Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Makiwawa, Vital Points and other things.


There is movement toward perfection and there is reality that such is not always possible.

 

When I began we were given no specific instruction on makiwara, but there was one on the wall of the Salisbury Dojo, the Karate Barn. So at times we might go over before class and wack away on it or don gloves and strike the heavy bag.

 



As karate moved into the world it filled a variety of different paradigm offering training.


Many times people could not train daily, and then instructors would pick and chose how to train, and how much was appropriate for the student’s situation.

 

There were so many things to learn, we were kept constantly occupied.

 

Nor were vital point striking a thing discussed. But I recall one evening Lewis Sensei gave the entire class a talk about what results might occur for specific strikes. One I recall vividly was when he got to the eyes he mentioned that we were not taught specific strikes to the eyes. That some systems would make great effort to practice them. He made the point that moving fingers as to strike the eyes did not mean you could actually do so. That required intent to insert your fingers into their eyeballs. All the practice did not mean you could actually do it. And if you needed  to you did not need the practice.

 

A little later he got around to discussing the implications of strikes into the throat. How them might shatter the throat and instant death would not occur, but that you would have to watch as the opponent drowned in their own blood. (Of course as much as a caution not to let others hit there, as a caution of what you might do.) The reason I remember this was at  the moment Sensei was describing what might happen a young woman collapsed hearing the description. (Not a comment about young women, rather you never know how what you say may affect some of the audience.)

 

Sometime later I had to move from Salisbury to Scranton. And when there my only choice to train was in switching arts into Tang Soo Do Moo Dun Kwan. A very different system from the Isshinryu I had studied, but with very hard workouts at their technique. (Which means I got a great sweat from their workouts.

 

That training lasted 2 years (I had a contract there). But the biggest advantage was that school had 2 great makiwara there. I had 2 classes a week, and after each class I spent 15 min to 30 min striking the makiwara. The makiwara were there but most didn’t use them No instruction was given, the makiwara was just there to use of not. And the longer I spent striking those makiwara I did not form callouses on my knuckles but did notice they flattened a bit, And after a year calluses did form, but on the pads of my hands where my knuckles were clinched as I struck. So the move I used them the more the ridge of callouses grew.

 

After 1 year in Scranton Charles Murray moved to the area, I was able to return to my Isshinryu training with. But for that first year I also kept my TSDMDK classes because of the contract, and was able to use the makiwara further too.


During my training with him, he described in great detail what he experienced when he trained on Okinawa in Agena in 1972 as a shodan. Among his descriptions were descriptions of a variety of Makiwara and his own training on the makiwara there.

 


 

After that 2 years I never had access to a makiwara. For one thing teaching at the Boys Club and then the Boys and Girls Club putting in a makiwara was not an option, and I also had no desire for youth to use one anyway.

But as I now look back on it I remember instructors telling me how effective my strikes were on their students, or those time I fought at tournaments, not matter the outcome of the day, when changing my opponents often remarked how hard I hit.

I believe my time with the makiwara taught me how to tighten my fist, and that stayed with me for about 30 years, then other things occurred.

On a personal level I believe there are many layers which can be used for training. And correct effort can make all of them work, abet somewhat differently. Teaching with the makiwara does not means surrender effectiveness, just different ways might be addressed.

Still the ‘perfect goal’ would be to use Makiwara as the standard.

And as I studied, researched and thought about karate as time passed, the concept of Vital Point striking became more and more understood by me. I understood why so many past instructors included Vital Point charts in their manuals.



 

The body is filled with areas where being struck there would be felt more dearly. Some are obvious, the eyes, the throat, the groin. Some use a bit more skill, some almost no skill involved. Wheter those areas are covered for instruction often depends more on what the instructor feels more important for the newish student (say the first 5 years), and what might be more discussed with advancing students (say after 5 years) with more discussion as time passes.

I suspect the topic means more for advancing defensive awareness than focused offensive use. I never found anyone who actively taught their karate by focusing on striking the range of vital points.

Then in the mid 1980s the concept of using the Chinese meridian charts began to be seen as a way to teach karate defensive and offensive striking. My studies examined this from a personal Bubishi analysis. Part of which is referred to below.






But my personal analysis ended up feeling this was too complex to realistly use in any detail. Again one can chose what one wants to follow, for myself a knowledge of vital points was more that sufficient.


Then in 1995 I met the late Sherman Harrill. So many things were  revealed. Among them a form of hidden finger strike in the arm were a way to strike into the neck, appearing the same as other’s were striking into the neck for Kos. I doubt it is the same, but no one watching would be able to discern the difference. That it works was the sufficient detail.

And the thing was how almost every strike he used could drop almost anyone. Not that he often did so. He explained that he had to hold so much back, not because of secrect, but because they were not able to be trained in such a short time to work to that extent. He maintained that came from his constant work with an entire range of Makiwara style training.


 

About that time among many other studies I made I might suggest a few below.




About 5 years after Sherman Harrill’s death I met and trained with his senior student, John Kerker in Chicipee Mass at a clinic he was giving there. As he explained the use of a variety of kata techniques from Isshinryu, I watched how he struck his opponent with such power, each time causing him to drop to the floor. I have never seen anyone strike someone continually with such power. I can only imagine his partner must have been one of his students from his own school. I have never seen one dropped continuously and then get up at once to attack again and again.



John’s existence explained so much Sherman had described, and he transmitted it completely into John. (I must note I have not had the pleasure to experience any of Sherman’s other students). John would describe how he did it, and the same explanation Sherman used, it came from constant makiwara work. He also went into a variety of other striking practices Sherman used.

Both of them went into detail how Sherman never worried about striking points. He maintained the only point he struck began at the top of the head and then continued down to the soles of the feet. Literally anyplace on the body he struck he was working to drop anyone with that strike.

I realized I have rambled a bit, but I believe these thought have some meaning. There is more than one way to become effective. But I believe Makiwawa is the king of ways should that option be possible.

 

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