Monthly Archives: April 2014

Soto and Uchi

Soto and Uchi
By Dan Blackmore
24 April 2014

While there are broader implications of the terms soto (“outside”) and uchi (“inside”), let’s discuss them in the context of chudan uke (“middle-body blocks”) in martial arts.  Setting up by the ear, and swinging the arm across the body to perform the chudan uke means that the block travelled from outside to inside; thus an “outside-to-inside” block.  Setting under the opposite arm or across the body, and swinging the arm outwards means that the block travelled from inside to outside – “inside-to-outside” block.  In some organizations, the convention is to name the block according to where the block ends, so the outside-to-inside block is called “uchi uke,” and the inside-to-outside block is “soto uke.”  In Shotokan, this convention is reversed: the outside-to-inside block is soto uke, and inside-to-outside is uchi uke. Each block is named from where the “set” takes place.  This is the convention that the rest of this discussion will follow.

In my experience, a beginner in Shotokan is taught four basic blocks: jodan age-uke, for blocking the head, soto uke and uchi uke for blocking the torso, and gedan barai to block groin attacks.  So, looking at this list, we note that we are given two basic tools to deal with middle-body attacks, while our heads and groins only get one block apiece.  This implies that while jodan age-uke and gedan barai can each work as catch-all blocks for a beginner to defend from upper- and lower-targeted attacks, neither soto uke nor uchi uke could be used as an “all-in-one” tactic to deal with ANY middle body attack.  Application of soto uke and uchi uke must each have its strengths and weaknesses as a tactic, and as karateka, we must train these chudan blocks together to discover the ideal contexts in which to use each block.

Let us investigate a middle-body punch from an opponent and restrict ourselves to consider only soto uke and uchi uke.  First, imagine an opponent’s punch coming from your right-hand side.  To simplify things, we will imagine blocking with your right arm.  If blocking soto uke, your forearm can strike the back of your opponent’s elbow joint and direct the punch across your body.  Not only are you successful in blocking the attack but the soto uke also effectively acts as an attack to your opponent’s elbow and as a means to partially tie him up with his own arm.  This approach limits your opponent’s options for follow-up attacks and potentially brings him off-balance.  You end up in a prime position for counter attack/follow-through.  If you instead block uchi uke, you stopped the punch, but your opponent’s elbow joint is not struck, he is not closed-off or off-balance, and he is able to continue attack without hindrance.  After the block, you are not in an advantageous position, but stay at more of an even-keel with your opponent.  You must work harder and be quicker to defeat your opponent.

Now, imagine a punch approaching from your left-hand side, and you’re still blocking with your right arm.  If you use soto uke, you block the punch, but make contact with your opponent’s wrist or forearm.  This time no stress to the elbow is dealt, and your opponent is neither off-balance nor any less able to continue with a combination of attacks.  Also, your opponent’s punching arm is able to bend around your block to grab or land a glancing strike.  Once again, you’re now facing head-to-head with your opponent with no positional advantage – strike fast and first with your counter!  If you use uchi uke instead, you are once again able strike the back of the elbow joint, partially tie-up and off-balance your opponent by controlling his punching arm, and have an advantage for your follow-up techniques.

What have we found?  While both soto uke and uchi uke are equally effective in stopping an initial punch, we must remove ourselves from thinking about only one incoming attack at a time.  It is the opponent that you must deal with, not just the attack itself.  Both soto uke and uchi uke each work better over the other in its own context, and for an incoming punch, an effective tactic could be to use the appropriate block to remain on the outside of an opponent where possible.  In a tournament bout or real encounter, there is no time to think about your options; you act how you have trained.  Remain aware of the different tactics/options and their implications as you train with spirit and focus!

Weapons Practice

Weapons Practice
By Dan Blackmore
07 April 2014

I have been training with weapons since 2009.  Training began with the bo: learning the basic stances and blocking and striking techniques.  Next came learning the movements of kata.  There is no free sparring in the system, but a set of prearranged attacks and defences is drilled; like a kata performed with two people.  This process is repeated with the sai, tonfa, nunchaku, kama, and tekko.  I’ve noticed how as one rises in rank, the weapons get shorter and so the distance to the opponent reduces.  This follows the history of the evolution of martial arts into karate.  The use of weapons became illegal in occupied territories, so people started using concealable weapons.  To compensate for using weapons with decreased mass, the practitioner had to exert more internal energy to incorporate power into the technique.  The skilled weapons practitioner soon discovered that he could defend against an armed opponent without a weapon of his own.

Generally, the weapons practitioner has three choices when it comes to defence: escape outside of the attacker’s weapon range, shift or step to the side to evade the attack, or rush towards the opponent to interrupt the attack.  The tactic chosen depends on the situation – against a group, hesitation could mean your life and so you must close distance and strike out with lethal force.  On the other hand, perhaps subduing a lone attacker does not require lethal force – targeting a wrist, knee, foot, collarbone, or groin may be more appropriate in lieu of attacking the head or heart.  In any case, those who plant themselves and block are taking a risk.

When matched head-to-head, the heavier weapon always delivers more force.  The lesson in this is that one must not take the brunt of the heavy weapon head-on.  Blocking can be effective, but it should only be used when out of other options.  Let me put it like this: imagine your opponent has a sword that can cut through your own weapon.  No matter how skilled you are, or how quick your reaction time, if you plant yourself and expect your weapon to keep you safe, all it takes is to be wrong once, and you’re dead.  It is naïve to think that you can withstand a strike of a weapon or sacrifice dealing with an attack to deliver your own.  With weapons, think of a tie as both parties killing each other.  To survive the encounter, the primary concern must be to get out of the offending weapon’s path of attack.  Footwork, distancing, and body positioning are crucial in out-manoeuvring an opponent wielding the heavier weapon.  The defender must know the strengths and weaknesses of his weapon as well as those of his opponent’s weapon.

The big take-away from weapons training is that above all, one must learn how to get out of the way while maintaining an advantageous position.  A martial artist would do well to add weapons to his training regimen to gain the perspective that strong attacking and blocking techniques alone do not guarantee success in a bout or real-life encounter.  The use of proper footwork and distancing and being able to quickly switch from offensive and defensive positions must also be incorporated for success/survival.

 

Dai and Shou

Dai and Shou
By Dan Blackmore
03 April 2014

Let’s talk about the concepts of “dai” and “shou” in the context of martial arts and self-defence.

Dai (大 ) means “large” or “big.”  Dai Kanji Translation

Shou (小) means “little” or “small.”  Shou Kanji Translation

As a side note, it is only through actually looking-up this character that I learned that the correct English spelling is “shou.”  Before this discovery I’ve known it to be written as “sho” or “shō” in English.  “Sho” has a variety of meanings and does not mean anything by itself; it needs to be paired with something or used in an expression to give it meaning.  Shō (升) is from an old Japanese system of measurement for volume.  It is still used today, in the production of sake, for example.  Originally one shō of sake was about 1804mL, but it is now 1800mL.  Shō Kanji Translation

The translation of the kanji is pretty straightforward: dai means big, and shou means small, but what are the implications?  We see dai and shou used as suffixes in the names of kata that are paired together.  These suffixes could simply assign dai to the “bigger” kata – the one with the most moves – and shou to the “smaller” kata of a pair.  However it seems more common that we interpret these suffixes as something to indicate the way the moves of each kata should be carried out.  Let’s discuss what it means for something to be considered as being big or small.

When we’re talking about being big, we’re talking full arm and body motion.  This calls for maximum reach of the arm and hip wind-up while you set for a strike/block.  You fully commit to the technique and extended forward just a little bit further to penetrate the target.  The idea is to allow the fist or foot lots of travel distance to fully accelerate and deliver maximum power.  When demonstrating dai while moving forward, you reach a “point of no return” where you cannot retract your body weight halfway through the technique and step back, you can only move forward.

When talking about being small, we’re talking about the use of body shifting and advanced tactics.  In this context “small” refers to the little changes to our approach that can mean all the difference in a confrontation.  There is no set of shou techniques per se; it’s more of an approach to self-defence.  Often, one must generate power with a reduced range of motion.  Proper muscle contraction, hip rotation, timing, and body shifting become even more important without big arm motion.  Generally, small karate happens in the study of application and the practice of kumite.

Shou is about making your blocks and strikes count.  The opportunity to successfully execute a big, powerful technique in a fight is not always there.  Perhaps your opponent can pick up on your timing and you end up striking air, or walking into a fist.  Maybe you don’t have enough time to bring your fist up by your ear and execute a full-motion, classical downward sweeping block to dispatch an incoming kick.  How about if you blocked that jab with maximum effort, but your opponent got a strike in before your counter punch?  What good is utilizing maximum power and energy in a technique if it is not going to be effective?  You’ve got to create openings in your opponent’s defence while maintaining yours, and that’s what being small is all about.  One might learn to rely on body shifting and footwork to avoid attack, rather than taking time to formally block everything that comes in.  This frees up some time to attack your opponent directly, disrupting his timing, and giving the opportunity to follow-up with a maximum power technique.  You draw from experience to develop your own style as you learn to apply the techniques learned on the training floor.

“Dai” is exemplified in the classical forms of each technique while “shou” is developed through experience.  The words I would use to summarize dai and shou are “fundamentals” and “application,” respectively.  Practice of the fundamentals as we train basic and advanced techniques gives us more resources to draw from when we have to apply them.