Make It Hurt:
Published: 3/30/2013
By Spencer sensei
The message of karate is one of nonviolence. Our mantra is: “Karate is for defense only.” Unfortunately this is ideological perfume in a life preservation situation. When someone is trying to hurt you or one of your loved ones, you must be able to flip the switch and bring the pain. Pain is a great educator. Hurt the adversary bad enough and they will think twice before attacking someone again. Many karateka feel they’re incapable of hurting another person, so they cling to the nonviolent mantra even in a crisis situation. The desire to not hurt another person is especially strong in women, but if they see some trying to harm one of their children a new and ferocious animal emerges within them. Most beginning karate students train in martial arts to learn how to defend themselves, and the techniques they learn can be devastating, but under the nonviolent indoctrination the teeth of the karate techniques have been pulled. Many karate techniques were modified when it was introduced into the Okinawan school system for obvious reasons. The edge was taken off the blade to make it palatable for school children. “Karate is for defense only,” means just that. It means you do not seek trouble, but implies that if trouble comes karate may be used for protection. In this paper I am going to examine a few different aspects of karate training and how they meet or miss the mark, in my opinion, when it comes to bringing pain in a real world confrontation. You may agree or disagree. You may have your own thoughts on this premise. I believe that karate is for defense only, but when you use it to defend your life make it count and rain fire down upon your attacker. The question here is do you know how to use what you’ve learned?
I have been studying pressure point manipulation on and off for the last five years, but in a life preservation situation I want to make it hurt. This mentality was frowned upon by Okinawan karate masters because it led to what they believed was unrefined karate. Pressure point manipulation is refined martial art. It is less violent, and much more elegant. While watching the movie Kung-fu Panda, my family and I were entertained as the animated Master character easily subdued an enraged tiger using nothing more than a few pressure points. Pressure point manipulation has its place, but in the middle of a violent confrontation I’m more likely to drive my fist into gallbladder-twenty than to set-up the cycle of destruction for a knock-out. I’ve never seen a pressure point master easily subdue an MMA (mixed martial arts) fighter. If pressure points are so affective in an all out battle, why have they not been used successfully in the full contact fights we watch on television? In grappling, I will admit, I do use pressure points to gain an advantage while on the ground, but when some wild-eyed maniac has one hand on my throat while trying to knee me in the groin and crack me in the head with his elbow, the thought of defending my life by rubbing and manipulating the cycle-of-destruction does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.
There is a place for the unrefined karate. I unlike the great Okinawan masters want to make everything I do cause my adversary pain. I will admit this is rudimentary karate, but there are no style points in a life or death situation. I want my blocks to bruise or bloody my opponent. When I touch him/her I want them to hurt. Every technique should bring pain, and if it does not then I consider it as a wasted effort. The goal of life preservation karate is to make every technique bring pain to your attacker, and to give you the opportunity to walk away from the confrontation.
Pain is a great tool to educate someone. Drive your shin between an adversary’s legs and only stop when it connects with his/her belly-button, and you have a good start at opening the lines of communication. Pain… in large quantities, will tell even the feeblest minded attacker that placing his/her hands on your person is a bad idea. Slamming a fist into the side of their head, making them see stars, enlightens them. Knocking an attacker out can be a mind altering experience. It will definitely shake their confidence. Delivery of pain, to an attacker, is your way of saying touching me is a bad idea.
As with all premises there are exceptions. When someone is on drugs and enraged pain is only a nuisance. Their normal wiring is shorted, and no pressure point manipulation or powerful side-kick will slow their advance. These individuals often times are subdued by law enforcement only when they apply deadly force. If a martial artist uses deadly force is in a life preservation situation, and the confrontation has no witnesses, expect to be sued, face trial for manslaughter, and potentially even spend time in prison. The question in that situation becomes… how much do you’re value your life? What price are you willing to pay to stay alive or save the life of your loved one?
Legs are longer and stronger than arms, but when you kick you’re at a disadvantage because your foundation is weakened. Standing on one leg is not an ideal way to fight, so make every kick count. Karateka spend hours kicking into the air, but are seldom told to visualize the opponent. A student should vary their kicks mentally to different targets as they train, or their instructor should designate the target area for the practice. Ninety percent of practice kicks are focused to the middle of the student’s body in an effort to develop good form. You must select your kicking targets much like you select your punching targets. How you strike these target areas is also very important. You cannot strike the testicles with a forward snap kick. To make the groin strike effective the testicles must be driven upward into the trunk of the body by the top of the foot or better yet with your shin. The front snap kick can be used to target the bladder, but the strike must be driven hard to the body to stagger the opponent. Repeated front kicks to the top of an attacker’s thigh will eventually limit his/her mobility. Round kicks should target hip joints, inside and outside knee joints, and thigh muscles. They can also target ribs, but adversary’s arms naturally cover them, so you must trick your opponent into opening up this target and that may not be easy. Also kicking to the ribs elevates the leg and weakens your foundation. Slam your side-kick, into the knee of the adversary’s lead leg, when he/she places their weight on it. Keep your kicks below the waist, and snap them back as fast as they were delivered. Stomp downward driving your heel into the instep of the opponent’s foot. You must develop a lead-leg round and front kick to keep the attacker off balance. Do not rely on the back leg kicks exclusively. You must be able to use your feet like you do your fists. Remember every time you kick the opponent make it hurt, and maintain a solid foundation.
There are only two real blocks in karate. The first is a parry to redirect an attack by the adversary and the second is to slip an attacker’s blow utilizing good footwork. Everything else is an attack, and should inflict pain. A high forearm block under an assailant’s chin is much more affective than using it to stop a high punch or overhead strike. Although driving your forearm under the adversary’s armpit, if they punch to the head, can cause pain and break their balance too. Striking an attacker’s biceps muscle with you knuckles as you execute a middle block is more affective than simply keeping the attacker’s blows from landing. Low block, driving your knuckles into the attacker’s thigh is better than stopping the kick with a forearm. Better yet stop the attacker’s kick with your knee and drive your knuckles into the attacker’s bladder with the downward blow. Instead of using a middle block to stop a kick to your ribs, use the point of the elbow against any kick above the waist. Catch the opponent’s instep or top of the foot with the point of the elbow and you can shut down the leg temporarily. Their leg’s momentum will cause plenty of traumas to the small bones of their foot. Direct the point of the elbow to the top of an opponent’s thigh muscle as they try a forward knee and this will shutdown the strongest attacker’s knee strike. The thighs momentum does all the work. Stopping a knee strike with the point of the elbow is like driving the thigh onto a spike. Every time you touch the adversary make it hurt, and that includes what we commonly think of as blocking techniques.
All karateka should practice trapping with the rear-hand, wife-hand, or sacrifice-hand. On Okinawa I am told that the rear-hand, for cultural reasons, is sometimes referred to as the wife-hand. Trapping is a fundamental but seldom emphasized part of karate. When you place your rear-hand on the obi (belt), as you middle block walking up and down the dojo floor, you’ve practiced rear-hand trapping. The attacker’s punch is trapped and his/her arm is rotated so that the elbow can be hyper-extended. Rear-hand trapping can also be used to simply pull the attacker’s punch down so you can punch over the top of the trapped arm. Placing your rear-fist on the obi simulates rear-hand trapping, and the karateka begins practicing this technique from their first lesson to their last and most students never understand why their hand is placed on the hip while performing their blocks and punches. Rear-hand trapping uses the adversary’s momentum to pull him/her forward and down. Practicing rear-hand trapping with a partner using ippon-kumite (One Step Fighting) is the only way to refine this skill. Ippon-kumite is designed to develop the trapping mechanics slowly, but advanced students must be able to trap punches at full speed. Eventually after many hours of practice it will happen automatically and the attacker’s punch will appear in your rear-hand, without thought, as your fist moves towards its target. You do not place your hand on the obi for aesthetics. Visualize trapping the adversary’s arm each time you execute a middle block or punch. There is a reason the punch is executed in a push–pull manner. All basic karate techniques are designed to deliver pain or enable the delivery of pain. You simply need to understand what you’re doing and see the potential for destruction.
Don’t block an attack when you can attack with what karate instructors describe as blocks. As noted already the true meaning of karate techniques were modified when it was introduced into the public education system and the more dangerous aspects were changed, removed, or given a deceptive interpretation. Remember good guys and bad guys were all educated at the same time. Once a student came of age and was of good character, his/her sensei would privately teach them the true nature and meaning of the technique. Foreign students were also not taught the true meaning of technique until they were trusted by their sensei. Many black-belt karateka returned from Okinawa armed only with the rudimentary understanding of the art. Another problem with understanding technique is that different systems held different interpretations of the same technique. What was truth in one style was considered error in another. As I am introduced to new interpretations of technique, I choose to accept the ones that truly inflict pain and dismiss the ones that have become a metaphor for living a nonviolent life. All blocks should inflict pain. Karate evolved on Okinawa to save a practitioners life or the life of another. Because of its violent nature ethics and character were introduced into the mix. A nonviolent karate technique never saved an Okinawan farmer’s life, but for example driving his/her forearm under an adversary’s chin could have. Know the true meaning of your techniques.
Punch anything and everything. If the attacker covers his/her ribs with their forearms drive you knuckles into their biceps muscles until they cannot move their arms. Kick everything below the waist. Slam your side-kick into the front of the adversary’s thigh. Keep your kicks low so they cannot trap your leg. If you’re wearing hard soled shoes, scrape down the front of the attacker’s shin with the sole or heel, and drive your heel into his/her instep. Never punch to the face when you can slam an attacker in the head with an elbow. You can break the small bones of your hand punching someone in the head. Slam elbows into the opponent’s arms if that is your only open target. Drive your shins into their thighs until they cannot walk. Drive the ball of your foot into their hip socket. Chop them down like a tree. Shuto strike down on the adversary’s collarbone. Arch a palm-up shuto-strike to the side of an attacker’s neck to disrupt blood flow, or to the front of the throat when in a life preservation situation. Most importantly do not throw a blow that will not inflict pain.
You cannot be timid or squeamish. You cannot worry about hurting someone that is attacking you. I agree karate is for defense only, but in a life preservation situation defense means defending your life with all the skills you have acquired. Your adversary sees you only as prey. Do not become a victim.
I still believe that karate is for defense only, but in defense of your life make the opponent hurt every time you touch him/her. There are no rules when you’re attacked. Play nice and you’ll wake-up in the hospital. No… I’m not advocating excessive force! Always know the law and fight your battles accordingly. Remember pain is a great teacher. You’re not hurting your attacker you are simply educating them. It is similar to when a child first touches fire a little pain can bring enlightenment.