What is Technique?

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What is the first thing that comes to your mind when someone says they are learning technique? Often, to one’s mind in karate and martial arts circles is the manifestation of a specific action in a certain form, i.e., a vertical fist strike to the solar plexus. 

It is also thought of as those techniques used to counter techniques applied in a fight, combatives and self-defense, i.e., the same strike above while the recipient using a cross body block to counter. In a very low level view of technique this is true but as to technique itself it is only a partial answer and that is the subject of this article. 

Technique in this article is best described as a principle, a fundamental principle of multiple defense methodologies used for fighting, combatives and especially self-defense. 

When I teach technique, I teach, “Techniques vs. technique, equal rights, compliment, economical motion, active movement, positioning, angling, leading control, complex force, indirect pressure, live energy and dead energy, torsion and pinning, speed, timing, rhythm, balance, reactive control, natural and unnatural motion, weak link, non-telegraphing, extension and penetration, Uke.”

The principle of technique(s) strives to teach and train karate-ka and martial artists to use not specific techniques as already described but rather those techniques as to principles with sub-principles that provide a foundation in applying multiple methodologies, i.e., “Actual tactics and attack methodologies of impacts, drives (pushes), pulls, twists, takedowns/throws and compression.”

This way of thinking in self-defense removes tying the brain and procedural memory down to just a list of techniques to apply only in specifically taught defense scenarios so that the practitioner can actually ad-hoc apply any methodology applicable to any given situation at any moment to defend themselves. 

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