasconnotations of something fixed and immobile. In reality, stances are simply the weightdistribution and leg position required at a given instant. There is nothing fixed; thebodyweight shifts through the "stances" as needed.

In addition to the shift in bodyweight, the actual position of the legs of a stance can be

used to control the opponent's motion and hence enhance the effect of the technique.The strangle we showed in Part 3 made used of the weight shift caused by assumingreverse-cat-stance. The joint locking applications of "lower x-block" that we will beexamining in this article will make use of the leg position of reverse-cat-stance tocontrol the opponent's motion. It is hoped that these examples will help those new tobunkai study to understand the key ways in which stances are to be realistically used.

Trap the opponent's arm and deliver a palm heel strike (Figure 2). Maintain a tight gripon the opponent's wrist and slam your forearm down onto the inside of their elbow joint.This will cause the opponent's elbow to bend and can break their balance. Continue the

motion so that you can lock your slamming arm onto the top of your grabbing arm. Shiftforward slightly as you tie up the arm so that the opponent's elbow is against your chest(Figure 3).

http://www.iainabernethy.com/articles/BasicBunkaiPart4.asp





Twist to the side whilst pushing down on the opponent's wrist in order to lock theirshoulder and completely break their balance (Figure 4). The instant the opponent hitsthe floor, drop your knee onto their ribs and pull upwards. This will injure the opponent's

rib cage and take out the wrist (Figure 5).

The leg and arm positions at this point are "lower x-block" and reverse-cat-stance. The assuming of reverse-cat-stance makes use of the

bodyweight during the takedown. The knee hitting the ribs will alsoprevent the opponent from rising as the wrist lock is applied andtherefore the lock will have a far greater effect. We can see how theposition of the knee is controlling the opponent.

During bunkai training it is very important that the function of thestance is always considered and utilised. Reverse-cat-stance can also

be used to prevent the opponent from rotating on the floor. A great example of this isfound in Pinan Godan / Heian Godan kata.

The sequence we are looking at is the one that ends with jump. The kata breaks theopponent's grip on your arms, traps their arms, delivers a strike, and then throws theopponent. Now that the opponent is on the floor, the kata shows how you can followthem onto floor and dislocate their shoulder. The final application of the jump into"lower x-block" from reverse-cat-stance is the technique we'll be examining in thisarticle.

The opponent has been thrown to the floor by the preceding moves(Figure 6). Drop down whilst placing your arm between theopponent's head and arm. Sharply bring your forearm upwards to bendthe opponent's arm (Figure 7). In order to stop the opponent from

pulling their arm away, seize the back of your opponent's arm. Securethe hand on the opponent's arm by grabbing your wrist with your otherarm (Figure 8). If you were to twist the opponent's arm at this point,they would simply turn around and alleviate the pressure on theirshoulder. If, however, you throw your leg on to the other side of theopponent (the purpose of the jump) the opponent can't turn out of the lock and hence itwill be much more effective. The leg position at this point is again reverse-cat-stance(Figure 9).

In Part 4 we've seen a few more examples of how the techniques that are nowadays

mislabelled as "blocks" can be pragmatically used when correctly understood. We'vealso seen more instances of how the stances are used to make techniques as effectiveas possible. The techniques we've looked at in this and the preceding article alsointroduce another fundamental concept of bunkai: the concept of Multiple Function.



In these articles we have seen three differing ways in which "x-block" from reverse-cat-stance can be applied: as a strangle (in Part 3), as a wrist-lock takedown, and as ashoulder-lock. The exact function of any given "x-block" is determined by the kata inquestion and the surrounding techniques i.e. the "x-block" we've just looked at fromGodan can't be the standing strangle shown in Part 3 as the preceding throw means theopponent is not standing.

It is a pretty safe assumption that in the past the intention of any movement would bemore apparent due to the exact way in which the motion was performed. However, askata was being taught without application to large groups, movements were simplified,became more uniform and some specific details were lost. This is not a great problem aslong as we understand the nature of kata and the various methods of application. A keypart of bunkai study is to understand that although various kata movements may lookalike, they don't automatically always have the same application i.e. not all "x-blocks"are to be applied as ground-fighting shoulder locks.

Another key to understanding kata is that they do include generic motions with multiplefunctions. Sometimes a movement is only meant to be applied in one way; other timesit has a few equally valid uses. It is therefore important to understand that some katamovements may have been included with more than one specific function in mind. In1908 Anko Itosu (creator of the Pinan / Heian series of kata) documented his ten keyprinciples of karate. His sixth principle stated, "There are many movements in karate. Intraining, you must try to understand the application of all movements. You must takeinto account all possible applications. Kata movements can have many applications".

There are therefore two key issues to understand when talking about multiple function.Firstly, it is very important that those new to bunkai study don't fall into the trap of thinking that any given movement is applied in the exact same way in every kata (look

at the surrounding movements to gain a clear understanding). Secondly, anothermistake that those new to bunkai study can make is to think that all kata sequencesonly have a single use. Some do only have a single function; however, some have morethan one use. We need to follow Itosu's advice and be sure to fully explore our kata. Thetrick to avoiding both errors is to always examine a movement in the context it ispresented in the kata, and to then explore all the possibilities of that context. We'llreturn to these ideas in future articles.

In Part 5, we'll examine another common kata motion; that of "lower-block". We'll seehow the motion can be applied as an arm-bar and a combination takedown. We'll also

look at a few more basic bunkai concepts that will help you to better understand kataand make use of the information they were created to record.


In this series of articles we've been looking at the basics of "bunkai" (kata application). The purpose of these

articles is to introduce the basics of this important aspect of karate to those relatively new to the martial arts or

bunkai study.

In Part 5 we'll be looking at two applications of the "lower-block". As we established in the first part of thisseries, the modern labels attached to many kata techniques have nothing to do with their intended function.

These labels arose relatively recently in karate's development and originate from the "watered down" karate

taught to Okinawan school children in the early 1900s. Prior to this time, karate was not openly taught and both

the kata and their application were closely guarded secrets. So there was no uniform terminology prior to the



terms used by the school children. So if "lower-block" was never meant to be applied as a block, then what is

it?

"Lower-block" has lots of different functions and which one is being illustrated at any given point depends

upon the kata in question and the surrounding movements. As we discussed in Part 4, prior to the

standardisation of kata not all "lower-blocks" would be performed in exactly the same way. The motion would

be slightly different depending upon what function was being illustrated. From the number of "lower-blocks" in

kata we can determine that the motion must have many functions, otherwise it wouldn't be shown so many

times. In this article, we'll look at using the "lower-block" as a combination takedown and an arm-lock. There

are of course many other applications for "lower-block", but the two I've selected should also help us to further

our understanding of the key concepts of bunkai.

Cover and gain control of the opponent's lead arm (Figure 1). Secure a grip on the opponent's arm. Pull their

arm towards you and down. This pull will turn the opponent's head slightly and ensure your elbow has a clear

run in to the base of the opponent's skull. This is the function of the "preparation" of the "lower-block" (Figure

2). If the elbow has landed strongly, but the opponent is still in the fight, the remainder of the "lower-block"

motion can be used to crank the opponent's neck and take them off balance. Maintain your grip on the

opponent's arm (the function of the hikite) as your forearm pushes against their jaw in a circular motion in order

to crank their neck and break their posture (Figure 3).

Complete the "lower-block" to take the opponent completely off balance and onto your knee (Figure 4). If

needed, you can then follow up with any suitable strike (Figure 5). The fact that your partner's spine or kidneyswill hit your knee as they fall means that great care needs to be taken when practising this technique. You must

also ensure that you are always being supervised by a suitably qualified and experienced person during bunkai

training.



In this technique we can see some of the principles of bunkai that we have introduced in previous articles. We

can see how the full movement is used, how both hands are being used, how the stance serves a practical

purpose, etc.

One other fundamental bunkai concepts illustrated by this movement is that every single kata movement

should, at the very least, leave the opponent in a position where they are extremely vulnerable. It is quite

common for kata movements to be incorrectly interpreted so that no advantage is gained and the karateka is left

in a "neutral" position. You'll notice how this motion has trapped the opponent's arm, struck them, cranked their

neck, dropped their spine on to your knee, and left them in a position where they are extremely disadvantaged.

There are innumerable historical, technical and practical reasons why the motion should not be applied as a

block. One of these reasons is that when this movement is used as a block (taking as read that it's very unlikely

to work, but for the purposes of discussion let's say that it does) you've done nothing to disadvantage the

opponent. This is in breach of one of the fundamental principles of bunkai study: It should always be

remembered that every single kata motion must, as an absolute minimum, disadvantage the opponent and leave

the karateka is a position of significant advantage.

The second application for lower-block that we'll be looking at is an arm-lock performed at an angle. Before we

look at the technique itself, we need to examine what the angles in the kata are actually meant to represent.

It's at this point that we need to dispel the common misunderstanding that the angles in kata represent you

turning to face a new opponent. You are never changing angles to face a new opponent! In the vast majority of

situations the opponent will be in front of you. The main exception being when your awareness wasn't what it

should have been and the opponent has got the drop on you. In those instances you'll probably be out of the

fight before you know you're even in it. So what are the angles representing if not moving to face new

opponents?

When a movement is performed at a new angle, the kata is telling you to position yourself at that angle in

relation to the opponent. Being at the angle demonstrated by the kata will increase the effectiveness of the

technique in question. This is a very important key to understanding kata. The opponent is almost always in

front of you and the angle tells you how you need to be positioned when applying the technique. If a move isperformed at forty-five degrees, it means you must move to a forty-five degree angle to your opponent when

applying that technique.



Because a kata motion will be linked to a preceding technique - which it may not be linked to in application -

the movement of the kata to get to the designated angle is often not the same movement of the feet used in

application. When analysing kata, it is the angle that is important, not the step in the kata used to get there.

Remember, the step in the kata may simply be linking two unrelated techniques.

To illustrate the principle of angles let's look at the "lower-block" after the last "rising-head-block" in Pinan

Nidan / Heian Shodan. As we've already mentioned, the application of this movement is an arm lock performed

at an angle. Your arms have clashed with the opponent's arm (Figure 6). Seize the opponent's wrist and

position your forearm just above their elbow (Figure 7).

Pull the opponent's hand to your waist as you rotate their forearm. Keep your forearm in contact with the

opponent's arm and push down and around in an arcing fashion. As you rotate the opponent's forearm, the

position of their elbow will also rotate. It is for this reason that your pushing arm must move in an arc in order

to keep applying pressure to the correct point. This rotation of the arm makes it very difficult for the opponent

to resist the lock due to the constantly changing direction of the force. Step around with your back foot in order

to add bodyweight to the technique and to increase your mechanical advantage. This is the application of the

"lower-block" (Figure 8). In Wado-Ryu and Shito-Ryu the technique is normally performed at a forty-five

degree angle. In Shotokan it is performed at a ninety degree angle. Both work. Now that the opponent is off

balance and their head has dropped down, you should seize the opponent's shoulder and apply a downward

pressure. This will ensure that you maintain control over the opponent and it will prevent them from regainingan upright position. Step forwards and deliver a strike to the base of the opponent's skull (Figure 9).



Notice how moving to the forty-five or ninety degree angle demonstrated by the kata takes you away from the

opponent's free hand and significantly increases the effect of the arm lock by increasing your mechanical

advantage.

In this article, we've looked a couple of applications for "lower-block" and briefly looked at a couple more

bunkai principles. Those who have been following these articles from the beginning will now be starting to

grasp the basics of bunkai. As we said at the very beginning, understanding kata and taking part in bunkai

training is something that everyone can do. It's not the sole reserve of the highly graded or those who posses the

"secrets". To understand bunkai, all you need to know are the kata and the principles and concepts we've been

covering in this series. In Part 6 we'll look at some specific bunkai examples from the Pinan / Heian series and

begin to recap what we have leant so far.

Click HERE to be taken to Part 6


In this series of articles we've been looking at the basics of "bunkai" (kata application).The purpose of these articles is to introduce the fundamentals of this vitally important

aspect of karate to those relatively new to the martial arts or bunkai study.

In the preceding articles we've looked at the combative applications of some of the morecommon kata motions. We've also explored some of key principles of bunkai which willhelp you make sense of kata. In Part 6 we will begin looking at some specificapplications from the Pinan / Heian series of kata. "Pinan" and "Heian" are simplydiffering pronunciations of the same word. The Japanese pronounce the characters as"Heian" and the Okinawan's favour the pronunciation "Pinan". Idiosyncrasies of styleaside, they are generally the same kata regardless of preferred pronunciation. The Pinan / Heian kata are among the first learnt in many styles and are therefore ideal for thepurposes of these articles.

The Pinan kata were created by karate master Anko Itosu over one-hundred years ago.The kata contain movements from older kata and are effectively a summary of thecombative methods being practised in the Shuri region of Okinawa at the time of theircreation. As we briefly mentioned in part one of this series, a key factor in the evolutionof karate was its introduction to the Okinawan school system. The version of karate thatwas taught to the children was solely about developing health, discipline and character.For the first time kata were taught as a form of exercise. Only the external shell of thekata was passed on and the fighting techniques that kata were developed to recordwere not taught to the children.

Later on in his life, Anko Itosu became a school teacher and he was predominatelyresponsible for introducing karate to the school system. The Pinan series were the mainkata that Itosu taught to the children, and therefore it is sometimes thought that katahave no combative value and were created specifically as a child's exercise program. Athorough examination of the available evidence shows that this view is greatly flawed.

The first thing is the meaning of the word "Pinan". In the book Karate-Do Kyohan,Gichin Funakoshi - the founder of Shotokan Karate and a student of Itosu - explains that"Pinan" translates as "peaceful mind" and that Itosu chose that name because once thefive kata and their applications are fully understood the karateka can be confident of

their ability to defend themselves in most situations. The name of the kata series istherefore said to have been chosen due to the combative nature of their applications.






The second thing to consider is that Itosu also taught the Pinan kata to his adultstudents: a practise that makes little sense if the kata were created solely for children.The Pinans are relatively short and that is probably the only reason why Itosu chose forthem to be the ones taught them to the children (all be it in a watered down fashion).

Thirdly, the motions that make up the Pinan kata are generally taken from older katawhich were created by various Chinese and Okinawan martial artists at a time where

martial arts were overwhelmingly combative in nature.

Finally, and perhaps most compellingly, when the techniques of the Pinan / Heian seriesare analysed it becomes unmistakably clear that the series do indeed represent a wellthought through and coherent combative system in their own right; which is completelyin line with the name Itosu chose for the kata that he created.

This is a series of articles on the basics of bunkai. I therefore don't wish to go into toomuch depth on the whole combative methodology recorded in the Pinan / Heian series,or get into why the series is structured and ordered in the way that it is. What I do wantto do is look at some of the applications of the series, use those applications to reinforcethe principles of bunkai we have already covered and to introduce some new ones.

The first application we'll look at is the opening move of Pinan Shodan / Heian Nidan. Itshould be understood that the first kata of the series (Shodan) was renamed as thesecond (Nidan) in Shotokan to reflect the revised teaching order in most modern dojo.However, Itosu intended for Pinan Shodan (now Heian Nidan in Shotokan) to be the firsttaught.

Because bunkai is frequently not studied to a sufficient depth, many misconceptionsabout the functions of kata movements arise. Some of these misconceptions have

become widespread and are unfortunately now accepted as the "mainstream" or "officialapplication". This happens despite the fact that is abundantly clear that the "officialapplication" is extremely ineffective.

The motion is frequently explained as a block, where the arm in front of the foreheadserves no purpose (Figure 1). The second motion (Figure 2) is said to trap theopponent's second punch in such a way that a hammer-fist strike is delivered to theback of the opponent's elbow. This motion is said to be an "arm break". There areinnumerable flaws with this application; so many in fact that it should be obvious thatthe "mainstream" application was not what Itosu intended.

In this series of articles we've looked at some of the fundamental concepts of bunkai.You'll recall that a move to the side means you need to move sideways relative to theopponent; it does not mean the opponent is to your side. You'll also remember that thevast majority of kata techniques are for use at close range. Kata is also about dealing



with civilian altercations, not the formal attacks found in modern karate dojos. You'llalso remember how we discussed that kata does not contain what are commonlyconsidered as "blocks". We've also established that every part of the kata movementshould serve a purpose. The "official application" fails on all these counts (and quite afew others).

A much better way to view this kata motion is as a shoulder-lock. You have secured a

grip on the opponent's wrist, turned sideways and fed your other arm to the outside of the opponent's arm. This is the function of the first movement (Figure 3). The grip onthe wrist is then released and the opponent's arm pushed down and away. At the sametime the opponent's elbow is pulled in towards you. Your arm motion is exactly thesame as the kata's second motion (Figure 4). This will lock the opponent's shoulder andfrom there they can easily be taken to the floor (Figure 5).

The application we just discussed is completely in line with the concepts of bunkai we'vecovered so far in this series. What is interesting though is that both the flawed "officialapplication" and the more pragmatic one we've just examined are both considered asattacks to the arms. When the applications of kata stopped being widely taught(following the introduction to schools, and later the prevailing Japanese fashion of modifying martial arts to be sports and systems of physical exercises / characterdevelopment), I wonder if a student asked what the first move was for and received thebrief answer "it attacks joints of the arm". Because the principles of bunkai were notwidely taught, and many of the "new wave" of karateka had no combative experience orunderstanding, it is possible that the function of the movement was misunderstood inthe way that has now become so widespread.

My study of bunkai has found numerous examples where the pragmatic application and"official application" share a common theme (in this case they are both said to "attack

the joints of the arm"). For those of us who enjoy researching kata, the ineffectivemainstream applications shouldn't always be completely dismissed as they canoccasionally point us in the right direction of the true applications.

Striking is the core of karate. However, as we've seen throughout this series, bunkaitraining opens up other subsections of traditional karate study. The technique we've justlooked at is one of the core joint-locking movements of karate. In addition to thetechniques of the kata, the older karate texts also reveal the fundamental locking,

strangling and throwing methods that are now missing frommuch of modern practise. When studying bunkai, it must always

be remembered that the kata are not solely about striking.

Another application from Pinan Shodan / Heian Nidan that I'dlike to examine is the "double block" towards the end of the



form. The opponent reaches forwards and grabs your neck in order to keep you off balance and set up a datum for their punch. Quickly slam your forearm down onto theopponent's arm. This will disrupt their posture. The arm motion will also ensure thereare no obstructions to your forearm strike to the opponent's neck (Figure 6).

One of the combative concepts demonstrated by this piece of bunkai is that the handsshould work together with one hand creating opportunities for the other. The hands are

never held in a passive guard or a "ready position" in kata. Guards are for sparring anddistance fighting. At close-range it is better if the hands are put to an active use. Thehands working together in this way is an important key to understanding kata. A hand isnever idle or merely guarding. An inactive hand (one that is not disadvantaging orinjuring the opponent is some way) is called a "shi-te" (pronounced "she-tae") whichtranslates as "dead hand". When studying bunkai you need to ensure that "dead hands"are avoided and the concept of using both hands is consistently applied. This is anotherfundamental concept that needs to be understood if you are to make sense of kata. If you look back across all the bunkai examples that we've examined in this series you'll

see this important principle at work.

In this article, we've introduced some additional information relating to the Pinan /Heian kata, which are generally the first kata studied and where true bunkai trainingbegins. We examined the occasional relationship between the widespread flawedapplications and the more effective bunkai we've been studying in this series. Part 6 hasalso seen us reemphasise the idea that karate has many areas of study in addition tothe core striking skills, and that the kata is a record of these areas. We've alsoemphasised the importance of using both hands together and avoiding any "deadhands" when applying kata.

Part 7 sees the penultimate article in the Basic Bunkai series. We will examine some of

the transitions found within the Pinan / Heian series and introduce a few morefundamental bunkai concepts that will help you make sense of kata.


This series of articles explores the basics of "bunkai" (kata application). Over the last six parts we've been

discussing the fundamentals of this vitally important aspect of karate. We've seen how the most common kata

movements can be applied at close-range. We've also examined the key concepts of bunkai which, when

understood, will allow you to understand kata.

In part six we looked at a couple of bunkai examples from Pinan Shodan / Heian Nidan. In part seven we are

going to look at some bunkai examples from Yodan and Godan. The first three Pinan kata record the

fundamentals of the fighting system recorded by the entire Pinan series. The final two kata build upon those

fundamentals.

Once a certain skill level has been achieved it can be prudent to develop your understanding of the underlying

principles, look at alternatives and add "supporting knowledge" to the basics. You always aim to use the basics

in the first instance; no matter how "advanced" your knowledge. However, a deeper understanding of core

concepts and the alternative ways in which they can be applied will make you a more versatile martial artist. I

believe this is why the Pinan kata are structured in the way they are.

In part one of this series we saw how the "rising block" - as found in Pinan Nidan / Pinan Shodan - can counter

an opponent securing a grip on your clothing. An alternative way to deal with this situation is found in Pinan

Yodan. This secondary method can be used as an alternative or an addition to the core method shown earlier in

the series (the first method can flow into this second one).



the technique, in line with the constant underlying principles, to be relevant and applicable to the situation at

hand.

Gichin Funakoshi (founder of Shotokan karate) had twenty key principles of karate. The eighteenth of these

principles was "Always perform the kata exactly: Actual Combat is another matter". This statement emphasises

the importance of being able to adapt the kata relevant to the circumstances and not being shackled by the ritual

of the formal kata. Choki Motobu also told us to understand the principles of the kata so that we can adapt it as

required; as did Hironori Otsuka.

It can be useful to think of any technique demonstrated by the kata as an example used to illustrate a principle.

It is the principle that is truly important and therefore kata are best understood as a record of principles as

opposed to techniques. However, our study will always begin with the examination of the example. It is these

basic examples that we have been discussing in this series. However, we need to understand where our bunkai

study is headed.

Another thing to note about the sequence from Pinan / Heian Yodan is how one technique flows onto the next.

These longer transitions are not seen in the earlier Pinan kata. As would be expected, Pinan / Heian Godan

contains the longest transitions and we'll now move on to look at one of those transitions.

In part four of this series of articles we saw how the "lower X-block" from Godan can be used to dislocate an

opponent's shoulder. We have now reached the point where it would be a good idea to examine the entire

sequence.

Your partner has seized both your wrists (Figure 5). Rotate your right hand and slap down on the inside on the

partner's wrist. This will free your hand and allow you to strike. Shifting forwards into reverse cat stance will

add power to both your escape and strike. This is the application of the "reinforced block" (Figure 6). Tighten

your grip on the partner's right wrist as you feed your arm underneath their armpit in preparation for the

following throw (Figure 7). This preparation is frequently mislabelled as a "rising punch". This is obviously

incorrect as you are looking in completely the wrong direction if it was indeed a punch. This is another good

example of karateka seeing everything as "block, kick and punch". However, as we've seen throughout thisseries, the original karate, as recorded in the kata, is much more holistic than the prevailing modern

interpretation of the art.

Execute a shoulder throw to take your partner to the floor (Figures 8 & 9). Once your partner is on the floor,

apply a shoulder lock and throw your leg onto the other side of their body in order to prevent them twisting out

of the lock (Figure 10). This is the application of the "lower x-block". The exact details of how to apply this

movement were covered in part four of this series.



This sequence from Pinan Godan is a transition drill across ranges and is not a "technique". It can therefore besplit into pieces to isolate specific skills, used as a drill to teach the flow of techniques, or can be adapted to

include other throws, finishes, escapes etc. As before, the kata is giving us an example and we should not be

afraid to vary that example and fully explore the underlying principles. It is when we do this that kata really

starts to come alive. The sequence again shows how the Pinan / Heian series develops and how the later kata

contain longer transitions.

I believe that kata should be viewed as a process. First we learn the kata. We then learn the applications of the

kata. When the applications have been learnt, we should then start analysing the underlying principles andexplore how to adapt the kata in line with those principles. This is still not enough though. We need to gain live

experience of applying these techniques and principles otherwise all the knowledge gained from bunkai study

will be theoretical and not practical. We therefore need to bring the methods of kata into our sparring.

Most modern karate sparring is based on the rules of karate competition, which is not related to the methods of

the kata. To practise the methods of the kata we therefore need to engage in what I've termed "Kata-Based-

Sparring". This covers a broad range on non-compliant training methods that will include strikes, throws, locks,

chokes, strangles, limb-control, etc. A detailed discussion on this training method is beyond the scope of these

articles. However, as we said earlier, it is important that from the onset of your bunkai study you understand

where the process is headed and what it will eventually involve.

Part eight will be the final chapter in the Basic Bunkai series. In that article we will recap the key points of this

series and summarise the information needed to unlock the kata and get you started with your bunkai study.


Welcome to the eighth and final part of the Basic Bunkai series. Inthis series of articles we've been exploring the basics of "bunkai"(kata application). The masters of the past told us that a singlekata was a lifetime's study: it is therefore impossible to cover all

aspects of kata application in a series of articles. Nevertheless,this series has covered many of the key concepts that you need tobe aware of to begin your bunkai study.

It is my view that traditional karateka who do not study bunkai willonly ever experience a hollow shell of the art. It is within theapplication of the kata that we find all the depth and subtletiesthat, for me at least, makes the art of karate so enthralling andrewarding. In previous articles, we've seen that, in addition to the

striking skills, the traditional kata record strangles, throws, limb-control, joint-locks etc.

It is also a study of bunkai that makes karate a holistic martial art.

As we said at the onset of this series, kata application is often presented as something"hidden" or "secret". Bunkai is not a mysterious secret knowledge that is the solereserve of a chosen few. Anyone can get involved with bunkai training and study if they



understand the "language" of kata. It is hoped that this series of articles has helpedincrease your understanding of that language.

The bunkai examples and concepts we've examined in this series can be summarisedinto a small number of key points. It is these key points that are the essential start tobunkai study:

1, All kata applications are designed to end the confrontation there and then.

All the techniques in kata are constructed to either totally incapacitate an assailant orleave them in a situation or position that they are so vulnerable that they are effectivelyat your mercy. Any interpretation of the kata that would leave your opponent able tocontinue to fight is incorrect. Examples of this are the sequences that are ofteninterpreted as multiple blocks with no follow up.

You may remember that in part one of this series we discussed the limitations of blocking and established that the techniques now labelled as blocks were never intendedto be used as such. We've also seen examples of how many of the "blocks" can beapplied in simple and effective ways.

2, All parts of a movement are significant.

Hands are not placed on the hips for no reason, nor are they "wound up" as apreparation for the following technique. No movement is without purpose and you needto ensure you understand the purpose of all parts of a kata motion. If the movementhad no purpose, it would not be in the kata in the first place.

Those who have been following this series will recall how we established that the hands

are either injuring the opponent, or creating and maintaining an advantage. Hands arenever inactive or held in a passive guard. Kata is not about the back and forth motionassociated with martial arts sparring; it is about close-range combat and therefore bothhands are always active.

3, Every kata move is designed for use in combat.

It is important to understand that all movements within the kata are designed for use inreal fights. Although certain moves may increase strength or improve balance, that isnot their primary function. Their primary function is to disable an assailant in civilian

combat. The strategy, tactics and techniques that lead to success in one environmentare frequently inappropriate for a different environment. When studying kataapplication, be sure you understand that all motions are designed for use in combat andthat any physical or mental benefits are secondary.

It's similar to how punching a bag for an extended period of time can improve yourhealth. However, punches weren't designed to improve your health: they were designedto damage the health of others. Likewise, kata can improve your health, but that's notwhat they were designed for. Kata is about combat. It is also important to be clear onthe type of combat that kata addresses.

4, The angles at which the techniques are performed are important.

You are never turning to face a new opponent. Only the foolish and the unaware wouldnot be facing their assailant before blows were exchanged. The vast majority of kata



techniques are designed to deal with an opponent who is in front of you. The mainreasons that kata techniques are performed at angles is to instruct the practitioner thatthey need to be at that angle, in relation to their opponent, in order for the techniquesto work; or that by moving in that direction the transfer of their bodyweight will aid thetechnique's execution.

Because kata is a solo exercise, there is no second person to demonstrate the required

angle. Therefore, the kata has to use a previous position to show the angle. This is oneof the most important keys to understanding what the kata are showing on any givenmovement.

5, The stances are a vital component of the techniques.

Stances are never assumed because they look nice, or to strengthen legs, or to improvebalance. Stances are taken because they put bodyweight into the technique or they helpto unbalance the opponent. We have seen many examples of the use of stancethroughout this series. When studying kata, look at the stance, the weight distribution,the resulting shift in bodyweight and the manner in which the stance was assumed. It'salso important to understand that the end position is just that: the end of the technique.It's when the body is moving into the stance and the weight is being shifted that thetechnique is being applied.

6, Real fights are sloppy affairs and the way the application is performed willreflect this.

When performing the solo kata we are practising the 'ideal' movement, which isrelatively easy to achieve against the thin air, but another matter entirely againstanother human being who is intent on doing you harm. When applying kata techniques

your main concern should be the movement's effectiveness, not retaining an inchperfect performance. What is a graceful movement when performed in the kata willbecome rough around the edges when applied in an all out situation. When studying thetrue function of kata the visual appearance of a technique must never be a concern. Theonly valid measure is whether or not the technique disabled the opponent.

7, There is a need for skills at every range.

A real fight requires competence at all ranges and with all combative methods. In thisseries we've seen how the kata contain joint-locks, throws, takedowns, chokes,

strangles and strikes. It is the study of bunkai that makes karate a holistic and wide-ranging martial art. It can come as a surprise to some that these methods exist withinkarate due to the fact they are generally not widely practised today (they were in thepast). However, an understanding of bunkai and a study of the older karate texts willconfirm just how comprehensive karate should be.

To be clear, karate is and always has been a percussive art. Also, the grappling aspectsare simple methods to backup the core striking skills and should not be mistaken withthe skilled and sophisticated methods associated with modern grappling. However, thebasic methods of the kata are suitable for the environment for which they were devised.

8, The likelihood of any scenario must be considered.

The majority of kata techniques deal with likely scenarios in civilian altercations; asopposed to the scenarios faced by warriors on a battlefield or competitors in a ring.



Choki Motobu once said, " The techniques of the kata were never developed to be used against a professional fighter, in an arena or on a battlefield. They were, however, very effective against someone who has no idea of the methods being used to counter their aggression " ('Tales of Okinawa 's Great Masters' by Shoshin Nagamine).

In a real situation it is statistically very unlikely you'll be facing another martial artistwho has the same set of skills as yourself (and even if you did, the environment is

different and the fight still won't be like a competitive match or dojo spar). Katatechniques are more likely to deal with shoves, clothing grabs, head-locks, head-buttsand wild frantic swinging punches than as defences against "martial arts techniques",skilled submissions or modern sporting methods. It is also worth remembering thatmost fights occur at close-range and hence the majority of kata techniques are for useat that distance.

9, Strikes should be delivered to anatomical weak points

There should be no doubt that techniques delivered to the body's weak points will havea greater effect than techniques that are not. You should be as specific as possible withregards to the areas struck when studying bunkai. That said, you should bear in mindthat the accurate placement of strikes during an all out fight is not easy.

Hitting a weak point can make an effective technique more effective, but it will not makean otherwise ineffective technique work. Hitting with power is the key. The kata give usplenty of information on the weaknesses of the human body. However, knowledge of weak points is not the main key to understanding kata.

10, No kata techniques rely upon predetermined responses from the opponent,however predictable responses should be acknowledged.

It is quite common to see flawed, modern-day applications that depend upon theopponent performing certain actions (like the example from Pinan Shodan / Heian Nidanthat we saw in part six). It should be obvious that the opponent will never respond in apredetermined and agreed manner in a live fight. This is one of the great flaws with the"bunkai" demonstrated at tournaments as part of team kata events. Such demos are nottrue bunkai because they rely on the "opponent's" compliance. True bunkai is notsomething you do with a cooperative partner; it's something you do to an uncooperativeopponent.

Although we can't rely on the opponent's compliance, some physical responses areinstinctive and therefore predictable. Such instinctive motions are therefore often takeninto consideration by the kata. An opponent is always very likely to move away from anysource of pain and any follow up movements should acknowledge this and any othersimilar involuntary actions. If you look the bunkai examples we've shown throughoutthis series you'll frequently see the use of these predictable responses.

11, There are many effective applications for every movement.

Master Anko Itosu - the creator of the Pinan Kata series - once wrote, " There are many

movements in karate. When you train you must try to understand the aim of themovement and its application. You have to take into account all possible meanings and applications of the move." I feel that it is very important that the individual discoverstheir own unique understanding and expression of the underlying and unchanging kataprinciples. Also, many movements have more than one function or expression. Although



some motions do only have a single use, others can be used in a wide range of ways.We need to be sure to follow Itosu's advice and explore all possible uses. We coveredthe idea of multiple functions in part four of this series.

12, Endeavour to understand the principles upon which the techniques rest.

The key is to understand "why" the techniques work. Try to get beyond the simple

memorising of individual techniques and endeavour to fully understand the principles of combat upon which the kata are based. Principles are far more important thantechniques. Principles can be applied in an infinite number of ways, but techniques arevery specific and hence limited. Endeavour to fully understand the principles of kata andlearn how to fight in accordance with them. Whilst initially this understanding will be onan intellectual level, you should aim to integrate these principles into your subconscious.

By concentrating on the principles, and the various ways in which they can be applied,the kata becomes an inexhaustible supply of martial knowledge and it is possible toappreciate why the masters of old said it would take more than one lifetime to fullyunderstand a single kata.

13, All applications must be workable in real situations.

For bunkai to be valid, it all must be applicable to real situations. That is what kata wasdesigned for, and that is the datum to which we must work. Not all karateka areinterested in the practical side of the martial arts. Some practise the art for other veryvalid reasons. However, for your bunkai study to be valid, you have to work to the samedatum as the past masters and have a good understanding of the environment in whichthe methods of the kata were created to operate. In order to understand kata, trainingmust be realistic and sparring should not be based on the modern competitive rules but,

as we discussed in part seven, should instead be kata-based.

As we said at the start, bunkai is not an area of training only for the chosen few whopossess the "secrets". Bunkai is something that all karate can study and practise. Theconcepts summarised above and the technical examples we've looked at throughout thisseries should have given you enough information to begin your personal study of thisinteresting and vitally important part of karate. I hope you've enjoyed these articles andI'm very grateful to you for taking the time to read them.

How to Spar for the Street: Part 1 by Iain Abernethy

Almost all martial artists include sparring in their training. However, there are many different types of sparring

and there is some debate as to what types are most realistic. Indeed, some question if sparring has any relevance

to self-protection situations. To my mind, the amount of relevance that sparring has to the street is determined

by how that sparring is structured.

In the majority of karate dojos sparring is based on the rules of modern competition. If your aim is to win

tournaments, then obviously you need to base your sparring on the nature of competition. There is nothing

wrong with competitive sparring in itself; the problem occurs when people believe that such sparring will also



prepare them for the street. It doesn't. There are many reasons why competitive sparring, and indeed other types

of sparring, are not relevant to the street. We'll cover these reasons as we progress through this series of articles.

In addition to sparring based on modern competition, an ever growing number of groups are embracing kata-

based-sparring. The kata, when correctly understood, are all about close-range civilian combat. In the past I've

written at length about the need to gain live experience of applying the methods of the kata. I coined the term

―kata-based-sparring‖ for this type of training and I'm pleased to say that such sparring is growing in

popularity. When correctly structured, kata-based-sparring is very relevant to real situations. However, in this

series of articles we will not be discussing how to make sense of kata or how to practise applying their lessons

in a live and non-compliant way.

Although everything we will be discussing in these articles has relevance to kata-based-sparring, the inclusion

of a through discussion on kata-based-sparring, and how kata relates to real situations, would greatly broaden

the scope of this discussion. We will therefore focus specifically on how to structure sparring so that it has

genuine relevance to real situations.

From the onset it is vital that you understand that fighting is what happens

when self-protection has gone bad (Photo 1). If you are truly serious about

keeping yourself safe on the streets, it's not fighting you should be focusingon, but awareness and avoidance.

The way I break down self-protection for my students is as follows: 95percent of self-protection is awareness and avoidance skills coupled with a

healthy attitude to personal safety. If you are unable to avoid a situation, you

need to be able to control the dialogue and distance, strike pre-emptively, and

use the opportunity to escape. This ability to control a situation before it

becomes a fight makes up 4 percent of self-protection. The remaining 1

percent is the fighting skills that you fall back on when all else fails. In my

experience, it is common for martial artists to overly fixate on fighting (the

last 1 percent) and hence they are not effectively addressing the issue of self-protection.

The point I'm making here is that you can be one hell of a fighter and yet still be incapable of keeping yourself

safe. If your awareness skills are poor, you'll be taken out before you are even aware there is a threat. You

simply won't get the opportunity to use your fighting skills.

Consider that no matter how good a fighter you are, there will be people who are better. The way to keep

yourself safe from more skilled fighters is very simple: don't fight them! Avoid the situation entirely, and if you

can't, control distance through talking with your hands (keep them between your assailant and yourself), use

dialogue and deception to facilitate a first strike and use the moment of confusion to flee. In this way it can be

possible to protect yourself from people you may not be able to out fight. However, if all that fails then youhave no option but to fight.

In this series of articles we are looking at training for that last 1 percent should all your other skills fail; it is

therefore not appropriate to discuss in detail awareness and pre-emption. The reason I have mentioned them is

that it is vitally important that the sparring methods we are going to examine are viewed from the correct

perspective. Remember, fighting skills aren't the key to self-protection: fighting is what happens when self-

protection goes bad.

Having established where sparring and fighting fit into the grand scheme of things, the next thing we need to

briefly cover is the nature of the environment we are training for. In these articles we are talking about the street

and therefore the nature of the street will determine how we should spar to prepare for it. If we look at the

sparring used in the various combat sports, it is immediately apparent that many differing methods of sparring

exist. The types of sparring vary because what is needed to win varies. What is needed to win is determined by

the rules, and hence people sometimes assume that because as there are no rules in the street, getting rid of the









rules will make sparring like a street situation. However, it's not that straight forward. Aside from the lack of

rules, there are many other things that make a street situation what it is.

A detailed discussion on the nature of street situations is also beyond the scope of this look at sparring;

however, here are a few key points that we need to consider:

• The vast majority of street situations take place at close-range• Real fights often involve multiple assailants and weapons

• Real fights are fast, frantic and chaotic

• Real fights do not resemble a skilled exchange between two martial artists

• In a real situation you need to keep things really simple

• Deceptive or aggressive dialogue will frequently precede any physical exchange

• The fight may begin without warning (awareness being the key to ensuring it doesn't)

• Real fights are terrifying and wholly unpleasant (assuming you're not a psychopath!)

To make our sparring relevant to real situations, we need to ensure our sparring considers all the things listed

above. When they are factored in, sparring can be quite a bit different from what is seen in most dojos. This

does not mean other types of sparring have no value: far from it! As a martial artist, it's very likely that you will

train for a variety of reasons and have an interest in many aspects of martial training. It is therefore entirelypossible that you'll spar in more that one way: different types of sparring for different aspects of your training.

You may spar in one way for a straight fight with other martial artists, and another way for the street. Someargue that by sparring in more than one way you may inadvertently use the wrong method at the wrong time. I

can follow this logic. However, it's my view that the dojo and street environments are so radically different that

it is unlikely you'll mix up the various methods so long as you keep the various types of sparring totally

separate and are 100% clear on what you are training for at any given time.

Having covered some of the key issues, it's now time to look at the first way to make your sparring relevant to

the street.

Important Note: All sparring is potentially dangerous and must always be closely supervised by a suitably

qualified and experienced person. If you don't have such supervision, don't try out the methods we're going to

discuss!

Be aware of the flaws of any given sparring exercise

No matter how realistic sparring is, it is never real. We are always making compromises in the name of safety.

If we didn't, every training session would result in the majority of students going to the hospital! We need to

introduce necessary flaws into training in order to ensure we can train safely. Without these flaws, training

would be just as dangerous as the street; which kind of defeats the whole point of training. It won't make ourlives any safer; it will just expose us to many more life-threatening encounters!

If you do any of the following you've introduced a flaw into your sparring: train on mats, wear sparring gloves,

wear body armour, use a gum shield, limit contact levels, omit techniques such as biting, eye gouges and groin

attacks, allow you or your partner to end the fight by tapping out or submitting, etc. Changes such as these will

make training safer and more productive, but they also move it further away from a real fight. The trick to

ensuring this drift from reality is minimized is to be acutely aware of the flaws and their effects.

By way of example, let's say you and a partner were about to engage in heavy contact sparring. In order to

maximize safety, one precaution you may take is to wear boxing gloves. Before you start sparring, you should

think about the flaws that donning the gloves has introduced (Photo 2):



• Your fists are now much bigger than they would be in reality and hence your hit rate may increase

• You can hide behind the gloves to protect yourself

• You can't grab or effectively set up a datum and neither can your partner

• The blows have less of an effect than they would in reality

• The nature of the gloves means that open-hand strikes cannot be delivered

• Grappling techniques are severely limited

By being aware of the flaws introduced by any safety considerations, you ensure that the reality of the streetstays at the forefront of your mind. Sparring is a means to an end; it is not the end in itself. Being aware of the

flaws in sparring also helps keep that distinction clear.

It's not just safety that introduces flaws. You may also purposefully introduce some limitations to enhance

certain skills. As an example, when sparring you may wish to isolate striking from a clinch. You limit the

sparring to striking from a clinch, and therefore throws and takedowns would not be allowed. It's my

observation that as soon as you limit what techniques are allowed – which can be a very useful training method

– people forget about the methods that have been omitted and hence leave themselves vulnerable to them. So

even if you've agreed not to permit throws when working on clinch striking, you should still ensure you don't

get into bad habits by being aware of the flaw you've introduced.

Start with aggressive dialogue; not formal etiquette

Competitive and dojo sparring often begins with a formal show of respect. Street fights don't start that way.

They are frequently preceded by deceptive or aggressive dialogue. To be adequately prepared for the street, you

need to have exposure to such talk so that it does not faze you.

Deceptive dialogue occurs when the assailant closes the gap between you by asking for directions, the time, a

light for a cigarette, etc. He may appear friendly and unthreatening until its time to become physical.

Awareness, controlling distance and trusting your instincts are the

key to dealing with this.

Aggressive dialogue is when the assailant will scream, shout andswear in an attempt to intimidate you (Photo 3). The aim of this

aggressive behaviour is to get themselves pumped up enough to

physically attack, and to hopefully overload you with fear so that you

freeze and are unable to effectively deal with the situation. If you're

not used to such naked aggression, this method will probably work

and render all physical skills you have redundant.

When sparring for the street, begin the fight with one person (or

more) taking on the role of the bad guy. They should close the gap

with either aggressive dialogue, or deceptive dialogue (that may

switch to aggressive). It's important to make the dialogue and

associated body language realistic. Push, shove, splay your arms,



shout and swear. Although it's training, as the bad guy you should attempt to intimidate your partner in the

same way a real assailant would.

The other person should attempt to control distance and talk the situation down. Sometimes the bad guy may

decide to back away without the situation getting physical. On other occasions, either party can begin the

sparring when they feel it is appropriate (Note: the good guy should always try to pre-empt and not “wait” for

the bad guy to start the fight. More on this later in the series).

In this first article we've introduced some of the issues surrounding real situations and sparring. We've also

covered two of the key ways to ensure your sparring has relevance to the street. In part 2 we'll cover four more

keys to making your sparring realistic. Thanks for taking the time to read this article.

Please Click HERE to read Part 2.

Back to Articles

This series of articles is adapted from Iain Abernethy's contribution to Loren Christensen's ―Fighter's Fact Book

2‖. It is Iain's view that all martial artists should read this book. Details on this highly informative book can befound below:

FIGHTER'S FACT BOOK 2

You will fight how you train. This is the theme of Fighter's Fact Book 2: Street Fighting

Essentials and when you've mastered the skills taught in the book, you will truly be ready to

defend yourself in some of the most desperate situations imaginable.

Nearly a dozen veteran instructors of street oriented martial arts have come together with

Loren Christensen to teach you how to defend yourself against multiple attackers, violentdogs, knives, close quarter attacks, and attackers impervious to pain. Then they show you

how to make your street techniques fast and explosive, and how to prepare yourself mentally

to use extreme force. The skills taught here are not for the faint hearted. These are hardcore

techniques intended to save your life or the life of a loved one.

In addition to Loren Christensen's no-nonsense instruction on justified use of extreme tactics, fighting

wounded, attacking the eyes and neck, surviving a dog attack and using the mini-flashlight to ward off an

attacker, you'll get expert insight from:

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman: Army Special Forces, psychologist - on conditioning the mind

Iain Abernethy: England 's leading exponent of applied karate - on street sparring

Rory A. Miller: corrections officer, tactical team trainer - on in-fighting

Kris Wilder: multiple black belt holder & international competitor - on punching power

Lawrence Kane: martial artist and football stadium security supervisor - on shock blocks

Alain Burrese: hapkido expert, and former bouncer and bodyguard - on kicking skill

Wim Demeere: Belgian full-contact fighter and personal trainer - on street sanshou

Richard Dimitri: veteran fighter and popular trainer - on using The Shredder

Mark Mireles: LA cop, twice Medal of Valor recipient - on chokes and clinching

Tim Delgman : 9th-degree jujitsu black belt - on throws for the street

Dan Anderson: karate champion and arnis master - on fighting with single stick

" I was most pleased that my friends agreed to contribute to this book. I was pleased for my own selfish reason

in that I would get to learn from them, as I have so often before. And I was pleased that their contribution,

based on their experiences on the street, would make this book the highly informative one it is." — Loren W.

Christensen from the Introduction.

http://www.iainabernethy.com/articles/Street_Sparring_Part_2.asp













ISBN 978-1-880336-93-9 Published by TURTLE PRESS

How to Spar for the Street: Part 2

by Iain Abernethy

In this series of articles we are discussing how to make your sparring relevant to real situations. The sparring in

most dojos is based on the rules of modern competition and therefore has little in common with real situations.To be clear, I'm not for a second saying there is anything fundamentally wrong with competitive sparring. If

you want to win tournaments, that's how you need to spar. The problem occurs when people mistakenly believe

that training for competition also develops the skills needed for the street. It doesn't.

In part one we briefly discussed the nature of real situations and covered two of the keys to making your

sparring relevant to the street. In this second part, we'll be expand our discussion and cover four more of these

keys.

Important Note: All sparring is potentially dangerous and must always be closely supervised by a suitably

qualified and experienced person. If you don't have such supervision, don't try out the methods we're going to

discuss!

Start without warning

Some situations will start without any warning, i.e., if your awareness wasn't what it should be or if you are the

victim of a well-executed ambush. It can therefore be good training to also have your sparring start without

warning.

Seeing as the sparring can start at anytime, all participants need to wear their protective equipment throughout

the entire session. The students will then engage in normal training (fitness work, drilling techniques, hitting the

pads, etc.). Whenever the leader of the training feels like it, they will shout out the command, ―Fight!‖ At thatinstant all students should begin sparring with the person or people nearest to them.

The great thing about this type of sparring is that you are never sure what situation will develop or when. You

may quickly respond to the command and attack a class mate, only for someone else to attack you from the

rear. One second you thought you had the advantage, the next you're frantically doing your best against two

opponents. After a certain amount of time, the person leading the training will shout, ―Stop!‖ and the students

return to whatever they were doing previously.

It's important that the person giving out the commands does their best to ensure that the sparring is unexpected.

I'm partial to shouting ―Fight!‖ during water breaks, in the middle of drills, straight after a previous bout of

sparring, whilst they are performing push-ups, and immediately after I've told them the surprise sparring is over

(my personal favourite!). The students quickly begin to expect the unexpected and start to fight well regardless

of the situation and position they find themselves in.

If you are training as part of a small group, another way to have sparring start without warning is agree that

anyone can attack anyone else at any point during the session (you may want to make some exceptions in the

name of safety: i.e. agree that you can't be attacked when handling weights, etc). The lack of the command to

start makes the sparring all the more unexpected. It also ensures that all training done between the sparring is

done with the correct attitude. If you start doing things in a half-hearted fashion, your partners may very well

decide it's a good time to attack you!

Surprise sparring is a great training method that can get you used to having to fight without warning. It is also a

great way to give a training session that added edge.



Keep the combat up close and personal

Most exchanges between skilled martial artists take place at a greatly exaggerated distance when compared to

what happens on the street. The vast majority of real fights start close, and they stay close. In the street there is

rarely a gap to be closed and there is rarely any back and forth. This obviously has a significant effect on how

we structure our sparring for the street.

As we've established, real situations will begin with dialogue or without warning. The distance at which words

are exchanged is typically the same as punching distance (Photo 1). So in the case of dialogue, the distance has

already been closed when the situation gets physical (people don't try to intimidate you from 10 feet away!). If

a situation begins without warning, then the distance has already been closed.

When two martial artists fight in the dojo or competitive environment, they typically begin the fight from

outside kicking distance (Photo 2). This means that a key part of martial arts sparring is to effectively close that

gap. These skills are essentially an irrelevance for the street. Compare the distances shown in photos 1 and 2and you'll see that in the street fights are much closer.

Another big difference between the street and a dojo exchange between two martial artists is that the there is no

back and forth. In the street, people don't back off, move around for a bit while looking for an opening, before

closing the gap again. All of this means that when training for the street we need to exchange techniques at

close range (the exception being when we flee, which we will look at later).

When you start your street sparring, you should be within arms length of your partner and you should stay at

that distance. With practise you'll get used to fighting at this distance. However, to begin with you may need to

force the distance; here are two ways to do this.



• One of the best ways is to limit the floor space. The students who aren't sparring form a circle around those

who are so that there simply isn't the space to exaggerate the distance.

• Another way was introduced to me by Shihan Chris Rowen. Chris simply used a karate belt to tie the students

together! It's a simple method but it works incredibly well. The students can't exaggerate the distance and hence

it forces them to spar at a realistic range. The only downside with this is that the students can't practise

escaping. That said, as a way to isolate close-range skills it's superb.

When you keep your sparring close there are a few things you will learn. One of the key things is that blocking

becomes almost impossible. There simply isn't the time or room to react. This is a really useful learning

experience as it brings home the importance of being pre-emptive and proactive in the street.

Another characteristic of close-range fighting is that it becomes very important to keep both hands active. Both

hands should be either attacking the opponent or setting them up so they can be attacked i.e. setting datums,

removing obstructions, etc. As a brief aside, it is for this reason why you don't see hands held in ‗guard

positions' in kata, but you do see both hands constantly working.

Keeping the sparring close is a great way to learn about what is required for the street. So to make your sparring

realistic it's important to start close and stay close.

Don't bring trained reponses into the mix

One of the most important things for martial artists to appreciate is that when training for the street trained

responses are not a factor. As martial artists we get trained to respond in certain ways to specific stimuli, i.e.

when the opponent does motion A; you are trained to respond with motion B. When two martial artists meet

these trained responses are invariably exploited: martial artist 1 will move in such a way that it looks to martial

artist 2 as if he is attacking with motion A. Martial artist 2 counters with motion B, just as martial artist 1 hoped

he would. By responding with motion B, martial artist 2 makes himself vulnerable to motion C; which was

martial artists 1's true intention. He attacked with motion A to illicit a response which would set things up formotion C.

In a street fight, you can't use trained responses in the same way; hence you need to do your best to eliminate

such practises from your street sparring. Trained responses aren't relevant in the street for two key reasons.

• Your opponent is highly unlikely to be trained in the same martial discipline as you are and hence won't react

as predicted. But what if he is a martial artist, I hear you cry!

• The street is so very different that even if your attacker is a trained martial artist he won't fight like he does in

the dojo or competitive environment. Street fights are far faster, emotional and chaotic than martial bouts.

Observe two world-standard martial artists fight and count the average number of techniques thrown in a 15-

second period. You'll notice that most of the time is spent moving around and playing for position. The overall

rate of exchange is actually pretty low. Certainly they are likely to be some blindingly fast exchanges, but they

are often very short in duration. The ones that last that little bit longer are the ones when a combatant becomes

injured or disorientated and the other moves in for a win.

A street fight is consistently frantic. It starts fast, stays fast and finishes fast. There is no time for trained

reposes. Indeed there is no time for responses of any sort.

In addition to being faster, a street fight is also more emotional. The intense nature of a street situation meansthat neither you nor your opponent will be best placed to process the information that exploiting trained

responses demands. So in the unlikely event that you do meet another martial artist in a street situation, it still

won't be like a dojo or competitive situation.



A good illustration of this is the fight that broke out at the Tyson / Lewis press conference in the run up to their

long awaited bout. There we had the two best heavyweight boxers at the time, but when it kicked off for real,

the resulting exchange was nothing like a boxing match. It was a ―street fight,‖ and was hence faster, more

chaotic and more emotional.

Trained responses aren't a part of a street fight and hence they shouldn't be part of your street sparring. The

difficulty of course is that you will be training with other martial artists so it initially takes some discipline not

to engage in ―game play.‖ The instant you do start trying to illicit trained responses, you're no longer sparring

realistically. In a real fight you need to keep things simple and direct. Practise keeping it simple and direct in

your sparring.

Escape: Don't stay and fight!

In part 1 of this series we established that a fight is what happens when self-protection goes bad. Real fights are

thoroughly unpleasant affairs that can have severe medical, emotional and legal consequences. If you therefore

get the opportunity to stop fighting and run you should take it without hesitation. Many a wannabe tough guy

will frown on the idea of fleeing a fight, but the smart and experienced people who have ―been there‖ will

always advise flight over fight. The true warrior doesn't risk his life and liberty over his ego. He always doesthe smart thing.

I recently had the opportunity to talk to a martial artist who a few days previously had been approached by twomen armed with knives. He quickly assessed the situation and ran away. He told me that he was disappointed

with himself because all he could think to do was run. He asked what techniques he could have applied in that

situation. My advice was that he shouldn't feel bad as he had dealt with the situation perfectly. His awareness

was such that he had spotted the situation early enough to allow escape and he had the presence of mind to act

in what was undoubtedly the right way.

Fight two armed men and at best you're going to need some serious stitching back together. Because he had run

away, he didn't even get scratched! I'm certain that anyone who understands the street would advise nothing butrunning in that situation. Putting distance between yourself and a dangerous situation keeps you safe and

ensures you're able to spend your time on the fun things in life. So for your sparring to be street smart, you need

to practise running away.

Fleeing a fight is not as straight forward as just turning tail and running. If there is a sufficient gap between you

and any would be assailant, you can do just that (again, this emphasises the importance of awareness). If,

however, the assailant is close enough to strike you, or the situation has degenerated into a fight, you need

confusion and distance. If you don't have confusion and distance when you begin running, you will be giving

the opponent your back. Bad things can occur when if you do that!

If you have managed to incapacitate the opponent, even for a moment, then in that moment of confusion anddisorientation you should flee. Because the opponent won't be able to immediately react, you have the chance to

generate sufficient distance to allow a successful escape. When a gap appears in the street, your self-protection

training should have conditioned you to make it bigger. Much bigger! You should not be thinking of closing the

gap and continuing the fight.

A great way to practise fleeing in training is to make part of your dojo a ―safe zone.‖ Your aim is to reach this

safe zone while your partner (or partners) prevent you from doing so. The full range of martial techniques are

allowed, but if a gap is created (they rarely appear on their own) the aim is to extend it and make it to the safe

zone.

Another good way to practise escaping is to have two people at either end of the dojo, while the person

practising fleeing is in the middle. The person in the middle will run towards the first person and they start

sparring (using both grappling and striking). As soon as the fighting begins, the person who started in the

middle must break contact and create a gap. He then runs to the other end and repeats the process. This drill is a



great way to develop the skills needed to create a gap, and engrain the habit of running when you have. It's also

one hell of a work out!

Running away is the smart and practical thing to do whenever possible. Hence, you need to ensure fleeing is

included in your sparring.

That's it for part two. Next month sees the final part of this series where we will cover the final four ways to

ensure your sparring is relevant to the street. I hope you enjoyed this article and I'd like to thank you for taking

the time to read it.

Please click HERE to be taken to Part 3.

Back to Articles

This series of articles is adapted from Iain Abernethy's contribution to Loren Christensen's ―Fighter's Fact Book

2‖. It is Iain's view that all martial artists should read this book. Details on this highly informative book can be

found below:

FIGHTER'S FACT BOOK 2

You will fight how you train. This is the theme of Fighter's Fact Book 2: Street Fighting

Essentials and when you've mastered the skills taught in the book, you will truly be ready to

defend yourself in some of the most desperate situations imaginable.

Nearly a dozen veteran instructors of street oriented martial arts have come together with

Loren Christensen to teach you how to defend yourself against multiple attackers, violent

dogs, knives, close quarter attacks, and attackers impervious to pain. Then they show you

how to make your street techniques fast and explosive, and how to prepare yourself mentallyto use extreme force. The skills taught here are not for the faint hearted. These are hardcore

techniques intended to save your life or the life of a loved one.

In addition to Loren Christensen's no-nonsense instruction on justified use of extreme tactics, fighting

wounded, attacking the eyes and neck, surviving a dog attack and using the mini-flashlight to ward off an

attacker, you'll get expert insight from:

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman: Army Special Forces, psychologist - on conditioning the mind

Iain Abernethy: England 's leading exponent of applied karate - on street sparring

Rory A. Miller: corrections officer, tactical team trainer - on in-fighting

Kris Wilder: multiple black belt holder & international competitor - on punching power

Lawrence Kane: martial artist and football stadium security supervisor - on shock blocks

Alain Burrese: hapkido expert, and former bouncer and bodyguard - on kicking skill

Wim Demeere: Belgian full-contact fighter and personal trainer - on street sanshou

Richard Dimitri: veteran fighter and popular trainer - on using The Shredder

Mark Mireles: LA cop, twice Medal of Valor recipient - on chokes and clinching

Tim Delgman : 9th-degree jujitsu black belt - on throws for the street

Dan Anderson: karate champion and arnis master - on fighting with single stick

" I was most pleased that my friends agreed to contribute to this book. I was pleased for my own selfish reason

in that I would get to learn from them, as I have so often before. And I was pleased that their contribution,based on their experiences on the street, would make this book the highly informative one it is." — Loren W.

Christensen from the Introduction.

ISBN 978-1-880336-93-9 Published by TURTLE PRESS










Bonus Podcast: 10 Books for the Pragmatic

Karateka

This new website makes it so easy for me to add new content that I‘ve been able to

put out this ―bonus podcast‖! I‘ve called it a bonus podcast because this is not the scheduled ―official podcast‖

– which will be on stances and be out in a week or so – but an extra podcast on 10 books that I recommend you

read (not one of which was written by me … I‘m assuming you‘ve already got all those ; -).

This is not a ―top 10‖ or anything like that because there are loads of other books – which may be discussed in

future bonus podcasts – I would also strongly recommend. In this podcast I simply discuss 10 books that I feel

all pragmatically minded traditionalists should read. They are a mix of classical books and books by modern

authors and in each case I explain why I recommend the book and what can be gained from it. It was a case of

hit record and off I went! I hope you enjoy this bonus podcast and that it encourages you to check out some of

the books. I‘ll be back with the scheduled ―official podcast‖ very soon!

All the best,

Iain

PS The books discussed are listed below.

All of the books above are available from Amazon with the exception of Neptune Publication‘s Karate-Do

Kyohan and Karate-Do Taikan translated by Mario McKenna. For those two books, direct links are provided.

1. Karate-Do: My Way of Life by Gichin Funakoshi

2. The Way of Kata by Kris Wilder and Lawrence Kane

3. Streetwise by Peter Consterdine4. Dead of Alive by Geoff Thompson

5. Meditations on Violence by Rory Miller



6. Karate-Do Kyohan by Gichin Funakoshi (Neptune Publications edition – click

here)

7. Karate-Do Taikan translated by Mario McKenna (click here)

8. Four Shades of Black by Gavin Mulholland

9. The Bubishi (as translated by both Patrick McCarthy & George Alexander)

10. Pavement Arena by Geoff Thompson

Thoughts on Tradition & Innovation in the Martial

Arts

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4 replies [Last post]

18 February, 2011 - 18:51

miket

Offline

Joined: 18/02/2011

Thoughts on Tradition & Innovation in the Martial Arts

A piece I wrote for my students...

I sometimes get tired of ‗traditional‘ martial artists close-mindedly taking pot shots at any kind of ‗change‘ in

martial arts simply on the basis that something is ‗different‘ or because it threatens established orthodoxies.You see this attitude in a lot of self- proclaimed ―traditional‖ martial arts schools.

Likewise, I get JUST AS tired of self- proclaimed ‗visionaries‘ and ‘fighters‘ bad-mouthing traditional martial

arts as ―ineffective‖, ―obsolete‖, and what not. Especially with the current prevalency of sporting MMA, you

see this attitude a lot in self- proclaimed ―fight‖ or sport-oriented gyms where the emphasis is placed primarily

on (rules- based) athletic fighting. ‗Who needs technique? We just get in the ring and bang, man.‘

Holding either attitude too tightly will severely limit your training and ability to progress at a study of human

interpersonal combatives. Like a lot of things, to be fully understood, the question of "tradition VS. innovation"

needs to be reframed from its ‗either/or‘ context to a ‗both/and‘ context.

The fact is, if nothing ever changed, we would still be living without electricity, smart phones, combustion

engines, the internet, Gortex, artificial hearts, shoes, clothing, packaged food, or whatever other human

innovation you might be able to think of off the top of your head. These ‗developments‘ occurred because

http://www.neptune-publications.com/




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someone first correctly identified a need and then had the subsequent 'nerve‘ to question what was simply

‗accepted‘ by most as ‗the way things are‘. This quest to IMPROVE our condition is perhaps one of the

most fundamental aspects of our species, and it is frequently hamstrung when the notion of 'tradition' is used to

beat down critical thought.

Likewise, I have seen just as many people go the other direction, and claim that simply because something

‗came before‘ or wasn‘t somehow ‗personally invented‘ it is AUTOMATICALLY inferior to anything that

might be ‗original‘ derived in nature. You see this a lot with ‗artistic‘ personality types. To do so is to deny the

logic of the idea that ‗nothing comes from nowhere‘. We achieve as a species mostly BECAUSE we are able to

stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, see a little further (or maybe in a different direction) than

they might have, and ask intelligent questions. Without the prior knowledge or achievements of our ancestors,

which we frequently take for granted simply on the basis of their familiarity to us, we would not be able to

progress at all. We would literally be left with a process of ‗inventive‘ trial and error. That is the last thing we

want in self-protection.

The trouble with BOTH lines of thinking is that they are inherently judgmental. The ‗problem‘ with them

emerges with the ADDITION of the value-judgment that things either ―should not‖ change because they are

‗not traditional‘, or that they somehow ―should‖ change simply because they are ‗original‘, or on the basis that

they are ‗new‘, ‗trendy‘, ‗modern‘ or ‗different‘.

Frequently, in my experience, this flawed and artificial judgmental dichotomy results from the failure to have a

complete historical perspective.

In the martial arts, the very idea of what IS ―traditional‖ and what is ―modern‖ is frequently at odds and totally

contradictory. For instance, Jigoro Kano, the f ounder of judo, called his art ―modern‖ when he founded it---

more than 100 years ago. Kano‘s idea was to fuse multiple systems of ―traditional‖ Japanese jujutsu into a

single system, simultaneously preserving AND altering the fundamental nature of different techniques. Kano

did not choose tradition OR innovation, he chose BOTH, and he is widely credited with making sure that

―traditional‖ feudal-era Japanese jujutsu didn‘t simply just ‗disappear‘ at the end of the Meiji-era as Japan

modernized itself. At the same time, however, Kano is also credited with having ‗invented‘ the combatart/sport of judo. In its first years, ―judo‖ was even frequently referred to in the literature of that period (e.g.

Herrigel) as ―the jujutsu of Dr. Kano‖. Why? Because no one back THEN had a clue what ―judo‖ was. ‗Jujutsu‘

on the other hand was more widely known — Theodore Roosevelt even practiced it at the White House in the

early 1900‘s.

Kano‘s combative system was later imported to Brazil, taught to indigenous Brazilian‘s in the 1920‘s and later

evolved into ‗Brazilian Jiu- jitsu‘. The Brazilian‘s, and the Gracie family in particular, took ‗textbook‘ Kano-

line jujutsu (aka ―judo‖ :-)) and delved heavily into the ‗ne-waza‘, or ground-wrestling ‗submission‘ aspects of

the system, in their own time ‗evolving‘ and changing what they had learned to be used and taught in a new

way. In a word —the Gracies ‗innovated‘ and 'emphasized' or 'priveleged' the ground aspects of the art, and the

teaching methods in particular. And eventually — Gracie jiu-jitsu went on to birth Machado jiu-jitsu, Caique jiu- jitsu, and a host of other splinter systems as descendants of the Gracie‘s have gone on to ‗do their own

thing‘, morphing, changing, adding, to, and taking away from what they had learned. In fact, it's not really a

stretch to say that Gracie jiu-jitsu, itself descended from judo, birthed 'Brazillian' jiu-jitsu.

Another example of the personal subjectivity (and ultimate futility) of judgmentally contrasting ―traditional‖

and ―modern‖ martial ar ts can be seen when one compares the art of karate with Brazillian jiu-jitsu.

Ironically or not, karate, which historically dates from as early as the 1300‘s, and which itself was originally a

fusion of imported Chinese fighting styles with indigenous Ryukyuan (and probably, Japanese) fighting tactics,

is typically considered by many today to be a ―traditional‖ martial art. Likewise, Brazillian jiu-jitsu isfrequently identified by people today as being a ―modern‖ martial art, due primarily to its own effor ts at self-

promotion and its TELEVISED success in the early UFC (Ultimate Fighting Challenge) bouts during the1990‘s.



―Karate‖ however is not a homogenous system, and multiple families or ‗ryu-ha‘ of karate exist, all of which

were formed at different times. Like the aforementioned ‗evolution‘ and inevitable fracturing of Brazilian Jiu -

jitsu into multiple systems, what was originally probably the teachings of just a few individuals concentrated

within about a ten mile area in the central Ryukyu islands eventually bifurcated and split over time into a

plethora of ‗systems‘ and sub-systems such as Isshin-ryu, Goju-ryu, Shorin-ryu, Wado-Ryu, Shotokan, Shorinji

Kenpo, Ashihara, etc. Many of these, for instance Wado Ryu, were even ‗evolutions of evolutions‘. Wado-ryu,

founded by Hironori Otsuka in the late 1930‘s, was itself a combination of Shotokan and Shindo-Yoshin-ryu

Japanese ju-jutsu; and ironically or not, Shotokan even evolved from an earlier branch of Shorin-ryu!

So here is the ironic part: you can ask a student of for instance, Kobayashi Shorin-Ryu, (founded by Chosin

Chibana c. 1910), if their art is ―traditional‖ or ―modern‖, and very likely (at least in my experience) you will

get the answer that it is very much a ―traditional‖ art 9.9 times out of 10 .

Likewise, you can ask a practitioner of Goju-ryu karate, founded by Chojun Miyagi in the early 1930‘s and

again, in my experience, you will likely get the same answer.

Next, you can ask the same question of a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, and you will likely get the answer that

THEIR art is undeniably ―modern‖. The irony of course being that the self -identified ―modern‖ art is

historically BOOK-ENDED by the two self-identified ―traditional‖ arts.

Again, my belief is that mostly, this results from the failure to understand the full historical context that gave

birth to these arts, as well the tendency for students within a particular system to focus on ONLY the history of that system. It is also distinctly tied up in which ‗side‘ of the argument people want to self-identify

THEMSELVES with, even subconsciously so, i.e. with whether they see themselves as ‗traditional‘ or

‗modern‘ and/or personally VALUE one perspective over the other.

A combative system is an INANIMATE thing--- a body of ideas. It is OUR PERSPECTVIE that identifies it as

modern/ traditional, effective/ ineffective, artistic / pragmatic, limited / comprehensive and complete/

incomplete. It all depends on our outlook and what we are trying to accomplish... for instance, karate is pretty

bad at teaching you to swim or fly an airplane; and jiu-jitsu does not teach you how to read or cook. TheINDIVIDUAL objective of the practitioner heavily influences the value judgments we place on our experience.

Because of this, such definitions can only ever be personal, somehwat arbitrary, and COMPLETELY

subjective. They are fun to talk about, argue about, and hash out the various wrinkles of. They are good angles

to think about in one's own PERSONAL study of human combatives. But in the end, that is about all these

personal boundariy zones are good for — either mind-expanding discussions, or religiously zealous argument,

depending on who you might be talking to at the time.

None of that improves the quality or ultimate effectiveness of your training.

Working simply from plain-English language definitions, a ―tradition‖ is simply a continent body of knowledgethat has been handed down a couple of times. That‘s it. You ‗know‘ something, you teach it to someone else,

they teach it to someone else — lo and behold, you have established a 'tradition', especially as this 'handing

down' process occurs cross-generationally.

I would assert that most people accept the notions that ‗nothing stays the same forever‘, and ‗change is the only

reliable constant of the human condition‘. When knowledge is put in a box, ‗never to be changed or

questioned‘, unfortunately, what frequently results is the dry rot of a museum piece, not the effectiveness of an‗alive‘ combatively effective martial system. The first UFC‘s also pr etty much proved that, back when they

were still being conceptualized as ‗style vs. style‘ type contests focused on proving which style was 'best'. The

irony there is that what they 'proved' was that the PARTICULAR combative context of 'the Octagon' did not

expressly suit any one extant style, but rather, a 'NEW' (old) style emerged in response to 'what worked' for that

environment, and... a 'new' style of fighting was born. A new style that was in reality a new COMPOSITE of a

lot of different extant styles to fit a new context. Change a variable in that controlled environment-- for



instance throw a knife in the ring-- and see what happens. The 'style' would change in response to altered

combative context.

It‘s my opinion that you simply can‘t hand something down — especially across years and years--- without a

certain degree of ‗evaporation‘ affecting that body of knowledge. And the more time passes, the more ‗arcane‘

a tradition becomes, until eventually, it has the potential to lose the ability to even understand itself. Ultimately,

traditions NEED to be periodically renewed.

And on the other hand, for several thousand years now, people have generally had the same anatomical body

weapons and body weaknesses. There are only ‗just so many‘ ways to strike a person with your fist, hit them

with a stick, or make them ‗fall hard‘ against the earth. All cultures on the planet, and all combative ‗systems‘

make use of these SAME body weapons to exploit generally the SAME body weaknesses. The difference

between combative systems is therefore simply a question of ‗focus‘, and degree. This in turn is typically

determined by the ‗combative context‘ they are ultimately training for— i.e. the rules, constraints and

opportunities placed on an anticipated eventual encounter.

When one looks at the cross-cultural ‗family tree‘ of human combatives, one sees a virtual ‗steady state‘ of

recycling, reinvention, decay, rebirth, renaming, rediscovering, loss, obsolescence and renewal. In the end, as a

student of human combatives, all a person is ever getting is the ‗water‘ that is ‗flowing out of the end of the pipe‘— the personal experience, opinions, theories, and TEACHING abilities of your IMMEDIATE instructor.

This is true in any human endeavor, and it‘s certainly true in the s tudy of combatives and self-protection.

In the 'core combatives' curriculum of Unified MArtial Arts, we teach a blend of simple tactics drawn from

different arts: JKD, judo, karate, suikendo, police defensive tactics, boxing/kickboxing, Greco Roman

wrestling, and Thai boxing. Some of these arts I am ‗instructor certified‘ in. Some arts I have merely studied for

a short time. Some I have only seminar-level experience with, or have trained with other experienced martial

artists (many of whom ARE certified instructors in the systems I mention), or are even my takes on tactics

learned from instructional DVD video lessons because I see something in these arts that bridges a gap,

improves what we already do, or offers something we DON'T have for which I recognize a systemic NEED.

A lot of martial arts instructors are afraid to acknowledge the reality of their knowledges limits, even though

most of us do exactly that. And why do we do so? Because ‗nothing comes from nowhere‘, and we have

instructors, too.

And in the end, where something came from, or whether it is ―traditional‖ or ―modern‖ doesn‘t matter much

anyway... If you have the misfortune to be attacked in a violent encounter, your ‗belt‘, ‗rank‘ or ‗certification‘

in a particular system, no matter how famous, will not defend or fight for you. The ‗traditionalism‘ or

‗modernity‘ of that system, or who ‗founded‘ it, or when, or which country it originated in probably won‘t

matter much at that precise moment. The prestigious (or ignominious) paternal ‗lineage‘ of your ‗system‘ will

not fight for or protect you. The combative abilities of your instructor, coach, teacher, sensei, guru, shaman,

cleric or grand poohbah will not defend you. Only ***YOU*** can protect you, and you will ONLY be able todo so through either sheer luck, or through adapting PRIOR situational experience earned through hard,

diligent, and intelligent training in combative tactics that are grounded in the reality of PERSONALLY

AFFIRMED pragmatism.

If YOUR life might depend on something someday, the ***LAST*** thing I want students doing is to take

someone ELSE'S word for it, especially mine… Accordingly: TEST EVERYTHING you learn for yourself;

take every single assertion you hear with a grain of salt; ask as many questions as you can think of; walk away

from those instructors who discourage or refuse to answer those questions, or who ultimately can‘t answer them

to your satisfaction; and ultimately, after a dozen or so years of diligent study, testing, and personal experience,

don‘t be afraid to ‗morph‘ tactics you learn to fit your own critically identifed need; or to beg, borrow or steal

from other systems to plug holes that your own experience reveals in what you have learned or are learning.



Above all, trust your own common-sense judgment. And ultimately, don‘t be afraid to creatively ‗innovate‘

something which you find simply doesn‘t work for you--- that is how human beings crawled out of the mud in

the first place.

Top

The "Missing links" of Kata? (May – 2011)

This month's article is by Iain Abernethy of whom I'm a great admirer. Iain Abernethy has is one of the leading

voices in promoting a very practical side of Karate which many did not know existed. Whereas many

advocates of "practical karate" had gone more towards a kickboxing style of fighting and ignored the kata's,

Iain taught that the kata's did actually contain real pressure testable effective techniques that matched the

requirements of modern reality based martial arts. In fact Iain has trained with some of the Worlds very best in

reality martial arts (like Geoff Thompson & Peter Consterdine). He has taken this knowledge back into his

bunkai. The masters of old had to fight for their lives (not points) and their approach would have been similar

to the modern masters of reality based martial art. Therefore if they created the katas, then it is a safe bet that

katas teach very practical and efficient fighting applications which can be used under high pressure conditions,

rather than just the stylized manner in which it is often taught.

Iain has written a number books, make a several DVD's and teaches internationally. I would strongly

reccomend any of his books or DVD's, or better still, get on one of his seminars. These seminars are not just

limited to Karateka; other stylists often turn up too (especially TKD). As well as being a great teacher, he is a

really friendly and helpful guy who do his best to help anybody. A true gentleman and martial artist.

If you like the article below, then you can always read more of Iain's article by CLICKING HERE.

So . . . . over to Iain's article:

Interest in the original karate techniques - as recorded within the katas - is most definitely on the increase. It

seems that more and more people are no longer content to practice karate as a basic kick /punch system and

wish to practice all aspects of the art. In order to extract these oft-neglected aspects from the katas is it vital

to have a good understanding of the principles upon which the katas are based. In this article I would like to

briefly discuss the principles associated with "Entrance techniques". There are a number of differing names

attached to these methods (eg "Pre-kata movements", "lead techniques", "opening techniques" etc) but I

feel the term "Entrance Techniques" - as coined by Patrick McCarthy - is very appropriate.

We must understand that the katas were designed by fighters for fighters, and hence they often take a basic knowledge of combat for granted. Two fundamental combative principles - that must always be observed -

are the importance of keeping everything as simple as possible, and the importance of seizing and

maintaining the initiative.

We will look at the importance of keeping it simple first. As you all know, when a fighting, your adrenal

reaction will reduce your body's ability to utilise fine-motor skills (see Geoff Thompson's excellent book

"Dead or Alive" for more information). Hence, it is extremely unlikely that you will be able to apply any

overly complex movements. Secondly, you should always keep your number of initial responses to an

absolute minimum. If you have learnt many different responses to a given situation, by the time you have

decided upon which one to use, the situation will have changed; hence that technique will no longer be

appropriate. In the moments before the altercation, we should utilise a well-practised pre-emptive strike. If we are already past that point, and engaged in grappling, we should still keep our initial grappling

techniques as simple, and as few in number, as possible. This way we will respond quickly and effectively

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with the minimum of hesitation. So it makes sense that, when formulating karate, its founders would have

constructed a set of Tegumi techniques to be used the instant the fight hits grappling range. And they did!

Another error that must be avoided when studying bunkai is the tendency to interpret and express the kata in

a way that is overly defensive. When fighting it is important to seize, and then maintain, the initiative. You

should aim to fight at your pace and on your terms, rather than let the opponent dictate the fight. It is quite

common to hear statements such as, "If the opponent seizes your wrist, you can respond with this bit of the

kata." Why has the opponent seized your wrist in the first place? It is hardly the most savage of attacks! Do

you just stand there so the opponent can do as they please? - "Wait 'till you grab my wrist, then you're

gonna get it!"

Remember, that the katas take into account instinctive responses from the opponent (not to be confused with

"trained" responses - but that's another article!). The principles associated with 'one blow - one kill' run

right the way through Karate, with the aim always being to end the fight as quickly as possible. One quick

and sure way to end a fight in grappling range is to seize the opponent's testicles. The groin is an area that

most men will instinctively protect. Whilst attempting to grab the groin there is a strong chance that the

opponent will attempt to check the attack. If you are successful in seizing the opponent's groin, then the fight

is yours. If you are not successful, then the opponent may well secure a firm grip on your wrist in order to

prevent any further low attacks. And this is where the "the opponent has seized your wrist" techniques comein! The opponent seizes your wrist because they are forced to! If they don't, then you crush their testicles. If

they do, you apply the kata's techniques to disable the opponent and free your arm. These "Entrance

techniques" - such as the groin grab - are often not shown by the kata. The main reason is because they are

so obvious! But you must understand their purpose and be aware of their existence if you are to be able to

apply the techniques & principles of kata effectively.

There are three main "entrance techniques"; One is grabbing the testicles - as already discussed - and the

other two are seizing the throat and gouging the eyes. Again, if any of these techniques were successfully

applied, the fight is over. If not, there is a strong chance that the opponent will seize your wrist in order to

move your hand away from their face or groin. And again, this is where the releases from wrist grabs that

are contained within the kata come into play (See the KGM Book & Tapes). Fighting in this way, it is youwho constantly has the initiative, not the opponent.

All three entrance techniques are extremely easy to apply, and that is why the katas favour them. As soon as

we begin to grapple, the first thing we attempt is one of the three entrance techniques. This will reduce the

options available to us and ensures quick and decisive action. If the opponent counters, we are then in a

position to unitise the numerous kata techniques for dealing with a trapped hand.

Original karate is a very brutal system. Today, we may well face legal consequences as a result of our

actions. Be sure to only apply the techniques described above if the situation justifies them. The Shaolin

maxim, "Hurt rather than be hurt, maim rather than be maimed and kill rather then be killed" should be

observed. Never use more force than is justifiable.

Entrance techniques are an extremely important part of the combative side of karate. If you wish to fully

understand your katas, you need to understand that they were deigned for fighters by fighters, be aware of

what they show and what they don't, and why what they don't show can sometimes be more important that

what they do!

By Iain Abernethy



May, 2011 - Practical Karate?

I‘ve been thinking about the term ―practical‖ and its relationship to the martial arts. What is practical karate

and how is that different from standard karate? Shouldn‘t all takes on karate be practical? What would be the

point of ―impractical karate‖?

The Google online dictionary has ―practical‖ defined as:

1, Suitable for a particular purpose

2, Likely to succeed or be effective in real circumstances

3, Concerned with the actual doing or use of something rather than with theory and ideas

I thought it would be useful to break those definitions down a little in order to get to the heart of what

―practical karate‖ is.

1, Suitable for a particular purpose

From this first definition we can see that unless we define that ―particular purpose‖ we can‘t say whether something is suitable, and hence say whether it is practical or not. We talk

about this a lot on this site. A method can never be divorced from the environment / context in which is it

designed to operate. We also need to be aware that a given methodology cannot be moved in a ―cut & paste‖

fashion to another context and be expected to function.

Figure 1: Effective methods become ineffective when context changes.



The common example is when people state that the methods of karate competition are ―not practical‖.

However, the methods of karate competition are, by this definition, extremely practical when employed for

the particular purpose of wining karate tournaments.

Practicality and purpose are always linked. The methods of karate competition are practical for competition.

The methods used for self-protection are not practical for competition. If we don‘t define the purpose, we

can‘t say what is practical and what is not.

It would be fair to say that most people use the word ―practical‖ in relationship to self - protection, so that‘s

what I‘ll go with here. We should, however, note that that is not automatically a given and that all things can

be ―practical‖ depending upon the purpose assigned to them. It‘s also not enough to say the purpose is ―self -

protection‖ and leave it at that. We also need to define what that actually means and hence from there say

whether the methods we are looking at are suitable and hence practical. That leads us to the next definition.

2, Likely to succeed or be effective in real circumstances

Because the purpose of training is often poorly defined, people think of self-protection as being the same as

a no rules ―street fight‖. I see this as one of the most frequent errors when approaching self -protection: it is

viewed as being one and the same as ―fighting‖. This is a big mistake!

Even when we put aside all the vitally important non-physical

aspects of self-protection – such as threat awareness, personal security issues, knowledge of the law, etc – it

should be noted that the physical side of self-protection is not the same as fighting. Unless we are clear

about what is required, we can‘t know if a given method is likely to succeed or not.

While there is some crossover, effective self-protection is not the same as fighting. The methods one would

use to fight to the finish cannot be cut and pasted to self-protection. Fighting to the end is often not effective,

can unnecessarily put you in vulnerable situations and can leave you on the wrong side of the law.

In self-protection the aim should always be to escape as soon as we can. To try to outfight multiple enemies

is nowhere near as effective as escaping from those enemies. To continue to inflict damage when you could

have fled can leave you open to attack from others, and may leave you on the wrong side of the law i.e. you

will have to justify why you chose to remain on the scene and inflict damage when you could have escaped

(could be construed as "taking revenge‖).

Figure 2: Methods should be close-range with the emphasis being placed on escape.

Essentially for self- protection we need to be ―fighting to flee‖ as opposed to ―fighting to win‖. It‘s about

―not losing‖ by escaping; as opposed to trying to win by fighting. Remember this when we look at thequotes from the past masters later on in this article.



We need to carefully examine what self-protection situations – commonly referred to as ―real situations‖ –

require and train accordingly. If we are talking about civilian self-protection then to be practical we need to

avoid confusing fighting and self-protection and train accordingly (for both if you wish).

3, Concerned with the actual doing or use of something rather than with theory and ideas

Having clearly defined the purpose of training and what is needed to succeed in those circumstances, we

then need to do it! Live practise is a must if we are to avoid being stuck in the world of untested theory.

Sound theory is important of course. In the scientific world a valid theory is something which has

overwhelming evidence to support it. The theory of gravity can be said to be ―just a theory‖ but that won‘t

stop you plummeting to the ground if you step off a roof top! We should avoid ―baseless theories‖ and we

see lots of those in the martial arts. And the best way to do that is to do as the scientists do and put all

theories to the test!

Practical karate should have lots of live training that is as close to reality as safety and practicality will

allow.

One of the great things about live training is that it heightens your ―bulls##t filters‖. When people makeoutlandish claims about the effectiveness of given methods (remember the untested theories discussed amoment ago) you know they won‘t work because you have simulated experience of that environment.

Precise striking, complex locks, pseudo-mystical methods, block and counter, etc, just don‘t survive the

testing process. The pointless ―fat‖ that some approaches to the traditional arts have acquired is burned away

in an instant through such training.

Live and realistic training also brings home the importance of context. If you try using one-on-one methods

in a group situation you won‘t last long. You quickly learn how the methods used need to fit the context of

the situation faced; and you get good at instantaneously matching methods to context in a way that mono-

context fighting training simply won‘t develop.

Live training is also the only way to learn to effectively deal with the dynamic nature of the self-protection

environment. While they are a useful part of the process, you can‘t learn what is needed through set drills

alone.

My proposal is therefore that practical karate needs the following to earn the title of ―practical‖:

A – The purpose of training needs to be clearly identified (identify the goal / define the problem).

B – The methods that most effectively address that purpose can then also be identified (identify what

will lead to the goal / solve the problem).

C – Having identified those methods, they need to be drilled in a live way in a manner that as closely

reflect reality as safety allows (enact the solution / methods for reaching the goal).

The masters of the past were very good at identifying the purpose of training. As a couple of examples:

“[Karate] is not intended to be used against a single assailant but instead as a way of avoiding injury by

using the hands and feet should one by any chance be confront ed by a villain or ruffian” – Anko Itosu (my

translation of his 10 precepts).

―The techniques of kata were never developed to be used against a professional fighter in an arena or on abattlefield, they are however most effective against someone who has no idea of the strategy being used to

counter their aggressive behavior .‖ – Choki Motobu (from Tales of Okinawa‘s Great Masters by Shoshin

Nagamine, translated by Patrick McCarthy).



From the above we can see that the karate of the past (the karate of the kata) was not for dealing with single

assailants, professional fighters or trained warriors on a battlefield, but for ―avoiding injury‖ when facing

―villains and ruffians‖ who are not familiar with karate (i.e. civilian self -protection).

It‘s also important to note here how Itosu uses the term ―avoiding injury‖ as opposed to something like

―winning the fight‖. What is needed to succeed in a self -protection situation is again emphasised.

The problem is therefore clearly identified: self-protection in a civilian

context.

The methods for dealing with that problem are also identified: the methods of the kata.

If we therefore drill those methods live, in what I call ―kata based sparring‖, then we certainly fulfil

everything needed to be practical: and we can also claim to be traditional too.

Figure 3: Drilling live is vital. The Kata-Based-Sparring DVD / Download shows drills in which the

methods learnt from the kata can be practised in a live and realistic context. Click HERE or on the

image for more details.

Impractical karate would therefore be karate that has failed to clearly identify the purpose of training; that

has therefore also failed to identify the most effective methods for any given purpose (i.e. one-step sparringmethods, karateka vs, karateka ―bunkai‖, etc. being deemed relevant to self -protection); and does not drill

live in a realistic way. Of course no one uses the term ―impractical karate‖ but I would think many reading

this would recognise the karate just described.

Being ―practical‖ is therefore very straight forward it would seem. The key is simply to be ―goal focused‖and make effective use of what has been given to us by the past masters. This raises the question of why

anyone would not be goal focused and why not all karate is practical, but I‘ll leave that for another day. For

now, I hope the article as got you thinking about some of the issues surrounding practical karate.

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Breaking the Chains: An Analysis of the 1st of Choki Motobu’s Two-Man Kumite Drills

by Stewart Squire

In the annuls of Okinawan Karate there are many great names that left their mark on the traditions and

legends bound within our nightly practise of this fighting art. A history which stretches further back than the

annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom into Japanese hands, Karate long served the defensive needs of the

indigenous population, post annexation this combative method migrated north and evolved into something

new.

In its new form the art would be used to inspire and prepare young men to carry out their duty for Emperor

and Empire within the Japanese War Machine. During its transmission a number of notable masters and

personalities migrated from Okinawa to Japan, particularly to Osaka and Tokyo to teach the willing student

body.

Men such as Funakoshi Gichen, Mubuni Kenwa, Miyagi Chojun and Uechi Kanbun all made their impact

which is still celebrated today as notable branches of the Karate family. However one man in particular

holds pride of place for ―practical‖ minded Karate-ka, a man who in his own way collaborated in the

forming of what we know as ―Karate-do‖ but retained in his own teaching an ―old‖ and ―practical‖ vision of

the art.

Not without higher goals or evidence of deep philosophical consideration Motobu Choki kept his art within

the realms of reality and focused on the goal of survival in a civilian conflict. Where his contemporise art

worked for a higher goal of Zen like realisation and national development, Motobu primarily taught his

students how to fight for their own personal safety.

Possibly the greatest ―practical‖ self -defence expert of those Okinawan master who migrated to Japan to

teach Karate, Motobu has not shared the same world wide appeal as others, this is possibly due to a

perceived lack of higher values, lack of support for his methods and possibly down to a negative campaign

of propaganda placed against him during and after his life.

Never the less due to the foresight of modern researchers such as Patrick McCarthy and Graham Noble,

along with Motobu Choki‘s son, Chosei, teaching his father‘s methods internationally, this reservoir of

combative knowledge is finally beginning to receive the acknowledgement that he deserves.

Part of Motobu‘s legacy are 12 two person Kumite drills, contained within are the expressions of Motobu‘s

core combative values. Conveyed in Motobu‘s 1926 publication ―Okinawan Kempo‖ each one provides a

lasting example of how this warrior viewed the realities of civilian conflict.

Due to the importance to Karate‘s history and in our own contemporary study, the aim of this work is to

investigate what we can conceptually learn from the first of Motobu‘s two-man drills.



The Man

Choki Motobu was born between 1870 and 1871 and was the third son of Motobu Aji Choshin. Born within a royal lineage Motobu began training in martial arts around 12 years old

under Ituso Anako. Due to Motobu‘s heritage he was able to gain access to many other masters such as

Matsomura Kosaku of Tomari village.

Though it does not seem that he gained his combative abilities solely through training, Motobu was known

to venture into Naha‘s Tsuji-machi district. Essentially Naha‘s red light district Motobu found himself in

many ―Kakedameshi‖ or in blunt terms, street fights. Often accused of starting these deliberately it is known

that Motobu found himself on the winning side during these encounters.

Motobu by his early 20‘s had garnered a reputation for violence but possibly due to his rank within

Okinawan society seems not to have felt the full brunt of the law for his actions. Indeed one story recountsthat Motobu apprehended an escaped prisoner using his fighting ability.

Moving to Japan later in his life Motobu opened up a dojo in Osaka and began to take on many students.

Being part of that generation of masters who transported the Ryukyuan art to mainland Japan, Motobu found

that his methods often attracted students of his contemporises which created great riverarly. In particular

Motobu and Gichen Funakoshi had a heated riveraly, this situation between the politically shrewd

Funakoshi and the blunt Motobu, might explain many of the negative myths surrounding this master as

Funakoshi supports looked to discredit him.

Though during his time Motobu took part in one of the most famous Karate incidents on the mainland of

Japan. Around 50 years old Motobu, in a seemingly impromptu act, fought a western boxer as part of a Judo

v Boxing compotation. After soundly defeating several Judo men Motobu stepped into the ring and defeated

a much larger and younger man to the joy of the Japanese crowd.

This incident sealed Motobu‘s reputation as a great fighter, but through an independent spirit and lacking in

the popularity of other Okinawan Karate masters, Motobu‘s system gradually disappeared into the annuals

of Karate history and his two publications, ―Okinawan Kempo Karate- jutsu kumite‖ and ―Watashi-no

Karatejutsu‖. Dying in 1944 Motobu left an everlasting effect on Karate which is still felt today.

The drill

Published for prosperity in 1926 Motobu‘s 12 Kumite drills provides a range of responses to physical

violence. Each drill is a study in itself but the first drill in particular can provide an important base for which

to understand his methods.



We see both combatants start at an advanced distance, after formalities the attacker steps forward in a left

front stance and strikes out with a left lead punch to the defenders head (Photo 1).

Bridging the gap into a right lead stance (Nihanchi-dachi) the attacking arm is deflected with a rising block

with the right arm the left hand is immediately driven and catches the attacker‘s right hand (Photo 2).

Feeling that the right hand is to be driven forward to attack, the defender pulls the attackers left arm back to

his mid torso and delivers a lead right elbow to the attacker‘s floating ribs (Photo 3).



Analysis:

Get in close

During his performance for Tsunami Video Chosei Motobu made it very clear that his father‘s system

emphasised the need to ―get in close‖. The opening movement epitomises this concept, where other Karate

styles provide a retreating step in their two-man drills we see clearly an advancing step leaving the defender

well within range to employ high impact weapons such as elbows and knees.

We can assume from this that Motobu looked to condition himself and his students not to comply with their

nature. Our ―flinch‖ response would naturally lead us to retreat and turn away from the danger presented

from an advancing strike, Motobu‘s system instructs us not to shy away but advance into it. This is not tom

foolery on his part, by undertaking this action we immediately cut off the opponents advancing momentum

preventing being drowned by his wave of aggression, this action also ―bridges the gap‖, allowing the

employment of high impact weapons to finish the fight. We can consider for a moment that the ―bridging‖

concept may be a result of Motobu‘s extensive training in Nihanchi Kata.

Husband and Wife Hands

In collusion with the bridging step Motobu employ‘s his lead forearm to rise above his head, dropping hiscentre by bending his knees, the attacking arm is deflected above him opening the attacker‘s vulnerable

torso for counter attack. But as in other systems where the other hand is left on the hip in a ―chambering‖

position, Motobu‘s system instructs us that the other hand must be employed and become active when this

close.

Motobu referred to this as ―Husband and Wife Hands‖, referring to how both limbs had to work together in a

civilian encounter. This is vitally important and recognises that in a ―real fight‖ punches don‘t come in one

―oya-zuki‖ after the other allowing for a series of defending responses. Working in conjunction with the

―bridging step‖ the hands smother the attacker‘s limbs limiting further attack. A further interesting point tonote is that in some sources using a ―rising block‖ was a common tool employed by those from Tomari to

open an opponent up. As Motobu was a student of Kosaku Matsumora we might see here a fundamental

Tomari strategy in play.

Naihanchi Stance

As we have discussed the opening step and the hands, it is important to look at the stance. Motobu was

famous within Karate circles for his performance of Naihanchi Kata. Forming a fundamental form for

people trained within the Matsumura/Ituso lineage, Naihanchi became the backbone of Motobu‘s system.



The manifestation of the stance is not strictly the Naihanchi stance as the feet are angled to allow forward

movement, but what is retained is the essence. Maintaining the weight within the centre of the body, his

stance provides a flexible but stable base allowing his upper torso to freely move to apply his physical

responses. Motobu does not over commit his weight in any direction allowing for rapid movement to be

employed when required.

Closest weapon, closest target

Before the great Bruce Lee taught his own students to strike an opponent with their closest weapon to hisclosest target, Choki Motobu was instructing his students to employ their lead hand as a primary tool in

civilian encounters.

In a time when the lead had was used to defend and the rear to attack Motobu did not bound his limbs in

these rigid roles. Motobu in this Kumite drills teaches that the lead arm can be used to deflect as well as to

strike all within the same attack.

Once the attacking arm has been deflected and the other smothered and controlled, Motobu delivers a

devastating strike using his lead elbow to his opponent‘s ribs. Interestingly if we look at the completed

position the elbows are very reminisant of Nihanchi Nidan which Motobu also practised.

Conclusion

We are forever indebted to that generation of masters who, on taking the vision of Ituso Anko of an art no

longer hidden in the dark , dedicated their lives to spreading this combative theology to the masses and on

embracing new printing technology, wrote their knowledge down.

However much of the writing was in support of a version of the art suited to a new world where their little

unknown system had to find a place in a society which already had a rich and varied combative culture.

This meant that much of the writing of the time still did not fully provide the true extent of the art and often

left its combative explanations in an unrealistic world.

Adhering to some of the ritualised markings of the art, Motobu‘s kumite drills provide practical responses

and teachings in response to physical violence. Motobu through hundreds of fights understood thedifferences between a ―real‖ fight and a ring contest.

Through this experience and a deep understanding of Karate, Motobu was able to blend the concepts handed

down through Kata and portray it in a tangible way providing a realm of ―realism‖ compared to the rest of

his contemporises. A reality we can still learn from today.

About Stewart Squire: The author currently holds a 3rd Dan in Freestyle Karate and has researched anumber of other styles of Martial Arts including Kali, Silat, Jun Fan and Muay Thai. An instructor in

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