The Art and Skill of Real Fighting

In a real fight, which is a matter of life-or-death, you need to be very quick. In particular, your hands need to be sharp, instantly acting and reacting. You cannot delay or hesitate; you have to be decisive and confident, although not over-confident or egotistic. You cannot afford to be negligent in your training each day. You have to diligently focus yourself every single day, training earnestly whenever possible, forging your mind, body, and spirit [of character and the essence of life at one with the Universe and the Creator of everything, given various terms depending on the culture or belief system, the Christian term, in English, being “God”]. In fact, on the topic of the training of the “spirit” in the fighting arts, religion and philosophy are so often seen intertwined in so many schools, traditionally not separating fighting, but instead even going so far as to include an element of worship. Of course, these days, I certainly wouldn’t discuss beliefs in any specific way in classes, as they are personal and every person should be respected for who they are and what they believe. 

Joki Uema performing Yabu gojūshiho

Certainly, forms on their own are no good. They have plenty of practical purposes, but actual fighting skills require more than just the artistic methods of practising fighting techniques individually. To be able to actually fight, you have to develop the skills of using both hands together, applying leg and arm techniques simultaneously, utilising multiple techniques and multiple levels for attacks, and not only recognising the importance of speed in actual conflict, but understanding how to properly apply both yin and yang in accordance with your opponent/s, as well as being agile and flexible to enable swift movement in any direction without delay, avoiding even being so much as touched by your attacker’s fist or, indeed, weapon, measuring distance and having perfect timing, waiting until the last moment, and always, even if sometimes shifting back, advancing towards the enemy strategically, employing clever tactics based on the principles of actual fighting. This is real authentic karate / karati – Okinawan Shaolin boxing. 

My first martial arts teacher, Sensei Tyrone Abdul of Tikan jūjutsu, from Jikishin jūjutsu

English Karate (Eigoban Karate): What Is Kara-te?

Do you need to travel to Japan or Okinawa to authenticate your Japanese or Okinawan karate, respectively? Why? It would be a nice trip, for a holiday, but it is the luxurious way to further study karate. Can everyone afford such travelling? Of course not! Or, at least, not too often. I live so far from the orient. Such a journey is a goal, but an expensive one. On the topic of training, I can undergo the same training and practice in my own garden and house. Karate has been in other places such as England for numerous decades. There is Okinawan karate, Japanese karate, and other countries' karate, for instance English karate (Eigoban karate). 

In a true sense, naming depends on the extent to which karate has changed in a lineage in England, from its original state, as to how much it is actually English over remaining Japanese or Okinawan. Most schools are vastly Japanese, adhering to the way they (the teachers) were taught by their Japanese instructors, thinking that great changes are not possible because there is a curriculum to which they must conform. There is actually no curriculum; truthfully, there are various kata, each of which is karate kenpo. Shotokan karate is not 26/27 kata, plus kumite. It is 15 kata, 26 kata, over 30 kata, or just a handful, as well as the intricate bunkai for each, which is the real kumite (kumiti) element of kenpo karate study. Of course, for traditional martial arts there is also the matter of conditioning methods. Learning in Okinawa, for example, is nice, but is not necessary to seek understanding of karate and life in a true way. It is over-rated because it is a nice idea, comprising an essence; It is a luxury. How do you learn Okinawan karate, or any martial art? You train, practise, and study hard, every day, relentlessly, persevering through any difficulties in training and in life, for years, and for your entire life. That is karate. Forget about whether it is "Japanese", "Okinawan", or, indeed, "English". Karate is effort. It is gongfu - "great effort". And if you put forth real effort in England, learning from English teachers, then you may be studying English karate, but moreover, in the grand scheme of it all, you are simply studying "kara-te" (Chinese-hands). Eigoban karate is just a derivative.

Origins of Shotokan, Documentary Karate Film, Now Sold By Kamikaze Karategi

My documentary martial arts DVD-film, Origins of Shotokan (2013), is now endorsed and sold by Kamikaze Karategi, at: http://www.kamikazeweb.com/index.php?action=article_detailed&id=01271&type=cesta

Okinawan Funakoshi-ha Shorin-ryu karate kenpo to kobujutsu.

Written, Performed, and Narrated by Sean R. Marshall. An Original Production.