2 of the Worlds very best masters of applied traditional martial arts.
About 3 hair follicles between them 🙂
Sensei John Johnston adaptive Karate and Sensei Iain Abernethy are coming together again for another joint seminar in Derby, UK. Although they are both Karateka, the seminar is open to other styles, especially Taekwondo and Tang Soo Do which have close links to Karate.
I’ve attended courses with both of them individually as well as their last joint seminar and I can highly recommend this seminar to any traditional martial artists who want to be able to apply their art for real World self defence, not just sport.
This was a great seminar hosted by 2 world class instructors, held on the 4th May 2013.
Sensei John Johnston in action
Sensei John Johston, 7th Dan, has worked nightclub doors in one of UK’s roughest city’s. He’s been a high level competitor (back when competitions were a bit more “Wild West”) and was Geoff Thompson’s first martial arts instructor, introducing Geoff to the concept of reality based martial arts.
Iain Abernethy and I after one of his seminars
With him was Sensei Iain Abernethy, 6th Dan, who has taught all over the world, authored numerous books on the practical application of Karate kata bunkai and has produced a number of DVD’s. The chance to train with both of them in one seminar was not to be missed.
There were Karateka there from numerous different styles and it was nice to see some Taekwondo guys too. I was also a bit surprised to see Jamie Clubb there. He’s not an easy guy to pigeon-hole, but if you had to you’d probably put him primarily in the Reality Based Martial Arts camp. Yet here he was training with 2 traditional Karate guys, which is a testament their practical and effective approach and application of their art.
The first session was taken by John Johnston, which looked at the use of “blocking” techniques for destabilising, disruption and striking. We started by looking at using basic blocks for covering up the head to absorb haymakers whilst moving in on an opponent and countering at close quarters.
We also looked at double blocks (simultaneous Lower Block with Inside Block, then the same on the other side), where the arms cross over each other in front of the body (as in the 2nd and 4th movements of Heian/Pinan Sandan). Rather than blocking 2 attacks simultaneously (as used to be taught by our Japanese masters), this was used to block one high attack with the top hand, then use the second hand to come up to trap and secure the attacking hand, leaving the attacker vulnerable to a counter.
Another example was taken from Heian/Pinan Godan where the attacker grabbed the wrist with a cross hand grab and prepared to strike with their other hand. The defender would move to the side, away from the attackers striking hand whist applying Uchi Uke (Inside Block) with the arm that had been grabbed. This releases (or at least weakens) the attackers hold and sets them up for a counter. At all times John emphasised that we should use whatever counter presented itself, rather than rigidly following the kata and thinking that we must follow up strictly with whatever the next kata move might be.
Numerous other examples followed with counters including releases from grabs, taking the attackers balance, striking and taking them to the floor; all taken from or set up by basic blocks.
The second session was taken by Iain Abernethy which looked at grappling and gripping drills from a Karate perspective. Iain has a lot of Judo experience as well, but is very clear on the different requirements of Judo compared to Karate/self protection.
The first emphasis was on establishing a grappling hold which would prevent the opponent from being able to strike us (not an issue in Judo). This involved placing one hand round the back of opponents head and pulling it in to you so as to prevent head-butts (and bringing in your own head in tight as well). This arm was also “inside” the opponents arm so making their arm less effective to attack you. Your opposite arm circles over the top of your opponents arm to secure it to your own body, again to neutralise it. We had to circle over the top of their arm, as they could escape much easier if we tried to circle from underneath.
From here Iain introduced drills where the person at the disadvantage could reverse the position so they they had the advantage. Then we added to the drill to block the previous move and keep the advantage and so on. It is too complex to explain accurately without the use of many pictures or a videos (which I don’t have) and would take pages to explain. So I’m going to cop out on that one. You’d have to experience it for yourself to really understand, but I can say that it was a very clever and practical drill covering an area that most Karateka/TKD practitioners do not explore.
The third session was back to John for bunkai of the Shotokan kata, Wankan. John explained that bunkai does not just mean “application” as it is often taken to mean, but it means “analysis”. We should analyse not just the different movements of the kata, but the different attacks we might face, size/strength differences that we might encounter and the environment we might be in.
He made his point quite succinctly when he called up a young lad (probably early teens) and the smallest person in the room and told the lad “pick me up throw me”. There was a pause and a silence, so John repeated he himself. This time there was some laughter as people realised the point that John was making. It is no good saying that any given application will work for everybody. There was no way that the small lad would be able to pick up and throw a big man like John, so just teaching a given movement such as a throw and a throw only would be selling the bunkai short.
We looked at the first movement of Wankan kata which is normally seen as a high X block, or raising your arms between the attackers arms when he has a 2 handed hold to your neck, then lowering and separating your own arms to break his grip. John gave us several potential uses for this movement including moving inside a haymaker and blocking with both arms and following up with a strike, or moving inside a haymaker and blocking with one hand whilst simultaneously striking with the hand nearest to the opponents head.
Other applications included stepping to the outside of a straight punch and using both arm to grab the attacking arm and apply an arm lock/take down.
At this point John told us that he wanted us to “do my job for me”. By that he meant that we should experiment and work out applications for ourselves; applications which suit our own build, size, strength and experience. In conversation with him later, we discussed how many people don’t realise that they are actually allowed to do this and wait for somebody to teach them every move. The concept of finding out what suits you, (rather than one size fits all approach) is very central to John’s teaching.
Next comes 3 rapid steps forward with the arms held up (forearms together) in front of the face, followed by a reverse block and punch. John demonstrated this as grabbing somebody by the lapels (or wherever convenient) and forcefully marching them backwards to take them off balance, then use the reverse block (see kata) to pull their leading arm to the side where it is neutralised, whilst turning their body so that they can’t use their reverse side either. They are left we no hands that they can use, whilst you have one holding and one free to punch. Again we were encouraged to experiment with this to find what worked for us best.
A few more applications followed, then back to Iain for the fourth and final session, covering throws and takedowns. This built up on Iain’s earlier session on gripping. Having gotton ourselves into a position of a good grip, we could then go for a throw or takedown. Iain explained that although throws are a good tool for our arsenal of techniques, they should always be for back up and not what we rely on. A strike or punch can incapacitate somebody much more quickly and effectively than a throw/takedown, less skill is required and there is less to go wrong.
Iain also explained how a number of throws had appeared in Gichin Funakoshi’s early books, yet they had been removed from the later editions and why the requirements of Karate/self protection throws would be different to those of Judo. We then worked our way through Funakoshi’s original 10 throws, some of which I’d never seen before. Rather than blocking a punch then throwing, we started from the gripping positions used in Iain’s earlier session.
Overall it was a great seminar bringing together people from a number of styles. Both instructors were approachable, helpful and extremely knowledgable. I would certainly recommend either of them in isolation, but together, you’ve got to go.
Further information on their up-coming course and contact details for booking are available on their websites.
Sensei Johnston’s courses are available at: www.adaptivekarate.com/events
Sensei Abernethy’s courses are available at: www.iainabernethy.co.uk/seminar-dates
I have recently been sent some excellent videos via Youtube on rules for interpreting bunkai (applications), examples of bunkai and training drills for Naihanchi Kata by Ryan Parker of Ryukyu Martial Arts, from his own Youtube Channel, The Contemplative2. Note: Naihanchi Kata in Okinawan Karate is known as Tekki in some Japanese styles.
Having previously done some Youtube videos myself with a friend who does Wing Chun where we looked at similarities between Wing Chun and Naihanchi/Tekki kata bunkai, I was taken by how these videos also had so many similarities with Wing Chun close quarters trapping/striking and flow drills. As mentioned before, Karate is largely derived from White Crane Kung Fu, whilst Wing Chun is largely derived from Snake and Crane Kung Fu, so there is a common lineage between the two systems.
In this first video, Sensei Parker looks at 2 rules for interpreting bunkai in a very straight-forward step by step manner, demonstrating how to interpret which hand is defending/trapping and which hand is striking/locking and also how to interpret what direction you should be in relative to your opponent. This is built up into flow drills, including how to maintain control of your opponent as he tries to counter your moves. I won’t try to explain it all hear as that is done so much better by the video itself. All I will say is that having done a lot of Shotokan Karate and some Wing Chun myself, parts of this video will be more familiar to Wing Chun exponents than most Shotokan Karateka!
The second video builds on the first one and goes more into “Renzoku” drills. These are not bunkai, or self defence drills, they are just drills which are designed to teach specific skill sets.
The final video goes through the Naihanchi kata and demonstrates a number of it’s bunkai. In Sensie Parkers own words:
“These are just old tapes which I made for individual students as reference material to study. They weren’t intended to impress anyone (as they were made for people I trained with many times a week). The kata is just done in “walk-through” mode without any koshi action.
The bunkai are also done pretty lackadaisically, without any speed, power, or much attention to form and are just meant to be a memory aid”.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these videos. To find out more about Sensei Parker, to contact him or read his own blog, go to http://ryukyuma.blogspot.co.uk.
I haven’t covered much in the way of bunkai (applications) lately, so I thought I’d put in a few videos from Iain Abernethy, one of my favourite applied martial arts teachers. Although Iain is a primarily a Karateka, he has a following from many other systems, especially Taekwondo due to it’s Karate background.
The first sequence is from the kata Wanshu/Enpi (depending on which style you practice). It has an interesting application for the lower block which can be applied to any place that the lower block is used (not just in this Kata).
Next we look at knee attacks. High level knee attacks look good and look dangerous but have a lot of limitations, which Iain demonstrates here before showing how to make them more practical.
And we finish of with a nice bit of strangling and takedowns which appears in a number of kata/patterns.
For more information about Iain Abernethy and to join his newsletter, visit his website at: http://www.iainabernethy.co.uk.
As many of you will know, I’ve been selling my own DVD’s for some time now. I’ve finally caught up with the times and they are now available much more cheaply and conveniently as downloads.
They have both received endorsements from very senior martial artists, including world renowned teacher and author Shihan Kousaku Yokota, 8th Dan Shotokan Karate and Geoff Thompson, co-founder of the British Combat Association, author of over 40 books and BAFTA award winner.
There are only 2 DVD’s at the moment, but I plan to extend the range some time next year. For more information and to purchase, please visit the store page.
The following video is from world renowned kata bunkai expert, Iain Abernethy. It deals with counting/escaping from arm locks using movements from the Heian/Pinan katas.
Iain is one of my favourite seminar instructors and I’d always recommend his seminars. You can find out more about his upcoming seminars at: www.iainabernethy.co.uk/seminars
I have featured Sensei John Johnston, 6th Dan Shotokan Karate a few times before. I’ve published an interview with him, done a write up of a private class that I’ve been privileged to have with him and he’s been my “Featured Martial Artist” in one of my newsletters.
However, it occurred to me that I’ve never included any videos of him teaching his own Adaptive Karate. So below are some videos from Sensei John Johnston’s own Youtube channel demonstrating kata bunkai.
This course is another opportunity for interested martial artists to spend three hours studying the analysis of Shotokan Karate’s massive potential as a method of dealing with realistic acts of violence. Many martial artists tend to spend the majority of their time training in grading related material and as such do not develop enough realistic Martial skills. My Sensei, Paul Mitchell 5th Dan, has devoted much of his 30 years training studying practical martial Arts and he is happy to pass on his knowledge to any interested party regardless of style or discipline. All grades welcome however juniors are required to be minimum 4th Kyu/Kup unless training with a parent.
It is on Sunday, 27 May, from 11:00 until 14:00.
Adults ÂŁ15.00, Juniors ÂŁ12.00.
The Venue is the Sports Centre, Wells Blue School, Wells, Somerset, UK (please bring a packed lunch).
To book your place please e mail: shotokankaratewells@hotmail.co.uk or telephone 01749 670105
For more info, please check out the Facebook Event Page.
The following video clip is taken from the Practical Shotokan: Beginner to Black Belt Course taught by Sensei Paul Mitchell, Chief Instructor of the Wells Traditional Shotokan Karate Club earlier on today. Sensei Mitchell is talking about stand alone karate kata bunkai which could be fight finishers by themselves. As Shotokan Karate puts a lot of emphasis on multiple assailants, there are many techniques which can incapacitate an opponent very quickly, although they are not always obvious and have been dumbed down a lot over the years for many social and political reasons.
Kaki Waki Uke (Reverse Wedge Block) is usually seen as breaking somebody’s grip when they try to strangle you. However, if they have both of their hands on you, why not just punch/strike them? It is much quicker, they have nothing to defend themselves with (as they’ve committed both of their hands to your neck) and it could finish the fight then and there. If you use Kaki Waki Uke to separate their arms and release their grip, then you can both continue the fight on an even basis.
So what is Kaki Waki Uke more useful for? Well one of the most common street attacks of all is a swinging haymaker, which as Sensei Mitchell demonstrates here can be easily stopped with one side of the Kaki Waki Uke. Note that when he does this, that his opponent head is jerked slightly downwards and onto the other arm with is attacking to the neck.
In this instance Sensei Mitchell quite lightly attacks a specific point on the opponent neck causing him to almost pass out straight away. Had the blow been delivered with any real force, the opponent would have out cold.
Now if you’re thinking multiple opponents, you want techniques which give instant results and doesn’t waste a lot of your own energy (which you’ll need for fighting the others). Sensei Mitchell demonstrates how this can be done very simply using a common technique which most people happily overlook on a regular basis.
