The Map is Not the Territory

Everybody has a plan till they get smacked in the mouth.

- Iron Mike Tyson 

In the field of General Semantics, there is a concept called the "Map-Territory Relation." The founder of General Semantics, Alfred Korzybski, famously stated in 1931 that "the map is not the territory," meaning that the awareness of the thing and the symbols we use to perceive it (in this case, the map) are not the same as the actual thing itself (the territory). General Semantics is the idea that our beliefs are formed by our perceptions of the world and specifically the language we use to define it. So a symbol such as a map, while useful as a tool to understand the lay of the land, is not actually the land itself which is completely separate and unique in physical and experiential reality.

The Belgian surrealist René Magritte addressed a similar concept in his painting The Treachery of Images. The painting is of a wooden tobacco pipe, with the words "this is not a pipe" written underneath it in french. And of course, Magritte was correct. For it is not a pipe, but rather an image of a pipe. Yet many who would look at the painting may be forgiven if at first they wonder how the artist could be so mistaken. For clearly, we see a pipe.

In our study of combat we discuss entry techniques, feints and distractions, set up strikes, combinations, defense and striking open zones, control maneuvers, repositioning techniques, and finishing moves. We talk about how to engage our opponent from different ranges, and which techniques to employ during each phase of the combat situation. We discuss how to approach unique aspects of combat differently, if the opponent attacks from the obscure zone we turn and face with zone coverage, if the opponent has our back we go stomach to stomach, if the opponent attacks our weak line we adjust our angle. We talk about how to counter our opponent's techniques, and what possible counters he may use, and how to counter his counters.

Generally speaking, in case of a fire in your home you need to get close to the floor, alert everyone, check doors for heat before opening them, and escape. Generally speaking, in case of an automobile accident you need to check for injuries, remain calm, and alert the necessary emergency services. Generally speaking, in the case of a home invasion you need to escape the home and call for help. Generally speaking, when I am engaged at range, I strike with kicks and punches, use cover positions to bridge the gap, close with my opponent using grabs and continued off hand striking, move to a control position, takedown and finish. It's good to have a plan.

But the plan is not the fight. Moltke the Elder taught us that "no plan survives first contact with the enemy." Even a plan which takes in to account our opponent, his strengths and weaknesses, his tactics and strategy, and his possible counters and our counters to his counters, is immediately obsolete once battle is joined. The original plan doesn't exist anymore, because the parameters have changed. The opponent moves left instead of right. The lighting is inconsistent. It begins to rain. You are tired, or sick, or injured. The plan is not the fight. The map is not the territory. The painting is not the pipe. All the training and talking and study you've done in the dojo is in preparation, but training is not combat and your opponent is not your friend.

Everything is context specific. That is why the first consideration of combat is Environment. The targets you strike. The strikes you use. The range at which you engage. The way in which you engage. The intensity with which you engage. Is this a drunken reveler on New Year's Eve? Is this a desperate man fighting for a crust of bread? Is this a violent sociopath who will not stop assaulting you because you have yielded? Is your family in danger? Is there a chance to escape?

Everything is context specific. Do you grapple or strike? Do you follow your opponent to the ground with the takedown or remain standing to engage or escape from there? What do you know of your opponent? What are his strengths? What are his weaknesses? What are your strengths and weaknesses? The man who knows himself and his opponent will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. Are there multiple opponents? Are they armed?

What we do in the karate school is make plans. We explore and study and dissect and examine and question and theorize and test. We follow a progressive system of expansive combat training which builds each skill upon previous simpler skills and futilely attempts to answer all possible questions about a dynamic situation of infinite possibility. The systems are artificial, because they seek to codify something which resists codification. At best, we can only imagine possible combat scenarios and apply our knowledge to those possibilities. We are drawing maps of fighting so we know which way to go.

But a map is a useful tool. It tells you where to turn. It tells you what to expect ahead. It tells you where be dragons. You wouldn't leave home without a map. And when you get lost, the proper thing to do is pull the map back out and find out where you are, and how to get where you want to go. Maps make safe travel possible, because they allow the traveler to prepare for the challenge ahead. That is why we paint pictures of fights in the karate school and why we practice self defense techniques against a number of attacks in a number of possible formations. That is why we ask questions, and seek the truth of combat, and practice that truth on the body. That is why we do the pushups and hit the pads. That is why we return, year after year, and stand on the line and set our Neutral Bow. We are studying the map, so that if we get lost, we know where to go.

But never make the mistake of thinking you are fighting when you are really training. We can only simulate the ultimate life or death combat scenario. We do not actually experience it. Your training partner is not going to kill you and though you may be injured in the karate school from time to time, you are not being actively assaulted. You are engaging in a practice, sometimes intense, which is designed to represent the combat engagement. But should you find yourself in a real fight, you must be prepared to change your plans to reflect the fluid nature of existing conditions. Or you must be prepared to lose. Fallen Sword in the karate school is a very specific response to a very specific attack practiced in a very specific manner where you strike very specific targets and your opponent responds in a very specific way. It is play acting. It is not a fight. Neither is randori, or sparring, or rolling, or Tiger in the Cage, or spontaneous defense. Neither even is full combat. Not in the karate school. It is training. It is making plans.

You need to make plans. That's why you have come to the karate school. To take the next step on mastering a unique and powerful art. To follow in the footsteps of those who've come before you. To learn how to fight, and why, and to prepare yourself for a fight which we should all hope never actually takes place. Sun Tzu's Nine Terrains teach us to plan according to the situation, to move to positions of strength, avoid combat, use environment to our advantage, marshall resources, and only when on death ground, to fight. The plan is to position yourself in such a way as to not have to engage the enemy. We plan not to fight, but no plan survives first contact with the enemy. And so we plan how we will fight as well.

Plans are important. But a fight is a fight. Ceci n'est pas une pipe.

Drills -
Beginner: Practice your beginner self defense techniques. Realize that each one is a like a photograph of a moment in time. Have the opponent circle you, occasionally throwing the proscribed attack for each technique, and perform the technique as perfectly as possible, again and again. Practice this with one attack and one technique at a time.

Intermediates: Practice your sparring. Choose one technique, like Penetrating the Wall, and practice apply thing technique to every attack your opponent gives you. Jab, Cross, Kick, Punch, Grapple, Inside, Outside, Penetrating the Wall, again and again. Practice adjusting your opponent's position to make your technique apply and practice adjusting your technique to apply it to your opponent's position.

Advanced: Engage in Free Combat drills, with an eye to where techniques appear within the engagement. If the opponent attacks with a jab and you defend and counter with a kick, that is Fallen Sword. If the opponent attacks with a high grab and you counter with a trapping grapple, that is Entrapping Circles. If the opponent attacks with a low kick and your respond with a leg hold that is Defensive Cross. If the opponent attacks with a low body lock and you sprawl and turn the corner, that is Taming the Bull. Understand that the techniques occur naturally, without the need to "make" them happen, and that by recognizing where they appear you can see the signs on the map pointing you to your destination.

On the Swept Plateau

   "When there is no wind, row."

                       -Chinese proverb      

                                  

Your karate training won't always progress at the same smooth pace. In the karate school we have a regular schedule of classes, curriculum, and tests; but your own personal growth in the arts will sometimes move in fits and starts. Sometimes you feel like you are on fire, like you pick up every new technique immediately. Other times you feel like you are plugging along, getting a little better all the time. You go to class, you hit the bag, and you feel yourself gradually getting stronger and faster.

And then sometimes you feel like you've been running and running forever. And one day you look around and it's been a long time since you saw any new improvements in skill and you start to question if it's worth it. Will my training ever pay off? Are all these repetitions, and bumps and bruises and scrapes, really making me better? You practice the forms and show up to spar but you feel like you're stuck. You can't see a horizon in any direction and you've gone so far without a major step that you've begun to lose context.

You're on the plateau.

The Way of martial arts is an upward winding path. Sometimes it is steep, and sometimes it is shallow, and there will be times when it seems to extend in front of you forever with no end in sight. It is easy during these times to become discouraged in your training. But that is just a part of the journey. The things that excited you about karate when the gains were easy and the time between rewards was minimal seem to have less of a draw now. Where you used to show up to class early chomping at the bit for the next technique or drill, now class seems a burden, and a part of you begins to justify not putting in the effort by focusing on how long it's been since you felt like you were growing.

Sometimes it happens at brown belt. Sometimes it happens at black belt. Sometimes it happens to a beginner. You keep doing what your instructors say, practicing the drills and performing the kata, but more and more it seems like a thankless chore.

The nights are dark on the plateau, and when the strong winds blow you have to make a decision. Do you keep training? Or do you stop training?

What you sometimes lose sight of when you are on the plateau is that there is only one secret technique of karate. Keep training. Regardless of how good you are or were or could be, if you keep training you will get better. The only way to stop getting better at karate is to stop doing karate. Left foot right foot. Better today, better tomorrow. Even when you're on the plateau the way to move forward is to move forward.

The wonderful thing about karate is that it works. And when you are on that plateau and you've been running and running, and you've been doing the repetitions and putting in the mat time, even though you didn't want to, you are training. You are training and training and training. And all that training pays off. You don't see it while you're doing it. But then another day comes, and you look around and realize you can suddenly see so much farther than you could before. Now you can see the long flat plateau below you, and how far you've come, and you can see the slope of the land from a perspective you didn't have lower on the path. The plateau is always followed by a massive leap in skill and understanding.

This can be a challenging time in your training as well. When you suddenly realize how much better your front kick can be you also suddenly realize that the front kick you felt confident and proud of before is beneath your new standard. It feels like all your skill has disappeared. But it hasn't. Your new understanding gives you the opportunity to grow further than you knew was possible before. But you have to keep doing the hard work that got you there. Right foot left foot.

When you are on the plateau it can be easy to lose perspective. You forget the gains you've gotten from your training before. You forget your victories. The plateau is not a place of victories. The plateau is not a place of defeat either. In some ways, that would be easier to deal with. FAILING means Finding An Important Lesson, Inviting Needed Growth. Instead the plateau is a place of interminable perpetuity. It is a challenge to the spirit. It is a battle with the self.

If you press, if you lean into that strong wind, you will leave the plateau behind you. Your mind will blossom, your skill will grow, and the scales will fall from your eyes. You will see karate as you never had before and you will express your new understanding and ability in everything you do. But the time for training is not done. You must continue to chop wood. And then, one day, you will look around and realize hot coals have fallen to embers, boiling water has grown tepid, long shadows cross the land and you can't see the horizon in any direction.

There are always more steps. There are always more plateaus. There is no ending to the challenges to the body, mind, and spirit. Karate is not a thing you finish learning. But when you have been through a plateau before you know what to do when you find yourself tired, empty, and parched.

Left foot. Right foot. Lean into the wind. Keep training. Keep showing up.

You will climb beyond the next plateau, and the next, and the one after that. Because karate teaches us to never give up. To apply ourselves to our training every day. To keep climbing.

You will find yourself on the plateau someday. You may have before, you may be there now. It is not the end. It feels like you've been running for ever and ever because you have been. You are getting somewhere soon.

Keep running.

Drills -
Beginner: Practice each of your techniques twice. Then practice them again three times each. Then again five times each. Then again three times. Then twice. Practice your techniques until you think you aren't getting anything out of it anymore. Then practice your techniques one last time. You will never finish practicing. You will never do "enough" repetitions. After a hundred, or a thousand, or ten thousand, you can still do five more and get better.

Intermediate: There will be times when you get tired of practicing the same drill or pattern again and again. You will want to skip around, or only practice your favorite techniques, or hurry through your kata practice so you can get to "the fun stuff." Remember, even if you've had this class, or done this activity, or sparred with this training partner time after time after time there is still a new lesson, right there in front of you. You will never stop learning from Short Form 1. Find joy in the drudgery. Embrace the chores and celebrate doing the daily work. The practice is the method.

Advanced: You have experienced training plateaus before. You know what needs to be done to break through to the next level, but you will still feel the miles as they pass beneath your feet. You will become parched, but you can quench your thirst with the sweat of your brow. You will grow cold, but you can warm yourself in the fires of your will. The plateau is no longer a frightening place for you. It is a predictable place, where the terrain is familiar and comforting and the time passes easily. Keep training. The next evolution is just ahead.

Offensive Approaches in Sparring

“While the schools remain apart in thought and styles, they are bound together by the practice of sparring, which is the only standard value in the sport recognized by all who are responsible for advancing the true art of karate.”

Sihak Henry Cho
Korean Karate, Free Fighting Techniques

This month in our intermediate class we're working on Offensive Defense, which is the term we use to describe the type of Sparring we practice at Dunham's Martial Arts. Our base Sparring techniques are derived from the Freestyle (Sparring) techniques Mr. Parker describes in Volume 5 of Infinite Insights into Kenpo. Those techniques have been added to and expanded upon to create the list of Freestyle Techniques practiced in the school. Mr. Parker wrote that the practitioner should, “study these progressive patterns of attack [and] take the initiative to develop patterns of [their] own.” Undefeated Champion Full Contact Karate Fighter Bill “Superfoot” Wallace once wrote, “In Sparring, the basic movements and strategies evolve into an infinite number of patterns and variations. (Dynamic Stretching & Kicking, 1982)”

We will practice these infinite variations with an eye towards efficacy and application, but there are broader approaches which will help us to develop the tactics with which we address each unique encounter. Professor Dan Anderson addresses these approaches in his classic work on Sparring, American Freestyle Karate: A Guide to Sparring.

The first, he calls Direct Attack, a basic, singular attack executed with complete commitment. Professor Anderson encourages the practitioner to just “pick a target and go for it.” Direct attacks are set up with deceptive footwork which hides the movements the practitioner uses to close range with his opponent. Once within striking range, he identifies a vulnerable target and strikes out against it. Of Direct Attacks, he writes, “A Direct Attack needs full commitment. An explosive take-off, a follow through attack, and good timing. It all has to be there without any reservation. If it is not all there, chances are it will not go.”

The next approach is the Attack by Combination. The Attack by Combination is an expanded form of the Direct Attack. Instead of getting in range and firing a single strike to an unprotected target, the practitioner fires strike after strike to a number of targets in sequence, using each strike to create openings for the successive follow up stikes. Of the Attack by Combination he writes, “This type of approach is good for street fighting and full contact karate. The idea here is not to get into the “one hit and quit” attitude. Be able to execute both single hit and multiple hit sparring as each have their place and can be interchanged on various opponents.”

Next is the Indirect Attack. The Indirect Attack utilizes fakes, feints, sweeps, and set-ups to make your opponent “zig when he shoulda zagged.” The practitioner begins by identifying his opponent's reactions to certain movements, hand and foot techniques, aggressive posturing, even stance transitions. Then he uses his understanding of his opponent's pre-programmed responses to encourage his opponent to move out of position. It is then that the practitioner strikes, taking advantage of his opponent's momentary vulnerability. Of the Indirect Attack Professor Anderson writes, “An Indirect Attack works on the premise that you want to redirect your opponent's attention from point A to point B so that you can hit point A. You can use a combination of fakes and hooks/sweeps prior to the real attack. Nowhere in the book of rules does it say just one set-up per attack. This approach is good for your imagination so use it.”

Next is Attacking by Trapping. Attacking by Trapping is using stand up grappling techniques to draw your opponent within range of your long range striking techniques, as well as to hold him in place and prevent him from escaping. Professor Anderson makes a point of explaining that Attacking by Trapping is closely related to the practice of Street Fighting and Self Defense and that “there are situational approaches that are not interchangeable and there are those that are;” by which he means that some techniques are specific to combat sports, and some are specific to self defense, while there are still others which overlap the two disciplines. It is these overlapping approaches which we are most interested in in our study of sparring at Dunham's Martial Arts.

Finally he describes the Attack by Drawing. This method is subtle, and relies on baiting and controlling range to entice the opponent to attack when and where you are prepared to defend. The practitioner may leave targets seemingly unprotected or subtly press in to his opponent's critical range, or he may create distance instead and goad his opponent into an unbalanced charging attack. This method requires the practitioner to understand and control space and time, while monitoring his opponent's reactions to his movements. Consider the Territorial Imperative from our article on Nonverbal Communication. Understanding how your opponent will react to intrusions into his territory can give you keen insight into his fighting strategy. Professor Anderson instructs the reader to, “interchange these [methods] with the variations in your opponent's approach to best suit your own ends. Also be able to recognize them when they are being pulled on you.”

Professor Anderson sums up the section on Offensive Approaches with these words. “In order to make the offensive (and defensive) approaches work, you have got to give total commitment to them. No half measures will do against anyone who is good at all.”

No half measures. In the Fire Chapter of his Book of Five Rings, Musashi wrote, “Who in the world can obtain my correct Way of the Martial Arts? Whoever would get to the heart of it, let him do so with conviction, practicing in the morning and training in the evening. After he has polished his techniques and gained independent freedom of movement, he will naturally gain miraculous powers, and his free and easy strength will be wonderful. This is the spirit wherein, as a warrior, he will put these practices into action.”

Complete commitment. Total conviction. Practicing in the morning and training in the evening. There are no short cuts in martial arts, but there is a trick to it. Dan Anderson wrote his book because as a boy he wanted someone to show him the tricks. Well there they are. The Offensive Approaches. Direct Attack. Attack by Combination. Indirect Attack. Attack by Trapping. Attack by Drawing. These approaches are methods by which you can engage your opponent. That's why we call it Offensive Defense at Dunham's Martial Arts. You are still practicing self defense, but in this scenario you must engage your opponent. And Professor Anderson shows us several ways to accomplish that, before encouraging us to compound and combine the approaches themselves. Attack by Drawing, then when the opponent moves within range, Indirect Attack, then Attack by Trapping, then use a Direct Attack to a Vital Target. That is how the basic principles become “an infinite number of patterns and variations.”

Drills -

Beginner: Practice the Direct Attack in front of a mirror and with a partner. Watch yourself for tells such as changes in height, shifting balance, and shoulder shrugs which might betray your intentions to your opponent. Ask you partner to monitor you for tells as well and then alert you to their presence. Work on eliminating these actions from your techniques so that you can strike without warning.

Intermediate: Practice Combination Striking on the bags and on the body. Hands set up feet. Feet set up hands. Practice three or more strikes at a time, changing levels and ranges and alternating between inside and outside and linear and circular techniques. When you can incorporate all these elements into your combinations, you become very difficult to predict and defend against.

Advanced: Practice sweeps, fakes, and feints while sparring with your opponent. Upper Body Fakes and Lower Body Fakes can be used to set up your opponent and move him off balance. When working striking combinations, practice alternating between pure striking and using some of the strikes as fakes or grabs to the opponent's limbs. Follow up grabs with sweeps against the opponent.

Benefits of Training in the Ways

Wayne C. McKinney's 1966 book Archery is still used as a reference text on the art and sport of Archery, and is considered a seminal textbook on the subject of modern Western Archery. It's comprehensive approach to Archery, including the equipment, history, cultural value, techniques, and training for sport, hunting, and art gives the student a valuable introduction the study as it is approached in the West. In the chapter Potential Benefits of Archery he describes ways that the practice of Archery can benefit the student, the family, and society as a whole. As martial artists, we can read our own practices into his words and see where we experience these benefits for ourselves.

3rd Edition, Page 90
"Archery provides the participant with a sport which can be used throughout life. Some sport activities learned early in life do not have this potential. A man in his thirites does not engage in American Football during his leisure time as an active particpant. The opportunities are not available to do this, and the human body will not withstand the stresses and strain. In contrast, many excellent archers do not reach their performance peak until they are in their thirties. Archery is a sport for people of all ages.

One major biophysical value of muscular activity is the abilty to release emotional tension. Emotional tension seems to be cumulative in nature. The reader has probably experienced at least one day in which everything seemed to go wrong! At the conclursion of such a day, one tends to be rather tired and tense. This type of tension is psychologic in nature. Psychiatrists indicate that it is a good idea to "blow off steam" on these occasions in a socially accceptable way. This contriubutes to one's mental health. Shooting the bow and arrow for an hour after a "bad day" has the potential to relax the archer. Physical work of any type has the potential to relax a human being. The concept of work being a relaxant is so abstract that it is not too well understood by most people.

The challanges which archery presents in its various sport forms have value for many people. Archery is not an easy sport to master, since there are many opportunities for the occurence of human errors. This facet of archery has the greatest appeal to many sportsmen and individuals who seek perfection in things they attempt. Mastery of archery is a motivating factor for many archers.

The serious student of the humanities may derive enjoyment by reading and studying about the use of archery as portrayed by many authors and scholars throughout history. The mythological literature abounds with stories about archery, and art museums throughout the world contain many famous works. This liberal arts approach to studying a sport is often overlooked by students and physical educators.

The individual who enjoys social activities will find that archery is a good medium for this purpose. Most cities of any size throughout the country have archery clubs which provide opportunities for the archer to share his interests with fellow archers. Clubs are locally operated by a system of self-government, and funded by modest dues. Rounds are shot periodically for practice. There are also intraclub and interclub tournaments. Members also compete in large professional and amateur tournaments conducted within the state, region, and nationally.

In contrast to the the social aspect of archery, the archer who likes to be alone can practice and compete on a highly individualized basis. No partner or team is absolutely necessary to enjoy archery. It has been said that the greatest form of comepetition is with one's self. An archer can compete without contact with other people if so desired.

Archery is and has been many things to many people. In contemporary society, archery is a sport for the competitor. Archery is also for the individual who enjoys handling fine tackle; it is for the man or woman who enjoys being in the out-of-doors during a hunting season, a field archery tournament, or bow fishing; it is for the person who enjoys the spirit of competition with other people and with himself against the elements. Archery can be a partial means of making the participant's leisure time more rewarding and meaningful."

Martial arts is also many things to many people. Self Defense. Fitness. Competition. Way. We choose our own level of involvement. Find opportunities to explore each of these aspects of your training in a healthy way. Certainly, your study of the arts can be a means of making your leisure time more rewarding and meaningful. You may be content to relegate your training to avocation, and that is perfectly fine. It should be a thing which brings you joy. But remember that beyond being a hobby, the practice of martial arts has much more to offer. One need but seek to find the many rewards awaiting the diligent student of the martial Ways. The positive societal, communal, and individual benefits of such training can not be overstated.

Drills -
Beginner: Practice "Drawing the Bow" technique for deception when punching. Practice flicking out jabs and using off hand motions to distract. Think about what your training means to you and what benefits you look forward to gaining from your involvement in martial arts. Identify those positive goals specifically.

Intermediate: Practice "Lockout" style punching techniques to joints, limbs, and the head and neck for anatomical control. Practice thrusting through the opponent's position and staying present, forcing him to change position in response. Take consistent action on accomplishing the goals you've set and actively seek out the positive benefits of your martial arts training in your daily life. Is it making you stronger? More confident? Less stressed in your day to day affairs?

Advanced: Practice "Drawing the Bow" technique as excision, seperating the rear elbow of the chambering motion from the lead hand jab to 12 o'clock. Identify movements which can be used when fighting multiple opponents which can be effective both as physical maneuvers and psychological attacks. Explore "Seperating the Opponents" with strikes. Review the progress you've made since you've begun your training in the arts. Compare the person you have become to the person you began your journey as. Set new goals for yourself, both in your future training, and as a person and practitioner moving forward.

Block. Lead Side Counter.

I like to think of Fallen Sword as the first "real" kenpo technique you learn. Now, don't hear this as me in any way denigrating the techniques before it. Entrapping Circle, Entrapping Elbow, and Concealing Strikes are all solid, important techniques that begin your study of motion. But when I learned Fallen Sword I felt like I was really doing karate. And in part that's because Fallen Sword teaches you a fundamental series of movements that make up a huge chunk of what you will practice in kenpo.

Block. Lead Side Counter.

This basic combination of movements encompasses core principles about The Ten Considerations of Combat which are elemental to self defense. Environment. Range. Positions. Maneuvers. It's all contained within Fallen Sword, and everything you learn after this will be built on this structure. That's why it's taught so early in the system. Not because of it's simplicity, but because of it's ever deeper complexities.

Block. Lead Side Counter.

This pattern repeats itself again and again. Destructive Twins? Sword of Destruction? Snapping Elbow? Ghost of the Dragon? Again and again. Block. Lead Side Counter.

It's as fundamental as the forward and reverse arm motions taught in Entrapping Circle and Entrapping Elbow. Each technique has lessons to teach, beyond merely defending against a Right Step Thru Punch. That's the least important part of what you're learning. That's just the template for the purpose of facilitating instruction. It's the lessons you should be learning, not just the movements.

Take a basic sparring scenario. Closed faced. Student A executes a Lead Hand Jab. Student B defends with an inward block and counters with an Outward Backknuckle Strike. That's Fallen Sword.

Or a knife scenario. Attacker lunges with a Forward Thrusting Knife Strike. Defender takes a Half Step Back and Up the Circle (in reverse) with a Slapping Check to the attacker's weapon arm, and follows with a Lead Leg Side Snap Kick to the inside of the attacker's Lead Knee. That's Fallen Sword.

How about a grappling scenario? The opponent grabs you from the front with a Two Handed Lapel Grab (Pulling) and you respond by grabbing their hands and then striking the opponent with a Lead Hand Inward Downward Raking Hammerfist Strike followed by an Inward Elbow Strike. Altered Momentum? If it's a Single Lapel Grab the technique is Conquering Shield. But Conquering Shield is just Fallen Sword to the outside of the arm followed by Entrapping Elbow. It's the same pattern again and again.

Block. Lead Side Counter.

But don't mistake this repetition for busy work. There's a reason you learn Lead Side Counter against a push, a punch, a choke, a grab, weapons, throws, holds and more. There's a reason you practice this Right forward and Left forward, striking and grappling. You're learning the letters. You're learning the words. And the more fluent in kenpo you become, the more capable you are of talking the talk, and walking the walk.

Fallen Sword is a key technique. It's simple. It's basic. And you could spend a lifetime learning it's lessons. But for now, practice the Lead Side Counter. Practice Fallen Sword. And see what lessons it holds for you.

Drills -
Beginner: While practicing Fallen Sword pay special attention to body mechanics. Step back WITH the Inward Block. Land from the Front Kick WITH the Handsword. Every movement, every strike, is with the entire body.

Intermediate: While sparring use only lead hand weapons against your opponent. Use stance transitions to change your position and continue striking with the opposite side forward. Pay attention to combinations and re-orbiting strikes.

Advanced: Practice the basic pattern of Fallen Sword, but alter the weapons and targets. Instead of a Handsword, work a Jab, Backknuckle Strike, or Outward Claw or Outward Backhand Strike. Instead of a Front Snap Kick, try Side Snap Kick, Wheel Kick, or In Place Pulling Sweep. Choose targets appropriate to your weapons.

Sumimasen. Daijobu desu ka?

From Wikipedia:

"Dave Lowry is an American writer best known for his articles, manuals and novels based on Japanese martial arts.

A student of Japanese martial arts since 1968, when he began studying Yagyū Shinkage-ryū kenjutsu [the same art taught by Yagyū Munenori, see Hit, Hit, and Hit Again] under Ryokichi Kotaro of the Nara Prefecture of Japan, he has also studied Shintō Musō-ryū, as well as karate, aikido, and Kodokan judo.

He has a degree in English, and has written about a variety of topics related to budō, the Japanese concept of the "martial way." He has written training manuals on use of weapons such as the bokken and jo, a few novels centered on the lifestyle of the budōka (one who follows the martial way), and countless articles on martial practices and traditional Japanese philosophy. He has been a regular columnist for Black Belt magazine since 1986, where he writes on the traditional arts."

In his 2002 book, Traditions, Lowry tells us a story about training with a friend of his instructor and an important lesson he learned from the experience.

"...He was short and thick and powerful. At my sensei's suggestion, after dinner our visitor took me into our dojo to work with me on basics. Against my oi-zuki (stepping-in punch), he shifted like he was on ball bearings and countered with various techniques. We'd been at this for about an hour, gradually increasing our pace. I was still not posing any great threat to him, but Yanagi-san was having to move just a bit faster to avoid my attack. That is when he miscalculated, just fractionally. He pivoted and snapped out his fist as I moved in-and caught me squarely on my nose with the back of his knuckles. There was no kime, no focus, to the blow. If there had been, my head would have come off. The strike was more just a kind of slap. But Mr. Yanagi's timing was perfect, even if there was no force behind it.

Even though he barely grazed my nose, tears squirted into my eyes. My feet and legs, still driving forward, were way ahead of the rest of me. I went down like I'd been sledghammered. The back of my head smacked against the wooden floor. I laid there a second. I knew nothing was seriously hurt, and that I should be leaping back up quickly so as not to put myself at risk of a follow-up attack. But I wasn't sure where "up" was. All I could see were starbursts.

"Sumimasen," Yanagi-san said, "Daijobu desu ka?" "My fault. You okay?"

I'm not sure how I expected Mr. Yanagi to react to the accident. Over the years of my training that have followed, however, I have heard that phrase many more times. I have, due to my own clumsiness and ineptitude, had occasion to use it myself. Ask anyone has who practiced with me much at all. And I have come to realize since that afternoon in the dojo, that what Yanagi-san said to me is really all one can say in a situation like that. More importantly, it is all one should say.

It is quite an awful feeling to hurt someone under almost any circumstances, obviously. This is especially so in the dojo where one's accidental victim is likely to be a friend or a training partner and one feels towards that person almost as if they were a brother or sister. If it is a senior that you have clobbered, you feel terrible because you've repaid the kindness of his instructing you by battering him. If it is a junior, you feel worse; a junior in the dojo is dependent upon you for his progress, not for abuse. The initial response to causing such an accident in the dojo-the unconditioned response of the untrained budoka-is to abandon instantly whatever exercise it is, to rush forward, apologizing profusely and checking for damage.

The dojo, however, is not a place for unconditioned responses. The budoka who go there to practice must be willing to give a great deal of their lives over to the crafting and shaping of very highly conditioned responses. They are seeking to respond correctly to every contingency, in a wide variety of situations. Among these contingencies is the possibility of an accident. The budoka must realize there is a chance, a risk involved, every time he trains. When you allow me, for the purposes of our learning, to uncork punches at your face, or to twist your wrists to nearly the point of injury, or strike at you with a weapon, you are accepting the possibility I might miss, go a bit too far. I assume the same; that I may injure you. We have voluntarily accepted what insurance companies call "assumed risk." Like mountain climbers, big wave surfers, and ski racers, budoka would be fools if they thought the martial Ways were risk-free. That is simply not the nature of these ways.

If we have trained properly and we exercise care for our partner, we can (and absolutely must) cut the odds of an accident or injury. But we can never entirely eliminate risk. So when in the dojo an accident does happen, we should not be too surprised. We should not indulge in a lot of pointless blather then. We should admit it if it was our fault, and inquire if the injury is serious enough to warrant attention. If it is serious, we'd better be calling an ambulance or rendering first aid. These require coolness and a presence of mind. There is no time, and no reason to engage in excessive apologizing which, while it may make us feel better, won't do a lot of good for our injured friend.

This attitude may seem heartless. But remember, Yanagi-sans's first words to me were, "my fault." He accepted the blame for the accident, simply and honestly. Then he asked if I was all right, in a way that was straightforward yet not condescending, respectful of my dignity.

Simply and honestly; straightforward and respectful. This is the best way for the budoka to behave when he has been responsible for an accident in the dojo. He will also find that it is an excellent way of meeting a number of other situations as well."

Lowry's experience here is not unique. You will have an opportunity to say these words many times over the course of your journey in martial arts. And you will hear them as well. When you hit one of your friends or training partners too hard, when you make the mistakes that are an inevitable and essential part of the learning process, the only thing to say is this,

"I'm sorry. My fault. Are you okay?"

There is no shame in this. This is right and honorable conduct. Remember this when you accidentally hurt your training partners, and when you are accidentally hurt by them.

American Freestyle Karate and the Power of Confrontation

Dan Anderson is one of the most accomplished American martial artists. On the website for his school, his bio reads,

“Professor Anderson is the director and chief instructor of Dan Anderson Karate and has a 7th Degree Black Belt in Karate, a 6th Degree Black Belt (Senior Master) in Filipino Modern Arnis, and an 8th Degree Black Belt in MA-80. He is a 4 time national karate champion, having won over 70 Grand Titles! He is the founder of American Freestyle Karate, a uniquely American martial art as well as the author of the best selling book, "American Freestyle Karate: A Guide To Sparring" which has been in print for 30 years. He has been honored by inclusion into the Karate Living Legends, a lifetime achievement honor, being one of the 50 most influential martial artists in the 40 year history of tournament karate. Prof. Anderson's school has been continually teaching martial arts to the residents of East County for 25 years, making it the oldest Karate school in this area.”

The book mentioned above, American Freestyle Karate: A Guide to Sparring is widely recognized as one of the seminal and most authoritative written works on the subject of karate style point sparring. It's topics span stance and posture, body movement with and without footwork, developing power, kicking, punching, and blocking, and monitoring the opponent. It contains both technical information, including step by step breakdown of techniques and combinations, and strategic and conceptual instruction which informs the practitioner in his approach to both sports combat and self defense.

One particularly valuable section discusses the concept of confrontation, so crucial to success in freestyle sparring,

The Ability to Confront

“To confront – verb transitive – Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary 2.a. “to cause to meet: bring face to face.”

Psychologically, everything in karate boils right down to the idea of confrontation, to face up to something. Sparring, approaches, technical information, everything.

A person's ability to confront things comes with familiarization and gradient stages of the ability to confront itself.

When you have trouble with any face of karate, it comes from a failure to confront that particular area. Example: a person is a strong technician and is tough but does not think when sparring. The thing to do is to have them confront thinking during sparring in gradient stages. 1) Plan out each attack and carry out the plan; 2) spot circuits (habit patterns) in your opponent's sparring, etc. Take him through each step until he is up to sparring and thinking.

The ability to confront is such a great part of everything. Anything you can do well is because you can confront it, meet it face to face, nose to nose with a big grin. Karate has always felt easy to me, but acceptance of getting hit in the head has never been easy. My ability to confront things is up on karate and down on getting hit in the head.

Things that you cannot confront easily will have to be worked through, but if you take any one particular thing and work it out in easily handled steps, pretty soon the punch in the head (or whatever) will not seem so awful to you.

This is how I break my students into sparring. Thanks to movies and television, beginners come in with preconceived notions of karate, ranging anywhere from macho brutality to the idea that the studio is a monastic retreat for pacifistic martial monks. But, they have one thing in common; they sit back and tense up when watching somebody else spar. Here it is so close to them, violence, punching faces, kicking groins, struggling. A sparring match can be a fearsome sight to a lot of beginners. So, I start them off easy with a punch, a stance, a kick, a block, until they are comfortable with it. Then slowly, easily in a line drill, they see that attack come at them and block it. Great. That attack was handled. Then after a while, they get into slow and easy, unstructured blocks and attacks with a partner, the same thing that bugged their eyes out in the first place, sparring. The only difference is that through a series of gradient steps, they reached a point where what was once foreign to them was now recognizable and comfortable. That is what the ability to confront is about. Anything you have trouble with, work on in easy steps until it becomes comfortable.

Professor Anderson's advice transcends the art of kicking and punching. Take it with you in your training, practice your least favorite techniques. Do ten more kicks when you're already tired. But apply the lesson to the other facets of your life as well.  Confront, persevere, have indomitable spirit.

Everything in karate boils right down to the idea of confrontation. Karate no shugyo wa issho.

Ten Methods for Practicing Fallen Sword

Since it's Fall Break and you're all missing class as much as I am, I thought I'd give you some things to think about during your time off. With that in mind, here are ten ways to practice one of your beginner techniques which will help you with all your kenpo.

1. Visualize your performance. Imagine yourself performing the technique. See every strike land. See your opponent fall at your feet. Always succeed. Never fail.

2. In the air. You can't rehearse the motion enough. The body relies on proprioeception and motor memory to perform physical tasks, and those are both developed through repetition.

3. On the body. On as many bodies, as often as possible. Performing karate in the air is good practice, but it's like playing air guitar. The skill is designed for the instrument.

4. Around the clock. Face 12 and perform Fallen Sword against punches from all directions. Learn what movements are necessary to achieve the necessary positions.

5. Kenpo Formula. Add/Subtract/Prefix/Suffix/Alter (timing,targets,weapons)/Re-arrange/Excise. Practice Fallen Sword with each function of the formula. Separately and in combination.

6. Against other attacks. Can Fallen Sword be performed against a push? A punch? A grab? Slaps, knives, clubs? What about a broken beer bottle, or a roundhouse kick? The attack in the technique is a teaching tool, make sure you're studying the lessons.

7. As a grappling response. Instead of block/kick/handsword, could you work grab/sweep/headlock? What about parry/pressing stance/pushdown?

8. Left handed. Fallen Sword can be performed against a Left Step Thru Punch just as easily as a Right. Simply use the opposite side stances and maneuvers. Practicing your techniques on both sides will improve your coordination and timing.

9. While sparring. Have your opponent throw nothing but step thru punches while sparring. Defend every time with Fallen Sword. Gradually vary techniques and increase speed and intensity.

10. On the ground. Can you perform fallen sword from the guard? While under the mount? While in the mount? What purpose can the lower body serve? Learning to fight on the ground is like learning to fight on your feet, you have to play the game to learn the rules.

Practice every technique like this. Every basic. Every set. Every form. This is how you master the art. Repetition. Study. Experimentation. You should investigate this thoroughly and understand it well.

Just because the school is closed doesn't mean you can't be practicing and studying. Look for ways to keep it fresh. And make sure you come back excited and ready to train!

Common Problems for Beginners in Sparring

I have a number of technique books on different martial arts outside my primary field of study. Hapkido, Fencing, Tae Kwon Do, Arnis, others. A book is no replacement for a qualified instructor, but books and videos can be useful supplemental materials.

One of my technique books on Western Boxing has a list of common problems faced by people new to sparring that I think is worth reproducing here for two reasons.

First, these are good tips that even experienced students would do well to review, including me. You don't stop learning, and you should never stop reviewing material you think you already understand.

Second, I think it's interesting to look at the similarities between our Way and their Way. Döbringer began his presentation of "The Art of Combat of Master Liechtenauer" by saying, "there is only one art of the sword."

Fighting is fighting. Violence is universal to the human condition. And there are certain universal truths which apply to it's study. As Musashi put it, "Even though their Ways are not ours, if you know the way broadly, not one of them will be misunderstood."

On to the list.

Start-Up Sparring: Common Problems

Squaring Off to an opponent (planting your feet directly in front of an opponent so that you face him with your chest). Never compromise your basic defensive posture.

Signaling intentions with shoulders, head or flying elbow before your punch is thrown. Deliver your punches crisply and cleanly. Straight punches fire directly from chin to target.

Predictability with movements or offensive and defensive style. A boxer must mix up his approach so that his opponent won't see patterns.

Reaching and pawing. These are largely useless actions that will expose you to dangerous counters.

Hesitation. Finish your punches. They may land or disrupt the counter. Half a punch is worthless.

Flinching. Learn to keep your eyes on your opponent - even under fire!

Fatigue. It takes time and training to build stamina.

Slow and sloppy technique. It also takes time and training to groove your offensive and defensive actions.

Nervous prancing and bouncing. Happy feet happen naturally and must be curbed to conserve energy.

Inability to relax between actions. The intensity of sparring makes it hard to relax out there, but relax you must, in order to conserve energy and execute technique properly.

Anger. Has no place in sparring.

Charging. Usually the result of frustration. With an experienced opponent you'll be cut down in no time.

Most of this list can be reduced to two basic concepts. Clean technique. Mental clarity.

Don't get frustrated. Don't get angry. Don't hesitate. Don't reach. Don't telegraph. Don't make unnecessary movements.

There is only one art of the sword. Understand that, to understand this.

Kenpo Sparring

Mr. Parker described the four ranges of combat as Out of Range, Contact Range, Contact Penetration Range, and Control Manipulation Range. Each range requires a different mental approach and a different set of physical techniques.

Most of the Kenpo techniques take place within the last two ranges. Contact Penetration and Control Manipulation. Most karate style point sparring takes place within the first two ranges, Out of Range and Contact Range. One of the benefits of sparring practice is it helps us to learn how to move from the first two ranges to the last two. But this difference in range, and concomitant difference in attitude and technique gives rise to the question, "Why don't we see more Kenpo techniques used in sparring?"

The first thing to point out is that the self defense techniques are not designed to be used in sparring. Sparring is a very specific combat style activity which has very specific restrictions. Self defense techniques are designed for a different situation with different rules.

That being said, it's easy to see why this concern gets raised. Sparring can look like generic punch kick karate that has very little to do with kenpo. The important thing to remember is that you are using different techniques because of context and range, but that doesn't mean that there aren't some kenpo techniques that make the transition well.

Some good examples are using Fallen Sword or the first part of Penetrating the Wall against a jab, or using Deflecting Hammer against a kick, but changing the elbow strike to a reverse punch.

The key is to pick one technique, and then spar with it. One student uses only the attack for that technique, over and over and over. The other student uses only the specific assigned defense. After a few minutes, switch roles. Repeat this process with two or three techniques. Then begin again, this time using any of the attacks you've practiced, but only those attacks, while the other student uses any of the prescribed defenses. Finally, spar unrestricted, but focus on using the practiced defenses whenever the specific attacks are presented.

What you have to do is drill these defenses against attacks. If you've practiced your kenpo, these things will happen naturally, but it's easy for even an experienced kenpo practitioner to fall into the trap of using basic sparring maneuvers when playing that game.

Remember when sparring to always fire at least two strikes at a time. One strike will fail 99% of the time. Two strikes have a 50/50 chance of success, but three or more strikes will succeed 99% of the time. This will help you to stay in the kenpo mindset.

Combinations, practice, and repetition. That's how you get better at sparring, and working your kenpo into your sparring is the same.

Ultimately, sparring is an intermediate drill. As you progress in your training, you should move past karate style sparring into continuous sparring, and eventually into fully integrated combat style activities, involving stand up and ground grappling as well as street techniques and targets, always with control. During these activities, you will see more self defense technique material because these activities are more closely related to the arena for which that material was created.

Kenpo is designed for self defense, not sport. But we can blend it into our sparring with a little work, and ultimately that will make us better at both.

Drills -
Beginner: Option drill. Choose two kenpo techniques with similar attacks. Have your partner give you either attack and respond with the appropriate technique. Repeat.

Intermediate: Position Recognition. Spar normally at super slow speed. Occasionally pause during attacks and analyze your relative positions. Choose a kenpo technique appropriate to that position and execute that technique in a sparring context. Gradually increase speed.

Advanced: Free Combat. Paying special attention to safety and control, engage in unrestricted "street freestyle" using striking and grappling, standing and ground fighting. Incorporate kenpo techniques both standing and on the ground.

Why Front Kick?

The Front Kick is the most important kick. It should be the most accurate, fastest, most polished kick in everyone's arsenal. It should be the kick you throw more than any other. For one simple reason.

You're opponent should be in front of you.

Yes, rear kicks and side kicks and hooks and crescents are all useful, powerful kicks. But the opponent should be standing in front of you and you should be in a fighting stance. If either of those things are not true, you should make them true immediately. You may be ambushed, you may be surrounded. But you need to face the man you intend to defeat. Each, individually, with all of your attention at every moment.

I am not saying you will never throw a back or side kick. Certainly I do all the time. I'm not saying the fighting stance has to be a perfect neutral bow, or L stance, or guard position. I'm not even saying your opponent won't get behind you, or you won't have to face more than one opponent at a time. But you must be fighting from your stance. And you must be facing each opponent with everything that you are.

And when you are facing your opponent, you're front kick is the shortest distance between your foot and his first most vital target. It requires no twisting, no turning, and no pivoting. It is a simple lift and extend. It is a motion you do every step you take, every day of your life.

It should be a devastating move, to any target, delivered with absolute conviction. To the leading lower shin of the opponent it can jam a rushing maneuver. To the inside of the knee it can crush the joint outward, folding the leg over sideways. To the inner thigh, stop a roundhouse kick in mid flight. You can strike the groin to cause pain, the hip girdle to collapse your opponent forward, or the bladder to accomplish both. You can break ribs, rupture organs, and even stop the heart.

The front kick can do all these things. And more. The same kick to the back of the knee has a completely different effect than to the front or side of it. Snapping the kick has a different effect from thrusting it. Are you striking forward with the kick, or upward? Chambering or sweeping? Landing forward or back?

The front kick is the lead hand jab of the lower body. It is not simply one kick among many. It is the kick. It may not have the most potential power. It may not have the greatest range, or height. But it is one of the core moves of your fighting arsenal, and deserves its place in any combination of strikes.

Drills -
Beginner: Practice front kicks ten times, each leg, thrusting and snapping, in the air, and on the pads, the shields, the bag, and the body.

Intermediate: Student A faces Student B in a Fighting Stance. Student B holding a focus shield. Student A uses Step Thru Front Kicks to push Student B the length of the floor. Then Student B advances and Student A defends with Step Thru Front Kicks (Retreating). Repeat.

Advanced: While sparring, Students practice using Front Kicks against various targets for Anatomical Repositioning, (Bladder, Hip Girdle, Lower Ribs, Guard).

Kicking. It's not just for kicking anymore.

The kenpo curriculum attempts to offer a complete catalog of combat motion. It has literally dozens of different hand techniques, well over twenty different kicks,  strikes with the knees, the elbows, the forearm, the back of the leg, even the wrists. You learn tackles, takedowns, throws, and falls. Traps, locks, chokes, and strangulations. You even learn how to hurt your opponent using THEIR body.

In short there's a wide range of grappling and striking techniques, both circular and linear. Almost anything you could think of, using almost every part of your body, to hurt, injure, maim, or kill an attacker. Kenpo has it.

But it's up to the student to train the material. And most of us rely on our kenpo self defense technique practice for the bulk of that training. And that's great, because the techniques give us a context within which all these movements take place, and they allow us to see first hand how the human body reacts to applied force.

But the self defense techniques are heavily weighted towards upper body basics, and unless we supplement that training with pad and bag work, we end up with fast, accurate hand technique and sloppy, uncoordinated kicks.

Which is precisely why we should all spend more time practicing our kicks. In the air. On the shields. On the body. Because the only way to get better is to train more. 

But the benefits of training our kicks go far beyond just improving our kicking technique. Every time you execute a front kick you are engaging a long string of heavy, powerful muscles. And doing so burns calories, increases muscular strength, improves balance, and increases flexibility and range of motion. Kicking also incorporates a number of minor secondary movements such as pivoting the supporting leg, turning the torso, and flexing the abdominal muscles. It's a whole body workout, and you'll see the results all over your kenpo.

You see, when you practice kicking technique, you learn more about ground leverage, and rotational energy, and snapping and thrusting, and back up mass. And all those lessons translate directly into your hand techniques.

So the more you practice your kicks, the better your kicks will be. The better your punches and handswords will be. The better your neutral bow will be. The more effective your throws. You are learning a complex, interconnected series of physical skills, and the more you train any of them, the better they all become.

Getting good at martial arts is a matter of improving a hundred skills one percent at a time. You're laying the foundation for your future performance with every drill, every repetition, every kick. Make it a strong foundation, and you will build a mighty fortress.

Drills -
Beginner: Practice each of your kicks on the heavy bag ten times, each leg, for each of the letters in F.A.S.P. Form, Accuracy, Speed, Power.

Intermediate: Practice "three hit kenpo" using only kicks and sweeps.

Advanced: While sparring, Student A uses only kicking techniques and sweeps. Student B uses only hand techniques and grapples. Alternate.

We Call it Offensive Defense

Most people call it sparring. But what exactly is sparring?

Well, first let's establish what it is not. Sparring is not self defense. It's not a real fight.

Instead, it's a competitive sport activity. It has rules, and judges, and specific allowable techniques and targets. The arena has boundaries, and there are time limits, and a set number of opponents. In self defense, there are no rules and nothing can be predicted. In sparring, every possible aspect of the engagement is accounted for and controlled.

In short, it's a game.

So why play the game? Especially if we are training for self defense? What possible use can there be in engaging in this activity if it doesn't match the parameters of our expected combat scenario?

Imagine a tennis player. They play a specific game on a specific size court with specific size racquets and specific rules. But is there anything they can learn from playing table tennis? Or racquetball? Or badminton? Those games are completely different, but they incorporate similar concepts involving ball spin and placement, racquet position, and court awareness.

For us, sparring serves a similar purpose. It isn't a real fight, but it can help us to learn and practice many combat skills which overlap with self defense. We can learn about environmental awareness, and striking combinations, and fighting while moving. We can see, and feel, what it is like to have someone hunting us, trying to hit us, trying to put us down. We can practice our techniques and our basics against a real, resisting opponent, and learn just what it takes to hit someone who doesn't want to be hit and what it takes to keep them from hitting us when they really, really want to.

That's why we spar. Because it may be a game, but it's a useful one. And it's a lot of fun too!

There are dangers associated with sparring as well which we must avoid in order to get the most out of it's practice. First, we must always remember that the rules which apply to sparring do not apply to self defense. In sparring, you can't kick your opponent in the knee, or punch him in the spine. Perhaps more importantly, he can't do those things to you. But in self defense, there are no judges to step in and put a stop to the engagement if you end up on the ground with multiple opponent's kicking you in the head and back. Training only for sparring will leave you unprepared both physically and mentally for self defense.

Second, sparring is alluring. The competitive nature, the accolades and trophies available to the athletic performer, all these things have a natural attraction to some people. And a certain kind of student can reach this point in his training and become lost. For some, competitive sparring is the end of the road. They enjoy the activity so much that they never learn to move beyond it, and in not progressing they miss out on all the glories which follow. Every step of your journey in the martial arts will be filled with wonder. Never doubt that the next lesson is greater and more awesome than the last. Such is the way with sparring. It is fun. It is exciting. Which is what makes it attractive to so many. But it is only a step in the journey, not the end of it.

Sparring is an intermediate drill. It is designed to teach specific skills to the student which are applicable in the wider arena of self defense. It is a testing ground, and a classroom. Learn to value it for what it has to offer. Learn to respect the dangers associated with sparring and to avoid the pitfalls that may slow your progress. Avoid unhealthy comparisons with your classmates and focus on your own journey. Learn to fight like a warrior, with courage and humility.

Because the greatest lesson sparring has to offer is that sometimes, we lose the fight. Sometimes we face bigger, stronger, tougher, more skilled opponents. When that happens in the school, we get a chance to try again. When it happens in the street, we may not.

So train hard. Fight well. And get better every time you step on the floor.

Drills -
Beginner: Practice two and three hit combinations against pads, shields, and the heavy bag. Try to incorporate linear and circular striking, kicks and punches, and inward and outward motion. One strike is easy to defend, multiple strikes are progressively more likely to succeed.

Intermediate: While sparring, Student A chooses one yellow belt self defense technique. Student B attacks with the specific attack for that technique and two other basic strikes. Each time they receive the appropriate attack Student A responds with their chosen technique, while sparring normally in response to the other two basic strikes. Alternate. Continue with each of your techniques.

Advanced: Carefully incorporate standing grappling techniques, leg kicking, takedowns, and ground fighting into your sparring.

Intermediate/Advanced Class: Lock Flow Drill

In intermediate class Tuesday we discussed finding and applying locking techniques against our opponent. With that in mind, the following video briefly discusses applying grappling techniques to the pattern contained within the technique Sword of Legend.



Practice the flow with your training partners and see if you can find other places to insert grappling techniques into your striking patterns.

Drills -
Beginner: While performing your techniques on the body, alter each of your basic strikes to basic grabs. Pay attention to targets and angles of attack. Practice both pulling and pressing with each grabbing technique.

Intermediate: Practice alternating lock flow drill with a partner while striking opponent with off hand.

Advanced: While performing your techniques on the body, look for opportunities to insert grappling techniques. Once you've point referenced to a grappling technique point reference out of the grappling technique and into a different self defense technique. Continue to completion.

Ground Fighting: Student A in Mounted Position attacks Student B with straight punches. Student B defends by grabbing Student A's extended punch and countering with the Straight Armbar (juji-gatame).