Hand Drawn Kata Guides

I found this very cool site with some amazingly detailed hand drawn guides for many Shotokan Karate kata's

http://www.ispra.net/karate/katas-shotokan/

Here's the Bassai Dai guide I borrowed my site picture from...........

Training Diary - Wednesday 11th & Friday 13th September

This week largely following up some of the grappling and throwing drills we were practicing last week.

Also started to learn a new kata, Annan. Here's a pretty awesome version of it I found on You Tube, slightly faster than our practice is currently going!

Annan is a Shito-ryu kata and is normally a requirement for 5th Dan. First impressions are this is a fairly 'strong' kata, with plenty of kicks and punches any varying tempo throughout, however there are also many more subtle movements; blocks, grabs and locks which look like they will be pretty challenging to learn. I'll post some more on the specific bunkai and applications as we start to learn them.

Seem that Annan is also a fairly recent kata in terms of arrival at competition karate, being performed for the first time in 1988. Here's quite a good summary of Annan's background and origins.

Also one more video I found with a slowed down version towards the end (although this looks a little different in some places to the version we are learning)

Training Diary - Friday 5th September

Tonight's class was focused around the use of circles, pushing hands and grappling techniques to off balance an opponent and finally throw or sweep them onto the floor.

This started with what looked liked a fairly simple exercise (!) using a circles/pushing hands type technique with a partner (basically wax on/wax off for karate kid fans) and ensuring that any rotation in the body comes from the waist, not hip or shoulders. By also remaining well rooted to the floor and spiraling, this ensures good power generation. The trick here though is to remain as soft as possible in order to be able to feel where your opponent is vulnerable.

We then moved on to introduce more movement in the feet and further seeking out where your opponent was off balance or open to attack.

The next exercise then involved combining the techniques learned into close quarter grappling then combined with a throw or a sweep once an opening had been identified. The first of these was a fairly basic judo hip throw (O Goshi), the next a pull to get your opponent off balance follows by a step in and backwards leg sweep. Further inside leg  sweeps were also practiced - key to making these most effective is to pull the opponent off balance in the opposite direction to the sweep from the grappling position. A further technique was also practiced, placing ones foot over the opponent then combining with a backwards step and trip/sweep to pull them down onto the floor.

Key to getting the sweeping techniques to work is to be able to quickly step in close to the opponent, especially if targeting the rear leg. Getting in the right position is challenging especially with a mobile opponent and speed is of the essence.

Finally all the above techniques were practiced but combined with an initial kicking or punching attack. Again the main challenge here is being able to maintain forward momentum to get in and execute the required move - I found this quite challenging in particular with a Mawashi Geri attack where I found myself off balance and stepping backwards initially.

At the end of the lesson the final technique practiced was an upwards shoulder barge to the opponent then quickly combined with grabbing and pulling both legs to throw the person backwards. Key here is a good initial barge to wind or off balance and the timing of grappling the legs. Ideally the shoulder barge should be aimed at the solar plexus area - lower leaves you vulnerable and higher less effective. It's also important not to start from a 'charging bull' position but to introduce the move after an initial punching or kicking attack - this way the move is more subtle and takes the opponent by surprise.

All in all a good lesson and a great way to get back into training after 3 weeks off over the summer!

How do you define Hard vs Soft Karate?

Although in Karate there are many different schools that have evolved from its origin in Okinawa in the early 1900's (and the father of modern day Karate, Gichin Funakoshi) in general these styles can also be classified in a either 'hard' or 'soft' style, or even a mixture of both.

Hard karate style is where a large emphasis is placed on strength and large heavy blows or strikes to disable an opponent. Power is generated through stiffness & strength in the muscles.

Soft karate style on the other hand is more focused on being able to use an opponents own strength and momentum against them, with more emphasis on yielding type moves or small actions/techniques that can unbalance an opponent. Power is generated here internally via strong rooting of the feet to the floor and then being able to spiral energy through the body. 'Strength' or hardness may then still be applied but more often at the very end of a move to generate force - this technique can also greatly enhance the speed at which one can execute a move.

As well as classifying a type of Karate in a hard or soft style, one can also however classify a fighter in the same way. A very good example of this is when considering the journey from a beginner to a very experienced karate-ka who has undertaken years of training.

In the beginning when first learning techniques, an individual will be very deliberate or even clumsy with certain moves and will also lack the control that comes with many years of practice. The ability to relax and use other techniques or parts of the body to generate power is also substituted for direct force in the early days.

With experience comes the ability to be much more subtle and efficient with basic moves (e.g blocks or strikes becoming much smaller and effective), and the ability to read an opponents actions, balance, strengths and weaknesses

Individual fighters may also have a tendency towards the hard or soft depending on their own physical make-up, strength and even mental attitude. Personally I probably fit into this category (which is also why I have this Black Belt project!) and so trying to train in a more soft style can be as much a mental challenge as physical. Some karate-ka may also have trained for many years in a hard style (e.g. Shotokan), these traits becoming ingrained so when faced with changing clubs to one which may focus on more soft style, this can also be a challenge to adapt.

So what's best, soft or hard style? The answer is there probably isn't really one but that it depends on the situation and your opponent. One could imagine that in a situation of immediate 'threat' by an attacker, a stop at all costs approach might be appropriate with a strong strike to disable them. In other scenarios soft will be more effective for example in a 'close quarter' confrontation  where the ability to apply a large heavy strike would be limited.

Clearly level of skill is also a big factor as a karate-ka will only be able to apply the softer techniques with the appropriate expertise. In a heated confrontational situation an individual may therefore have a tendency to revert to hard style. Again, speaking from experience I have definitely found this in sparring, and can also become more pronounced when tired!

I think this final point demonstrates why it's so important to develop those soft karate skills, to really make sure they become embedded in your karate so they become automatic when in a challenging situation.

Black Belt Project

So this is my first ever blog.

I'm going to have a go at this mainly because I have a project to do for my upcoming black belt in Karate. The original plan was to write up a number of detailed reports over the course of 6-7 months, however being somewhat 'time poor' in respect of having hours at a time to invest in this, I thought a blog might be a better approach to cover all the areas I want to 'little and often'. That's the plan anyway and who knows where this thing will go if I get to grips with it!

So here's the brief for my Black Belt project:

• The influence of different kinds of Soft Martial Arts and what we can learn and apply from them
• Identify and demonstrate some different types of Pushing Hands and how we can use them training in a 'hard style'
• Chin Na and its importance and relevance to training
• The relevance of pushing hands for self defense purposes
• The holistic nature of Martial Arts, it's health benefits and how to undertake training to promote these benefits whilst minimising risk

Here we go then and wish me luck!