Author: Sensei
According to Tony Pillage -the owner and founder of “The Way of Spiritual Warrior” series of dojos – the two most neglected areas of Karate are its pragmatic and spiritual application.
This is not such a surprising statement when one considers that these key subjects lie in probably one of the least popular areas of martial arts practice in today’s society: pre-arranged forms or kata. Kata is an area often relegated to nothing more than a ritual, where everyone tries hard to look serious and punctuate movements with loud shouts. It is a section of the syllabus, where a student’s single intention is to impress the teacher, grading examiner or competition judge. The lack of genuine combative depth behind the general practice of these movements is exemplified by the rise of musical and creative forms and modern competitive Wu Shu.
Applications are practised in some traditional schools, but it is normally done in a half-hearted fashion, without any genuine belief that the techniques are going to do anything other than look good in the dojo. They are more than often done in a compliant ritualistic manner and demonstrated against text-book movements from the style. Yet it would appear that the tide is turning and new luminaries in traditional Karate are stepping to the forefront of the martial arts world, reclaiming the rich depth of the original katas and making them exciting and accessible. Not just to Karateka, but to the open-minded martial cross-trainer as well and, I hasten to add,
this approach is not simply another case of modernising a style, but rather going back to the art’s roots (which really isn’t that very long ago) and applying some common sense.
This was the mission behind the series of “Yin and Yang of Karate” seminars that began on 29th January on a rather cold morning at the Sports Connection Leisure Centre in Coventry. Over eighty barefoot students made their way into the hall determined to get their circulation going before they even thought about Karate. We didn’t have to take long and there were more than enough pieces of literature and Tsunami fund-raising activities to keep everyone interested before Iain launched into his half of the seminar.
Sensei Iain Abernethy and Shihan Chris Rowen have surprisingly similar ideas about Karate application. Both were interested in controlling distances, getting students used to fighting up close and getting a feel for the movement of their opponents. These are areas sorely lacking in many dojos, despite their clear place in the early beginnings of modern Karate. Iain dealt very much with the pragmatic external side of training. Chris was interested in conveying the internal side of training and how, through correct execution of certain techniques, more power can be generated. Both used flow drills and drew their inspiration directly from one specifically chosen kata. In Iain’s case it was Heian Nidan from Shotokan and in Chris’s it was Tensho from Goju Ryu.
Ian warmed everyone up with some straight forward cardiovascular exercises before moving onto more art-specific training. We began with moving around each other, matching footwork, which is a common Western Boxing or Muay Thai method. This was complicated with a reaction test, where one partner suddenly put their hand up as a target to punch. Encompassing the grappling range, which most Karateka still struggle with, Iain had everyone doing a light “bulling” exercise, where we clinched in a classic upper body collar and elbow tie-up. Taking the grip lower we went into a Greco Roman-style position. These are universal techniques with their equivalents in all grappling styles from Judo to Cumbrian Wrestling. Iain teaches them to get students, who are still conditioned in the ways of semi-contact strike-based sport Karate, more comfortable with grabbing hold of opponents.
Taking the unedited words of Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan Karate and Mabuni Kenwa, the founder of Shito Ryu Karate, Iain began his lecture on the importance of the pre-emptive strike. Karate is often criticised for its insistence on not striking first. The reason for this happening is that many, including most Karate students, take this statement to literally mean a karateka should wait for someone to strike the first blow before he should react. Iain argues, using the clear text o( Funakoshi, that what is implied by kkno first attack in Karate” is that a good karateka wilnever initiate a conflict, but will only ever light for survival.
The founders of the early established Karate systems were very emphatic about awareness and avoiding danger. This is an area I’ve personally discovered is often handled like a disclaimer in most martial arts classes \n preference to getting on with the physical side of training. Such an error has led to the idea of reaction-based teaching, which Iain is trying to remedy through education. Karate may not be about picking fights, but Funakoshi is quite clear that his students are expected to physically strike first if there is no other option of escape from a conflict.
Using this premise we drilled the pre-emptive strike. Geoff Thompson named “The Fence” as the universal method used by experienced street-fighters and doormen to gauge when an aggressive situation was about to turn physical. We also used this method and. again, it was interesting to see how karateka, who were used to fighting from a sporting perspective, dealt with this very different range. However, once many had overcome some muscle memory problems they adapted quite well to the naturalness o\’ the movements. After all, this was not a course in secret techniques just the realities of combat.
Heian Nidan is a kata that deals a lot with the clashing together of two individuals; when the pre-emptive strike has failed and where limbs crash together and both combatants struggle to gain an advantage.
Grappling is very much a part of Karate, despite often being neglected in modern day practice. However, Iain, who wrote “Karate’s Grappling Methods.” maintains that the art is still a percussive or strike-based system. Therefore, as we went through the various traps at this second stage of conflict, effective strikes were never far away. “If you are bringing your fist back to your hip for the hell of it |as in a chamber motion], then you areiTt being realistic about your punches” was Iain’s basic message. Iain explained and demonstrated how the “pulling hand” should actively control an opponent’s limbs, prevent them from striking, and open the opponent up for punches.
This series of movements built to a flow-drill of trapping and striking. Flow drills are a great method to develop the motion of the techniques, but, as Iain clearly points out, has its limitations. “Once you’ve got the motion, dump it” was his clinical advice. The emphasis must always be on combat effectiveness.
Iain is a strong advocator of cross-training and has always used his bunkai to link to techniques from other styles. Last time I trained at one of his seminars we looked at a technique from Judo. This time Iain showed a technique he had learnt from a practitioner of Modern Amis. Starting with a figure-four arm-lock found in Heian Nidan, the so-called “double block”, Iain then moved on to show how this motion was very similar to the ensnaring head lock found in Amis.
Iain also believes in pressure-testing. At it’s most extreme this means all out full-contact sparring, but taking into consideration that this might not be to everyone’s taste he has devised a series of exercises designed to train a person’s will to survive; more specifically to never give up. These are his feared “Will Drills.” This time we did stomach crunches to jab crossing “through the guard” and then a staring competition where your abdominal muscles are used to take the weight of your body. All of this was done to no specific time limit. Iain just urged us to go flat out straight away, to not pace ourselves and to get into the discomfort zone as quickly as possible. Only on his order would we stop.
I expected Shihan Chris Rowen’s half of the seminar, being given the spiritual stigma, to be a nice warm-down from Iain’s hard training. I was kind of wrong. Karate is known for its emphasis on basics and this was a strong point made by both instructors. Shihan Rowen had the entire class sit in Seiza, the traditional Japanese kneeling posture, for two minutes. We had no mats and it can be particularly painful, even for someone like me who has studied a traditional style of Ju Jutsu for a year and a half. The philosophy is that before you learn how to stand you need to know how to sit. After two minutes settling in, Shihan called “mokso!” for our meditation to begin. This is a great exercise to rid the mind of outside influences and to focus on the training at hand. Many a student can benefit from this simple, but hugely beneficial exercise, which improves the discipline of concentration, visualisation and relaxation.
Despite it often being neglected by the more “reality-based” systems, I see more and more martial arts instructors returning to this area of study later on in their careers. After meditation we were shown the practical rising method, which is designed to teach a student to step away from conflict. Shihan Rowen – Chief Instructor of Bunbukan (Institute of Classical Budo Culture) – prior to the start of the session mentioned to the participants that with knowledge comes responsibility to underpin the said practice.
Shihan Chris Rowen’s Karate style is Goju Ryu, the “hard and soft” system created by the Okinawan, Chojin Miyagi that blended the indigenous Okinawa-te with the Chinese Crane style. The kata of this style arc known for their emphasis on breathing methods and total body conditioning. Chris focused his half of the seminar on the techniques of the kata, Tcnsho. We ran through them in sequence as a solo drill and then with a partner. The hand movements provide a rich diversity of application, all which compliment each other. Firstly they are all interchangeable as strikes, blocks, grips and pulls. Secondly they can be applied in two different fashions, as Ju ho (light hard techniques) or Go ho (heavy soft techniques). The hard type of execution is more accessible to the average person. We think of combat as a fast hard percussive activity, just as we believe a fist is a better source of attack than an open hand. Therefore Shihan concentrated on the second more difficult method of execution. The heavy strike is deceptively dangerous and was regularly demonstrated and executed as such. As for the difference between the fist and the open hand, Karate/Jeet Kune Do instructor Gavin Richardson summed it up with Mo Teague’s famous phrase: “a fist is a hammer; an open hand is a multi-purpose tool.”
For those who didn’t expect Shihan Chris’s section to be pragmatic, they were in for a shock. From a practical look at limb control akin to Iain’s flow drills to a method of grip-ping the triceps muscle, there was plenty of painful action for the various assembled students to experience. I was working with Gavin, who was showing me a flow drill when we were both positioned in front of the video camera (Summersdale Productions are to release DVDs of Iain’s and Shihan Rowen’s instruction on the day). What with my appearance as Peter Consterdine’s uke for a brief demonstration at his course last year, it looks like I’m going to become a regular seminar cameo on the martial arts circuit!
The session was completed with Shihan Chris Rowen’s performance of Tensho, which was a real treat to watch; a perfect example of mind, spirit and body moving in harmony. The kata is a simple, but a beautiful expression of body control. The true ethical nature of any positive spiritual outlook was expressed in the way students donated generously to the Tsunami appeal Sensei Tony Pillage had organised. Iain and Shihan were
very much a part of these activities and had plenty of time for anyone who wanted to speak with them. They both came across as friendly and sociable people; serious about their work, but not inclined to take themselves too seriously.
So, what can Karate bring to the table that cross-training in various other styles or delving into the depths of your own art cannot? On a general and superficial level I have to admit not much. But- then again -1 was never one much for styles; being a bit of a dojo-hopper, I tend to judge individuals rather than styles. However, gathering from the speeches of both Iain and Chris, I think there is something fundamental in the traditional teaching of the art that can at least inspire the non-karateka.
Iain said, in praise of his own chosen system, “What I love about Karate, across the board, is its concentration on basics.” At its heart Karate is a basic civilian form of combat, designed to be uncomplicated in physical movement and therefore easy for anyone to access. Whichever traditional Karate school you go to you will see constant repetition of single techniques. Likewise, at the end of his section of the seminar, Chris remarked “Tensho is a short kata yet there is so much in it.”
The Yin and Yang of Karate series of seminars was the brainchild of the previously mentioned Sensei Tony Pillage. Tony has made a very brave step in the interests of cross-training and bringing martial artists together. Future courses will also see cross-training maestro Rick Young paired with Iain Abernethy. These bold attempts to open minds are fully supported by Shihan Rowen who said to me on the day, “no-one has a monopoly on knowledge.” With these words in mind I look forward to a future, where practitioners of forms and hyungs will join the traditional revolution that Karate has started in the UK, and more of those wearing sashes and doboks will join the assembled ranks of gis.
