Put Purpose into Technique

[isshinryuronin]

Punch, punch, punch. Kick, kick, kick. Block, block, block. Like a line of robots, students thrust out their arms and legs in the particular way the instructor directs. The same with kata.

Anybody can read a script. That doesn't make them actors. A good actor wants to know the purpose of their lines. They'll ask the director, "What's my motivation here?" They need to know this to "get into character." This is the actor's skill. Have you ever learned a song in a foreign language that you didn't know? It's easy to memorize the pronunciation but without knowing the meaning of the song you are little more than a parrot. The song will be stilted, lacking the emotion, the inflection that makes it powerful, giving it meaning and purpose. Not only will it be boring to the listener, after a while it'll be boring to the singer. A similar kind of thing happens in many TMA schools.

Concentrating on and practicing technique execution, as important as it is, will only get you so far. Over-emphasis on technique in teaching will become boring to the student and instructor. Practitioners need to know the motivation and purpose behind the technique. Only then can they execute it with the proper emotion and inflection that gives it meaning and makes it powerful. At that point, they are no longer robots, but on their way to being martial artists.

I've read more than one poster here saying their school doesn't get too much into the self-defense aspect of karate/TKD. Technique just for technique's sake? That can give some benefits. But without the things discussed above the moves will be in black and white, without color. Without excitement. I've done kata without understanding the applications and could do them technically correct. Once learning the application, my kata changed. I was able to add inflection and nuances that brought out the meaning of the moves. It was a lot more fun and exciting. And more effective MA.

This holds true even for a simple punch. Instead of seeing it as a "punch" (the physical extension of the arm using proper biomechanics) see it as "striking someone in the face." It's more than a semantic difference. It is an existential one. The first way is technique oriented. The second is application oriented that will make a difference in the way one executes the move. Arguably the most influential master in all karate history is Itosu Anko. In his "10 Articles" number 8 advises, "Visualize actual battle in practice." I believe this is the single most important and effective way to improve one's TMA. What's more exciting and motivating than battle?!

When doing a single punch or an entire form, visualizing yourself in a fight, seeing the opponent before you, is a sure way for you and your students to improve and stay motivated.

 

[Same Trick]

When karate came to mainland Japan Kumite(sparring) methods were developed and introduced early on to students, with that the student more quickly could understand the essentials for the punch and kick.
Itosu’s - “Visualize actual battle in practice” could help the student to progress, but best so if the student already been in “battle”

 

[isshinryuronin]

“Visualize actual battle in practice” could help the student to progress, but best so if the student already been in “battle”

Isn't it better to practice battle before doing it for real?

 

[Fungus]

In the beginning, before I had more time on bag and kumite class, I consistently overextended my punches in kihon, but never against a real target. It turned out the problem was that I mentally visualized the target while punching in air at the wrong distance, somehow assuming the opponent was backing down so i reached for them. So when visualizing the tharget in air - where is it? it's an ambigous choice.
But when the feedback from a target is there, it all becomes obvious andn instantly clear. So distance management requires a target for me, otherwise i learn nothing.

 

[HighKick]

In the beginning, before I had more time on bag and kumite class, I consistently overextended my punches in kihon, but never against a real target. It turned out the problem was that I mentally visualized the target while punching in air at the wrong distance, somehow assuming the opponent was backing down so i reached for them. So when visualizing the tharget in air - where is it? it's an ambigous choice.
But when the feedback from a target is there, it all becomes obvious andn instantly clear. So distance management requires a target for me, otherwise i learn nothing.

My right elbow has not fully straightened for about 2-4 years. I am convinced it is because I used to repeatedly overextend the elbow when punching. That and one really nasty over-extension while working on disarming techniques.
Be careful and train properly folks.

 

[Same Trick]

Isn't it better to practice battle before doing it for real?

how does that fit with your Itosu quote - “Visualize actual battle in practice“

When I wrote battle I put it within “ “ where I mean there’s degrees of “battle”, sparring as example could be a such.
One often read that the old way of Okinawan karate was heavily or even fully based on Kata(form) practice for several years before doing anything else, how could they visualize battle in their kata practice if they didn’t even spar.

 

[Holmejr]

You will probably fight the way you practice. If you practice with intent it will hopefully translate properly. There can be combative intent even when practicing slow without actual contact. This can be seen in posturing, body movement and in the face of the one whose practicing. We often say to our students “don’t be lazy, move with intent”

 

[skribs]

Due to the recent drama I've spoken about in other threads, I'm currently in the process of re-evaluating these things myself in my own curriculum. I need to create my own forms to help separate the identity of my school from the identity of my previous affiliation.

In doing so, I am also evaluating my form's place in my curriculum. The forms in TKD are typically purely for performance. They don't teach techniques, because often the first time a form appears in a technique is several belts later than it's introduced in the curriculum. For example, at my old school, the first knife-hand strike or knife-hand block in a form is in the green belt form, but the techniques are part of the white belt self-defense curriculum. Or in the other direction, the spearhand from the forms is never used in any self-defense drill.

What I'm looking to do instead is combine the entire striking technique portion of the curriculum under the forms. That way, the forms themselves will serve a purpose, because the forms themselves contain all of the techniques that each belt level should be learning. I've played around with the idea of just writing everything out, but that becomes a different memory exercise.

 

[Shotlandets]

Punch, punch, punch. Kick, kick, kick. Block, block, block. Like a line of robots, students thrust out their arms and legs in the particular way the instructor directs. The same with kata.

Anybody can read a script. That doesn't make them actors. A good actor wants to know the purpose of their lines. They'll ask the director, "What's my motivation here?" They need to know this to "get into character." This is the actor's skill. Have you ever learned a song in a foreign language that you didn't know? It's easy to memorize the pronunciation but without knowing the meaning of the song you are little more than a parrot. The song will be stilted, lacking the emotion, the inflection that makes it powerful, giving it meaning and purpose. Not only will it be boring to the listener, after a while it'll be boring to the singer. A similar kind of thing happens in many TMA schools.

Concentrating on and practicing technique execution, as important as it is, will only get you so far. Over-emphasis on technique in teaching will become boring to the student and instructor. Practitioners need to know the motivation and purpose behind the technique. Only then can they execute it with the proper emotion and inflection that gives it meaning and makes it powerful. At that point, they are no longer robots, but on their way to being martial artists.

I've read more than one poster here saying their school doesn't get too much into the self-defense aspect of karate/TKD. Technique just for technique's sake? That can give some benefits. But without the things discussed above the moves will be in black and white, without color. Without excitement. I've done kata without understanding the applications and could do them technically correct. Once learning the application, my kata changed. I was able to add inflection and nuances that brought out the meaning of the moves. It was a lot more fun and exciting. And more effective MA.

This holds true even for a simple punch. Instead of seeing it as a "punch" (the physical extension of the arm using proper biomechanics) see it as "striking someone in the face." It's more than a semantic difference. It is an existential one. The first way is technique oriented. The second is application oriented that will make a difference in the way one executes the move. Arguably the most influential master in all karate history is Itosu Anko. In his "10 Articles" number 8 advises, "Visualize actual battle in practice." I believe this is the single most important and effective way to improve one's TMA. What's more exciting and motivating than battle?!

When doing a single punch or an entire form, visualizing yourself in a fight, seeing the opponent before you, is a sure way for you and your students to improve and stay motivated.

Ok I totally understand where you are coming from. But I notice there is one aspect of your training(and many other people’s) ippon and jyu ippon kumite. Most people don’t understand the idea of this. The idea is to develop the perception of correct distance and timing. Its kihon with a partner. Try it. First timeyou and your partner will be too far away. Then too close. Remember one of the meanings of uke is “accept” so accept the attack. Make sure your partner can hit you and you can hit the partner with a counter after the block. Start slowly. The technique is easy but judging distance takes a lot of slow practice building up to maximum speed. Then you will gain a massive leap ahead in your karate.

 

[isshinryuronin]

In the beginning, before I had more time on bag and kumite class, I consistently overextended my punches in kihon, but never against a real target. It turned out the problem was that I mentally visualized the target while punching in air at the wrong distance

You definitely have a good point here. I agree visualizing distance is difficult, but it's part of the visualization process. In my experience, the problem of hyperextension can be mostly solved by the next point:

Concentrating on and practicing technique execution, as important as it is

This is where the "robotic" endless repetitions of a technique become important. If one drills their punches tens of thousands of times, taking care of keeping the elbow slightly bent, that bend will become a part of muscle memory. (An instructor should always be on the lookout for students straightening their elbow.) When then adding visualization, or in actual use against an opponent, that bend will be there as long as one doesn't lose their mental focus.

It turned out the problem was that I mentally visualized the target while punching in air at the wrong distance, somehow assuming the opponent was backing down so i reached for them.

Reaching to get in range (against an imaginary or real opponent) is simply a natural reaction we must overcome. I am guilty of this tendency as well and have to be conscious of it. Even if we make contact, structure, balance and ending position are compromised. IMO, tournament sparring does not help, as making contact for the "point" is the main consideration so there is no downside to reaching. How you end up after the point is not important in modern competition. Decades ago, proper form and structure and kime was considered in awarding a point.

Footwork is the key to proper distancing. We can get so excited about punching we forget about our feet.

But when the feedback from a target is there, it all becomes obvious andn instantly clear. So distance management requires a target for me

Bag work is important. Standing in front of the bag and landing punches is good. But, standing away from the bag (or makiwara) and using footwork to close the distance prior to the strike is even more effective in developing a sense of range and distance.

We did this for tameshi-giri when I studied iaido. We would start the approach/attack to the straw target from several feet away and have to use a few steps to get into range. Overreaching and ending up poorly can have dire consequences when forcefully swinging a sharpened sword.

 

[isshinryuronin]

What I'm looking to do instead is combine the entire striking technique portion of the curriculum under the forms. That way, the forms themselves will serve a purpose, because the forms themselves contain all of the techniques that each belt level should be learning.

I've thought about this as well, teaching some techniques in the order they show up in kata, at least in part. As you say, this will reinforce and give purpose to the curriculum. I would guess (not sure) this is how it was done in the 1800's before kihon, kumite and kata we disassociated from each other in practice. There are recently created beginner forms (style wide, or just in house) that serve this purpose, and I think having a couple of these for new students is a good idea.