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Showing posts from 2010

How to execute a Block, Punch and Kick properly?

Uke waza (blocking techniques) , Tsugi  Waza ( punching techniques) and Geri Waza ( kicking techniques) form a major part of most martial arts. Techniques can be learnt but if not properly executed they are of no use practically. In my many years of experience I have seen many students of martial arts blocking, punching and kicking during class only by placing the hand or leg the way it has to be. Most don't execute a punch or block or kick the way it would be needed to be executed if one is required to use it on the road to defend themselves. No technique is executed properly if we do not focus our body, mind and spirit in executing the technique. We have to become one with the technique only then is it executed to its optimum potential. Am just amazed at the brilliance and profound knowledge of the great masters who have designed Martial Arts. They have covered all the aspects of life in these forms. From self defense to physical health, from increased immunity to healing powers...

Self -defense against a grab from the back

Today we are going to see one  technique that we can use to defend ourselves from a grab from the back. Suppose you are walking down the street and someone grabs you from the back with his right hand. Turn towards your attacker from your left side and strike the attackers right arm with your left shuto ( knife edge strike) and hold his arm. Then with your right hand punch him in the solar plexus and let your hand move to his right shoulder. Pull his shoulder in a downward action and strike with your knee either to his nose or to the solar plexus.  For any attack there are numerous techniques, we just show one of the possible ways to defend yourself from such an attack. For better understanding the techniques are shot at a slow pace. It is with repeatedly practicing the techniques that a person will be ready to face a real attack on the street at a much faster pace.  

A Training Session

Most martial arts are moving away from full contact kumite (sparring) to sports based kumite. Over the years many styles of Karate have also moved towards the sports aspect gradually leaving behind the conditioning that is required for full contact kumite.  A great master once said " I cannot punch and expect it not to cause pain, for if I do then it is not a punch but just placing my hand." I personally agree with this great and wise master.  At our dojo we give equal importance to development of technique, as well as endurance ( cardio ) and full body conditioning. One of our recent training sessions was awesome. That particular day most of our senior students were present so decided to have a high intensity cardio and conditioning class. We started with a complete body warm up from toe to head and moved on to some cardio based routines combining some basics along with sets of push ups, squats and abdomen workouts. The energy levels of the students was high even though...

Self defense against a grab from the front

Today we will be looking at what we could do to defend ourself against some one grabbing us from the front. The most important thing in any situation is never panic nor do feel helpless for both of these will make you easier targets for your attacker. Suppose your attacker holds your shirt near the collar with his right hand. The first thing we do is block his hand with our left hand and hold the attackers right bicep with the left hand. This will stop him from pulling and pushing you with his grip on your collar. Now with the sole of the left foot kick straight to the right knee of the attacker. As soon as you kick step forward and with your fingers squeeze the neck of the attacker just below his jaw bone pushing backwards. This will choke the attacker and the pushing action will make him loose balance and he will fall to the ground giving you enough time to walk away to safety.      

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?

With every passing day people are getting more fitness or health conscious but unfortunately most do not get guidance or get misled in doing wrong workout routines and scary diet plans. Most start working out but are not patient to wait for time to get the results. It may have taken 1year to put on 15kgs but we want to loose it in just a month, this is where we go wrong. Yes it is possible to loose 15kgs in a month but not without immediate or slowly surfacing damage or injury to our body. With there being a gym or studio at every corner there is increased competition, in the zeal to get more clients often even some trainers get carried away and make their clients train excessively or put them on starvation diets to get the results (which is very very harmful). The secret to exercise is to compare our body as a balance weighing scale. Our exercise regime and our rest or recoup period should be balanced. If we exercise and do not give the body the adequate time it needs to recoup we a...

Self - defense against a grab from the side.

Today we will show how or what one should do to defend oneself if someone comes and grabs you from the side or tries to pull you from the side. I would once again like to mention to only try these techniques under supervision of a well trained instructor and always use caution while practicing as our aim is to train and not cause injury to our partners. Suppose the attacker comes and holds our left hand with his right hand. Hold the right hand of the attacker with your right hand and twist your left hand out of the grip of the attacker. Then strike with the Bango (hammer fist) or Shuto ( knife edge of the palm) straight into the ribs of the attacker. As you strike the ribs push the sole of your left leg into the right knee of the attacker. The kicking of the knee will injure the attacker and make him loose balance and he will fall down. The strike to the ribs will incapacitate the attacker and prevent him from trying any other attack. It is a simple technique but practice it slowly ...

Why is Martial Science called - A WAY OF LIFE.

The oldest form of science known to man is Martial Science. Even before man started staying in big groups or communities or even had a language he had started developing and evolving Martial Science. The knowledge of Martial Science was very vital for man’s survival as he depended on it for protecting himself as well as to hunt food. It is the training in martial science that is and has been responsible for the kind of civilization that came up in a certain area and in some cases even developed various branches of medicine for eg – the medicine forms of acupressure and acupuncture owe their birth to martial science. China has always faced numerous battles and wars throughout history. In those days soldiers would end up having hand to hand fights this resulted in striking at various parts or points on the body, many a times on being struck at a certain point an old ailment of the soldier would get healed. These records of all such points gave birth t...

Self defense against a PUSH

In India Teacher's Day is celebrated on 5th September every year. I would like to pay my deepest respects and regards to all the Teacher's that I have come across in my life. I am truly blessed to have had so many exceptionally wonderful teacher's in just one lifetime. The person I am today is because of the nurturing and moulding by my teacher's. I believe that every person we meet or interact with in life has something important to teach us, so ideally all those around us in our life's are our teacher's. Coming to the technique that we have today. Whenever a brawl or fight breaks up on the street the chances are very high that it will begin with some pushing or grappling. Today we will see how or what should be done if we are being pushed. There are many ways of defending an attack we are showing just one of the ways here. The attacker pushes you and is coming to push you again with his right hand. Step back with your right leg and as the attackers palm...

Self - defense against a punch

Today we will look at how should one go about defending oneself if punched on the road. Before we go ahead in explaining the technique shown in the video I would like to mention that there are many many ways to defend oneself from any particular attack and there are numerous counter attacks too. To be adept with self - defense one needs to train regularly under a proper Sensei. Lets go about seeing one of the ways to defend oneself from a punch. Say the attacker punches with his right hand. Take a step back with your right leg and block the punch with your left hand pushing it towards your right hand. As the attackers hand is being pushed by your left hand swing your right hand towards the elbow of the attackers punching hand. Take your right palm to the back of the attacker while you bend his hand with your left hand and move your body till you reach almost behind your attacker. Once you have reached behind your attacker and have his arm bent on his back you can apply pressure on ...

How to go from FAT to FIT

In today's ever increasing sedentary lifestyle compounded with high intake of junk food and soft drinks the battle against fat is common for all. Many work out for hours to maintain themselves others try all sort of diets and finally just give up. Is it so hard to loose weight? How should we go about shifting from FAT to FIT without harming our body in any way? How to train? How to select a trainer? Loosing or gaining weight is very simple. When our intake of food is more than our workout or daily activity we gain weight where as when our workout or daily activity is more than our food intake then we tend to loose weight. It is so simple yet most people and trainers with half baked knowledge complicate things. When I say less intake of food I don't and never do recommend going on any sort of diets that put certain foods or food groups out of your menu for weeks or months. Never do this as subconsciously the body starts craving for those foods and the day you feel happy with t...

Self - defense against a slashing knife attack

We will be looking at the self - defense technique against a slashing knife attack. The most important thing to remember when one is being attacked by any weapon especially sharp edged weapons like a knife is to take appropriate distance from the attacker and block and hold the hand wielding the weapon till the attacker has been disarmed. Say you are walking down a street and the attacker suddenly pushes you and removes a knife with which he tries to slash you. As you get pushed take a few  more steps back to get sufficient distance as well as time to react to the slashing action of the knife. The attacker will surely come towards you slashing the knife. As he slashes with the knife say from his right hand, push the knife wielding hand with your right hand and then grab the hand at the wrist with your left hand. As you get hold of the hand with the knife strike with your right palm straight to the shoulder of the arm holding the knife, this will loosen the grip on the weapon. th...

Stamina and core muscle strength and their connection with cardio

Now days everybody talks of the benefits of core muscle strength and exercises to strengthen them. What is the core muscle? How do we strengthen it?  The word core means the base or the foundation. They are the muscle base which is the building block for healthy and strong muscle structure. It is a known fact that athletes and sports men who are into high cardio based sports have well developed core muscles. Why is it so? It is the intensive training that goes into these sports specially in the area of cardio vascular exercises. The core muscles are the muscles that build on and strengthen with increase in levels of endurance. To improve the endurance levels one needs to stretch the body to its limits and every few days push the limit a bit further as one's fitness levels improve. This is also referred as stamina. The common mistake made by people working out is that they keep sipping on water through their workout. A hydrated body can give a better workout and even workout longe...

Self - defense from a slap

In India the most commonly used first attack in a brawl or a street fight is a slap. So we will be looking at what we must do or how to effectively defend oneself from a slap. Most fights or brawls on the street are in close range so one needs to be very alert and should have fast reflexes. Suppose we are being slapped by the attacker with his right hand in that case lift your left hand to block the slap, as you  block the slap grab the slapping palm of the attacker with your right hand in such a way that your thumb is between the knuckles of the index and middle finger of the attackers hand. Twist the attacker’s wrist ensuring that his wrist and elbow both are locked. Hold the attackers wrist with both your hands applying the lock better and can be followed up by a kick to the face or stomach or even the knees. Any techniques involving joint manipulation need to be practiced with caution so as to avoid any sort of injuries during practice. The secret to any person’s sk...

Self - defense against a gun put to the head

I hope our videos are easily understood but I would like to once again specify that do practice them under the watchful eye of an instructor and please do not try it at home or on the street if you are not trained. Today we will show a situation where you are entering your vehicle and an attacker threatens you with a gun to the back of your head. First and most important let your attacker believe that you are complying with what he wants that will ease him down. If you agitate instantly out of sheer nervousness or fear the attacker may squeeze the trigger of the gun. Slowly take your hands up. This will ease the attacker then with a swift twist lock the gun weilding wrist of the attacker between your left and right palm. This will cause his wrist to lock there by releasing his grip on the gun. Grab the gun with your right hand and at the same moment strike with the knife edge (shuto) of your left palm straight into the ribcage of the assailant. The strike will cause the attacker p...

Body Conditioning.

Preparing the body through training for improving in any form of martial arts, sport or to achieve a good fitness level is Body Conditioning. So the conditioning would vary from activity to activity and also as per the goals we set.  In martial arts like Boxing or even Muay Thai stamina is very vital as in boxing a fight could go on upto 15 rounds, so they start their training daily with a good long jog varying from 10 -20km and then follow it up with lots of skipping. After this they go ahead with other training. This is also a form of body conditioning preparing the body to be able to fight for 15 long rounds. Similarly in Kung - fu there are lots of various means and equipment for body conditioning, two of the more widely known ones are the plum blossom poles and the wing chun dummy. The plum blossom poles are an assortment of wooden poles of varying heights fitted into the ground and the practitioner stands on top of them improving his stances, balance, co- ordination and perf...

Defense against circular punch/ jab or slap

I hope you all are able to comprehend the techniques and am sure the videos are of great help to understand better. Today we will look at defense against a circular punch / jab or slap. Always remember to train only under supervision of a qualified instructor. Those who are not regular martial arts practitioners should avoid trying the techniques as you may injure yourself. Lets say you are being attacked by a circular punch to your face with the right hand of the attacker. Move sideways into your attacker with your right foot. This gives you a good chance to block and yet be safe from the attack. Once you have moved in strike with your right palm (knife edge or Shuto) onto the forearm of the hand which is punching you. While you strike hold the punching hand with your left hand. The strike on the forearm will shake up the attacker. After striking the arm move your right hand sideways which will result in your elbow striking the attackers ribcage area. After striking t...

Defense against over head knife attack

 I have always strived to make movements and combination's as realistic and practically feasible as possible. Most of us being right handed the chances are always high to be attacked by the right hand of the attacker, that does not mean we don't train for an attack from the left hand. Lets look at how to defend oneself from a overhead knife attack. Please note do not try this without supervision of a qualified instructor .  Lets say we are attacked by a knife in the right hand of the attacker. Fast movement is always vital in a good defense. So move out to your left side blocking the right forearm of the attacker with your right hand. Moving out of the range of attack is always safer in case your attempt to block is foiled. Once blocked catch the knife wielding right hand of the attacker. With the left hand give a powerful Ura Tsugi ( inverted half punch) to the rib section of the attacker. Then hold the back of his collar (near the spine) with your left hand. As you hold t...

What is Self - defense ?

Being a martial artist am often asked by  people that  how soon can they learn self - defense. For many self - defense is just learning some techniques or points on the body. Many feel they can fight like Bruce Lee in just a month or even lesser. Well they are WRONG. So what exactly is self -defense? The ability to defend or protect oneself at the moment we are attacked is called self - defense. In order to defend oneself we need to train our reflexes. The movements, techniques, combination's need to be practiced many many times. When repetitive practice is done the movements get set into our reflex. Once the movements are set into the reflex then when we are attacked our hands and legs move out of reflex so we don't need to think and waste valuable time. This process is slow and the time taking for setting the movements into our reflex varies from individual to individual. For a person who is pretty fit and is into any kind of sport it will be faster. To be pretty good with s...

Why Martial Arts can not be a sport?

Just yesterday one of my gekusai's (student) was discussing with me about how karate will benefit from being accepted in to the Olympics. Well so that is what has made me decide to write this post to educate and inform people about the facts then decide. Karate may get more popular and recognized world wide after it enters Olympics but at the cost of losing its authenticity, its traditional training practices and so on. Any fighting form is called Martial Arts. This is the oldest thing known to mankind. Even before man made languages he knew how to fight to defend and protect himself. Martial Arts specially the oriental ones are a way of life. In my honest opinion you cannot execute a punch or a kick properly and expect it not to hurt or injure. A martial artist spends years harnessing his skills, power, technique. If we just make all martial arts an Olympic sport am sure over a period of some years all the training that goes into making a martial artist tough will vanish. In toda...

Summer Camp 2010

Hi, We had a very amazing time at our summer training camp or Gashuku this summer. It is always a joy and pleasure to be with all of the Jukaado family. Am sure all of you from the Gashuku (camp) will agree to that. We had our training for five days close to a forest area far away from the pollution and noise of the city. Our daily routine or training sessions begin at 5am. After a good warm -up and some walking we go out for a good jog along the forests path. It was nice to see that the students have improved on their fitness levels. Daily we would jog about 15km. The second training session starts after breakfast at around 10:30am in this session training would focus on various aspects like makiwara (traditional punching and striking posts and bags), katas (set combination of basic movements in a sequence) , Kihon (basics), Kihon - ido (basic movements in motion), Kakie (pushing hands exercise) and Hojo undo (supplementary training). Then we would take a break for lunch and some...