Watching Karate

[elfs]

So, one of the other things I did yesterday was watch freinds of mine try out for their ext belt level in karate. I don't know much about karate and am under the impression that the standards and expectations for what a student can and should know are rather fractured and may have some dilution. Still, what I saw Saturday afternoon gave me the impression that there are still schools out there that teach effective self-defense. The black belts were especially impressive, tossing each other about the room.

Only one or two students showed little enthusiasm for the sport and seemed to be out of it. There was a test with a punching bag and many of the lower students took it as test of form, rather than a test of effectiveness, which was disappointing. Only a few were trying to strike body blows. On the other hand, during the sparring most showed a strong degree of competence at defending themselves from attacks in different patterns-- from behind, from above. A tiny slip of a girl, maybe ten, reached between her legs, grabbed her attacker by the knee and just floored him in one pull, and when he got up again she threw him over her shoulder.

Kouryou-chan got a little bored, and Omaha diagnosed it as hunger, so we had to leave before the full-on sparring began. While we ate, I asked both of the girls if they wanted to try that, and they said they would be willing to try. I think a sport where they're not directly in competition with someone else, and where they learn self-discipline and patience, would be good for both of them. Probably for Omaha and I too. Although I don't know if we'd be quite as ferocious with each other as J5nn5r and Desirae were; those two were clearly having too much fun.

Comments

[jatg.livejournal.com]

I highly recommend it. Not just for the self defence...it takes years to be able to really and competently defend one's self...but my general well being has improved since I started doing it...both physically and mentally.

Something else I found equally fascinating was becoming utterly aware of my body...how it moves in space, what muscles fires when...even learning the kata or form patterns...learning that and feeling "muscle memory" happening was completely enthralling.

Martial arts is/are something I expect I will continue to learn for the rest of my life.

[antonia-tiger.livejournal.com]

I agree.

But I'd advise caution. I'm no expert, but that doesn't sound like the Karate I've seen, and some of the Okinawan Karate Masters think Karate is too dangerous to be taught as a sport. There are many martial arts, none are perfect, and all depend a great deal on the teacher. Also, while there may not be a definite minimum age, there are reasons to be particularly careful in training younger children -- bone development and the like.

Have you looked into Aikido?

[velvet-wood.livejournal.com]

Karate classes tend to be, from what I've found, more oriented on competition than on self-defense. Aikido is a purely defensive art, for the most part does not have a competitive aspect (though there are progressions through the ranks via testing), and seems very suited to children. Instead of teaching punches and kicks, it teaches you how to use your opponents attack against him. My son, Jaime (10) has been taking it for about six months now. In that time, he's learned to fall, roll, and flip in such a way that you could basically pick him up and throw him, and he'd land unhurt. He also proved, a few weeks ago, that he is able to roll an attacker onto the ground in such a way as to disable them without really hurting them: one of the neighborhood girls had run up and was hitting him in the back and back of the head with a hand-mirror. Jaime asked her to stop, she didn't, and before my sister, who was watching, could intervene, he grabbed the girl's wrist and neatly and gently rolled her over his shoulder and onto her back on the ground, never relinquishing hold of the hand with the 'weapon' in it, just as he'd been taught in Aikido. I don't know who was more shocked, my sister or the little girl, but she wasn't hurt and he'd easily stopped her from hurting him. Anyway, if you're interested, here's some general information:

http://www.aikidofaq.com/introduction.html

And the website of the school that Jaime attends, so you can see the sort of standards a demonstrably effective school has:

http://www.aikido.org/dallas/

Velvet

Re: Have you looked into Aikido?

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Second the recommendation of aikido. kendaer could talk to you a lot more about it....

The instructor is more important than the art...

[murbin.livejournal.com]

That's my take and I've been studying various martial arts for just over 20 years now. I'm currently studying Kempo, I've been a "black belt" for over a decade and have been teaching for the past seven years.

For small kids, Judo might be better than Aikido, it more physical, less "hearts and flowers", and it teaches them how to fall properly. If that is the only thing they take from years of martial arts classes, it's worth it.
Now keep in mind, my generalization about Judo and Aikido is just that, a generalization. Different teachers have different personal styles and Aikido itself has various sub-systems ranging from the really rough and tumble to the more spirtial, where how you approach your technique is more important than actually being able to throw the Uke across the room.

One of the previous posters hit the nail on the head. The black belts you saw looked impressive because that is when you start learning the cool stuff. Before that you are just learning the basics.

Oh ya, I put "black belt" in quotes before because it means different things in different systems. In Tae Kwon Do you get one in about year or so. The system of TKD I took years ago required only 5 forms and some basic self defense moves.
The system of Kempo I'm now, requires at least eleven forms, 23 formal self defense combinations, basic falling, simple club and knife defenses, and some other stuff depending on your instructor. That's about four years of work for a steady student.

It's a great hobby, at least IMHO, with a lot of depth to it. I'm still learning. One of the things it has taught me is that I know a lot less than I thought I did 10+ years ago.

[memegarden.livejournal.com]

Aikido is very cool, and produces some excellent stories (http://www.wattstapes.com/dobson.htm) as a side effect of its premise of redirecting energy rather than attacking/opposing.

In addition to the link above, I've heard a story about an aikido student who was walking back from his lesson late one evening and was menaced by two muggers with knives who demanded his money. Having had so far only a few lessons, he hadn't learned how to do any damage or even defend himself, but he knew the first step: relax. So he relaxed, even closed his eyes for a moment, and let all his tension drop. When he opened his eyes, his attackers were running away. Nothing like someone relaxing when you threaten them to freak a mugger out, I guess. They had no way of knowing he didn't have a clue what he'd do next.

I have heard aikido recommended for small people, as its practitioners use leverage and balance shifts rather than direct force. Women have a lower center of balance than men, and so may actually be even better situated to take advantage of leverage.

sweat in the dojo, laugh in the battlefield...

[murbin.livejournal.com]

Old MA saying, translated to modern times as the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed on the battlefield.

Roger Zelazny practiced and taught Aikido. Following the example of his instructor he studied a hard karate style for several years in order to learn how to kick and punch effectively. This made him a better uke and thusly his training partners better Aikidoists.

The more you train in one art, the more you find different arts have more in common. Effective and powerful kicks and punches have a lot more to do with body placement and balance shifts than muscle power.