Maybe this is an ‘aside’ or a ‘backtrack’ and ‘correction,’ but still very much part of this deep dive adventure beginning with the Kihon Kata.
I have to remember that the Kihon Kata were made specifically for school children and had a lot of the ‘higher force’ techniques omitted and a lot of what was taught with them, as far as two person drills, were created towards those same ends and, often, later.
So the Education given was specifically starting with Kata, not with Application (and it is doubtful that application itself was ever incorporated, judging from the state of sport Karate).
No real skills were taught beyond punching, kicking, and blocking, all done at unrealistic ranges in unrealistic ways.
Does that mean they are useless or useful? Just because something was not explained or highlighted does not mean it is not present.
How do we fix this? First, the opponent, forget the idea of ‘opponent’ and start thinking more of an ‘assailant’ and forget about doing a specific technique against a specific attack, the ABC method is out the window because it sucks and does nothing to prepare people to face assailants when or if they should have that displeasure.
How does the assailant move? They are certainly not going to assume a position akin to Zenkutsu Dachi in a Gedan Uke ready position with their attacking hand in chamber so that you know where it is coming from and what they are going to attack with so that you can apply your cookie cutter response.
Karate does not begin with Kata, it ends with Kata. Training should not be based on training, it should be based on creating competency, skill, and strategic thinking ON THE SPOT!
Taking this into account, you are slammed into a wall violently, maybe even jerked back up with one or two hands on the scruff of your shirt or jacket. What skills do you employ?
Me? I would likely move with it and head but the guy, assuming he is taller it would hit the nose region or just under with the combined momentum of his jerking me up and my push into it. Shoot my hands up center and out to slam his arm or arms away, pop him a few times in the abdominal section then sweep his arm through while he is still disoriented so that I gain the flank and he is either hitting the wall or passing to one side giving me the position of advantage.
See that? I aggressively stepped forward to close the distance while using it to assault his face then bring both arms up to get his hands off me (Morote Kamai from Gekesai Dai San, Gekesai, Kakuha).
Gaining the flank and allowing him to pass through maybe be further bolstered if I just help him along the way by adding momentum with a weight drop while grabbing the back of his neck to pull him down either face first into said wall or follow up with an interesting arm crank or a takedown. Same type of sequence as shown in Gekesai Dai San, but same movement as the previous post? Maybe? What skills is this teaching as opposed to the previous?
We have taken into account the ways in which an assailant will move or assault you in one instance, what they do is not as important as how they do what they do or, in other words, the feel of it.
They are going to jerk you around, grab and tear at clothing and skin, they are going to be bigger (possibly, at least in my case), and they are not going to leave their arms out for you to apply anything, they are going to do everything they can to stop you from applying anything.
What skills are useful with this? Sensitivity and blending, using what the opponent gives you is not just in or on their bodies, but in the movements themselves, the jerking and thrashing, the momentum, the back and forth.
What YOU do may not be what I do and what WE do will not looking like Kata, nor should we strive for that.
What else? Striking to disrupt and disrupting to strike and closest weapon closest target, head butt with a punch combination follow-up while on the inside, what this also tells us is that the inside is dangerous because all of their weapons can still reach us, so keep moving and causing damage vying for a dominant position.
This segment also teaches us entering aggressively, closing the distance and throwing off their timing by taking their initiative away from them.
Next it teaches us to clear their arms and allow them to pass through with whatever defense they muster so that we gain the better position by flanking them, taking at least half their weapons away by means of positioning.
We then continue the motion with a weight drop and forceful pull using the hand on the neck (Koken Uke) as a delivery system for the downward and backward force of the whole body.
With this we can use the wall to hit them, in this scenario it shows us that the environment is a weapon too, but this is not specifically called out in Kata, thus, this illustrates what one limitation that is seldom addressed.
It shows us using our whole body with momentum of the assailant and the importance of mobility with stability and elevation within footwork.
(Pretty sure I can word that better)
The main points, as you can hopefully see, are not in the techniques, but what they are meant to illustrate and to work those principles rather than perfecting and getting attached to technique.
More to come. Thank you.
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