KARATE
Resource Solutions Page

General questions and training challenges are addressed with reference to BUSHIDO-KAI's book and video resources.
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1. I am having difficulty making some of my basic blocks work against bigger guys in a one-step situation. Any suggestions?

Block delivery will depend on the style of blocks taught. Since I can't see or sense the block you throw, you will have to test it yourself preferably with a trusted, non-competitive partner. Our best resource for testing basics is Cracking the Kata Code, Volume 1 and Road to Mastery, Volume 1. Also helpful will be the Heian Shodan and Heian Nidan DVDs. You can adapt what you learn to your style of karate blocking. If you use Kempo-style circular blocks, you may actually benefit from one of our aiki DVD sets: Aiki for the Streets or: The Elbow Awareness section of Road to Mastery, Volume 5.

2. I don't have any problem with one-step sparring except when the standard drills change to something like two-on-one or some weird angle of attack. Suggestions?

Actually, there are two separate issues here. First, multiple person defense is not easily dealt with using basic karate movements. They tend to be too focused and form-oriented. Good for training coordination and muscle use but slow in application. You may wish to consider Taninzu-waza, an aiki DVD that teaches a set of softer blocks to handle multiple opponents.

The second issue has to do with various angles of attack. This varies a lot depending on the situation the drill puts you in. I would suggest the 3-DVD set Sudden Attack Defense as well as a sogo budo set called Skills and Drills of Seiken Budo. The exercises shown in both video sets may be unfamiliar to you, or you may be quite at home with them; in either case, you will be able to adapt the concepts to the art you practice.

3. I recently read that Shigeru Egami recommended the study of locks and throws within karate. Also, I noticed that Tsutomo Ohshima's translation of Funakoshi's Karate-do Kyohan finishes with several throwing techniques. Unfortunately, my school dwells on tournament sparring in which only sweeps are allowed and no throw can score a point, anyway. Still, I think adding this throwing aspect to my karate will make my self-defense better. Do you have anything else in addition to your Funakoshi's 9 Throws ?

As you know, tournaments are not self-defense and tournament skills do not equate with sudden attack defense.

I agree that adding throws and locks (often found in karate kata but seldom taught) will add an important aspect to your karate as personal defense.

Obviously, I would recommend both Sudden Attack Defense and Funakoshi's 9 Throws (which were modeled after the throws in the back of Karate-do Kyohan), but you can also refer to any of our kata analysis DVDs to find many locks and throws hidden in kata. Choose a favorite kata and get the appropriate DVD. If you want one DVD just to start, I would suggest Situational Self-defense . It covers moves from a number of kata, basic and advanced, but is geared more toward the situation rather than the kata. Also, by the end of 2009, we plan to have a DVD called Hidden Throws and Takedowns of Karate-do . This should fit the bill nicely.

4. It's obvious that if I want to learn a kata or its applications, I would order a DVD of that specific kata, but sometimes the way you do kata is different from the way my school does it. Also, there are several kata we do that few other schools do. Any ideas of how I can get training aids for those?

The way we do kata will be at least a little different from every other school's method as will the way you do kata. Only schools in a large federation that is strict about its practices stand a chance of doing their kata the exact same way. It is also true that if you do a kata differently, there is a chance of it revealing different oyo (applications.) Ultimately, that is unavoidable and should not deter you from getting a ton of information from any of our kata videos. The most generic approach appears in Cracking the Kata Code, Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 . Then, as you mentioned, we have specific kata videos, usually 2 or more kata to a DVD. Our idea was to compare and contrast similar kata and different kata with similar names. We weren't trying to compete with anyone's dojo in how to instruct the kata, rather offer an educated estimation of its history, emphasis and possible applications.

As to the kata you do that no one else does, I have no resource to refer you to except of course to do a web search. However, many of our kata DVDs, even if you are unfamiliar with the specific form, offer great ideas for techniques that can be used in self-defense drills and one-step sparring. So, let's say you did not practice, for example, Aragaki Seisan, but have some kata in your system called Seisan or Sheisan or Sesan. You might be interested in comparing what you have, not only to the Hangetsu and Aragaki forms, but also to the Goju and Uechi Seisan forms, not because you need them for your next exam, but because they offer interesting concepts of engagement, distancing, and self-protection. The same can be said of many of our other kata DVDs.

5. I don't get your sogo budo division. It's not a specific style, so what does it have to offer a karate guy like me?

Our sogo budo division is made up of two kinds of programs.

First, you have themed programs that use various styles to support the central concept of the instruction. Examples of these are The Road to Mastery (about the signposts you pass by on the way up the mastery mountain,) The Science of Sogo Budo (about how arts can integrate hard and soft to become more than they first appear to be,) Principles of Advanced Budo (about principles that apply to both hard and soft arts,) Transmutation (about a specific principle that allows you to see how a lock can be a block and a blow can be a throw, thus integrating your art automatically form within,) and The Chinese Martial Connection (about technical integration of arts because of common historical roots.) If you are interested only in learning the techniques of your own art, these are not for you. But because you have discovered BUSHIDO-KAI and are asking about sogo budo, you are probably venturing into more senior territory. Most highly ranked practitioners are familiar with and even ranked in other arts. The themed programs can help reveal what seniors see in those other disciplines.

Next, you have our in-house integrated art, Takeshin Seiken Budo. The Sei of Seiken can mean True, Right or Righteous, or it can mean Family, Spirit, or a System. The puns are intended. It is my specific way of integrating the three arts in which I have dan rank, aiki, karate and judo. Judo is the least prominent of these although it is the root of the popular Brazilian Ju-jutsu, because it complements rather than dominates most self-defense situations. In other words, you don't try to grab and throw or grapple in self-defense, at least not initially. Aiki and Karate skills come into play first. I can understand why you might not want to learn the whole art, but you might just find that some of the skills revealed in The Secrets of Seiken Budo, The Skills and Drills of Seiken Budo, Attack-the-Attack Seiken Budo, and Minimal Motion Seiken Budo address gaps that one single art (even yours) may not address. We also plan to complete the series with Kick, Lock and Shock Seiken Budo by the end of 2009.

To ask  your own question, email us.
If we feel we can help, we will post sincere, respectful questions as they come in.

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