KATA FOLLOWS FUNCTION: Artist or Artisan

“Suppress, dominate, incapacitate” Bryce Fleming often misquoted as “the man is an idiot”.

Yes, you’re right, I did quote myself.  I figured that I had quoted a bunch of historical characters that most readers have no clue about, so why not quote a real nobody like myself? It’s always strange how we all take the written word of some famous historical persona as intrinsically worthwhile, yet we immediately discount the sage words of the guy next door simply because he said them (Of course, this may be the same guy who parked in the middle of your lawn after the company Christmas party last year).  In business there is a saying that the definition of an expert consultant is anyone coming from more than three hours away.  There is a lot of irony in that. 

I originally planned this chapter to be an introduction to the kata “Tanto Kata Ichi”, my created kata of a series of defenses against a knife.  The project was not meant to actually create a new performance kata to be used by other karateka; it was meant to be simply an exercise in direct application of the principles of karate and kata discussed thus far.  I had a predetermined idea of the knife attacks I thought were common and I had a good idea of the defenses that I thought were appropriate.  In truth, I probably could have gone ahead with my project as planned; the goal was not so much the creation of a viable series of defenses against a knife but the creation of a karate kata through systematic application of principles.  Unfortunately the whole issue of Ri-ai came to the front; my kata had to demonstrate practical, pragmatic defenses against common attacks. I had to research what exactly comprised “common” attacks and I had to find viable defenses against those attacks.  I had to do the job right or not do it at all.

I grew up around knives and various other sharp implements.  My father was ex-military and was the scion of a long line of veterans. Hell, one of my ancestors fought for both sides during the American War of Independence. My father raised all his boys to be able to take care of themselves almost regardless of the situation.  My first real “grown-up” gift from my father was a laminated Mora Steel whittling knife at seven years of age. The rule with my father is that you got the knife at seven, but you were not allowed to actually use the knife until you could sharpen it to a scalpel edge with nothing more than a common whet stone.  My father was nothing short of unyielding: dull knifes are dangerous and no boy in his household is going to use a dull knife.  I still have that knife and to this day all my personal knives (as apposed to the ones my wife tries to ruin in the kitchen) are razor sharp at all times.  On the other hand, I do have some really choice scars from years of using and abusing knives.  Knife wounds happen in an instant and, if the blade is truly sharp, they bleed profusely.

Two of my scars I should tell you about, just so we all understand how fast severe cuts happen and how functional a badly cut person can be after those cuts. This plays into my later discussion.  (by the way, the kata is NOT going to be about knife attacks.  You will understand in a few moments).  The first scar I should tell you about extends the entire length of my left index finger.  I was performing a field post-mortem exam on a dead cow with my trusty K-BAR knife ( pretty useless piece of steel by the way: won’t take an edge and dulls up immediately) and slipped as I slashed a rib: the blade flashed out of the rotting carcass (dead of God knows what) and in an instant was buried to the bone along my clenched left hand. The middle joint was opened and I could see joint fluid dripping out of the wound.  It barely hurt and my only reaction was “Crap, that’s going to hurt by the end of the day”. I finished the examination and drove forty miles home, finished my report and daily billing, and then meandered down to the emergency center about two hours later.  The wound was pretty deep, but it barely even slowed me down. 

 The second scar I should tell you about is from a wound that was a wee bit more serious.  Through bad judgment and bad luck, I managed to take a large scalpel into the meat of my right fore-arm. The blade buried effortlessly and only stopped because it hit bone. On the way through the scalpel cut the vein, nicked the artery and barely missed the Ulnar nerve. Holy crap did it bleed; like Niagara Falls during Spring flood. In this case I knew that if I did not get something done fast I was going to pass out from blood loss. The passing out would save my life likely (bleeding stops with low blood pressure) but that would leave the surgery I was doing half finished and my panicking client alone, fifty miles from any help.   In this situation I stepped back, looked the by-now very pale cowgirl in the face and told her to grab the surgical needle and suture out of my nearby kit, throw two tight stitches across the wound and wrap some convenient bandaging material around the wound a few times.  I added that she had about two or three minutes to help me before I was past being able to give coherent instructions. To this day all I remember was that the stitching hurt one hell of a lot more than the cutting.  After all this I completed the surgery I was doing and drove myself back to the city fifty miles away. It was two days before I actually visited the hospital: everyone that knows me, knows that hospitals and doctors scare me more than anything as trivial as death and infection.

The three things that you desperately need to take home from the two stories above are 1) knife wounds happen fast and without warning 2) knife wounds rarely hurt much, even when they are potentially life threatening and 3) you should not just sit down and die if you get cut; you are unlikely to die, so stand up, dust yourself off and soldier on.   This has been my experience and, after doing a bit of research, this is likely the truth about knife wounds.

I consulted three sources before I started to write this article. There are many more worthwhile resources, but truthfully it only took me three to realize just how unrealistic this whole venture really is.  Based on my current knowledge, most martial artists have not a freaking clue about knife attacks or wounds.  The community seems to fall into two camps: those that are of the assumption that there is no possible defense against a knife and you should just run away screaming if you see one, and those who believe their “Joot Koot Poo” will armour them against any weapon coming their way.  Both camps are tremendously smug in their opinion.  Not a freaking clue.  Lets look at both sides of the argument. 

On one hand, faced with a criminal flashing a knife, should you assume that either submission or a hasty retreat is going to save you?  Are you sure the criminal will be satisfied with just your wallet? Maybe he wants your wife or daughter too. Or maybe he just likes to hurt people and will give you a poke anyway as you pass your wallet over.  How about running away?  Are you absolutely sure you can outrun anyone?  I happen to be almost fifty now and I never was much of a runner, so if faced with a young, healthy hood and his trusty shank I have very few options.  I better hope I see the bastard coming and cross over to the other side of the street.  Furthermore, how about this scenario: you are cornered with both your wife and daughter. Maybe you can outrun the scum, but are you sure they can?  A real man is going to step up to the plate and fight long enough to give his loved ones a healthy head start on the sprint for life.

The other side of this coin are the invincible warriors.  Somewhere along the way some of us have come to the conclusion that knife slashers are going to announce their intentions with great looping flourishes of their blade and yet they are likely to have little or no expertise with the knife.  Here is a news flash: using a knife is practically a natural movement and really takes little or no training to perfect.  Its not like there is “knife fighting academies” on every corner, so trained shankers are truly rare; yet there are reports of knife attacks practically daily in my neck of the woods.  Then there is the classic statement that I hear repeated practically as a mantra: “If you get in a knife fight, you will be cut. Assume it”.  This statement is all very fine, but I hear it coming from people who have never actually been cut under any circumstances.  Blanket statement like that are really of little use; you need to understand just two things about a knife cut: it is unlikely to kill you quickly and you are unlikely to feel it when it happens.

The two best references I found were “Logic of Steel” by James Lalond and two articles gleaned from “Jissen” magazine, written by Reverend Bodhi Chenevey.  I actually contacted the good Reverend and he came back to me with some very sage advice that I will share with you.  He is the major reason I fell back, regrouped and re-planned this whole silly little project.

“Logic of Steel” is a frank and truthful book about the reality of bladed violence.  I am not sure what type of man Mr. Lalond is, but he has led a very interesting and dangerous life.  He speaks with the authority of a man who has both used a knife in personal combat and has been at the lethal pointy end of a knife. His book is absolutely filled with useful information that every martial artist needs to understand before he gets glib about knives and defenses.  The three most important points he makes we all need to take to heart: 1) victims of knife attacks rarely realize that there is a knife involved until it is far too late. Often they don’t understand their lethal error until there is lots of blood involved. 2) victims of knife attacks rarely feel the cuts.  Often they assume their attacker is “punching” them when in fact he is stabbing them. 3) most victims of knife attacks survive. Often they are permanently injured, but they survive.  So the question has to be: how do you defend against a weapon you never see, you rarely feel and you do not recognize until after the fight is over?

Mr. Lalond makes it clear that most “knife fighters” do not brandish their weapons. Even the marginally experienced shanker will usually enter the conflict with the knife at a hidden ready position: low, hip or pocket level, hidden against the contour of the leg.  The knifer is depending on getting into range with stealth and then attacking with a blitzkrieg attack.  Most attackers will be right handed, most wounds will be to the left side of the face and body. Of the people who actually brandish the blade, you are likely to meet two types: those who are scared shitless and just want you to back off and give them space, and those who intend to terrorize and intimidate for sporting fun. Of course, mixed among all these guys are going to be the crazy bastards who just don’t give a crap and plan to hurt you whether you see the knife or not.  Reverend Chenevey’s first article in “Jissen” covers this topic really well with the simple statement of “Be careful of who you piss off!!”.

The Reverend Bodhi Chenevey is an interesting character.  His articles in “Jissen” magazine (Google it guys, its free on-line) are blunt, illuminating and give the reader an essence of the nature of knife assaults.  Reverend Chenevey does not pass on many little gems about defending against the knife, but he does give us the unpolished view of what happens when a blade comes into play.  Chenevey no longer calls it “knife fighting” ; he calls it “knife killing”; the inference that anyone that pulls a knife on you has showed clear intent to kill you and should be treated as a potential murderer.  Detailing his experience both as a combat soldier during the Viet Nam War and his thirty years training both military and police officers in combat tactics, Reverend Chenevey brings a reality that only first hand experience can give.  His articles in Jissen magazine can be boiled down in to a few salient points: 1) knife attacks are usually surprise assaults. 2) you often do not feel the cuts and often do not realize the severity of your wounds until long after the altercation. 3) the quick kill with the knife is for the most part a myth. You are likely to survive for at least a little while when attacked with a knife.   These three points lead automatically to three important conclusions: 1) stay aware of your surroundings and who is around you. Always watch who is watching you and be respectful of anyone you don’t know well. You never know who is carrying a shank. 2) defend yourself without concern for the cuts.  This does not mean “do not avoid being cut”, it means “do not panic and quit if you are”.  I personally have a series of pictures of a police officer who thought he could take a knife wielding thug without any back-up. The cuts tell the story: his arms have some defense wounds, his belly and chest have a few deep wounds, but his back is absolutely shredded.  The tale it tells is that he took some defensive cuts, a couple of potentially dangerous body strikes and then he panicked and turned turtle, taking numerous deep and dangerous cuts to his undefended back.  Finally, 3) you have time to survive if you do get cut. Once cut, keep on going until either you collapse or you disable your attacker.  Kill him if you have to; he called the match the moment he pulled the knife.

The personal notes Reverend Chenevey sent me were interesting to say the least, especially for a karate guy. Here is a synopsis of his suggestions:

1) stance: faced with a known attacker (blade displayed) stand hands up, elbows tucked in, chin tucked, spine and neck vertical, hands open, hips and spine aligned with shoulders. Hips and knees are flexed.  The posture is very reminiscent of standard Tai Chi Chuan balanced posture.

2) Always use Tai sabaki, preferably shifting diagonally to the outside. This creates distance and time.

3)Do not try to “grab” the knife hand.  It will never happen, even against the untrained knifer.  Think instead of “hooking” the arm into your elbow/armpit area and simultaneously striking to his head with your other hand. Repeated open hand strikes that lead to control of the head as you continue to keep the knife arm hooked.  You can try to hyper-extend the elbow by levering the hooked arm across your chest once you have the head controlled.  Focus on a three dimensional flowing action applied simultaneously. Control the knife arm at the elbow. ( I just recently discovered the value of this while doing bunkai for Niju Shiho- Bryce)

4)Entering on a diagonal as you hook the arm and smash the face, hyper-extend or break the arm, then change level at the hips, taking the assailant to the ground by flexing your hips and knees without bending at the waist.  Maintain an upright posture.

5)If his arm is still undamaged once you are on the ground, finish the job.  Unless you are legally responsible to keep the scum alive and mostly undamaged, then finish the fight; he was trying to KILL you. (Years ago  a gentleman called Dave Doncaster led a course at my dojo on police arrest tactics. I asked him what would he do if he had no back-up, he was surrounded by bad guys and he had one down and subdued. He answered me that he would purposefully break the man’s arm so he at least had one less offender to deal with.  He felt that lawyers and the court system were much easier to deal with than morticians and the forever-after.- Bryce)

6) Spiralling take downs, keeping the offender spinning and off balance work well. Think of youself as the center of the whirl pool and the offender the piece of feces circling the drain. 

7) Do not forget leg strikes. Knee strikes to the thigh can assist a take down, knees to the groin if you shifted to the inside of the attack. Reaps of the feet as you simultaneously push the upper body away. The reverse process of sweeping the foot and pulling the upper body works well too.

8 ) Try to remain light, non-threatening and relaxed. Remain soft and pliable, with hooks and attacks almost flowing. The best defenses are going to be those that the opponent does not sense until it is too late to respond. This approach is most similar in application to Tai Chi Chuan strategy rather than karate. Karate tends to be too staccato and applied at too long a range. The heavy nature of karate is likely to telegraph to the knifer your intent and thus allow him a chance to alter tactics.  You need to flow and remain continuous.

9) Defang the serpent by cutting off the head. Do not worry about the knife.  Be aware of the knife and certainly do not invite injury, but concentrate on destroying the man. 

Having  said all this, I have come to the conclusion that making a “knife defense” karate kata is practically useless. Certainly the basic principles of technique and strategy of karate can and should be applied if one faces a knife, but in application those techniques are not likely to greatly resemble traditional karate. Fighting against a knife you are likely to flow, applying multiple explosive percussive techniques on the fly as you avoid the attack and hook the arm.  The net result is going to be more comparable to Tai Chi Chuan or Aikido. Why should  I create anything that is going to have to be drastically altered to be applicable? It is not worthwhile.

So, let’s look at some scenario that involves a weapon, will likely involve an announced and telegraphed attack, and, just for fun, has the constraint that you cannot “kill” your opponent. Subdue yes, render harmless until the police arrive of course, but more or less in one piece and alive.  

 So here is my scenario: a local tradesman turns up for work at your house drunk practically to the point of incoherence.  You fire his useless ass as anyone would and he goes ballistic.   He desperately needs the money to pay for his wife’s medical bills and he is not about to leave without a fight. He picks up the closest weapon he can find,  a straight piece of steel rebar about two feet long with a fairly pointy end on it.  You are cornered in your small back yard; the neighbour is watching and is calling 911.  In your part of town you know that there is a minimum 15 minute response time for the police and, let’s face it, the guy is not a bad guy, he is just a desperate drunk.  Your goal is to successfully defend yourself until the police arrive but hopefully not kill or permanently disable this unreasonable but armed drunk.  Is this scenario a little artificial? Of course!  It’s about as realistic as a daytime soap opera during sweeps week, but it does set up some specific parameters from which we can develop our kata.

Let’s consider three basic factors: the attacker, the weapon, and the environment.

1) the attacker is an unreasonable mean drunk.  He is right handed (93% of people are) , is not terribly athletic or trained in any combat arts.  The drunk is about our height and weight, so the reach advantage here is about 2 feet, the length of the rebar club. On the positive side his reactions will be slowed, his strategy will be primal and likely direct, and his balance will be poor.  On the negative he is unlikely to feel much pain, is less likely to concede defeat when he is obviously losing, and may be unusually strong as the alcohol decreases his natural inhibitions.

2) the weapon is basically a club, but may be used as a stabbing shank.  Clubs are typically used with  large swinging or slashing movements along any angle you can imagine.  Often the action of the slash is a figure of 8 motion, flowing from outside high to inside low and back to inside high to outside low.  Of course the club can be used in any variation of this, and a thoughtless drunk might just wildly flail the club without any logical path vector.  In this case the rebar may also be used as a shank: the drunk may just try to stab you with the pointy end much like a fencing aficionado might use his foil. 

The nature of the club attack may be compared to the slashing motion of a military sabre (or a Japanese wakazashi/ short sword). We know from physics that the tip of the weapon is moving much faster than the handle and thus the tip of the weapon has far greater kinetic energy and therefor represents the real danger of the slash.  Swordsmen of old knew that the tip of the sword was the real danger and, in fact, the base of the sword could be blocked with a gloved hand fairly safely.  This applies to this situation as well; any defense we should consider  will involve early interception of the base of the club, avoiding the dangerous tip.  For the most part this will involve driving inside the arc of the slash, preferably very early after the inception of the attack, before the attacker develops much inertia.

Any defenses we create will absolutely have to take the nature of the weapon into account.

3) the environment is a wide open grass yard, recently mowed and dry. Traction is good, there are no major obstructions and, most importantly, the drunk has found the only weapon available in the yard.  I basically just described my own back yard, but I also described the nature of the historical Okinawa dojo; limited space but fairly good conditions for unarmed combat.

So let’s consider the potential attacks:

1) Overhead downward slash to our head.

2) outside to inside slashes from any angle.  The angle of the slash really does not matter since the strategy will remain the same: early interception of the base of the club about where his hand is grasping it.

3) inside to outside slashes from any angle.  This will likely be the follow-up or backhand version of the above attack. 

4) Spearing thrust, using that pointy end to stab our belly.

Of course, a trained martial artist may handle the club much like a “hanbo”  or half-bo, using both ends of the club effectively from a shifting hand or two handed grip, but here we are dealing with an untrained drunk. For the sake of simplicity and keeping in mind that this is simply an exercise in kata creation, we will say that Wally the Wino is just attacking you by swinging the club at you wildly (and maybe trying to shank you with it).

So I start my kata.  For the sake of making this a traditional karate kata, I will make this a stepwise progression with typical staccato rhythm and standard stances.  In application, as bunkai, there will likely be a flowing action for many of these actions, especially the interception/ blocking action into the second, attacking action.  Keep in mind that our true goal remains: supress, dominate, incapacitate (but, at least here, don’t kill). Call it, just for fun, “Rusty Bar Kata Ichi”.

 

1. shizentai or yoi position
2. drive in to left front stance, left rising block.  Fast action, full kime.
3. step forward, slowly into right sanchin stance, making sure the right leg flows through a true “C” step as you move. The elbow of the left arm is dropped to about shoulder height, the hand an open tiger mouth grip facing away from you. As you step the right hand comes over the top and assumes an “augmenting” position with the right hand placed against the proximal left forarm at the crux of the elbow. The right forarm is horizontal, about throat height. This should form a classic four point joint lock.
4. driving hard off the right leg, step 90 degrees to the left into left front stance. Simultaneously draw both hands to the left hip in the classic left fist in right hand position. This is done explosively and fast with full kime.
5. immediately punch downward with a right reverse punch. This is a hard, full force punch deserving of a kiai.
6. step back with your right leg, rotating your feet ninety degrees (so you are in a poised front stance facing the front again). In a flowing action rotate 180 degrees and drop onto the left knee. You are now facing the rear on a bent left knee.  At the very beginning of this action you brought your right hand back to  the left hip. Left downward teisho uchi.  Your hands should somewhat align as if there is an arm barred between them.
7. step back with your right leg as you stand up, finishing in a left front stance. Arms come to a traditional triangle guard, facing the  rear of the embusen.
8. drive forward into right front stance, right rising block. Full speed, full kime.
9. rotate clockwise 180 degrees around the right leg, finishing facing  the front of the embusen again. Throughout this action the hands are drawn firmly to the right hip into a right fist inside left hand position.
10. left reverse punch to the head from this stance. Fast, full kime, practically simultaneous to landing in stance.
11. step in immediately with a low left front snap kick. simultaneously pull your left hand back from the punch to your left hip, keeping your right hand on your right hip.
12. land in left front stance, left hand at left hip, right hand locked on the right hip.
13. turn 180 degrees to the rear of the embusen, dropping onto your left knee as you do, with a downward left downward teisho-uchi, keeping your right hand locked on the right hip. Kiai.
14. As you stand, turn 180 degrees to front, left zenjutsudachi, left downward block.
15. Step in fast into right leg forward kiba dachi, upward right teisho uchi with left hikite.
16. Rotate  90 degrees to the rear of the embusen, dropping into left leg bent, right knee kneeling position, right downward teisho uchi, left hikite . The left hand stays locked on the left hip throughout this movement, the right hand flows from high to low as you turn and drop.
17. Rise to left zenkutsu-dachi facing the rear of the embusen, form a triangle guard.
18. step back with the left leg , bringing your legs together, left arm extended, right arm at chamber position for a knife hand block. Step back out into right kokutsu dachi, right knife hand block. This is a flowing transition.
19. Drive into left leg forward kiba-dachi, left upward teisho-uchi, right hand snapping to hikite.
20. Pivoting on the left leg, turn 27o degrees to face the rear of the embusen, drop into right leg forward kneeling position, left downward teisho-uchi, right hand locked on the right hikite position.
21. Rise into right zenkutsu-dachi, standard triangle guard.
22. Pull right leg back until your legs are together, rotating clockwise 90 degrees and bringing your hands to your right hip, “cup and saucer” position, right hand under left.
23. Step back toward the front with your left foot and rotate counter-clockwise into left front stance, drawing both hands, kept together, across your body to the left hip. Rotate your hands as you do this so the left hand is now on the bottom of the “cup and saucer” position.
24. Keeping your left hand locked on your hip, quickly draw your right hand back as if to grab something about shoulder height and then suddenly drop into left leg forward kneeling position, right downward teisho uchi.
25. You should be facing the front now, about where you started from. Finishing where you started is not that important really, but I did make this kata so it finished about where I started. Step back into shizentai-dachi.  The kata is finished.

So, in analysis, is this a “good” kata? That is hard to say. It certainly is not interesting or terribly creative. It does have some elements I really like, and is has a few elements that I really hate.  I have tried the applications for this repeatedly and, with some training, they work well. I am not so sure that they will work under preassure though.  Here are my applications; for the first and only time the karateka will actually know without doubt the “original” apps for a kata.

1. Movements one through six are all one sequence.  The attack is an overhead downward swing with right hand, trying to “crown” you with the 2 foot steel re-bar.  Because the nature of a “club” attack, the swing really is “big” and loopy, kind of what we all dream our knife attacker will attempt.  Drive in hard with your left rising block, using early interception timing to stop the attack before the downward swing gathers much momentum, hopefully breaking the drunk’s stance as well. Flow through this in application, stepping forward, around his leading right front leg with your exagerated “c” step, landing in right sanchin-dachi, your right thigh contacting his right thigh.  Your right  arm arches behind his right arm, striking the inner elbow as you do, hopefully creating a sharp flexion of the elbow.  Trap his right arm with your left “tiger mouth’ block, lock his arm into position with the classic 4 point arm-bar. Note here you have his weapon and arm tied up, his inertia and stance broken, and your right elbow in a position about face high on the enemy.  Turn rapidly 90 degrees into a left front stance, ramming him with your elbow as you do, then wrenching his  right arm across your body, throwing him over your hip.  Punch the downed man immediately. Keep his right arm locked on your hip. In application you might hit him a couple more times (“henka” technique). Step back with your right foot and rotate , twising his arm hard as your left hand hammers his right elbow with your teisho-uchi. In application this represents a ikkyo style arm bar, though imagination may turn this into nikkyo.  Either way, the end result is him on the ground, beat up and in an “arrest” position awaiting the police.

Does this sequence work?  Well, I like the early interception and the fact that everything from there on maintains our domination.  I really like the elbow strike to the face and the finishing punch after the throw. This fits the rule of “three strikes for every throw” or “atemi waza for every throw” rule.  I do not like the four point arm bar.  I can apply this arm bar instinctively because I have been using it for years and my brain works well this way.  I have tried to teach it to students and maybe one in ten catches the drift.  This tells me that this sequence is weak because it is unlikely to work under field situations.  I also have little or no “fall back” position.  Bill Burgar calls this redundancy: if “plan a” does not work, does your sequence have a “plan b” to resort to?  The sequence does end up with the drunk down and well restrained, so it fits well to our requirements, but I doubt that it would work in real life.

   2.  Movements 7 through 13 represent a variation of the same defense as above.  The attack again is a downward slash to the head.  Here I am going to break convention with karate kata: typically there is no “ready” stance in kata, but in my kata I do have “ready” stances demonstrated.  I do this as a matter of principle: if you were ever faced with a determined attacker I would hope that everyone would have the sense to take some sort of defensive guard.  In this application Iuse the intercepting rising block again,  attempting again to jam the attack at its inception rather than after the drunk has some inertia and the steel bar is starting its dangerous downward arc.  In this application I flow through the block, using it merely to guarantee a deflection of the attack. I step through the arc, hooking the arm as I go, rotating on my leading right foot to face the back of my attacker.  In training this I found that if I did not counter-attack immediately on finishing the rotation, my partner would naturally rotate with me, bringing his weapon into line for a second attack.  The counter-attack I suggest is a strike to the back of the head (potentially lethal), but since “arrest” is our goal here, I use the strike to the back of the head in step ten to grab the collar of my attacker while my other hand is maintaining control of the weapon (I maintained contact as I stepped through, pulling the weapon with me).  I kick  to the back of  my attackers legs (whichever leg is closest) and pull him into my body with my grip on the back of his jacket. This action should fold him off balance (it certainly did in training, at least until my partner got sick of falling down and started coming up with defenses). After the kick, step in, keeping the enemy “folded” off balance and immediately rotate 180 degrees into a kneeling position, controlling the drunk’s head and the trapped weapon hand. The kneeling position “teisho-uchi” again represents our “arrest”, here the final action being to slam the drunk face first into the dirt, his trapped arm locked out straight and maybe your knee placed strategically either in the middle of his back or actually pinning his elbow as you hyper extend his elbow.

 

This attraction of this defense is the use of body movement to neutralize the attack followed, again, by a barrage of attacks to dominate and eventually incapacitate.  I like the slight variation of the use of “rising block” as compared to the first sequence and I like the use of the reverse punch as a grab rather than a strike, demonstrating the variability of technique application (“a block is a lock is a strike is a throw”).  In application I found most of my “opponents” tended to roll out to face me as I stepped through with their trapped hand unless my counter-attacks were very rapid fire.  Coming back to Reverend Chenevey’s recommendation that you need to take control of the attacker’s head as a key part of your defense really applies here: the initial control stops the drunk from “rolling out” and facing you, keeping him open to your kicking attack to his lower legs.  Maintaining control of his head is crucial to the final “arrest”  : your kick decimates his stability and the turn and downward thrust of your controlling hand plants him face first in the dirt.  The weakness here is that there are plenty of opportunities for the attacker to quickly adjust to your strategy and you have no alternative plan that flows directly from this application.  No redundancy.

  3.  Steps 14 through 16 represent a defense against a outside to inside swinging attack to your body or head. In this case the defense again is an early interception, just as his swing starts.  I do not personally believe the exact attack arc matters much; you merely would adjust the height of the interception to match the level of the attacker’s hand, which of course is really where you want to apply your interception.  Again, the follow up counter-attack here must flow from the interception, striking and controlling the enemy’s head practically before he realizes that his strike has been intercepted.  My counter-attack is an upward strike to the jaw, driving the head sharply up and back, unbalancing him by applying force against the weak axis of his stance.  Having broken his stance and taken control of his head, I now spin him off balance, driving him down onto his back while retaining the attacking hand trapped with my left hand.  Once again the kneeling stance with teisho-uchi represents an “arrest of  the drunk; him prone on his back with his arm barred across my knee.

This defense is merely a variation of Heian Shodan, nothing else.  It can be applied easily and will work just about every time.  There is a good, powerful and dependable strike prior to the throw and the application is simple enough that it can be learned quickly, maintained with minimal training, and applied under combat stress. Again, it is lacking in “plan b” redundancy, but it is simple enough that a few “henka” techniques could be added without substantial alteration which would make it more effective.  Again the principle of attacking the head, controlling the head and throwing by rotation around a “whirl-pool” fits with Reverend Chenevey’s thoughts.

  4. Steps 17 through 20 represents the second half of the above defense: what to do if you miss the timing on the outside to inside strike.  Typically the club is used in reversing arcs: and outside to inside arc almost always precedes an inside to outside arc. These arcs may be at different levels, but once again this does not matter since your goal is to control the hand rather than the weapon.  Step 17 represents a strategic withdrawl, allowing the steel bar to flash by you, after which you immediately drive back in, catching the attacker’s arm hopefully before he manages to reverse the direction of the slashing attack. Once again, you flow through the knife hand block into a steady kiba dachi and strike to the head with an upward teisho-uchi, aiming this time for the base of the skull near the ear, hopefully destroying his balance mechanism by a direct strike to the vestibular system of the ear.  Once again, after the solid head strike, take control of the head while trapping the attacker’s arm. Rotate quickly on the spot, spinning the disoriented enemy to the ground face first.  And yet again the kneeling teisho-uchi represents us driving the “arrested” attacker to the ground while barring his arm for control.

This application perhaps does represent a “plan b” redundancy defense for swinging attacks.  I like this defense because it is actually a very subtle variation of the defense described in sequence three, applying a similar counter-attack of teisho-uchi, one to the front of the face, the other to the back of the head.  The attack to the vestibular system of the head represents a true “vital point” attack, thus getting extra points for effectiveness.  The classic knife hand block is applied here, demonstrating an open hand interception with implied “sticky” hands attachment to the weapon hand of the drunk.  Again I use rapid spinning of the opponent to unbalance and throw.  This certainly is a “recurrent” theme of this kata, but this is indeed one of the teaching goals of any kata: repetition of a specific strategy as emphasis.

5.  Steps 21 through 25  represents a defense to a lunging stabbing attack to the belly with the sharp end of the re-bar club.  Of course we could have applied a variation of sequence 3 above, but I really felt like looking at a new principle. In this case I am going to use a variation of aikido’s kote gaeshi or wrist throw.  Here I face the drunk with my right side forward, anticipating his charge.  As he lunges and stabs at me, I strategically retreat, rolling to my right to allow the rebar prod to pass by my belly by mere inches.  I trap the weapon-hand as I roll out with both hands (hence the “cup and saucer” grip to my right hip). Having avoided the stab with rotation (a form of tai-sabaki) and trapped the extended weapon hand, I now roll hard to my left, rotating basically 270 degrees on my axis, taking the attacker’s arm with me, rotating that arm hard and fast to twist the wrist sharply to the outside.  Applied very quickly this defense will break most wrists, while applied slowly it will painfully upend the attacker, rotating him sharply around as he tries to alleviate the pain in his wrist and elbow.  While keeping the weapon hand trapped and twisted with your left hikite hand wedged against your left hip, you reach out, grasp the drunk’s head or neck, and finish by slamming him hard into the ground as you drop to your right knee.  This defense would likely be completed by firmly wrenching the trapped arm to throw the drunk or fracture his arm in real life.

This defense is fine as far as it goes.  I found it relatively easy to apply against a short, rubber training knife, while I found it difficult to dodge the attack with the much longer training club. I ended up with lots of bruises on my hands or on my belly while trying to figure this defense out; the length of the club really was an issue for this defense.  I personally like this defense because applied correctly it is extremely painful and thus gives you full control of the attacker.  Unfortunately I just cannot see this working in real combat: it has pathetically small margins for error and demands the maintenance of ice cold nerves under extreme stress to perform correctly.  Maybe trained bull fighters can do things like this (basically a variation of a “veronica” pass with the cape), but the rest of us mortals would die trying this. Furthermore, it has no redundancy in application: it better work because everything you see is everything you have.  This defense is great for Hollywood and choreographed public demonstrations, but I am not so sure that it is worthwhile wasting much time on training this sequence.

So that is my “kata”; nothings special or involved and certainly nothing worth retaining into the mists of time.  I do have some of the elements of classic kata: defense against common attacks from an untrained fighter, early interception, domination and incapacitation, and, of course teaching elements. The teaching elements I included:

1. early interception of each attack
2. tai sabaki to avoid attacks.
3. vital point attacks
4. attack and control of the head to dominate the fight.
5. rapid rotation to unbalance and throw.
6. striking to unbalance before, during and after a throw.
7. open hand techniques to imply “sticky hands” interception and control of limbs.
8. use of hikite as a pulling or trapping action in practically every application
9. use of dropping the body weight as an energy source.
10. repetition of action to train certain concepts and thier variations.

My greatest disappointment with my creation is that it is too specific.  The greatest beauty of most kata is that they are so very malleable; the potential applications are only limited by the practitioner’s imagination.  On the other hand, my kata is very specific to the intended attacks against which it is designed to defend against. If we were to alter the attacks or even the length of the weapon (I did try both of these variations) and the kata has to be changed substantially to become applicable.  I do not believe this to be the nature of the traditional kata. I believe the original kata were truly meant to give the karateka a kind of versatile tool box from which he could draw any number of useful tools that could be mixed and matched to meet the circumstances.

This more of less completes my opus on “the basics” of karate. Certainly there are many, many details hidden here and there and everywhere throughout this longwinded essay, but, if you pare down the details and concentrate on the big picture (the chapter titles pretty much cover all the important issues) you will see that I covered really very little ground.  A minimalist could probably cover everything of real value in this book just reading the table of contents and skimming the bibliography.  I emphasize that you need not take anything from this book nor agree with me in the least. In fact I am fully satisfied that I have done my job if you take the time to formulate a good argument to the effect that I really am full of crap. That, in fact is the result I am looking for: to stimulate people to reconsider what they think they know about martial arts.