Richard Heselton - Karate

It's really hard to ever get enough of watching this guy fight.  There are a number of good kumite clips from the JKA All Japan championships, but I'm a huge fan of this video in particular.  There are several iterations of it to be found on YouTube, but this is easily the best one.

RICH THE ONE STRIKE ARTIST.mp4: http://youtu.be/pn9nXGr0tRs

Problems with typical kumite training

This is certainly one of those topics that has been written about ad nauseum, the best/worst part about the debate about the efficacy of kumite is that there are so many points of view on the subject.  The interesting part is that the debate isn't concerned with traditional versus competition type kumite, or style versus style even; the argument, such as it is, is about whether kumite is necessary or not.  I find this concept to be laughable, mainly because it seems so obvious to me that when you're learning a martial art, fighting would be a more than necessary facet of the training.

For the sake of addressing that argument,  let's just go along the basis of whether or not kumite training is necessary for martial arts training.  There are those that might contend that the true purpose of training in a martil art is character building, or cultivating self-discipline.  These are wonderful reasons to train in a martial art, but frankly you can develop a very strong character through playing any team sport, the type of coach you have will largely dictate how much character development goes on - the same can be said for karate training.  You can, and should, learn self-discipline from your parents, at the end of the day discipline isn't actively taught; it's passively learned through observation.  The role models children have in their lives are the ones that show how to be disciplined.  This is something that can be seen in high-level karate practitioners, but it really should be learned growing up in one's home.  Since we've now realized that you can gain these benefits without martial arts training, let's look at the one aspect of martial training that really can't be taught (safely) anywhere else.  Plain and simple, that's how to fight!  Martial arts without fighting is simply aerobics training.  There's nothing inherently wrong with aerobic training, but just don't call it a martial art.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's dig into the real question; what kind of kumite training is beneficial, what is less beneficial and what is plain useless.  Let's do this backwards, and start with the useless stuff: no-touch sparring and one-step sparring.  Before I'm turned into the pariah of the karate world, let me preface by saying that these aren't completely useless from the point of view of learning mechanics and as light training, but for an advanced karate-ka or advanced fighter, this is just not useful outside of anything but a warm-up situation.  What is the purpose of sparring?  Pressure testing technique and maneuvers against a fully resisting opponent to figure out what you can make work and what you can't.  Naturally we aren't trying to kill our training partners, but we do need to know, as fighters, if we can deliver strong technique effectively.  The other draw back of no-touch sparring is that one will never experience the feeling of getting hit in the face.  I know that the best defense is "no be there," but what if you aren't fast enough once?  That's all it takes!  Learn what it feels like to take a hit, and learn how to survive taking  the hit.  That's one of the greatest benefits of hard contact sparring.

One-step sparring is a semi-effective training tool that is unfortunately taken much too far to be truly effective in training fighting technique.  The idea of a single attack and single defense is nice, but frankly after throwing the block, there will rarely be sufficient time to throw an effective counter attack.  One-step sparring, in my opinion, is most effective when used to train intercepting attacks and limb destruction.  Don't be that instructor that strings along 3+ techniques because it looks awesome and claim it's an effective combat skill.  Be up front with your students and tell them that it's just a fun lesson in mechanics that will be largely useless from a self-defense context after the second technique.

Enough bashing on traditional training methodologies, let's move on to the less beneficial stuff.  That's the WKF and most open-style tournament sparring rule sets.  The nature of the game, and it is a game, encourages fighters to move in such a way as to be completely vulnerable to a truly aggressive attack from anything outside a karate/taekwando/kung fu syllabus.  The average karate competitor might claim that bouncing like a rabbit keeps him mobile because he's light no his feet, but there's a big difference between being light on one's feet and being airborne.  Watch most MMA fighters or kickboxers, they are incredibly mobile but they rarely, if ever, leave the ground.  That being said, there is some benefit to be garnered from WKF type competition; timing, linear speed, foot work and speed.  Reaction timing and explosive ability are the skilsl that will carry over into a real fight, the rest is largely fluff.

Now onto the meat; full- or semi full-contact sparring.  Shobu ippon falls somewhere along the spectrum between beneficial and less than beneficial; hard contact is encouraged, and fighters aren't overly bouncy.  However, there is a lot of focus on the single technique, which isn't a bad thing but it's far from the be-all-end-all; sometimes a long flurry of punches is called over to end a fight.  This kind of hard-contact sparring is great, but not quite as good as the kind of sparring you'd see in muay Thai and Kyokushin sparring.  The purists are already rolling there eyes and whining "but that's all sport!  We're training for self-defense!"  That's all well and good, go and get your head caved in.  There is no self-defense, there is self protection and situational awareness.  Self-defense is when you're surprised, if you're training for that then you're training for the impossible.  If you're surprised then your reactions will be visceral, no matter how much you train that head block-reverse punch combination, if somebody comes at you with a knife, that will be the last thing on your mind.  Situational awareness gives one the opportunity to fight for their lives, or avoid getting into the situation requiring it.

I will always encourage any person to take up Shotokan, I love it and the benefits that I mentioned earlier are there; if you find the right dojo you will develop strong character and self-discipline, through your own hardwork and observations.  That being said, even if your dojo doesn't encourage it, I urge you to slap n some boxing gloves and head gear and go at it with your friends and training partners.  Your character, self-discipline and your confidence will thank you...your body may not right away, but it will.  I promise you.

Elements of Effective Technique

Let's ignore the fact that there are several different definitions for "effective" with regards to fighting techniques, and stick with the basic premise behind self-defense: put the other guy down.  Now with this in mind, what creates an effective technique?  For me, and my karate, the three ingredients for an effective technique are: distance, body dynamics and timing, in this order.  These are my ingredients for effective technique in a self-defense situation where execution and impact are paramount to one’s safety.  When we’re looking at shiai kumite and effective technique in that environment we might view these three elements in a different order, but they are all important in either arena.

Distance

Distance, or maai, is of paramount importance when discussing self-defense or self-protection.  Having proper distancing assures one remains out of range of an attacker, or within range to create decisive impact.  The ideal is distance away from one’s attacker, with karate we always press the idea of never attacking first; “There is no first strike in karate.”  This is, naturally, an ideal situation, and one’s distance or nearness one’s attacker dictates whether one will need to make the first physical strike; confrontation doesn’t necessarily always start with physical contact.  There are, of course, physical and verbal cues to be aware of.  If one’s distance is beyond the range of the attacker there is little to consider aside from deciding whether to maintain that distance and diffuse the situation or, if necessary, to close the distance and pursue physical means of diffusion.

When one decides to close distance, or begins the situation within the attacker’s range, the question now becomes of what weapons are available to both parties.  Sometimes there will be external weapons (ie. knives, bats, guns, etc,), and this extra variables will also dictate what the attacker’s actual distance is.  These are practical considerations, but beyond the purview of this article.  Once you are committed to the fight, what distance are you in?  There are a variety of combat ranges from kicking, to punching, clinch and then grappling; these are, of course, listed in order from farthest to nearest.  Once one’s distance is determined, the effective weapons are also determined.

Body Dynamics

I am using this term as a catch-all phrase to include every aspect of mechanical execution of the chosen technique as well as creation of power behind the technique.

Great, you’ve found your effective distance in this particular situation, and you know what technique you will be using…but does that mean you can make it work for you?  What if I am attacked and I throw a wide swooping punch that does nothing more than rap my knuckles against my attacker’s shoulder?  What have I gained aside from the obviously bruised ego?

With body dynamics we have many things to consider, large details down to the minutia.  The bigger concepts, depending on the technique would be hip rotation and compression & expansion.  Without utilizing both of these ideas simultaneously very little power will be generated behind the punch/kick/etc.  Let’s assume you can get your hips moving properly, what about extension?  If you don’t extend, you won’t hit, or you won’t hit deeply enough.  This means you have to be able to extend from the hips and from the shoulders without overreaching and unbalancing yourself.  Moving further outward we come to stability of the joints.  All of one’s joints need to be stable and strong to be able to absorb and disperse the forces rebounding back into one’s body upon impact.  Newton’s laws ensure that an equal and opposite force will react back into one’s body.  Stability at the shoulder ensures that punch’s power will go primarily into the target and not back through the shoulder dislocating it.  Finally we come down to the alignments of the bones to create the most stable striking surface.  Punching with the wrong knuckles or kicking with wrong part of the foot can create terrible consequences in the form of broken wrists or ankles, or even fingers and toes.  While these are not life threatening injuries on their own, they can be terribly inconvenient when one’s life and health are on the line.

Each of these aspects needs to be trained, constantly and with intensity.  Body dynamics should be practiced solo, with partners and on striking surfaces; the makiwara and heavy bag are best for true impact training and learning proper bone alignments.

Timing

The last crucial element of creating an effective technique is timing.  This is last on the list due to the fact that one can still hit an opponent hard without timing it properly, but correct timing can make the difference between inducing pain and finishing the confrontation.  The classic example is of two trains colliding, the faster the combined speeds, the greater the collision and damage.  The same goes for two bodies in motion.  If the goal is to punch the target, it’s better to make contact as one’s opponent is entering one’s range, or is at the very least moving forward.  Practicing timing can be done in several ways; generally and specifically.

A simple drill is to play a song that is fairly repetitive, generally techno and dance type music are best for this.  Every time a sound, tone or lyric repeats, throw a chosen technique or combination.  Think about the previously mentioned elements, of course, but emphasis is on the proper timing.  Outside dojo, one can also practice this idea with simple drills.  While driving, taps the steering wheel every time a car of a particular car passes by.  Don’t search for the color, but whenever it comes naturally within one’s site, tap the steering wheel.

Practicing timing with a partner is the best and ideal method of drilling this element.  Have the opponent do a specific body action, whether that might be a specified attack, or a tap on the shoulder, or a body fake, it doesn’t matter.  The partner acts, and one’s job is to catch them, with the specified reaction technique.

Other Considerations

Naturally, you might think that I’ve ignored physical strength and more importantly intent.  It’s important to remember that at all times it is one’s intent that determines whether or not a technique will succeed in putting down the attacker.  Remember this one point, if all else fails and these three points are not in sync, “Speed, surprise and violence of action.”

Mae-geri, how useful is it really?

I love the mae-geri, it's my favorite technique in any striking style, and when done properly it's so archetypal of Shotokan it's almost scary.  That being said, there are in my opinion several draw backs to using the mae-geri.  If you're like me, and participate in karate competitions you will rarely if ever see the mae-geri thrown.  The most commonly utilized techniques are gyaku-zuki, kizami-zuki, mawashi-geri, uraken-uchi and ura mawashi-geri...and very likely in that order at that.  Mae-geri, however, if used is largely thrown ineffectively and used as a set up for another technique (ie. fake into mawashi-geri, fake into ashi-barai, etc.)  There's nothing wrong with doing it this way, in fact, I've been known to use mae-geri in this fashion from time to time as well.  Then again, it's such a staple of Shotokan training we should be able to use it more effectively.  When done right, mae-geri should look more like this::

The gentleman performing the mae-geri in question is a sempai of mine in the American JKA, and an outstanding fighter and all around karate-ka.  As you can see his mae-geri pretty much cuts his opponent in half, very little backward motion of the opponent.  Hit and fall.  That's mae-geri done right!

Making one’s mae-geri useful takes a lot of time and effort since performing the kick the way one does in kihon is not optimal for combat or kumite.  There is a similar problem associated with using mawashi-geri effectively, the technique is too big for its own good.  To cover for this many fighters have begun cutting the kick through their center to shorten the distance and tighten up the arc of the kick. For my sempai, he’s perfected the kick by way of impeccable timing.  The timing is one aspect that needs to be trained, but sometimes it’s simpler to create new ways to set-up the kick.  Here are several tips that can be used independently, but work best when put together:

• First tip: rather than lifting the knee, tuck the heel first.  When you’re in kamae, the back foot is significantly more difficult to see.  By tucking the heel first, one can more easily disguise the following forward action of the hip until it’s too late.
• Second tip: begin the action not by pushing off the ground with the kicking leg, but by collapsing onto the supporting leg.  Combined with the heel tuck, the kick begins from a much closer starting position rather than from farther away.  Collapsing onto the lead will cut the distance by 5-6 inches at least.
• Third tip: create a visual fence.  Geoff Thompson talks about his “fence” technique, where his arms are used as a barrier and essentially as a literal dead-line by which he can determine when he’s in danger.  By incorporating your arms into the collapse of your supporting leg, you draw your opponent’s eyes away from your body and towards your hands.  This can be done in several ways, the easiest is to just lift your hands, palms forward toward your opponent as you load forward.  This does several things, first it draws the attention, but there’s also the psychological suggestion that your opponent should back off which will generally lead to a backwards head lean and a breaking of kuzushi.  You can also use your hands to throw techniques, kizami-zuki gyaku-zuki for instance.  Put your fists in your opponents face and they won’t notice your leg until you’re burying your kick.  The last option, and slowest for most people, would be to use your lead leg as a visual fence by throwing or faking a kick before dropping into the mae-geri.

These are just suggestions and ideas that have worked for me to increase the effectiveness of my kick.  There is always the question of improving one’s kick mechanics and hip dynamics to create more efficient movement, as well as training of timing and distance to improve the mae-geri.

If you have any ideas or suggestions of your own, please share in the comments!  Thanks for reading!

Core Exercise for the Martial Artist

Every fitness expert these days will tout the necessity of performing an endless number of core exercise and repetitions to achieve the lean, chiseled look that everybody is looking for.  The problem with the current paradigm of core training is that majority of the movements put the lumbar spine through of excessive degree of flexion.  Dr. Stuart McGill, of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, is the foremost specialist on lower-back pain and disorders.  He has worked with countless athletes to rehabilitate lower back issues and to increase and improve athletic ability.  He has done a significant amount of research regarding spinal flexion and how detrimental it is to overdo these exercises.  The exercises that fall under this category are any that can be classified as a crunch or sit-up.  The problem being that overuse injuries resulting from regular lumbar spinal flexion can cause herniated disks as well as nerve impingement issues.  Not to say that Dr. McGill doesn't have his clients/patients doing any kind of spinal flexion, but it is limited to a select few exercises that he has developed.  That being said, we then have to question the common use of spinal flexion within typical calisthenic type exercises for the general population.  I highly recommend reading Dr. McGill's book Low Back Disorders (click here to buy).

My experience with martial arts has largely been limited to two arts: Shotokan Karate and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  I have dabbled and experienced a number of other arts as to have formed an opinion on what might constitute necessary or useful core exercises.  We have to first emphasize that the core is not simply the abdominal muscles – that is a very common misconception.  The “core” of the body actually extends from just below the pectorals in the front of the body and the latissmus dorsi in the back down to the hip flexors and gluteals; some physiologists have been known to include the upper portion of the hamstrings and lower portion of the pectorals into the equation.  Since this is a karate-based blog, I’ll focus most of my attention on the core exercises which would be ideal for the karate-ka.

We have to remember what the primary action is for the core in typical karate training; and that is bracing and rotating.  There is very little flexion involved in karate outside of the occasional judo throw that might be included.  I will ignore the flexion exercise for the time being.  When we talk about bracing, we’re referring to our body’s ability to absorb and disperse impact and forces that occur upon around extremities.  Consider one’s natural reaction to being punched in the stomach by one’s loving Sensei.  Your body will crunch down and your stomach will push forward to create a stable surface for the impact.  There is no curving forward of your body, simply your shoulders and shoulder blades pull down and luck into your lower back, and your hips pull up into your abdominals.

There are several ways to practice this form of bracing, the first and best would be to perform and squat pattern exercise, followed by any deadlifting/hip-hinge movement.  Barring one’s access to barbells, the next best choice is to incorporate the plank.  The plank is most likely the most boring abdominal exercise known to man, but when done correctly one learns how to brace one’s core while maintaining the ability to breathe normally.  When taking the plank position, remember that is important for the body to stay in a rigid line, with your hips level with your shoulders.  Once this position is achieved, feel your shoulder blades and gradually pull them down so they are packed into your lower back.  Also tighten your glutes and hold everything tight.  Now lock into this position and hold for as long as you can.  Rinse and repeat.  This exercise will primarily target the transverse abdominis and the spinal erectors.

The next exercise that is advisable is the side plank, this takes the regular plank and applies to unilaterally, which will primarily target the obliques and the hip flexors rather than the transverse abdominis or the spinal erectors.  From a standard plank position, rotate your body to one side so only one elbow is down, and stacked directly below your shoulder.  No contract your body in similar fashion to the standard plank; you will notice that the side closer to the ground will have to work harder.  Don’t forget to both sides.

The third exercise would be anything that forces your spinal erectors to work independently.  My personal preference is for hyperextensions, but not everybody has access to the correct apparatus.  Performing Supermans are a viable substitute for this movement.  Lie on one’s stomach, and contract the lower back to pull one’s shoulders and legs off the ground.  Hold for as long as you can, and again rinse and repeat.

These three exercises alone will satisfy the bracing concept.  Rotating is another animal entirely.  There are hundreds of exercises that one can use to train the rotatory capabilities of the core.  The two I recommend are upper and lower Russian twist.  To perform the upper, sit on the floor with one’s knees bent 90 degrees, feet flat.  Lean back 45 degrees and lock your core similarly to the plank and proceed to rotate side to side.  You can add resistance by holding a medicine ball or a weight plate on your chest, and increase the difficulty by extending your arms and touching the floor on each side.  It’s important that the core remains tight and locked throughout the movement.

The lower Russian twist is much different, but equally effective.  Lie flat on your back, and lift your legs straight up to point at the ceiling.  From this position lower both legs to one side and then the other.  The legs do not need to touch the floor, just go as low as you can while keeping your shoulders and upper back flat on the floor.  These can be done with legs straight or bent.

There you have it, an effective and all-encompassing set of core exercises to satisfy the needs of the average karate-ka.

No-Gi Karate

I've been thinking for a few years now about the decline in popularity that karate has gone through over the years.  Like any martial art, the popularity will wax and wane; however, there are those that attempt to stop the waning of the popularity by changing their martial art into something that it was never intended to be.  You all know what I'm talking about, that's the rise of Extreme Martial Arts (XMA) or these karate schools that supposedly teach MMA, but in fact attempt to teach a highly bastardized form of grappling while teaching garbage karate to boot.  There are to this day a number of highly successful karate instructors that I am friends with, all within the AJKA-I.  They all adhere to a very strict traditional way of teaching, but they bring their martial art into the modern world, and apply it liberally in a variety of situations.  Many of them have a significant level of training in grappling arts and mix that into their teaching, which leads to having students capable of acting within a variety of combat ranges.

That being said, I turn to the example of successful grappling arts that have flourished over the years, namely Judo and more recently Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  Judo has been seeing something of a decline but the tactics and techniques are still highly sought after and utilized throughout the self-defense and martial/combat arts world; specifically the use of hip throws and foot work (ie. Ronda Rousey).  To focus more on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, however, the sport has seen a surge in popularity since the first Ultimate Fighting Championship events where Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) led the way to victory by way of Royce Gracie.  Now BJJ has found international popularity, to the extent that BJJ champions are international celebrities.

So what has made this sport successful?  First, it was certainly the effectiveness that it showed in the ring, and brought awareness of multiple ranges of combat to a wider audience.  Secondly, there is a sporting aspect to the art, and not strictly a quasi-Eastern methodology.  And third, the practitioners and instructors brought the art into the real world by introducing the concept of no-gi jiu-jitsu and submission wrestling.  Wrestling has long been a combat sport of its own, however, it was the advent of BJJ that brought about submission wrestling.

It is this sense of reality that made BJJ so popular amongst the general population, so why can’t we do this with the karate world?  Karate has always been taught in the gi, but when will you ever enter a self-defense situation where you or your attacker will be wearing a gi, or even a gi-like item of clothing?  The closest you might find is a heavy wool coat, but we can’t train for the slimmest eventualities.

That’s where the idea of no-gi karate came into my head, there are many challenges to implementing this into a traditional dojo setting without it becoming just another kickboxing class, but the point is that it is necessary.  By training the karate technique in short and a t-shirt, or even pants and a shirt and shoes we can really learn what works and what doesn’t and to what extent.  Perhaps in sneakers the typical body shifting and twisting might not be as effective on a concrete slab as it is when barefoot on a mat.  We have to remember that traditional karate training takes place a sterile, controlled and relatively safe environment.  We don’t have to worry about those other considerations of environment, but we can bring new variables into the picture.

How would one structure a “no-gi” karate session?  It’s important to know that one would have to largely dispense with fundamental kihon and kata as training tools in these sessions.  This is the kind of session that would emphasize kumite kihon, from jiyu-kamae or even from shizen-tai.  Start a typical class with a good calisthenic based warm-up to get all the joints and muscles moving, and move into jiyu-kamae technique, and then into a more natural stance for combat.  One can even more ably incorporate bunkai training here, because now we’re discussing karate for pure self-defense and this where bunkai is most useful.

Those are two-ish cents on this subject, please feel free to share and comment!

Get back to the basics

Every martial art seems to have a seminar circuit that goes around the country/world on a regular basis.  The AJKA-I is no different.  With two highly proficient and successful Sensei at the top of the organization; Edmond Otis Sensei and Leslie Safar Sensei, you can always expect to gain great insight into Shotokan by training under them.  The problem, however, is that the more immature among us attend these seminars thinking they will learn some new, flashy and fancy technique to add to their repertoire.  While this can occasionally be the case, the fact of the matter is that these Sensei are advancing in age, and cannot perform the flashier technique as easily.  More than this simple fact of life, however, is the fact that as the body ages, the mind learns to become sharper when pushed to do so.  What does the advanced karate-ka do at this point?  They fall back on the simplest and most fundamental aspects of karate training: distance, timing and the most basic kihon.  At the most recent training camp I attended with Sensei Otis, a lot large amount of time was spent on practicing basic body dynamics: expansion/contraction and rotation.  These body dynamics were then applied to the most basic of karate technique: kizami-zuki, gyaku-zuki and mae-geri.  These are the bread and butter of any successful karate-ka.

That being said, this all came to mind having read an article on GrappleArts.com about a newly made BJJ black belt having a private lesson with a high-level BJJ instructor.  His request was to learn more about the most basic techniques, and how to execute them in an advanced fashion.  This is the main benefit of the seminar circuit, and something that shouldn't be forgotten in daily training.  Go in the dojo and train the fancy stuff, but remember it is the basics that ground all technique from kata to kumite.  The article is linked below:

http://www.grapplearts.com/Blog/2014/02/a-blackbelts-private-lesson-with-a-jiu-jitsu-master-by-mark-mullen/

Benefits of Competition

I have written previously about the benefits of competition, or shiai, kumite, of which there are several.  To reiterate my point, here is a link to the original blog post: http://lazybudo.blogspot.com/2013/03/benefits-of-shiai-kumite.html

I still see these points as being highly beneficial and very difficult to test in any significant manner using traditional, standard, karate training practices.  With any martial art, it is the sparring phase of one's training where one's techniques are pressure tested, and you can truly test your mettle.  It is competition which takes this phase to a new level; this applies to both kumite and kata competition.  I still stand by the merits of shiai kumite: distance, footwork and timing, however, these are specific parts of being a karate-ka that are trained by practicing this style of kumite.

What are the overall affects of competition?  Nathan Scarano Sensei, 6th Dan AJKA-I, has been known to say that there are, in fact, 4 K's of karate.  This is in opposition to the standard 3 K's that most karate-ka speak of (kihon, kata and kumite).  What is the fourth K?  It is kompetition!  Yes, that's the incorrect spelling, but the alliteration is in the speaking of the words.  Competition is the finish line for all of one's preparation.  It's no longer about whether you can perform you kihon and kata, or fight an opponent you know well in the dojo, it's if you can do all these things in front of spectators, facing a complete stranger and being judged for it.

There is a strange level of mental pressure that exists when one steps into the ring, for kata or for kumite.  I notice it every time I compete.  This past weekend, AJKA-NY hosted its annual tournament in conjunction with another local competition.  The combination resulted in one of the largest open tournaments in the area, if not in the country.  Over 500 competitors from all over North and South America, as well as several competitors from Europe.  It was a massive event.  Over of the course of the day I saw what calm under fire really looks like, and I've also seen what happens when one loses control and lets instinct take over.

The purpose of sparring, in general, has always been to give the fighter the chance to pressure test one's techniques, this applies to kumite in karate, randori in judo, rolling in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and whatever other time can be used in any other style.  That being said, competition among these other arts has retained that notion, while being more sportified.  Karate kumite, on the other hand, has become sportified and more stylized, with flash and fancy technique being more highly rewarded than good effective technique.  It might be impressive to throw a judan ura mawashi whilst falling backwards, but it's far from an effective technique.  This moment, which is seen very often especially in WKF-style kumite is impressive for more than the fact that it is highly athletic and bordering on acrobatic.  What impresses me most is the calm under pressure the fighters show while being pushed backward, and they still think to throw such an awkward and difficult technique.

What's my point in all this?  Karate kumite, specifically shiai/competition kumite, has become less and less about clean efficient technique.  So if we aren't training to throw strong technique and as I like to say "put the other guy down," what are we training for?  The real benefit is being able to think calmly when being pressured, whether you feel threatened in this arena, there is the concern over getting scored on.  Getting scored on in the ring means that I will be injured in the street.  It's as simple as that.  The one that attacks first in the ring, will also be fast enough to attack first in the street.  The one that counters faster or moves faster will do the same in the street.  It is being able to think calmly while under duress that is important in either arena.  Think about that the next time you're training.  Can you perform these techniques with the same level of calm outside the dojo as you can inside?  With an opponent as well as without one?  Don't just practice the techniques, practice the mental aspect as well, if not more so.

New Years Goals

First off, let me say this: I hate the term "New Years resolutions."  I feel this concept of making life goals at the beginning of every year is great, but giving it a special term that implies a strong sense of commitment is bogus.  Resolution, by definition, means: "the act of finding an answer or solution to a conflict, problem, etc."  The route of resolution is resolve, which means: "to find an answer or solution to something."  These words involve the solving of a problem, and creating a "New Years resolution" doesn't satisfy that definition.  People create a variety of "resolutions" each year, the most common being health related: ie. being healthier, starting a diet, going to the gym regularly, etc.  These are goals, these are ideas, they aren't resolutions.  That being said, I do have several significant goals this year pertaining to my physical training.

Goals:
1a) Every year since I began competing with the AJKA-I, I have been invited to compete internationally with the team, and for various reasons (namely school and lack of finances), I have been unable to travel and compete.  This year, I will be completing school by, or before, the end of this summer.  With that in mind, I will hopefully begin working in the very near future, and pushing forward towards true financial independence.  In that vein, I will push myself to begin saving money regularly so as to finance this trip and competition.

1b) This goal is two part, mainly because being able to afford and have the time to make the trip is only part of being prepared.  The second goal is preparation.  I am currently committed to training at minimum two times per week at the dojo, this is hardly enough to prepare for an international competition. Keeping this in mind, within the next month I will endeavor to make at minimum two trips in the mornings to do solo training.  This will involve either kata/kihon work or sparring at the dojo, or bag work at the gym.  The gym has a decent heavy bag, and it's about time that I became better acquainted with it.

2) This goal does somewhat piggybacks on my goals for competition, but this is a separate idea in and of itself.  I have been lifting heavy and regularly for the better part of a year now.  In doing so I've been programming my workouts in a powerlifting fashion, with the majority of my assistance work being geared to making my main lifts better.  These are the lifts that make me stronger overall, and help to fix muscular imbalances in my body.  I will most likely not be ready for it this year, but I'd like to begin looking into powerlifting competitions for the coming year, and continue my intense lifting and prepare for that.  However, I have to be safe and not compromise my karate goals for this.

3) Last physical goal, I want to make my karate my own.  This isn't a short- or mid-term goal, this is long-term.  I've finally achieved my 3rd dan in Shotokan, which has been my primary karate goal for years.  It is a respectable rank, and is the level where one begins to "create" their own style, and define what makes them a karate-ka.  In so doing, I'm searching within myself to find what it is I want from my karate.  This goal is far more mental at the beginning than it is physical, but gradually the physical will emerge.

Thank you for reading, and all the best to all for the New Year!

Cardio and Karate

Prior to beginning my career in karate, I was a competitve swimmer.  I was never particularly gifted in the water, but I did manage to develop a significant cardiovascular capacity; aerobically and anaerobically I was incredibly fit.  My cardiovascular fitness has yet to approach that level since I finished swimming.  Moving into karate, I was daily confused by the cardiovascular fatigue that I would feel very shortly into the average karate training at the dojo.  I began searching for new methods of cardiovascular conditioning which would further my ability to perform effectively in the dojo.

My first cardio-love since leaving the pool behind were the roads and trails.  I love running, I try to run as often as possible, I even participated in a number of road races; 5k, 10k, marathon, no distance was too daunting.  However, I saw very little carryover into my karate, which I found very strange.

Boxers and combat fighters for years have used "road work" as a staple to their training.  Why did it work for them, but not for me?  I began reading, researching and analyzing the various combat sport rules and training styles and began noticing things.  At the longest a boxer needs to be conditioned to perform for 15 3-minute rounds, for a total of 45 minutes with only 1-minute rest between rounds.  The MMA fighter has a maximum of 3-5 5-minute rounds for a total of 15-25 minutes.

From there I've tried a number of different conditioning routines and I think for now I've found what works best (for me).  Let's start with the options, benefits and drawbacks.

1) More karate - The main benefit is that you're training your body to perform the activity for an extended period of time.  It's like training to run long distances; the best thing you can do is just run a lot.  With varying degrees of intensities inherent in the training scheme of the typical class, the cardiovascular system will get a veritable kick in its aerobic and anaerobic ass.  While this is (in my opinon) one of the best options, it's far from ideal from the vast majority of the karate population.  Karate, for most people, is a hobby, and as such they are unable to devote so much extra time in the dojo or in training in general.  Now one might say you don't need to be in the dojo to train karate, and that is true, but for many people the lack of class environment (or simply the lack of the dojo) makes the karate training experience less authentic; naturally the enthusiasm is lost.  Time being another consideration, if one does not own one's own dojo, it's hard to train at the dojo outside of normal class times.  I know that given my personal schedule, I can only be in the dojo 2-3 times per week, which is only open in the evenings.  Training early mornings might be an option if the dojo were open at those hours.

2) Running - I know I just said that running did not work, but I was referring a very specific type of running protocol, and that is Long Slow Distance (LSD) running.  The average karate, or even karate competitor, will find little benefit in running distances longer than 3 miles.  Furthermore, running at a steady state does very little to prime one's cardiovascular system to operate among the different levels of activity one will find during the average karate training session, let alone during a competition.  The best form of running would be sprint intervals, highly intense but short bursts of speed followed by ample recovery will better mimic the interactions between fighters during kumite.  Also, Fartlek (Swedish for speed play) is another great option; running a long distance at varying intensities, speed up/slow down over chosen intervals while still getting some good aerobic conditioning.  I would say that the pros and cons listed apply to almost any typical cardio exercise (ie. cycling, swimming, elliptical, etc.)

3) Skipping Rope - This is one of my favorite options, you don't need too much space and all you need is a rope.  As far as equipment is concerned, it's fairly simple.  Primary benefits are that you can gain aerobic as well as anaerobic conditioning by varying tempos, and even more importantly, you will learn to be lighter on your feet.  As such such your explosiveness and foot work will also be improved through skipping.  The downside, in my opinion, is that skipping rope requires far more time to achieve results, and requires a significant level of coordination.  I know many skilled karate-ka that are still unable to skip rope effectively.

4) Barbell or weighted complexes - Another personal favorite, and the one I believe will most benefit a karate-ka that doesn't put too much emphasis on muscular/power training in the gym.  Take a string of easily connected movements using one implement.  That can be a weight plate, a dumbbell, a barbell, a kettlebell, etc.  The idea is to set a specific number of repetitions per exercise, and bang out each exercise for the prescribed reps without putting the implement down; that's one round.  Rest and repeat.  By doing this, you will give your body a full-conditioning workout whilst also improving your strength and strength-endurance.

These are my top choices for conditioning, depending on situation, schedule and other factors I might do one or more of these 2-3 times per week.  Currently I'm focusing on strictly running, but I'm doing sprints everyday 6-days per week based on a program made for me.  Let me know if you have other options or ideas, I'm always looking for new conditioning ideas!

Weight Lifting and Karate

When I had first started lifting weights, I had started it as a way to become stronger in my chosen athletic activities at that time; namely, swimming and then karate.  I continued for a while as a karate athlete and as such my lifting regimen was devoted to making me a stronger, better conditioned and faster athlete.  Having been out of the competitive sphere for some time now, I began pursuing a more powerlifting oriented lifting program with Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program.  I have noticed that my strength and speed have improved dramatically, as most beginners tend to achieve quicker gains than an advanced lifter.  I've been lifting weights for some time, but never with any serious dedication to a program and as such I still consider myself a beginner/novice level lifter.

The great side-benefit of becoming a stronger lifter has been improved performance in the dojo, and most recently in the karate tournament I participated in recently.  I'm far from being interested in continuing to compete regularly in karate competitions, but they do make for an entertaining diversion from standard karate training.  What I've found, however, is that it isn't necessarily the increased strength that has made me a better karate-ka.  It has been my dedication to becoming a more physically-balanced individual.  Many times anybody interested in lifting weights to enhance sport performance beginning considering loading their standard athletic movements (ie. rubber inner-tubes and ankle weights).  This is a problem and tends to create a huge pattern overload.  If your body is trained to throw gyaku-zuki over and over, then it will typically happen that your pec minor, anterior deltoid, triceps and serrattus anterior muscles are all highly over-developed in relation to the opposing muscle groups.  Adding load to this will only cause the muscle imbalances to increase and create potentially joint-damaging environments.  As is often seen with advanced karate-ka, a multitude of braces and bandages are worn whilst training; it is my contention that muscular imbalances are generally the cause.

When a karate-ka takes up lifting weights to supplement one's training, it is important to take a holistic view and not a strictly karate-based view of training.  Training in any sport creates the potential for injury, so it is necessary to build the body into a stable platform upon which to practice these sports.

In karate, we typically use the whole body which is to our benefit, but more emphasis is placed on punching and kicking as opposed to blocking techniques.  The problem that arises is the dependence on the "mirror" muscles for punching and kicking.

It is incredibly important to incorporate all kinds of pulls into one's lifting regimen to create balance.  The standard I use, for a pure beginner, is to do twice as many reps/sets of pulling exercises as opposed to pushing.  If doing bench press, then do 3 sets of 10 but do 6 sets of 10 of lat pull downs, rows or pull-ups.  If doing 3 sets of 10 squats, do twice that in dead lifts, hamstring curls or any hip-hinging movements (ie. stiff-leg dead lifts, Romanian dead lifts, pull-throughs, back extensions, etc.).

As balance is restored to one's joints it is acceptable to return to an equal number of repetitions between pushing and pulling, but never neglect the pulling muscles.  The entire posterior chain is tremendously important to one's overall physical health, and athletic ability.  Increasing one's posterior strength will do more than save the body from injury, but help to forge one's body into the weapon it's meant to become through severe training.

Enjoy the benefits and make sure to keep at it!

My typical lifting routine:
Monday
Shoulder press superset with chin-ups (I do a ton of sets of both of these exercises)
Arm work (biceps and triceps superset)
Facepulls and shoulder isolation

Tuesday 
Deadlift (Again a number of sets are done, the dead lift is probably the greatest exercise any person can do, and should never be overlooked or short-changed.  Learn proper form and go ahead and grip n' rip!)
Abs and lower back superset (sit-ups and back extensions usually)
Obliques and hip-hinge isolation

Thursday
Bench press superset with chin-ups (or some other rowing exercise; a ton of sets completed)
Dumbbell bench press and dumbbell row super-set
Arm work

Friday
Squat (The second greatest exercise ever, when done correctly there are few exercises that force structural integrity)
Single leg work superset with front squats (Martial artists operating on one-leg as often as both, if not more often.  Let's get strong unilaterally as well as bilaterally.  Use Bulgarian split-squats, lunges or step-ups.  Front squats don't only do a number on the quads but when done right really give your middle back a hard workout)
Finish off with leg extensions/leg curl superset for some isolation.

That's it, getting stronger is pretty simple, but it's rarely easy.  Each of these workouts is a sweat drenched brutal hour.  For the very basic template I use for determining rep ranges and weights pick up a copy of Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program, click here.

Grand Champions International Cup - 11/17/13

My first tournament back as a competitor in 8 months, and I'm very glad this was my re-entry as it was a smaller event.  In the past this tournament has been quite large, but the last several years has been seeing a decreasing number of adult competitors.  This year, in particular, the tournament director decided to allow no registration at the door, pre-registration only.  It's very typical, in the adult divisions, for competitors to come on the day of the competition and register, so removing this ability certainly limited the competitor's pool.  On to my performance:

Kata - 2nd place
Opened first round with Sochin against Gojushiho-Sho, the Gojushiho was pretty good, but a little wobbly.  My sochin, however felt very strong, good solid, finishes to stances and stayed low throughout.  I had a little fumble with my feet from the last shuto-uke into the mae-geri, but nothing to throw me too far off.

Second round was Kanku-Sho against Kanku-Dai; this competition had brown and black belts combined, so there were some lower level kata thrown in.  However, the kanku-dai wasn't particularly good.  Too many pregnant pauses, and a lot of rising and dropping when there shouldn't be.  Kanku-Sho was a little wobbly for me in the opening sequence but settled down with oi-tsuki soto-uke combinations and went strong from there.  Mae-geri were very sharp with good body momentum into tate-uraken-uchi.  The jump, as far as I could tell, was very nice, once I stop attempting to make my hand and foot meet with the mikazuki-geri it's usually fairly smooth.

Finished off with Gojushiho-sho against Sochin, I'm pretty steamed about this one.  The kata felt perfect!  And then, disaster struck; after the shuto-uchi/shuto-uke sequence did soto-uke, mae-geri with the drop punch and stepping away with the gedan barai behind...and instead of pulling back with the shuto-uke I pulled back into gedan barai as if I was going into empi.  I was beyond livid, caught myself without too much hesitation, but it was pretty obvious.  The rest of the kata felt just as great as before the mistake...oh well, got me a second place (of course, if I'd gotten first place, I would have competed for Grand Champion with a grand prize of $500).

Kumite - 3rd place, doesn't say much since there were only 4 in my division, I was fighting heavyweight.

Kumite was completely different from usual, my fighting was leaps and bounds above how I was fighting previously, lots of angles, changes of direction, misdirection and constant action.  I lost 7-1, but my fighting was still the best yet, I think I got robbed on a few points, but it is what it is.  The guy I was fighting is a national team member plus a local favorite, somethings can't be overcome.  Anyway, I definitely feel like my regular gym sessions are really paying off, my legs have more spring and power in them than I remember, my cardio hasn't suffered as much as I expected to have.

No more competitions until Feburary, so over the winter I'm going to start incorporating more sprinting sessions to increase power output in my legs and continue lifting the way I have been; aggressively and explosively.  Skill work is definitely on the menu, that's for the dojo, though.

All-in-all a decent performance, and if I can find any videos I will certainly post them.

Thanks for reading!

Never Stop Growing

I realize that there are many people that only pursue karate training as a hobby, as a form of exercise or for the sheer pleasure.  Not everybody is as passionate about this activity as I am (which is a shame, but nobody's perfect), but even those people pursuing a hobby should want to get better at it.  You can't improve at an activity without learning more about it, that involves daily training but research, reading and questioning as well.

Everyday I try to read more about karate as a topic (history, training methodology, and karate blogs), about physical training, weight training and psychology.  All of these are aspects of my improvement in becoming a better karate-ka.  I wrote a post on a different blog which pertains to life in general, but is perfectly applicable to karate or any other endeavor.

As karate-ka we have to continually grow, to cause evolution of the art, and improve the transmission of the art beyond our generations.  Read, learn and practice; that's the formula to constant growth.

Enjoy the linked post.

Never Stop Growing

What kind of karate-ka do you want to be?

I'm sure everybody has some perception or idea of what kind of karate-ka they wish to be, or what shape or general design they want their karate to look and feel like.  However, I doubt most of us have every put that concept into words and identified the attributes, or even properly defined what we're attempting to do.  Sit down right now and take out a pen and paper; efficiency experts in all fields always attribute success in any given endeavor to hinge significantly upon list-making and goal setting.  Your karate-career aspirations are goals like any other, and the method by which you get there is a process just like any project for work or school.

Once you have those goals written down, you have a tangible target to aim for.  It might be another karate-ka you wish to be able to emulate; becoming the next Frank Brennan or Kagawa Sensei are not easily attained goals.  Respectable as that might be, I'd much prefer to be the first me.  In that regard, I refer back to a tip I received from Edmond Otis Sensei during a training camp in June of this year.  Choose 3 words that you would use to describe the general impression you want your karate to have; I chose dynamic, powerful, flexible.  Each of these words have variable definitions and that's kind of the point.  I can decide when I'm ready whether or not I've met those words, and then choose to change the definition or change the descriptions entirely.

Having goals is useful puts an "end-point" in sight, and that can be detrimental to our progress.  I refer to Andre Bertel Sensei's post, Endless Journey, which soundly ascribes the journey as opposed to the end.  I agree the journey is most important, but every trip has stop overs along the way.  Create your own layovers and sight-seeing spots, these are your short-term goals.  The next rank test or competition are just that, layovers along the way.  Your end-goals are the same, not endings but points to continue from.

So tell me what you think of your karate?  How do you want your karate to be described?  What kind of karate-ka do you want to be?

What does rank represent? - Part 2

Having put forth a somewhat concise description of the AJKA-I ranking system, I'd like to move on to how rank carries over to other styles and how some different styles establish rank.

Many people will look down upon styles that utilize time-in-service for determination of testing for the next rank, saying that this is widely used by McDojos.  While I agree, there is also a certain status quo that time-in-service represents; namely, effort put into training, deck-time and desire for advancement.  The military also uses time-in-service for determining promotions, and during peace times or at bases in the US and in stations that don't see much action, this is largely the only useful method for promoting commissioned and non-commissioned officers.  If it's good enough for the military, why shouldn't it be good enough for martial arts schools?

Obviously, the military and martial arts academies are hardly parallels, and the argument can be made that time-in-service in the military often accurately represents a soldier's efforts in serving and training, but depending on the quality-control in a martial arts school, the same assumptions can be made.  What we do see, however, especially in the military, is rank being given for tasks/missions accomplished, which is much the same as giving rank to martial artists that successfully compete at an elite-level.  Martial arts elitest/purists will often say that there is an aspect in promoting a person that falls upon their character development and such other arbitrary justifications, but how does one judge that?  I know many elite and high level karate-ka that are boorish and immature, as well as children that have somehow achieved a high rank.  Personally speaking, one's physical ability and knowledge of a martial art should be the only representation of one's rank.

With that being said, with my nidan rank (and hopefully soon-to-be sandan), I should theoretically be able to to transition to any JKA-style, Shotokan school and retain my rank and continue on from there.  However, depending on how strict the ranking system is within that school, I may be told to restart, or that I have "3rd-kyu technique" or any number of other negative statements.  However, if I went to a school with very lax requirements such as Tiger Schulmann's (not Shotokan but serves to prove my point), then I might very easily seem to outrank the instructor running the class.  That last statement certainly sounds immodest of me, and it was, I'm highly modest of my ability but I've seen enough Tiger Schulmann's karate classes...it doesn't pay to be modest in this regard.

Any martial arts style from Japan, China or Korea, tend to follow similar ranking systems with a black belt/sash/obi being the highest belt color with a variety of gradations above that.  There are other styles, such as mixed martial arts, Western boxing, wrestling, muay Thai and their derivatives that have little in the way of ranking systems.  Time-in-service has little emphasis on one's being an authority and there are no belts around their waists.  How do they determine hierarchy?  Simply by one's ability and knowledge.  The old way, and personally speaking, the only right way to judge rank.

I'm sure we've all heard of supposed 12-year-old 5th dans, and then those ever so powerful 15th dan practitioners, and let's not get started on the plethora of titles that you can here for practitioners.  At the end of the day, let's all question our rank.  What is our rank worth to others, but most importantly what does your rank represent to you and how do you represent your rank?

What does rank represent? - Part 1

I was told recently that I would be testing for sandan next month, the date has yet to be set, and naturally I was excited about that fact.  I have been training diligently since I started my karate career and kicked my training efforts up even higher since achieving my nidan.  At no point in this time did I ever really wonder when I would be taking my next rank test, or how long it would be until I got my shodan, nidan, etc.  I've never much cared for rank.  All I knew was that everyday I would enter the dojo, put in 150% effort and learn something new (or refine something I already knew how to do).  Naturally, this didn't happen literally everyday but that was my general plan upon going to the dojo.

Now I've come to the point where I'm reaching a level within my style that represents, to my opinion, a certain level of expertise within a style.  It has always been my understanding that a sandan in a style like Shotokan (within an organization with a strict syllabus and quality-control), was representative of an expert within that style.  If you're familiar with Rob Redmond's soon to be defunct blog 24 Fighting Chickens, Mr. Redmond espouses this same viewpoint.  My thinking on this comes from the ideas behind the testing requirements for each rank.  I train with the American JKA Karate Association - International, whose syllabus closely mirrors that used by the JKA in Japan (as it was written in the 1980's, at least, when the AJKA-I was first formed).

For shodan and nidan testing, the requirements are fairly straightforward: perform the requisite kata and kihon, practice some jiyu-ippon kumite (for shodan only) and then jiyu-kumite with other karate-ka of varying rank (higher and lower).  The purpose of these test criteria is simply to judge each karate-ka's individual ability and precision of technique.  The exams are strictly technical in nature.  Once an examinee reaches sandan the testing becomes somewhat more complex, now the examinee is required to not only demonstrate technical ability but technical knowledge as well.  How to teach a technique, and how to properly perform techniques to create maximum efficiency.   The test for yondan, within the AJKA-I is probably the most intense level of testing, not only is physical ability tested, but the examinee is also required to write a formal research paper on a subject put forth by the technical committee.  Between sandan and yondan, I believe, is where physical "mastery" often takes place (in the ideal candidate).  Beyond yondan, the physical is less stressed and the mental ability and commitment to the organization become paramount.  Beyond sandan, the karate-ka is now urged to create and develop his own style of practicing Shotokan, it is those differences in execution and application that differentiate the upper echelons of the various JKA-style organizations.

Put into simple academic terms, you might look at 9th-4th kyu as high school, 3rd-1st kyu as college, shodan is graduation, 2nd dan is applying to grad schools, whereas 3rd dan is being in grad school.  4th to 5th dan is like a masters degree and 6th dan and above is one's PhD.  I took a very simple ranking system and gave it meaning within an academic setting.  Each individual's opinion will vary based on their experiences and styles, of course, but this works for me.

With that being said, I've gone far afield from my original purpose in writing this article, but it creates a nice platform from whence to continue.  To be continued in Part 2

Training to be a better karate-ka

For the past year or so, my training has been focused primarily on rate-of-force development (ROFD) (translation: more power) for the sake of competitive success in Germany in September.  However, I've come to the point that making the trip out to the Ippon Cup is not feasible, and is highly unlikely to actually happen.  With this in mind, I've been beginning to wonder if my focus has been in the wrong place, or at the very least misguided.

There's nothing wrong with the competitive aspects of karate, I enjoy it thoroughly (within some federations, anyway, others are questionable), but it's not the be-all-end-all goal for my karate.  My karate has always been about becoming better at karate.  Many people espouse the "dojo-kun" to be the primary purpose of karate training, and while this sounds noble in essence, personally I just find those people to sound holier-than-thou.  The dojo-kun is all well and good, it's a list of strong character traits that all people, karate-ka and otherwise, should aspire too.  At the same time, however, you can learn most if not all of these traits through many different activities.  Rob Redmond of 24FightingChickens likes to bring up baseball as his activity of choice that can "teach" these activities, and in many ways, I'd say baseball is more effective.

Regardless, my karate is my karate, I want it to be effective but I also want it to be aesthetically pleasing.  This has nothing to do with desiring to be a kata champion or tournament kumite champion, I want to create effective, destructive technique.  So my focus in the gym remains the same, I'm utilizing heavy bi-lateral lifting protocols to increase my ROFD, but not to increase speed in a game of tag.  I want speed that translates into power.

This post is beginning to ramble, but I guess long and the short is that I'm worrying more about good, clean, effective karate.

Posterior Chain Development

Preface: most of what I will say/write in the post will be anecdotal with a significant amount of scientific terminology tossed in.  There is some research to back up what I will say, and given the time I will put links in to support my point.  However, my anecdotal evidence is substantiated by several years of experience, research and observation.

Now, onto the meat: We, as karate instructors, often given calisthenic type exercises to physically condition our students during classes, and then we hope that they will continue to do these on their to continue their physical development.  You and I both know that is a fairly rare occasion when this actually happens, but that's a completely different point.  The question that I'd like to bring forth is: are we prescribing the right kinds of exercises?

A typical calisthenics routine at most dojos will incorporate the following: push-ups, some variation of sit-ups/crunches, squats, lunges and very likely squat jumps and burpees.  From a generalized physical preparedness (GPP) standpoint, I cannot say anything against these exercises as they are all fantastic for physical conditioning.  I have issue with several of the exercise selections, and will address others in future postings, but for today, I would like to focus on squatting and squat jumps.  Squats and squat jumps certainly have a place in any karate-ka's physical development, however, I don't feel they do a significant job developing the muscles required for developing power in karate technique.

Any competent instructor will teach students power development through hip movement, whether that be through rotation, compression and expansion, snap, swing and thrust.  Each of those methods of moving the hip girdle begins with activation of the posterior chain of muscles, from the heels, to the calves, hamstrings, to the glutes and into the lower back/lumbar spine.  Ultimately, this chain of nerve enervation results in the hips being thrust forward underneath the upper body, which as we know is the force that creates devastating power for kicks (specifically mae-geri), and any punching technique.

If a dojo has access to barbells and weights on premises, I would highly recommend karate-ka to pick up deadlifting and all variations of deadlifting as a primarily power development exercise.  The main thing to understand about deadlifting, is that it is a hip dominant exercise, which can be tweaked to become more or less quad intensive depending on body positioning.  The key to remember, though, is that we were looking to generate power through the hips by way of kinetic linkage through the floor, triple extension of the ankles, knees and hips and the forward thrusting motion at the peak of the lift.  These three processes are what generates forward thrusting power behind kicks and punches.

However, not everybody has the time to go to the gym, or have easy access to gym equipment.  In these cases there are a variety of other options.  The easiest and simplest option would be the standing broad jump.  As opposed to the squat jump, the standing broad jump incorporates the three power generators mentioned above, the squat jump only employs two of the three.  Another great substitute for the deadlift would be kettlebell or dumbbell swings.

Now, these are ways karate-ka can develop this power outside of karate technique, there are, of course, methods to generate this kind of hip generated power using karate technique as well.  The primary tool for this kind of training would be rubber inner tubing or elastic straps.  By either attaching them to a fixture or having a partner hold them, the karate-ka can now practice various techniques against accommodating resistance.  Strap the tubing to your belt and begin by simply stepping forward in zenkutsu-dachi utilizing strict form, slowly at first and gradually increasing speed.  The same can be done whilst throwing various kicking and punching techniques.

The most important thing in all this is to remember that we, as karate-ka, owe it to ourselves to properly condition our bodies to create maximal levels of force in the most efficient manner.  Begin including these exercises as you see fit, and program your workouts appropriately and watch your speed improve dramatically.

Teaching Discipline

I've always believed that discipline isn't something that can be taught.  It can be instilled in children by way of example from their parents and mentors, but you can't teach a child to be disciplined through lessons of any kind.  The same applies for adults, especially since as we develop, our brains are less susceptible to take in and absorb new information.  So why do martial arts schools always tout "discipline" as one of the biggest benefits of training in their respective styles?

I have trained in Shotokan for most of my teenage life and now continue into my adult life, I was an average student in school in high school, and below average in college.  I was an above average student in the dojo, though.  So why the dichotomy?  Why was I disciplined in the dojo, and why did that not carry over into my everyday life?  I believe in large part this is due to passion towards what I was learning in the dojo, as opposed to what I was learning in school.  More than that, though, is a question of application.

In many karate schools, instructors tout kata application as the highest form of martial skill.  It is applying the lessons taught in the kata that truly brings one's karate alive and teaches real self-defense and fighting technique.  Whether or not you believe this concept with regards to martial arts, it is very true regarding the carry over from the martial arts training to real life.  I learned to be disciplined and focused in my training through repetition and actually doing.  I forced myself to have discipline when it came to training, and being passionate about what I was doing definitely helped.  However, lacking conviction and passion regarding what I was studying was severly detrimental, and led me to have poor grades in college.

So, can one teach discipline?  Not at all, parents that want their kids to become more disciplined should be leading by example in the household and not expecting to learn it from a karate teacher with whom they spend less than 3 hours a week with.  If the kids aren't disciplined, then there are two things to consider: 1) they're too young to be expecting discipline from them and 2) you are failing as parents to show what discipline is and what the benefits of discipline are.

Bunkai Training - Pointless or Pointful?

The level of incorrectness of the word "pointful" notwithstanding, there is a serious problem with bunkai training, and what it represents the entire karate community becoming.  Many self-ascribed self-defense "experts" teach bunkai as the be-all-end-all of self-defense, but I can't help but feel that this is more than just simply wrong.  It is my opinion that the current paradigm for teaching self-defense is, in fact, detrimental to the students and will do a fair job of putting the student into greater danger.

The current method for teaching bunkai is similar to the method for teaching ippon kumite: single attack and pause while the defender performs a multi-technique defensive maneuver on a static opponent.  How is this realistic in any way?  Not to say that there aren't any exceptions to this rule.  There are men like Andre Bertel Sensei in New Zealand who utilizes kata bunkai to teach oyo-kumite and Iain Abernathay Sensei in England that does a similar thing and uses more alive drills through bunkai application to teach effective self-defense.

What is the point of teaching bunkai then?  For most, as I said, it is a tool for teaching self-defense technique; which is to say, it's meant to teach technique in a situational method (ie. if the attacker does A, defender will do X).  By teaching in a situational manner, by deciding that each individual has a specific part to play makes this methodology a type of role playing, which I believe has its place, but it is not the penultimate step in self-defense.  Situational self-defense prepares students for specific situations, and not for violence, in general.  Self-defense is about teaching a person to deal with violence in a proper and effective manner.  The only way to do this effectively is through regular, hard-contact sparring and drilling.

I am of the opinion that bunkai, as currently taught, is largely useless.  It can be an exciting and fun mental and academic process and study into the history of the style, but for real use it has no utility.  I love Shotokan, and I believe the style has a lot to offer a student with regards to striking and dealing with an attacker that comes out swinging, but teaching a student to only defend that kind of attack in a bunkai setting can be dangerous.  By and large, it will be rare to see an aggressor attack with a perfect oi-zuki or mae-geri, or any other typical martial arts technique.

At the end of the day, the only effective method for teaching bunkai would be to incorporate it into free or semi-free sparring.  Have each side have the goal of utilizing specific chunks of kata within a sparring environment as opposed to within the contexts of a controlled one attack-one defense situation.

Those are my thoughts on bunkai as a whole, do you have a differing opinion?  Please comment!