In Japan for a few weeks

We are back here in Japan for the best part of a month. The following practice regime here in Nippon is not "revolutionary" by any means, but is physically demanding and technically relentless. I think that this hard basic style training, and the sheer pressure for exactness (at all times) is what separates the traditional karate dojo in Japan from most everywhere else. My best wishes to you from Sakura covered Nippon. - André.
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Stationary kihon: From hachinoji-dachi: (1) Chudan choku-zuki; (2) Jodan choku-zuki; (3) Gedan choku-zuki; (4) Sambon-zuki; (5) Jodan age-uke; (6) Chudan soto-uke; (7) Chudan uchi-uke; and (8) Gedan-barai. From migi then hidari renoji-dachi (9 & 10) Migi & hidari chudan shuto-uke. From heisoku-dachi: (11) Chudan mae-geri; (12) Yoko-keriage; and (13) Yoko-kerikomi. From heiko-dachi advancing into zenkutsu-dachi and back: (14) Mawashi-geri. From heisoku-dachi driving rearward into zenkutsu-dachi and back (15) Ushiro-kerikomi. From heiko-dachi advancing into zenkutsu-dachi then back: (16) Chudan oi-zuki. From hidari then migi zenkutsu-dachi: (17 & 18) Hidari & migi chudan gyaku-zuki. From hidari then migi zenkutsu-dachi: (19 & 20) Hidari & migi mae-geri. {REPETITIONS: 30-50 repetitions with maximum snap after 10-20 warm up techniques. Typically these warm-ups also include dissected versions of the waza. I.e. - four step mae-geri with "ichi" being called four times etc}.

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Ido-kihon (1) Chudan oi-zuki; (2) Jodan age-uke kara chudan gyaku-zuki; (3) Chudan soto-uke kara chudan yoko empi-uchi; (4) Chudan uchi-uke kara chudan gyaku-zuki; (5) Gedan-barai kara chudan gyaku-zuki; (6) Chudan shuto-uke kara nukite; (7) Ren geri: Chudan mae-geri kara jodan mae-geri; (8) Mawashi-geri; (9) Yoko-keriage ; and (10) Yoko-kerikomi . {REPETITIONS: No warm up set, just straight into it with full speed. Only 10 repetitions of each, but a long pause between each count. Explosive off the mark to 'total stillness' and zanshin}.
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Kata & Kumite Typically ido-kihon is followed by a couple of bouts of kihon kumite, namely the standard methods of gohon and/or kihon ippon kumite as "basic training". From there kata is drilled based on one kata in isolation being fastidiously repeated (over and over again) with every sub-action being under harsh scruntiny. . Training is ended by a few rounds of very intense jiyu-ippon kumite, uchikomi & jiyu-kumite
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© André Bertel. Kyushu, Japan 2011.

Never Satisfied

My practice today included some kata, calisthenics and lots of mae-geri (front snap kick). Thinking about mae-geri as the mother of all kicks, and it still challenges me to no end. Generally speaking, I know deep in my stomach that it’s literally impossible to be satisfied with the kihonwaza (fundamental techniques), but this is what should spur karateka on!

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A beautiful aspect of this is that kihon forces you to feel like you’ll never be any good at karate, but over time, with quality training, you do indeed see the improvements, whilst at the same time you can see even greater things from the higher peak that you stand on. This of course brings you right around, full circle, where you must face your weaknesses with less naivety, and try to overcome them once again from scratch… A never-ending process which is extremely humbling.

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Bad habits: What’s more, our bad habits may return, therefore our technique must become even more acutely refined to overcome these inevitable challenges. Being in my mid 30’s I think of ‘Space Invaders’. I’ve never been into computer games, however, as a young lad Space Invaders was pretty popular. As I’m sure you know, as the player advances, things speed up considerably, and more enemies come. Things don’t change very much, there are no special graphics, no special moves – it is very simple, you just have to be better and faster at doing the same thing (to avoid being blown up into “even worse looking dots”).

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In this regard, with the exception of being zapped, it really is like karate. As you progress troubles come faster, so you have to be better, concerning yourself with “higher order” problems. Returning to my practice today, especially in regards to mae-geri, it was extremely challenging based on this inherent principle in isolation, and will no doubt always be.

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The key is to embrace challenges and allow them to fuel your motivation, especially when considering the core techniques of karate-do. I always tell my students “simple and easy sit at different ends of the continuum”. This is why kihon training never ends for the karateka and why we can never feel satisfied with our technique.

© André Bertel. Christchurch, New Zealand 2011.

Complete update of video links

For my past video links including competition, seminars around the world, training etc please click here: http://andrebertel.blogspot.com/2011/01/andre-bertel-karate-do-video-links.html

BELOW, BY REQUEST ARE 'QUICK LINKS' TO THE MOST RECENT UPLOADS:

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FEBRUARY SEMINARS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kckvNnOa8Sk

JANUARY SEMINAR IN CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND (Begins with a slow rendition of Kakuyoku-Nidan Kata): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m34qsesUDEQ

SOME MORE COMPETITION CLIPS: http://andrebertel.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-kumite-videos-posted-on-youtube.html and http://andrebertel.blogspot.com/2011/01/three-more-kumite-videos-on-youtube.html

VIDEO FOOTAGE FROM EARLY LAST DECADE: http://andrebertel.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-video-andre-bertel-ijka-jks-new.html

ASSISTING ASAI SENSEI TEACHING IN HAWAII, U.S.A: http://andrebertel.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-video-assisting-asai-sensei-in.html

© André Bertel, Christchurch, New Zealand 2011.

TRAINING FIRST!

Karate is practice, training, one's skill and heart... Not dan, titles, qualifications and especially not organisation. In saying that I've re-posted this article as my original post, which was very blunt, has hurt some people's feelings and pride. I'd like to restate here, that my opinions are certainly not gospel, just my opinions and I'm sorry if some people feel offended by them. This appology was not requested by anyone, but rather from my own wish to make anyone who has been offended to feel better. This blog is about my own personal karate training and views, and if that is upsetting, perhaps it is a site which you should avoid. Regardless, I will do my best from now on to avoid causing any offense to all visitors.

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FOCUS ON TRAINING FIRST and fore mostly, and everything else will fall into place. Here are some photos of me self-training in Kakaji Japan (Bungo Takada, Oita-ken) - because as I said at the start of this post "training is what counts". These are courtesy of my lovely wife Mizuho. My best regards to you all.

© André Bertel. Christchurch, New Zealand, 2011.

New video uploaded

© André Bertel. Christchurch, New Zealand 2011.

TACIT KARATE

The majority of highly advanced techniques, principles and applications in karate can be best explained as tacit or unspoken knowledge.

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An example of tacit karate are the oyo-jutsu (applications) of the numerous forms of double punches in Shotokan such as heiko-zuki, awase-zuki, yama-zuki, hasami-zuki and others. These punches more than often attack corresponding points on the human body which greatly magnify their destructiveness. Such techniques are most effective at close range, typically in a self-defense context to finish an attacker. If explicitly taught with their respective kyusho (vital points) they are extremely dangerous, even performed with moderate power. A very basic example could be a seiken hasami-zuki simultanously impacting on the opponents throat and base of their skull (first cervical vertebra).

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Of course other traditional karate styles such as Goju-ryu, Wado-ryu, Shito-ryu, Uechi-ryu, Ryuei-ryu and Shorin-ryu also have these techniques, which are equally effective, but with slightly different form.

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The widespread use of double punches in all of the traditional styles is highly indicative of how much they were valued by the old masters and effectively employed in hand-to-hand combat. Therefore, double punches are an excellent of example of tacit karate knowledge handed down from the past. Needless to say, tacit knowledge in karate is tactit knowledge for a good reason!

© André Bertel. Christchurch, New Zealand 2011.

What's your stance? (The Draft)

From a constructivist view point, especially when considering that this website follows my daily training and teaching, here are some of the photos from the original 'What's your stance' article, which I actually wrote last year (For the article please click here: http://andrebertel.blogspot.com/2011/03/taking-stance.html). Usually the articles are written a few months ahead of time, as I can never write for more than 15 minutes at any given time, due to my university schedule, personal life and daily karate commitments. Rather than harp on, I thought I'd make this post to give some insight on how I produce the content on here. All the very best, Osu!

© André Bertel, New Zealand 2010 (published March 2011).

Taking a stance!

The tachikata (stances) of Asai-ha Shotokan-ryu Karate include heisoku dachi, musubi dachi, heiko dachi, hachinoji dachi, uchi hachinoji dachi, renoji dachi, teiji dachi, kosa dachi, neko ashi dachi, sanchin dachi, hangetsu dachi, shokutsu dachi, zenkutsu dachi, kiba dachi, kokutsu dachi, fudo dachi and others. They are all essentially `transitional positions' or `landing gears' to launch, deliver, recover from, or to `set up' various techniques/combinations. This is especially the case when considering the effective oyo (practical application) of kata.

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Here I am displaying several of the IJKA tachikata as taught by Tetsuhiko Asai Sensei. Such critical technical issues make our preservation of Asai-ha Shotokan-ryu Karatedo all the more important, as we are keeping Sensei's technical legacy alive by our practice.

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We understand and respect that karate is a changing martial art, nevertheless myself, and many others will continue to practice pure martial arts karate, the way Asai Sensei taught us, via his lifetime of research. This is the stance we take!

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© André Bertel. Christchurch, New Zealand 2011.

Keriwaza II: Form & strength first, flexibility second.

I was swamped by emails after my last post titled `keriwaza’ so rather than answer everyone individually, I thought I’d make post answering ‘the consistent inquisition’: “How can I improve my flexibility for kicking?” Originally I decided to post with a bit of humour… However I amended this, deciding to answer the `main question' sensibly. All the very best in your endeavours, Osu! André Bertel.
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Too much focus on flexibility: Personally I believe this is where many people go wrong. My advice is to first and fore mostly develop form and strength, and SLOWLY build up flexibility to increase range of motion. Aim to have perfect gedan and chudan traditional keriwaza in slow motion and with maximum speed. If effective TRADITIONAL jodan techniques are not possible, just forget them! What I mean by `traditional keriwaza’ are kicks which travel a high path and smash upward, downward or directly into/onto the opponent with effective weapons i.e. – mawashi-geri coming down with josokutei (the ball of the foot) or sune (the shin); ushiromawashi-geri with kakato (the heel) etc.
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Have no preferences: As you can see in my photos and videos, I can kick just as well with both legs, just like punching with either hand, or being 100% comfortable fighting either side forward. Anything less is not good enough, it shows poor training. This is not bragging, it is essential FOR EVERYONE WHO IS SERIOUS ABOUT THEIR KARATE.

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If you are interested in actual stretching methods or ways to improve you kicks, please do some searches here on my blog via the search engine at the top left corner of the page.

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© André Bertel, New Zealand 2011.

Keriwaza I

There are many keriwaza (kicking techniques) in Shotokan Karate-Do, the more common include mae hiza geri, mae geri (keage and kekomi), fumikomi, yoko geri (keage and kekomi), ushiro geri (kekomi and keage), mawashi hiza geri, mawashi geri, gyaku mawashi geri, mikazuki geri, ura mikazuki geri, kakato otoshi geri, ura mawashi geri, ushiromawashi-geri etc.

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Variations: In addition to these and other keriwaza, you can kick with either the mae-ashi (front leg) as a kizami geri or cutting kick, or the ushiro-ashi (rear leg). In special circumstance you can also opt to use a tobi geri (jumping kick) or kick from the ground i.e. kata like in Unsu, Hachimon etc. Add to these variations different ranges/depths of kicks, angles, footwork, differing karada no buki (weapons of the body) and so on... It soon becomes clear that we have a vast array of kicks in our

arsenal

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The foundational keriwaza: The most important kicks early on in the karateka's training are those which are featured in the five Heian kata, Tekki-shodan and the five Junro kata, but also others featured in the kyu grading syllabus. This is because these keriwaza are the basis for all of the others, and allow the karateka to later specialise in techniques which suit their personal needs, physique and so forth.

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Dispelling a kicking myth: When kicking Shotokan and other `so-called traditional karate' people are often too religious about not coming up onto their toes, which is an important aim (feeling/intention), but not required in reality. By, aiming to keep the heel down, even if/when you come up onto your toes, you will not endanger yourself of falling to the ground. The overcompensation of keeping the heel down is an important skill, but is certainly not an end in itself. Try kicking a heavy bag full power. You will notice that you do come up onto your toes, even if you are trying to keep the heel down. Now try the same thing coming up onto your toes... If you don't fall over, you will find that your kick is not nearly as effective. Of course this also applies to punches and strikes. The OVEREMPHASIS of keeping the heel down has its origins not in the traditional Martial-Art of Karate but rather in modern transformation of karate [kata] into an aesthetic sport.

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Simple logic for self-defence: Gedan (lower level kicks), Chudan (middle level kicks) and Jodan (upper level kicks) are all important for training, but it goes without saying that in self-defence, for most people, the best kicks are low. The logic is that YOUR LEGS ARE CLOSER TO YOUR OPPONENTS KNEES, GROIN/PELVIS, SHIN etc... Just like your hands are closer to his nose... In saying that I have employed higher front kicks with "great success" whilst working in the security industry, and I've seen others also do this. But again I have to emphasise, the snap kick to the shin or groin followed by the elbow or punch to the head/face is far more consistent...

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The keriwaza of karate-do is extremely varied, but like all other techniques, their key lies in optimally using the body mass and momentum/ acceleration via correct technique. Keriwaza is of particular use in understanding the kahanshin (lower body) and hara in a most extreme way. I follow my late teacher, Asai Tetsuhiko Sensei's maxim which is "to physically study to respond to any situation, by being able to reactively use the body as a weapon from, and to, any position, without the need for any conscious thought." This Asai-ha Shotokan-ryu training philosophy means that all techniques, including all keriwaza, must be intensively practiced and made second nature.

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© André Bertel. Christchurch, New Zealand 2011.