Sensei Mike
Yellow Belt
Let's look at another example from a less common Shorin Ryu kata called Chintei. This is pretty much restricted to Shito Ryu and some branches of Shotokan. It is believed to have come down through Itosu.
The Shotokan version is available at : (http://www.ctr.usf.edu/shotokan/kata.html)
In a stationary position the hands come to the center, in stacked fists, slightly separated, right fist on top palm down, left fist on the bottom, palm up. You look to the right and do a hammer fist strike to your right that loops up, then down, and ends at shoulder height. Then the fist is pulled back in and you reverse the hands and do a mirror image with a turn of the head to the left, then a left hammerfist, followed by a draw of the hand back. Then you look to the front, and bring your left foot straight out to the front and pivot 90 degrees to your right (clockwise) in a horse stance (or wide Naihanchi dachi, or Shiko dachi) and the hands raise up to the front palms out, elbows bent, hands in front of your forehead. They can pull to chamber first.)
Try this with the unidirectional approach. An attacker to your right, then an attacker to your left. Then an attacker to your right, (but you have to step out with your left to engage him.) There is simply no good bunkai, and no ikken hisatsu bunkai, without resorting to oyo bunkai by adding something that is not there. I have shown to several Shotokan schools a simple interpretation that is immensely useful. (One ISKF Nidan who has frequented my dojo showed this to Teruyuki Okazaki and he told me it was well received. But this was no surprise to me because the Shotokan taught by Okazaki is greatly lacking in bunkai. See 24fightingchickens.com for criticism of Shotokan's near complete historical avoidance of good bunkai, or see (http://www.24fightingchickens.com/shotokan/reviews/okazaki.html) for a criticism of Okazaki's recent text.)
I am not convinced that kata was designed so that the direction you look is where the attacker is. (Remember my disclaimer above about this being a conjecture on my part.) It is my deeply held belief that looking in a particular direction was a simple device employed across Okinawan kata, to help hide what a movement means. I will have more analysis on this in a later post. But this case of the opening of Chintei, as well as the opening Pinan Yondan, above, is very illustrative.
I want to use kata to develop good defenses against high probability, risky (to me) attacks. What are they. Well there are probably many. But I would say the highest probability attack by a larger attacker is a right strike the head. And I would say the second would be a rapid combination of left jab, right strike, or perhaps just a left strike. I could well be wrong. I have no evidence to back this up. I believe that right handed attackers are more likely to throw right handed punches. And against a shorter, lighter opponent, the head is a compelling target. if one is a lot bigger. My assumption that the right is the highest probability attack may be wrong, but not by much. Those that train in boxing learn this. Those that train in Muay Thai learn this. I use the word risky to define the immediate problem. There are many attacks that use grabs. But for those with extensive grappling experience, many simple grabs (no kick/strike) represent not an attack, but an opportunity. A grab/strike combination is a pretty risky (to the defender) attack, but it uses a grab which is still an opportunity. A head butt especially combined with a knee groin (and often followed by further headbutts) is a very risky and devastating attack. But I think it has lower probability than a right strike. Any number of kicks to the groin are risky, but many kicks to the abdomen less risky than strikes to the head. Moreover, reasonably effective strikes (translation, by a much bigger opponent) are generally more natural (take less training) than good kicks, and because in karate, we train so much to defend against kicks.
So we start with a right strike to the head as high probability and risky and a left jab/right strike as being pretty high probability and very risky (two blows being more damaging than one). So this is something we need to defend against. Let's see what the opening of Chinte has to offer. First, the arms are going to practice the kata in several ways. Slow, for form, slow with tension for power, and very very fast, merging the whole opening into a seemless whole. One, Two, then step. All with absolutely no delay.
In a number of Kung fu systems (I have seen it in two Shoalin, as well as in Hung Gar and a derivative) there is a common training exercise called continuous hands. The hands circle in mirror images in front. Inside to outside, and outside to inside, in rapid succession. For the Kung Fu T.V show aficionados, this was part of the beginning of every show with one of the old masters in the monastery doing this. In one Shoalin system I trained in, we would do this for a minimum five minutes in each direction, often quite longer. In a deep horse stance, the longer periods, (once 10 minutes each way) seemed never anything shorter than an eternity. 10 minutes gets you around 1000 combinations (both arms circle). Just to put this in perspective, if you practice this for a mere 10 minutes every day for three years and you will have done this combination a million times. The Chinte kata incorporates this basic Chinese pattern.
Before describing the defense, we need to fully understand the attack. When being struck, the attacker's arm has to be able to reach past the front of your head. It has to be able to make contact and drive through, at least slightly. An attacker wants to do damage. He wants to make contact. He doesn't want to put everything into an attack and then not reach, or have you tilt your head back a half inch to evade the jab. The point is the distance gets closed on an attack. This assumption is important for this technique as I describe below.
Now, when the circular right arm movement blocks the left strike it wraps it, pinning it to your right side. That is why it is a circle. Up/out to block, down/in to trap. The right arm wraps and then pulls in to your own center to complete the trap. If the opponent's strike doesn't reach your head, then you may not be able to trap it to your side, as his arm might not reach your torso. Please note that the block to the right should use a modest rotation of the torso to the right so you don't block completely with the arms. The big sweep of the arm allows you to block more with your upper arm than your forearm. But you can't rotate to much because then the second block won't be fast enough.
The mirror image works for the right hand. This block is not launched after the first completes. It is launched while the first one is in motion. The more commitment to the initial jab, the longer the delay. The more the jab is a feint, the shorter the delay. You need to be prepared for both. When you are done, both arms are trapped. A digression on stance. This offensive combination is likely with the left foot forward. You, the defender, start out as usual in a natural stance with feet equidistant. Your left foot now steps outside his forward (left foot) and pivot hard to the right into a horse stance/shikodachi. Your butt, pivoting hard forward, rotates hard against the outside of his left thigh. Down he goes.
Now imagine that you missed the second trap. You proceed the same. In the kata as soon as you plant, your right foot in the forward stance, your hands come up, palms out, above your head. You can either use the crook of your elbow to catch his neck for this takedown, or you can bring the elbow out a tad early and strike his neck on the pivot. Both also bring him down. In fact, the takedown works even if you can't pin the left arm either. (In which case, I advise the crook of the arm takedown.)
These opening sequences to Pinan Yondan and Chintei, are but two of a vast number of obvious examples of what I consider the "fallacy of the turn to the attacker" approach to karate interpretation. This "turn to the attacker" approach, is incredibly widespread, but so limiting in directions that don't have much in the way of response. It forces you to go outside the sequential movements to build effective self-defense. But the examples above show that you don't have to go outside the movements to have great applications. Both of these openings used three sequential directions (side, side front) as a very effective combination against two very high probability attacks. They both included takedowns. One had two big side to side pivots with two fast steps forward. One hand two very minor side to side pivots with just one step forward. One was against a more straightforward attack (a single strike) and therefore had a lot of complexity in using multiple counters and locks before finishing and taking to the ground. The second, in response to a barrage, had much more limited options, but is designed in much the same way. Where possible, trap the attacking arm. It is straight, and close and therefore attacks to the elbow are very effective.
So the two questions remain. If the attacker isn't necessarily in the direction you turn, then where is he? WAnd second, if, in general, your turn is not to face an attacker, then what the heck are turns for anyway? These are complicated questions, to be dealt with on a future post.
The Shotokan version is available at : (http://www.ctr.usf.edu/shotokan/kata.html)
In a stationary position the hands come to the center, in stacked fists, slightly separated, right fist on top palm down, left fist on the bottom, palm up. You look to the right and do a hammer fist strike to your right that loops up, then down, and ends at shoulder height. Then the fist is pulled back in and you reverse the hands and do a mirror image with a turn of the head to the left, then a left hammerfist, followed by a draw of the hand back. Then you look to the front, and bring your left foot straight out to the front and pivot 90 degrees to your right (clockwise) in a horse stance (or wide Naihanchi dachi, or Shiko dachi) and the hands raise up to the front palms out, elbows bent, hands in front of your forehead. They can pull to chamber first.)
Try this with the unidirectional approach. An attacker to your right, then an attacker to your left. Then an attacker to your right, (but you have to step out with your left to engage him.) There is simply no good bunkai, and no ikken hisatsu bunkai, without resorting to oyo bunkai by adding something that is not there. I have shown to several Shotokan schools a simple interpretation that is immensely useful. (One ISKF Nidan who has frequented my dojo showed this to Teruyuki Okazaki and he told me it was well received. But this was no surprise to me because the Shotokan taught by Okazaki is greatly lacking in bunkai. See 24fightingchickens.com for criticism of Shotokan's near complete historical avoidance of good bunkai, or see (http://www.24fightingchickens.com/shotokan/reviews/okazaki.html) for a criticism of Okazaki's recent text.)
I am not convinced that kata was designed so that the direction you look is where the attacker is. (Remember my disclaimer above about this being a conjecture on my part.) It is my deeply held belief that looking in a particular direction was a simple device employed across Okinawan kata, to help hide what a movement means. I will have more analysis on this in a later post. But this case of the opening of Chintei, as well as the opening Pinan Yondan, above, is very illustrative.
I want to use kata to develop good defenses against high probability, risky (to me) attacks. What are they. Well there are probably many. But I would say the highest probability attack by a larger attacker is a right strike the head. And I would say the second would be a rapid combination of left jab, right strike, or perhaps just a left strike. I could well be wrong. I have no evidence to back this up. I believe that right handed attackers are more likely to throw right handed punches. And against a shorter, lighter opponent, the head is a compelling target. if one is a lot bigger. My assumption that the right is the highest probability attack may be wrong, but not by much. Those that train in boxing learn this. Those that train in Muay Thai learn this. I use the word risky to define the immediate problem. There are many attacks that use grabs. But for those with extensive grappling experience, many simple grabs (no kick/strike) represent not an attack, but an opportunity. A grab/strike combination is a pretty risky (to the defender) attack, but it uses a grab which is still an opportunity. A head butt especially combined with a knee groin (and often followed by further headbutts) is a very risky and devastating attack. But I think it has lower probability than a right strike. Any number of kicks to the groin are risky, but many kicks to the abdomen less risky than strikes to the head. Moreover, reasonably effective strikes (translation, by a much bigger opponent) are generally more natural (take less training) than good kicks, and because in karate, we train so much to defend against kicks.
So we start with a right strike to the head as high probability and risky and a left jab/right strike as being pretty high probability and very risky (two blows being more damaging than one). So this is something we need to defend against. Let's see what the opening of Chinte has to offer. First, the arms are going to practice the kata in several ways. Slow, for form, slow with tension for power, and very very fast, merging the whole opening into a seemless whole. One, Two, then step. All with absolutely no delay.
In a number of Kung fu systems (I have seen it in two Shoalin, as well as in Hung Gar and a derivative) there is a common training exercise called continuous hands. The hands circle in mirror images in front. Inside to outside, and outside to inside, in rapid succession. For the Kung Fu T.V show aficionados, this was part of the beginning of every show with one of the old masters in the monastery doing this. In one Shoalin system I trained in, we would do this for a minimum five minutes in each direction, often quite longer. In a deep horse stance, the longer periods, (once 10 minutes each way) seemed never anything shorter than an eternity. 10 minutes gets you around 1000 combinations (both arms circle). Just to put this in perspective, if you practice this for a mere 10 minutes every day for three years and you will have done this combination a million times. The Chinte kata incorporates this basic Chinese pattern.
Before describing the defense, we need to fully understand the attack. When being struck, the attacker's arm has to be able to reach past the front of your head. It has to be able to make contact and drive through, at least slightly. An attacker wants to do damage. He wants to make contact. He doesn't want to put everything into an attack and then not reach, or have you tilt your head back a half inch to evade the jab. The point is the distance gets closed on an attack. This assumption is important for this technique as I describe below.
Now, when the circular right arm movement blocks the left strike it wraps it, pinning it to your right side. That is why it is a circle. Up/out to block, down/in to trap. The right arm wraps and then pulls in to your own center to complete the trap. If the opponent's strike doesn't reach your head, then you may not be able to trap it to your side, as his arm might not reach your torso. Please note that the block to the right should use a modest rotation of the torso to the right so you don't block completely with the arms. The big sweep of the arm allows you to block more with your upper arm than your forearm. But you can't rotate to much because then the second block won't be fast enough.
The mirror image works for the right hand. This block is not launched after the first completes. It is launched while the first one is in motion. The more commitment to the initial jab, the longer the delay. The more the jab is a feint, the shorter the delay. You need to be prepared for both. When you are done, both arms are trapped. A digression on stance. This offensive combination is likely with the left foot forward. You, the defender, start out as usual in a natural stance with feet equidistant. Your left foot now steps outside his forward (left foot) and pivot hard to the right into a horse stance/shikodachi. Your butt, pivoting hard forward, rotates hard against the outside of his left thigh. Down he goes.
Now imagine that you missed the second trap. You proceed the same. In the kata as soon as you plant, your right foot in the forward stance, your hands come up, palms out, above your head. You can either use the crook of your elbow to catch his neck for this takedown, or you can bring the elbow out a tad early and strike his neck on the pivot. Both also bring him down. In fact, the takedown works even if you can't pin the left arm either. (In which case, I advise the crook of the arm takedown.)
These opening sequences to Pinan Yondan and Chintei, are but two of a vast number of obvious examples of what I consider the "fallacy of the turn to the attacker" approach to karate interpretation. This "turn to the attacker" approach, is incredibly widespread, but so limiting in directions that don't have much in the way of response. It forces you to go outside the sequential movements to build effective self-defense. But the examples above show that you don't have to go outside the movements to have great applications. Both of these openings used three sequential directions (side, side front) as a very effective combination against two very high probability attacks. They both included takedowns. One had two big side to side pivots with two fast steps forward. One hand two very minor side to side pivots with just one step forward. One was against a more straightforward attack (a single strike) and therefore had a lot of complexity in using multiple counters and locks before finishing and taking to the ground. The second, in response to a barrage, had much more limited options, but is designed in much the same way. Where possible, trap the attacking arm. It is straight, and close and therefore attacks to the elbow are very effective.
So the two questions remain. If the attacker isn't necessarily in the direction you turn, then where is he? WAnd second, if, in general, your turn is not to face an attacker, then what the heck are turns for anyway? These are complicated questions, to be dealt with on a future post.
