Know the purpose.
I had an exciting time on the internet last night. Not only did I help teach a certain member of a certain band some manners after misbehaving toward my girls, but I also found this article by Sensei Iain Abernethy:
https://t.co/DEBDEmwdOI
Before I have read this I was under the impression that karate was this deadly fighting art that got watered down for the sake of sports and ease of teaching. I realise now that the traditional karate of the kata was intended to protect one from harm in violent situations.
So- if you are a karateka and had any hope of learning Ansatsuken (Assassin's Fist) techniques from your dojo I am afraid that you may be disappointed.
This has actually raised questions, though. A lot of Kungfu went into karate. Kungfu was known for its duels, its contests and its brutal applications. Has anyone heard the story of Chan San Feng and the village full of bandits? Plus- Toudi (Karate before it became "Karate") was taught in the Ryukyu Islands as military hnd to hand combat.
My only conclusion is that Itosu Shihan referred to his own style of Karate.
A further- huge contradiction to Itosu Shihan's statement is that Japan's soldiers and policemen practice a very brutal form of Shotokan as hand-to-hand combat.
I have not forgotten about Masutatsu Oyama's antics with bulls either...
From my point of view- no matter what style you practice- you are bound to lose a fight at some point- especially if you fight more than once. Karate and its contemporary arts were developed in a time before fighting has developed into what it is today. Contact with other styles was bound to cause practitioners to realise that there are limits.
Strange thing about Bruce Lee's Tao of Jeet Kune Do is that a lot of what he teaches actually applies to the one-on-one contest scenario. He dealt with self defense in a separate series of books.
Just like karate can get weaponised, pimped up and tuned down to fit different purposes other non-combative arts like modern Taijiquan, Aikido and Judo can help you in a fight as well if you know the original purpose of these styles and the limits they impose.
I almost forgot! Here's the next couple of pages from my first book. :)
https://t.co/DEBDEmwdOI
Before I have read this I was under the impression that karate was this deadly fighting art that got watered down for the sake of sports and ease of teaching. I realise now that the traditional karate of the kata was intended to protect one from harm in violent situations.
So- if you are a karateka and had any hope of learning Ansatsuken (Assassin's Fist) techniques from your dojo I am afraid that you may be disappointed.
This has actually raised questions, though. A lot of Kungfu went into karate. Kungfu was known for its duels, its contests and its brutal applications. Has anyone heard the story of Chan San Feng and the village full of bandits? Plus- Toudi (Karate before it became "Karate") was taught in the Ryukyu Islands as military hnd to hand combat.
My only conclusion is that Itosu Shihan referred to his own style of Karate.
A further- huge contradiction to Itosu Shihan's statement is that Japan's soldiers and policemen practice a very brutal form of Shotokan as hand-to-hand combat.
I have not forgotten about Masutatsu Oyama's antics with bulls either...
From my point of view- no matter what style you practice- you are bound to lose a fight at some point- especially if you fight more than once. Karate and its contemporary arts were developed in a time before fighting has developed into what it is today. Contact with other styles was bound to cause practitioners to realise that there are limits.
Strange thing about Bruce Lee's Tao of Jeet Kune Do is that a lot of what he teaches actually applies to the one-on-one contest scenario. He dealt with self defense in a separate series of books.
Just like karate can get weaponised, pimped up and tuned down to fit different purposes other non-combative arts like modern Taijiquan, Aikido and Judo can help you in a fight as well if you know the original purpose of these styles and the limits they impose.
I almost forgot! Here's the next couple of pages from my first book. :)
I have to leave my computer now.
Stay well and train hard.
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