The Way of Least Resistance

I'm going to start a series of short pieces dealing with what I consider to be "persistent myths" in the martial arts: myths that won't go away despite contrary logic and a plethora of available information. Since I've been talking about blocks a lot lately, I'm going to start with this one: Traditional blocks are designed to be executed in isolation. Erm... No, they're not.  Why would anyone think so? People might not say this so clearly, but it is often necessarily implicit in their argument.  As Rashaud noted in the comments to my last article: "What's interesting, I think, is that most people look at "blocking" as a static thing.  That all of you've done is "parry" or "deflect" an incoming strike. From that line of thinking, most would therefore consider the formal block overkill, or unworkable." Presumably the impression among these people is that all you do is "block" (ie. stop or re...

Many years ago, I recall my teacher Bob Davies saying the following to me: "What sparks a revelation in one student won't in another. Something that motivates or inspires a particular student might have no effect on anyone else in your class. In each case there is a key. If a student can't do a particular technique or isn't progressing generally, look first to yourself as the cause of the problem. Have you found the right key? If not, keep trying until you do." Now it's true that there is a limit on how much an instructor can beat him/herself up. But that doesn't mean he/she should stop trying either. A good example was a class I held last week: I was pouring heart and soul into teaching a group of taiji beginners: I was amiably and patiently going through the movements, being careful not to over-correct or over-explain while ensuring that they had the requisite information. However I could see that, despite my best efforts, they were still s...

Many years ago I was seated with a group of people at a wedding. We were all mostly strangers to each other. By way of "breaking the ice", the young man next to me suggested that everyone should say what he or she did as a hobby (rather than the more boring occupational recital). When it was my turn, I said: “I study martial arts.” “Oh? I wouldn’t have guessed it. I have a friend who is a martial artist.” “Really?” “Yes, he’s a second dan . And you can see it too. You can see it in his eyes: the look of a killer.” “Hmm. Your friend must be very advanced.” “Yes, he is. I can’t see that same look in your eyes. You must be just a beginner?” “Indeed I am,” I said. Copyright © 2012 Dejan Djurdjevic

Free sparring in karate is a fairly modern innovation, developed post World War II as part of the drive to popularise karate and turn it into a sport. From there sport-based "distance" sparring ("shiai kumite" or "ippon shobu") spread rapidly throughout the karate world. However as I have discussed previously this type of sparring bears little resemblance to actual fighting and, very importantly, bears little resemblance to how karate was designed to be used . This is especially so when you consider that most karate techniques such as deflections/blocks and tenshin/taisabaki are only really applicable in what I have called the " melee range " - ie. the "toe-to-toe" range where blows are furiously exchanged, not the range where sports opponents circle each other looking for an opening. Parallel to the sport sparring, some Okinawan karate schools developed a form of free sparring that was continuous and free-flowing, based in the me...