Recently, an online friend of mine, who studies and teaches the Shinjinbukan system, has been posting video clips from Onaga Yoshimitsu Sensei’s trip through Europe. The most recent video (at the time of writing this post) is the one, above. At about 1:14, you can see Onaga Sensei demonstrate an application for a movement in Passai. We actually teach the […]
Most Suidi/Shuri-Te lineage karate contains at least one version of the kata, Kusanku. This kata was, supposedly, developed to record the techniques brought to Okinawa by a Chinese envoy of the same name, as described in the Oshima Hikki. Patrick McCarthy has written about this in several books, and Jesse Enkamp posted this article about it, a while back. Itosu […]
Kote-Gaeshi (Wrist Reversal) as taught in Aikido The most commonly recognized example of a joint lock “throw” is kote-gaeshi (wrist reversal). It is a basic technique in Aikido, and several variations of it also exist in karate tuidi. You can see in the animated GIF, above, that the uke (person receiving the technique) drops his left knee to the floor […]
Over the weekend, I had an opportunity to train with the Phoenix Society of Historical Swordsmanship, which is a HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) club that specializes in Italian styles of swordsmanship, as well as Spanish rapier. The club is run by Richard Marsden, who is also the President of the HEMA Alliance. They were a good group of people, […]
Kosa-Dachi (Cross Stance) Recently, on some of the martial arts study groups I am a part of, the topic of kosa-dachi (cross stance) has been coming up somewhat frequently. This stance is found in many variations, in several kata. The discussions we have been having have mostly focused on the use of kosa-dachi in Naihanchi, and similar discussions have cropped […]
In one of the study groups I am a part of, the nami-gaeshi (returning wave) movements from Naihanchi was brought up as one that doesn’t often have applications shown for it. This movement is also present in some versions of Passai, Kusanku, Seisan, and more! How could something so common and distinctive have no practical application? Well, it does have […]
This weekend, I recorded a few kata application videos. The first one is an application for the last few movements in our Passai Sho kata, also called Itosu Passai. In the kata, you perform a yama-tsuki (mountain thrust), followed by a turn and a sukui-uke (scooping receiver). This movement almost perfectly matches a variation of tai otoshi (body drop throw) […]
Last week, a Kyokushin karateka friend of mine mentioned learning a new takedown, and after reading her description, I thought it sounded rather similar to a throw that we work as an application for the morote-tsuki (double punch) in Naihanchi Shodan. As it turned out, she was talking about the “wedge throw” that is very popular in Shotokan–UFC fighter, Lyoto […]
I did some video recording last Saturday, and finally got a few clips edited and uploaded to share. The first is an application for the one-legged turn (a jump, in some styles) in Kusanku/Kanku. The technique is a throw found in Okinawa Shima (a grappling sport in Okinawa that descended from tegumi) and Sambo. This video simply shows the throw […]
Funakoshi Gichin demonstrating Ude Wa (Arm Ring), a basic double-leg takedown Karate is typically recognized as a striking art, but there is plenty of evidence proving that it also incorporates joint manipulation, strangulation, and takedown techniques. According to Genbu-Kai Florida, karate is not a grappling art, either, and it’s grappling methods can be fairly crude. In the old days, that […]
