The Way of Least Resistance

Sokumen awase uke An excellent technique that I feel has "slipped under the radar" is that which I call "sokumen awase uke" (side of the head "matching" block). 1 A video showing the inside and outside sokumen awase uke What is sokumen awase uke? 2 There are 2 kinds: both utilise similar body mechanics, but result in a different deflection. Inside sokumen awase uke The first of these is the inside sokumen awase uke. It is performed by using your palm and forearm to catch an incoming punch, the guide it past your head as you move on the inside of your opponent. The "matching" occurs insofar as you go out to meet the attack, match its speed and redirect it past. The pictures to the right illustrate this technique. This inside sokumen awase uke occurs, I believe, in the kata sanseiru. However in most schools this technique now appears as a "jodan uke" (ie. an age uke or rising block). Consider for example the photograph on the left...

[Note that this is a continuation of Part 1 of this article.] One of the chief differences that has been pointed out to me about the way I was taught to do sanseiru and most other dojo is that in the second shiko dachi a jodan uke / age uke is used instead of the sokumen awase uke . In this variation (as demonstrated by Teruo Chinen and perhaps the most common and regarded as the standard) the feet in the shiko are angled 90 degrees but the body is turned 45 degrees. The kata performer then effects a jodan/age uke (not an inside sokumen awase uke as I had always assumed - it looks like it could be one). The problem I have with this is set out below: The bunkai doesn't seem to me to have the feet at 90 degrees, and for good reason: the angle of your forearm would simply be insufficient to create a deflection. See this video for an example: You'll note at at about point 1.33 that the angle of the defender's feet is about 45 degrees and the body is then further turned so tha...

Sanseiru/sanseru is an interesting kata in historical terms. Not only is it practised by all goju-ryu schools and tou'on-ryu, but also by uechi-ryu. Yet it is a kata that has arguably the greatest variation from school to school. The uechi-ryu version appears completely unrelated to the goju/tou'on versions. The tou'on-ryu version is very different from its goju cousin at the beginning (no mae geris) and does not end with the double ko uke. There is also no kansetsu geri, but rather a stomping ball of the foot to the hip joint. Some suggest that this is because Chojun Miyagi learned the kata off someone other than Kanryo Higaonna - he was away doing military service when Juhatsu Kyoda and others learned it. Seiko Higa's version is subtly different, although I'm not sure exactly how - more on that later. I know that our version (brought back from Okinawa in the 60s) looks a little different from most goju kaiha in 2 respects: 1. The "mae/rising empi" perfor...