Post by Bob Davis on Oct 19, 2012 22:36:24 GMT
I was going through some of my old journals the other day and came across the following article by Jeff Nash (now sadley no longer with us). He's not around to ask but I don't believe he'd have a problem with me posting it here, he was a keen discusser of karate and wrote this to provoke a debate on a number of topics he thought were important. I believe it to be relevent to a number of threads that have been discussed here in recent months but also a source of futher debate (particularly about what we pass on to our students).
Enjoy, (sorry about the format/quality BTW this is just OCR'd and pasted).
Enjoy, (sorry about the format/quality BTW this is just OCR'd and pasted).
"Charms to ward off evil"
Harsh decision or justified?
The dangers of bad ‘knife defence’ instruction!
By ]eff Nash
In April this year (2003) I attended a grading examination as Chief Examiner to a group
that were affiliated to the Tora Kai Karate Association. The assistant examiners were the
group's fifth dan chief instructor Mr. Smith (real name withheld), his fourth dan assistant
and two TKKA fourth dan verifiers.
Only one person failed their examination, unfortunately it was a student going for his
Shodan grading and as a top student he was expected to pass the examination with flying
colours.
All went well as he performed quite excellently on kihon, kumite and kata. His kata
bunkai/oyo was very good and realistic. And so he moved on to the final section of the
examination; self-defence. Initially everything went well. He defended against kicks,
punches, wrist and clothing grabs. His baton defences were very sharp and I was thinking,
"this guy really has something, one to watch for the future", when disaster struck.
His first knife defence scenario was of the mugger threatening and demanding money.
Tori was holding the knife in his right hand with t he point approximately one inch away
from Uke’s throat. Uke raised both hands in a submissive gesture then slapped the outside
of Tori's wrist with his left hand and simultaneously slapped Tori's clenched fist with his
right hand. The theory of this technique being that the strikes would compel Tori to release
the knife. What actually happened was that the knife wasn’t released and it sprang back
and impacted Uke's neck and would have severed the carotid artery. He was asked to
repeat the defence and this time, magically, the knife was knocked out of the hand.
There were two more defences that were impractical to a high degree and as such, I didn't
ask to see any more. The student was told the grading examination was finished and he left
the hall.
The discussion that followed on the performance of the students examined for Kyu grades
weighed up the pro's and con's of individuals. The procedure was that the assistants gave
their evaluation, followed by the verifier’s. I then explained my views and decisions and
passes were awarded to all. We then discussed the performance of Mr. Jones (real name
withheld).
I listened with interest to all comments, which were very favourable to Mr. ]ones and then
dropped the bombshell. ”I disagree and cannot award Mr. ]ones his Shodan rank". There
was a stunned silence and then Mr. Smith very indignantly questioned my judgement. I
explained that I thought Mr. Jones a worthy karate- ka but his knife defences were so poor
that he would have been left dying on the dojo floor. As such, I didn’t believe that dead
men could be awarded a grade. This was my first reason for failing him.
My second reason was, in my opinion, more important for it had far reaching implications.
Prior to the grading Mr. Smith had advised that Mr Jones was to become an instructor if he
passed and was to take over a club as resident instructor.
Mr. Jones had been taught defences that were quite obviously inefficient and unworkable
yet he had never evaluated these techniques nor questioned their efficiency with his
instructor. He had simply learned them and then demonstrably failed to make effective use
of them on his grading examination. I explained to Mr. Smith and the others that this meant
that if he had gained his rank, he would have gone blithely away and taught these same
techniques to students at his new club; thereby instilling false confidence in these trusting
students and possibly risking their very lives. A heated discussion then took place but I
refused to change my decision.
The Kyu grades were called back into the dojo, awarded their certificates and dismissed.
Mr. ]ones was then called in and I informed him of my decision and the reasons why I had
failed him. He was visibly disappointed but to his credit, he politely bowed and made no
comment. Mr. Smith then stood and told us all he strongly disagreed with the decision to
the extent that he was going to sever all ties with the TKKA and would personally award
Mr. Jones his rank at the next club meeting. I then put forward to Mr. Smith that in my
opinion he was placing Mr. Jones in an unenviable position by this statement. That if Mr.
Jones accepted the award, he would always know that there was a shadow tainting the
award of his black belt.
So, was my decision unnecessarily harsh or was it justified?
Am I wrong to believe that students have the ultimate responsibility of evaluating
everything they are taught and to question instructors when they have doubts?
Isn't it about time that instructors started to evaluate techniques they have learned and that
they are now passing on to others?
If instructors fail to do this and pass on techniques that are suspect then all they are doing
is ” Selling Charms to Ward off Evil".
Harsh decision or justified?
The dangers of bad ‘knife defence’ instruction!
By ]eff Nash
In April this year (2003) I attended a grading examination as Chief Examiner to a group
that were affiliated to the Tora Kai Karate Association. The assistant examiners were the
group's fifth dan chief instructor Mr. Smith (real name withheld), his fourth dan assistant
and two TKKA fourth dan verifiers.
Only one person failed their examination, unfortunately it was a student going for his
Shodan grading and as a top student he was expected to pass the examination with flying
colours.
All went well as he performed quite excellently on kihon, kumite and kata. His kata
bunkai/oyo was very good and realistic. And so he moved on to the final section of the
examination; self-defence. Initially everything went well. He defended against kicks,
punches, wrist and clothing grabs. His baton defences were very sharp and I was thinking,
"this guy really has something, one to watch for the future", when disaster struck.
His first knife defence scenario was of the mugger threatening and demanding money.
Tori was holding the knife in his right hand with t he point approximately one inch away
from Uke’s throat. Uke raised both hands in a submissive gesture then slapped the outside
of Tori's wrist with his left hand and simultaneously slapped Tori's clenched fist with his
right hand. The theory of this technique being that the strikes would compel Tori to release
the knife. What actually happened was that the knife wasn’t released and it sprang back
and impacted Uke's neck and would have severed the carotid artery. He was asked to
repeat the defence and this time, magically, the knife was knocked out of the hand.
There were two more defences that were impractical to a high degree and as such, I didn't
ask to see any more. The student was told the grading examination was finished and he left
the hall.
The discussion that followed on the performance of the students examined for Kyu grades
weighed up the pro's and con's of individuals. The procedure was that the assistants gave
their evaluation, followed by the verifier’s. I then explained my views and decisions and
passes were awarded to all. We then discussed the performance of Mr. Jones (real name
withheld).
I listened with interest to all comments, which were very favourable to Mr. ]ones and then
dropped the bombshell. ”I disagree and cannot award Mr. ]ones his Shodan rank". There
was a stunned silence and then Mr. Smith very indignantly questioned my judgement. I
explained that I thought Mr. Jones a worthy karate- ka but his knife defences were so poor
that he would have been left dying on the dojo floor. As such, I didn’t believe that dead
men could be awarded a grade. This was my first reason for failing him.
My second reason was, in my opinion, more important for it had far reaching implications.
Prior to the grading Mr. Smith had advised that Mr Jones was to become an instructor if he
passed and was to take over a club as resident instructor.
Mr. Jones had been taught defences that were quite obviously inefficient and unworkable
yet he had never evaluated these techniques nor questioned their efficiency with his
instructor. He had simply learned them and then demonstrably failed to make effective use
of them on his grading examination. I explained to Mr. Smith and the others that this meant
that if he had gained his rank, he would have gone blithely away and taught these same
techniques to students at his new club; thereby instilling false confidence in these trusting
students and possibly risking their very lives. A heated discussion then took place but I
refused to change my decision.
The Kyu grades were called back into the dojo, awarded their certificates and dismissed.
Mr. ]ones was then called in and I informed him of my decision and the reasons why I had
failed him. He was visibly disappointed but to his credit, he politely bowed and made no
comment. Mr. Smith then stood and told us all he strongly disagreed with the decision to
the extent that he was going to sever all ties with the TKKA and would personally award
Mr. Jones his rank at the next club meeting. I then put forward to Mr. Smith that in my
opinion he was placing Mr. Jones in an unenviable position by this statement. That if Mr.
Jones accepted the award, he would always know that there was a shadow tainting the
award of his black belt.
So, was my decision unnecessarily harsh or was it justified?
Am I wrong to believe that students have the ultimate responsibility of evaluating
everything they are taught and to question instructors when they have doubts?
Isn't it about time that instructors started to evaluate techniques they have learned and that
they are now passing on to others?
If instructors fail to do this and pass on techniques that are suspect then all they are doing
is ” Selling Charms to Ward off Evil".
