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The Advanced Shotokan Karate Bible: Black Belt and Beyond

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: USA Firefly Books 2008Description: 198pISBN:
  • 9781554073962
DDC classification:
  • 796.8153/MAR
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Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Easy-to-use guide on advanced levels of the world's most popular martial art.

The Advanced Shotokan Karate Bible is an authoritative, illustrated training guide and companion book to The Shotokan Karate Bible: Beginner to Black Belt . It concentrates on the black belt level and rankings beyond it, dispelling common misconceptions about earning a black belt.

More than 400 crisp color photographs plus concise text outline the author's advanced syllabus. Organized progressively by black belt degree, the book features:

Kata (sequencing) and kumite (sparring) -- shown step-by-step in double-page spreads Outlines of the requirements for achieving each new level Useful progress and technique summary tables Tips on taking grading examinations, training and development Etiquette and sparring safety tips.

The Advanced Shotokan Karate Bible is a brightly illustrated and clearly written guide that will attract and benefit the millions of students of the sport.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • 1 Introduction
  • 2 History of Karate
  • 3 Basic Form
  • 4 Bassai Dai
  • 5 Kanku Dai
  • 6 Empi
  • 7 Jion
  • 8 Hangetsu
  • 9 Nijushiho
  • 10 Sparring Drills
  • 11 Karate Competitions
  • Appendices
  • Bibliography
  • Glossary
  • Index

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

Introduction This book is intended as a guide for the advanced karate student, from brown belt level and through the first few years as a black belt. It builds on the material presented in The Shotokan Karate Bible (see Bibliography) and contains the knowledge that a first-degree black belt (shodan) needs to possess in order to progress to the second-degree black belt level (nidan). Studying from a book is no substitute for a good teacher, but it can complement training in the dojo. Beyond Black Belt Acquiring the black belt is not the end of your karate training. The black belt levels continue beyond the first degree as shown below. Black Belt Levels Dan -- Level name 1st -- shodan 2nd -- nidan 3rd -- sandan 4th -- yondan 5th -- godan 6th -- rokudan 7th -- sichidan 8th -- hachidan 9th -- kudan 10th -- judan In some karate organizations, the highest dan grades wear a different-colored belt, for example a red and black belt. However, in most karate schools, there are no new belt colors for the advanced student and all the dan grades wear the black belt. It is, however, often possible to identify a more advanced student. Most black belts are actually made of white cotton and are simply wrapped in black silk. Each time the belt is put on and taken off, a small amount of silk is worn away. Over the years this can result in the belt losing its black color and becoming increasingly white. Some karate practitioners put tags on their black belt to indicate their rank, or have their rank written on the belt, either in their native language or in Japanese characters. The Advanced Karate Syllabus The syllabus to reach the first-degree black belt level is listed in the Appendices and covered in detail in The Shotokan Karate Bible . The syllabus to progress to second-degree black belt (nidan) is summarized below and explained in detail in this book. The basics (kihon) vary from organization to organization, but are essentially the same as the previous level with the addition of some double-kick combinations. Sparring (kumite) follows the same form as the previous level, but of course you will be expected to perform with greater skill. The primary difference is the kata. You will be expected to know all of the brown belt kata and, in addition, you will need to learn one of the first dan optional kata. The best kata to choose for your second dan grading will depend on your specific strengths and preferences, but Nijushiho is generally recommended. This offers a good balance of new techniques and dynamic moves while not being overly athletic in its demands. Black Belt Grading Syllabus, 1st Dan to 2nd Dan Basics Triple punch - Kizami-zuki, oi-zuki, gyaku-zuki Front kick combination - Mae-geri, oi-zuki, gyaku-zuki Side thrusting kick combination - Yoko kekomi, uraken-uchi, gyaku-zuki Roundhouse kick combination - Mawashi-geri, uraken-uchi, gyaku-zuki Back kick combination - Ushiro-geri, uraken-uchi, gyaku-zuki Front kick/roundhouse kick combination - Mae-geri, mawashi-geri, uraken-uchi, gyaku-zuki Roundhouse kick/side thrusting kick combination - Mawashi-geri, yoko kekomi, urakenuchi, gyaku-zuki Roundhouse kick/reverse-back roundhouse kick combination - Mawashi-geri, ushiro ura mawashigeri, uraken-uchi, gyaku-zuki Front kick/back kick combination - Mae-geri, ushiro-geri, uraken-uchi, gyaku-zuki Four-kick combination - Mae-geri, move front foot back, yoko kekomi, mawashi-geri, ushiro-geri, uraken-uchi, gyaku-zuki Standing kicks - Mae-geri, yoko kekomi, ushiro-geri, mawashi-geri Shodan combination - Mae-geri, oi-zuki, gyaku-zuki, step back gedan barai, gyaku-zuki, mawashi geri, uraken-uchi, oi-zuki Kata Kihon Kata (Taikyoku Shodan) Heian Shodan Heian Nidan Heian Sandan Heian Yondan Heian Godan Tekki Shodan Bassai Dai Kanku Dai Jion Empi Hangetsu Choose one from: Bassai Sho, Kanku Sho, Jitte, Nijushiho, Tekki Nidan Kumite One-step free sparring - Jiyu ippon kumite Head-level stepping punch - Jodan oi-zuki Stomach-level stepping punch - Chudan oi-zuki Front kick - Mae-geri Side thrusting kick - Yoko kekomi Roundhouse kick - Mawashi-geri Back kick - Ushiro-geri Free sparring - Jiyu kumite The Shotokan Kata List For all gradings below fifth dan, there is an optional kata list from which the candidate must choose one kata to perform and a compulsory list from which the examiner may select any for the candidate to perform. Those grading to fifth dan or above are expected to know all the Shotokan kata. Compulsory kata are sometimes called shitei (assigned) kata. This is the name often given to the kata you're asked to perform in the early elimination rounds of kata competitions. Optional kata are sometimes called tokui (specialty) kata. This should be the kata that you have focused on and practiced the most. As a lower grade, you probably wouldn't have had a specialty kata. If you did, it was probably Bassai Dai -- the kata you needed to pass your brown belt gradings. As an advanced student, you will be expected to choose a specialty kata that particularly interests you or that suits your particular strengths. In kata competitions, the later rounds are often decided on the basis of your tokui kata. Optional and Compulsory Kata Compulsory for 1st Dan and Above Heian Shodan Heian Nidan Heian Sandan Heian Yondan Heian Godan Tekki Shodan Optional for 1st Dan; Compulsory for 2nd Dan and Above Bassai Dai Kanku Dai Jion Empi Hangetsu Optional for 2nd Dan; Compulsory for 3rd Dan and Above Bassai Sho Kanku Sho Jitte Nijushiho Tekki Nidan Optional for 3rd Dan; Compulsory for 4th Dan and Above Chinte Gankanku Gojushiho Sho Sochin Unsu Optional for 4th Dan; Compulsory for 5th Dan and Above Gojushiho Dai Ji'in Meikyo Tekki Sandan Wankan The Advanced Student It is sometimes said that Shotokan karate trains the "best white belts" in the world, but this is not meant as a compliment. It is instead intended to imply that Shotokan black belts are no more than very highly trained white belts and are performing their karate in a slightly naive fashion. As a black belt, you should not simply be doing the same karate as white belts, even if it is at a higher intensity and with greater precision. The Difference Between an Advanced Karate Student and a Beginner Novice Does what he or she is told Follows black and white rules Mainly works on the next grading kata Can perform simple combinations with practice Understanding of kata is based on careful imitation Advanced Student Questions dogma Modifies behavior in response to complex changes in circumstances Has many kata to maintain, and specializes in one or two Can quickly learn complex combinations and create effective new combinations Understanding of kata is enhanced by knowledge of and repetition practical kata applications LEARN TO BREAK THE RULES Lower grades are given rules to follow, for example "keep your heels down," "keep your back straight" and "rotate the fist at the end of a punch." Under examination, some of these dogmatic rules don't appear to make sense all of the time. For example, boxers don't seem to follow these rules, but they can punch and defend effectively. But how can this be? Surely the methods and traditions of karate cannot be wrong? What you need to understand is that some of the instructions given to lower grades are there to prohibit bad habits and aren't really absolute rules. It requires a deeper understanding of karate to distinguish between the rules that need to be followed and those that don't. These gray areas are confusing for a white belt -- that's why a relatively simple and straightforward rule set is presented to beginners. As a black belt, you should understand when it's appropriate to break these rules. The Old Martial Way of Okinawa Many karate schools include some traditional weapons training under the label of Okinawan kobudo, which means the "old martial way of Okinawa." Traditional Weapons of Okinawa bo -- Six-foot wooden staff sai -- Three-pronged metal dagger tonfa -- Baton about two feet long with a handle. Forerunner of the modern police baton nunchaku -- Two-section staff. Two sticks connected by a short chain or rope. Training using weapons can help with your understanding of empty-handed techniques. This is because the weapon forms use the same principles as the empty-handed forms, but the added weight of the weapons mean that if you perform a technique inefficiently using bad form, you will quickly become tired. Cross-Training Cross-training in the world of martial arts is sometimes thought of as a recent phenomenon brought about by the popularity of Ultimate Fighting Championships and mixed martial arts. However, the idea of training in different martial arts in order to produce a more rounded fighting style is not new. Part of Bruce Lee's combat philosophy, Jeet Kune Do, was to break free from the limitations of one style of fighting. He said: The best fighter is not a Boxer, Karate or Judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt to any style. He kicks too good for a Boxer, throws too good for a Karate man and punches too good for a Judo man. The great classical karate masters were no strangers to the idea of cross-training. In the early days of karate, there was a continual interchange of techniques between different karate masters. As a beginner, it is important to focus on one martial art. All the different elements of Shotokan reinforce each other using consistent themes and consistent rules. Dabbling in other martial arts can be confusing for the beginner, but a broader view can be enlightening for the advanced student. If you do five different martial arts or karate styles for a year each, you will end up following five beginner's courses and go away with the skills of someone who has done one year of training. If you focus on one martial art first for five years before cross-training, you'll understand how to integrate the new knowledge into your five years of experience, thereby improving the quality of your karate. Again, it's Bruce Lee who says it best: I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. There are valuable lessons to be learned from the other styles of karate. The early Shotokan karate masters understood this and went to train under Kenwa Mabuni, the founder of Shito-ryu. This resulted in the kata Unsu, Sochin and Nijushiho being imported into the Shotokan system. It is worth taking a look at the Shito-ryu version of these kata as well as some of the other major Goju-ryu kata such as Seipei and Seienchin. Other styles also have slightly different versions of the Shotokan kata and these can be worth studying. Over the years, some of the kata have been misremembered, and studying sibling styles of karate can help to reconstruct the original intention of the kata creator and make more sense of some of the more obscure movements. This is not to say that innovation in karate is a bad thing. In fact, it is essential for the continued evolution of the art. The grappling martial arts like jiu jitsu, judo and aikido are great for finding out about locks, holds and throws. These kinds of techniques are rarely covered in karate classes but are essential if you want to truly understand the karate kata. Interpreting Kata For most karate students, it is enough to simply learn the kata movements without any understanding of what all those movements are actually used for. If you're only interested in passing gradings and winning competitions, this is all you need to know. But there has been an increasing trend toward understanding the applications of kata sequences at a deeper level and a dissatisfaction with the overly simplistic and unrealistic explanations that have been provided in recent history. Defenses should be against attacks that would realistically be used by an untrained assailant, not against formal karate-style attacks. Someone on the street is unlikely to attack with a straight stepping punch (oi-zuki) or any sort of kick above waist height. The karate kata contain techniques that are effective at many different ranges. Modern karate practitioners tend to see everything as being in the medium to long range, which is what you see in karate competitions. In the kata, usually only the initial move is at that range and then all the rest are at close range. Opponents on the ground can be finished off with a punch, but it is better to use a stamp, a kick, an arm-lock submission or a throat hold. Slow moves often indicate strong grappling moves, using strength and leverage to break a grip or apply a lock or hold. Slow moves in kata are typically performed faster at the beginning and then with decreasing speed and increasing tension. This reflects the reality of applying a grappling move: first, you need to grab your opponent, which should be done quickly, but then as you apply the lock or hold you are working against bones and connective tissue. Structure of This Book This section presents short summaries of the topics covered in more detail later in the book. CHAPTER 2 -- HISTORY OF KARATE You don't need to know the origins of karate to be a successful karate black belt, but the mysterious and ancient origins of the oriental martial arts are a key attraction for many pursuing a traditional martial art like karate. Most people think of karate as a Japanese martial art with traditions that go back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. But in fact karate was as novel and exotic to the Japanese when it was first taught in the Tokyo universities in the 1920s as it was to Westerners when karate was brought to Europe and the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, most instructors make every effort to preserve the ancient traditions of karate. But a mere hundred years ago, karate would have been considered a revolutionary new style of unarmed fighting and it would not have been uncommon for karate masters to invent their own kata. Shotokan karate evolved directly from a system of unarmed fighting developed by the royal bodyguards to the King of Okinawa. All the styles of karate have their origins in the Chinese martial arts that have been practiced in Okinawa for centuries. However, it was not until the 19th century that the key developments were made by the masters of the Okinawan fighting arts based in the royal city of Shuri, developments which would lead ultimately to the karate style that today we call Shotokan. The main contributors to this new style of fighting were Sokon Matsumura, who was chief bodyguard to the King of Okinawa, and Anko Itosu, who also worked in the royal court. Karate became a Japanese art in the 20th century when Gichin Funakoshi introduced karate to Japan. Since then, karate has enjoyed rapid growth in the modern world, its popularity fueled by modern innovations such as karate tournaments and martial arts movies. CHAPTER 3 -- BASIC FORM One of the main distinguishing features of the advanced student is the ability to use leg techniques effectively. Kicks can be the most impressive aspects of karate, but they require the most strength, coordination and flexibility. The advanced level combinations consist of a number of double-kick combinations that are intended to refine your kicking abilities. Remember that it is essential that you still work to refine the basic form you learned before becoming a black belt. This is especially important if, like many black belts, you are involved in teaching. CHAPTERS 4 TO 9 -- KATA Origins Most kata in the Shotokan system can be attributed to Sokon Matsumura or Anko Itosu. They were either based on kata that had come to Matsumura and Itosu from China or were invented by them. The origins sections of these chapters discuss the meaning of the name of the kata. In many cases, the kata have been passed down using the oral tradition and their names were never written down. Without knowing the Japanese kanji for the kata name, we can only guess at the meaning of the name. For example, Jion is written as two characters. The first character could be written using the character for "temple," or using the character for "love." The second character could be written using either "mercy" or "sound." Whichever characters are used, it is still pronounced "Jion," but the name could mean "temple of love," "temple sound" or "mercy of love." Importance These sections explain how the kata fits in with the other Shotokan kata. Some kata, such as Kanku Dai, share many similarities with other kata in the Shotokan system, meaning that many sequences will already be familiar even if Kanku Dai is new for you. Other kata, such as Nijushiho, stand out as being quite unique. While this might mean that learning the kata is more challenging, since there is no familiar territory it can also make the kata more novel and interesting. Performance Tips Simply running through the moves of the kata is sometimes not enough. These sections explain how the kata should be performed. For example, some sequences are better performed in combination, leaving only small gaps between the techniques. New Techniques These sections introduce important new techniques that haven't been covered in previous kata. Kata Sequence These sections run through the kata step by step, breaking down complicated moves where appropriate. The numbers indicate the moves that would be made to each count in class, with sub-moves being indicated with a letter. For example, the first move in Bassai Dai is shown in two steps, 1a and 1b. These steps should be performed as one complete movement. Variations Today, practitioners are strict about maintaining the traditions of karate and adhering to the kata sequence that was passed down to them. It was not always this way. Before the 20th century, it was common practice for karate masters to make kata their own by introducing major modifications or even creating entirely new kata of their own. With the advent of big karate organizations, karate rank exams and kata competitions, fixed standards became increasingly important. Any variation from the established way of performing a kata in a grading will often lead to failing that exam, and in a kata competition it will result in lost points. Variations do, however, still exist, and some of the major ones are highlighted in these sections. Sometimes high-ranking practitioners make modifications to improve the kata. In some cases, the variation may in fact be the old way that has gone out of fashion. Variations also come about by accident, with karate masters misremembering the kata and those "mistakes" being picked up and then popularized by their students. It is important to remember that these variations are not necessarily any worse than the standard way of performing the kata. CHAPTER 10 -- SPARRING DRILLS The sparring drills in these sections are not fixed sequences required for grading, but instead are useful combinations that can be practiced in order to improve your sparring. CHAPTER 11 -- KARATE COMPETITIONS Competitions are not part of karate's traditional heritage but are a relatively recent innovation. However, karate would not enjoy the success it does today if it were not for karate competitions, which are a great attraction and motivator for many participants. These sections explain how competitions are typically organized, how points are awarded and some of the terminology used. Excerpted from Advanced Shotokan Karate: Black Belt and Beyond by Ashley P. Martin All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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