Smile Please !

Newton Abbot Dojo 17/02/08

Terry Wingrove in Lancaster 3/2/08

Lucky Boy

Majid is off To Japan (one in middle)

Jim Logue Ryu-Te at Bisham

My Thoughts on Kata

Wow! It was of interest to somebody and I hope many more.

Born Fighter by Dave Hazard (Link here to Review)

I have read the book. If you know, heard of, been touched by Sensei Hazard or are a Karate student looking for Fact plus humour told as it is, in a way only Sensei can, this is a very good book. A legendary hard man? A warm, humorous person having dealt with life so far, as ferociously as it was dealt to him. All the stories have a pure meaning from my veiw. The dedication, the talent, the recognistion, the struggle and the joy that karate has given him, plus the volumes insperation to others he has poured back becomes obseive reading from cover to cover.

Horses for courses

Thank you to everybody who made the effort to get to the Bruce Miller Courses. Once again it was good to be reminded of the effects and side effects of martial arts technique.

Having a better understanding of cause and effect is a far better option than rigidly adhearing to specific form, so often seen in martial arts. Knowing why, gives a better perception of how, practice gives a clearer perception for when.

All good stuff!

I promise you all his books and DVD's are well worth reference.

Safe from Harm or Peaceful Mind ??

Pinan /Heian Kata. Very interesting theory.

Karate is Not an Expression of Aggression

An interesting statement! I have to say, that for me aggression is an essential factor for consideration in the process of understanding karate and it’s mental discipline. Aggression has to be mastered from within and it's potential flaws fully understood.

Chuck Norris said "we are like tempered steel, once our temper is lost, so are we". It has also been said that the "Iron ore considers itself tortured in the furnace, but is enlightened as tempered steel".

Karate training must include a means by which we can learn to control reflex aggression. How we turn on and off an aggressive state of mind can make all the difference to our physical performance. We need to be in control of, or understand the procedure that takes over from logic. We can have an aggressive or passive attitude, both states of mind are important, both are reflected by our actions. It is not enough to just associate aggression with mindless violence, but see it as a tool, the consequence of understanding ourselves in greater depth. This I think is vital.

I abhor violence and unnecessarily aggressive behaviour. The more I understand the consequences of them when uncontrolled, the more I hate them. However there is a part of me that needs to be able to cultivate the procedure to acquire both to an extreme in order to survive.

A 1st For UK-Karate.com

I can really recommend the Karatesite website as being jam packed with all sorts of interesting karate information. We are proud to be listed on their blog list. As of today..........the 1st one.

Bruce Miller in England Map and Times

UK-Karate.com Dojo
Sacred Hearts Catholic "Church Hall", Cobham, Surrey, KT11 1AA

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?&hloc=GBKT111AA#t=l&map=51.32874,-0.41299154&loc=GB:51.32947:-0.41363:16KT111AAKT11%201AA

From the A3 down the Portsmouth Rd, Right at Roundabout into "Between Streets" follow along until Waitrose is on your left and The Sacred Hearts Church is on the right. Turn Right into Downside Bridge Road. Turn immediately right into Church Hall Car Park.

From the USA Bruce Miller 7th Dan Course www.quanlikan.com/

Very Special Guest Terry Wingrove 8th Dan Hanshi www.cyberbudo.com/

Thursday 25th October 7.30 - 9.30 pm
Cost £10 per person
Min Age 18

A donation from the course fee's plus any other donations will go to The Richard House Hospice www.richardhouse.org.uk/

For more information Contact Alan Platt 07957421371
alan@uk-karate.com

www.uk-karate.com/

Please book a place early for this very special event.

Many club instructors and students have already been invited. This will insure a very high standard of Karate for the novice to see.

This is a very special event for all shapes, sizes, grades and genders, "regardless of experience", to learn Effective Karate from World Class Masters.

Novices more than Welcome.

Karate-Jutsu Photo Album

Cornwall Karate

KARATE: Three Cornish Karate groups recently joined forces for a day, to learn from one of the world's foremost experts on the original "Jutsu" form of Karate. Adult instructors and students from Samurai Karate Cornwall of Penzance, Okushindo Karate Kai of St Austell, and the St Ives Shotokan Karate Club all came together to learn from visiting instructor Sensei Terry Wingrove.

Sensei Wingrove spent 21 years studying the martial arts in Japan, and now holds high-level black belts in Karate, JuJitsu, Judo and Aikido. Despite the fact that all three Karate groups practice different styles of Karate, everybody was in equal awe of Sensei Wingrove's methods and agreed that they had learnt a great deal from him. As an added bonus, the event raised £265.00 for Sensei Wingrove's nominated charity, the Richard House Children's Hospice.

Course organiser, Sensei Kevin Cooke, said "Traditionally in the UK, groups who practice different styles of Karate don't have a good track-history of working together, however this course was a great success and everybody made some new friends. Whilst we may have differences in the way that we practice Karate, we all felt the same pain when Sensei Wingrove demonstrated his Karate Jutsu techniques on us!

This is one 66 year-old you wouldn't want to mess with!" All three of the Cornish Karate groups welcome new students of any ability. Anyone interested in learning Karate in Penzance/Pendeen/St Just should contact Kevin Cooke (Samurai Karate Cornwall) on mobile 07706 797562. Anyone interested in learning Karate in St Ives should contact Steve Matteson (St Ives Shotokan Karate Club) on 01736 795477.

Anyone interested in learning Karate in St Austell should contact Dena Marshall (Okushindo Karate Kai) on mobile 07980 061115. It is hoped that a follow-up course with Sensei Wingrove will be run early next year, and that even more local martial art groups might attend.

My Makawara

Power & Speed

I now believe the basic principles of power production and transfer need to be re-addressed in karate and are vital. We need to understand how to produce power internally and create leverage, "off "the ground", transmit it through something "you", into something "your target"", to change it's shape or break it. This principle can be carried out at any speed to produce degrees of measurable effect with no ambiguity, "damage, disrupt or destroy". Not just point scoring so often the objective in today's karate areana. The movement required to produce this effect is a direct consequence of a victory over an objective, causing an effect. A similar action prescribed for appearance without the inclusion of essential factors which govern movement and production of power 'effort' may look good but will not do the job as well. Prescribed patterns of pretty inefficient movement for affect, portrayed in "sport or modern karate" systems today, are a prelude to failure if used in a violent conflict or for more practical reasons.
Walking is a good example of an inherent pattern that produces speed & power with a measurable effect, if it is done naturally. While maintaining a dynamic equilibrium, or proportionate weight distribution and displacement, speed & power can be transmitted via the ground, in a forward or backward motion. For example, right leg forward right arm back, hip leading the shoulder through the action. Equal and opposite action and reaction. This action in karate is similar to a no stance stepping gyaku tsuki, done repeatedly with fluidity it has the appearance of walking. It is a pattern inherent to humans and can have a direct result on how you think you move. It defines the basic natural mobility and power transfer pattern. Not an imitation with over emphasised ingredients illustrated by many karate movements. Naturally it covers in essence how basic kicking and striking actions should be analysed and studied in depth.

Without the essence of natural movement how can any karate technique be considered natural or powerful. Similarity of movement is not good enough to supersede natures attempt for the most efficient methods of movement. To move we have to initiate a lever off the floor, we push down and back to go forward and push forward and back to stop or go back. The more leverage we use the more powerful we are. To fully understand karate techniques we have to fully understand exactly what our body can or cannot do as a lever off the ground. This varies in body types, some fast, some powerful, some naturally fast and powerful. The style should suit the body not the body the style.

I think this is the main stumbling block of the prescribed styles of movement derived from sports karate masters. Paramount should be our understanding of what role the ground plays. Without it we aren't going nowhere, how can we?. In space if you hit something, would you move, or it?. The ground is our fulcrum, the body is our lever, we must seek maximum traction efficiency when in motion, not for an affect of motion, effect verses affect. The difference is the key to realistic effective movement.

The long jumper jumps 30m but is disqualified because he crossed the line by 5 inches, 1st and 2nd places go to 29m jumps, but who produced more effort and effect.
To increase the potential of walking into the realms of combat we have to put it in perspective by increasing it's effect. Walking up and down flights of steps increases the load and demands an increase in power output of your levers. Carrying excess weight contributes to the exercise and training procedure. The leverage that determines the speed and the power of the body will become evident. It's that leverage we want to increase the efficiency of. Speed comes as a consequence of practice and familiarity of movements. Take away the steps but keep the effort the same thing applies if you need to produce effective forward movement.

This type of training unfortunately is contrary to the prescribed methods of say Shotokan or other similar styles. For example right leg forward, right arm forward, stepping shoulders and hips in line. Oi tsuki, army walk, rank and file, misinterpreted "martial art" perhaps. If you can keep in mind the way we move naturally while walking. You can still incorporate the basic principles of power transfer but not to maximum effect. If you don't know what they are you can't use them. You have to retain full control of your movements and not throw one half of you body in, leaving the thrust behind you. It must come with you as part of the movement as a whole. You don't walk or run like that. You have to consider every moving part at all times or you would fall over. To practice stance and steps is wrong. We should step into a stance for a reason and out for another reason, a stance on it's own is just a static posture. The dead and those about to be, practice with great effect static postures in battle. Karate is how we move and transfer power not how we look standing or in prescribed staccato motion.

To illustrate my theory I will use this example of a probable action. If you throw a javelin, as a consequence of the run up you build up energy in motion as a moving mass. By use of interconnection of long bone levers and muscles you can stop on an axis point. Release the javelin, by projecting your mass power into the ground with one leg, letting the built up energy go into the javelin as you let go of it. Like a pole vaulter that leg is your pole or axis. The rest of your body is still travailing on and around the brake leg, it's your axis point. If you increase the leverage off of this leg in the time and space available, you can project the javelin forward, inertia will add to the natural release point, and off it goes. Increase the distance thrown by an increase in effort. Measure your progress through understanding production of power. Energy is created off the ground through you, into the javelin. The run up is short and is there only to increase the potential of release. High jump, shot put, all good examples of relatively quick releases of power. You could say 100m sprint but the start is the most important part of the action.

I have learnt that the "basics" I require are in movement, not static postures, although I taught that sort of thing for as long as I can remember in my Shotokan days. My old Goju Master Steve Morris would use his arm and legs like baseball bats and they hurt like hell. He taught me how to produce that effect through effective movement not affective movement. For a good example of what not to do. Age-uki like Oi-tsuki in most modern styles is defined by it's movement but emphasis is placed at the termination point of the technique i.e. kima or kia whatever. Where as in reality the sweet spot, of a strike would be where a linear and rotational arm or leg movements coincide. At the moment of contact, this would be during the action and would only terminate on contact while leverage and movement is still accessible. Many modern karate students train to make contact. I think we should train to improve the efficiency of the movement that will destroy on and during contact not what it looks like.

The modern masters will always object to that type of description and insist that there are more factors to take into consideration. It's true there are many more things to consider but they aren't fully understood or past on. They sometimes lack some of the essentials I mentioned in the above examples, they have to lead to failure when put to the ultimate test. I try not to pay too much attention to how I look but more what I do and why I'm doing it and what happens if I fail. The Motive and objective initiates the needed response to create the required effect. The majority of karate students I see train with mirror's copy an affect, or copy their mental images of their instructors in flight. Ultimately to only become parodies of the masters they imitate. They think they have the wings and feathers but don't know how to fly. For many students the modern master hasn't the time or the patients to explain in detail exactly what is required, and more to often the point, they aren't too sure what they are.

If it all makes sense to you good, if it doesn't, power up some steps, throw a ball and ask yourself what am I doing? . Manufacturing and distributing power to cause an effect, to project yourself or the ball. Tactics is another ball game.

The Right Technique

If you have to look for a technique from your training repetoir, to use in a fight situation, it's probably the wrong one and too late.

A few good men

Ask the Karate Experts