When the face meets the kata

 The other day when I wrote in my blog post "The Candle Burns" an old memory:

 

I remember one time when Dr. Harper moved into attack me faster than I expected. When that occurred I reacted without thought and used a section of kata I had never explored its application potential.  I really never felt it was very important. However almost immediately I responded using that kata section. Before I realized it that movement struck him in the face. Doc was not to happy about that. I certainly made an impression.

Later thinking about it, i realized a new training opportunity, just using the kata when someone rapidly attacks. Quite different from the normal (yet still useful training tool) of working a kata section against a standard training attack, where the opponent strikes and stops moving as you continue your response.

I have not thought about this for decades. Reflecting on that incident I believe I have accurately worked it out as to what happened.

When Doc rapidly moved forward with his right hand to strike me, I moved slightly forward with my own right foot and begin to perform the right ascending then descending backfist from Naihanchi kata.

But as he was moving forward, and before I concluded my descending backfist his face ran into my ascending arm, about 1/2 way through the movement. So I really did not strike him instead he nailed himself on my arm as I was just entering that Naifanchi movement.

It was so sudden, as if he stepped in to strike and instead his face went 'splat' or my forearm.

This was something new for me. I certainly proved that you really did not have to have a formal application for a kata movement, just performing the movement was enough to do the job.

That started a long chain of working out what happened. Working out the principle behind what occurred. Then realizing that proved that nothing in kata study was without worth.

Eventually I worked out that something Ernest Rothrock had used on me about a decade prior to that, when it felt as if he took my arm off when I threw a strong roundhouse punch at him by simply lifting his open hands and letting my roundhouse strike into his hands, And great pain was the result.
 

Eventually I worked out that even forming a Kamae, as from Wansu kata, served the same offensive purpose by allowing the attackers arm/kick/face simply run into the kamae and let the resulting pain conclude the attack.

 

This string of events/discoveries had been very unexpected yet extremely useful at the same time.