Kyokushin Katas

Sensei Posted in History, Styles, Technique, Training notes，Tags: , , ,
26 September 2011
0

Kata (forms)

Kata is the synergy or technique and skill.  Kata is a form of ritualized training in which patterned or memorized movements are done in order to practice a form of virtualized combat.  Several kata are also done in “ura” denoted by the ura at the end of the Kata name.  Ura indicates a different pattern of footwork that produces a spin on one foot for almost every move.   The ura versions of the Kata were developed by Mas Oyama to improve balance and agility.

Northern Kata

The northern kata have their origins in Shotokan karate, which Oyama learned while training under Gichin Funakoshi. The URA, or ‘reverse’ kata were developed by Oyama as an aid to developing balance and multi-direction combat skills. (some areas now phase out the prefix “sono”).

    Taikyoku – (one translation: Beginners Mind) 

  • Taikyoku sono ichi
  • Taikyoku sono ni
  • Taikyoku sono san
    Pinan – (one translation: peace and relaxation) 

  • Pinan Sono Ichi
  • Pinan Sono Ni
  • Pinan Sono San
  • Pinan Sono yon
  • Pinan Sono Go
  • Kanku-dai – (translation: to view the sky)
  • Sushiho – (translation: 54 steps)

Kyokushin unique Northern Kata

  • Sokugi Taikyoku sono ichi (all leg work)
  • Sokugi Taikyoku sono ni (all leg work)
  • Sokugi Taikyoku sono san (all leg work)
  • Sokugi Taikyoku sono yon (all leg work)
  • Taikyoku sono ichi ura (with spins)
  • Taikyoku sono ni ura (with spins)
  • Taikyoku sono san ura (with spins)
  • Pinan sono ichi ura (with spins)
  • Pinan sono ni ura (with spins)
  • Pinan sono san ura (with spins)
  • Pinan sono yon ura (with spins)
  • Pinan sono go ura (with spins)

Southern Kata

The southern Kata have their origins in Goju Ryu karate, which Oyama learned while training under So Nei Chu and Gogen Yamaguchi.

  • Sanchin (translation: three points or three battles)
  • Tsuki no kata  (Translation: punching Kata)
  • Gekisai Dai (Translation: Attack and Smash)
  • Gekisai Sho  (Translation: Attack and Smash)
  • Tensho   (Translation: Revolving Hands)
  • Saifa  (Translation: Smash and Tear Down)
  • Seienchin (Translation: Grip and Pull into Battle)
  • Seipai (Translation: 18 or 3×6 (has significance in Buddhism)
  • Yantsu (Translation: Keep Pure)

Kyokushin unique Southern Kata

The kata Garyu (translation: Reclining Dragon) is not taken from traditional Okinawan karate but was created by Mas Oyama and named after the village where he was born in Korea. The kata Yantsu is also often believed to be an original Kyokushin kata but there is enough evidence to suggest it finds its roots in Okinawa before Oyama created Kyokushin.

The 3 K’s of Kyokushin

Sensei Posted in Styles, Technique, Training notes，Tags: , , , , , ,
22 September 2011
0

I train in and teach Kyokushin Karate. One of the things that I love about my style is the simplicity of it all. Yes you read correctly. At its core Kyokushin training consists of three main elements: (1) technique, (2) forms, and (3) sparring. These are sometimes referred to as the three “K’s” after the Japanese words for them: kihon (technique), kata (forms), and kumite (sparring).

Kihon (technique):

Technique is everything in Karate.  Some may disagree with that but without technique you can not gain perfection.  Masutatsu Oyama, once said that after 1,000 repetitions one could say that one could perform a given technique. Only after 10,000 repetitions could one say that one had mastered it. Some students may think that they master certain move more quickly however the premise is correct.  To many student rush their training, like a race to the black belt, of course they could not rush their training if they did not have a willing Sensei.  Part of the mastery of technique in the martial arts is a mastery of self, which leads to perfection of form.  If someone tells you they attained their black belt in 2 years (730 days) or 3 years (1095 days) ask how often they trained.

Kata (forms):

Kata is the synergy or technique and skill.  Performed correctly the student will visualize his/her opponents for each move and execute each step with the appropriate power, speed and focus.  Masutatsu Oyama was slightly more generous with forms; saying that after 1,000 repetitions one could say that one had mastered a given form. Since Kata is technique in motion and if we focus on technique first this statement makes sense.  I equate Kata to dance or moving meditation, like either the movements must be fluid and natural, which can only be accomplished with a quiet mind.  When we first begin to learn a Kata we must think to learn the succession of movements but with continued practice the moves should become instinctive, second nature.  Only then can the Kata begin to flow as an expression perfect technique in motion.  Many discount Kata because they don’t see the immediate benefit of performing Kata, yet those with patience learn from Kata, clarity of mind, new applications of old techniques, and gain muscle memory for most situations.  Kata is the core of training the Martial Arts mind and sense.

Kumite (sparring):

Kumite or Sparring is the goal for some students and the bane of others.  Regardless of your motivation for practicing the Martial Arts sparring is critical to maturing your skills.  Some students and instructors believe in full-contact sparring from the beginning, if you are in the Military or live in DC then I would agree, but for most students this can lead to very bad habits and flinching.  Like training in Kihon and Kata training that progresses is better.  I prefer to start students sparring with defined rules, including light contact, defend only, hands only, or feet only.  In this way students are provided a safe environment where familiarity and trust is built with themselves and their fellow students.  Trust is important.  Most students have day jobs or classes and are ill served with facial bruises or broken bones.  Control of one self means having the ability to inflict equally a light strike or rib crushing blow.  While students need to understand what it feels like to get hit and how to take a hit, they need to be ready for it both physically and mentally.  Sparring should be frequent and fun.

These are my thoughts and experience with the 3 Ks, be flexible and adaptable in your training for tunnel vision is something you want in your opponent not yourself.

Sparring Notes

Sensei Posted in Awareness, State of Mind, Styles, Training notes, Video，Tags: , ,
30 July 2010
4

I have been working with my students to improve their sparring skills this month, it’s a great hot weather activity! Sparring can be a tough skill to perfect since everyone wants to jump in the ring and mix things up. Sparring is a very dynamic activity but it can be broken down to individual skills which can be perfected. A short list of these skills include: technique, stamina, focus, and self-awareness. As with any skill technique is paramount to success. Put on some boxing gloves and get in the ring doesn’t make you a boxer, the same is true for Martial Arts sparring. To often I’ve witnessed students at competitions degrade their technique to wildly slapping and kicking.

Sparring matches are won by staying in control. Control comes from confidence and technique. Confidence is something people have to find within themselves. Technique is somethings an instructor can help you perfect. I won’t delve into technique specifics as they vary from style to style, but form is critical to minimizing your vulnerabilities and maximizing your opportunities. Stamina comes with the practice and perfection of your form and technique. As we get older we need to add additional cardio-conditioning! ;-) With good technique and strong stamina you are well equip to win most matches simply by outlasting your opponent.

Focus is perhaps the more difficult thing to learn, as focus is probably the wrong word to use, since you need a lack of focus when sparring. Say what?!? If we focus on our opponent we forget about our surroundings, this may be OK in a sparring ring, but in a real fight that can be fatal. More importantly though focusing on your opponent can lead to signaling your movements. When I spar I typically spar primarily with my peripheral vision, this allows me to “focus” on movements as they occur not a specific movement. Let me give an example: if someone fakes a move with their left, then follows through with the real attack with their right… If I am focused on the person, then my focus will shift to the left fake, when the right comes in, I will have to realize it, shift my focus and then react. If I am focused on the situation, using my peripheral vision then I can more rapidly react to movements in my “sphere” of focus. Basically it reduces the thought process drag that comes from thinking to much. Relax your mind and your awareness becomes more basic, instinctual and reactionary. Hopefully that makes sense, I’ll be happy to clarify any of that.

Self-awareness is probably the most ignored part of sparring, though it is the direct result of good technique training and peripheral or sphere focus. When we spar it is important to be self-aware of your vulnerabilities. It is the only way you can truly improve your art. When you begin sparring your instructor will tell you what you are doing wrong. You should take this instruction as an opportunity to train yourself to find these corrections before you are told of them. The next step of course is correcting the problem, not always that easy. For example, two of my students where sparring and one would lean her head froward after a particular move. Her opponent realized this and he exploited it, with a downward strike to the head. A very bad way to get hit, a fight-ender. After the first hit, I pulled her aside and told her what she was doing. When she did it again I saw her realize it after it was to late. The third time her realization came a little sooner but still to late. Frustration was her enemy on the last point. She has the first part of self-awareness down and is now struggling with correcting the problem. It is a process, no different then learning your first martial arts technique.

I am including these videos for two reasons, first they are awesome! Secondly, they each demonstrate important aspects of sparring. See if you can figure out the importance of each video and post your conclusions in the comments section… Enjoy and pay attention!

ZD YouTube FLV Player

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQa7tlZZ_lM

Looking forward to the discussion…

The Meaning of the Brown Belt (3rd – 1st Kyu) – Revisited

Sensei Posted in Articles of Interest, Styles, Training notes，Tags: ,
12 September 2009
0

Previously I posted the meaning of the Brown Belt, the first of three brown belts in our Dojo.  I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and have written a different perspective of the meaning here that flows from the meaning presented for the previous two belts.  Here is the revisited meaning, post a comment with your opinion on both:

Now the brown represents the deep brown of fertile soil, so rich it almost looks black.  Ever more fertile the soil works with the heat of the Sun to push the plants growth.  Now a source of nutriment the student needs little assistance in this final step of training.  The training at this stage is just as arduous yet seems easier to the student.  There is a synergy of the physical and mental aspects of the art, things are clearer and seen from many perspectives.  The student is becoming a master.  At this stage there is usually one task left to perfect, one task that is unique to the student.  Like a fertile plot of land in the middle of the wilderness gone is the similarity as they stand distinct from their surroundings.   The student is higher in rank, he/she acquires more detailed knowledge and so the brown belt student learns to be more cautious and humble as his/her knowledge and physical abilities increase.

The Meaning of the Brown Belt – 2nd Kyu

Sensei Posted in Articles of Interest, Styles, Training notes，Tags: ,
10 September 2009
0

Here the student has advanced their skills and their self, having removed much of the parasites, stones and weeds.  Finally the soil is ready for the seeds the student has held until ready.  This begins the first planting of the seeds of their skills and understanding.  This is a critical step in the development of the individual for the soil is not giving life on its own yet but needs external nurturing and nutriment.  The extreme physical requirements continue relentlessly as the student works to protect the fragile first crop.

The Meaning of the Brown Belt – 3rd Kyu

Sensei Posted in Articles of Interest, Styles, Training notes，Tags: ,
09 September 2009
0

At this point the student has mastered the basics and developed deep roots in Kokushin-Kai.  Brown is known as an earthy color, such as dirt or soil.  The brown belt signifies the soil in which the roots of mastery begin to take hold.  This brown signifies virgin soil never worked or perfected, never enriched or aerated. The previous belts provide the seeds however they find themselves unwelcoming soil to foster growth.  Like the task of the farmer to tame the land, so does the student need to begin to their self, to remove the parasites, stones, and weeds.  To let in the Green of life, the Blue of the sky and the power of Purple to make this fertile ground.  This is as great a physical task as it is mental task for the student but no Mastery of the art can be attained without it any more than a seed can grow properly on unwelcome soil.

The Meaning of the Green Belt (6th Kyu)

Sensei Posted in Profiles, Styles, Training notes，
21 May 2008
3

This is a repost from January 2006 that someone requested. And since I just had three more students advance in rank I thought I would oblige…

Green BeltGreen is the color of life and growth. The green belt indicates the beginning of your life as a Martial Artist and growth as a person. We live in the present but for the future, and growth is necessary and essential to that journey. Growth stimulates change, which we must accept even though change often causes feelings of insecurity. Growth does not always come easily and is rarely without some discomfort or pain, but the achievements of our previous growth and the memory of those pains should motivate us to work harder. You begin with the Green belt so that you will always be reminded of the importance of this growth that will lead to the perfection of your Self.

Empty Hand – Deadly Fist

Sensei Posted in Styles, Training notes，
08 May 2008
2

We make a fist from the moment we are born, clenching our fists against the unknown. Fully grown we are still prone to instinctively clench our fists in sudden stressful or fearful situations. But as we grow and mature many of us forget the proper way to make a fist. Without this knowledge we stand a better chance of hurting ourselves then those we would defend ourselves from.

The fist, or closed fist is the most well-known of the Martial Arts form. The karate chop may be more popular, but the fist is our main defensive weapon. Simply clenching your fingers into your palm does not necessarily make a correct fist. There are important facts to master before learning to use your fists properly.

Bottom view of Fist Side View of Fist

The two pictures above demonstrate a correctly formed fist from the side and top. Notice the fingers are all curled in as tightly as possible, and the thumb is folded down over the second row of finger segments. The tighter the fist the more powerful it is and the less it will hurt the owner. If a fist is not tightly clenched then some of the striking force goes to compressing the fist. In a tightly formed fist very little of the striking force is lost to compression meaning most of the force is applied to the surface you are striking (like the face). This however is not true unless you are striking with the correct surface of the fist.

The striking surface is the one inch square beginning at the top of the index and middle finger knuckles, downward. The direction of the strike and the alignment of the supporting wrist are also incredibly important. In the following picture notice that the wrist is aligned with the two wrist bones (metacarpals) so that the any backwards force will distribute and dispress through them. The wrist-fist alignment must not allow for any torque of side force to be applied to the wrist bones, meaning the wrist need to be straight.

Correct Striking Position

The truth of the above rules are simple principle to demonstrate with a heavy bag or willing padded opponent. :)

One more important option remains, to make a horizontal strike or a twisting strike. I horizontal strike means that the fist begins and ends in the same orientation (palm facing the floor, wall or ceiling without change). This is a straight punch from a ready position. With a twisting or screwed strike (classic karate strike) your fist begins palm up and ends palm down at the moment of impact. This unscrewing motion can create a vortex or twisting effect through the body structure and fluids thus resulting in a more penetrating strike. This of course is more difficult to perfect but once performed correctly the difference is immediately noticeable.

With a straight punch there is less room for error and therefore this is a safer punch for a beginner. However the torque punch or twisting strike can be significantly more powerful. With either type of strike though it is important to remember that your finger tightness, wrist position and orientation are critical to correctly using this defensive weapon. Incorrect positioning, orientation of the wrist or tightness of the fingers can result in broken bones for you not your opponent! When training practice slowly to perfect the form and technique then gradually increase the impact to a padded target to avoid injury. Of course please alos seek the instruction of a qualified instructor.

Train Hard, Train Often!

What is a Sensei?

Sensei Posted in A Zen Thing, Styles，
29 April 2008
0

SenseiBad Sensei

Sen means “before”, Sei means “life, birth, living or lived”. Thus a Sensei is someone who has experienced something before you. He has walked the path you are planning to follow before you, he can tell you what to do. In more general terms, it’s a teacher, normally the head instructor of the Dojo you are attending.

A Sensei should be a person you can take inspiration from, whom you respect but feel comfortable enough turning to in a time of need. A Sensei should not use their students as tools for their egos to prove how superior they are. To the contrary the Sensei should lead their students to discover their strengths and weaknesses so they may grow and florist in the Martial Arts and life.

Find the answers to this and many more questions in the New KarateTraining.org Frequently Asked Questions section!

 

The Most Powerful Martial Arts Attack

Sensei Posted in Competition, Styles, Training notes, Video，
27 April 2008
0

This is an awesome video presentation of various styles and Martial Arts strikes and kicks. While they attribute power to specific styles the important thing to note is the power of the specific attacks used since most styles include all of the attacks demonstrated (at least mine does!)


ZD YouTube FLV Player


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