The Way of Least Resistance

[Continued from Part 1 . ] The double block and uraken sequence Personally, I think the naihanchi shodan of Zenpo Shimabukuro is at its most interesting when it gets to the "double chudan/gedan block" (as per the adjacent image) - just before the uraken (backfist) is usually executed. It is here that Shimabukuro's version is truly unique in that it combines features from very distinct lineages . Of course, that's one way of looking at Shimabukuro's kata. Another is to ponder whether this "combination" actually reflects a more "ancestral" or "fundamental/original" nature of the version, complete with "embryonic" or "stem cell" movements capable of morphing into many of the various lineages we see today! Actually, the "double chudan/gedan block with uraken" sequence in this kata has long been a bug-bear of mine: I have lost count of the number of discussions I've had (in person, by corres...

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...

Introduction The title of this post is, of course, a misnomer: there are many martial arts that preserve the deflections that I call "haiwan nagashi uke" and "ashibo kake uke". There are even more martial artists who use them unconsciously or unknowingly. However in traditional karate these are techniques that appear to be disappearing - at least in the kata. That they should do so is sad, because they are genuinely effective deflections; one might even say that they are essential elements of a civilian defence arsenal. Haiwan nagashi uke What is the haiwan nagashi uke? As I discussed in my previous post " Blending blocks ", haiwan nagashi uke is a rising block where the body is turned so that the deflection is carried past the head. It is unique in basic techniques because it is invariably accompanied by a " simultaneous " movement with the other hand; either a strike or another (usually low) block. The advantage of haiwan nagashi uke ove...

My good friend Zach Zinn asked the following question on the Tradtional Fighting Arts Forum : "Do you think maybe age-uke is just Goju's hiki-uke done higher than normally seen? I find myself performing it more like hiki-uke most of the time and it works fine, and since age-uke is notably absent from every koryu Goju kata, it makes me wonder what is being said by it's presence in the first kata usually taught." I think the age uke and hike uke are very different in their basic form, but they do approach each other when applied... Age uke is a basic rendering of haiwan nagashi uke - the block one sees with the simultaneous upper block and punch as is found in long fist, taiji, bagua, xingyi etc. The key difference between this block and the age uke is that the body turns (at least to some extent) to let the attacker's momentum be deflected sideways, not just directly up. This is the case even with pao quan from xingyi (where the " simultaneous " punch is...

Like most other karateka, practitioners of goju ryu faithfully practise the standard age uke (rising block) during basics training. They will apply it in ippon kumite (one-step sparring), "find" it in kata bunkai (application analysis) and desperately try to apply it in sparring. But is it really a goju technique? What karateka call "age uke" is really a basic shorin technique. The only kata in which it is found are the 2 gekisai forms, developed and introduced by Miyagi in the early 1940s as basic kata for school children. Prior to that one wonders whether it was even practised in goju dojos... This question has lately led me on a journey to discover whether goju ryu has its "own" rising block. What did goju/naha te practitioners use for defences to head height attacks before age uke was incorporated into the syllabus? As summarised in the video below, I feel that the answer is to be found in goju's famous "mawashi uke" or roundhouse bl...