First I am not
right, but this is how I arrived attempting to understand how an application of
amy movement (defined by me as to what a movement was). Logic became my point
of starting.
Coming from a
paradigm for Isshinryu, where there were virtually no kata application study in
it, and it was a successful way to study Isshinryu, proven over many years.
Without an
instructor to guide me, I worked out an underlying principle about how an
application could work, which everything I later experience, and I never discovered a better way to express what an
application should be,
I called it the
Unlocking Principle for me. Basically it stated that for any movement a block/strike could have a strike following and
whichever combination was used resulted in a downing of the opponent (explosive
striking, locking or takedown).
Several other Principles
I worked from.
1. Kata I’m defining as a relatively fixed tool (hey I’m polite) develop
certain energy potential, and application potential tries to use as much of
that energy as possible, as exactly as possible, for greatest results.
2. A technique application may be Offensive in nature, Defensive in
nature, or Counter Offensive. But as in combat all plans are thrown aside when
the enemy is joined (borrowed that
line of course from many movies – last seen in Tom Cruise’s Last Samuari) My definitions of course are just an arbitrary analysis of
potential.
Offensive
– when I choose to use a sequence to directly attack the opponent (frequently
from the side or the rear).
Defensive
– They strike first and I defend against their attack to stop it.
Counter-Offensive
– They’ve attacked and I survive and counter-attack. The simplest answer is
I’ve been stuck in their grab and yank and I respond.
3. The manner of Stepping is not defined by the kata.
The
concept of application potential does not follow 100% kata technique, but
allows a bit of warp to consider all the techniques potential. Most times I
start with identical stepping as in the kata, but at times when I find the
shape of an attack does not make it harmonious I’ll step differently.
Principles behind those choices will come at that time.
4. The manner of Stepping is either Straight or Curved. Now there’s a line that should be included in
the Code of Karate, IMO I must be clear
I’m a solid crescent step guy. That’s how I was trained to execute the system,
it’s how I teach the system (getting very heavy on my students (advanced too)
cases when they don’t use it), and I believe it represents one of my core
values behind Isshinryu energy development.
But
being a rational individual I fully understand very similar power potential
(perhaps the same) exists with the straight style of stepping. It’s just not
what I do and if I go into my normal chant on stepping execution, feel free to
tune me out. Course I’m right <Grin>
5. Behind the crescent step. There are many types of energy development
in our body all of which combine in our execution. What I really like about the
crescent step is how we pull our lower body into our centerline and then can
explode from that centerline into our opponent, increasing the energy of our
strike.
The
specific timing I strive for is 2/3rds of the step is drawing into the
centerline and 1/3rd of the step to explode out.
There
are subsidiary benefits, such as allowing you to change your mind ½ the way in
your step and back up from the centerline using replacement stepping, if the
opponents coming in faster than you wish. (thanks to Rich Kordel for suggesting
that to me years ago). So you get to
compress some of your energy and explode it into your attacker, combining with
the other energies from your body.
6. Description Shorthand
I tend
to use a short hand I developed long ago to write less.
RFF =
Right Foot Forward
LFF =
Left Foot Forward
RFB =
Right Foot Back
LFB =
Left Foot Back
RP =
Right Punch
LP =
Left Punch
And so
forth.
Even other
principles followed:
Murphy's
law as: "Anything that can go
wrong, will go wrong".
Finagle's
Law of Dynamic Negatives Anything
that can go wrong, will—at the worst possible moment often restated as “Murphy was an optimist!”
Other principles
I worked up;
And still more
principles I discovered, ones used by Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming in his 2nd
Book on Advanced Tai Chi, back in1986.
Avery movement
can be used 3 possible ways (restated perhaps from my memory.
1. Every movement
can be used as a cavity strike (a strike potential into
the opponent)
2. Every
movement can be used to lock an opponent ( as Chinna)
3. Every
movement can be used to take down an opponent (takedown)
I have seen
other Chinese styles later restate these principles, breaking some further down
into sub categories.
As I was working
out these principles I was also experiencing many other ways of study, perhaps
re-expressed as paradigms of application. Each was different from each other in
different ways, Yet they were also extremely effective.
One view I
developed.
restated:
Other thoughts:
So that was
where my starting point originated.
All of which
came before I worked out my own answer. And there was more.
Yet that is
something for another day.
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