I often recommend that my students make use of a full length mirror as part of their training, in order to make visual acknowledgement of their form.  A mirror is a useful tool because what you see in the reflection is also what an opponent will see when facing you.  In addition, it allows those with poor body awareness to 'see' individual transitions taking place.  However, we must also develop to a point by which we begin to let go of the visual cues and come to 'internalise' the subtle feelings associated with movement. Aesthetics then becomes a secondary consideration over what is required for function.

Old-style karate is less concerned with what a techniques looks like and more concerned with how well it functions.  There is more freedom to move in a natural and fluid way, as opposed to always maintaining the same height and exclusively employing rigid rotations of the waist and excessive muscular contraction in order to express power.                     

The study of body dynamics in traditional karate can go as deep as you'd like it to and exploring the subtleties found in the art can be a very addictive process.  Indeed, exploring how you may best use positional advantage, move between stances efficiently, make use of natural strengths, exploit natural weaknesses and interact with an opponent to achieve the best results can prove a very seductive pursuit.  So much so that we sometimes forget to keep at the forefront of our minds the fundamental requirement for simplicity in self-defence, with the real risk of 'pure function' creeping further and further away from our dojo training. As they say, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication!

Percussive impact makes up Karate's primary strategy for dealing with an imminent physical threat to one's safety.  If avoidance, escape or dissuasion are not valid options to pursue or have already been exhausted, then the order of the day would be to employ swift, aggressive and overwhelming ballistic strikes. either pre-emptive (ideally) or reactive, with the aim of switching off either the ability or the inclination for the opponent to continue posing a significant risk, thus facilitating the opportunity to make a safe escape.

Hi everyone!  It's been a couple of months since I added a blog post to the site (been working hard on my house extension), so I thought it was about time I rectified that.

I was up at 4am (yes, 4am!!) this morning, as our new dog figured that this would be an appropriate time to start barking. Nevertheless, not one to pass up an opportunity, my morning practice turned out to be very enjoyable. Indeed, there's something very 'pure' about practising karate early morning. And with the sun just beginning to rise outside, I took a quick picture of my 'friend'. At this point, the dog was fast asleep beside a chi-ishi...typical :-)

The makiwara I have installed in my garden dojo and the implement that has been my training partner (and teacher) for many years has a couple of adaptations to help add some versatility to my daily practice.

After switching between a leather and straw pad for a while, I decided one day to simply utilise both. The leather pad is wearing in nicely, so now feels much better to work with and the wrapped straw rope underneath offers a contrasting striking surface. In total, I usually use three striking surfaces during my session: the leather, the straw and the wood itself. For me, switching between these materials between sets gives a much better level of overall conditioning. I also add to my makiwara training some floor-based pressure and alignment exercises, but I will look to write a blog post about these in the near future. 

It's been a while since I posted a video to my blog, so here's a 15 minute tutorial covering my Naihanchi Kata limb control drills!

Naihanchi (or Tekki) Kata is the core form for all Shuri-based karate styles, providing the essential framework for their functional combative strategies. My dojo syllabus has a number of limb control drills that come from the lessons given within the movements of Naihanchi Kata and the video below is a sample tutorial for one of these.

So starting at 10pm on Friday 24th October, along with 23 of my students, our dojo performed 100 repetitions of Naihanchi Kata in unison with thousands of karate-ka from around the globe to help celebrate World Karate Day!

Not really sure about how demanding the 100 Kata Challenge would be, I expected one of two outcomes - it would either be surprisingly easy or surprisingly tough.  In actual fact, it was probably somewhere in between.  I used the first 25 repetitions or so to warm up, before bringing my attention inwards so that the event would become much more than just a physical endurance test.  I also took time to suggest that my students do the same.  

The term 'Muchimi' is used in traditional karate and refers to the 'heavy and sticky' feeling sought during the application of certain techniques and is one of a number of a key feelings developed during the practice of kata.

The word ‘Muchimi’ is actually derived from the old Okinawan dialect for rice cakes, which is 'Muchi' (Mochi in Japanese).  So in karate, ‘Muchimi’ literally means to have a 'rice cake-like body'.  If you've ever tried a Japanese rice cake then you'll know exactly what feeling this describes!

The combative application of muchimi can be very effective and traditionally, there are actually two methods of expressing this principle:

• The first relates to the level of contact made with the opponent and how that contact is maintained.  If used correctly, the recipient should feel overwhelmed by pressure and unable to shake it off.  Think about how a boa constrictor progressively squeezes the breath out of it's prey by 'filling in all the gaps' and you'll have some idea of how muchimi may be applied.  This method is generally emphasised in Naha-based styles who focus heavily on close-range grappling and tactile-based applications.

• The second is linked to the progressive and fluid acceleration of technique, similar to a wave crashing on the beach.  The energy (or more actually, pressure) is gradually built up inside the body and then released into the strike.  This 'whip-like' power is very different to that produced by muscular contraction alone, relying more on the potential of stretching muscles and their associated elastic quality.  This method is often favoured by Shorin-based styles, which promote swift and successive percussive impact.
  

Like all other qualities found in karate, there are times to use muchimi and times where other principles are applied to create contrasting feelings   For instance, there are situations where you may want to be heavy and sticky, but then there are other circumstances when you may want to be light and swift.  It is really the experience to know not only how, but WHEN to express these qualities that makes them practical and functional.

Over the past few years within the health and fitness world, we have seen a boom in more functional and old-school methods that have in some ways, turned the whole industry on its head.  No longer is it cool to lock yourself into a vertical chest press machine and crank up the pounds, but rather for those who are looking to gain more functional development for a particular sport or skill, then asymmetrical challenges, core blasters and dynamic full-body integration exercises are the order of the day.

As a traditional karate practitioner, seeing things develop in this way puts a huge smile on my face.  What many people would consider as being cutting edge principles today is often nothing more than the re-birth of some of the most effective training tactics that were considered mainstream only a couple of lifetimes ago.  In terms of karate, there are many connections between traditional supplementary training methods (hojo undo) and modern-day functional practices.  Furthermore, in the spirit of constantly evolving the art, linking these to other influences from around the world can yield some fantastic benefits.

Yesterday, I had a great deal of fun (well, my kind of fun) trying out a multiple Tabata style workout with the use of my Bulgarian Bag and a good old-fashioned skipping rope.  Not a difficult or highly complex workout, but it certainly got the heart, lungs and muscles fired up!  Sometimes, simple is best, so I thought I'd share it here :-)

It's been a little while since I added to my blog and now that I'm finally starting to get back on track after returning from my last trip to Okinawa, I'll be looking add some more posts over the coming months to help correct this.

As most who follow my work will know, I like think of traditional karate as being the integration of three main components, which in contrast, differs significantly from the more modern-day 3K (kihon, kata, kumite) approach. These components are Kata (physical form), Ohyo (functional application) and Hojo Undo (supplementary training). Acting like a like a jigsaw puzzle, all three pieces must be present before the ‘whole picture’ can be seen and each component must be able to connect to the others in accordance with the main context and objectives of the art.