Karate Kumite has been going
through a lot of changes as of late. Most of those that are training are now
looking at the physical and looking to make themselves faster, more explosive
and dynamic, which is a great thing….but they tend to shy away from strategy
and tactics, especially the older concepts in favor of the more modern “bouncy
house” WKF style fighting were you just try to blast through an opponent with
speed and dynamics.
Most of the more “modern” Sensei
or coaches will teach physical and just touch on strategy, they limit their
studies to making an opening or seeing one and then going for it. The problem
is that this very shallow study of Kumite is ONLY good for sport and it
lacks depth. Also, the new generation are losing the tactics and strategies,
the understandings and the focus of the rich roots that we all share. My hope
is that I can introduce a bit of the old system of Kumite along with my new
tactics of Showa Keiko to build a solid program.
One of the other things that
gets to me is the fact that most instructors do not and cannot tell the
difference nor instruct a student as to the difference between a strategy and a
tactic. However I have touched on this in the past, I wanted to get to some
basic (and advanced) Strategic ideas that I think all instructors should know.
First when you are going to
engage in Kumite you will have to worry about two things; Shisei and Kamae. This is posture and position. Shisei
is not just your basic posture, it’s about your mental attitude, physical
presence and your Shiko, or intent. And Shisei is also said to be Attitude! Shisei
is going to determine a lot of the outcome of the engagement. In Kumite you
should be trying to mirror an acceptable attitude or behavior that you would
need in a real engagement. In a nut shell you should be serious, respectful,
focused and not allow your attacker to overcome you mentally or physically.
Those that are cocky and brash tend to get overly excited when challenged and
they also do not finish the engagement, they tend to want to be braggadocios
and throw their hands up or “play to the crowd”. In a real engagement there is
no crowd and this loss of focus will cause you to be in danger with your
attacker gaining the advantage.
The Proper Shisei is that of a Tiger
stalking his pray. Look for the opening to end the engagement clean and make
sure you are only offering up openings that you can defend and that will be
advantageous to your overall plan. When the engagement is over you bow with
respect and then leave the engagement physically and mentally prior to analysis
of your performance. Do not brag, focus on the win or otherwise make a
spectacle, you could just as easily have lost the Kumite engagement and be
watching from the other side, also you should take this time to reflect on what
worked and what did not work.
After fixing up your attitude
and showing respect, caution and planning one must take up a reasonable Kamae
or position. The Kamae that you adopt should be changing, organic and specific
to the task. The generic almost side
facing posture of the WKF style Tae Kwon Do/Karate is only good for sport, and
only against someone who also has the same posture. The inflexibility of the
stance as well as the instability offered by bouncing is not going to help you
in a life or death situation when the ground is not swept and clean for you and
free of ice.
Your Kamae hand and arms
should be moving around to block off openings but not in a way that is spastic
and unplanned. The movements should be done at a speed that is controlled and
with purpose. Shifting the elbows towards and away from the body slightly and
the hands up and down is sufficient. The idea being to both distract the
attacker and allow you to cover openings. Also keep your elbows moving but
close to the body to avoid leaving openings. Most Karate Kumite should be done
with a Chudan no Kamae or mid-level posture, this is when the arms are
tucked close to the body, one fist covering the Jodan area, but low, and
the rear arm should be near the mid to lower abdomen area. This posture allows
you to move to defend your face and your lower body as well. Keep your weight
on the balls of your feet and do not bounce, shift and step to move, bouncing
leaves you open for Ashi-barai and can also cause you to hurt yourself.
More flamboyant moves and arm
postures should only be done when you are comfortable in your skills and want
to research movement a bit more. Also remember that some people may be
distracted a great deal more by moving your arms and taking up Jodan-no-Kamae
or other fighting Kamae, and some may just see openings and attack. Use less
controlled postures only when you feel comfortable with your partners or when
you are looking to explore a bit more. Some strategies will require that you
control the attack and timing of your attacker, this may require adopting
different stances and postures/ Kamae that appear to have less
balance, mobility ext, but the reality is that you must be the on drawing in
your opponent when you want them to attack with the Kansei (Fake) movements
or you could fall victim to your own strategy.
Metsuke or Affixing the
eyes is another part of Kamae and Shisei that should never be
ignored. When you line up with your opponent you should be mindful of their
eyes, your own gaze and your facial expression. You should appear calm but
pierce them with your eyes. Not in a violent way but in a way that suggest you
are confident.
For people new to Kumite
you should look at the opponent and create a area to look into by imagining a
triangle starting between the eyes or at the top of the forehead and then
extending down to each shoulder. This tends to be much less intimidating and
you can start off working with a partner and getting more comfortable looking
at someone’s face when moving aggressively or defensively.
More senior people should do
Kumite by looking at the partner and moving with them looking at their eyes.
The eyes should not focus on the other persons eyes but rather look at the
whole body while affixing your gaze to the partners eyes.
For some this is perhaps the
most difficult of tasks during Kumite. It is very personal and
intimate to gaze into someone’s eyes and can create a great deal of disease in
a person newer to Kumite engagements. One of the benefits to this training
however comes in the event of using their skills in an actual engagement. Not
only does it make the student more comfortable doing this, but it tends to
create a sense of timidity in the aggressor that one can take advantage
of.
When engaging an opponent or
partner do not become transfixed with your partners eyes, if you let your gaze
wonder slightly and not get locked on your partners eyes you will find a great
deal more success in the process. Instead “Hard wire” or practice gaining this
habit and you will find a great deal more success in naturally keeping it
without thinking about this constantly in training.
Seme
Seme means literally to apply
pressure to your opponent. This is a Kendo term that basically illustrates the
type of pressure and the results of your pressure. Ki o Korosu is the first
kind of pressure and it means to break the opponents spirit. This is done by
over powering the opponent repeatedly to push the defender to be on the defense
by not only destroying the attackers offensive moves but by moving forwards and
destroying the opponents waza and Kamae repeatedly.
The next basic kind of Semi is Waza
o Korosu. This is when you destroy an opponent’s attacking waza. This
can be done most effectively by changing distances and shifting out of range
then back in again, this also plays into Ki o Korosu. The last is Ken o
Korosu, or to kill the sword. In our case its to destroy the opponents
attack by knocking it aside. This is important as it allows for a counter
attack without moving back into the opponent’s distance. Simply block and
counter.
Kendo also has a few theories
that we can use that describe when we have a chance to strike. This is called Datosu
no Kikai, or literally “Chance to strike”. There are 5 different Datotsu
no Kikai that should be viewed as normal strategic chances to strike.
Most of the time if you do not follow these or view these then you are flailing
out without a plan and most of the time a skilled martial artist will recognize
you are not planning your attack and will take advantage of this.
The first of these is Debana
or attacking at the start of your opponent’s attack, we normally call this Sen
no Sen in Karate. As the opponent initiates the attacking motion you
should swiftly attack. This takes speed and technical ability. It’s not about
avoiding the attack its more about over powering your opponent when they attack
and immediately destroying their initiative. Debana or Sen no Sen has a great
risk associated with this type of action. For one you must KNOW what the
opponent is doing and show the speed and accuracy of movement to avoid being
struck with a combination or counter attack. If your mis-reading your opponent,
you can also get struck with a fake or misread attack.
The other end of the spectrum is
Waza
go owaru Toki, or to attack when the opponents attack is finished. This
is Go
no Sen in Karate. Essentially this movement is the opposite of
overpowering the opponent to cause them to change their attack or to destroy
their attack. You allow your opponent to attack and immediately counter attack
to take them off guard. This can be dangerous
and has its calculated risks. Waza go owaru Toki can be dangerous
if you do not see the combination that the partner is throwing. To avoid this,
you may want to shock the attacker with a big movement or with a Kiai if they
are susceptible to this type of distraction.
Itsuka Toki is your chance
to attack when the opponent settles or becomes complacent and not moving
enough. Generally, this is a sign that they are over thinking or they are not
ready mentally. Often, it’s the same confused or overly focused place an
opponent gets into. Watching breathing patterns, movement patterns and the eyes
will let you know the state that they are in. When an opponent becomes
transfixed you should make a powerful attack to take advantage of their mental
state.
Uke tometa Toki is a
chance to attack after a strong block or parry. This is a time that physically
the attacker has been halted. An aggressive attack can be stopped and
redirected, and this will cause physical Kazushi often or off balance. This is
a good time to attack. This is not a normal or slight block but one that halts
the attacker mentally and physically. In Kendo it would be a redirection of the
whole attacker with a Perry that causes off balance or a block to a very
aggressive and strong attack that causes a physical shock or off balancing. In
Karate this is the same. You are causing your opponent a shock with hard block
or redirection of the body and then immediately taking this as a chance to
strangely attack yourself.
The last of the five is Mato
toki, or attacking with the opponent is uncertain. This is done by
confusing the opponent or causing them to be unsure of an attack option. The
opponent will start to think and will not be reacting. This may be done by
staring at the opponent, confusing them with a Kansei or adjusting the
movements you make to have them think about what you are doing. Essentially the
confusion can be caused mentally or physically, but once you note that they are
not reacting as much this is your time
to attack strong and powerfully.
In Kendo and Karate we have the
attacks before attacking, when one is attacking (Attacking at the same time)
and counter attacking. We often call them Taking the initiative, taking the
initiative at the same time or taking the initiative after (Sen
no sen, Sen Sen no sen and Go no sen). These should be explored more as
they play into what we have spoken about previously.
Mittsu no Sen is the
categories of attacking/ counter attacking we will be viewing. Mittsu
no Sen is made up of Sen Sen no Sen, Sen no Sen and Go no sen.
Sen
Sen no Sen is attacking before the opponent can
attack. This is not an aggressive attack however, it’s done at the point when
you realize your opponent is forming the idea of what to throw at you, how they
will attack and when they will attack. Often this is unsettling to an opponent
and can put them off their game for a lot of the next session of Kumite. It
takes a great deal of speed, power, courage and precision to work with Sen
Sen no sen. It also takes a lot
of experience doing kumite to be able to use this strategy successfully. Sen
Sen no sen is more about anticipation of a movement and reading your
opponents.
Sen
no Sen is not simply to attack, it’s to launch your attack
at the same time your opponent moves. This is often, and confusingly, called
“Counter attacking at the same time”.
The best way to describe this strategy is to wait till your opponent
begins to move and is mentally and physically committed to the attack, then
launching your attack after simply avoiding being hit. The “avoiding being hit”
can be done by moving out of the way or by attacking powerfully and landing
your attack first.
The last strategy is Go no
Sen or Sen go no sen. This means to attack after you have defended.
Essentially Go no sen is a plan to counter attack. This is both the most
basic and hardest strategy to put into effect. Most new students will use Go no
sen when they first begin Kumite, but the issue is it is very hard to
master this and make it work smooth. Go no sen also is only effective if
you have mastered the art of faking, drawing in, timing and you have good
reflexes. If you do not draw in your opponent then you are stuck waiting and
reacting, if you do not have the reflexes for this then you end up defending most
of the time as you cannot counter attack properly. Go no sen may seem like
the easiest to work with and train in but it can be more difficult.
Essentially, if you are using
strategy, at its base you are going to attack first, attack at the same time or
attack as a counter attack. The rest is kind of fluff! To really become good at Karate Kumite and
defensive tactics you must keep this kind of training in mind and work with
your partners to address them and push to get good at all three, or at least to
understand and be able to perceive them when they are being used against you.
You can also add to that
combination work vs single direct attacks. The advantages and disadvantages
will be discussed further in another blog post. Until then, train hard…then
work harders!
J
