Thursday, December 1, 2022

Karate Concepts from Choki Motobu --- Chief Instructor's Blog December 2022

 

Choki Motobu, founder of Motobu-ryĆ«, was one of Okinawa's greatest early twentieth century karate masters.  Choki Motobu students documented in Japanese a 1978 essay "Motobu Choki Sensei Goroku" (that was translated by Joe Swift) which focuses on some of his concepts relating to karate.  I will expand on a few of the items discussed in the essay that resonated the most with me and align with Han Moo Kwan principles and concepts.

“Kamae is in the heart, not a physical manifestation.”

Kamae is Japanese for “stance” or “posture”.   While we practice it is important that your stances are solid and correct.  I believe what Choki Motobu was referring to is that your attitude and intent is more important.  Your stances and techniques can be technically perfect but if your attitude and intent is not correct, your techniques will not be effective.

“One must develop the ability to read how much striking power any person has in one glance.”

Learning to read your attacker and understand their strengths and weaknesses quickly is an essential skill.  We practice this skill as part of learning the energy side of martial arts.

“One does not have to take care to block every single attack by an opponent with weak striking power.”

If the strike is not going to do you harm or out of range, etc., then you should not waste time and energy to block it or chase it.    In this case, you should just attack the opponent, but ensure you are protecting any vulnerable spots (e.g., your head).

“One must develop the ability to deflect attack even from behind.”

All attacks are not going to be directly in front of you.  So, first you need to be aware of what is going on behind you and to the side of you as well.  And if the attack is from behind, you need to be able to move and throw techniques that are effective.

“In a real confrontation, more than anything else strike to the face first, as this is most effective.”

By striking the face (or head), first you are attacking the body’s “control system” (i.e.  the brain), and if can stun the brain, the body will shut down. I will expand this to attack vulnerable spots first (knees, groin, etc.).  The idea is to finish a fight quickly, so the most vulnerable spots are best to attack first.

“Kicks are not all that effective in a real confrontation.”

I believe this statement is more about full kicks.  Most fights are close in, so you will not necessarily be able to execute a full kick, but knee strikes, stamping side kicks to the shin or foot could be very effective.

“One must try and block the attack at its source (Block not the attacking hand but deeper on the arm).”

To me, this concept aligns with not focusing on the actual part of the body the assailant is attacking.  If you focus on just the attack, you may miss other things going on (use of other weapons). And if you attack the body or the source, you are more likely to do more damage and end the altercation quickly.  Or this concept may also be indicating to block a strike or kick at the position where it exerts the least amount of power.  (e.g., haymaker punch is easiest to stop if you block the upper arm just a few inches down from the shoulder.)

“The blocking hand must be able to become the attacking hand in an instant. Blocking with one hand and then countering with the other is not true bujutsu. Real bujutsu presses forward and blocks and counters in the same motion.”

This also combines a few concepts for me.  One is blocks are attacks (“block to break”), so in essence you should be always attacking.  In addition, this concept for me also emphasizes the need to continually attack until you feel safe and not stop until then.  In addition, this emphasizes the use of both hands simultaneously versus one technique then the other.

“When punching to the face one must thrust as if punching through the head.”

For every technique you throw you should be thinking of going through the target.  When we practice against one another you must use control to not cause bodily harm to your fellow student, but against bags, shields and definitely against an attacker, you should always be thinking of going through their body (head, spine, etc.)

“When blocking kicks, one must block as if trying to break the opponent’s shin.”

As stated in class over and over, with every “blocking technique” your intent should be block to break.  Our art form is for self-defense with the goals to end the altercation quickly.  To do so you must disable your attacker quickly, which means causing damage with every technique and to do that you must block to break. 

As you study or read about the masters of traditional martial arts, you will find Han Moo Kwan is very much aligned with their concepts. And given these concepts have survived hundreds of years, for me, it validates what we are studying and practicing.

 

Regards,

Kelly

“The more understanding you have about Karate, the less you need to change or modify it.” ~ Tsuguo Sakumoto (1947 – present), former World Karate Champion and 9th degree in Ryuei-ryu Karate