Never-A-Reflection wrote:
1. :06 to :10 - Left step then right step to kosa-dachi and sasae-uke.
A. Advancing to protect someone else (Matsumura was the king's bodyguard, after all) by deflecting the attack (grab or punch) while striking the eyes or grabbing the head for the following turn.
B. Grasping the hair or ear, stepping on or kicking the ankle to roll it and stepping past the opponent to pull the head back to off-balance the attacker and strike the throat, again in setup for the following turn.
C. Countering a cross-body wrist grab with kick to the ankle or nerve above it, followed by the "nikkyo" wrist lock
2. :22 to :27 - Shuto-Uke sequence forward, followed by step back, low uke movement, a kick and turn. We do this differently, with low-level shuto-uke forward, a step back, two hooking shuto-uke and a stomp instead of a kick.
A. Deflect, trap and counter is a good, simple application for the shuto-uke sets (Iain Abernethy has some videos demonstrating this well) and can be used individually, done three times simply as practice because they are important, or can be used two in a row--for example, left and then right, with the third one simply indicating that you can also do it right and then left. They can also indicate that you can go into the following movement from either the left or right preceeding movement. Another thing to note is that, in general, the kata will contain the concept of osae (pressing) and so there are going to be times where you are stepping forward even though you are already in striking distance of your opponent, simply because the intent is to overwhelm them and push them back.
B. Hard to tell what Oyata is doing with the low receiving movement, but I would guess dragging the attacker forward and down to load his weight onto one leg, which would then be kicked at the knee to break it.
C. Putting together the kick and turn with the hands on the hips looks an awful lot like harai goshi with a waist-and-arm grip to me.
3. :28 to :31 - Two shuto-uke, double jodan-uke, sinking technique--can't tell what Oyata is doing with his hands in the video, but we do double inward tetsui-uchi there.
A. Tells you that from either a left or right shuto-uke you can go into the following movement--using the deflect/trap/counter application of shuto-uke you would likely have control of one of their arms and a hand striking their neck--pull the attacker off balance by stepping back and lifting their arm while using the elbow/forearm of your other arm to lift the jaw, drop your arms, grab their legs and pull them out to knock the attacker down.
B. Someone grabs you from behind in a full-nelson-type hold, step forward and drop the arms to break their grip.
C. Someone grabs you from the front, pull away from them and strike the nerves in the neck, temple or behind the jaw to loosen their grip, strip their arms away and counter.
I suppose there is no chance that you could point to any of these movements being executed this way on-line, or could videotape yourself with a partner, or in the absence of a partner, walking through the movements, in air, describing the location of the attacker, which foot of his is forward, where his hands are, what are his hand doing.
I remain unconvinced that it is very productive to write short descriptions in text of useful descriptions fighting, based on the complexities involved. It can be done, but requires a fair amount of text. You have made little mention of the specifics of the attackers movements and position (1a - deflecting the attack (grab or punch), 1b - No description, 1c - Countering a cross-body wrist grab, 2a - No description, 2b - No description, 2c - No description, 3a - No description, 3b - Someone grabs you from behind in a full-nelson-type hold, 3c - Someone grabs you from the front.)
I believe most fighting systems are fundamentally concerned with the opponent's attack. Fighters with any training will be mobile, have their guard up, and often strike to the head, and can do so in multiple strike combinations. In thousands of karate and taekwondo schools around the world, attackers step in, freeze, and strike a single blow to the abdomen. Moreover, they leave their heads completely unprotected. It is a fallacy that these kinds of attacks in any way reflect the kinds of attacks one should anticipate in an actual fight. (This is not a complaint with Never-A-Reflection's application comments above, but a more broad criticism of how divorced much application practice is from the way fighting actually occurs. In fact, Oyata's students long ago adopted a more "fight-oriented" posture and attack in partner work.)
There are a number of ways in which the applications of kata movements in many traditional karate schools do not map to the way actual fighting occurs. For example, it is quite common in traditional schools to have the attacker use passive attacks. If the attack is a grab, the attacker often does not try and resist the lock. In reality, a trained fighter knows how easy it is to let go before getting put in a lock.
But the bigger concern I have with the focus on escapes from grabs is that the grab is an attack, and generally not part of an attack. In other words, the grab-attack is just not that threatening. I am far more concerned with a grab, followed by a head strike. And the knowledge of an impending head strike with drastically constrain the options I have in addressing the grab itself.
Let's consider the application in 1c, above. First, I believe that well trained karateka are not going to let their wrists be grabbed. But let's leave that aside for a moment. More important, if the attack is truly a threatening attack, it is not the wrist grab from a passive attacker that is the problem. It is the punch from the non-passive attacker that follows the grab: that's the problem. The application you described has a response to the grab of a kick to an ankle. That kick shifts, for a moment, your weight to one foot. While on that one foot, your ability to deflect a punch, or retreat is severely hampered. You need two legs on the ground to effectively do either.
Let's consider this in a bit more detail. The attacker begins an attack with a grab, his right against your left. His second movement is a left strike to the left side of your head, using the natural push-pull of karate strikes that pulls your head towards his rapidly incoming fist. It should be noted that he has both feet on the ground, and is hitting a target that is very difficult to block due to the momentary immobility of the grabbed left hand, combined with the weak stance of one foot off the ground. Considering these variables, there is a very significant chance that even in the event of a flawless kick, the attacker would wind up in a far better position after this exchange.
I brought up the opening of Passai (It is
clearer in this video - :08 to :10) to illustrate an interesting problem with certain kata sequences. To apply this movement in an effective fighting sequence, you have to add more movements. This sequence, can't, by itself, take out a bigger attacker. There is just too little done in the direction of the attacker. There are two steps forward (Left, Right, Left) then the left foot retreats. And it defies any sense of fighting that the hand sequence shown would end the fight against a larger attacker.
I do not claim that Okinawans didn't achieve great power in their strikes, and that they did have "knockout" capability in the punches. But this opening to Passai does not utilize the typical push-pull Okinawan punch. Both hands start fully extended, and down, and both move together to the target in a stance that may be balanced, but does not prevent the impact-recoil that a strong forward stance does.
I think that if anyone charged at an attacker of any experience, with both hands down like that, they would likely be quite surprised at the effects of receiving a head strike while charging forward both hands down and back.
IMO, to evaluate what the kata movement can do, one needs to first define the position and direction of the attackers movements. They can be stationary, they can be advancing, and they can be retreating.
Let's start with the challenge of distance. At any given point in time,
1. The attacker is at arm's distance, and remains at arm's distance. The defender simply cannot use three steps forward. The attacker is in the way.
2. The attacker starts at arm's distance and moves forward. Same as above. The attacker is in the way of proceeding forward.
3. The attacker starts at arm's distance and retreats. Then the three steps could be completed.
4. The attacker starts at a distance. Then the three steps could be completed.
In this Passai opening sequence, the defenders hands begin down low, touching each other. They remain touching throughout the sequence. First they are drawn back to the waist on the left (a chamber) and then, after three steps forward, they are drawn out shoulder height, but neither are fully extended. At that point, they pull away as the body retreats backwards.
Now, there are lots of possibilities at what these hands could do, but each sequence needs to be considered in light of the four options described above. If the situation (described in 3) has the attacker retreating, then this is a chase. But it is a short one, it has limited distance going forward. If the attacker is beyond arm's distance (4 above), this is an attack, not a defense. I think most fighters with any training would consider the risks of this kind of an attack quite high. The head is wide open and charging to the assailant.
So how do karateka make sense of this movement in a self-defense situation? Simple, they change it.
1. First the problem of distance needs to be addressed. If steps give you too much distance against an attacker at arm's distance, remove them, or shorten them.
3. Second, the problem of not enough meaningful counter strikes/kicks has to be addressed. The solution, add more counters. I doubt many would believe there is enough "striking" in this sequence to end an attack from a larger hostile attacker determined to hurt us. You have to add more.
I will take the time to consider the other sequences as well, but I would be grateful if you could mention whether you can provide any video first.
One final note. I need to once again reiterate that I believe many kata sequences lend themselves to effective fighting. I also believe that others... well, not so much. Contributors here and elsewhere often describe their belief that all movements in kata can be used for effective empty hand fighting.
I encourage those contributors to help with the discussion by posting video of the effective use of some of these "hard-to-understand" sequences.
