My top mantra in teaching is to keep technique crisp and compact. It takes thousands upon thousands of repetitions to master this.
Being clever and thinking outside the box are among the most important things to drill after leaning the basics of sparring.
One of my favorite karate "traps" - step in with a jab, follow with a reverse punch fake, and continue with the motion into a step across front kick and a pulling block with the faking hand.
The basic idea of setting traps is "show him this, but give him that."
Remember that when you step outside of the dojo, you are leaving a controlled environment. You have to be ready for anything.
Each of the older kata could be called its own method of fighting. It isn't unheard of for some teachers to drill one kata and its bunkai for a year or more.
Learn kata and learn it thoroughly. Practice sparring drills to understand kata. Move on to light sparring to learn to apply your techniques naturally.
It is fair to say that reverse punch is the staple move of karate. It is a simple technique, but simple is good. The applications of reverse punch are endless.
I advocate learning a martial art as your core art and later supplementing it with training, principles, and techniques from other styles. No art is complete.
Knowing martial arts and how to teach them are related but not quite the same. The latter requires knowledge of how body mechanics work and how to express them clearly.
Training in martial arts is good life experience. It teaches hard work and goal setting as well as sportsmanship and character.
Keep yin and yang in your martial arts practice. There must be gentleness in strength, and power in looseness. Also, when training, challenge yourself, but don't overdo it. On the other side, remember that rest is also part of training.
In karate it is important to train not only your body, but also your mind. Pushing past the point of wanting to give up strengthens both mind and body.
Do not neglect the need for developing your inner warrior. To do this one must become acquainted with discomfort and push through life's obstacles, with one's goals constantly in mind. Life itself is the battlefield in which we must fight for our dreams.
Martial arts is life...It's about getting up after falling down. Trying again. Learning from the life journey is the victory. The spiritual growth found in the fight. Life is tough, but it's a beautiful challenge.
It is important to develop contentedness with our situation, and to love life in general. Nonetheless, we must work hard towards our dreams and have hope for tomorrow without forgetting to enjoy the moment.
Dare to take a stand and claim your dreams. Inspire others. Life is tough but only you decide when to give up. The thrill of victory is often worth striving for, but it is not the most important thing. The spiritual growth found within fight itself is the most important.
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These thoughts are included in Martial Arts Thoughts and Articles - free online PDF book. The book serves as a supplement to Johnston Karate's student karate guide, Understanding Karate-do, which is also available as a professionally bound and printed trade paperback book, and a Kindle e-book. Please visit our Understanding Karate-do store on Amazon.com if you would like to order your own copy :)
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Free Karate Downloads / All our free Karate books and articles
Being clever and thinking outside the box are among the most important things to drill after leaning the basics of sparring.
One of my favorite karate "traps" - step in with a jab, follow with a reverse punch fake, and continue with the motion into a step across front kick and a pulling block with the faking hand.
The basic idea of setting traps is "show him this, but give him that."
Remember that when you step outside of the dojo, you are leaving a controlled environment. You have to be ready for anything.
Each of the older kata could be called its own method of fighting. It isn't unheard of for some teachers to drill one kata and its bunkai for a year or more.
Learn kata and learn it thoroughly. Practice sparring drills to understand kata. Move on to light sparring to learn to apply your techniques naturally.
It is fair to say that reverse punch is the staple move of karate. It is a simple technique, but simple is good. The applications of reverse punch are endless.
I advocate learning a martial art as your core art and later supplementing it with training, principles, and techniques from other styles. No art is complete.
Knowing martial arts and how to teach them are related but not quite the same. The latter requires knowledge of how body mechanics work and how to express them clearly.
Training in martial arts is good life experience. It teaches hard work and goal setting as well as sportsmanship and character.
Keep yin and yang in your martial arts practice. There must be gentleness in strength, and power in looseness. Also, when training, challenge yourself, but don't overdo it. On the other side, remember that rest is also part of training.
In karate it is important to train not only your body, but also your mind. Pushing past the point of wanting to give up strengthens both mind and body.
Do not neglect the need for developing your inner warrior. To do this one must become acquainted with discomfort and push through life's obstacles, with one's goals constantly in mind. Life itself is the battlefield in which we must fight for our dreams.
Martial arts is life...It's about getting up after falling down. Trying again. Learning from the life journey is the victory. The spiritual growth found in the fight. Life is tough, but it's a beautiful challenge.
It is important to develop contentedness with our situation, and to love life in general. Nonetheless, we must work hard towards our dreams and have hope for tomorrow without forgetting to enjoy the moment.
Dare to take a stand and claim your dreams. Inspire others. Life is tough but only you decide when to give up. The thrill of victory is often worth striving for, but it is not the most important thing. The spiritual growth found within fight itself is the most important.
--------------------
These thoughts are included in Martial Arts Thoughts and Articles - free online PDF book. The book serves as a supplement to Johnston Karate's student karate guide, Understanding Karate-do, which is also available as a professionally bound and printed trade paperback book, and a Kindle e-book. Please visit our Understanding Karate-do store on Amazon.com if you would like to order your own copy :)
--------------------
Free Karate Downloads / All our free Karate books and articles
