Getting a Grip: Re-thinking the Aesthetic Concerns of Technique

Part 1 of a two-part discussion

Try this: have a friend (not another karate person- we’re often too conditioned by training to attack/respond honestly) grab hold of your arm and clamp down hard. Invite them to do so with as much determination to hold the grip as possible. Now try any of the wrist lock/release techniques common to many martial arts and self defense schools. If it doesn’t work the first time, relax and try it again, without telegraphing your intention to use the technique. Chances are your friend still has a good grip that you can’t completely break or reverse. Frustrated, you’ll probably try it again a few times, then faster, then with more power, until finally what gets your arm free looks very rough and not much like the aesthetic form we’ve come to expect of a Martial Art.

Change the attack to a standard “Karate” stepping punch to the face. Block or parry it however you choose. In public demonstrations and action movies, this is the moment that leads to a deft manipulation of the attacker’s wrist or elbow that instantly breaks the limb, initiates a lock or sends them flying across the room. The oi-tsuki arm is nice and extended straight in front of the attacker’s body- effecting a technique is fairly easy with everything so stretched out. No problem. Now move the range in closer so that the attacker’s punch becomes more of a hook that circles in from the side or below. Make sure that your friend keeps the arm tight. Does the same technique work? Remember, someone who is angry enough to attack you is probably going to be very tight, muscles clenched to keep the fist balled. They also will not stop after one blow. Is it working in less than the amount of time it would take for them to hit you again?

If you’re still game, get even closer. Let your friend charge in and shove into you like a football player, punching from wherever they happen to be in the movement. Can you get anything even remotely close to the technique to happen when the attacker is moving through your space and not stopping after the punch? Get your pal to throw more punches after the initial attack. Now it all becomes a bit more hurried and fine motor skills are harder to utilize, especially when not getting hit means throwing up some blocks (gross motor movements) with speed. If the attacks are starting to look less like Karate and more like a street brawl, your friend is doing a fine job. If you’re still responding with an effort to execute textbook karate techniques, you likely aren’t doing so well.

You may be able to make the technique work in all of these situations, and if so, congratulations on developing such a high degree of skill. But it’s more likely that the technique failed as more of these variables were added and less of the standard “Karate” aesthetic was present in the attack. Try the experiments above with all of the escapes and manipulations you’ve trained in, and a pattern will likely start to emerge: they don’t often work like they’re “supposed to” against someone who’s never trained. Odds are that someone who might attack you for real has never trained. The technique that works so well against oi-tsuki or the overhead “Psycho” stab implodes against the rougher, more realistic style of continuous hitting.

This line of thinking is inspired, in part, by some experiences with shirtless Randori and sparring. It’s summer time here in the South, and that means anyone not in A/C is covered in a slick sheen of sweat all day long. Even grabbing and holding onto someone’s shoulders becomes a challenge. Fine manipulations of the wrist are out of the question when the attacker can slip around easily in your grip, neutralizing any torque you can get. A large and very strong person might have no problem- but are all of us large and very strong? Are we always at the top of our game, relaxed, rested, and alert? Here is where the line about training a technique to the point that it becomes automatic usually gets trotted out. However, learning a technique to the point of “muscle memory” is a liability if the technique will not work under stressful conditions. Judo people tend to be better at translating their manipulation techniques to a resisting person than Aikido or many karate people; they involve a series of gross motor manipulations, rather than a series of fine ones.

In looking at the wrist manipulation techniques that are in the common vocabulary of martial artists, our tendency is to treat them as discrete actions that address an attack. In training they occur as suffixes to an attack that often feeds right into them- for example, the straight arm oi-tsuki. Pull action A out of kata B to address karate attack C. Many “traditional karate” groups seem to be leaning more heavily on this aesthetic crutch, perhaps in response to the wave of skepticism brought about by the now popular, rough and ready UFC fights. By doing more “traditional” karate, that is, the “3 K’s” that beginners sweat through in strip malls and hombu dojo alike, the implication is that the art is being practiced in a pure form. But what of utility? What good is the perfect form if its functionality depends on an attacker’s compliance? And if the pure Karate form requires an adjunct “self defense” training component to teach defensive skills, what is the point in training in karate at all?

In the case of the wrist release/lock, the definition of the technique has become defined more by aesthetic markers than outcomes, for example: execute technique A to throw the attacker; instead of: execute technique A then/and throw the attacker.
There are several skills that, when included in the definitions of the techniques, make them work more reliably. They can be grouped into a few broadly generic categories:

-Raw strength: functional strength that adheres to/controls an attacking limb

-Shock factor: striking to create pain/surprise/openings

-Anatomical exploitation: moving with the construction of the joint instead of working against it

In part two, we’ll examine a specific wrist release/lock technique more closely, and explore some alternatives that move away from the aesthetic concern to more reliably achieve the same goal of functionality.

Training and the One-Punch Kill

There is an awful lot of talk regarding the power of the karate punch. I haven’t seen enough unbiased data regarding the force generated by karate punches to feel comfortable with any of the claims floating around. I have seen individuals who could hit heavy bags and makiwara with a surprising amount of force.  I had the opportunity to watch Harry Cook hit the makiwara at the TKRI dojo in Virginia recently, suffice it to say that I would not want to receive the full force of such a punch. Harry hits hard (to say the least). I think one key reason he is able to is because (apologies to Egami) he hits stuff, and he does it a lot. Put simply you need to hit stuff, a variety of stuff, in order to hit hard. Ideally you should be able to punch, kick, and strike stuff that stays put (like makiwara) and stuff that moves (bags, sagi makiwara, speed bags, etc) as frequently as you hit air. Unlike weaponed arts, karate strikes generally require a great deal of power in order to be effective. All that said I am uncomfortable with all of the “kill with one punch” rhetoric in karate. It results in the prioritization of power over other factors which are equally important to the effective use of karate in combat.

Some people may protest that this talk about one-punch kills is really just hyperbole, what is intended is really something like the injunction to train so that one may “stop an opponent with a single blow”. The expansion is important. There is world of difference between “punch” and “blow” and I am sympathetic to the idea that it is possible to knock out or seriously injure an opponent with a single blow. The problem lies in how difficult it is to get the chance to use such a blow, and whether it is wise to train oneself, or one’s students to rely on single blow strategies.

My experience is admittedly limited, but I have worked with boxers, full contact fighters, and traditional karateka. Boxers hit hard and fast (and unfortunately for me, often). I was always surprised by how quickly they exploited my smallest openings, and by how much damage their punches did. I love traditional karate, but I do not believe that the karate punch is intrinsically more powerful than a boxing punch (I doubt very many karateka could punch like the legendary Rocky Marcianno), Boxers tend to spend a great deal more time working set ups and combinations then karate people do, and I think most of us would do well to incorporate more of this sort of training. I suspect that factors other than power, especially strategic concerns, contributed to the form of the karate punch (these other factors will be the subject of a future posting). While it may be correct to regard all of this “ikken hissatsu”( kill with one-blow) talk as just designed to motivate students to practice. The degree to which it is entrenched in karate culture should prompt karate instructors to consider what effect it is likely to have on their students.

Dealing with real world attacks is likely to involve wading through a tangle of insults, environmental obstacles, and worries about the the threat to uninvolved innocents. One’s opponent’s most vulnerable targets will be partially, or fully shielded, or out of range. Opponents will move and roll with blows, reducing their effectiveness. It will be hard to find your footing, and the ground is likely to be slippery, uneven, sloped, or otherwise difficult. I doubt that the vast majority of black belt holders, even when the field is limited to the most legitimate and earnest of karate lineages, would be able to stop a fit, determined attacker with a single blow. Some lucky few may be able to land something like an elbow to the back of their opponents neck, or hit at just the right moment, at just the right angle, when one’s opponent is unprepared, and thereby settle things. It is more likely that you will find yourself scared as hell; you will notice a pronounced loss of fine motor control, your peripheral vision will deteriorate, and before things are over your limbs will feel like lead. It is also likely that you will find yourself on the ground fighting for your life, and that you will never have found an opportunity to throw your big finishing blow. It is extremely difficult to negotiate for an opportunity to fit a technique to a target when all hell is breaking loose. The effect a blow will have on an opponent is the result of many factors besides power. Karate instructors should give a great deal of consideration to how much emphasis they put on power in their classes.

I doubt there is an easy answer to this. If I am teaching a group of large, strong, athletic, and agile young adults I may emphasize powerful strikes and take downs. If I am teaching a group of bookish, non-athletic people I may emphasize something else, perhaps something like reality based, adrenal-stress drills. If I have a group of students who are in pretty good shape, but who have lighter frames, then I may be likely to spend a great deal of time focusing on shifting, combinations, and contingency drills. This requires a great deal of investment on the part of the instructor. It is hard, but it is important to keep in mind that the training the student receives could mean the difference between life and death for them in a real encounter.

Happy training.

TKRI-VA Instructors Promoted

David Campbell, chief instructor TKRI-VA, and Randy Simpson, traditional karate instructor for Ferrum College, both received rank promotions from Seijinkai Karate-do Association chief instructor, Harry Cook. The examinations were held on June 26th, 2008.  David Campbell was awarded yondan (4th degree black belt), and Randy Simpson was awarded nidan (2nd degree black belt).

Congratulations David and Randy.

Photos From the ’08 TKRI-Virginia Gasshuku

I’ve posted some pictures I took at this years TKRI summer camp. Most of the pictures were taken during the second of Elmar Schmeisser’s “flow drill” classes. The camera is new to me and I am still not used to it or I would have taken more.  The pictures may be found at;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tkri/sets/72157605945258492/

Enjoy.