Principles of your art?

Hi Andrew,

I have to say it's not something I have given much conscious thought until very recently, and as you know my basic techniques have developed as a result of training in different styles (Wado/Shotokan), so I have to try and find what works for me (I apologise now because I am making reference to styles, but only in the context of how I have developed as a result). 

Now, I have been shown how to make a fist a certain way, and the basic idea of punching (for example) remains essentially the same, i.e., straightest, most economical route, using the non striking hand as a counter movement to generate power.  However, as demonstrated by Shingo Ohgami in his Wado-Ryu book "Introduction to Karate" he explains the difference in "Power Curves" between each of the main karate styles and chinese styles, in terms of relaxed phase and tension phase.  Wado and Shito in this case have a very short tension phase at impact, with the delivery and immediate aftermath of the strike being relaxed, which makes the punch light and snappy and essentially economical.  Shotokan on the other hand is described as having a slighlty longer tension phase on impact, which helps to account for the extra power seen in Shotokan strikes, with Goju and Chinese styles longer still (think tension training in Sanchin and relaxed-with-no-tension phase in Tai Chi Chuan). 

For me, even though I now practice Shotokan, I prefer to deliver my strikes with the Wado method of minimum tension time, as this makes sense in terms of economy of motion and efficiency of technique.  The only important part, with regards to tension at least, is moment of impact.  So the longer tension phase makes Shotokan look stronger when punching the air, but the instant moment of impact on an opponent has the same degree of importance regardless of style: if the strike is destined to be successful in the first 1/1000th of a second, why spend another tenth of a second in the tension phase?  This also has practical implications in terms of withdrawing the striking hand quickly, ready to evade/initiate the next attack. 

So in this instance my personal philosophy is based on my Wado influence.  The element I take from my Shotokan training however, is that of dynamics, which dictates that every movement my body makes is in preparation for the end result. 

In the example of stepping forward punching (at kihon level at least) my hips don't move until my rear leg has advanced passed my front leg, and I can then use the available twisting of the hips to drive forward for power that I wouldn't have been able to generate if my hips had led the movement forward.  Same goes for the striking hand, which starts as my leading hand, but as I step through I don't chamber the hand ready to strike, I let my body overtake my stationary hand until it becomes the rear, and therefore chambered, hand. This has the benefit of disguise and works fabulously in sparring and competition as a "false" gyakuzuki - it's actually a strike which is initiated in the mind as a front hand strike (backing up the approach of striking with the hand which is closest to target), but by the time I have stepped through has become a reverse hand technique!

This process may change depending on the circumstances, but nevertheless is something I choose to focus on when I deliver a technique, and it is this focus for me which develops my training, by always being conscious of what my body does and the effect it has on the technique at any given point, i.e., relaxation during movement for speed, and dynamic preparation and delivery and tension on impact for power, all in the most economical manner.  I'm only a small guy, 5'9" 63kgs/140lbs so I need to play to my strengths (speed and agility) and do what I can to maximise my less natural traits (power).  This is an approach which frequently lets me outscore my training partners in punch-only sparring.

The other element I focus on in training is that of line of attack/defence and entering (irimi) which frequently baffles my less experienced Shotokan classmates.  This is an area which I don't feel is covered as well in Shotokan as it was for me in Wado.  Shotokan is generally taught, to start with, as a striking-ranged style, but Wado introduced me to the concept of nagashizuki for many years (punching from off the central attacking line) which my Shotokan class find difficult to defend against as their training (one/three/five step sparring for beginners) deals mostly with direct attacks from the front.  And as this step sparring deals also with step forward attack/step back defense keeping things at arms length, the other students become uncomfortable when I step INSIDE their normal attacking range (irimi), they become unbalanced, flustered when I dare to put my hands on them and control them (my Judo experience in unbalancing helps here too), and frequently horizontal when I sweep them from inside their own range instead of sweeping from kicking range such as they are used to.  Obviously the more experienced guys are less susceptible to this, but I have the proud distinction of being only the second person to successfully sweep my instructor (6'1" and 115 kgs/253lbs) in his 35 years of training (or so he tells me!)

I hope this is the kind of input you were looking for, and it highlights my tenet of making your experience work for you, and the benefits of training outside your first or primary martial art or style. After all, Karate is Karate, and Fighting is Fighting!

Regards,

Mike

Wow, super detailed. Nice. 

When I first wrote this thread, I was thinking way more Macro-. The general principles and core concepts. 

What I am getting from your description is:

- Punching from off-line

-Entering

-Affecting opponent's balance through hands-on control

(did I get it all?)

The idea is to go through what you do to identify the why behind your choices in training (which I think you did quite well). When we are beginning to think through to what the underlying concepts are that form our personal styles, we also begin to accelerate our training because we are aware of what we naturally tend to move towards- so we can find similar concepts in the arts we train, or spend more time working with more difficult concepts from other arts and training methods. 

An example from Judo is, Kuzushi. This is a fundamental principle of the art. It is a kind of guideline for all the techniques and how to perform them. I have spoken to several Judo players, and depending on their personality- they all have differing thoughts on the degree in which they incorporate this principle into what they do. Some put a heavy emphasis on it, others use more strength in technique and less kuzushi in preparation. It is a personal choice. What I was trying to drive at, was what are your personal choices in how you train what you train. What are your guiding principles in martial arts?

Andrew Carr-Locke wrote:

I'll put this out here as a general question:

What are the core principles of your art, or style? (What are the elements that make-up what you do?)

Lift weights, get strong, stay in tip top shape and hit the heavy bag very often so that I can hit my opponent very, very hard.

Mike

michael rosenbaum wrote:

 Lift weights, get strong, stay in tip top shape and hit the heavy bag very often so that I can hit my opponent very, very hard.

I love this!   It is the one area of physical training I have virtually no experience in (outright strength has never been a goal for me) and would love to add it ASAP!!

Andrew Carr-Locke wrote:

What I am getting from your description is:

- Punching from off-line

-Entering

-Affecting opponent's balance through hands-on control

(did I get it all?)

Andrew, apologies for being guilty of over thinking again (i'm quite new to this forum malarky :P),

You have the essential points except maybe you could add DYNAMICS: for me its all about being aware of what you are asking your body to do when you train.  Some students may train a lot of these principles without knowing it, and implement them naturally to a fine standard (and I envy those who do!) but to be aware of what I am doing in such fine detail allows me to hone each area consciously, eliminating all the bad habits until the application of kuzushi, irimi, maai, dynamics, tension, even alertness and readyness are at their peak during every performance of a given technique.  I feel if more people adopted this in their learning the benefits would be manifold.  With common sense, an intimate knowledge of your own physiological abilities and limits (nobody knows your body like you do) and a little guidance fom someone with the relevant experience you almost can't go wrong in terms of improving yourself.  This kind of ties in with what you said in your previous post with respect to becoming aware of what we naturally tend towards, in a very specific way.

It can be demanding and require a ton of concentration, but it's sometimes great to train so introspectively (it doesn't have to be all the time), so when you do get on the pads/bag, you can just let go at the opposite end of the scale, without thinking, and find that ALL of the above work in your favour.

I suppose to sum it up, my overriding PRINCIPLE is to be consciously aware of how (physically) and why (theoretically) you do everything that you do.  This by its nature is a very micro-approach to all of the underlying principles that most of us are taught during our training, knowingly or otherwise, and turning it into conscious self examination as opposed to copying parrot fashion. What works for the guy showing you might work against you to try it the same way.

I hope this is a bit more what you were after, if not I think I'll give up and take up something easier, like brain surgery .

Hurt my opponent as much as possible whilst minimising any damage to myself.

Gary

HA! All of these are great. Keep 'em coming...

tskdaddy wrote:

I suppose to sum it up, my overriding PRINCIPLE is to be consciously aware of how (physically) and why (theoretically) you do everything that you do.  This by its nature is a very micro-approach to all of the underlying principles that most of us are taught during our training, knowingly or otherwise, and turning it into conscious self examination as opposed to copying parrot fashion. What works for the guy showing you might work against you to try it the same way.

I hope this is a bit more what you were after, if not I think I'll give up and take up something easier, like brain surgery .

Yes, I think you've hit it very well throughout all your posts. Sometimes I nudge to get a bit more out, but it doesn't mean that your first responses didn't carry the weight I was after...lol. Brain surgery and rocket science not necessary (althoug hthe ymay help)