partners

Flow Drills – Valuable Tools or Wastes of Time?

This entry was posted in bunkai combinations drills oyo partners self defense skills sparring teaching tradition traditional martial arts training and tagged bunkai drills tradition training on by

Flow drills are common teaching tools in many martial arts, but are they valuable, or wastes of time?

Practicing Basic Uke-Waza

This entry was posted in basics blocking bunkai concepts evasion kote kitae misconceptions oyo partners tactile sensitivity tai sabaki tai tanren teaching techniques ti tradition training uke-waza and tagged drills kihon uke on by

Kihon-geiko (basic/foundational training) is meant to isolate karate movements so they can be individually focused on during practice. Karateka from nearly any style will be familiar with a variety of methods for this purpose–punches while standing in shiko-dachi (sumo/horse stance), kicks with the hands on the hips, walking across the mat in a stance, etc. Whatever the technique may be, […]

Two Steps Back, Two Steps Forward

This entry was posted in basics behavior bunkai compliance criticism demonstrations fighting misconceptions partners safety tma tradition traditional martial arts training and tagged distancing fighting ippon kumite maai self defense on by

Recently, I wrote an article in defense of the use of wrist grabs in karate training, which are often derided as being unrealistic. In that article, I mentioned that the most common complaint people tend to have about many karate and kobudo applications and fighting drills is the use of formal karate-style attacks and incorrect maai (distancing). Unlike wrist grabs, […]

Discomfort, Pain, and Injury

This entry was posted in discipline health hygiene injury lifestyle non-competitive partners respect safety training and tagged discomfort health hygiene injury pain respect safety trust on by

Proper karate training requires physical contact, and as a martial art, that means there are going to be periods of discomfort, moments of pain, and instances of injury. It is important to recognize the differences between discomfort, pain, and injury if you want to train both effectively and safely, specially since you can get compensation with the Babcock Partners LLC […]

Effective Self Defense Through Solo Kata Practice

This entry was posted in bunkai oyo partners training and tagged bunkai goshin kata self defense on by

Kata practice–partner training on the left, and solo training on the right It is generally accepted that solo kata practice is a vital component to karate training. This is something that I wholeheartedly agree with! Solo kata practice is an important tool for memorization, visualization training, developing muscle memory, and strengthening the foundational movements required to use the applications of […]