An old club of mine had a textbook 3K approach: - Kihon was the major focus, very rare to hit any pads. - Kumite was all sports (in fairness it was of a high standard for that context, European champions in dojo etc) - Kata was revered and minute detail in technique was king. However, bunkai was non-existant apart from annual seminars. - Highly respected older master with amazing technique but who was deep into the 'traditional' culture of karate. I resumed karate training at this club when I was older having drifted away years earlier and I had been lucky to catch a few of Iain's seminars and was reading his articles which encouraged me to return. I passed a few gradings based on technique and there was a bunkai seminar one day held by the old master. Perhaps if I had not seen Iain's breakdowns and teachings of bunkai I would have enjoyed the demonstration but it was the worst kind you could imagine... blocking multiple attackers simultaneously etc. Completely unrealistic. My heart sank as I really respected the master and he had amazing dedication to karate but I left the club shortly after. Sounds cheesy maybe but Iain's teachings really did both ruin and save karate for me. I've yet to find a decent local teacher and am most likely going to join an mma club due to the holistic approach. PS. The context problem also exists in a lot of mma gyms I've seen and is perhaps even harder to highlight compared to karate dojos as mma is seen by some as already realistic to real life encounters.
I spent years learning 3k karate and only recently opened my eyes up to a wider picture of karate. I still train with the clubs who do 3k karate because they keep me up to date with the basics. (and I try not to throw out the baby with the bathwater!) Now if I spar with someone who is more sports based, I then immediately want to grapple and takedown the opponent instead of throwing back and forth punches that never do any damage. They then can't handle it and think I'm being too rough...
What you’re saying is what real martial arts is all about. True Okinawan Martial Arts was about self defense and knowing what the bunkai is for the moves in the Kata. Kumite was done as drills. Tournament Sparring has nothing to do with the real meaning of martial arts, it was created to popularize it like judo was in Japan which is where they got the idea for belt system. It has nothing to do with true Karate -( tee Okinawan) which has a lot of influence from Chinese Martial Arts. This is way the changed it to Karate instead of what is was known as before meaning Chinese hands because they wanted no affiliation with the Chinese. Gichin Funakoshi newcthat and went along with th program even though he was from Okinawa and that’s where he learned true martial arts I am encouraged by your approach to getting the true meaning martial arts and you stick to o that. Practical Karate as you say. Thanks for spreading the truth about its original purpose and the importance of understanding what the moves mean in the Kata otherwise one is just doing a dance. Like reading a beautiful poem and not understanding its meaning, what’s the value in that?
Great course last weekend in Castlebar, even after many decades of training, it was very much appreciated to get a different approach to Bunkai, thank you very much Sensei.
Interestingly enough, my Kyokushin dojo is really big on Kata, Bunkai and Kihon. However the sparring is still sport-style Kyokushin, but I do love learning the Kata and the interesting Bunkai applications/concepts you can take from them, and especially since my previous Kyokushin dojo and some others I visited before did not really do any thorough Bunkai application.
Despite the fact that I was sorrounded by the Sport Karate approach coming from the big WKF-recognised national federation, I grew up studying Shotokan in a small dojo in a small town dedicated to the real practical approach brought to Italy by the JKA masters in the 60's. For a long time I didn't even know the existence of the terms "Traditional Karate" and "Sport Karate"; for me Karate was just what I had always been doing. My sensei always used to say that Kihon, Kata and Kumite are like the legs of a stool: if one of them is missing your karate can't possibly stand up right. This separation between the Ks you talk about just breaks my heart even more. I've just discoverd your videos and you are a great teacher, you remind me of my home dojo :D (Any upcoming seminars in London btw? It's where I live now.) (I haven't been practising in a while and I would love to start again; you have any suggestions on how I can find here a good association, in the endless sea of karate federations and associations, promoting this kind of approach?) Thanks for your work :D
Great stuff man. In the martial art circles that I've moved around, karate had a bad rep as being stiff and impractical but your presentation gives a different perspective. I have subscribed and will watch some more of your work. Uhs.
Excellent points and approach. This type of thinking is what will keep karate alive and relevant. Have you got any videos on how to drill kihon for practical application?
Hey Iain, I remember this being one of the first videos of yours I ever watched. It really changed my perspective on karate, and now that I am a school owner, I have scrapped many of our kihon drills as they did not integrate practically into our 'training matrix' and often were over-practiced for practice's sake.
Sorry in the practical karate style - what is the objective measurement of the effectiveness of both kihon and kata practice? I’m just not getting how you measure how your practice is improving or not and what makes it objective. Maybe I missed it
Could not agree more. Practitioners take different approaches to the study depending on their individual likes and comforts. Traditionally as you’ve said, the intention was for the 3K’s to meet as a whole. Few schools today take that approach but some still do. Many Okinawa based schools hold on to the traditional approach to Karate keeping it alive and still growing. Thanks again brother for all of your insight.
I think the 3K approach applies a lot to Shotokan, possibly also Wado Ryu, not sure about Shito Ryu. I do have a question about your explanations on approaches to kata. I thought asking on your latest video might earn a quicker response. There are common breakdown methods for kata techniques I hear a lot from different people, such as moving forward is offensive, angles are in relation to the opponent, front hand attacks while hand behind is holding something, etc. Does this apply for all kata, or only Shuri derived kata? Goju and Uechi Ryu kata seem very different and I don't know if there is another consideration that needs to be made as the Naha style kata may have some different intents in them than Shuri styles. Btw, thanks for all your hard work in karate! It's really opened my eyes to the immense potential behind kata. I would've probably never appreciated what I was learning otherwise.
Thanks for the kind words! I’ve seen 3K versions of all styles, and practical interpretations of all styles too. As regards the kata angles, the same rules apply in my view. The inherent nature of kata and combat mean that commonality is unavoidable. Mabuni was well versed in both “Shuri-te” and “Naha-te” and in his writing on the meaning of the angles he never said it only apply to one group of kata and not the other. Seikichi Toguchi also wrote about not being “deceived by the embusen” and understanding that “the enemy is in front of you” is his book “Goju Ryu II”. It essentially mirrors what Mabuni said. I don’t normally reply to comments because of limited time, but I can always be found over on the forum of my website if further questions arise. I hope that’s of some help.
Do you ever practice kata in a non-dojo situation? Like, say, in a parking lot or in an enclosed area? I only ask because I've learned that there are everyday places where a technique I may be prone to use may not be as effective.
We do. Itoman said that karate was, “the use of the body, objects to hand, and the environment to protect yourself.” Taking into account the surrounding environment is very important. We did a drill on that yesterday as it happens :-)
Hey Iain I totally agree with you! However one thing I would disagree with: Ippon kumite has a realistic meaning. For example when fighting several people it is important to keep distance and maybe start a preemtive strike from long range. Also many people are not familiar with long range fighting and ippon kumite teaches you your distance for long range techniques. But I think you should also practice close range and grappling. Thanks for your video :)
You’re welcome. Thanks for the kind words! We do disagree on one-steps as I see them as having no functional value. Funakoshi talked of live drills against multiple enemies where the aim was to create distance and avoid being taken down (Karate-Do: My Way of Life). He said of such drills, “I can think of no better way to learn to defend against multiple enemies”. I agree and feel it needs done live. I feel the timing, distancing and nature of ippon kumite develops no transferable skill to either duelling or self-defence. It’s too artificial in my view and something of a martial dead-end. I did them for over 20 years (grading requirements) and I don’t think they taught me anything other than how to do one-steps :-) I enjoyed the “art” of them, but I don’t think they taught me anything useful. I did a podcast on the topic a few years ago which explains my take on it: iainabernethy.co.uk/content/one-step-sparring-podcast Thanks once again for the kind words of support and for voicing the alternative view. All the best, Iain
I'd like to add that ippon kumite, at least the sort that I am familiar with, teaches bad habits: move back in a straight while defending against unrealistic attacks and countering with more unrealistic attacks against an overly compliant partner.
I think that 1-steps have their place, but only as a beginning means to understand how certain techniques work and can be applied. Once that has been achieved, one should immediately begin moving toward live drill training to learn to apply techniques in the context of real circumstances. Things like timing, use of momentum (both yours and your opponent's), and opponent's reactions must be understood to practically apply techniques.
An old club of mine had a textbook 3K approach:
- Kihon was the major focus, very rare to hit any pads.
- Kumite was all sports (in fairness it was of a high standard for that context, European champions in dojo etc)
- Kata was revered and minute detail in technique was king. However, bunkai was non-existant apart from annual seminars.
- Highly respected older master with amazing technique but who was deep into the 'traditional' culture of karate.
I resumed karate training at this club when I was older having drifted away years earlier and I had been lucky to catch a few of Iain's seminars and was reading his articles which encouraged me to return. I passed a few gradings based on technique and there was a bunkai seminar one day held by the old master. Perhaps if I had not seen Iain's breakdowns and teachings of bunkai I would have enjoyed the demonstration but it was the worst kind you could imagine... blocking multiple attackers simultaneously etc. Completely unrealistic. My heart sank as I really respected the master and he had amazing dedication to karate but I left the club shortly after. Sounds cheesy maybe but Iain's teachings really did both ruin and save karate for me. I've yet to find a decent local teacher and am most likely going to join an mma club due to the holistic approach.
PS. The context problem also exists in a lot of mma gyms I've seen and is perhaps even harder to highlight compared to karate dojos as mma is seen by some as already realistic to real life encounters.
Great video. You mentioned various types of sparring and live drills. I'd love to see a video dedicated to them, sparring especially.
I spent years learning 3k karate and only recently opened my eyes up to a wider picture of karate. I still train with the clubs who do 3k karate because they keep me up to date with the basics. (and I try not to throw out the baby with the bathwater!) Now if I spar with someone who is more sports based, I then immediately want to grapple and takedown the opponent instead of throwing back and forth punches that never do any damage. They then can't handle it and think I'm being too rough...
What you’re saying is what real martial arts is all about. True Okinawan Martial Arts was about self defense and knowing what the bunkai is for the moves in the Kata. Kumite was done as drills. Tournament Sparring has nothing to do with the real meaning of martial arts, it was created to popularize it like judo was in Japan which is where they got the idea for belt system. It has nothing to do with true Karate -( tee Okinawan) which has a lot of influence from Chinese Martial Arts. This is way the changed it to Karate instead of what is was known as before meaning Chinese hands because they wanted no affiliation with the Chinese. Gichin Funakoshi newcthat and went along with th program even though he was from Okinawa and that’s where he learned true martial arts
I am encouraged by your approach to getting the true meaning martial arts and you stick to o that. Practical Karate as you say. Thanks for spreading the truth about its original purpose and the importance of understanding what the moves mean in the Kata otherwise one is just doing a dance. Like reading a beautiful poem and not understanding its meaning, what’s the value in that?
Great course last weekend in Castlebar, even after many decades of training, it was very much appreciated to get a different approach to Bunkai, thank you very much Sensei.
Interestingly enough, my Kyokushin dojo is really big on Kata, Bunkai and Kihon. However the sparring is still sport-style Kyokushin, but I do love learning the Kata and the interesting Bunkai applications/concepts you can take from them, and especially since my previous Kyokushin dojo and some others I visited before did not really do any thorough Bunkai application.
Despite the fact that I was sorrounded by the Sport Karate approach coming from the big WKF-recognised national federation, I grew up studying Shotokan in a small dojo in a small town dedicated to the real practical approach brought to Italy by the JKA masters in the 60's. For a long time I didn't even know the existence of the terms "Traditional Karate" and "Sport Karate"; for me Karate was just what I had always been doing.
My sensei always used to say that Kihon, Kata and Kumite are like the legs of a stool: if one of them is missing your karate can't possibly stand up right.
This separation between the Ks you talk about just breaks my heart even more.
I've just discoverd your videos and you are a great teacher, you remind me of my home dojo :D
(Any upcoming seminars in London btw? It's where I live now.)
(I haven't been practising in a while and I would love to start again; you have any suggestions on how I can find here a good association, in the endless sea of karate federations and associations, promoting this kind of approach?)
Thanks for your work :D
Wish i learned the "functionnal way" 30 years ago maybe i wouldn't have quitted back then thank you though
Great stuff man. In the martial art circles that I've moved around, karate had a bad rep as being stiff and impractical but your presentation gives a different perspective. I have subscribed and will watch some more of your work. Uhs.
Excellent points and approach. This type of thinking is what will keep karate alive and relevant. Have you got any videos on how to drill kihon for practical application?
Hey Iain, I remember this being one of the first videos of yours I ever watched. It really changed my perspective on karate, and now that I am a school owner, I have scrapped many of our kihon drills as they did not integrate practically into our 'training matrix' and often were over-practiced for practice's sake.
I'm delighted to hear the videos have been of use!
Sorry in the practical karate style - what is the objective measurement of the effectiveness of both kihon and kata practice? I’m just not getting how you measure how your practice is improving or not and what makes it objective. Maybe I missed it
Your bunkai are blasphemes too! :)
Could not agree more. Practitioners take different approaches to the study depending on their individual likes and comforts. Traditionally as you’ve said, the intention was for the 3K’s to meet as a whole. Few schools today take that approach but some still do. Many Okinawa based schools hold on to the traditional approach to Karate keeping it alive and still growing. Thanks again brother for all of your insight.
Ah now I get it about the combative principles- yup I missed it
Excellent. Thank you for sharing these ideas.
I think the 3K approach applies a lot to Shotokan, possibly also Wado Ryu, not sure about Shito Ryu. I do have a question about your explanations on approaches to kata. I thought asking on your latest video might earn a quicker response.
There are common breakdown methods for kata techniques I hear a lot from different people, such as moving forward is offensive, angles are in relation to the opponent, front hand attacks while hand behind is holding something, etc. Does this apply for all kata, or only Shuri derived kata? Goju and Uechi Ryu kata seem very different and I don't know if there is another consideration that needs to be made as the Naha style kata may have some different intents in them than Shuri styles.
Btw, thanks for all your hard work in karate! It's really opened my eyes to the immense potential behind kata. I would've probably never appreciated what I was learning otherwise.
Thanks for the kind words! I’ve seen 3K versions of all styles, and practical interpretations of all styles too. As regards the kata angles, the same rules apply in my view. The inherent nature of kata and combat mean that commonality is unavoidable. Mabuni was well versed in both “Shuri-te” and “Naha-te” and in his writing on the meaning of the angles he never said it only apply to one group of kata and not the other. Seikichi Toguchi also wrote about not being “deceived by the embusen” and understanding that “the enemy is in front of you” is his book “Goju Ryu II”. It essentially mirrors what Mabuni said. I don’t normally reply to comments because of limited time, but I can always be found over on the forum of my website if further questions arise. I hope that’s of some help.
i like the term 3K, makes it short and sweet. No need for more.
Do you ever practice kata in a non-dojo situation? Like, say, in a parking lot or in an enclosed area? I only ask because I've learned that there are everyday places where a technique I may be prone to use may not be as effective.
We do. Itoman said that karate was, “the use of the body, objects to hand, and the environment to protect yourself.” Taking into account the surrounding environment is very important. We did a drill on that yesterday as it happens :-)
I totally agree.
Good video
Hey Iain I totally agree with you! However one thing I would disagree with: Ippon kumite has a realistic meaning. For example when fighting several people it is important to keep distance and maybe start a preemtive strike from long range. Also many people are not familiar with long range fighting and ippon kumite teaches you your distance for long range techniques. But I think you should also practice close range and grappling.
Thanks for your video :)
You’re welcome. Thanks for the kind words! We do disagree on one-steps as I see them as having no functional value. Funakoshi talked of live drills against multiple enemies where the aim was to create distance and avoid being taken down (Karate-Do: My Way of Life). He said of such drills, “I can think of no better way to learn to defend against multiple enemies”. I agree and feel it needs done live. I feel the timing, distancing and nature of ippon kumite develops no transferable skill to either duelling or self-defence. It’s too artificial in my view and something of a martial dead-end. I did them for over 20 years (grading requirements) and I don’t think they taught me anything other than how to do one-steps :-) I enjoyed the “art” of them, but I don’t think they taught me anything useful. I did a podcast on the topic a few years ago which explains my take on it:
iainabernethy.co.uk/content/one-step-sparring-podcast
Thanks once again for the kind words of support and for voicing the alternative view.
All the best,
Iain
I'd like to add that ippon kumite, at least the sort that I am familiar with, teaches bad habits: move back in a straight while defending against unrealistic attacks and countering with more unrealistic attacks against an overly compliant partner.
I think that 1-steps have their place, but only as a beginning means to understand how certain techniques work and can be applied. Once that has been achieved, one should immediately begin moving toward live drill training to learn to apply techniques in the context of real circumstances. Things like timing, use of momentum (both yours and your opponent's), and opponent's reactions must be understood to practically apply techniques.
themasterofegal, with the greatest of respect, nothing prepares you for fighting several people.