Karate from the Ground Up. ¤ 2

Zen Mind Beginner's Mind

When we are attacked, we will ordinarily do something. We will do it spontaneously, which means that we will not stop to think about it. Were we to stop to plan things out, our response would come too late to deal with the emergency. But, being unplanned, our response may be ineffectual. So we do something analogous to learning to touch type. We want to learn an effective defense in a step-by-step way, and we want to drill it so deeply into us that it can emerge "on its own" in an emergency just the way that an experienced touch typist can type an entire word without thinking about where each finger has to go and when. "It just happens."

Last time we practiced a block from He´ Quan´ (crane style) that is very similar to what is called, in Japanese, morote tsukami uke. It's a complicated block. So somebody asked, "Why wouldn't we use a block like this?" -- demonstrating a straightforward rising block. The answer, of course, is that one uses whatever block is appropriate to the real-world situation one finds oneself in. Any block that keeps me from getting nailed is generally good enough for me. But that means that we can profitably study many kinds of blocks. The He´ Quan´ block was chosen because it shows what happens to Attacker when he gives his center of gravity away to Defender.

The He´ Quan´ (pronounced like "huh" and "chwen") block is also instructive because it introduces the idea of jing` dao`, the force-path, the flow of forces through a precise path between Attacker and Defender, that has to be followed for the technique to be that technique. (If that doesn't make sense immediately, try turning a door knob the wrong way.)

In the second lesson we are going to look at a block from Qin´ Na´ that is very much the opposite in sensation to the Attacker but also results in a flying opponent and also depends on following a correct jing` dao`. The He´ Quan´ defense looks like you are holding crossed hands in front of your face and imploring, "Don't hurt me!" Initial contact with Attacker is almost imperceptible. If Attacker flies far enough he may even forget that palm that gently displaced his wrist, that hand that grasped his upper arm.

The second block begins with Defender stepping into his opponent's attack and delivering a technique which is similar to what is called a "shiver" in American football. Not being restrained by football field rules, however, the "shiver" is produced by a very solid heel-of-the-palm blow on the ribcage just below Attacker's attack arm. That's not subtle at all, and in fact I think it's called a "shiver" because of what it does to the cardiovascular system and the nervous system. It's quite a jolt. And immediately thereafter Attacker loses some degree of focus on his opposite-side arm. At that point Defender uses his same-ensew hand to trace the bottom of Attacker's ribcage, reaching around to his back, traces his spine up to the base of the neck, then Defender's hand appears next to Attacker's ear, Defender's opposite-ensew hand comes in to stabilize Attacker's arm, Defender's arm straightens, and Attacker goes down. You can see this technique employed at a very high level of expertise in the Ninja video done by Masaaki Hatsumi, whose dojo is in New York City. It's called gansekinage I believe.

This block is useful to learn for several reasons. First, it's an effective block that controls one's opponent without even the necessity of inflicting pain, let alone trauma. Second, in its extended form this block can be quite devastating. Third, and most important for our early work, the jing` dao` is easy to specify, and it must be followed correctly for the technique to work. Something that only "looks like I'm doing the same thing" won't work. Do you have to count each vertabra as your hand ascends Attacker's spine? No, of course not. In fact, you don't have to even touch Attacker at that point. But if your hand doesn't move as though it were tracing the spine, if it doesn't follow the appropriate path, the technique will fail.

Note that in doing this technique there are no particular requirements about standing this way or that way, or, to put it another way, you would be unlikely to go far wrong by positioning yourself spontaneously in performing the opening stages of this technique.

Last time one class member mentioned having been attacked with a baseball bat, so today we will use a hollow plastic bat to begin to consider the question, "Which block is best?" We will briefly show how the Qin´ Na´ defense can be applied against an opponent wielding a bat one-handed. Then we will investigate how we might defend against a bat being wielded as though my head or my chest were the target.

Last time one of the class members spontaneously chose to defend by going "outside" the attacker. By that I mean that if Attacker struck with his right hand, Defender would step to Attacker's right. So in that position if Defender can encourage Attacker to turn a little to his left, then Defender is behind him -- a nice place to be. But what if Attacker is swinging a bat -- at you? There's no good way to get "outside" that attack because the length of the bat extends Attacker's reach a yard, and there is no way to get away.

The He´ Quan´ defense, the Qin´ Na´ defense, and the third defense (which is yet to be taught) are instructive and will take a while to learn. So for the remainder of the class we will concentrate on some basic blocks and basic attacks.

Goals: Extend points of lesson one regarding giving momentum over into the control of your opponent. Learn techniques for real-world application.