Train with a Skeptic:

Published 12/5/2022

By Spencer Sensei

How do you know if your bunkai or specialized technique will work in a moment of crisis? Every martial artist that deeply studies the application contained within kata tends to focus on one aspect of the discipline and predominantly applies that aspect to their interpretation of the movements. One karate instructor may focus on tuite while another focuses on throwing techniques within the form and yet another’s focus may simply be on blocking, kicking, and punching. Truthfully, bunkai contains all the above plus theory and pressure points. It is not simply a one size-fits-all type of counterattack. It is more of a smorgasbord of responses to a given assault. Kata was made up of the best ways to defend against an attacker and those responses were catenated so they could be remembered. Kata is the unwritten book of self-defense. This was done, so that later the form could be broken into individual pieces of self-defense, so they could be practiced and perfected with a partner. The problem is that you cannot tell if a lock, choke, throw, or pressure point attack is effective if your training partner is too compliant. You also cannot learn a technique if the training partner resists every time, you practice the moves. Another problem is a student that only practices with someone in their own school may comply too easily out a desire to please or get along. To really test your technique, you need a skeptic or someone that believes the technique will not work. Steel sharpens steel.

Let’s examine pressure point manipulation as an example of potential problems. Hohan Soken introduced pressure point manipulation to the western karate world in the mid to late nineteen eighties. It was the one piece of Okinawan karate that the local instructors kept to themselves and did not teach to gaijin (foreigners.) Funakoshi sensei did not teach this concept to his Japanese students. As foreign students became more proficient in the art, and the art gained worldwide attention this unknown piece of the art was slowly released to the world. Pressure point manipulation, like anything new, drew American instructors to it like the proverbial moth to a flame. One instructor told me that every move within a kata had to follow the cycle of destruction which is one of the pressure point concepts. He believed that bunkai was mostly pressure point counterattacks. Pressure point manipulation is based upon Chinese medicine. Today acupuncture, which is part of Chinese medicine, is commonly practiced in the United States. Chinese medicine focuses on a force they call Chi. This energy supposedly flows through the body and can be manipulated to relieve pain and promote health. The martial arts premises is that when you disrupt this flow of Chi, it can shut down or weaken an attacker’s body. This is done by pressing, rubbing, or striking certain points on the body. It only makes sense that you study the human anatomy to make your skills more effective, so it makes sense that Okinawan martial artists would look into Chinese medicine. I am pleased that Hohan Soken chose to share this with the west.

Within a decade of this new revelation about pressure points and Chi a few karate instructors were teaching the “No Touch Knockout.” They proclaimed they could project this flow of Chi through the air and that it could knock an opponent down or even knock them out. When these instructors were challenged by skeptics, they could not reproduce the knockouts that they easily demonstrated against their students. An unfortunate byproduct of the “No Touch Knockout” was that pressure point counterattacks also fell into disrepute. I’ve studied western anatomy books and many of the points found in the Chinese pressure point attacks fall on sensitive parts of the body found in western medicine. This alone enough is enough reason to give pressure point manipulation a cursory review. Do not throw the baby out with the bath water. Skeptics in the case of the No Touch Knockout” kept the karateka honest.

In the beginning when you first start training with a new self-defense response or bunkai you need a compliant partner. This is necessary to simply move through the techniques until you can perform them without thought. This is committing the technique to rote memory.  In the martial arts we refer this to the body-mind connection or muscle memory. It is necessary to have a compliant partner to develop proper body mechanics.

You cannot live in the world of compliant training. If you live in that world, you can develop a false sense of security. Many karate schools never leave this realm. This should be a concern of every karate instructor because it can get a student hurt in a real confrontation. At some point you must train with a non-compliant partner. If your partner taps too soon you may begin to believe that you can properly apply the technique, but in reality, it will fail in a life preservation situation. We’ve clinically experienced this with students that have followed one of the charismatic no touch knockout instructors. These students really felt the knockout, but when the same technique was tested on a skeptic it failed miserably. For this reason, you must try your techniques on individuals that do not accept it before betting your life on it outside the dojo. Try your bunkai, specialized techniques, or other self-defense techniques on students of other disciplines. To truly understand a technique or bunkai you must step beyond the compliant level of training.

Remember, all techniques that you’ve been taught will not always work, but what doesn’t work for you may work for someone else. That is why there are so many bunkai available. Try it before you buy it. Body size, strength, quickness, flexibility, and pain aversion all contribute to a bunkai’s success or failure. It also may not work in every situation. After mastering the bunkai or specialized technique, it should be tested by having the opponent grasp you in different grips or attack on differing angles. It should be practiced on partners of different sizes and body types. Rarely will someone grasp you in the same manner as your complaint training partner, so you must train against differing types of attacks. No one will stand without moving while you knock them out. Not every bunkai or pressure point works on every opponent for the same reasons it may not work for you. Body size, strength, quickness, flexibility, and the ability to withstand pain also applies to your opponent. Test your bunkai against various sized partners.

You must experiment with a bunkai or specialized techniques before dismissing them. First start with a compliant grip. Next try a close in grip. Follow that grip with an underhook. Try a neck hook. Lastly try it against a tradition judoka’s grip. Don’t stop there. Try it against a punch. Try a striking series with a grasp. Ask yourself does this counterattack follow the Cycle-of-Destruction found in Chinese medicine? See if you can throw the opponent before, during, or after executing the bunkai. Finally make the bunkai yours or disregard it. Keep the arrow in your quiver because what does not work for you may work for one of your students.  Do not take anything at face value. Experiment before blindly accepting it.

Example of Training Methodology

1. Compliant Training (Slow Speed)

                                                               

Always begin with compliant training. This builds the body mechanics necessary to perform the bunkai. Let your training partner place you in a classical grip, and then execute the self-defense series. This is done slowly until the body mechanics are perfected. Your training partner must let you know if the proper pressure is being applied to the lock or choke. Kyu ranking students will train in this area for most of their time in grade.

2. Experimental Training (Medium Speed)

Next you must move your training to the tatami (mat). In this area you want a skeptic because they will push you and test your understanding of the bunkai. San-kyu and above students can train in this area. Your training partner will always have the advantage because they know the technique being tested. At this point in your training, you must complete the entire series of bunkai. The training partner should try differing grasps, kicks, or punches. Do not modify the bunkai at this point to see if you can make it work in differing situations. The technique moves a little faster and can end with a throw if that is the conclusion to bunkai series. The training partner must know how to fall and how to protect themselves. Once the full series can be completed flawlessly, you must move to the next stage of your training.

3. Practical Training (Three Quarter Speed)

Lastly, again you must move your training to the tatami for safety. This training must be closely super vised, and normally applies to black belt level students. The training cannot be full speed, or someone could get hurt. Advanced students are the best partners to train with in the final stages of perfecting your loosening, locking, and throwing series. It is imperative at this stage that the training partner knows how to fall and protect themselves even though you are not going full speed. During this stage, the opponent will resist, turn out of the lock, or simulate striking while trying to counter the throw. The partner’s grasp should be more unorthodox like you will see on the street. This is where a skeptic will shine and better test your counterattack. Again, the training partner has the advantage because they know what is coming, so you must be more deceptive. This is where the counterattack can be modified from the traditional way it has been executed and can be adjusted to the situation and your body style. For example: you can step behind the opponent before executing the lock. A throw can set-up a lock just like a lock can set-up a throw. You cannot strike the opponent as you would in a real scenario, but you can simulate punch, elbow strike, knee strike, or push to break your training partners balance. A conversation can be maintained between attacker and defender to increase the probability of success. Watch how your training partner responds and adapt. The skeptic will throw you curves that you may not have considered. This is where you get a real understanding of the bunkai or specialized technique you are testing.

4. Final Training (Full Speed)

The only way you can assume a bunkai or self-defense series works is to try it in a full speed personal combat situation. Kumite, randori, or grappling is useful but they are still in a controlled environment. They do help develop the ability to recognize an attack and hone your timing. They’re a good simulation and condition both the mind and body. After training in that environment, you may find that the response must be tweaked for it to work with your body type. So, if randori is not the answer, how do we prove a hundred percent that a technique will work? To truly test a bunkai you must do it in the full contact arena at full speed. This is impractical for the average karate student because injuries will occur. These bunkai and pressure point attacks were developed by palace guards, soldiers, and other officials that used them to subdue criminals, protect palace officials, and fight off invaders. They tested them on the battlefield. We learn these bunkai to defend ourselves if we are randomly attacked but hope that we will never need them. If full contact training is normally outside the karateka’s realm of training, how do we prepare? The student must consistently practice the bunkai to perfect it and test it in the controlled environments made available to us. Training in the first three phases maybe the best we can do and still go to work in the morning. Die hard practitioners will train in all four phases.

Concluding Thoughts:

During a pressure point seminar, an instructor will casually walk up to the compliant student to demonstrate a technique and without resistance strikes stomach-nine or another point causing the student to stagger or drop, but in a real confrontation your adversary will not let you in their range of combat without first mounting a counterattack or some type of defense. They will grab your arms, clothing, or hair. They will punch, kick, head-butt, or throw you. Some people are not as affected by certain locks, strikes or pressure point attacks as others. Students from the same discipline can convince themselves something works because they want to believe it works. Every technique must be tested by the methods mentioned above and the only way to find out if it truly is effective is with full contact kumite. If it works in the ring, the probability of it working on the street is high. The next best way to test your bunkai, specialized technique, or self-defense is to train with a skeptic or someone outside your discipline. Just make sure you’re properly supervised, and they are properly trained and can protect themselves. Repeat the effort over and over until you have exhausted the effort and then decide if it is right to keep in your toolbox.

o.