Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)
In a recent, new blog to read for me, posting the blogger mentions words that best express how karate was and often is taught especially in regard to defense/offense. The use of not just technique based fense but in a static interacting model that means simply, “Not moving.” I realize this simply because I was taught that way when I started a dedicated study of karate and fense (I used MM term of fense meaning something like the use of defense/offense, etc.).
Over the years, especially the last ten in the blogging communities, I have used a variety of ways to articulate in writing and words the model of, “Static Interactions in training.” In karate training we do move but when we apply some method or action we tend to root, root meaning we assume a static kamae where our feet and legs root to the Earth while we apply the supposed deadly technique against our adversary.
Even in kihon and kata practice, even when it is two person oriented training and practice this static interaction seems to be the way of things often as taught toward, “Self-defense.” We face off (often not a part of street fense where you are going to mostly be surprised and blitzed, etc), we present some specific patterned drill type attack, i.e., this problem and this response thing and we make both static targets with static attacks or prearranged, patterned and predictable attacks. The offense and defense are both static in nature and with facing off like would happen in competitions results in pre-ordained inappropriate defense/offense drills.
Technically, this is not wrong and it is not right. If the teaching goal is something other than fense and its goals are more physiokinetic, etc., in nature then it is a good thing. Everyone, at that novice level has to learn how to do things and one of my more modern pet peeves is it must include two concepts and actions, i.e., you have to move and you have to rapidly change in response to movement - both yours and your adversary’s.
In order to reach a state of realism in training, practice and most critically important in applications you must go beyond static interactions in karate, you must apply movement, change, principles and technique to the training, practice and application to gain experience relevant to fense.
When you remain steadfast in drills that teach from a static interaction and patterns you encode the mind that must see the static attack and then connect it to the appropriate static defense and if that match doesn’t connect, guess what? Those types of things only work in those static trianing models.
Granted, as a novice you will in all likelihood participate in a lot of static interactions and that is the crux of modern martial arts - the disconnect between novice and applicable proficiency in the chaos of rapidly changing actions, tactics, strategies and techniques of an adversary. It comes down to Takuan Soho’s immovable mind martial arts art of war training, to remove the mind from connecting and attaching to one that is no-mind but you already understand this because you studied those classics, right?
As the author who inspired this article says, “ … taking a long nap in a pool of his own blood … ” because you assumed that your novice level static interaction training and practice was valid and realistic when stepping across that line toward a higher level of training and practice should be sought out and accomplished properly and realistically.
In karate, as this author stated, is about - currently in most schools - “Practicing and training with a guy standing still while striking at another guy standing still, who's counter only worked because the first guy was standing still seems obviously foolhardy at the very least.”
Bibliography (Click the link)
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