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A lot people seem to forget that Karate is a striking art, they believe, that because you practice karate, you should be able to control and restrain an aggressor without hurting them. Bull***t!

Please remember, I am only talking physical, all martial artists should try and avoid confrontation, or diffuse a situation without fighting, karate practice, naturally develops (I believe) this skill, I have talked my way out of many situations, situations that could have easily turned very nasty.

If all else fails and the doodoo hits the fan, you're going to have to fight.
If someone attacks a karateka, then they should get both barrels, the karateka didn't ask to be mugged, attacked, picked on, or robbed.

If the situation gets to the point when the only way out is to fight for your life, then do what you do best, hit them hard and fast. Leave the restraining for the police, that is what they have been trained to do, controlling a situation without hurting anybody is what the police do and they're good at it. Karateka are good at avoiding confrontation and hitting things (or should be).

A quick story,

One of my best friends has a large karate dojo nearby, several years ago some parents came to him and said their son was getting severely bullied at school, both parents were in tears, it was really quite serious, anyway, my friend said he'll see what he can do.

Eighteen months later the parents came back, they were not happy. Their son had obviously got to the point where he could take no more bullying and he fought back.

He severely kicked the c**p out of the bullies, the parents were called into the school because of what had happened. They approached my friend and said that they were not happy because their son should have used minimal force and restraint, instead of battering these bullies. My friend reminded them of the time they first came to him, they then just sat there quietly.

People do not understand reality, people will attack with no regard for life or outcome of their actions, if you get attacked by someone like this, you cannot use restraining techniques on these people, you have to use extreme violence, end of story.

Here's hoping you never end up in a nasty situation, but if you do, you must be ready to do, what you need to do, to survive.

Ossu
Linden

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A good number of years ago, our karate coach used to tell us accounts of the way karateka used to practice on the island of Okinawa. He explained thatduring the early section of the twentieth century their karate training was a whole lot different to the approach it is put to use at this time. They simply practiced kata and kata applications. The karateka on Okinawa would attack with very strong techniques that would test their partner to the limits and test their kata defences.

Saying that, there are karate dojo, that still practice the 'old way', taking karate moves from the kata and putting them into a self defence application, with the karateka attacking and defending, as if their lives depend on the outcome.

When first learning a karate kata, practice one karate move at a time, at this stage, do not worry about the applications of each move, what we are trying to do here, is simply learn the order of the techniques in the kata and be able to string them together. what you are trying to do early on, is simply be able to get through the new kata slowly, knowing what kick, punch, spin, etc, goes where and in what order.

The order of the moves, where and in what direction is all you have at this stage. In our fast paced world, people become impatient, they feel the understand the order of the kata, so believe they KNOW the kata, but this is just the begining, not the end.

So now you have the order of the kata, it is time to start putting groups of moves together. Say there is a combination at the start of the kata, involving a block, punch, kick, punch. Take these four karate moves and practice them slowly, start trying to get the moves to flow, then start to speed things up, it is at this time you should start to learn the applications of each technique.

Each kata is like a piece of music, unique and different, so be sure to have the karate moves and sequences correct.

So now you should have the sequences down and understand the applications of each karate move, so speed up and really go for it!

When putting all the kata sequences together, try and get them to flow, start slowly then gradually speed up, remembering the timing of each sequence.

Try to make your karate kata strong but not robotic. There are misconceptions with karate kata and because of this, karateka are either to flowerly or way to strong and rigid.

Attitude is everything in the martial arts, be sure to have a strong fighting spirit when practicing your kata.

So to finish, I believe kata is the soul of karate, so to me, kata is karate!

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Shock, horror! Well, I for one, believe this to be a true statement, but at the same time, I'm going to say, some karateka are very dangerous, they could and would, tear apart, 90% of attackers!

So what's the difference between the two, ATTITUDE!

When training, you are what you think, if you are thinking about cuddly teady bears and cup cakes (just an example), you will be about as effective as teddy bear in a fight with a T Rex!

If your attitude is strong and positive in the dojo, you are going to have a better chance in a real self defense situation.

When your karate is at full speed and power, you should practice like your life depends on each move, use some imagination, your karate can still be practiced safely, but when techniques become real, it takes on a whole new meaning. Make it real.

When practicing kata (forms), kihon (basics) or kumite (sparring) at speed, when your strike hits the target, imagine what would really happen if you landed the blow with full force and no control, is it strong enough to hurt or even fell an opponent, it should be.

In the dojo, etiquette, control and discipline rule the day, in the street, they have no regard for your safety, they do not care if they kill you and they most definitely show no control or mercy.

I can't remember the exact words he used, but, the famous boxer, Mike Tyson, when he was world champion, said, 'They cannot hurt me, they cannot knock me out, I won't allow them to'. In the martial arts, karate and self defence, that's the attitude to have.

Another Mike Tyson quote, 'Every shot was thrown with bad intentions'.

Some karateka naturally have this attitude, others need to train themselves to be like this, never give up, if you knock me down, I'm just going to get back up, I will not stop and when I hit you, I will hit with, as Mike Tyson says, bad intention!

So, to me, self defense is a state of mind, rather than a physical state of being, obviously the physical side is important, but all karateka have the physical side, don't they?

Ossu
Linden


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Just a basic punch bag training video, using basic kicks.
Ossu
Linden

CLICK HERE For karate punch bag Video