The Management Consulting Group

I wish I had a dollar for every person who asked
me how to improve his or her self-defense skills
and fight-related fitness. They want something
they can do at home, by themselves and on a
consistent basis.

These people range from dedicated martial
artists, to seminar candidates, to people just looking for
a fun and functional way to tone up their body
and build their confidence. One of the best solutions
I have to offer is heavy bag training.

A heavy bag is a stuffed bag weighing 40 to 100
lbs. It is suspended from the ceiling so it can
be punched and kicked.

Properly conducted, heavy bag training can
improve your self-defense ability, your health, fitness
and sense of well being. However, if done improperly
it can be counter productive and injurious. The
goalof this article is to tell you how to use the
heavy bag as a safe, effective training tool and how to
avoid dangers and pitfalls of training improperly.

BENEFITS OF HEAVY BAG TRAINING

Self-defense Qualities

Obviously, hitting a heavy bag is nothing like a
real fight. However, it does develop fight-
related qualities that are indispensable in
personal combat. It can hone your strikes and
kicks into devastating self-defense weapons.

The strikes and kicks most applicable to hitting
the heavy bag are classified as “gross motor
skills.” Gross motor skills are simple, large
muscle actions that don’t deteriorate under
stress. In fact, the jolt of adrenaline from the
fear or anger, likely to accompany a combative
situation, will enhance your performance.

Impact training contributes to a healthy “Hit
Psychology.” I use this term to describe people’s
willingness to hit and be hit in order to protect
themselves. Believe it or not, many people are
reluctant to defend themselves. Those who lack
confidence in their ability to influence the
outcome of their situation, perform poorly under
stress.

Proper impact training (hitting bags, pads and
partners) builds striking competence and
confidence that increases the effectiveness of a physical
response.

“Blitz” training, which I’ll describe later in
this article, can build mental tenacity. A blitz
is an intense, rapid-fire barrage of strikes and
kicks intended to simulate the all out aggression
required during a confrontation.

If you are ever thrust into a situation where you
must fight for your life, you must do so with
every ounce of your being. In a situation like
this, your greatest enemy is your desire to give
up. “Blitz” training builds both physical and
mental stamina and the tenacity to keep gong
until you succeed.

Note: Blitz training should not be incorporated
unless you are in good health, have developed a
solid conditioning base and have good
striking/kicking mechanics. To do so without the
preliminary groundwork is inviting injury.

FITNESS BENEFITS OF HEAVY BAG TRAINING

A good heavy bag program strengthens your
cardiovascular system, tones and strengthens your
muscles, burns fat, increases bone density and
connective tissue resilience. Not only can you
get into great shape, but you can develop
functional self-defense qualities at the same
time.

By repeatedly striking and kicking the bag, you
activate all of the major muscles groups in your
body. The arms, shoulders, waist, and leg muscles
must be coordinated and conditioned.

This training also builds athletic qualities such
as speed, power, balance, timing, and
coordination.

STRESS MANAGEMENT BENEFITS OF HEAVY BAG TRAINING

Evolution has wired our brains and our bodies
for survival. At the first detection of danger,
the “fight or flight response” kicks in. A host
of physiological changes occur intended to
prepare us to fight aggressively or run like the
wind.

In a survival situation this is a good thing.
However, in modern society, this same response
can be activated over and over in situations that
don’t merit a simple solution like fighting or
running away. A hectic day of deadlines, traffic
jams, frustrations, and personal conflicts fires
off the fight or flight response and pollutes our
body with the toxic byproducts of stress.

Physical action is required to flush this “fight
or flight residue” out of our bodies before it
compromises our health and immune system.
Vigorous exercise, such as heavy bag training,
simulates the exertion needed to burn off this
residue and return the mind and body to a
healthier state. That’s why bag work is an
excellent way to manage stress. It satisfies the
body’s inherent need to fight.

HEAVY BAG WORK IS FUN!

The final benefit is that heavy bag training is
fun! Crank up the stereo, imagine the bag was
your worst enemy (if you have one) and blast
away. You’ll be dripping with sweat, huffing and
puffing and feeling rejuvenated in no time!

**** HEAVY BAG PRECAUTIONS ****

Any form of exercise, if taken to extremes, can
be counterproductive and risky. Heavy bag
training is intended to build you up, make you
strong, fit and healthy. Improperly done, it can
produce the opposite results.

People who run too much get shin splints and bad
knees. Impatient weight lifters strain muscles
and damage joints. That doesn’t make those
activities bad. Over zealous exercise can be
worse than none at all. Bag work is no different.
If you train moderately, execute your techniques
with proper form and apply some common sense, you
can maximize these benefits and minimize the
dangers.

AVOIDING TRAINING-RELATED INJURIES

There are two types of athletic injuries
associated with physical activity: chronic and
acute. Chronic injuries develop and last over an
extended period. Training improperly, too
intensely, or too often causes them. When your
body is stressed through exercise, it must be
given time to recover and rebuild itself in order
to become more efficient.

When you train too hard, or rest insufficiently
between workouts, you will develop overtraining
injuries. People don’t realize that muscles adapt
faster than the connective structures that
support them.

Your speed and power development can quickly
surpass the resilience of your bones, tendons,
ligaments and joints. That translates to torn
muscles, chronic joint pain, and even permanent
injuries that defeat the purpose of training
in the first place!

Acute injuries, like a twisted ankle, a sprained
wrist or a broken bone, happen suddenly. These
injuries can be minimized with good equipment,
proper form and common sense. ALWAYS emphasize
technique ahead of speed and power.

In fact, there is no need to pound on the heavy
bag as hard as you can. Focus on proper body
mechanics and the speed and power will take care
of themselves. Start slowly and let your speed
and power build gradually. Allow your body time
to adapt and become more resilient.

AVOIDING BAD HEAVY BAG HABITS

I’ve seen it a million times. When you put
something in front of someone to hit, his or her
picture-perfect striking skills go out the
window. Punches are drawn back like the wind up
of a big league pitcher. Feet come off the floor.
Body parts are contorted. Grunts and farts erupt
as the striker’s face contorts beyond
recognition. He hurls himself in the general
vicinity of the target, trying to give it
everything he’s got. He usually misses! Not a
very practical skill, is it?

HERE ARE SOME “BAD BAG HABITS” TO AVOID:

* * Exaggerating your movements in an attempt

to hit harder * *

Always concentrate on “clean” and proper body
mechanics when training. Don’t think that sloppy
movements allow you to hit harder. It only
increases injuries and develops striking skills
that you couldn’t land if your life depended on
it. When you focus exclusively on hitting hard,
you forget everything else. Hit properly and the
power will take care of itself.

* * Telegraphing your techniques * *

Telegraphing a punch or kick means giving
obvious preparatory signals prior to throwing it.
An example is cocking your fist back before
throwing a punch. Because the heavy bag in an
inanimate mass, it’s easy to forget the
importance of being able to hit your opponent
without signaling your intentions.

* * Not protecting yourself at all times * *

To paraphrase the late Bruce Lee, “Bags don’t
hit back!” The heavy bag is a big, unresponsive
target. Because of this, it’s possible to develop
bad habits that can carry over to sparring or
fighting. Keep your hands up and protect yourself
at all times. Move into range, hit the bag and
then move out again. Imagine the bag is a living,
breathing opponent attempting to hit you.

* * Pushing instead of hitting the Bag * *

A common mistake when hitting the bag is to
follow through too deeply and push, rather than
hit, it. A punch or kick accelerates from the
time you initiate it until it’s fully extended.
The further a limb moves, the faster and the more
powerful it will be. Strike the bag at a point
near full extension. Penetrate the bag no more
than a few inches beyond it’s surface and try to
generate a clean “popping” sound on impact. Take
care however, never to lock out or hyper extend
your joints on impact or if you miss the bag.

* * Holding your breath * *

When people exert themselves, they tend to hold
their breath. This is a bad habit. First of all
it reduces your endurance by starving your body
of oxygen when it needs it most. Secondly, you
increase thoracic pressure and can injure
yourself. (”blow a nut” in layman’s terms) Exhale
as you strike or kick. This prevents breath
holding and enhances power by tensing the muscles
of your torso.

DESIGNING A HEAVY BAG ROUTINE

It’s difficult to teach physical skills in an
article. Obviously, your best bet to establish a
good training program is to seek the guidance of
a qualified coach or instructor. However, many of
you reading this article are martial art students
or have taken self-defense training before.

If this is the case, you probably have the basic
striking skills you need to workout on a heavy
bag. If you haven’t hit a heavy bag before, take
your time and use your head (to think, not to hit
the bag with!). Start gradually and figure it
out. It’s not brain surgery! Here are some
suggestions to designing a heavy bag routine.

* * Always warm up and cool down. * *

Warming up improves performance and reduces
injuries and post-exercise muscle soreness.
Before exercising intensely, you should always
work up a light sweat and engage in some basic
limbering exercises to increase blood flow, your
range of motion and to lubricate your joints.
Jumping rope, running in place and shadow boxing
for 10 to 15 minutes are excellent ways to begin
a workout. (Note: don’t do extensive stretching
during the warm up. It can compromise joint
stability and make you more susceptible to
injury. Leave vigorous stretching until the end
of your workout)

Cooling down at the end of your workout
gradually returns your system (breathing, heart
rate, etc.) to a resting state. Never finish an
intense workout and then just plunk down on the
couch. The cool down is a time to work on your
flexibility with stretching exercises.

STRUCTURING YOUR WORKOUT

Basic Punches and Kicks conducive to heavy bag
training include:

=> Lead punch (jab)
=> Cross (reverse punch)
=> Hook punch
=> Uppercut
=> Forearm/elbow strikes
=> Round house kick
=> Front kick
=> Back kick
=> Knee strike

REP-BASED TRAINING: Identify the basic strikes,
kicks and combinations you want to train. Perform
sets and reps of each. For example, execute two
sets of 20 lead punches, three sets of 20
roundhouse kicks, etc. Rest long enough between
sets to catch your breath and move on to the next
set.

TIME-BASED TRAINING: Another excellent way to
train is to work for a time limit or set number
of rounds. For example, execute either random
strikes and kicks or pre-determined combinations
continuously for 2 to 3 minute rounds with 1-
minute rest period in between.

CIRCUIT TRAINING: If you are already in good
shape, consider alternating your bag work with
other exercises to form a circuit. However, don’t
alternate with weight lifting exercises because
the muscle fatigue will make you more susceptible
to injury. Here is an example. Alternate 3-5
minutes of jumping rope with 3-5 minutes of bag
work. Complete as many cycles as you need to get
a good workout.

BLITZ TRAINING: Blitz training should be
reserved for those who have establish a high
level of fitness and proper striking and kicking
mechanics. This training involves intense, rapid-
fire barrages of strikes and kicks for a time
limit (15 to 30 seconds) or a rep goal (20 to 30
repetitions of a combination). This training is
as mental as it is physical.

There are significant benefits to this
“stop/start” or interval-based training. You
exert yourself for a brief, intense period,
recover, and then exert yourself again. This
training improves your ability to recover
quickly, increases the efficiency of your
muscular and anaerobic energy systems and
elevates your metabolism (burning body fat) for
several hours after your workout.

FREQUENCY AND INTENSITY

Heavy bag training, like other forms of
exercises, stresses the body. Training too
intensely can surpass the body’s (joints,
tendons, ligaments, muscles, nervous system)
ability to recover. I recommend that heavy bag
training be limited to 2 or 3 times per week. The
more intensely you train, the more time off you
should take between workouts. It is a good idea
to alternate intense workouts with easier ones.

In terms of intensity, keep in mind that your
tendons and connective tissues need more time to
develop than your muscles. Therefore, the speed
and power for your strikes and kicks can increase
disproportionately to the development of those
structures. Start your training moderately with
light to medium power hits and concentrate on
proper body mechanics. There is little benefit to
continuously pounding the bag as hard as you can.

REQUIRED EQUIPMENT

First and foremost, you need a heavy bag and a
place to hang it. Usually, the main beam in your
basement will do nicely. Just screw in a heavy-
duty eyehook that will support the weight of the
bag. Some people buy or build a metal bracket
that can be anchored into a wall to hang the bag
from.

Heavy bags are made of canvass, vinyl, leather,
etc. They range in size and weight from 40 to 100
lbs. The size and style you buy is a matter of
personal preference and how much you are willing
to spend. A decent heavy bag will run you around
$100.

You will need to protect your hands with a good
pair of boxing or bag gloves. Don’t skimp here.
Buy the best you can afford. I compare cheap
gloves with jogging in inadequate running shoes.
It’s not worth it to save a few bucks and end up
injured. I prefer a sturdy pair of 16-ounce
boxing gloves for bag work. The additional
padding not only protects your hands but reduces
the trauma to wrist, elbow and shoulder joints.
Bag gloves have less padding and therefore are
harder on your hands and joints.

Many people wrap their hands for added
protection with the cotton wraps that boxers use.
Others feel that if you need to wrap your hands
you are probably hitting too hard. Remember that
the leading injury sustained in a street fight is
broken hands! It is better to punch smart and
accurately than just hard. I don’t wrap my hands
when I do bag work.

CONCLUSION

I wrote this article because of enquires I’ve
had over the years about self-directed training
and how to hit the heavy bag. Bag work is one of
my favorite training activities. If you are
looking for an excellent, total body workout that
will not only condition your body but also
enhance your ability to protect it, give heavy
bag training a try. Just take your time, use your
common sense and have fun!

Randy LaHaie

www.ProtectiveStrategies.com

Randy LaHaie is the president of Protective Strategies and has been teaching reality-based
self-defense for over 30 years. He is the author
of several “Toughen Up Combative Training Guides”
(http://www.ToughenUp.com)

Subscribe to his Free Self-Defense Newsletter at
http://www.ProtectiveStrategies.com

Kyuzo Mifune became so famous in judo circles that in referring to him the terms 10th Dan alone was sufficient. He was awarded 10th Dan in 1920.Judo legends says that in his 60 years of practise Kyuzo Mifune never lost a match and was never thrown

Judo has in the modern era gain great popularity and in part this is down to the driving force of Kyuzo Mifune. His book the cannon of judo originally published in 1960 is credited with helping in the formation of the International Judo Association and entry into the Olympic games.

What brought Kyuzo Mifune to judo?

Mifune was born a year after the Kodokan was founded, April 21, 1883 in Kuji City, Iwate Prefecture on Honshu Island. He was apparently incorrigible as a boy, always either performing some mischief himself or organizing others in the same pursuit. He was both bright and cocky. At age 13, his father, a strict disciplinarian who finally gave up on the youngest of his seven children, sent Mifune to a junior high school at Sendai, in northern Japan. There, he discovered Judo, and decided to dedicate himself to it. At age 14, he defeated nine opponents in a row at one tournament with another high school and a legend began.

He became one of Jigoro Kano’s (the father of judo) closest students. He was not physically very big with a height of 159 cm and 56kg.However he over came this with his persistent hard training and scientific approach to training.

His father, finding out he was spending more time at Judo than studying, cut off his allowance, and Mifune, now 22, went out to find work. He began a newspaper, sold advertising, and built it into a thriving enterprise. He was able to sell it at a substantial profit, and entered the economics program at Keio University.

He became known as the “God of Judo” after developing many new judo moves plus his reputation for being unbeaten.

In 1964, Mifune served as an official at the Tokyo Olympic Games, even though he had been diagnosed with throat cancer. In December of that year, he entered a hospital, and died there January 27, 1965, 81 years old. At the time of his death, he was the last of the Judans of Kodokan Judo

Below some quotes of Kyuzo Mifune that give you a good insight into his thinking.

1) “In Judo, a Dan (rank) is awarded to the practitioner by other people. True power, however, comes from within.
Do not seek the acquirement of Dan alone; rather pursue your true power.
Your progression through the Dan grades will follow”

2) “The gist of judo is to find the original characteristic of the man… and to personify true freedom of thought and action.”

3)“To master an actual technique, mental culture should come first.
Acquiring a technique requires a careful, modest, non-mean, free and attentive mind. In other words a player should do his utmost and nothing less.”

4) “A chance to try your technique is in one instant never to be regained, so try it without hesitation”

And finally Kyuzo Mifune motto for judo written 2 weeks before his death
“Emptiness
Devotion
Sublimeness”

Its common practise among martial arts to focus on new ideas and recent events in competition. For any judoka there would be great benefit to study the life of kyuzo mifune here you will find a true love of the art and great kindness towards his students balanced with great fighting ability.

This short article only scratches the surface. Do your own research it will be worth it

To learn more about every aspect of martial arts click here.

“Will this work so that I can use it instinctively in vital combat against an opponent who is determined to prevent me from doing so, and who is striving to eliminate me by fair means or foul”. ~ Rex Applegate

It really does NOT matter one iota what style, system, method, or technique you MAY wish to apply to your personal survival training.

What DOES matter is, if “whatever” it is that you choose passes the above TEST.

This requires HONEST self-appraisal first and foremost. Forget how you would LIKE the world to be; see the world as it really is.

And look at yourself in the same light.

I’ve “learned” thousands of techniques over the years. I practice about a dozen (striking and grappling) on a daily basis.

I have been ruthless in rejecting ANY technique or method that DOES NOT pass Applegate’s “test”.

We can take a page from “combat” sports here:

Boxers, wrestlers, and Judokas ALL have that one “Sunday punch”. One technique that they have drilled and practiced and drilled and practiced. And generally these “techniques” as applied to each specific sport are repeated over and over.

Why? Because these few methods have the BEST overall track record of success.

Even the NHB and UFC type matches reflect this pattern. Watch hundreds of these bouts and you will see a definitive pattern of decisive winning techniques. And they are very few in number.

So it is with boxing, wrestling, Judo AND street-fighting.

Georges Carpentier was a champion Savateur and boxer. He was KNOWN for his right hand KO power and technique. He called this punch his “whip punch”; his bread and butter, his Sunday “best”. He said that it took him TEN years of hard work before he felt he really “mastered” this ONE technique.

There is a vital fundamental lesson there.

So the next time you “learn” some technique, run it thru the mill of the “test”. And be honest about it.

Copyright 2003 www.thetruthaboutselfdefense.com©

Carl Cestari began his study of the martial arts with judo at the age of 7 under the direction of Yoshisada Yonezuka. During the past forty plus years Carl has dedicated his life to studying the martial arts, hand to hand combat systems, history and religion. What makes Carl unique is his combination of martial arts, law enforcement and military and real world experience. Carl has been exposed to a multitude of people with a wide variety experience. The following is a list of some of Carl’s ranks and honors.
Shinan (Founder) Tekkenryu jujutsu
Ryokudan (6th degree) Koshinkai Karate under John Burrelle
Godan (5th degree) Jujutsu under Clarke of the World Jujutsu Fedaration (now defunct)
Sandan (3rd degree) Nippon Kempo under Narabu Sada
Nidan (2nd degree) Judo under Masafumi Suzuki
Shodan (1st degree) Judo under Yoshisada Yonezuka
Shodan (1st degree) Shukokai Karate under Kimura, Kadachi and Yonezuka

Shodan (1st degree) Daitoryu Aikijujutsu
Instructors Certificate- Charles Nelson System of Self Defense under Charlie Nelson
http://www.thetruthaboutselfdefense.com

One great thing about street-fighting self defense and martial arts is that the single most effective training “tool” you can get is also the cheapest and easiest to find.

Now, I am not talking about sparring gloves, punching bags, training knives or anything like that.

No, what I am talking about is, quite simply, a training partner.

Why do I say this?

Because if you are training yourself to deal with “real life” altercations, then you should always train how you would fight. And using boxing bags and training dummies just doesn’t cut it. They don’t think and they don’t move like a regular human being does.

In fact, you should not only find a training partner right away to practice your skills with…but you should also try to find a variety of training partners that are all different — big, small, strong, unskilled, savvy — get them all in there.

You should also find people who train in karate, boxing, wrestling, and other fighting arts. And you should especially train with people who don’t have any training at all — and won’t know about or care about any of the “rules” that people are forced to observe in a formal training situation.

And finally, you should also train in different terrains.

Like small rooms, tight hallways, parking lots, in the snow and even in enclosed areas like bathrooms and closets. Reason why is because you just never know if, when and where you are going to be attacked. And since most violent crimes occur at night by people who don’t want to be seen or heard, you will probably not be attacked in a wide open space with lots of room and good visibility. Instead, if you ever are attacked on the street some day, there’s a good chance it could be in a dark alley, a public restroom, inside your car or even in something as cramped as a phone booth.

Bottom line:

If you start to train with all different kinds of people in all different kinds of environments over the next several months…you’ll start to gain an almost “sixth sense” type of awareness that’ll make you way more prepared for a fight than just about anyone dumb enough to attack you.

The biggest secret of street fighting success revealed!

Most people start doing self defence because they don’t want to get hit in the head but isn’t it interesting that most people after years of martial arts training still struggle to deal with a variety of random strikes being thrown at their head. Sound familiar?

So why is that?

The first thing you need to address is the teaching methods in which the material you have been taught has been delivered too you. If you are still not confident with randomization drills after years of training, it is time to question your instructors teaching methods.

The simple answer is that you have been taught incorrectly. In fact, most self defence systems across the globe teach people incorrectly so don’t feel bad. Most self defence systems teach you in a controlled relaxed state, in an environment where your brain has conscious thought, so that you have the advantage of being able to either pre-determine the attack or know exactly what technique is coming at you. You have time to consciously assess the situation.

Unfortunately in a real situation or in drills of randomization, the brain slips into sub-conscious thought. That means that whatever you have trained most against, that stimulus will come out without conscious thought. In other words without thinking about it.

Here is the catch 22. How many times have you sat there thinking it’s going to be a jab, cross, hook, uppercut etc? How many times have you focused on the technique coming at you? This sort of thinking can possibly get you killed.

So what is the answer?

There are two main secrets that I will reveal too you. They are simple and they work. It has taken me over 18 years to understand and develop this simple theory. It isn’t something that was ever presented to me like this, but I wish it was.

Secret 1: Combative footwork- It is your base that must move before all else. Train it so it is in your subconscious memory. Be able to evasively maneuver in any given direction, left and right. Remember someone can’t hit you if you’re not there to hit.

Secret 2: Ok this is the main one. Study to defend against the 4 main angles, not the technique. Here is the basic theory for hand strikes. Learn to move and counter straight, around, up and down both left and right handed. I hear what you’re saying though. What about the technique? It doesn’t matter about the technique. It’s only the angle of delivery that matters.

Always remember “the body only functions on a few angles but there are many hundreds of techniques that apply to those angles”

Let’s look at the straight angle for example. It can be – cross punch, extended uppercut, jab, five finger spear, vertical fist punch, palm strike and the list goes on.

By countering just the angles of delivering we lessen the amount of things we need to concentrate on. Remember, the brain is like your desk at work. If you have everything neatly organized its quick and easy to grab information when needed. If it’s cluttered and messy it will take you a lot longer to find the information.

The theory is easy and works. Think less, react more. Remember the brain consciously only thinks about 7 things at a time. So keep it simple.

Here is a basic training theory to rapidly increase your ability to defend against random attacks.

 Practice your 8 directions of movement

 Practice countering all angle strikes in isolation first

 Practice moving your body out of the way of strikes being delivered at you.

 Practice countering random strikes using your base and defensive tactics

 Practice countering random strikes with full combat scenarios

Until next time stay safe

Glenn Zwiers

Glenn has diverse experience in combative arts, spanning more than 18 years from oriental to western and European fighting arts. He also has real world experience working as a bouncer at many of Melbourne’s pubs and night clubs. Glenn has also worked as a bodyguard and has protected a variety of clients including the former Premier of Victoria, Jeff Kennet. Glenn has also spent time in infantry reserve units with the Australian Army.

Glenn has appeared on National Television programs such as a Current Affairs and the Today Show and has been in magazines such as Blitz Martial Arts Magazine, Security Oz magazine, Ralph magazine, close quarter combat magazine. He was the first in the world to reach level 6 of the SFC elite. He was first in Australia to reach level 10 of the SFC unarmed combative and is currently the only level 11 in Australia and one of handful in the world. He is also one of the few people in the world ranked as a Level 10 Master in Knife Combat. You can contact Glenn directly at http://www.cqctactics.com

I was recently reading a message board in which the topic was whether Kata had a place in modern Karate. As you might imagine, there were opinions both for and against. Most of the opinions in favor only focused on the external benefits of Kata, and the ones against tended to focus on the inflexibility and lack of practical application of Kata. While I agreed with most of the positive comments, even some of the negative ones had a point, but they both missed some essential benefits in the diligent practice of Kata.

In addition to strength and technique, experience is one of the most important factors in a physical confrontation. It is difficult to obtain experience in street fighting while maintaining the ethics of Karate. This is where Kata can fill an essential gap.

As I was taught in Intro to Psychology, strong mental visualizations can create a physical reaction. This is why excessive worriers often experience as much physical stress by worrying about a catastrophe as experiencing one. The creators of Kata discovered how to use this phenomenon to their advantage. Practicing Kata while tricking their minds into believing they were in a real fight allowed them and their students to attain valuable experience in applying proper form and focus under the mental stress of a real fight without the physical risks. No other form of training can accomplish this.

While other forms of training are of course useful and key elements to a well-rounded training regimen, they also miss some of the aspects gained through Kata training. Kumite is great exercise, improves the spirit and gives us a chance to experience people throwing punches and kicks at us. However, in Kumite, the first thing out the window is form. This of course is due to the nature of Kumite. Kumite is two trained individuals, fully prepared, with artificial rules and in an artificial environment. I’ve been in and seen a few scuffles over the years, and not one of them resembled a Kumite match.

Self-defense drills also lack some of the benefits of Kata. By facing a set attack, these drills allow us to apply good form in the face of a real attacker. However, with two people involved, safety is always a concern. Often the attacker will not give a true attack for fear of hurting the defender, and even if they do, the defender must hold back on their defense or risk running out of attackers not to mention friends. While all these training tools are important and have their place, only Kata allows you to try and “kill” or “maim” your opponent who is trying to “kill” or “maim” you, and to do so with correct form.

Lastly, it is said that diligent practice of a Kata will reveal its secrets. I believe one of those secrets is how to extend our Ki or Qi. For the reasons stated above, it is rare in other types of training for there to be an intent to strike your opponent. As the Ki follows the mind, it will stop short when there is no intent behind a strike. Kata allows you to add that intent. Since the person you are striking in Kata is in your mind, you can fully visualize your strike connecting with and going through your opponent. Visualization is the key to extending Ki. Therefore, Kata is a very useful tool in learning to extend your Ki while striking. Meditation or Qigong practice before practicing Kata can enhance this effect.

Of course, talk is useless unless you’re willing to give it a try. If you’re serious about getting the full benefit of Kata training, the next time you’re training Kata, try this exercise. Go through the form a few times to make sure you’re completely familiar with both the form and the bunkai. The bunkai is essential, or you won’t be able to fully visualize the attacks. Next “psych” yourself up. Imagine yourself in a dangerous environment, surrounded by your most feared enemies. Imagine they’re threatening your family, girlfriend or whatever you hold dear. When you really feel their presence, you’re ready to begin your Kata. When going through the Kata, forget about the form, if you’ve practiced the Kata enough, the form should come naturally. Instead, concentrate on what the attackers are doing and react. If you mess up a move, forget about it, put that attacker down with whatever technique is appropriate and move on to the next. In this frame of mind, the feeling you’re going for is not anger or fear, but a feeling of animal necessity. By animal necessity I mean the same kind of feeling a predator has towards its prey. A leopard doesn’t kill a gazelle because it hates or fears it; the leopard kills because it has to in order to survive. When you’re done, you should feel as if you’ve been through a real fight. It is said that when the masters used to practice Kata, it was not uncommon for them to develop bruises where they had blocked their opponents.

Karate has a large number of Katas. There are also different bunkai interpretations that can be applied to each technique in those Katas. This means there are virtually infinite numbers of fight scenarios you can practice. In the end, Kata is an imaginary life or death struggle against multiple opponents, and performed with enough intensity and visualization, your mind won’t know the difference. So, does Kata have a place in modern Karate? I submit that Kata is the soul of Karate. Without Kata, training is not Karate at all, and you can never attain the skills the masters intended.

My name is Bart Scovill. I train in Shuri-ryu Karate-do. You can visit me at http://www.WarriorPages.com, to see videos, reviews, articles and terminology. I am a lawyer by trade, but a martial artist at heart. I have been training in the martial arts since 1978. I currently train and teach under the legendary Shihan Donna Judge at the Suncoast Karate Dojo in Sarasota, Florida. One of the great things about training with a legend is you are surrounded by other legends and legends to be.
I have previously trained in Shorin-ryu, Wado-ryu, and Matsubayashi Shorin-ryu. In addition to Shuri-ryu, I also dabble in jiu-jitsu (both Japanese and Brazilian), bagua-zhang, xing-yi quan, qigong, aikido, kali, kobudo and yoga.

A major pivoting point in my ninjutsu martial arts learning process happened when I realized that there was something more going on than just the punching, kicking, and what-not, that makes up conventional martial arts and self-defense training. In fact, once I saw it happening, my mind shifted away from the typical orientation toward this “style” or that, and started looking beyond the techniques themselves to…

…what was being “done” by each move in a technique string.

The question I began to ask was, “what’s the logic behind the moves?” And, “why are the moves where they are in this particular string?”

And THAT is what the book, “Controlling the Fight: The 5 Keys of Effective Self-Defense Strategy,” is all about.

It’s about understanding and recognizing the keys, or bridges, between one phase…

…one strategic moment…

…in a self-defense situation, and another.

It’s about controlling the “pieces” of a fight-scenario that must be strategically managed in the correct order, and at the correct time, if you are to be successful.

What are these critical moments within the flow of the fight? Let me first tell you what they’re NOT.

They are not…

…when you’re fist makes contact with the surface of your assailant’s body…

…when you lock his joints to immobilize him and prevent him from continuing to fight…

…when you take up your “way-cool” stance…

…the way with which you’ve been taught to hold your weapon, or…

…a hundred other “things” that most books, videos, and schools of martial arts and self-defense focus almost exclusively on.

But, they are not NOT these things either. If you don’t understand what I’m trying to point out here, you won’t see it.

Confused? Don’t be.

The point here is that, behind any move or technique itself - the punch, lock, throw, etc. - there is a “reason” that THAT particular technique is being done at THAT way, and at THAT particular time. There is something that the technique is either doing ‘for’ us or ‘to’ our attacker that gains, maintains, or accentuates our control of the situation. In short…

…there is something that makes a particular technique RIGHT and APPROPRIATE for any given moment…

…and completely WRONG for another.

And, make no mistake here. We are talking about a scientific application of principles that work, and have worked for centuries. And, this science works…

…for whoever is knowledgeable of, and in control of it in the fight!

What it means is this; if you know how to use this scientific application and make it the logic behind your strategic use of your skills and techniques, then you will probably win. If you don’t and your assailant does, you will lose.

So, what are these key moments or critical phases?

They are…

1) Your ability to assess your situation and understand what the assailant is doing or attempting to do to you.

2) Your defense against his incoming attacks. This is your ability to neutralize the effect that his attacks were to have on you.

3) How you unbalance him in a way that prevents your assailant from going on with his own strategy and literally puts him in a position of weakness.

4) The actual counter-attack that you use to knock him back or take him to the ground. This is the phase where you actually take the fight to him.

5) Your ability to assess the effect that your technique has had on your assailant and what your next move (escape, restrain him, or prepare for another barrage of attacks) should be.

In my attempt to learn how to really be successful at defending myself and others, I was lucky enough to find some teachers who could point the way towards many of these answers. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as this caused me to have to really look), we’re not talking about the step-by-step mechanics of the “style” here, as these can be taught by practically anyone to almost anyone else. What we ARE talking about is something that cannot be seen unless you know what you’re looking for. It’s invisible to the naked eye but there nonetheless.

Just know this. Each of these critical moments - these keys - is an important, no crucial, element in any overall defense strategy. But, where the book “The Karate-Myth” focused on the big-picture defense strategy that lead from General Awareness to Actually having to Deal with the Attacker (remember?), what I’m talking about here is the little-picture strategy of phase 6 - “dealing with the attack.”

Where an overall general self-defense strategy is ultimately designed to “avoid” dangerous situations altogether; this life-saving knowledge is all about effectively and efficiently handling one one you find yourself in it.

And, when the “rubber-meets-the-road,” so-to-speak…

…it doesn’t matter how many way-cool techniques you know, so much as…

…what you can “do” with them.

Jeffrey M. Miller is the founder and director of Warrior Concepts International in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. He is the author of the “Foundations of Self-Defense Mastery” eCourse, which is available free of charge to subscribers of his self defense newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter at: http://www.warrior-concepts-online.com/newsletter-subscribe-self-defense.html He is also the creator of the EDR: Non-Martial Arts Defensive Training Program, author of the book, “The Karate-Myth” as-well-as the powerful, “Danger Prevention Tactics” video. Additional information is available by visiting http://www.warrior-concepts-online.com