[8.5.0] Section-8 Kaishaku: Counter to a Double Wrist Grab

[Source:] [AOKK Isshin-ryu Black-belt]

Rating: Basic

Part-1 Attacker: Grabs both Wrists (to control your movement)

Part-2 Defender: Raise your hands upwards to break the Attacker’s Wrist grab. Remove Grasp and Counterattack.

• Raise your hands upward and attack the opponent’s thumbs breaking their grip. Next bring your hammer fists down on the attacker’s collarbones and pull the fists to your hips.

Note: This motion removes the attacker’s grasp and sets-up the counterattack. When someone grasps your wrists it is to control your movement. This type of attack is followed by a strike or a throw, but it can also be used to prevent your escape.

Information:

This is hidden a technique in most versions, but it was added in the later version I was taught. In the first version I learned, the hands were simply placed on the hips, before stepping on an angle, while delivering two punches. Not moving the hands in a circular fashion simply means the old kata version is little more subtle or the technique is hidden. The bunkai is the same for both series of movements in this instance, but admittedly, the hand movement is smaller in the first version that I learned. I’m not sure where the larger hand movements originated, but one possibility is that it was a competition addition to draw the judges focus to this series of technique in the form.  More likely, this bunkai was demonstrated at a seminar and the larger movements were added to the kata, so the bunkai would not be forgotten. Master Harold Mitchum was in strong opposition to the practice of altering the kata and believed the form should not be changed form the original way it was taught by Master Shimabuku. He did acknowledge that there were, what he called, prefixes and suffixes to the self-defense in the form, but he was also adamant that the kata didn’t change to accommodate these variations. The AOKK to date has retained this slight deviation from the original kata, but future students may teach it without the derivation. 

• Step on a 45° angle and quickly execute two vertical snap punches to the solar plexus.
• When the adversary turns to face you, once again step 45° and deliver two more vertical punches.

Information:

This portion of the form deals with body evasion. Body evasion is an advanced philosophy.  Kyan sensei was a small man that learned to fight on angles. He never gave-up a centerline target. Bruce Lee would later write about the angles of attack not realizing that Kyan sensei had perfected this ability decades before his birth. I guess great minds think alike. Most karateka spend countless hours punching to an imaginary opponent’s solar plexus. The angular attack removes these centerline targets. The punches are done quickly, so the adversary cannot respond until after you’ve gone by. When the kata is demonstrated there should be a pause with the hands on the hips before launching into the offensive portion of this scenario.

Theory:

Try not to move forward in a straight line when attacking. Use angles to disguise your intent. If you move straight forward on the attack, you can run into your opponent’s counterattack. Angles of attack are both forward and backwards. Even circling an opponent is a form of fighting on an angle.

[End Series]