From The Stand to The Sand:

Published: 3-15-24

By Spencer Sensei

In the beginning karate, jujitsu, and grappling were all parts of the same beast. Men have a tendency to train in areas they like the best or deem the most valuable. In Bruce Clayton’s book Shotokan’s Secret” he argues about how karate evolved. It’s his opinion that the Shori-ryu techniques were honed in defense of the king by these practitioners. Placing your body between a mob and the king, does not lend itself to grappling techniques, so it makes sense that standing strikes, kicks, punches, elbows, and jujitsu would have been practiced almost exclusively. In combat on an ancient battlefield, once a man lost his weapon he had to defend his life with empty hands. In that instance anything goes. You’re on a broad plain in the middle of total chaos. Strikes, kicks, elbows, punches, throws, and grappling would all be skills necessary in this life protection situation. In other words, you would have needed to be able to fight from the stand to the sand. Today, to be able to protect your family and yourself you also need these life protection skills.

 All fights start from the stand. I had trained in karate for a decade when my first Isshin-ryu instructor introduced me to jujitsu and grappling. I found myself on the mat and didn’t have any idea how to defend myself. I had mastered stand-up fighting, but this was completely new. It was at this point he began teaching me the three ranges of combat. He said all fights start at long distance and move into close range, and many times end up on the ground. You cannot always end a fight standing on your feet, so you must know how to throw someone to the ground and choke them unconscious. A real fight can move in and out of these ranges, so the fighter must be comfortable from the stand to the sand.

Legs are your long-distance weapons. They can be used as an entrance into second range, or they can catch an opponent as they retreat from second range of combat. The old saying is, “Legs are longer and stronger.” Some kicks are also second range weapons. The front snap kick, shin kick, and crossover heal kicks are all second range weapons.  A snap kick to the thigh can slow an opponent down. The crossover heel-kick can shut down a charging aggressor.

Once you get inside or into close quarters fighting, your long-range weapons are not as effective. Kata is mainly a series of range-two responses to in-close fighting attacks. Range-two weapons include short punches, elbow strikes, knee strikes, joint locks, chokes, head butts, and throws. Grapplers will break your balance by pushing, pulling, twisting, and dropping. Broken balance is necessary to throw the adversary. The karateka breaks the opponent’s balance in a similar manner, but the karateka also uses strikes. Drive an elbow into an attacker’s face and their balance can be easily broken backwards. Grasp their neck and you can pull them in any direction.  Knock the attacker out and you can walk away safely. Throw them to the ground and you can also make your escape.

There is always the opponent that drags you to the ground. I have had several street fights and only twice did I end up on the ground. The ground is not a good place to finish a conflagration. There are rocks, sticks, and other weapons on the ground that can be used against you. If you go to the ground, you may find your opponent’s friends kicking you in the ribs. Fortunately, this was never one of my experiences, but there was a young MMA fighter in Texas that found himself in the hospital after going to the ground. He was defending a woman’s honor, but the assailant had several friends present that intervened once their friend was getting the worst of it on the ground. Still… if you hit the ground you need to effectively defend, attack, and protect yourself in that position. While on the ground you can still punch, choke, knee, and elbow the opponent. Performing these techniques does not come naturally. It takes training on the ground to adequately defend yourself there.

A well-rounded fighter must be skilled in all three ranges of personal combat. If you’re not comfortable in all these ranges, you can find yourself at a loss when in that position. Once out of your comfort zone the adversary has the advantage. You must also recognize an opponent’s favored fighting range, so you can take them out of their comfort zone. Never punch with a puncher or grapple with a grappler. Punch and move against the grappler while taking a boxer to the ground. Use the adversary’s training against them.

A fighter must be able to move from the stand to the sand. This is the core of the AOKK (American Okinawan Karate Kobudo) association’s philosophy. If you can kick an adversary in the face and knock them out great, but what do you do when they get their hands on you? A fight is fluid and moves in many directions. The AOKK student must be prepared to fight in any position. This is the job of the AOKK instructor.