“The third way is the Way of the samurai, who must understand, among other things, that he must make his own weapons. He must become familiar with the usage of each weapon as well. Without the knowledge of weapons and their proper usage, one cannot call oneself a true samurai” Go Rin No Sho by Miyamoto Musashi, as translated by Hidy Ochiai 2001
As discussed in the last segment, the ultimate goal in kumite is the dominance of the opponent. To truly dominate, the karateka must be able to flow from technique to technique with little conscious thought beyond the overall strategy. Proficiency in kihon techniques must be acquired through dedicated training before the student can actually hope to apply any strategy in his kumite. Of course karateka of any level may score points and win matches, but often this amounts to little more than good luck or good athletics rather than good karate. ( addressed in the section”The intentional strike and the accidental contact”in Go Rin No Sho) Our goal in karate should be to attain a level of proficiency such that every movement we make is contributing to our overall strategy for victory.
Kumite skills can be broken down into two very broad classes: performance and strategy. Performance deals with the actual use of the kihon techniques and involves training the techniques until the karateka has an instinctive knowledge of the capabilities of each technique or combination. The assumption made with all the performance training is that the karateka is sufficiently trained in basic kihon drills that he can now start using those skills against a moving target. Kihon training “builds” our tools, but we then have to know the uses and limitations of those tools. (thus the quote above) I will deal with strategy in subsequent sections.
You really cannot discuss kumite without discussing the concept of “maai”. Some authors define this term simply as “distance”, but, as I understand it (with my very limited Japanese) the term encompasses the concept of both distance and time. I compare this term to one of those brutal mathematics problems we all had to contend with in high school (or on our police academy entrance examination) where two trains leave opposing cities miles apart at the same time but travelling at different rates on the same track. The crux of the problem is “when or where will they meet?”. To solve this problem, the student has to know (or should be able to surmise) how far apart the cities are and how fast the trains are travelling to calculate the interception point. Take this to karate now: two opponents separated by feet, each moving at their own rate and each attempting to collide with the other (hit each other). Obviously the interception point between opponents is going to be a function of both the time it takes to complete an attack and the distance that attack has to travel. Maai is about time and distance.
In karate, the funny thing about maai is that it is different for each one of us: maai will vary dramatically because it is going to be a function of our own abilities combined with our own anatomical proportions. It is also going to vary according to our opponent’s movement, skill, and size. In fact, the maai that we have to consider in kumite is actually three separate issues: your maai in relation to the opponent, the opponent’s maai in relation to you, and the actual distance between the two of you. Here is where I need to make a few definitions that may be specific just to myself. The first definition is “distance”. Distance is the measure of the interpersonal space between opponents at the beginning of an attacking technique. The attack distance will vary according to the technique used (ie: stepping-in kicks versus shifting-in punches) and the height of the opponent (long-legged tall critters cover one heck of a lot more ground than stumpy-legged shrimps. Love it or hate it, the reach of your opponent really does make a difference). The second definition is “range”. Range is the interpersonal distance between two opponents at the finish of a technique. The range will vary, again, with the technique used, but now will often be much more influenced by the extended length of the limbs of the attacker and the target on the opponent. Basically the initial “distance” between players will define what attacks can or should be used and how long they will take to complete, while the range of each attack is an individual variable that it is crucial for each player to know if they expect to actually land a technique. Consider how often you see students perform a stepping-in attack against a stationary target (heavy bag) only to either miss altogether or crash unceremoniously against the bag simply because they have no idea how far they need to be away from the target either at initiation or completion of the attack . They just do not know how far they travel in a step nor how long their own limbs are.
Training distance and range is the first part of “performance” training and probably is the major justification of the old five step and three step sparring drills. I cannot imagine anyone that has not suffered through these drills, but, for those few gifted souls that missed these drills, here they are. You pair off with an opponent. One of the pair does five or three sequential specified stepping-in attacks to a specified target. The opponent steps back with each new attack and applies an appropriate block. On the last technique there may or may not be a counter-attack. These are very simple and likely tedious drills that should be introduced at the beginner level. Most karateka hate these drills and consider them so hopelessly simple that they border on useless. I was certainly one of those karateka just a few years ago, until I actually did a little thinking about these drills and what they are training.
In the multi-step drills the attacker is learning both his distance and his range. He is getting to practice this repeatedly against a moving target. The value should be clear. The defender, on the other hand, is getting both a feel of the distance of his attacker and the timing needed to intercept the incoming attack. The astute defender is going to notice the different distances between people of different statures, and hopefully start to recognize the futility of a linear retreat in the face of a full frontal attack. I find the multi-step drills excellent for exploring different facets of strategy as well: altering the rhythm and rate of the count often alters dramatically the feel of the drill. Often, for portions of the drill, I will use a counted rate of attacks. In the beginning I will use a metronomic, predictable count and allow the students get a feel for their opponent. As the students get into the drill, I will then pick up the rate of the count, forcing both the attackers to remain “on guard” and the defenders to move much faster to dodge the bullets. Once I have people moving as if their life depended on getting in or getting away, then I might start breaking the count up, specifically trying to avoid any noticeable rhythm. Often the defenders start getting hit around this point as the strategy of “broken rhythm” starts coming to the front.
Of course step-drill sparring is very rudimentary, but I no longer believe it should be relegated to “beginner level” drilling. I remember reading an article by Sensei David Hooper out of Japan that described in detail the warm-up drills of his university karate team; the simple stepping-in sparring drills represented a major part of the team warm-up and often resulted in bloodied noses and fat lips if the students did not remain focused and within the moment. Certainly the drills can be used to explore distance and range, but they also provide ample opportunity to train speed and rudimentary strategy for the advanced belts. The key to keeping these drills relevant is, once the students understand them clearly, to drill them as merely a small part of a training session and to drill them at close to full speed and intent. The students should actually dread these drills for fear of getting hit rather than despise them due to tedium. Instructors also need to briefly explain the point of these drills so the students can train with intent at every opportunity. The five and three step drills also represent an example of the teaching concept previously mentioned in which we teach big and demonstrate big, but drill to apply smaller as the student learns.
A similar process has to be carried out for all our attacks, including the more common shifting-in attacks seen in kumite. Pairs should take turns throwing various techniques at each other, one acting as merely a target while the other attacks. Drills should move from stationary exchanges of technique without any blocking, through stationary exchanges of technique with blocking, to moving exchanges of technique with or without blocking. The students need to learn to “dance”, playing with the interpersonal distance to find the optimal attack or defense point while both stationary or moving. Of course, throughout these drills, other concepts of kumite will be drilled (timing, strategy etc. etc.), but it is of crucial importance that the students always attack on target and land each technique as close to target as possible without actually harming their partner. Furthermore, for the simple reason of safety, make sure the students are always clear on who is attacking and who is receiving; full contact impact on simple distancing drills are hardly good for the health of either the students or the dojo. One major issue I have with these “unopposed” drills where the “defender” acts merely as a reciever is that the students often (almost always) start to creep in on their partner and attack from an unrealistic distance. This habit represents typical human laziness as the students realize that it is much easier to land a technique as they close on their opponent. This shows a failure to understand the nature of actual sparring where you are just as likely to receive a blow as to give a strike. The instructor has to constantly remind the students to respect the potential of their opponent and pretend that they may indeed choose to hit you first if you choose to creep into their range. The other option is to just tell people to reach out and give their attacker a little love-tap if they realize that the attacker has forgotten that potential (not a great idea for beginners)
Throughout my discussions of basic kihon, I repeatedly discussed the concept of linkage on techniques, using breathing, hikite and kime. I also touched base on the idea of alignment of technique and briefly on the concept of movement off the line of attack in tai sabaki. These skills, at a rudimentary level, are best drilled with one step sparring. I believe that one-step sparring can be introduced at beginner level, but is worthwhile even at black belt level, dependant on how intense and varied you choose to make the training. One step sparring gives us a chance, in a controlled environment, to explore alternative blocking, counter-attacks, timing and movement. Many people loudly criticize the artificial nature of pre-arranged sparring, but as an intellectual exercise to demonstrate fighting drills I cannot fault pre-arranged sparring.
The primary value of one step sparring, where the defender blocks and counterattacks a single, announced attack from either shizentai or from a “fighting” stance, is to practice linkage and, of course, counter-attack distance. Typically, the lower kyu ranked karateka will tend to concentrate on blocking the incoming attack as they step back. There is often a long pause after the block and, because of the emphasis on not getting hit, they are usually way too far from their opponent to successfully counter-attack. They are missing the point altogether. In my dojo I repeatedly emphasize that the only reason to block an incoming attack is to set up the counter-attack. Truthfully, if you really do not want to get hit, the logical response to an attack is to run away; standing your ground and blocking is all about fighting. (“where there is fighting there is hitting” to paraphrase a dead Confederate General). The corollary to my “block only to hit” theory is that the block and the counter-attack must be linked and practically simultaneous. Now we come full circle back to kihon basics: complete each technique with full hikite and kime but never pause at completion rather use your “one breath-two exclamation marks” abdominal pulse to link the block and counter. The emphasis on the block must be to intercept early, redirect the attack (rather than “block” it; the difference may be subtle, but it is crucial) and remain in range for an immediate counter-attack (usually a reverse punch, but anything goes as skills develop). The entire process is all about timing and as such, we need not get fancy here: there is really no need for creative counters or fancy blocks because you are training the basic principles that, once perfected, allow any defense to work. Of course, once a karateka has reached some proficiency at basics, he need to step out and try to get creative, as long as the final counter-attack would be a finishing blow.
Tai sabaki, while truly being a form of strategy, is worthwhile to discuss here in the performance section since it is as much about learning how to move to the optimal angle as it is about learning when to move to that angle. The concept of “tai sabaki” is that you sidestep the incoming attack with your entire body and immediately counter. Theoretically, if done correctly, the movement off the attack line make any block superfluous and therefor the defender may concentrate on the counter attack only. I want to revisit an idea that I mentioned before: weak axis and strong axis. Assuming our attacker is well trained, he will always attack with his technique correctly aligned with the strong axis of whatever stance he may be using. As a defender, we would prefer to avoid directly contesting this powerful attack vector and choose instead to step off the attack line. Let’s also assume that we too know enough about karate to attack aligned along our strong stance axis, the question becomes where do we want to counter-attack? In a perfect world we want to counter-attack along our strong axis and colliding against our attackers weak axis (90 degrees to the long axis of his stance). This principle is hardly a new idea, Sun Tsu addressed it in “The Art of War” twenty-five hundred years ago: avoid the enemy’s strength, attack with your strength against his weakness. In tai sabaki, the counter-attack is all about angles, weapons, and weak points.
Consider the opponent in fighting stance, typically with one leg leading, lead hand at high guard, reverse hand at abdomen guard or attack ready. In attack the opponent is going to have an “inside” or frontal plane and an “outside” or rear plane. If we shift to the “inside” we will be facing his crotch, belly, and face, all excellent targets. We will also be facing his reverse punch, his front snap kick and we will be directly in his eye-line, allowing for a faster response to our defense. If we shift to the “outside” we will be facing the side of his head, his kidneys and ribs and he is open for a powerful leg attack. In the “outside” position we are off his immediate eye-line and we will not be facing any potential aligned counter-counter attack without our opponent shifting his own position. Typically, shifting to the outside, while not affording as many “juicy” targets, gives us a little more time to counter-attack because our opponent cannot bring any weapons on line easily. We need to practice tai-sabaki, shifting in both potential directions in every possible way, playing with distances and weapons to expand our armament.
Sensei Ron Fagen, out of Halifax Nova Scotia has a nice drill for tai sabaki he calls the “ten steps”. We learn this drill using standard one step sparring where the defender starts in shizen-tai dachi, then we drill the student to shift in any one of ten directions in response to standard stepping-in attacks. I prefer to keep the attacks consistent through the learning phase of this drill: stepping-in right handed face punch is as good as any attack. So what are the ten steps? Stepping straight back to the right and the left, using pure timing and blocking are the first two (tai sabaki only applies if you consider stepping away from a punch to be a form of tai sabaki. I do not). Shifting to on a angle to the left or right (one will be shifting inside, the other outside. Make sure the students notice the difference) will be the next two. The third pair of movements will be rotating to the left or the right: on foot remains in place as a pivot while the other rotates across and behind to the chosen direction. The students should notice the different feel between the linear blocks, the shifting tai sabaki and the rotation tai sabaki: the rotational movements will tend to give a feel of guiding the attack by us versus directly challenging the attack with our block. Elmar Schmeisser does an excellent job of addressing this difference in his book “Advanced Karate-Do”. The fourth pair of movements are large shifts directly sideways, ninety degrees to the attack vector of the opponent. This movement renders any block practically redundant, but is quite difficult to perform successfully due to the large nature of the movement (larger shifts are harder to accomplish and easier to spot by our opponent.) Finally, the last pair of “inside-outside” steps consist of a rapid step into the incoming attack vector with a full rotation around that foot to “pass” the attack and end up behind the opponent. I compare this avoidance of attack with the classical bull-fighters move “the veronica”. In a veronica the matador presents his body behind the cape as a target and then rotates in spot around the points of the bull’s horns at the last moment, leading the bull past him with a floursish of the cape and ending up behind the bull, safe from the lethal attacking horns. This particular form of tai sabaki is obviously very difficult and requires tremendous amounts of training and lots of luck to perform successfully. Once the students have the basic concepts, obviously this entire drill has to be upgraded by introducing alternative attacks, doing it from stationary fighting stance and while moving, or, finally, training with free sparring but requiring the heavy use of tai-sabaki.
One drill for tai sabaki that I find to be fun and quite worthwhile is what I call “flow training’. For this drill to be successful, you need to make sure the entire class understands that the point of the drill is not “winning” or “scoring” but is really all about maintaining a continual flow between the pair where no contact is ever really possible. I start off the pair facing each other in standard fighting stance (whatever that means to your club or style). The initiator calls a single attack by announcing both technique and target. The defender acknowledges the call (perhaps the only good use for Ossu), and the initiator immediately attacks. The defender then shifts and blocks WITHOUT any counter-attack. Both players now freeze in position, they do not shift, shiver or step. The defender now calls an appropriate attack from his new position, and attacks as soon as his partner acknowledges the new attack. The partner shifts, blocks and they both freeze. The sequence is attack-shift/block-new attack. There are no counter attacks in this drill; it is not about counter-attacking but it is about shifting off the line of an incoming attack. As the players get the concept mastered, the pace must pick up dramatically: attacks must be called and acknowledged fast and they must be made at full speed and intent. Now, where are we going here? The first level of learning here will be “where can I go to avoid this attack successfully and leave my opponent at a disadvantage?”. The second level of learning will be “where can I go to avoid this attack, leave my opponent at a disadvantage, and allow me to make my own devastating attack”. The third level of learning, which may come either before or after the second level, will be “what technique is best used from this particular position and distance in relation to my opponent?”. Finally, the student will hopefully get to the point of “where can I move to avoid attack and place myself in position to use any attack I choose?” The students should be encouraged to use unique shifts to avoid attack and to utilize alternative techniques appropriate to the position and distance they find themselves after the shift. Done properly this “dance” should flow quickly and smoothly and resemble something like a Hollywood martial arts fight. It really is fun, though the urge to “win” which always tends to rear it’s ugly head will ruin the drill.
One training drill that can be used to combine kata with kumite is yakusuku kumite. This form of training is highly formalized pre-arranged kumite using specific sequences from various kata to defend against a series of various attacks. Fagan Sensei combines this with his ten step training, altering the various kata combinations to fit the various directional shifts. An example might be the first combination in Heian (Pinan) godan: inside block, reverse punch. The first two combinations would be shift directly back left side and right side. The second combination would be shift to the inside or the outside. The third combination, using rotation to avoid, the block would have to be altered somewhat to actually work: perhaps something along the line of doing a “flowing” inside block with the gyaku hand, followed immediately with a jab off the front hand. This has the same basic intent as the kata, but we have altered the techniques to fit the tai-sabaki shift. The 90 degree shifts are exactly like the kata, but perhaps the counter-attack technique would have to be altered to deal with the altered distance. The final pair of shifts, the step into and rotate behind the opponent, perhaps the timing of the block would be altered to occur as you stepped through the attack, using the block to actually ricochet your body off the opponent’s attack. The point of this training is to not only explore kata application, but to get the student to play with alternative weapons and techniques in kumite rather than just depend on the standard few we routinely see in competition. Of course there is a reason we see a limited number of techniques in competition: survival of the fittest. Competition kumite, controlled by rules and referees, limits the both the number of potential attacks that are actually worthwhile. On the other hand, in self defense situations the potential attacks and situations are only limited by ones imagination and the laws of physics. Self-defense training demands that we perfect a few very effective techniques for use in any and every situation. Yakusuku kumite is what this is all about.
Perhaps the most difficult skill to learn, at least for me, is the ability to remain focused and “in the moment” during sparring, always poised to react to the slightest action of my opponent. The Japanese term for this skill is zanshin, and this is perhaps the most valuable skill one can accrue from karate; the ability to act and react clearly and appropriately under stress. The first levels of this training can be done with a series of basic drills done at white belt level that basically amount to little more than the childhood game of “Simon Says”. The first part of zanshin training is done while simply doing the standard marching line drills we all do while practicing kihon. It needs to be emphasized that the students must react to the count immediately but they should not anticipate the count and “jump the gun”. The count represents and attack and we need to train ourselves to cue off the count with the same snap response we would have to a real attack. Use this same training rule for kata training when you do kata “to the count”. Break the count up periodically, avoiding the typical metronomic count we all tend to fall into. Take the drill a step farther and start barking out orders in broken rhythm, sometimes calling for a step forward, other times asking for a step back, sometimes asking for a technique in place. Keep on pushing the limit of the students, asking for ever increasing and variable skill levels, always faster and with greater intensity. Here I want to step back to the kata drill I discussed in the section on “eye-line”, using good old Heian Shodan as a template. Pair the students off in sparring pairs and have one stand in shizentai dachi while the other performs an unannounced stepping-in attack from the left side. The key here is to remain absolutely focused on picking up the hidden telegraphs of our attacker with our peripheral vision (remember that our peripheral vision is better for picking up movement as compared to our central vision) and reacting as soon as we “feel” the imminent attack. Of course this drill explores all sorts of other elements of karate, but the most important element demonstrated has to be zanshin.
Toru Shimoji of Atlanta, Georgia has a series of drills that are very worthwhile for training zanshin. I find these drills to be very demanding and, frankly, fraught with danger for solid contact. I am not sure that students much below the level of brown belt will get much out of them besides fat lips and bloodied noses, but properly done they really do give the karateka an sharply honed edge in kumite. These drills are deceptively simple, but they really must be done at full speed and power to get much out of them. There must be a real sense of danger to help the student “turn on the juice”. Again, it must be emphasized that the players are not to try to win or score, but to remain strictly within the constraints of the drill. All these drills are done from fighting stance, shifting in using the internal lift principle for shifting rather than bouncing or stepping.
Pair off and select one karateka to be initiator while the other is responder (this is the easiest way to think for this drill). Initiator shifts in jab to the face while the responder merely acts as a target, neither moving nor blocking. Once the punch is completed, the initiator slowly, without changing his position, draws his hands back to a loaded guard position. At the very instant that the initiator reaches “guard” the responder explosively shifts back away from the initiator. At this stimulus the initiator must immediately, without hesitation, shift-in with a reverse punch to the abdomen. The responder must remain zanshin to be able to shift back the instant that his partner reaches guard, while the initiator must remain zanshin to attack the instant his partner shifts back. Follow this drill immediately with this next step. The initiator again shifts in jab, but in this case the responder shifts back immediately on the attack. The initiator must then again attack immediately with a reverse punch. Drill both of these repeatedly to set the tone and establish a pattern. Now throw a wrench in the works by mixing the two drills up. The responder may now either shift back immediately on the jab or stand his ground. The initiator must respond appropriately with the corresponding drill pattern. The key here is that the initiator forms a sort of binary code decision tree that is something like GO or NOT GO. This drill is very simple, but really is very difficult if you are honest with yourself (and lets face it, karate is all about self development; you might as well quit now if you cannot be true to yourself). Now step up the drill again: the responder may now simply shift away (initiator follows in with an immediate attack) or the responder may choose to block the jab and counter-attack. The initiator should block the counter-attack. Now the decision tree becomes ATTACK of DEFEND for the initiator. Once that level is mastered, add in the first option so the initiator has one of three possible scenarios that he may encounter. Finally, add in option four: the responder shift away from the jab immediately, to which the initiator is supposed to immediately reverse punch. The alteration in this case is that the responder now may block the reverse punch of the initiator and counter-attack. Obviously the initiator now must immediately block the final counter-attack once he realizes his reverse punch has been deflected by his partner. Drill these separately and drill them together, but always drill them at full speed and intent.
Now, for a real boost to both kumite and kata, do any of the kumite drills for a set number of repetitions, then have the students perform one kata at full speed and power as a side by side pair. The point here is to have the intensity and zanshin of the kumite drills to “bleed” over into the kata. I truly believe that kata training, done correctly, can benefit kumite and vice-versa. The key here is to practice kihon, kata and kumite with equal intensity and focus so that each may “bleed” over into the others. This all brings us back to the original concepts of intent and Zen in karate that I addressed much earlier.
The final section of the kumite segment of my creation will be “strategy”. I do not pretend to be a master strategist, I am merely a master of the drills. I know I have said it before, but I will say it again: go read “Go Rin No Sho” by Musashi. Heck, you can even find a free copy out on the Internet (not to mention any number of sites dedicated to it’s interpretation) While you are at it read a copy of “The Art of War” (Ping Fa) by Sun Tsu. Combined, both will give you everything you need to understand real fighting strategy as long as you keep your mind open and see all the potential meanings behind the text. What follows is merely a set of drills designed to develop a feel for strategic timing. Timing is everything in fighting (as in life).
