The Way of Least Resistance

Here are some videos I shot in May regarding the two basic forms of nukite (knife hand) used in karate: The standard chudan (chest level) nukite The standard age (rising) nukite A video discussing the nukite in shisochin kata Copyright © 2014 Dejan Djurdjevic

Recently a colleague of mine on the Traditional Fighting Arts Forums posed this question: "Ok, so I've thought about something else that I don't completely understand about chudan uke. I've been taught that as the hand goes under the opposite elbow, the fist should face palm up. Why? Wouldn't it be more of a spiraling motion if the fist started with the palm down and then turned up as it intercepted the attack?" The question is a very interesting one and not many pick up this point. Let's start with the goju chudan uke. As my colleague mentions, the block is done with a fist that stays "palm up" through the entire movement. This type of movement relies on the circular action of the entire arm (moving at a 45 degree plane to your chest) to deflect the attack. Another way of deflecting an attack would be to use a spiralling movement in your forearm. This can be done from palm down to palm up or vice versa (both are found in the martial arts). L...

Introduction People are often at me to illustrate what I mean when I talk about "dilution" in karate/martial arts so I thought I'd do so by reference to the common chudan uke or chest deflection. I have chosen chudan uke because I think it provides one of the starkest examples of how a technique can be passed down from generation to generation with the same macro movement - but with all the essential details missing. In this article I will be referencing a particular karateka of a particular school (see below) not because I wish to denigrate either, but because I am respectfully diametrically opposed to how they do their chudan uke - and their video clearly highlights our differences in approach. I'm sure that the student is an excellent all-round karateka and fighter and that the school is reputable, however in respect of their chudan uke we have a technical disagreement. I will outline why I feel I am "right" and why their performance of chud...

Here is another title that is a misnomer: excluding "hard" blocks that hurt your opponent's attacking limb, there is no such thing as a simultaneous block and strike. Why? The answer is very simple; any block or deflection that you perform will always occur before you land your strike. Consider the following sequence of pictures of the haiwan nagashi uke together with a punch - usually regarded as one of the prime examples of a "simultaneous" block and counter. You will notice from the frames on the left that the block (a "steeple" block) intercepts and deflects the blow just before the punch lands. The same is true of any other type of 2-handed block and deflection as is illustrated in the video below. Many martial artists make a lot out of the fact that their art features such "simultaneous" movements, but as you will note, the only real difference is that they leave the blocking arm in place during the strike. In that way the blockin...

For most of my martial arts career I have known (and practised, on and off) the orthodox kote kitae or "ude tanren" - forearm conditioning. An example can be found here and below: Master Higaonna Morio and Sensei Falcone practising orthodox kote kitae A variant on the theme can be found here . Without wishing to go into the merits or necessity of forearm conditioning to any great extent in this article, I would like to point out that I feel some conditioning is essential for karate blocks. While I admire the conditioning of many of my goju colleagues, I prefer a slightly "softer" approach which I feel is consistent with my approach to "blocking" generally. Accordingly I have always wanted to combine ude tanren with movements that: (a) apply the same movement that karate blocks apply (which to my mind is more of a deflection than a hard "blocking" movement (see my article " Why blocks DO work "); and (b) actually condition the arm wi...

Those of you who have read my article on Why blocks DO work will recall that I mentioned there that every basic block in karate contains 2 movements - the primary block (a larger movement) and a secondary block (a smaller movement) in the "pullback" arm (what some people call the "crossing hand"). I am astounded as to how few karateka today are actually aware of this fact. So what is the function of these 2 movements? Well first, the secondary movement can operate as a deflection entirely on its own. While the move is generally smaller and weaker than the primary movement it can often intercept the attack sooner. And executed correctly it can be just as effective. Consider the pictures to the left of the secondary movement in goju-ryu's chudan uke (chest-level block). Just as the primary movement comprises a circular deflection, so the secondary movement also deflects with a circle (albeit smaller) on the same angle. While the secondary part of the chudan ...

Introduction Karate employs many techniques categorised as "uke" derived from the Japanese verb "ukeru" meaning literally "to receive". It is fashionable in some circles to deride traditional blocks as "unworkable" or "ineffective". The principal arguments in support of this proposition are that - (1) there is little value in just "stopping" an attack - rather you should use other means to set up an effective counter; and (2) in any event, the movements constituting traditional blocks are "too large" for practical use. In many people's minds these criticisms are seen as unassailable. That blocks "don't work" is regarded as a fundamental truth, a basic assumption, unquestionable "fact". Yet I am firmly of the view that the criticisms underlying this assumption are completely misconceived - it's just that no one has ever comprehensively dealt with them. I propose to do so now: The 2 ...