Enjoying Judo

At this point, I've been training judo for about a month, and I'm really enjoying it. It's pretty amazing how the art exploits balance and leverage. The most elegant judo throws and sweeps use the opponent's weight and balance against him. It's an art that accommodates different body types, heights, weights, etc. In fact, being short with a low center of mass can be quite an asset; shorter opponents are often harder to throw, but have an easier time throwing their taller opponents.

I enjoy the variety that judo presents as well. There are throws, sweeps, takedowns, and ground-based grappling. I've been attending trainings at Cahill Judo academy in San Bruno. The chief instructor there, Willy Cahill, has coached judo for decades, including work with the US Olympic team.

Branching out in Martial Arts

I've been training in Shotokan karate on-and-off for the past 15 years or so.  The original Okinawan curriculum, dating back to Itosu in the late 19th century, consisted exclusively of katas. Hence, the katase must be taken as the core representation of the art form and combat system.

The modern curriculum tends to focus on sharp strikes, punches, and kicks. This is great, but the modern curriculum tends to under-emphasize the joint-locks, grappling, throws, and takedowns found throughout the katas. In fact, the kihon [basics] and kumite [sparring] curriculum tends to look quite different from the katas. One interpretation of this discrepancy, is that the katas are antiquated, mysterious, or impractical. My preferred interpretation is that we're missing something in our basics and sparring training. The grappling/throwing aspect is often under-emphasized.

I'm not the originator of this interpretation. Established practitioners and writers like Bruce Clayton, Iain Abernathy, and Kousaku Yokota have been popularizing this under-emphasized portion of the curriculum for many years. The under-emphasis comes from an over-emphasis in training in a way that complies with tournament rules. Throwing an opponent will not gain points under standard karate tournament rules, but punching or kicking him will.

Anyway, from time-to-time, I've started leading classes at my local shotokan dojo. I make sure to emphasize the grappling and throwing, and make sure the students practice these in pairs, as well as practicing how to fall correctly. I'm also taking a beginner's course in Judo, to get a more systematic treatment of throwing.

At the end of the day, there is nothing mystical about martial arts technique. It's just physics and anatomy. This is why there is great commonality in punching technique across art-forms, from boxing to karate to muay thai.

Karate Interpretations: Sport, Fighting, Self-defense

Over the past year, I've gotten back into Shotokan karate. I grew up doing karate, and completed my blackbelt exam when I was 15. There was a great sense of community with my dojo growing up, in Randallstown, Maryland.  The training there was pretty intense, and not geared towards tournaments.

 Over the years, I've been on and off with it. Practical considerations, like time, or distance to the neareset dojo, obviated my formal training when I was in San Diego. I used to train by myself.

It's great for fitness, teaches you about bio-mechanics and anatomy, and it's solid for self-defense. The full system consists of various punches, strikes, kicks, blocks, joint locks, grappling, throws, and take-downs. The traditional style are tailor made for close-range and medium-range hand-to-hand combat.

A problematic aspect arises when a dojo trains with too much emphasis on tournament competition. Tournaments have an artificial set of rules, that really favor high kicks, and fast punches to the body. These techniques alone are fairly impractical for self-defense.

If a dojo trains with too much emphasis on winning tournaments, it tends to ignore the more practical, self-defense oriented styles and techniques. Common moves like arm-bars, wrist-locks, and throws tend to be completely ignored in such a dojo. This is especially problematic for students, who think they are learning how to defend themselves, but are actually learning how to score points in tournament-style sparring.

There are some voices of reason out there, who train traditional karate, and include the grappling and throwing. A couple are Bruce Clayton, and Iain Abernathy. These two have produced books and dvds on the subject, the historical evolution of modern karate, and even lead practical self-defense karate clinics.

No single self-defense system is comprehensive, and so it's good to keep your eyes open. When I watch elite boxers, I see a lot of the same technique and form. When I watch brazilian jiu-jutsu guys, I see a lot of familiar grappling, but enhanced and taken to the ground-fighting scenario. Martial arts are enjoyable for sure.