Shotokan Karate
Get Ready For A Western Boxing Prodigy
Hey guys,
As you know, if you have been visiting this blog on a regular base, I am interested in all kinds of martial arts, self-defense concepts, fighting styles, workout programs etc.
Just today I revisited Western boxing which brought back some vivid memories of some of the toughest, but also some of the most rewarding workout sessions that I have experienced.
Now, I will admit that as a kid, my dad would show me a couple of punches, but nothing serious. Maybe you went through the same.
That came later in my life after a number of years of practicing Shotokan karate when I needed a change in scenery by switching to Western boxing for a while. And I gotta tell ya it’s good to empty your cup every now and then.
Just learning the basic footwork can make all the difference.
Throw in a couple of techniques like jab, cross, hook and uppercut, when you’re not jumping rope.
Believe me, you’re gonna feel great about yourself.
Well, today I found a video clip again on a boxing kid or better prodigy that I just have to share with you.
After watching it, you will be either impressed or jealous or I don’t know what. Let me know.
Just keep moving for about 2 1/2 minutes. Enjoy!
The First Week In Review In 2010 At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
Again, I would like to wish you guys a very healthy, wealthy and Happy New Year 2010!
Just in case you want to catch up with what happened this past week, here’s the review:
Shotokan Karate De Ashi Barai And Takedown Incorporate a Judo leg sweep and see what happens.
Happy New Year 2010! Wishing you health, wealth and happiness!
MVP (Most Valuable Posts) 2009 At TheMartialArtsReporter.com This has to be one of my personal favorite posts so far!
How Can Anybody Become 2-Time World Champion In Racquetball AND Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu? Find out more about this allround athlete from Hawaii.
Learn An Effective, Yet Underestimated Self-Defense Technique From Sifu Paul Vunak, The Former Hand-To-Hand Combat Instructor To U.S. Navy SEALS.
Inspirational Quotes To End The Year (And Start The Year) These quotes will get you and keep you going.
And as you might already know, it is becoming a tradition around here to end the Week In Review with at least two quotes.
Here is what I have for you today and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do:
“It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war.” JFK
“Facts are stubborn things.” John Adams
Stay in touch.
Shotokan Karate De Ashi Barai And Takedown
I promised you that I would be with you again, today.
In general, most people know the martial art Shotokan Karate for its explosive kicks and punches.
Additionally, a very important technique that will throw an opponent off balance is one that I would like share with you today.
This technique is used in Judo, too. It’s known as “de ashi barai” or foot/leg sweep.
The following video I found is in German, so I will give you the brief description:
Initiate your attack with kizami tzuki, follow through with gyaku tzuki, apply de ashi barai with your rear leg by sweeping your opponent’s back leg while pulling his upper body in the other direction.
Control your opponent’s upper body during his fall to finalize wth a gyaku tzuki gedan.
But as we know, talk is cheap. So here we go with Samad Azadi, 5th Dan, from Hamburg, Germany:
Another Week In Review At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
Here’s your week in review at TheMartialArtsReporter.com and two great quotes, just because it’s that season again!
Gegard Mousasi, MMA Fighter With A 27-2-1 Record And Only 24 Years Old
From Leiden,The Netherlands, referred to by many as “Europe’s Best-Kept Secret”.
Is Yildiz Aras The World’s Best Female Karate Kumite Competitor?
From Istanbul, Turkey, meet the “Strong Girl”.
New Zealand’s Maori Haka Get Warriors For Battle
From ‘Lord of the Rings’ country comes a ritual that will get any opponent’s attention.
Bruce Lee And Albrecht Pflueger. Albrecht Who?
Find out who this karate pioneer is and what role he played in my life.
Yoga And Martial Artists
If it helps Rickson Gracie in his workout regimen, could you possibly benefit from yoga?
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu – Behind The Scenes In Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Rio is more than just the ‘Girl from Ipanema’.
And here are the two quotes as promised. I hope you like them.
“Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.”
Lord Byron
But wait, there’s more!
“Nurture your mind with great thought, for you will never go any higher than you think.” Benjamin Disraeli
Thanks again for following me at TheMartialArtsReporter.com
Is Yildiz Aras The World’s Best Female Karate Kumite Competitor?
You all know by now that my life-long martial arts experience started with Shotokan karate and even though I haven’t taken official classes in a very long time, I don’t consider having stopped, I simply look at the hiatus as having taken a break.
But be assured or as Arnold “The Terminator” Schwarzenegger would say, “I’ll be baaack!”
All of that being said, you will appreciate my never-ending interest in Shotokan karate and who can blame me, right?
I have been thinking about Girl Power on the karate circuit and a female competitor who immediately got my attention is from Istanbul, Turkey.
Her name is Yıldız Aras and she is considered to be the world’s best in karate kumite open division.
She just recently celebrated her 32nd birthday (are we even allowed to mention a woman’s age here?).
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Yildiz began studying karate at the tender age of 10 under Yüksel Baltay, a former national karateka.
Yildiz was admitted to the national team in 1994. So let me think. At the age of seventeen!
Foreign sportspeople gave her the nickname the “Strong Girl”. She holds three world champion titles, seven European champion titles, and three Mediterranean Games champion titles.
Now get this:
Yildiz is the most successful Turkish athlete ever, but without any Olympic medal, because karate is not an official discipline at the Olympic Games.
I was researching her achievements in competition since 1997 and believe me when I tell you I almost fell off my chair.
So instead of listing all of them, because that would have made this post the longest in Internet history, I will just show you an excerpt of what Yildiz Aras has accomplished. I repeat: This is only an excerpt.
Are you ready to be amazed? Hajime!
World Championships
Gold 2006 Tampere Kumite open
Gold 2004 Monterrey Kumite team
Gold 2002 Madrid Kumite team
Gold 2000 Munich Kumite open
Bronze 1998 Rio de Janeiro Kumite open
Gold 1998 Rio de Janeiro Kumite team
World Games
Gold 2005 Duisburg Kumite open
World Cup
Bronze 1997 Manila Kumite open
European Championships
Gold 2009 Zagreb Kumite +68kg
Bronze 2008 Tallinn Kumite +60kg
Bronze 2008 Tallinn Kumite open
Gold 2007 Bratislava Kumite +60kg
Bronze 2007 Bratislava Kumite open
Silver 2006 Stavanger Kumite +60kg
Silver 2006 Stavanger Kumite open
Gold 2005 Tenerife Kumite +60kg
Bronze 2005 Tenerife Kumite open
Gold 2004 Moscow Kumite open
Gold 2004 Moscow Kumite team
Gold 2003 Bremen Kumite +60kg
Bronze 2003 Bremen Kumite open
Gold 2002 Tallinn Kumite open
Gold 2001 Sofia Kumite team
Gold 2000 Istanbul Kumite open
Bronze 2000 Istanbul Kumite team
Gold 1999 Euboea Kumite team
Bronze 1998 Belgrade Kumite team
Bronze 1997 Santa Cruz de Tenerife Kumite team
Bronze 1996 Paris Kumite open
Mediterranean Games
Silver 2005 Almeria Kumite +65kg
Gold 2005 Almeria Kumite open
Gold 2001 Tunis Kumite open
Gold 1997 Bari Kumite open
World University Karate Championships
Silver 2000 Kyoto Kumite +60kg
Bronze 2000 Kyoto Kumite team
European Cadet & Junior Championships
Gold 1997 Greece Kumite +60kg
Are you still there?
Is Yildiz Aras amazing or what?
Check out this short, but action-packed video with Yildiz Aras, aka The Strong Girl, aka The Turkish Rose, aka The Golden Girl:
The First Kick You Learn In Shotokan Karate
“Build your house on a strong foundation.”
Getting the basics down is part of creating a strong foundation in martial arts.
Let’s have a look at the kick that is basically considered the most simple one to learn.
As early as white belt student level it is the first kick you learn in Shotokan Karate.
We’re talking about the front kick which is also known in Japanese as Mae Geri.
It can be executed either as a snap (keage) or thrust (kekomi) kick.
In my own personal experience, in sparring, tournament and self-defense, both types have their justification.
The snap front kick can test your opponent’s reaction. I can also stun your opponent and serve as an opening act to be followed up by your closer which can be another kick or just a punch combination.
The thrust front kick is in my opinion a true follow-through technique that can in itself close the deal and when effectively executed inflict major damage on your opponent.
Let’s say you are standing in a left forward fighting stance with most of your weight on your left leg and you plan to kick with your right leg.
Simply lift your right knee while simultaneously turning your left foot slightly to the left (counter-clockwise).
This will open your hips and allow for greater reach.
Then just extend your right leg and hit your target (upper, middle or low) with the ball of your right foot.
After impact, recoil your leg with your knee up and plant your foot to a stable stance. Don’t just drop your leg.
As mentioned above, you apply either a snap or a thrust to the kick.
Important: Always keep your guard up and do your best at holding your balance.
I have noticed when kicking with a snap it is way easier to pull your kicking leg back to your original stance.
In the case of the thrust kick you are really marching forward with a lot of weight and power. Therefore I have found it
to be more practical to have your kicking leg land as for your forward leg.
Keeping it simple:
A powerful front kick can be a very useful weapon in your arsenal for self-defense as well as tournament fighting.
Two Of My All-Time Favorite Shotokan Karate Katas
Yesterday, I already talked about karate katas by re-introducing former World Champion, Jean Frenette.
Today, I would like to share the two katas I used to really like doing while practicing Shotokan karate.
The first one is known as Enpi which translated means ‘Flying Swallow’ and the kata itself tries to depict the dynamic fighting form of a swallow in flight. Hmm.
And the second one is called Jion (translated ‘Temple of Love and Goodness’). It clearly emphasizes the importance of the perfection of the basic stances, notably zenkutsu dachi (front stance) and kiba dachi (horse stance).
Hirokazu Kanazawa, 10th Dan, the Chief instructor and President of Shotokan Karate-do International Federation, impressively demonstrates both of them for us.
By the way, Sensei Kanazawa is one of the very few remaining karateka who were able to train under the founder of Shotokan karate, Gichin Funakoshi.
Alright then, tighten your belt for Enpi and Jion:
Jhoon Rhee, Taekwondo Grandmaster And National Treasure
Back in the day or should I rather say in the late 70s, when I was actively practicing Shotokan karate, some of my buddies and I would go check out Taekwondo schools on our “off” days.
But there never were any real “off” days, because we were just so karate-crazy. Can any of you relate?
I must say that we picked up some great ideas about improving our own kicking abilities on those “off” days by thinking and looking outside the box.
Then came the phase of incorporating contact in our sparring sessions.
And what a blessing it was when I stumbled across information in some martial arts magazine that Jhoon Rhee had developed Safe-T-equipment in 1972 which absolutely revolutionized karate training and tournaments not only in the U.S. but worldwide.
It sure did for us after we got the large box full of equipment. This must have been in 1979 or so. But here I go dating myself again.
And would you believe that I still have my set of Safe-T’s. I kid you not!
Jhoon Rhee, who is now 77 years young and a 10th dan in Taekwondo, did more than just that:
After leaving Korea and coming to the U.S. in 1956 he successfully promoted Taekwondo on such a grand scale that he is today widely recognized as the Father of American Taekwondo.
Due to his countless activities, especially in the Washington DC area, promoting overall fitness and American values at their best, Jhoon Rhee was referred to by Congressman Ike Skelton as a “national treasure”.
Jhoon Rhee and Bruce Lee became friends in the 60s and learned quite a bit from each other.
According to Linda Lee Cadwell they had a very close and respectful teacher – teacher relationship.
Bruce taught him how to much punch and Jhoon taught Bruce how to kick.
They exchanged letters (that’s what people used to do before email and twitter!).
During the late 60s, Jhoon Rhee’s self-defense classes became the talk of the town in the DC area after this TV commercial that people still talk about today:
Jhoon Rhee also showed Muhammad Ali, aka “The Greatest” a thing or two about punching:
Even at the age of 77, Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee is still as active as ever, working out on a daily basis which he hasn’t missed in twenty years and getting in his 100 push-ups per day.
Thank You, Jhoon Rhee, for your never ending inspiration!
Introducing Wing Chun
In my bio you will notice that I consider myself fortunate to have also studied the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun Kung Fu (or in Cantonese also known as Gung Fu).
I studied under Sifu Francis Fong, one of the finest Wing Chun instructors in the U.S.
Coming from a Shotokan karate training background I will admit that studying Wing Chun was a real change of pace, if you know what I mean.
But after having read about some other famous Wing Chun practitioners such as Ip Man, Bruce Lee, Ip Chun, Leung Ting, Emin Boztepe, I just had to give it my best shot.
Wing Chun, translated into English, means ‘Eternal Spring or Beautiful Springtime’ and refers to the name of Yim Wing Chun, who received Chinese boxing training from a Buddhist nun.
At the time the style was nameless.
Yim later married and taught her husband this style of fighting. He then simply went ahead and gave the syle her name, Wing Chun.
There are a number of theories and versions about how Wing Chun originated. I like the one I just gave you.
The typical Wing Chun stance is supposed to be like a piece of bamboo, firm but flexible, rooted but yielding.
Wing Chun favors a high, narrow stance with your elbows kept close to your body and your arms are positioned across the vitals of the centerline.
Attack and defense follow along an imaginary horizontal line drawn from the center of your chest to the center your opponent’s chest. The prime striking targets are on or near this line, including eyes, nose, throat, solar plexus and groin.
With the emphasis on the center line, your vertical fist straight punch will be your most common strike.
Your kicks are to be kept below the waist. This is typical of southern Chinese martial arts, in contrast to northern systems which apply many high kicks.
Chained vertical punches are used a lot in Wing Chun.
You develop your reflexes by searching unsecured defenses through use of sensitivity.
Training through Chi Sao (‘sticking hands”) with a training partner, one practices the trapping of hands. When an opponent is “trapped”, he or she becomes immobile.
Wing Chun also offers forms that are meditative, solitary exercises to develop self-awareness, balance, relaxation and sensitivity. They also help you in the fundamental movement and in generating the correct amount of force.
Wing Chun generally consists of three empty hand, one “wooden dummy” and two weapons forms.
There you have it: Wing Chun in a nutshell.
Enjoy the clip and always protect your centerline!
Blocking A Low Muay Thai Kick
Last Thursday (10/22/2009), you might have read my post about one of my favorites “Low Muay Thai Kick Can End A Fight Within Seconds” and today I owe you a follow-up.
It’s probably better to be the one who is attacking than the one who is on the receiving end.
And it’s probably safe to say that if you are attacking, you should be prepared for your opponent to throw something back at you.
Having a good defense will deinitely increase your chances of not getting seriously hit or injured.
Of course, it would be ideal to simply get out of the way of your opponent’s attacks.
Unfortunately, you will not always have the time or positioning to evade them.
Therefore you have to be able to block or check attacks.
And because I brought up the low Muay Thai kick last Thursday, it is only right that I offer you the defensive technique to deal with this type of attack.
I have to say that when I started Muay Thai years ago I came in with a fairly strong traditional Shotokan karate background and mindset when it came to blocking and counter-striking:
Block the kick by bringing your arm down and counter with a midsection reverse punch.
This actually worked in my favor in a number of tournaments.
But in Muay Thai this led more to a shin hitting the side of my unprotected face or to already described painful thigh that I couldn’t stand on for about an hour.
Can you feel my pain?
Thank you.
Anyway, if you cannot counter the low kick by stepping away or applying a push kick, simply block the low kick by lifting the leg that’s being targeted.
If you do it right and block the attacker’s kick with your knee instead of your shin, your opponent is going to feel the pain in this own leg and will probably be hesitatant in his low kicking actions.
Grasping these concepts have made a big difference is the way I look at blocking and counter-attacking.
I hope this will benefit you, too.
The 2 min. video offers some pretty good tips. Here they are:
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