Go into any martial arts school and you'll people all rearing to gear up and have a go at each other. Depending on the school this could mean nothing more than a mouth piece and cup, all the way up to wearing an extra twenty pounds of rubberized, foam-dipped armor. In my opinion, there's nothing inherently wrong with any of the methodologies along that spectrum; safety is safety, and whatever makes the owner of the school feel safer in our litigious society is the way it will be. My problem is the way that kumite is taught in the typical shotokan/karate dojo.
Of the three K's of karate, kumite tends to be everybody's favorite, but the methodology of teaching it is so archaic, that it's amazing that people every truly learn how to fight. Most traditional schools follow the gohon, sanbon, kihon ippon, jiyu-ippon, jiyu kumite progression. As a starting point, gohon, sanbon and kihon ippon kumite are fantastic ways to teach distancing and reaction time. The defender understands the attack and is generally prescribed a counter attack to use in defense. As a means to teach basic distancing, and basic timing, these basic forms of kumite are fantastic.
The current paradigm says that once the student is competent with the basic kumite concepts, the next step is jiyu-ippon kumite, or semi-free kumite. This step is the one that is truly lacking and provides a very unstable base for students to learn to free spar. In general, of course there are exceptions to this, the attacks aren't necessarily prescribed, but they might be limited to, say, three different attacks. This is a positive that keeps the group in control, but many instructors claim that this is the step where students learn real self-defense as well has how to spar effectively. I say, what is the point of having the attacker do one attack and stand still while allowing the defender all the time in the world to complete a countering technique?
This is fine when practicing basic kumite, but when entering the world of more free-style sparring, certain paradigms need to shift. Limit the possible attacks, fine, but don't have the attacking side stand still for more than a second with their punch extended waiting for the counter. For the attacking side, the focus in this drill should be on completing the attack and getting out. The focus for the defending side must be to complete a no-nonsense counter and beat the attacker. In this step all the fancy techniques and flashy movements need to be taken out, that's fine for a demonstration or for basic kumite drills; now it's go time.
In jiyu-ippon kumite you should be learning what works for you in specific situations, against different techniques and styles of attack. Let's be honest, if you're at a bar and some random person takes a swing at you, he's not going to stay there with his arm hanging out waiting for a counter attack, he's going to swing and pull that arm back, and then most likely swing again, regardless of whether or not he caught you with the first punch. If you're really unlucky he's going to attempt to tackle you to the floor, and then you're really shit out of luck.
The other problem is the insistence of traditional karate-ka and instructors to stick to utilizing unrealistic attacks (i.e. oi-zuki). Nobody attacks like that, and don't give me that crap response that if you can block a fast oi-zuki then you can block a haymaker or a hook...those are completely different animals.
Anyway, the next and final step, typically, is stepping into jiyu-kumite or free sparring. This is the logical step, but for many schools this is a step backwards. They may practice elaborate takedowns and sweeps and close fighting counter attacks during basic kumite, but put them in the ring and they begin fighting at a completely unrealistic distance and in a completely unrealistic stance. Whether you are a regular tournament competitor or not, your kumite training has to fall into two different styles (preferably only one if you don't compete): competition kumite or realistic kumite. If you need to ask which style I advocate first and foremost, well you should probably just turn off your computer now.
Realistic kumite should and must involve realistic impact and realistic distances. Naturally, you shouldn't be out to hurt your partner, but they do need to know when they've gotten hit. If your school doesn't teach ground fighting, then that's not an issue, but make your sparring more than stopping after every exchange and resetting the match. If you incorporate sweeps and takedowns into your training, then include that in the sparring. The only time a match should be reset is if the instructor has a particular point to make, or if the conditions of the match have exceeded the rule-set that is utilized by the style/school.
Kumite training, should be a fun exercise, but it should also be educational. The purpose of sparring is to pressure test your skills and techniques, find out what works against a resisting opponent and what doesn't. Then go back to the basic steps and make it work, then put it back into action.
Be safe but not hesitant; be aggressive but not violent; be a fighter because in the end that's what we're really about.
Of the three K's of karate, kumite tends to be everybody's favorite, but the methodology of teaching it is so archaic, that it's amazing that people every truly learn how to fight. Most traditional schools follow the gohon, sanbon, kihon ippon, jiyu-ippon, jiyu kumite progression. As a starting point, gohon, sanbon and kihon ippon kumite are fantastic ways to teach distancing and reaction time. The defender understands the attack and is generally prescribed a counter attack to use in defense. As a means to teach basic distancing, and basic timing, these basic forms of kumite are fantastic.
The current paradigm says that once the student is competent with the basic kumite concepts, the next step is jiyu-ippon kumite, or semi-free kumite. This step is the one that is truly lacking and provides a very unstable base for students to learn to free spar. In general, of course there are exceptions to this, the attacks aren't necessarily prescribed, but they might be limited to, say, three different attacks. This is a positive that keeps the group in control, but many instructors claim that this is the step where students learn real self-defense as well has how to spar effectively. I say, what is the point of having the attacker do one attack and stand still while allowing the defender all the time in the world to complete a countering technique?
This is fine when practicing basic kumite, but when entering the world of more free-style sparring, certain paradigms need to shift. Limit the possible attacks, fine, but don't have the attacking side stand still for more than a second with their punch extended waiting for the counter. For the attacking side, the focus in this drill should be on completing the attack and getting out. The focus for the defending side must be to complete a no-nonsense counter and beat the attacker. In this step all the fancy techniques and flashy movements need to be taken out, that's fine for a demonstration or for basic kumite drills; now it's go time.
In jiyu-ippon kumite you should be learning what works for you in specific situations, against different techniques and styles of attack. Let's be honest, if you're at a bar and some random person takes a swing at you, he's not going to stay there with his arm hanging out waiting for a counter attack, he's going to swing and pull that arm back, and then most likely swing again, regardless of whether or not he caught you with the first punch. If you're really unlucky he's going to attempt to tackle you to the floor, and then you're really shit out of luck.
The other problem is the insistence of traditional karate-ka and instructors to stick to utilizing unrealistic attacks (i.e. oi-zuki). Nobody attacks like that, and don't give me that crap response that if you can block a fast oi-zuki then you can block a haymaker or a hook...those are completely different animals.
Anyway, the next and final step, typically, is stepping into jiyu-kumite or free sparring. This is the logical step, but for many schools this is a step backwards. They may practice elaborate takedowns and sweeps and close fighting counter attacks during basic kumite, but put them in the ring and they begin fighting at a completely unrealistic distance and in a completely unrealistic stance. Whether you are a regular tournament competitor or not, your kumite training has to fall into two different styles (preferably only one if you don't compete): competition kumite or realistic kumite. If you need to ask which style I advocate first and foremost, well you should probably just turn off your computer now.
Realistic kumite should and must involve realistic impact and realistic distances. Naturally, you shouldn't be out to hurt your partner, but they do need to know when they've gotten hit. If your school doesn't teach ground fighting, then that's not an issue, but make your sparring more than stopping after every exchange and resetting the match. If you incorporate sweeps and takedowns into your training, then include that in the sparring. The only time a match should be reset is if the instructor has a particular point to make, or if the conditions of the match have exceeded the rule-set that is utilized by the style/school.
Kumite training, should be a fun exercise, but it should also be educational. The purpose of sparring is to pressure test your skills and techniques, find out what works against a resisting opponent and what doesn't. Then go back to the basic steps and make it work, then put it back into action.
Be safe but not hesitant; be aggressive but not violent; be a fighter because in the end that's what we're really about.
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