Category: Martial Arts

One of the questions I’ve often been asked, especially when speaking with other prospective martial artists, is which technique I feel is the best in an actual fight situation. This is a loaded question and one that is almost impossible to answer. The reason for that is that most traditional martial arts have enough techniques to make choosing only one seem a bit like trying to identify one’s favourite drop of water in a lake. It’s all water, it all gets you wet… Choosing one makes very little difference. The same can be said of a martial arts technique. Every technique has its use, its place and its function. Each also has its own set of advantages and disadvantages that people don’t necessarily consider when using them, which is a bit of what I’m going to try and touch on within this post.

If you would have asked me twenty years ago, I likely would have said that the roundhouse kick was my favourite technique. It had reach, it had flexibility in its application and could be applied to anywhere along the vertical axis of an opponent’s body. It also had the look of karate; meaning that one could almost channel their inner Van Damme while performing it, without having to completely leave the ground. However, as the years have dragged on and one’s flexibility and reach diminishes with time, delivering an effective roundhouse kick becomes less and less possible. Although a solid roundhouse kick will provide an effective result when applied to the legs, I have a tendency to unfortunately pull more muscles than I strike these days, when using the roundhouse kick. It also doesn’t seem to have as much of a range as it used to, likely as a direct result of that lack of flexibility.

This can be said of most kicks, considering that as one gets older, muscle tissue has less flexibility and requires more time to stretch and warm up before explosive use. But in a real fight situation, there IS no time to warm up and stretch. The idea is meant to be that one should train and develop consistently in order to be able to rely on muscle memory in the event a technique needs to be used. But even consistent training will not keep up with the ravages of time and age. But enough about me being old. The reality is that I’ve never been a fan of kicking as a general rule. That likely sounds odd, coming from a karateka but the reality is that in a real fight, lifting your feet off the ground, even for a brief moment, can mean the difference between getting out of a sticky situation or finding yourself taken to the ground where your opponent may cause unexpected damage and injury. A bleak thought? You fuckin’ right it is! And accurate. We ain’t talking about a knitting circle, here…

My style has always focused on close in, small circle techniques that require your opponent to actually be within your reach. I’ve trained with other styles and I’m certain there’s value in it for them but I really don’t see the value in trying to cross half a room to deliver a punch. In my world, if you’re outside my reach, I’m outside your reach and there’s no reason to strike and/or block. To any practitioner of Uechi Ryu, this would make sense. When I see someone in a lowered leaning stance, stepping almost five feet forward, simply to throw a punch at an opponent who would no doubt see them coming, I cringe for the art! I’m sure there are technical practicalities to it, including flexibility and leg strength and a bunch of others. My point is that I’ve been trained that trying to strike an opponent that’s outside your reach is a waste of energy and potentially opens you up to being struck, yourself, which brings us to punches…

Punches in any variety are by far the techniques that I’ve worked the most with. In any variety or form, a punch is direct, effective, easier to aim and can deliver an impact to anywhere on an opponent’s body. Given the nature of one’s hands, you can deliver a punch with the front of the knuckles, back of the knuckles, ridge knuckles or even some limited jabbing strikes with the fingers, if you’re brave enough. Punching is the safest means to deliver a strike to an opponent who is in reach, while maintaining one’s balance and stability by leaving both feet on the ground. Not exactly the flashiest or movie-worthy of techniques, but certainly the best. Of course, as with all things in life, there is a negative to the positive and punching is no exception. The human hand contains more than two dozen bones…

When you consider all the metacarpals and phalanges in the human hand, punching poses a particular risk; a broken bone will incapacitate the hand and likely render it unusable for the remainder of the fight. It isn’t like in the movies where, after getting their hand broken, the protagonist continues to fight and even use the broken hand. Although this is cinematically fantastic, it isn’t very realistic. If you break your hand, you have a number of obstacles to deal with, if the fight hasn’t concluded. This includes debilitating pain and potentially shock. Fighting while in shock is nearly impossible, as the whole point is that your body is trying to conserve energy and blood flow as a result of an injury. So all those times you’ve seen an action hero punching someone repeatedly in the skull is highly unlikely, as well. Punching requires a certain level of precision that’s necessary to ensure that you don’t strike something hard that will damage your hand or break bones.

So, what’s the verdict on this? What do I believe to be the best technique to use in a real fight? All things being equal and if I’m being realistic, there is none. This is the big reason why it’s generally best suggested to NOT get into any fights to start with. That way, it’s a problem you don’t need to have. However, the reality of life is as such that you may not always have that choice. And if you’re backed into a corner and your only choice is to fight or be injured, only a proper combination of blocking and striking will prove effective and trying to get yourself out of that jam. You’ll likely get injured… Let’s be clear; being in a fight is harmful, whether you are delivering the strikes or are on the receiving end. The nature and severity of those injuries is what you need to consider. So, although you may train to fight, the most successful martial artist is the one who consistently sharpens their skills without ever having to use them. Food for thought… ☯️

To say that I can occasionally become overzealous with some of my workouts would be a severe understatement. Anyone who has done sparring or drills with me in the past ten years could attest to this. In my home dojo, Sensei always focused on the fact that strength and accuracy, as well as speed, were important for EVERY strike. This means that if you spend a full minute striking a surface like a pad or a punching bag, one should strive to make even the last strike as strong as the first. We all know that once fatigue sets in, this can be a difficult task.

My point, despite the very detailed rant above, is that I always try to strike at full strength while training. I don’t do this against my sparring partners, of course but on pads and punching bags, all bets are off and I make a point of hammering as hard as I humanly can. Although this sounds like a good idea in practice, it can cause some difficulty. For example, going full out will often cause a lack of precision and form, which will affect the overall effectiveness of your technique. But what we’re talking about today, is when one manages to damage their equipment…

Last week, during a rather spirited session on the punching bag while listening to my favourite instrumental group, Two Steps From Hell, I somehow managed to deliver a strong enough impact to the bag to bust some of the stitching. I didn’t necessarily realize this until I had completed my workout but I was certainly grateful that the inside wasn’t a bunch of beans or beads that came pouring out once the lining was damaged. As it stands, it appears as though the interior bag is sound and solid, which means I can likely try and find a way to re-stitch the damage or simply do what every other striker does, which is wrap the main body of the bag with duct tape.

That being said, it did bring to mind the importance of ensuring that one’s fitness equipment is sound and undamaged before use. This can be especially important if you’re using some sort of machine or even something that you balance or stand on. In my case, the worst that would have happened is the bag would have collapsed and become unusable. If it’s the welds or mechanism on a weight machine or an exercise machine like a bike or elliptical, one could be in potential danger if one continues to use these items while they’re damaged.

When one decides to hammer out a workout, one will often jump into it without necessarily checking and confirming the safety of their equipment. I’ve certainly been guilty of this a number of times. There hasn’t been an invasion, ever, where I’ve used a public or hotel gym that I’ve double checked the soundness of the machines before I dove in. The damage to my punching bag has certainly made me rethink that approach, as damaged equipment can easily lead to injury.

Much in the same way a driver should do a quick walk around of their vehicle to confirm no flat tires or visible damage to their vehicle, a person should always do a quick check of their equipment prior to working out. This can prevent potential injuries or further damage to the equipment or the surrounding area, should there be damage, of course. Food for thought… ☯️

Roughly 99% of people who walk into a dojo to join a style is doing so for the very first time. That is to say, they’ve never done martial arts before. And no, before y’all get snippy, I’m not saying that’s an actual statistic, it’s just my observations over decades of training in several dojos. One of the biggest challenges the new students face is the fact that they walk in, knowing nothing. This can leave them anxious, awkward and shy, which can make the learning experience harder and occasionally embarrassing. What sometimes makes things harder, is when you have a new student who thinks they know everything. That just makes things harder on the current students and can even be disruptive to the class in general.

The concept of learning in traditional martial arts will usually involve learning from someone who ISN’T the Sensei… As odd as this may sound, one needs to recognize that there are usually several students and only one Sensei, meaning that he or she may not necessarily have the time to spend with every student, even on their first day. This means that assistant instructors and even junior belts may be charged with teaching new students their basics on the first day. And this doesn’t sit well with everybody, especially those who think they already know better and feel they’re entitled to the Sensei’s attention. And as we all know, entitlement is currently the spice of society…

I remember an experience from years ago, when I was still back home in New Brunswick. Sensei had a policy that when a new student stepped into the dojo, one of the junior belts would show them the basic exercises and opening of our first kata, so that they would be able to keep up during their initial classes. This would usually involve fifteen minutes of kicks, punches and the opening of Sanchin, which is the first (and last) kata we learn in my style. this can be important and prevents the embarrassment of a new student standing there watching as the rest of the class engages in something they aren’t familiar with. There can be some of that even IF they get that initial show ‘n tell but at least it’s mitigated, somewhat.

I remember this one time, a large, muscled, athletic-looking guy came into the dojo. one of the first things he mentioned while introducing himself was that he was a hockey player and weightlifter. Although it isn’t completely unexpected that someone athletic would expect to be able to catch on to something athletic quicker than the average person, it would be a grave error in judgement to try and assume you know better than others who have been doing the art for years. Apparently, my turn had come around as Sensei asked me to show this individual the basics before his first class. I was comfortable with my level of skill and had no issues in showing the basics to someone else. I was motivated and pleased to be helping someone out.

I walked up to the guy and introduced myself. He was pleasant enough during the introduction. That is, until I explained that Sensei had asked me to show him the basics. He glanced down at my belt and saw that it was white. granted, my belt had a green bar on it, which in adult grading, is only one level prior to testing for green belt. But to his credit, this guy wouldn’t have known that. he held up his hands in a placating gesture and said, “no offence.” I don’t know about you, but experience has taught me that whenever someone says “no offence,” they’re about to say something that will likely offend.

He explained that he didn’t feel it was appropriate for a beginner to be teaching him and wanted to wait for Sensei. I responded that although I understood that perspective, Sensei usually used the 15-20 minutes before class to stretch and counted on the junior belts to show new students the basics. he said “no thanks,” walked away and began stretching in imitation of Sensei. When class began, the new student was completely lost. He gave it his best try and followed along with the class as best he could. Sensei noticed his struggle and the fact that he appeared not to know the basics and asked what I had shown him. he told Sensei I had shown him nothing.

The class carried on and Sensei came to talk to me about it after class let out. I explained what had happened and what had been said. He instructed us not to provide guidance or instruction to the new student unless he came and asked for it. Which he didn’t. Ever. The guy showed up for a couple more classes and then we never saw him again. Some say that was a harsh approach but the reality is that it was karate, not a fuckin’ knitting class. Besides, if you’re told something needs to happen a certain way in order to learn properly, one would assume that you should give the benefit of the doubt and do it. This guy chose to struggle and go against the flow before realizing he wouldn’t catch on. Be like water, dude!

Of course, had he stuck it out, he would have eventually caught on, received correction and started learning. But that was his choice. Martial arts is like a ladder. The students above need to help bring up the students below, in the hopes they’ll someday be above and help those who helped them. That being said, the one below needs to be willing to receive that help in climbing to the next rung on the ladder. Otherwise, they’ll always find themselves watching from below, while others continue to climb the martial arts ladder. This is something important to bear in mind, whether you’re currently a student of the Way or someone new contemplating joining a dojo. ☯️