On the Swept Plateau

   "When there is no wind, row."

                       -Chinese proverb      

                                  

Your karate training won't always progress at the same smooth pace. In the karate school we have a regular schedule of classes, curriculum, and tests; but your own personal growth in the arts will sometimes move in fits and starts. Sometimes you feel like you are on fire, like you pick up every new technique immediately. Other times you feel like you are plugging along, getting a little better all the time. You go to class, you hit the bag, and you feel yourself gradually getting stronger and faster.

And then sometimes you feel like you've been running and running forever. And one day you look around and it's been a long time since you saw any new improvements in skill and you start to question if it's worth it. Will my training ever pay off? Are all these repetitions, and bumps and bruises and scrapes, really making me better? You practice the forms and show up to spar but you feel like you're stuck. You can't see a horizon in any direction and you've gone so far without a major step that you've begun to lose context.

You're on the plateau.

The Way of martial arts is an upward winding path. Sometimes it is steep, and sometimes it is shallow, and there will be times when it seems to extend in front of you forever with no end in sight. It is easy during these times to become discouraged in your training. But that is just a part of the journey. The things that excited you about karate when the gains were easy and the time between rewards was minimal seem to have less of a draw now. Where you used to show up to class early chomping at the bit for the next technique or drill, now class seems a burden, and a part of you begins to justify not putting in the effort by focusing on how long it's been since you felt like you were growing.

Sometimes it happens at brown belt. Sometimes it happens at black belt. Sometimes it happens to a beginner. You keep doing what your instructors say, practicing the drills and performing the kata, but more and more it seems like a thankless chore.

The nights are dark on the plateau, and when the strong winds blow you have to make a decision. Do you keep training? Or do you stop training?

What you sometimes lose sight of when you are on the plateau is that there is only one secret technique of karate. Keep training. Regardless of how good you are or were or could be, if you keep training you will get better. The only way to stop getting better at karate is to stop doing karate. Left foot right foot. Better today, better tomorrow. Even when you're on the plateau the way to move forward is to move forward.

The wonderful thing about karate is that it works. And when you are on that plateau and you've been running and running, and you've been doing the repetitions and putting in the mat time, even though you didn't want to, you are training. You are training and training and training. And all that training pays off. You don't see it while you're doing it. But then another day comes, and you look around and realize you can suddenly see so much farther than you could before. Now you can see the long flat plateau below you, and how far you've come, and you can see the slope of the land from a perspective you didn't have lower on the path. The plateau is always followed by a massive leap in skill and understanding.

This can be a challenging time in your training as well. When you suddenly realize how much better your front kick can be you also suddenly realize that the front kick you felt confident and proud of before is beneath your new standard. It feels like all your skill has disappeared. But it hasn't. Your new understanding gives you the opportunity to grow further than you knew was possible before. But you have to keep doing the hard work that got you there. Right foot left foot.

When you are on the plateau it can be easy to lose perspective. You forget the gains you've gotten from your training before. You forget your victories. The plateau is not a place of victories. The plateau is not a place of defeat either. In some ways, that would be easier to deal with. FAILING means Finding An Important Lesson, Inviting Needed Growth. Instead the plateau is a place of interminable perpetuity. It is a challenge to the spirit. It is a battle with the self.

If you press, if you lean into that strong wind, you will leave the plateau behind you. Your mind will blossom, your skill will grow, and the scales will fall from your eyes. You will see karate as you never had before and you will express your new understanding and ability in everything you do. But the time for training is not done. You must continue to chop wood. And then, one day, you will look around and realize hot coals have fallen to embers, boiling water has grown tepid, long shadows cross the land and you can't see the horizon in any direction.

There are always more steps. There are always more plateaus. There is no ending to the challenges to the body, mind, and spirit. Karate is not a thing you finish learning. But when you have been through a plateau before you know what to do when you find yourself tired, empty, and parched.

Left foot. Right foot. Lean into the wind. Keep training. Keep showing up.

You will climb beyond the next plateau, and the next, and the one after that. Because karate teaches us to never give up. To apply ourselves to our training every day. To keep climbing.

You will find yourself on the plateau someday. You may have before, you may be there now. It is not the end. It feels like you've been running for ever and ever because you have been. You are getting somewhere soon.

Keep running.

Drills -
Beginner: Practice each of your techniques twice. Then practice them again three times each. Then again five times each. Then again three times. Then twice. Practice your techniques until you think you aren't getting anything out of it anymore. Then practice your techniques one last time. You will never finish practicing. You will never do "enough" repetitions. After a hundred, or a thousand, or ten thousand, you can still do five more and get better.

Intermediate: There will be times when you get tired of practicing the same drill or pattern again and again. You will want to skip around, or only practice your favorite techniques, or hurry through your kata practice so you can get to "the fun stuff." Remember, even if you've had this class, or done this activity, or sparred with this training partner time after time after time there is still a new lesson, right there in front of you. You will never stop learning from Short Form 1. Find joy in the drudgery. Embrace the chores and celebrate doing the daily work. The practice is the method.

Advanced: You have experienced training plateaus before. You know what needs to be done to break through to the next level, but you will still feel the miles as they pass beneath your feet. You will become parched, but you can quench your thirst with the sweat of your brow. You will grow cold, but you can warm yourself in the fires of your will. The plateau is no longer a frightening place for you. It is a predictable place, where the terrain is familiar and comforting and the time passes easily. Keep training. The next evolution is just ahead.

The Purpose of Patterns

Michael Rosenbaum's scholarly work Kata and the Transmission of Knowledge in Traditional Martial Arts seeks to identify the history, development, and original purpose of kata (forms) as a training excercise in warrior traditions throughout human history. His indepth account of the martial practices of ancient peoples and the influences which acted on their deployment of soldiers and the design of their weapons and armours gives the reader a new understanding of the esteem in which those warriors traditions held the practice of kata.

From the Introduction

"The great Chinese writer Chaung Tzu once said,

The fish trap exists because of the fish; once you've gotten the fish you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit; once you've gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning; once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can have a word with him?             

-(Chuang Tzu, 140)

Like the fish or rabbit trap, kata exists because of combat. Once its lessons were recorded and then understood, the form was set aside so that the "meanings" Chuan Tzu wrote of would become clear.

Although "kata" is a term used often by modern martial artists to describe pre-arranged sequences of techniques, the word is a by product of the Asian fighting arts. In actuality, the practice of combative techniques in pre-arranged forms is a methodology that has been used by many cultures throughout history, from the Roman soldier whose drills taught striking with the shield and then stabbing with his gladius, to modern day karate-ka whose kata is executed so crisply in their starched white gi. The use of kata or pre-arranged training routines is a long standing tradition that has been employed in most fighting arts in some form or fashion. Even in those societies whose combative systems may not have been subject to the same systematic methodologies, as is found within many Asian and European fighting arts, some means were used to preserve and to transmit martial knowledge. In some cases transmission of techniques was accomplished in a highly organized manner as during the Renaissance of Europe when mathematics, the printing press, and codified techniques all came together to present a highly scientific - and at times overly analytical - analysis of the fighting arts. Yet on other occasions, the transmission of technique has been accomplisherd in less formal, but still eloquent means. Thomas Arnold observed about the Swiss and their martial arts that,

This was an important development, for though the Swiss and the landsknechts certainly possessed elaborate, sophisticated and effective tactics, they apparently had almost nothing in the way of written drill. Theirs was a culture of war, not a science - it was taught by old soldier to new, and never was really codified or regularized.

-(Arnold, The Renaissance at War, 64)

In each case the intent was almost the same; to preserve and pass on knowledge of battle proven techniques, that could be used at a later date when the need warranted. These routines of transmission also allowed the man-of-arms to practice certain techniques in a repetitive manner. This allowed him to perfect skills and gain artistry that made the execution of his techniques nearly as natural as walking down a city street.

Kata and pre-arranged training routines were not the only methods used to transmit and preserve martial knowledge. Dance, poetry, and written texts were used extensively to record historical events and preserve knowledge related to a society, its existence, and its martial prowess. In the early English epic Beowulf, the power opens with mention of the "Spear Danes" and that "the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness." (Heaney, Beowulf, a New Translation, 3) Beowulf is not the only poetical verse that tells of a culture's martial prowess. Homer's Illiad is filled with passages that detail combat of the early Greek society and shows us that the development of sophisticated fighting arts by mankind is a very old practice. Dance was another medium used to practice and record martial knowledge. Both the Zulu tribes of Africa and early Filipino martial artists used dance to transmit techniques and even train warriors. The use of written text has also played an important role in spreading knowledge of the martial arts. In Europe during the Renaissance period the printing press proved to be of great value in the production and distribution of fighting arts manuals.

To study the history of kata and pre-arranged routines is to also explore methods of communication, as they went hand in hand with the practice of pre-arranged practice patterns. In fact, the same creative process that was used to develop dance, writing, and poetry was also used to create kata. Just as physical shape and form is given to what were often ideals of an abstract nature, kata embodies the essence of the arts of war. It allowed man to identify, segment, practice, and then transmit concepts and techniques that otherwise would be lost in the chaotic realm of hand-to-hand combat. As Joseph Campbell said about man's ability to give physical shape to such ideas, removing them from an abstract process and thereby giving both form and meaning to the process itself, "The craft holds the artist to the world, whereas the mystic, facing inward, may be carried to such an extreme posture of indifference to the claims of phenomenal life as that of the old yogi with his parasol of grass in the Hindu exemplary tale, "The Humbling of Indra" (Campbell, The Inner Reaches of Outer Space, 89) For the fighting arts practitioner, kata or pre-arranged training routines are the bonds that holds them to this world. They are the physical manifestation of the fighting arts. Without them, and the techniques of which they are comprised, we have nothing but theory.

For the pre-modern or classical martial artist, kata practice was not just an empty routine performed for aesthetically appealing reasons. It was instead a complicated training ritual used to instill martial behavioral patterns and responses that were critical to their survival. Kata and the use of pre-arranged routines, allowed the classical martial artist to preserve techniques and behaviors that had proven successful in mortal combat. They were the "craft," that Joseph Campbell spoke of that provided the warrior with a rationalized means to examine the battlefield's chaotic realm and then perfect ways to survive on it. Dr. Karl Friday said about the influence of Confucianism on Japanese martial arts and their own use of kata that;

This infatuation is predicated on the conviction that man fashions the conceptual frameworks he uses to order and therby comprehend the chaos of raw experience through action and practice. One might describe, explain, or even defend one's perspectives by means of analysis and rational argument, but one cannot acquire them in this way. Ritual is stylized action, sequentially structured experience that leads those who follow it to wisdom and understanding."

-(Friday, Legacies of the Sword, 105)

Wisdom and understanding. That is the purpose of the practice of kata. We do not practice our forms for the approval of others, nor for the beauty of their physical performance. We practice the forms to gain wisdom and understanding. The practice is study. Training. It instructs us in its very execution.

Drills -
Beginner: Practice your forms again and again until you can perform the movements without faltering or stopping. Once you can perform the form in this fashion, you can then begin to make the movements your own through repetition and the application of emotion.

Intermediate: Perform your forms with only the upper body moving and the legs held still. Then perform them with your arms still and only the legs moving. Practice your forms in this way again and again, but remember to return to the entire body performing. The purpose of isolating aspects of forms in this way is to focus on perfecting those specific movements, not to forgo your study of the rest of the pattern.

Advanced: Practice your forms with intensity and explosive breathing with each major movement. Then practice them with grace and smooth, flowing motions. Practice them with kiai and stomps, and again breathing through the nose and gliding across the floor. Learn from each of these activities. Make each of them your own.

Kenpo Class an International Phenomenon!

Kenpo Class now has readers in the United States, the Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, Denmark, Kuwait, the United Kingdom, Russia, Guam, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Georgia, Colombia, Dominica, Spain, Germany, India, Latvia, Finland, Pakistan, Sweden, Ireland, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Jordan, Belgium, Sri Lanka, Slovakia, the Ukraine, the Philippines, Venezuela, Romania, Argentina, China, Slovenia, Israel, France, Poland, and Iran!

We'd like to thank our readers all over the world for making us a part of their journey. We appreciate all your support in making this site a valuable source of information for martial artists of all styles and methods. We will continue to provide you with the kind of historical, philosophical, and instructional material which has kept you coming back for the last six months.

Thanks for helping us grow, and for recommending our site to your friends and fellow practitioners. We are all training in the Way together, and as the instructor learns from the student so too do we learn from all of you. Feel free to leave comments or feedback on our articles, we always love to hear from our readers!

Thanks again world. Thanks for coming into our school and being a part of what we're building here. Our head instructor believes we can work together to improve the future of martial arts. Thanks for being a part of that effort!

Drills -
Beginner: Practice the arts of your homeland. In North America, we have Western Boxing, Western Wrestling, several forms of Native American arts, and a variety of forms of folk wrestling and traditional fisticuffs. Look around at your local schools and gyms for ideas from local practitioners.

Intermediate: Practice the arts of other lands. Explore the Capoeria of Brasil, and the Chuan'Fa of China, and the Karate of Okinawa, and the Kendo of Japan and the Systema of Russia. Study how the techniques and methods of each style were influenced by the cultural and historical context of the time in which those arts were developed. Learn why each art is practiced the way it is, and how the same contributing influences affect the style that you practice.

Advanced: Practice the dead arts of antiquity. Ninjutsu as it is practiced in the Bujinkan is a recreation of Nine dead ryu. The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts is an organization devoted to recreating the European medieval and renaissance styles of armed and unarmed combat. Seek out these practices which have faded from common practice. Even some arts like Muay Boran and Limalama which are not truly dead, but are less commonly practiced, have a wealth of techniques to learn and study. In many cases these arts died because peace broke out across the land and a combat art like Sumai became a sport art like Sumo. In other cases, invasion from a foreign culture or an evolutionary shift in weapons and tactics made warrior arts, such as the practice of European Longsword techniques, obsolete to the professional soldier. In those cases, the practice of one art was replaced by the practice of another. Seek out these lost arts and learn from their methods.

A Universe Filled with Motion

We speak of "linear" and "circular" strikes in kenpo. A front kick or a straight punch are "linear" strikes. A wheel kick or backknuckle are "circular" strikes. But even “linear" strikes are, in truth, circular paths of motion. The circles may be elongated, but due to the inherent shape of the human body, the weapons still rotate around a central axis in order to strike. So for instance, while a side thrust kick would be considered a "linear" technique, in order to execute that kick the leg must be rotated within the hip socket and the path of the foot from point of origin to point of execution will create an arc.

But even understanding that for the purpose of training we still delineate techniques into "linear" and "circular.” And we describe those paths with the Universal Symbols.









There are many versions of this image, but this one will suffice for this discussion.

Within the universal symbol we can see many instances where "circular" lines become "linear" and vice versa. We can imagine, for instance, an outward extended block could become an inward handsword strike such as in the technique Sword of Destruction. In that case, the path would look like this.








However, if you could turn that two dimensional image into a three dimensional one, you would see that image like this,














I took that image from Michael Billing's Kenpo Karate site, and he got it from Jeff Brady's New Mexico Tiger Dragon Kenpo Karate Site.

When viewed in three dimensions you can see that what was previously thought of as a "linear" movement, is in fact only linear from a limited perspective. In truth, while the hand may follow a linear path of motion from point of origin to point of execution, the arm rotates around the joint, which is attached to the core which rotates around the body's center, resulting in a complex interconnectedness of linear and circular movements.

So, while some techniques appear linear in execution, the structure of the body requires that they incorporate circular motion for execution.

Articulation of the body occurs at joints where two or more bones meet. Depending on which parts of the body are being articulated, different types of joints allow for different ranges of motion. While some of these joints allow for little or no articulation, others allow for a great deal of movement.

Amongst those that allow for the least range of motion are the synovial joints, like those which attach the individual pieces of the skull to one another. For our purposes, these joints allow for such limited articulation as to be unimportant to our discussion of motion, though understanding them has value when discussing targets. Amongst those which allow the greatest range of motion are the ball and socket type joints, like in the hips. While those joints allow for a greater range of motion, in a greater number of possible directions, they are still limited in many ways, and do not allow for infinite motion.

A great number of other factors, including the length of the bone and muscle fibers, and muscle strength, determine the range of articulation, but ultimately, while the movement of the individual parts of the body can be explored infinitely and categorized limitlessly, that motion itself is limited and finite.

So, when discussing how the relationships of circles incorporate "linear" techniques, we can take two divergent approaches. We can either say that the "linear" techniques run parallel and perpendicular to the circles in the techniques, which is akin to looking at the universal symbol in two dimensions, or we can acknowledge that "linear" techniques are in fact simply less obvious circular motions, which is akin to looking at the universal symbol in three dimensions.

Understanding both is important to the overall goal of understanding motion as it applies to self defense. When defending or attacking, the student should recognize that more linear or more circular paths of motion have benefits according to the specific context of the situation, for instance, linear motions may be faster or harder for the opponent to identify, while circular motions may be more powerful, more fluid, or circumvent the opponent's defenses. At the same time, the student should understand that "linear" and "circular" are artificial categorizations, and that his applications of motion incorporate circular movements, both in the path the weapon moves through and the way in which that weapon moves in relation to the body, ie. the articulation of the joints, and that his, and his opponent's weapons both have capabilities and limitations which must be considered, and can be exploited.

Drills -
Beginner: Identify each of your basics on your belt charts as either "linear" or "circular." Practice these basics on pads, paying special attention to the path of execution of each basic.

Intermediate: While sparring, Student A only uses "linear" techniques. Student B only uses "circular" techniques. Alternate.

Advanced: Student A faces 12 o'clock while Students B and C circle Student A. Students B and C may attack with single strikes any time they are standing between 9 and 3 o'clock relative to Student A. Student A defends and may attack Students B and C at any place on the circle, using "linear" and "circular" strikes according to their relative positions.

Ground Fighting: Student A on their back, Student B rotates through nine positions. Mount, Side Mount, Reverse Scarf, Scarf, North South, Reverse Scarf, Scarf, Side Mount, Mount. At each position, both Students pause to identify possible striking opportunities. Alternate. Increase intensity and introduce spontaneity.

A Woman's Tips for Safe Sparring

Monica Mccabe-Cardoza's A Woman's Guide to Martial Arts provides an interesting look into her experiences as a student of Karate. In the book, she describes some of the challenges faced by women who choose to train in the martial arts and how those challenges can affect their experience and whether or not they continue in their practice. One point in particular that she raises again and again throughout the book is the subject of sparring.

For her, sparring was a constant challenge. The chapter in her book which specifically deals with sparring is titled “The Biggest Fear.” And in that chapter she describes how she and other women she had met and trained with struggled with their fear of sparring and methods that they were able to use to overcome that fear.

First she lists what she considers the three most important traits to develop for successful sparring. Attitude, Instinct, and Intelligence. While much of her book places emphasis on the importance of practicing basic techniques, she writes that in combat, “Developing a positive attitude can mean the difference between quitting and persevering. Fine-tuning your ability to detect what your opponent has in mind for you helps ensure your protection. And using your mind as much, or more, as your physical abilities will allow you to outsmart the competition.”

Then, at the end of the chapter she lists several important tips for excelling at and enjoying your sparring practice.

Page 118

“1. Relax. A certain amount of tenseness can help your sparring by keeping you alert. Too much, and your moves won't be effective.

2. Defensive strategy works. Once you've blocked your opponent's technique, then you can look for an opening to apply your own technique.

3. Avoid putting yourself at risk. Keeping your eyes on your opponent begins even before the first technique is thrown. Never, ever take your eyes off your opponent.

4. Keep it simple. Not only are basic techniques effective, they are less likely to get you injured.

5. Kiai. Use a deep abdominal shout as you throw a technique. It will unnerve your opponent and make your technique stronger by coordinating your exhale with your movement.

6. Keep your mouth closed. Keep your tongue on the roof of your mouth to prevent it from resting on your front teeth.

7. Analyze your opponent. Analyze your partner's height, weight, strength, and even the length of his limbs. Not all opponents are created equal.

8. If you send signals, make sure they're mixed. Use set ups for techniques, but don't languish in any position long enough to telegraph your thoughts to your opponent.

9. Study your classmate's favorite techniques. Analyze each student for the one or two techniques they consistently throw. Observe the tactics with which they approach sparring.

10. Pay attention to what your instructor says – to an extent. Do not put yourself at risk in an effort to please your instructor. Defend yourself at all times, and be careful when attempting difficult moves.

11. Hide your emotions. By hiding and controlling your emotions, you confuse and unsettle your opponent. Stay calm and you will put your opponent off guard.

12. Don't always think linear. Step around your opponent. Then get your technique out before your opponent has time to turn around. Move forward and backward only when it compliments the movements of your partner.”

Mccabe-Cardoza's tips apply to each of us, male and female, and can be used to positively inform our approach to sparring. For many of us sparring is intimidating, or even frightening. That is why at Dunham's Martial Arts we empower you with a thorough study of footwork, defenses, techniques, combinations, and counters before you begin sparring. So that you will have a skill set to apply once you enter the confrontation with your opponent. But even then, sparring is a challenge to the spirit.

To stand in the face of violence and resist it. To exert control over a dynamic situation and bring order to chaos. The chaos of the fight, but also the chaos within. To temper your skills in the fire of your will. That is what we truly learn from sparring. Yes, we practice the application of the physical technique against a resisting opponent. But more importantly, we conquer fear. We conquer uncertainty. We conquer ourselves. Remember the words of Lord Yagyu.

Mccabe-Cardoza gives us another piece of advice in her chapter on sparring. One that addresses this very topic. “You can't be afraid to get hit,” she writes, “if you let fear overcome you, your techniques will get sloppy and you'll be more likely to look away, exposing yourself to injury. You've got to learn to build your confidence, and at the same time, learn to trust your partners.”

Martial Arts is a challenge to us all. Women. Men. Children. Students. Instructors. We each have our own perspectives and approaches and we each bring our own experiences and fears to our training. That is why we learn from one another. That is why each of us is better when all of us are in class. Because seeing the strength a student demonstrates when they overcome their biggest fears in the karate school may be all another student needs to do the same.

Drills -

Beginner: Practice staying relaxed during sparring. Take deep breaths, sit low in your stances, and move with slow, deliberate steps. When the opponent engages, defend with strong blocks and hold your ground, then continue breathing deeply when he retreats. Learn to conserve your energy and stay calm until your opponent is gassed. Pay special attention to the attitudes of your training partners. If they are reacting negatively to the intensity or contact level of the assigned activity, offer to lower the intensity to a level they are more comfortable with.

Intermediate: Alternate periods of relaxation with explosive action. Flow through your stances and foot maneuvers with grace and ease using deceptive angles and blocking techniques to defend against your opponents attacks without countering. Then without warning explode directly at his centerline with bursts of linear strikes. Before he is able to adjust to the new pace of the engagement return to evasion and dancing, continuing to lull your opponent into lowering his guard before exploding unexpectedly with another burst of strikes. When training in ground grappling or other close contact positions be respectful of your training partners. Male or female, in the dojo we are all karateka, and we are all alike in our gi. Never intentionally behave in any fashion which would make one of your training partners uncomfortable.

Advanced: Engage your opponent quickly and with prejudice. Analyze his size and stance, feed a few hand and foot techniques to gauge his reaction speed and likely defensive maneuvers, and then blitz with strikes to various targets to overwhelm his defenses. Seize, takedown, finish. Never give him a chance to defend himself or fight back. Always win. Practice caution when striking sensitive targets on your opponents. Internal, sensory, and reproductive organs, joints, the neck and spine, and nerve junctures are all targeted in your training, but remember that your training partners will feel the pain you inflict and respect their well being.

Full-Contact Strategies

Jean-Yves Thériault is a living legend in Kickboxing. The website of the school he now teaches at gives the following biography of his accomplishments.

"Born on January 15th, 1955, he began his Martial Arts career in Jiu-Jitsu in 1972 where he achieved the rank of blue belt. In 1976, after only six months of training under the direction of Kyoshi John Therien he won his first Kickboxing competition. Two and a half years later, and a lot of hard work and determination he became the Canadian Middleweight Kickboxing Champion. In 1980, he won the title of the World Middleweight Kickboxing Champion, a position that he held for 15 years! He is a natural athlete who trains extremely hard, and has the greatest disposition. His ring name is "The Iceman" due to his intimidating icy stare and his cool demeanor in the ring.

Since he became a Champion, Jean-Yves has worked with many groups and charities, such as, the Big Brothers, Children's Wish Foundation, Laucan and numerous others. He is author of a book on his winning techniques and has a series of video cassettes on the science of combat sports. He is the subject of an hour and a half film produced by the National Film Board. He was voted Athlete of the Decade by the Sports Writers Association of his home province, New Brunswick.

Since his retirement on December 1st, 1995, (a 3rd Round Knockout of Marcus Reid) Jean-Yves still trains 5 days a week and teaches classes exclusively at all Therien Jiu-Jitsu & Kickboxing Schools. He is a role model for all Martial Artists today; he is humble, honest and down to earth. He is a devoted father and a friend to all of his students.

Today, Jean-Yves has also become a world-class promoter for the sport of kickboxing. With the aid of his friend Kyoshi John Therien, he is giving new, young fighters the opportunity to realize their dreams in the “Iceman Amateur Kickboxing Circuit.” He is a true ambassador for the sport giving back so other ambitious athletes can realize their dreams."

In 1983 he and co-author Joseph Jennings wrote a book entitled Full-Contact Karate. This book was essentially a primer for training and participating in full contact sport karate, specifically the kind that was then being promoted by the Professional Karate Association, an international Sports Combat promotion which was in many ways the UFC of the late 70's and early 80's. While much of the book discusses the specific techniques and rules of PKA full contact competition, the tips in the final chapter provide useful advice to any karate stylist, whether he chooses to compete or not. From the book,

Chapter Ten
Winning Fight Strategy
Page 197

"Your fight strategy and style begin to take shape in sparring sessions. Often a student will attempt to adopt the style of another fighter, which is a mistake because no two fighters are alike in their approach to the sport. Even though fighters sometimes look similar in posture and technique, they are quite different because of physical abilities and mental attitudes. It is best to constantly look into yourself for development because succesful fight strategy must be an ongoing process, using your own judgment along with the recommendations of your coach as ways of improving your fight game.

Experience has shown the following 25 points to be the most important in developing a full-contact karate figher's ring strategy. Study them and apply them to your training.

STRATEGY POINTERS

1. Your best beginning strategy in a bout is to fight a defensive fight with a strong offensive mental attitude. This means leaving deceptive openings, tempting your opponent to take chances, and then taking advantage of it when he exposes a weakness.

2. A successful fighter is a thinking fighter, who wins with a sharp mind capable of making the right decisions in a split second. This skill is more important than just using your physical abilities to slug it out. A smart fighter can outmaneuver a slugger, wearing him down and picking him off at will. Fight with your brains, not your brawn.

3. If a technique works, keep doing it until your opponent picks up on it.

4. Use a variety of techniques. If your opponent protects his head well, avoid the head and go to the body.

5. Learn to fight from the center of the ring, keeping control of your opponent and maneuvering him where you want him, such as into the corner or against the ropes.

6. When caught against the ropes or in a corner, use your front leg to keep your opponent off you. Escape the ropes by slipping to the sides. When in a corner, the only escape is straight ahead; fight your way out again by using your front kick to the midsection.

7. No matter how superior you may be to your opponent, never carry a fight longer than it takes to achieve victory. Trying to please the audience by keeping the fight going for more rounds could mean disaster because you are increasing the chances that your opponent will slip in a lucky punch that could knock you out.

8. If you see your opponent tiring, turn on the pressure, which will burn him out more quickly.

9. Never get involved with judging or decisions. If you feel bad calls are being made, tell your traininer and have him take care of it.

10. Listen carefully to your cornermen in between rounds. Your coach is capable of seeing mistakes and openings in your opponent that you may fail to recognize. Apply his advice and evaluate the results. If it works, fine; if not, seek another route.

11. Since you must execute eight kicks per round [this was a PKA rule], pay attention to the kick counter near your corner. He will hold up cards showing the amount of kicks you have thrown. It is wise to get your kicks in within the first half of the round when your stamina is at its strongest.

12. Do not rush in wildly at your opponent; pace yourself, attacking only when the possibility of scoring is good.

13. When in trouble, avoid mixing it up with your opponent. Keep him at bay with jabs and kicks until you can clear your head.

14. Apply faking techniques throughout your fight to check your opponent's reaction and to upset his defense.

15. Never fight your opponent's fight; always stick to your major strategy.

16. If  your opponent tries taking cheap shots, never retaliate by doing the same because you may end up being penalized. The referee will eventually catch the rule-breaking fighter.

17. If possible, observe videotapes of fighters you are likely to face in your weight division. This is an excellent way to develop a prefight strategy by observing weaknesses a fighter may have.

18. In training, fight an assortment of different fighters; tall, short, slow, fast, aggressive, defensive. Each fighter will offer you a variety of challenges, calling on you to add and subtract tactics from your fight strategy.

19. Always have some idea of what plan to use in the ring, even for a sparring session. These tacics should be discussed throroughly with your coach prior to any amateur or pro fight.

20. Keep your fight game basic. Do not try any technique that may look good but cannot get the job done. If a technique can't do damage, don't use it.

21. Never fear your opponent. If you are in top physical condition and have prepared yourself properly, you will more than hold your own. If you opponent notices that you're afraid, it will make him more aggressive. By carrying yourself into the ring with self confidence, you will gain respect from your opponent, whether he shows it or not.

22. Strategy and psychology are inseparable. Never let an opponent psych you out, no matter what antics he tries to pull at the weigh-in or in the ring. When you react to his shenanigans, he will know he's getting to you. My psych game is simply to smile prior to the first bell. Smiling and showing no emotion toward my opponent puts him on edge because he's not quite sure what to expect from me.

23. To avoid injury, cease all hard sparring one week before a fight and always lay off, except for some light calisthenics, two days before a match.

24. During a match, occasionally execute powerful rear leg roundhouse kicks to your opponent's guard to numb his arms and weaken his defense.

25. Learn from your mistakes. Three losses during the early part of my career did more to build my determination to succeed and will to improve than if they had been victories. When you lose in full-contact karate you really have no one to blame but yourself. Go back to the drawing board with your coach and never make the same mistake twice."


As I said, these tips apply to Sports Combat, while we focus primarily on Self Defense at Dunham's Martial Arts. But it should be clear where we can apply each of these lessons. As Professor Anderson said, “there are situational approaches that are not interchangeable and there are those that are;" and Thériault's text has much it can teach us.

About preparing for battle. About the proper mental attitude to adopt. About the physical and psychological approaches to fighting. About overcoming our enemies, both within and without. Even tips which seem to apply specifically to Sports Combat, such as those about watching tape and how to use the ropes and how to adapt your training before a fight, contain truths which we can examine. Study your opponents. Understand terrain. Conserve your strength. These are the teachings of Sun Tzu as well.

Thériault closes with what may be his most important lesson.

IN CLOSING
Page 206

"In my opinion, the way you carry yourself as a person outside the ring is as important as your strategy in the ring. No matter what position you hold in full-contact karate, whether it be amateur or world title holder, your actions reflect on the sport and everyone involved in it. Although some boasting and chest beating are all part of the fight game, it should not be taken to an extereme that would discredit the sport. When a fighter begins making a spectacle of himself he makes everyone look bad. A disrespectful attitude will make your position, no matter how high, a sour one in the eyes of fellow fighters, promoters, and fans.

Be proud of and confident in your abilities, but at all times try to understand the position you hold and its influence on young fighters who are coming up. The example of sportsmanship you set should be a healthy one that others will be proud to follow. Good ring conduct is often rewarded with victory.

Full-Contact karate training not only builds a strong body, but strong character in individuals as well."

Drills -
Beginner: Practice defensive fighting. Allow your opponent to take the initiative and do not concern yourself with striking or countering. Focus first on not getting hit through the use of evasion and blocking. The strikes that you have practiced will begin to follow naturally and spontaneously as your defense improves and you are able to create openings in your opponent's position. Let the fight come to you.

Intermediate: Practice offensive fighting. Push the pace. Advance against your opponent with linear strikes, using Push Drags, Crossovers, and Step Throughs coupled with Front Kicks and Vertical Punches to pursue them through the space. Practice combinations of strikes while always remembering to return to strong stances while stepping and moving. Everything comes from your base.

Advanced: Practice counter fighting. Allow your opponent to initiate the action, but direct his movements towards predicted paths of motion through the use of baiting techniques, zone coverage, and angular movement. Draw him into your defenses and then attack when he is out of position. Defend from long range, strike from close range, and practice Max Protect positions to cover and move in critical range. Program your opponent's actions so that you control the outcome of the battle.

Offensive Approaches in Sparring

“While the schools remain apart in thought and styles, they are bound together by the practice of sparring, which is the only standard value in the sport recognized by all who are responsible for advancing the true art of karate.”

Sihak Henry Cho
Korean Karate, Free Fighting Techniques

This month in our intermediate class we're working on Offensive Defense, which is the term we use to describe the type of Sparring we practice at Modern American Martial Arts. Our base Sparring techniques are derived from the Freestyle (Sparring) techniques Mr. Parker describes in Volume 5 of Infinite Insights into Kenpo. Those techniques have been added to and expanded upon to create the list of Freestyle Techniques practiced in the school. Mr. Parker wrote that the practitioner should, “study these progressive patterns of attack [and] take the initiative to develop patterns of [their] own.” Undefeated Champion Full Contact Karate Fighter Bill “Superfoot” Wallace once wrote, “In Sparring, the basic movements and strategies evolve into an infinite number of patterns and variations. (Dynamic Stretching & Kicking, 1982)”

We will practice these infinite variations with an eye towards efficacy and application, but there are broader approaches which will help us to develop the tactics with which we address each unique encounter. Professor Dan Anderson addresses these approaches in his classic work on Sparring, American Freestyle Karate: A Guide to Sparring.

The first, he calls Direct Attack, a basic, singular attack executed with complete commitment. Professor Anderson encourages the practitioner to just “pick a target and go for it.” Direct attacks are set up with deceptive footwork which hides the movements the practitioner uses to close range with his opponent. Once within striking range, he identifies a vulnerable target and strikes out against it. Of Direct Attacks, he writes, “A Direct Attack needs full commitment. An explosive take-off, a follow through attack, and good timing. It all has to be there without any reservation. If it is not all there, chances are it will not go.”

The next approach is the Attack by Combination. The Attack by Combination is an expanded form of the Direct Attack. Instead of getting in range and firing a single strike to an unprotected target, the practitioner fires strike after strike to a number of targets in sequence, using each strike to create openings for the successive follow up stikes. Of the Attack by Combination he writes, “This type of approach is good for street fighting and full contact karate. The idea here is not to get into the “one hit and quit” attitude. Be able to execute both single hit and multiple hit sparring as each have their place and can be interchanged on various opponents.”

Next is the Indirect Attack. The Indirect Attack utilizes fakes, feints, sweeps, and set-ups to make your opponent “zig when he shoulda zagged.” The practitioner begins by identifying his opponent's reactions to certain movements, hand and foot techniques, aggressive posturing, even stance transitions. Then he uses his understanding of his opponent's pre-programmed responses to encourage his opponent to move out of position. It is then that the practitioner strikes, taking advantage of his opponent's momentary vulnerability. Of the Indirect Attack Professor Anderson writes, “An Indirect Attack works on the premise that you want to redirect your opponent's attention from point A to point B so that you can hit point A. You can use a combination of fakes and hooks/sweeps prior to the real attack. Nowhere in the book of rules does it say just one set-up per attack. This approach is good for your imagination so use it.”

Next is Attacking by Trapping. Attacking by Trapping is using stand up grappling techniques to draw your opponent within range of your long range striking techniques, as well as to hold him in place and prevent him from escaping. Professor Anderson makes a point of explaining that Attacking by Trapping is closely related to the practice of Street Fighting and Self Defense and that “there are situational approaches that are not interchangeable and there are those that are;” by which he means that some techniques are specific to combat sports, and some are specific to self defense, while there are still others which overlap the two disciplines. It is these overlapping approaches which we are most interested in in our study of sparring at Modern American Martial Arts.

Finally he describes the Attack by Drawing. This method is subtle, and relies on baiting and controlling range to entice the opponent to attack when and where you are prepared to defend. The practitioner may leave targets seemingly unprotected or subtly press in to his opponent's critical range, or he may create distance instead and goad his opponent into an unbalanced charging attack. This method requires the practitioner to understand and control space and time, while monitoring his opponent's reactions to his movements. Consider the Territorial Imperative from our article on Nonverbal Communication. Understanding how your opponent will react to intrusions into his territory can give you keen insight into his fighting strategy. Professor Anderson instructs the reader to, “interchange these [methods] with the variations in your opponent's approach to best suit your own ends. Also be able to recognize them when they are being pulled on you.”

Professor Anderson sums up the section on Offensive Approaches with these words. “In order to make the offensive (and defensive) approaches work, you have got to give total commitment to them. No half measures will do against anyone who is good at all.”

No half measures. In the Fire Chapter of his Book of Five Rings, Musashi wrote, “Who in the world can obtain my correct Way of the Martial Arts? Whoever would get to the heart of it, let him do so with conviction, practicing in the morning and training in the evening. After he has polished his techniques and gained independent freedom of movement, he will naturally gain miraculous powers, and his free and easy strength will be wonderful. This is the spirit wherein, as a warrior, he will put these practices into action.”

Complete commitment. Total conviction. Practicing in the morning and training in the evening. There are no short cuts in martial arts, but there is a trick to it. Dan Anderson wrote his book because as a boy he wanted someone to show him the tricks. Well there they are. The Offensive Approaches. Direct Attack. Attack by Combination. Indirect Attack. Attack by Trapping. Attack by Drawing. These approaches are methods by which you can engage your opponent. That's why we call it Offensive Defense at Modern American Martial Arts. You are still practicing self defense, but in this scenario you must engage your opponent. And Professor Anderson shows us several ways to accomplish that, before encouraging us to compound and combine the approaches themselves. Attack by Drawing, then when the opponent moves within range, Indirect Attack, then Attack by Trapping, then use a Direct Attack to a Vital Target. That is how the basic principles become “an infinite number of patterns and variations.”

Drills -

Beginner: Practice the Direct Attack in front of a mirror and with a partner. Watch yourself for tells such as changes in height, shifting balance, and shoulder shrugs which might betray your intentions to your opponent. Ask you partner to monitor you for tells as well and then alert you to their presence. Work on eliminating these actions from your techniques so that you can strike without warning.

Intermediate: Practice Combination Striking on the bags and on the body. Hands set up feet. Feet set up hands. Practice three or more strikes at a time, changing levels and ranges and alternating between inside and outside and linear and circular techniques. When you can incorporate all these elements into your combinations, you become very difficult to predict and defend against.

Advanced: Practice sweeps, fakes, and feints while sparring with your opponent. Upper Body Fakes and Lower Body Fakes can be used to set up your opponent and move him off balance. When working striking combinations, practice alternating between pure striking and using some of the strikes as fakes or grabs to the opponent's limbs. Follow up grabs with sweeps against the opponent.