Post by jimlukelkc on Aug 9, 2011 13:58:14 GMT
The following is an excerpt from a book I am currently reading and are some" rules" detailed by Dr Elmar Scmeisser, a research scientist studying eyes, vision and theoretical constructs to do with vision, involved in study of kata.
Don't be bound by Label Disease. Just because the technique is officially called a
down block, doesn't mean you can't use it as a parry or punch combination
followed by a grab and a groin strike.
2. Everything you do causes some damage or severe pain to your opponent.
3. Slow movements mean “This is difficult.” Pay attention to this technique because
it will be very difficult to pull off in the real world.
4. When a technique or a series of techniques are repeated it means "This is
important." Note: performing the same set of techniques twice or three times
may also not be a true repetition but a true sequence that looks like it but which
is better explained as a connected series of different moves.
5. Any jumping techniques really mean that your opponent flies through the air
after being thrown. You are not jumping over a stick. No one will ever, nor have
they ever, attacked anyone's ankles with a 6 foot long stick you can jump over.
6. Crossing the feet generally shows pivoting in place rather than the horizontal
action that it appears as in the kata. Add a corner there, and change the
performance line.
7. Always, always, always consider the move(s) before and after what you're looking
at. Do not think in blocks of techniques that are obvious. Step backward one
technique or forward one technique to understand the current one.
8. Never, ever let go of the opponent unless it's definitely "over". He might kill you
if you let go of him after hurting him badly.
9. There are no blocks in kata. There are no defensive movements, only
counteroffensive ones, and the follow ups are in the kata sequence in the
appropriate order.
10. Damage escalates in each sequence of techniques. Usually the last technique is
the nastiest.
11. There is no single, original intent behind any technique. Think freely.
Brainstorm.
Using this methodology, Elmar Schmeisser has pioneered some interesting kata
applications. For example, the first down block followed by a stepping punch in Heian
Shodan can be reverse engineered into a dangerous and violent sequence. The first
action, folding the arms before you step outward to block, is actually the blocking action:
a nagashi-uke using your fist with the top hand, a punch to your chosen target on the
opponent with the other hand. The top hand is a fist, so while you are blocking, you also
punch into a sensitive spot surgically creating pain in the forearm and stunning your
opponent for the next move. All of this happens before you even throw the downward
block action.
Next, grab the opponent under the elbow of the arm that you struck with your parrying
action with your right hand. Step into him, and strike as with a downward block into his
testicles. Reach behind your opponent as you step in, grab his belt at the small of his
back, and punch into his throat hard, crushing the trachea and toppling him over the
grabbing hand in the back. All of this is the first two techniques in Heian 1.
So, forget what you've learned about applications. You should especially forget the
horrible applications demonstrations that are photographed in most kata texts. The
sequences showing some famous guy turning in different directions blocking this punch
and blocking that kick and then turning again are products of applications incompetence.
Rather than thinking of a kata as a large fight scene with a bunch of opponents, try to
think of your kata as a flow chart.
For example, the first five techniques of Heian Shodan are alternatives to each other, not
linear steps within a fight. The first two techniques are one possibility; the next three
techniques are another possibility. The turning action adds yet another possibility for
ending the first alternative or beginning the second alternative.
Rather than being scripted fights with four opponents, kata are sets of combinations and
alternative combinations to each other that are arranged together, but are not necessarily
usable as a whole kata. The reason that they are all in a whole kata is because they are all
squished together so that you can practice them more easily. They're compressed. And,
because the kata applications are explained in other kata and in other sections of the
same kata, they are encrypted.
Don't stand in the middle of four guys and block their punches and then punch them
back, turn and repeat. That's insane. Instead, using Schmeisser's Rules and the concept
of Flow Charting, you should be able to find tons of valuable combinations and defenses
against almost any sort of attack.
I realise most of us here are using this as a model anyhow but succinctly put dont you think?
Don't be bound by Label Disease. Just because the technique is officially called a
down block, doesn't mean you can't use it as a parry or punch combination
followed by a grab and a groin strike.
2. Everything you do causes some damage or severe pain to your opponent.
3. Slow movements mean “This is difficult.” Pay attention to this technique because
it will be very difficult to pull off in the real world.
4. When a technique or a series of techniques are repeated it means "This is
important." Note: performing the same set of techniques twice or three times
may also not be a true repetition but a true sequence that looks like it but which
is better explained as a connected series of different moves.
5. Any jumping techniques really mean that your opponent flies through the air
after being thrown. You are not jumping over a stick. No one will ever, nor have
they ever, attacked anyone's ankles with a 6 foot long stick you can jump over.
6. Crossing the feet generally shows pivoting in place rather than the horizontal
action that it appears as in the kata. Add a corner there, and change the
performance line.
7. Always, always, always consider the move(s) before and after what you're looking
at. Do not think in blocks of techniques that are obvious. Step backward one
technique or forward one technique to understand the current one.
8. Never, ever let go of the opponent unless it's definitely "over". He might kill you
if you let go of him after hurting him badly.
9. There are no blocks in kata. There are no defensive movements, only
counteroffensive ones, and the follow ups are in the kata sequence in the
appropriate order.
10. Damage escalates in each sequence of techniques. Usually the last technique is
the nastiest.
11. There is no single, original intent behind any technique. Think freely.
Brainstorm.
Using this methodology, Elmar Schmeisser has pioneered some interesting kata
applications. For example, the first down block followed by a stepping punch in Heian
Shodan can be reverse engineered into a dangerous and violent sequence. The first
action, folding the arms before you step outward to block, is actually the blocking action:
a nagashi-uke using your fist with the top hand, a punch to your chosen target on the
opponent with the other hand. The top hand is a fist, so while you are blocking, you also
punch into a sensitive spot surgically creating pain in the forearm and stunning your
opponent for the next move. All of this happens before you even throw the downward
block action.
Next, grab the opponent under the elbow of the arm that you struck with your parrying
action with your right hand. Step into him, and strike as with a downward block into his
testicles. Reach behind your opponent as you step in, grab his belt at the small of his
back, and punch into his throat hard, crushing the trachea and toppling him over the
grabbing hand in the back. All of this is the first two techniques in Heian 1.
So, forget what you've learned about applications. You should especially forget the
horrible applications demonstrations that are photographed in most kata texts. The
sequences showing some famous guy turning in different directions blocking this punch
and blocking that kick and then turning again are products of applications incompetence.
Rather than thinking of a kata as a large fight scene with a bunch of opponents, try to
think of your kata as a flow chart.
For example, the first five techniques of Heian Shodan are alternatives to each other, not
linear steps within a fight. The first two techniques are one possibility; the next three
techniques are another possibility. The turning action adds yet another possibility for
ending the first alternative or beginning the second alternative.
Rather than being scripted fights with four opponents, kata are sets of combinations and
alternative combinations to each other that are arranged together, but are not necessarily
usable as a whole kata. The reason that they are all in a whole kata is because they are all
squished together so that you can practice them more easily. They're compressed. And,
because the kata applications are explained in other kata and in other sections of the
same kata, they are encrypted.
Don't stand in the middle of four guys and block their punches and then punch them
back, turn and repeat. That's insane. Instead, using Schmeisser's Rules and the concept
of Flow Charting, you should be able to find tons of valuable combinations and defenses
against almost any sort of attack.
I realise most of us here are using this as a model anyhow but succinctly put dont you think?