Category: Martial Arts

To be a well-rounded fighter, you must possess the ability to strike and grapple. Using punching to complement your grappling and ground-fighting skills is very important. In fact, it is necessary to have a background in striking if you wish to excel in MMA fighting events.

For instance, if you’re a grappler and you want to be able to close the distance between yourself and your opponent, you must understand how to strike. A good sense of timing is especially important for you to develop. You must be able to judge the potential danger of the movements of your opponent. Knowing the right time to block a technique and avoid taking punishment from your opponent’s blows is also a product of good timing.

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(Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor Rickson Gracie, above left)

If you are competing in a wrestling match, you might not need to have this type of understanding of timing, especially while you and your opponent are on your feet. But to succeed in MMA competition, you absolutely must have mastered this element of fighting. That will enable you to shoot in for a takedown and totally avoid the punishment your striking opponent will try to inflict as he struggles to avoid being taken to the ground.

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When a fight goes to the ground, I find that being on the bottom and holding my opponent in my guard is very advantageous for many reasons, including the striking possibilities it presents. There are many things I can do on the ground, and I can formulate a strategy there. Striking can mean much more than just punching with my fist. Punching constitutes only about 15 percent to 20 percent of the possibilities. The rest are knee strikes, head butts and elbow strikes. All these techniques are important to know because you must consider the damage that can be done to your knuckles when you execute too many strikes with your fists.

When it comes to MMA fighting, I would much rather look for an opening for an effective grappling move than focus on just hurting my opponent with some type of strike. I always look for the possibility of employing a submission technique, and I always try to defeat my opponent in the most humane way possible, without any unnecessary violence. I don’t think martial artists must focus on violence when they compete, and one way to avoid that is to choose a submission technique over a striking technique.

In any encounter, it is good to be as gentle as possible.

Source: Black Belt Magazine

In my June 1, 2015, blog, I discussed how the soaring popularity of Marvel’s Daredevil on Netflix hinges in large part on its realistic fight scenes, the essence of which is encapsulated in a three-minute, single-shot battle that takes place in the second episode “Cut Man.” The already bloodied, bruised and battered Matt Murdock (Daredevil) must rescue an abducted child from the depths of a Russian mob’s hideout. At the end of the altercation, our hero is much worse for wear, but he emerges with child in hand.

Daredevil approaches its fight scenes in an unusual way. Because the lead character is a mere mortal — like us — he feels pain, sustains bruises and ultimately bleeds a lot. Also, because of the nightly nature of his personal war on crime, he doesn’t have the luxury of being able to disappear from the public eye while his body completely heals.

The result? On any given night, he’s likely to be out on the streets with stitches still in place, sometimes with blood still seeping from his wounds. We’re reminded of that every time he makes a mistake and allows a bad guy to hit an injured part of his body, every time he rolls the wrong way in a fight, every time he stretches his aching limbs to execute a kick or punch. Each fight is a struggle, one that leaves him more exhausted and more racked with pain.

Adding to the physical intrigue, Daredevil, who’s played by Charlie Cox, is clad in a black outfit and fights only at night. That puts his opponents at a disadvantage while it leaves him unaffected because, being blind, he’s used to navigating and maneuvering without sight.

All that leaves stunt coordinator Philip Silvera with lots of opportunities to be creative. By shooting in low light, he gives the audience a glimpse of what it’s like to wage war in Daredevil’s world. It also makes it easier for Silvera to insert stunt doubles into the action. Because Cox isn’t a martial artist and thus doesn’t have well-honed postures and techniques to display, stunt doubles are essential, especially when the script calls for a fancy technique that’s beyond the scope of Cox’s abilities. (You often can tell when a double is being used just by scrutinizing the character’s punches.)

Because Daredevil is so often injured — or about to get injured — the fights seem more realistic. Just as important, they’re shot at normal camera speed, and the actors are allowed to look tired and hurt, even wasted.

Part of the reason all this works is the premise on which Daredevil is based: The hero can heal more quickly and thus fight through some injuries, but he’s still human. However, because of his martial arts training and the belief that he’s doing the right thing, Daredevil can overcome crazy amounts of pain and adversity. When all seems lost, his survival instinct takes over — just like it does in real life when warriors face overwhelming odds.

Sometimes this style of combat is presented most effectively with a slower pace — which brings us back to the aforementioned three-minute fight. When a battle doesn’t need to be frenetic, when it’s one in which emotion trumps fancy skill and stuntmen need to be inserted via the “Texas switch,” a slower pace is often the best choice. The actors don’t need to remember as many moves, and that can make them perform better by eliminating the pressure that comes from the fear of making mistakes.

Back in 1980, I worked on a Chinese kung fu soap opera in which we Texas-switched two stunt doubles for the same star in one shot. We learned that when the cameras roll longer, it can add a new dimension to the action.

Based on that, I have a tidbit of advice for Philip Silvera: If you train your actors and stuntmen so they have the confidence to do 20 or more techniques per shot (like pro dancers do) and use more than one stuntman for the same actor in the same shot, you can create stretched-out fight scenes more frequently. In addition to pleasing martial artists, this will open the doors for some amazing choreography and draw the audience deeper into the action.

Read Part 1 of this article here.

(Photos by Barry Wetcher, Courtesy of Netflix)

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Source: Black Belt Magazine

The part of self-defense that frightens me most is defending against a knife attack. It’s hard to convey the ugliness of combat with a bladed weapon. Anyone — trained or untrained, male or female — gains a significant advantage when wielding a knife and suffers a great disadvantage when facing one.

How should you prepare for this type of potentially fatal encounter? Being realistic in training is the key.

I say this because most martial artists train primarily to deal with face-to-face, Hollywood-style knife attacks. You need to distinguish between what looks good for demonstration purposes and movies and what will work in an actual knife fight.

Think about the way you train. Your workouts should help you gain the skills and attributes needed to deal with high-speed, aggressive blade attacks. Furthermore, your workouts must be shaped by reality. That means they should include functional training methods and reliable techniques.

Research has shown that techniques that depend on fine-motor skills require heightened awareness, proximity sense and precise timing. That’s a lot to ask in a real-life self-defense situation.

It follows that the best techniques are those that rely on gross-motor skills, especially ones you’ve practiced over and over in environments designed to mimic reality. When you start training your body and brain that way, it quickly becomes apparent that keeping things simple is the preferred way to ensure you can function under pressure.

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I’ve found that the best method for getting this kind of experience involves sparring with a resisting opponent using training knives. Knife fights occur at full speed, so all your sparring should be done at a fast pace.

A crucial part of knife training is composed of offensive techniques. Only by understanding the offensive elements of blade combat will you be able to develop good defensive tactics. Knowledge of the way weapons work can give you the advantage you need to defend against them.

Of course, you can’t neglect empty-hand-vs.-weapon training. To keep it realistic, engage in scenarios that occasionally include surrendering as soon as a weapon is deployed, as well as scenarios in which you can’t do that because it would place you in greater danger.

The following is the training progression I teach:

1 — Avoid

Improve your awareness so you can avoid threats. Study the mindset of the sociopath. Review statistics associated with knife attacks. Read about relevant criminal cases.

2 — Escape

Set up training scenarios that allow escape. Engage in “mental practice” that involves planning a quick exit from the places you visit. Don’t forget to envision yourself fleeing along with a loved one.

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3 — Use the Environment

Learn how to identify nearby objects that can be thrown at an armed attacker, as well as objects that can be used to bludgeon or cut him. Also learn how to maneuver so an obstacle or barrier stands between him and you. To ingrain this concept, engage in training scenarios with focus mitts, boxing gloves and so on to serve as throwable objects and other improvised weapons.

4 — Mobility

Develop your perception so that distancing, timing and accuracy become second nature. Practice not engaging with the enemy and making your escape. Don’t forget to train in the presence of role-playing “loved ones” who need your protection.

5 — Engage

Know that this should be your course of action only if your life or the life of a loved one is at stake. When engaging, it’s imperative to grab the assailant’s knife hand with both your hands before executing a counterattack.

Avoid focusing on disarms unless one presents itself. Incorporate training knives of various sizes and designs, as well as all kinds of improvised weapons, into your drills. Train in a variety of environments and adjust your methods according to what works where.

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Blade training is essential in the education of anyone who’s into self-defense. Never make the mistake of thinking a knife attack won’t happen to you or that you can disarm an assailant as easily as they do in the movies.

If you teach, reinforce the notion that “avoid and escape” is preferred to “stand and fight.” Constantly tell your students that this is by no means a cowardly response to an attack. Your possessions can be replaced, but your life cannot.

As they say, there can be only one winner in a knife fight — but more often, there are two losers.

Morné Swanepoel is a South Africa-based martial arts teacher, MMA coach and fitness instructor. For more information, visit CombatCoaching.com.

Source: Black Belt Magazine

It’s important to distinguish between remembering a technique and maintaining one in a reliable-under-duress state so you won’t fail in a violent incident. That distinction is important because when you’ve been startled by an attack, the subsequent physiological response has a diminishing effect on several things: speed of response, effective recall, physical skill, decision making and more.

Although learning hundreds of techniques may be a great hobby and a method to demonstrate skill progression and achieve rank, it won’t help your ability to immediately respond to an unexpected attack. Hick’s Law, if you’re unfamiliar with it, describes choice-reaction time — basically, it holds that the speed with which a person responds is adversely affected by the number of choices available. Having fewer choices results in faster response time.

Physical skills meant to be reliable and useful under duress require maintenance in order to leverage the recency effect, or the tendency to remember and perform skills that were/are recently and frequently practiced. Although people may remember and demonstrate 250 techniques over time in a nonthreatening and passive environment, how many could they sort through, select and execute when their life is threatened?

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To make matters worse, the ability to use fine-motor skills is significantly and adversely impacted when you’re startled and under duress. Your favorite five-step move is futile when Carl the Crackhead whips his stolen steak knife at your face. The precision targeting and manipulation you finally got the hang of with your training partner isn’t possible against the unpredictable and erratic movements of a street thug.

Which brings me to Fitts’ Law. It basically states that bigger things are easier to hit, and they’re easier to hit faster. Fitts’ Law and Hick’s Law have been the subject of many studies. It’s a logical and reasonable deduction that when considered together and applied to fighting, it follows that fewer skills that require less precision will enable you to respond more quickly and effectively. A more compact skill set is easier to maintain, and the individual skills are far less perishable.

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To identify the skills you should focus on, try this: Wherever you train, create a “blind space,” or a training area that you enter without having seen. Have a couple of partners devise 10 different attacks. They should be ambush-type attacks with little or no role-playing, and they should include the use of diversion. Have the partners mix things up so you experience punches, grabs, multiple-opponent scenarios and weapons attacks. When you walk into the training area, the attack should happen quickly, giving you little or no time to size things up.

You’ll notice that you keep relying on a handful of strikes, kicks, movements, positions, etc. They’re likely your keepers. You resort to them in unknown situations in which you’re attacked fast and experience duress because they’re in the category of “nearly intuitive.” You own them.

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There’s an axiom in boxing that says you can’t fight if you don’t have a jab. It doesn’t mean you can’t fight if you can’t throw a jab. Lots of people can ball up their fist and throw a jab. But that’s all they’re doing. They’re not throwing it from angles, it isn’t fast, it isn’t combined with full-body plyometric movement in and out. It’s just a jab.

Having a jab is different. It means you own it. It means that although it’s probably the first technique you learned when you started boxing, years later you’re still practicing it. Why? Because it’s the punch boxers throw most often. Because it’s the foundation of any offense and can contribute to a bombproof defense. Because it sets up almost everything. Because it’s a fundamental yet advanced technique. Because it’s never in jeopardy of becoming perishable due to the fact that you practice it all the time.

My point is that quickly and efficiently defending yourself in an unexpected assault requires you to rely on skills you’ve maintained in that near-intuitive state. You have to own them. I’m not saying you can’t own hundreds. I think you’re lucky — and dangerous — if you truly own a couple of dozen.

(Photos by Peter Lueders)

A former officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, Kelly McCann has studied and taught combatives for 30 years. He operates the Kembativz Civilian Training Center in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Source: Black Belt Magazine

A great artist is measured not just by his fame or even his achievements. He’s measured by his influence on others. Fame alone is nothing.

An artist can be well-known for quality work or infamous for terrible work. Achievements are similar. A man can spend a lifetime creating technically amazing things, but his list of achievements is as inspiring as an accountant’s ledger.

Influence is different. Great artists make people want to be artists.

This is taken from literary theory — specifically, the work of literary critic Harold Bloom — but it applies to the martial arts, too. Just like Bloom’s “strong poets” who influence all subsequent poets, we have our collection of martial artists whose influence permeates certain arts.

Examples: Karate was never the same after Mas Oyama created kyokushin, and the contemporary grappling arts are infused with the strategies and techniques of Jigoro Kano’s judo.

In our time, only one martial artist has achieved an influence that spans everything: Bruce Lee.

***

Bruce Lee’s influence is everywhere in the martial arts. It’s in everyone who studies a traditional art and chafes against its restrictions. It’s in our easy acceptance of cross-training. Indeed, it’s in our pluralist attitude toward martial truth that allows us to study different styles and learn things from each of them.

Even when you turn your attention to sport fighting and reality-based self-defense, you can see Bruce Lee’s influence. It’s evident in the way MMA focuses on functional technique while still trying to be a martial art, and in combatives it’s evident because jeet kune do is part of the lineage of pioneers such as Jim Wagner.

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But Bruce Lee’s influence extends outside the martial arts, too. In the film world, he embodies the fighting arts. For years after he died, Hong Kong moviemakers churned out pale imitations of Lee’s now-classic films. No Retreat, No Surrender took it one step further, making Lee’s ghost a major character.

The influence of the “Little Dragon” showed up in mainstream films, as well. For example, Eddie Murphy said in interviews that he was imitating Lee in 48 Hrs. during scenes in which he’s stalking the bad guy.

Bruce Lee also has been an enduring pop-culture figure. Sometimes it’s subtle — like Urge Overkill singer/guitarist Nash Kato borrowing the name of Lee’s Green Hornet character for the stage and calling one of the band’s albums Exit the Dragon.

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Sometimes it’s ironic — like Mark Wahlberg’s Bruce Lee-idolizing adult-film star in Boogie Nights.

Lee’s influence is in all these things, but most of all, it’s in the millions of people who’ve seen his movies or read his books and said, “I want to do that!” His particular combination of martial arts, philosophy and kung fu theater was exactly what they were looking for, and it sent them on a million martial arts journeys. Influence like that isn’t necessarily benign, however.

***

Bloom’s literary theory is about the anxiety of influence. That is, great poets inspire people to love poetry and write it themselves. But the great poets’ work is so powerful and compelling that it suppresses the creativity of new poets, and that’s why most poetry is derivative and weak. Only the strongest poets manage to create something original.

Again, the martial arts are similar. You can see the humbling influence of Bruce Lee in all the eclectic styles that have been launched since the 1970s but never really went far. They all claimed to meld the best of many styles into one great style, but they wound up being less compelling than jeet kune do.

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You also can see it in the would-be martial philosophers like me, people who try to write something compelling and original. Whatever seemingly new ideas or approaches we have, a little research usually shows Lee was there first.

***

Only time will tell how long Bruce Lee’s influence will last in the martial arts. But while it does last, ambitious martial artists can’t avoid it. They have to find a way to extend or surpass the truths of jeet kune do. It’s what Lee had to do when confronted with the genius of wing chun.

First, he developed a modified version and called it Jun Fan gung fu, but it was too derivative. So he further developed it into jeet kune do. Anyone who wants to be a great martial artist will have to overcome that edifice of deep thought and functional technique and build something even better.

(“Bruce Lee” is a registered trademark of Bruce Lee Enterprises LLC. The Bruce Lee name, image and likeness are intellectual property of Bruce Lee Enterprises LLC.)

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Source: Black Belt Magazine

I was up late editing my next book when I decided to catch up on some DVR’d shows that I hadn’t found time to watch. For some insane reason, before I could press play, I tuned in to a TV show that promised to reveal the top 50 3-D films of all time. The people behind the program wound up choosing James Cameron’s Avatar (2009) as No. 1.

Now, I’ve written film reviews for the past 24 years — covering horror, sci-fi, fantasy, animation, action and martial arts — so I’ve seen a lot of 3-D movies. In fact, my experience with them dates all the way back to Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954). That motivated me to start an Internet search for “top 3-D movies.”

Sadly, none of the lists I found named what I consider the best 3-D film ever made. To me, this indicates that when it comes to martial arts motion pictures, many critics still surround themselves with a bubble of cinematic illiteracy.

So which 3-D movie should those Internet lists have put in that No. 1 spot? Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, the 2012 film that Tsui Hark directed and Jet Li starred in. You have to see it in 3-D to believe it.

In case you came in late: When Western-trained, new-wave filmmaker Tsui Hark directed Zu: Warriors From the Magic Mountain in 1983, he rang in the “fant-Asia” film era. What Tsui did in Zu with a red sheet, some string and camera speed adjustments was eerie and mind-numbing. It came as no surprise that Tsui would be able to handle 3-D technology with equal adeptness.

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My wife and I attended a one-time screening of Flying Swords of Dragon Gate in San Diego in 2012. It wasn’t in a tiered theater that offered unobstructed views; it was in an ordinary cinema where a person with unruly hair happened to be seated in front of my wife, partially blocking her view of the screen and, we feared, totally blocking the subtitles. Nevertheless, both of us thoroughly enjoyed the 3-D showing.

Like the rest of the audience, our minds were blown within seconds. The opening was a bird’s-eye view that followed a trajectory that wound between the masts of a ship. Ordinarily, you’d expect to have masts 3-D’ing into your face, but in this movie, we actually flew through the masts. That illusion caused many viewers to jump back in their seats.

Even the subtitles leapt off the screen. They seemed as though they were right in front of our eyes. My wife could read them without having to strain to see around the hairdo — and for that, we were grateful.

A common issue with American-made 3-D films is that after the opening credits and the studio logo almost poke your eyes out, within 15 minutes most people get used to the effects to the point that they don’t realize the movie is in 3-D. Tsui was wise to make sure the audience never became complacent with the extra dimension in Flying Swords of Dragon Gate.

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One of the many engaging scenes in Flying Swords involved crows that flittered through a mountain pass. It, of course, had everything you’d expect, including birds that were flying toward you, birds that were angrily pecking each other and birds that were bearing beady eyes while seemingly soaring though your lap. Then, out of nowhere, a murder of crows flew into the screen from behind our heads. Like the rest of the audience, my wife and I immediately turned around to see if any other avians were sneaking up on us.

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any wackier, the final fight between two swordsmen began — inside a giant 3-D tornado! It was OMG times three.

Many of the top 3-D films on those aforementioned Internet lists were either animated affairs — which are easier to convert to 3-D for theatrical release — or big-budget efforts — like Avatar, which cost $237 million to make. However, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate is live action and cost a paltry $35 million, which amounts to an extremely low budget for such a high-end production. This is why, in my view, it’s the best 3-D film ever made.

(Photos Courtesy of Cinedigm Entertainment Group)

Go here to order Dr. Craig D. Reid’s book The Ultimate Guide to Martial Arts Movies of the 1970s: 500+ Films Loaded With Action, Weapons and Warriors.

Source: Black Belt Magazine

If you regularly cut tatami mats or bamboo, you’ll become an expert at not only cutting but also bending or, rather, straightening your sword. A bent sword can be the result of using a poor quality weapon, an incorrect cutting technique or both. Even a well-manufactured mono-steel blade or traditionally folded san-mai model will bend or twist if your technique is off.

Strangely enough, bending is the good news. A blade that bends is preferable to one that breaks, chips or cracks along its edge. The fact that a blade bends in lieu of breaking while sustaining no edge damage reveals that its metallurgical structure is in good condition.

(Photo by Robert W. Young)

A sword bends because of damage to its internal crystalline structure. It should be corrected by a specialist who has experience working with steel. He’ll have at his disposal several methods and tools designed specifically for straightening blades. Among them are “straightening sticks,” or implements that will help him remedy bends as well as twists.

Although these tools and methods are best left to the experts, there are more conventional ones that can aid you should you need to tweak your sword yourself.

Before you begin, some words of caution are in order: A bent sword cuts flesh as easily as a straight sword. Furthermore, it has a curious appetite for its owner’s flesh. Prior to beginning any work, put on safety goggles and Kevlar gloves.

Step one: Inspect the blade for damage other than the bend or twist. If the edge has a chip, it must be polished out before you attempt to straighten the blade. If the edge has a crack or the blade is fractured at any point, don’t attempt to straighten it or use it for cutting. A bent blade will tend to bend again at the same point. The steel in the affected area can wrinkle during the bending and straightening process. If improper technique is used, it might eventually break at the same point.

Step two: Prepare the blade for straightening. Determine where the bend or twist begins and ends and place a piece of masking tape across the convex, or outwardly bowed, section. Use a pencil to mark the tape at the center of the bend. Then mark where the bend starts and stops.

Masayuki Shimabukuro in action (Photo by Rick Hustead)

Step three: At the middle marking on the tape, attach a short length of half-inch dowel across the blade at a 90-degree angle. Secure it with rubber bands. Obtain two more dowels and use rubber bands to attach them on the opposite side of the blade at the beginning and end of the bend. The more acute the angle of the bend, the closer the two dowels will be to the center one.

Step four: Place the sword in a vise with the edge facing upward. The far jaw of the vise should press against the two outer dowels. If it’s not wide enough to accommodate them, you can lay a piece of angle iron over one or both jaws to effectively widen it.

Step five: Slowly tighten the vise. While doing so, be sure to support the sword by holding its handle. That will direct the pressure precisely onto the dowels while ensuring that the blade doesn’t shift. The goal is to put pressure on the shinogi (ridgeline) of the sword with little to none being applied to the edge.

Step six: Once you’ve corrected the bend, hold that position for 15 to 20 minutes. You can then loosen the vise and check the blade for straightness. If the new “set” hasn’t taken, repeat steps four and five.

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Complications: You may find that you have to bend the blade farther in the opposite direction to encourage it to take the new set; do so with extreme caution. If the blade has multiple bends or is twisted, you may have to straighten it several times with the dowels in varying positions. That could entail reversing the positions of the dowels to bend adjacent sections of the blade in different directions.

Making your life easier: A differentially heat-treated blade, or one that’s hardened only along the edge and softer at the spine, tends to be less difficult to straighten than one that’s tempered throughout its structure.

Alternative tools: To straighten a blade using clamps instead of a vice, prepare it as described above. Then place two 2-by-4 wooden blocks end to end on the edge of a workbench or table with a space between them that’s wide enough to accommodate the length of the bend.

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Rest the blade on top of the blocks with the apex in the middle of the space. The bend should create an arched “bridge” between the blocks. Using two large C-clamps, secure each end of the blade and its associated block to the bench. Use a few layers of masking tape to prevent the clamps from touching the blade. Place another block on the highest point of the bridge (where the blade is bent the most) and position a large C-clamp over that point so it applies pressure on the wood and the bottom of the bench, then remove the other clamps. Finally, tighten the clamp until the blade is straight.

Leave the blade in this position for 10 to 20 minutes, then remove it and check for straightness. Repeat as necessary until the blade is straight.

Carl E. Long has earned advanced rank in shorin-ryu karate, shito-ryu karate, Okinawan kobudo, aikido, shindo muso-ryu jojutsu and muso jikiden eishin-ryu iaijutsu. He’s the senior student of the late Masayuki Shimabukuro and the highest-ranked member of Jikishin Kai International under Shimabukuro.

Source: Black Belt Magazine

Choy lay fut is one of the most widely practiced styles of kung fu in the world, and one of the art’s rising stars is Plantation, Florida-based John Wai. He began training in wing chun kung fu when he was a teen, then studied choy lay fut and ended up falling in love with its perfect combination of forms, weapons and full-contact fighting.

In addition to training with Wong Gong, a fourth-generation instructor, Wai spent time under the tutelage of his well-known godfather, the late Lee Koon-Hong, who was considered by many to be the most visible instructor of the hung sing branch of the Chinese art. Lee’s Hong Kong academy produced many full-contact champions — including San Francisco’s Tat-Mau Wong — and Wai was raised in that atmosphere of graceful forms and powerful fighting when Lee relocated to the United States.

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Wai says choy lay fut (also spelled choy li fut) is based on 10 elements: chum (downward block), na (grab), kwa (hanging backfist), sou (swinging hook punch), chop (straight punch or stab), pow (uppercut), cup (downward punch), biu (shooting or sideways swinging punch), chong (slamming hit) and deng (kick). One of the style’s nicknames, kwa sou chop, reflects the three elements that ring fighters consistently use with great success.

In kung fu lore, kwa is said to resemble an elephant swinging its trunk or a dragon swinging its tail. The kwa choy (blast) is perfect for attacking an opponent because its oblique downward angle makes it difficult to block.

John Wai

Wai relates a story of his teacher fighting full-contact against someone with a tight guard position and good blocks: “Lee Sifu did kwa against the guy’s guard hands, but he hit the guard hand so hard that the opponent’s hand went back and hit him in the face, knocking him out cold.”

The versatile kwa can also be used as a jab, block or follow-up to the sou choy by gearing these techniques toward the opponent’s head.

The second punch, sou choy, is a true knockout blow. It resembles the motion of a dragon with the waist swinging behind the blow to add power. This long-range hook punch is Wai’s favorite because it travels at a downward angle to hit the opponent’s head or body.

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“You can use the top knuckles or the forearm as your striking surface, depending on your range,” Wai says. “With the footwork, a sou choy executed with the rear hand carries a lot of weight, whereas a sou that is fired off the lead hand would have a longer range — so you can use the same punch for attacking different angles. The important thing is that the arm needs to be bent at the point of contact to prevent injury to your elbow.”

Because it is a long-range punch, the sou choy is easier for the opponent to see, so it must be delivered quickly to avoid opening yourself up to a counterattack. It is best executed after a combination of hand or leg techniques, Wai says.

The chop choy can be any kind of straight punch, not just the spade-shaped panther fist that many instructors teach. “The panther fist acts like a knife with a blade that can pierce or stab,” Wai says. “Thus, it is geared toward pressure points such as the solar plexus, throat, ribs and bridge of the nose — which gave it the nickname of cheun ngan choy, or ‘stealing the eyes.’ The chop choy is also used for quick counters and employs body torque to add more propulsion to the blow.”

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When you execute it, stay relaxed like a boxer, Wai says. “Don’t tense until the moment of impact so you get a whipping power with your body. That powers your strikes [more effectively] than brute tension and allows you to combine them in ways that really capitalize on your opponent’s weak or open angles.”

(Photo Courtesy of John Wai)

Dr. Mark Cheng is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer who researches the Chinese martial arts and traditional Chinese medicine.

Source: Black Belt Magazine

In the first part of my Furious 7 blog, I noted that action-based movie franchises that feature martial arts have a tendency to act like the month of March: Enter like a lion and exit like a lamb. In other words, each sequel usually has fewer and fewer fight scenes, with the Taken and Bourne films being prime examples.

However, since the release of Furious 5, this franchise has made fantastic fights and awesome automotive duels a staple. The formula seems to be working — Furious 7 became the fastest film in history to earn $1 billion globally.

Photo by Scott Garfield/Courtesy of Universal Pictures

For those who came in late, in Furious 7, villain Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) seeks revenge against Dominic Torretto (Vin Diesel) and his family, along with CIA agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), for what they did to his brother in Fast & Furious 6.

An explosive early scene in the latest movie pits Hobbs against Shaw — two military-trained he-men overflowing with self-confidence — in an all-out test of strength, technique and mental acuity. Being athletic and in possession of profound pugilistic skills, Johnson and Statham were committed to perfection during the filming. “When it comes to fighting action, Jason brings authenticity to this franchise,” Johnson said. “He’s a pretty tough guy, and he’s legit. He’s all about wanting to make every scene incredible, and with the action sequence put together, I was happy. It’s Jason showcasing his well-versed martial arts and me inflicting Hobbs’ very straightforward, hard-core way of fighting.”

Photo Courtesy of Universal Pictures

One of the most challenging fights in Furious 7 is set inside a speeding, out-of-control bus. It features Paul Walker and Tony Jaa — a tricky task for Jaa because running, jumping and flipping are integral parts of his style.

On the subject, fight choreographer Jeff Imada shared the following: “My goal was to utilize the tight confines and give audiences a feeling of great action and have Tony show off his signature moves. It was nice to use traditional techniques but to also allow improvising while incorporating their precarious environment.”

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In Furious 6, Michelle Rodriquez (Letty) takes on MMA standout Gina Carano, and in Furious 7, Rodriquez mixes it up with reigning UFC champ Ronda Rousey. To ensure the two fights looked different, Rousey fought in high heels while wearing alluring attire. Imada managed to keep the choreography fast-paced with constant and relentless movement from both combatants.

Photo by Scott Garfield/Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Then there’s the Dom-vs.-Shaw street fight that accelerates from zero to full throttle in seconds. In it, Dom’s visceral emotional power is propelled by the desire to protect his family, and he rages against the stone-cold assassin out for revenge.

Diesel, a fan of Shaw Brothers kung fu flicks, stepped up his training and worked out with Jaa during his downtime to ensure the sequence was as ferocious as it was sinuous.

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Statham remarked, “Furious 7 is full of testosterone, and the best way to show it is to get down and dirty with bare knuckles — that’s the way Shaw and Torretto wanted to do it.”

But what really ensures that all the fights work and blend with the over-the-top, high-octane automotive stunts is the way all the action was filmed using a “shaky camera.” Normally, that’s not something that appeals to martial artists, but in Furious 7, each shot was held long enough to prevent the fight sequences from devolving into the kind of visuals seen in music videos.

Photo Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Note: In my Furious 7 write-up, I didn’t dwell on the fact that co-star Paul Walker died during production. By now, most of the world knows about his death. However, it’s worth mentioning the fatal car crash occurred while the vehicle was doing 93 mph on a stretch of road in Valencia, California, that was signed for 45 mph. Life is not an action film — please drive responsibly.

Read Part 1 of this review here.

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Source: Black Belt Magazine

“For me, the tonfa is a symbol of harmony,” Kina-san told me once. A friend of my karate teacher’s, Kina-san used to give some impressive demonstrations with a pair of his favorite weapons. I had seen him spin a tonfa and catch a solid wooden staff that was being swung at him, then hit it with such force that the staff cracked. So I had my doubts about the harmony stuff.

The simple tonfa, originally a handle used to rotate a gristmill, has been overshadowed by some flashier Okinawan weapons, but it’s every bit as effective and deadly as any other component of the makeshift armament of the Ryukyu. I’d been shown graphically how it could generate enough force to smash bones or pulverize organs. I couldn’t begin to guess how it could possibly symbolize harmony.

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Kina-san was born in Hawaii, but he spent his high school years living with relatives in Okinawa. He trained extensively in karate there. He returned to Hawaii in 1940, just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Bad timing.

Fearing imprisonment at the hands of U.S. authorities, he spent most of the next four years living in a friend’s hunting cabin in a rural part of Maui, gardening to feed himself and practicing with the tonfa to pass the time.

One summer evening, Kina-san told me about those years and the ones before when he was a karate student in Okinawa. I asked him what he’d meant when he said the tonfa was a symbol of harmony. He explained that while appearing to be of simple construction, it’s actually a complicated tool to manufacture. It must be fashioned carefully and with some precision to withstand the tremendous stress of combat and the abuse of daily training.

Fumio Demura teaches the tonfa in Tonfa: Karate Weapon of Self-Defense. Order the DVD here!

The Okinawans discovered that a long time ago when they began adapting various farming and fishing tools for combat. One of those tools — called regionally a tonfa, tunfa or tuifa — was originally made of wood that came from a native species of tree similar to our white oak. These tonfa — the word means “handle” — were used on millstones. The projecting knob was inserted into a hole in the mill’s upper stone, and the longer shaft was used as a handle to rotate it against the lower stone.

Used this way, relatively little stress was placed on the tonfa. When they were adapted as weapons, though, the Okinawans discovered the tonfa often broke where the knob was inserted into the shaft. Several experiments failed to produce a tonfa that could hold up during combat.

Eventually — and I hasten to add that Kina-san admitted this was a folk tale, possibly true but not to be considered history — a farmer noticed that fishing boats were patched with wooden plugs similar in circumference to the knob of a tonfa. The plugs, called fundu, were subject to similar stresses. If the fishermen could craft a plug that was watertight and still flexible enough to withstand the motion of the boat, he reasoned, the same technology could be applied to the tonfa.

The flaw in his plan was that a rivalry existed between many farming and fishing communities in Okinawa. People who lived only a mile away were considered “outsiders,” and few would have dreamed of approaching them to ask a favor. Yet that’s exactly what the farmers decided to do.

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Two of them volunteered to go to the fishing community and humble themselves by asking for advice on making the tonfa stronger. They learned that the method of wood joinery was known to only a couple of local fishing families. The farmers went to them and were surprised to be met with respect.

The fishermen took the farmers down to the beach and shared their knowledge. One secret of the fundu was that they used a part of the iju, a tropical tree indigenous to Okinawa that’s been employed for making seagoing canoes and boats for centuries. Sections of iju wood were cut across the grain and then soaked in sea water to make them fit tight while remaining flexible.

The farmers thanked their unexpected benefactors for revealing the method. Then one of them asked, “Why did you share your secrets with us when there has always been so much distance between farmers and fishermen?”

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Members of the two fishing families explained that several generations ago, the fishermen needed a wood that was supple and strong to repair their boats. Frustrated by their lack of success in locating anything suitable, one of them had finally gone to a nearby community and sought out a farmer who was famous for his woodworking skills. It was that man who taught them to use the iju wood for their plugs. By instructing the two farmers, the fishermen said, they were in a sense repaying a favor once done for their ancestors.

Whether that’s true or not is a matter of conjecture, for one frequently hears these sorts of tales about the old days in Okinawa. Even so, I’ve compared some older versions of tonfa made by expert craftsmen with modern factory-produced units. With knobs that are pegged or glued, the newer models will hold up for a while, but sooner or later they’ll crack or loosen. The old ones, however, stay strong and tight no matter how hard they’re used.

It makes me wonder if there isn’t some truth after all in Kina-san’s story.

Dave Lowry has written Black Belt’s popular Karate Way column since 1986. Go here to subscribe to the print edition of the magazine. Click here to subscribe to the digital version.

(Photos by Rick Hustead)

Source: Black Belt Magazine