One of my senseis calls the "block" you're doing around the 3 minute mark, the one with the palm up, "frisbee uke" because its like you're throwing a frisbee 😅. Helps explain it easily to people who are new to these self defense concepts and drills.
Love the points mentioning Chinto & Gankaku, as I enjoy both katas along with a couple others. But overall I really enjoyed this series & the emphasis on options & adapting to the situation.
Great little series here, full of very useful information on approaching kata and strategy. Along with all the other info you provide, it's really helped with how I approach kata and how I teach it. Once those revelations are shared, suddenly the light is seen and there's an almost immediate improvement in the demonstration of techniques.
Loved this series. I think the concept of inhibiting your opponent's ability to fire back is one of the most unique aspects of a lot of traditional eastern martial arts, but is usually overlooked. Thank you for sharing!
I really enjoyed that last sequence Sensei Ian. That description reminds me of part of the kata Shunto or Chinto in the style I learned. I think the Japanese name is Gankaku. Although as you say the first moves are in lots of Kata. I loved the way you teach it in small sections before putting it altogether, great seminar! Can’t wait for your next one! Thank you!
If he coming with all his weight as well as punching u may want to piercing side kick to get some space then initiate the hold and attack sir respectfully.
I know what you're trying to say, but that goes against the principle being taught here. I'm sure Iain would agree that a side kick to create space before clinching could work, but it's not in line with the Karate principle of getting to an advantageous position with each movement. After throwing the side kick and creating that distance you haven't changed the angle and have no contact to control or feel the attacking limbs.
Thank you for posting this Iain! I really appreciate all the thought you have put into this stuff and how clearly you explain it. The old masters must be smiling down at you 😁
Awesome. I'm probably at back end of my karate journey but I feel I could learn so much more from your approach. I love the traditional aspect and the explanations you give in these videos really make so much sense. I wish you had a dojo near me!
The series is wonderful, I am writing it from a point of view of an elderly guy who has been doing muay thai and western boxing and still does some boxing (and never has tried any karate in life). I recently dived into the world of old school bare knuckle boxing and it is quite similar in many aspect to this Okinawan (?) traditional karate. I do not want to be misunderstood or to sound too harsh, but..When I was a kid in the 80's a black belt in karate meant a lot, was rare and hard to achieve. You earned it? - it meant that you're very good at fighting. Nowadays I see literally crowds of people sporting black belts, like small armies of them, do they really have under it that skill and experience black belts from my time had?
Thanks for the kind words. As regards the belts, there is no uniform standard and grades are best thought of as internal markers only. All they tell you is where the individual stands within a given group. We can’t cross compare and not all dan grades are equal. I am OK with this as I feel any attempt to install and enforce a uniform standard will see a stifling mediocrity become the enforced norm. When people tell me what dan grade they are, my next question is always who awarded the grade. It’s only then that I will have an idea of the standard and what aspects of karate they have demonstrated skill in. Because there isn’t a uniform standard, and never really has been, some of today’s dan grades will be significantly better than some of the dan grades in the past … and some of today’s dan grades will be significantly worse than some of the dan grades in the past. As I say, we need to see them as internal markers only. Thanks once again for the kind words about the video.
@@practicalkatabunkai many thanks for your answer, I've watched quite a few of your videos, it took me some time to understand that what you show is what karate used to be. t first I was kind of thinking that you're transferring some boxing and similar experiences and represent them as "karate". After some digging into the topic I realised how wrong I was. Have I been younger, I would pack my bag and travel from Poland to Scotland or wherever you live (and probably Okinawa, I'm that kind of a person🙂) to learn this art. It's really worth it.
@@vyderka Thank you for the very kind words. Much appreciated. There’s always some cross over between the martial arts, and I personally think it is a good idea for martial arts to learn from one another. I like to explore the older version of karate because I think there is a lot of good material there, but I will also amalgamate new things into my training and teaching if I see value in it … just as the past masters did. To my mind, karate’s true tradition has been one of change and growth. The whole point of strong roots is to support the health of the tree and to encourage new growth. Same with the martial arts. I want the roots to be living roots and therefore I will draw from the roots for new growth. That's the whole point of roots after all. The only tree that isn’t growing is a dead one (the roots also being dead). There were definitely things like hooks, uppercuts, head-movement, etc in old-school karate … but they didn’t have things like focus-mitts, etc. so we bring them into karate today to make it better. Boxers excel at these things too, so there’s no reason why we can’t learn from them. Three of my four main karate teachers also boxed :-) It’s needs to be in a way that integrates with the whole and some of it doesn’t transfer over, but we should definitely be open to new ideas … that’s the true tradition after all. As Funakoshi said, “To search for the old is to understand the new. The old, the new, this is just a matter of time.”
@@practicalkatabunkaihaha. Only kidding. I am a fan of your practical outlook at Karate bunkai/applications. Some Kids (or adults)join Karate to learn to defend themselves or they are getting bullied etc so I do not think that it is fair to be showing them the useless crap (in some cases) that the Japanese have turned it into.
They are a succinct collection of methods that illustrate the key combative principles of a given teacher or style. The traditional kata we have today would seem to have been deemed valuable and effective by all the generations that practised them and passed them on. However, there is nothing to stop ineffective practitioners making an ineffective kata. However, it would be a fair assumption that they are unlikely to have been passed on for many generations.
@@mjp-bi3re People can certainly be effective without kata (as karate does them). It’s definitely not mandatory for all martial artists. However, it has a key function within karate as means to structure learning, a supplementary form of solo-training, and as a means to practise methods with full intent (and visualisation) which can correct the “bad habit” of always ensuring safety during partner work. I also think it would be fair to say that most martial arts have some “kata”, even if they don’t recognise it as such. For example, a novice boxer practising a jab-cross on his own is doing a two-move kata, footwork drills are a kind of kata, etc. All that makes the karate different, is we put a number of such drills end to end top form the traditional kata.
Excellent stuff. When you were talking about the 3 effective factors of bunkai I was actually thinking of all the best people I have sparred with that do the same thing in sparring. The very best make you create the opportunity for them before exploiting it then pressing the advantage. It's sound advice and definitely something to aim for in all aspects of martial arts training.
😅Ian - I would have enjoyed your seminar if you talk less and do more work - if you don’t believe me then time yourself in your videos on how much you talk
I’m not for everyone. For the last 20 years or so, I have taught 40+ seminars a year and they are always well attended … but no one is forced to come. People come because they like how I do things and find it valuable. If you don’t like how I do things, then you can go to the seminars of other people and watch other videos. I’m not desperate for you to like what I do :-) If I was to skip the detail and underlying principles - in order to try to please you and the others who want “crash, bang, wallop” videos - then those who do like what I do would feel, quite rightly in my view, shortchanged. I am sure there are lots of videos on RU-vid where people just do the moves and never go deeper than that. You should watch those and skip mine because this is how I want to do things, think I should do things, and it’s how people who like what I do expect me to do things. It's not going to change. Feel free not to enjoy and not to watch :-)
The more I watch of your videos the more it reminds me of old hong kong martial arts movies from the 70s and 80s. Especially the more realistic ones. Lots of jamming an attack, hand trapping and getting off the opponents centerline in those fights. While exaggerated and choreographed there must be a kernel of truth in their application. Seeing the similarities also makes it clearer that Karate truly has its roots in Chinese martial arts.
This was super insightful. You make complex topics feel so much more approachable and less intidimating for your everyday karate practitioner. Great content
Great content again. I am really enjoying this seminar. I like the way you have broken it up, and in each part you are adding more movements and techniques to the interpretation. I can’t wait for Part 4! Thank you again Sensei Ian. Your students are lucky to have such a great “down to earth” Instructor!
I've been reading Motobu's books recently, the guy was amazing and his philosophy is spot on, but... 1. How much REAL damage would an elbow to the side like that do? I was wondering when looking at the pictures, an elbow to the face - cool, you can even spit a few teeth, but an elbow to the side? Wouldn't you barely feel it if it hit the ribcage? It didn't seem to me like something that'd stagger the enemy enough to let us withdraw effectively 2. I don't know why, but his Naihanchi explanation seems like the typical, stained "punch and block" karate explanation First part where you block the enemy coming from the side, cool. But then, it's like "Okay, now if the enemy is coming from a side but kicks instead of punches" which can make sense, absolutely But then he goes "Assume the enemy kicks you, you do (kind of) gedan barai to block it, then punch him in the gut" when the punch literally stops at my side so I'd have to be literally body-to-body with the enemy I've seen other explanations that, besides blocks and attacks, also included joint locks and takedowns, and treated the kata as a continuous flow rather than separate parts So I wonder what you think about it? I've seen there're 2 more videos of the OG defense so I'm going to watch them now
YOU WROTE: “Wouldn't you barely feel it if it hit the ribcage? It didn't seem to me like something that'd stagger the enemy enough to let us withdraw effectively” It depends entirely on how good your elbows are :-) Even pro-fighters get dropped with body shots. My personal preference for escape is head (disorientation) and legs (hard to give chase), but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think elbows to the ribs can’t work, they can. Done right, people will definitely suffer. I am not sure what you are referring to in the second point? It’s certainly not something in the video. All the best, Iain
Excellent stuff, as a Wado-Ryu practitioner I can see Motobu's influence on Ohtsuka I in the pairs work and especially in deflecting and striking as one, although the edges have been somewhat rounded off :D Looks like a wonderful setting for a course, looking forward to the next part(s)
Thank you! Indeed! For example, if we look at Otsuka’s Kihon Gumite we can see a massive Motobu influence there. Number 10 is effectively a close variant of Motobu’s first drill with a Shindo Yoshin Ryu throw on the end; Close variants of final position of Motobu’s 4th drill can be seen in Kihon’s 1, 6 and 9; The strike to the arm in Kihon 4 is very close to the strike to the arm in Motobu’s 10th drill; and so on. When I have shared Motobu’s drills with Wado practitioners, they have all commented on the similarity. One even remarking that, to him, they seemed like “proto-kihons”. Not really surprising seeing as Otuska trained under Motobu. Depending on your perspective, Motobu’s drills are either “more direct” or “cruder” with Otuska’s being “more advanced” or “more flamboyant”. Personally, I like both sets of drills, but for differing reasons, and there is definitely a strong connection there. I do find it interesting that some sections of modern Wado seek to downplay the influence of Okinawan karate - in favour of the Japanese Jujutsu component - but it’s clear that Okinawan Karate, especially Motobu, is a huge part of the mix when it comes to the drills of Wado.
The sad thing is that Traditional Karate that most Sensei have forgotten that its always been about whats effective, and not a dance. Motobu can really teach us a lot.
