Fantastic Jack Slack Breakdown: Wonderboy vs. Big Rig

[KataKing]

TMA's 1-Step Sparring, Part 2.

To preface, this is not to say sport fighting methods like boxing, etc, don't work or aren't effective. Good boxers absolutely kill tons of sport karate competitors. I've witnessed this in my own dojo. The boxers prevail because karate isn't a sport. Sport training is physically centered, traditional karate is mind-body centered (and more). A very complex subject.

Where 1-Step Sparring is failure, is when it is approached as a physical drill. Then the criticism quoted in Part 1 will be be valid, and your 1-step practice will result in martial disaster. Stick with boxing, Muay Thai, BJJ, MMA, etc, coaches if you want the physically-centered approach. This approach will help you develop good technical habits. Just as the 1-step critic seeks.

Traditional karate 1-steps don't rely on habits. Traditional karate as an art seeks to develop a strong, disciplined mind which controls and directs the physical body at all times. Now 1-steps go from mindless practice routines of 'some' pre-arranged move, to a much higher plane of training where the thinking mind is making a whole host & series of sequential decisions in directing the physical, martial form of the technique. OOOWWWW. So what does all this gibberish mean?

The opponent stepping forward and punching with an outstretched arm, is simulating a physical attack on you, here by a straight punch. The straight punch is not the objective of the defense. The objective of the straight punch, the arm held extended, is to provide an actual, live example of what an assailant can do... IN TERMS OF A POTENTIALLY HARMFUL TARGET. The outstretched arm presents a model for how to efficiently & effectively deal, by competent thinking, ways of dealing with the assault. How the structure of the opponent coming at you in this way is never explained by the critics.

1. The opponent starts from outside striking range because this is what typically happens.
2. The opponent uses a punch because this is a typical attack uses by everyone in a conflict. And you have to start somewhere.
3. The opponent stops short of striking you because we are learning & demonstrating tactical principles first. That's right, 1-steps are instructing one on martial principles, notably applied tactics for the kihon (basics) in the curriculum.
4. More importantly, the opponent stops short so you don't have to worry about getting hit, so you can concentrate on developing the disciplined thinking needed to not fight like Johny Hendricks. You are thinking about exactly what to do in order to overcome the punch coming at you, and getting your whole physique to respond (not react) in a coordinated, tactically effective fashion.
5. The 1-steps present a menu or toolbox of tactics; however, the real value is learning how to think under the presence of an attack of what PRINCIPLES one has at their disposal. Mental discipline first, whole body second, precise technique third.

Of course this take tons more effort than Mike Winkeljohn moving striking mitts around for Holly Holm. WHY, because the traditional karate emphasis is one you, the practitioner, to develop a strong, thinking mind capable of causing the entire body to move against the opponent in the correct, efficient & effective way-- ON YOUR OWN. The whole body & mind acting as a disciplined, purposeful unit.

For instance, the structure of 1-steps begins with you shifting mindset from relaxation to a mentally ready state of being prepared to do what needs done, NEXT. Hence, it's driven by an internal process of the body and mind working together in unison, rather than an athletic punching-the-bag exercise or playfully trading informal technique with a sparring partner.

When the opponent steps in, you don't react, you RESPOND with the proper martial technique, IN PRINCIPLE.

If you practice 1-Steps as some automatic, per-programmed physical reaction to an opponent coming at you, the 1-Step critic is accurately correct in his interpretation of how useless and counterproductive these are. If you mentally glean the principles presented in the 1-steps and make the right, mentally disciplined adjustment to your opponent's aggression, putting your whole body into the move as called for, and select the proper technique or technical package, then you have achieved the traditional karate kumite skill, in application, to start winning fights.

A tall order. That's why the critics pan traditional karate and 1-steps. It takes just too much (way too much for most) mental discipline to master.

You can see some good examples of this watching JKA Shotokan kumite matches. The competitive karate skills can be attained by developing one's athletic abilities alone. Or, they can be developed through mental discipline engaging the whole body into the precisely needed response that overwhelms the opponent's actions. Wonderboy is a mix. Make a decision about traditional karate, but you can't dismiss it with popularized & superficial criticisms any high school athlete can discern. Or McDojo rat.

So how long have I been training? A "long" time.

 

[KataKing]

Well here's the finish too, just a few seconds after that last gif

Now I'll apply my foregoing "gibberish" to Hendricks final destruction... where the 1-Step MMA critics & what they advocate is usesless against Wonderboy's sport karate style. This gif affords 2 superb examples.

1. Hendricks backing against the fence, putting up the "hands up" guard to prevent getting punched in the face.. My response, direct contravention of 1-Step Karate. The hands up guard works in boxing where equal weight-class opponents both have huge padded gloves and prepare to trade technical shots for 15 rounds. Ah, not karate. Wonderboy does what,,,, doesn't punch Hendricks in the guard directly.... he changes to a spin back kick which taps into the strength of the whole body, crashing into Hendricks guard at the shoulder, slamming Hendricks body back into the fence. Ouch! Hendricks experiences physical & mental shock & trauma.... then attempts the next 'standard' MMA answer to be trapped against the fence.

2. Hendricks attempts to "circle out" to escape the punishment. Again, Hendricks employs raising his hands to protect the head in reaction to Wonderboy's straight punch (so many say doesn't work in MMA). Wonderboy immediately follows by shifting stances into that right punch and then delivers a left cross which nails Hendricks in the side of his head WHERE HIS GUARD ARMS AREN'T. The opponent makes a move, some change, you quickly adjust to the change, move & apply proper technique in precise response to overcome what his does... entire body of yours behind the action. Starting to get 1-Steps?

Of course boxing has it's own version of this. The difference is karate tradition works on mental discipline first, technique is merely the physical vector. We'll see what Woodley & Duke Roufus do to address that....

 

[Wild]

@KataKing - I hope that when we are able to offer some dedicated blog space here, that you and @strikingthoughts will think about blogging for TMMAC. Bi-weekly, monthy, per event or whatever. Love reading your all's content.

 

[Ghost Bro]

Now I'll apply my foregoing "gibberish" to Hendricks final destruction... where the 1-Step MMA critics & what they advocate is usesless against Wonderboy's sport karate style. This gif affords 2 superb examples.

1. Hendricks backing against the fence, putting up the "hands up" guard to prevent getting punched in the face.. My response, direct contravention of 1-Step Karate. The hands up guard works in boxing where equal weight-class opponents both have huge padded gloves and prepare to trade technical shots for 15 rounds. Ah, not karate. Wonderboy does what,,,, doesn't punch Hendricks in the guard directly.... he changes to a spin back kick which taps into the strength of the whole body, crashing into Hendricks guard at the shoulder, slamming Hendricks body back into the fence. Ouch! Hendricks experiences physical & mental shock & trauma.... then attempts the next 'standard' MMA answer to be trapped against the fence.

2. Hendricks attempts to "circle out" to escape the punishment. Again, Hendricks employs raising his hands to protect the head in reaction to Wonderboy's straight punch (so many say doesn't work in MMA). Wonderboy immediately follows by shifting stances into that right punch and then delivers a left cross which nails Hendricks in the side of his head WHERE HIS GUARD ARMS AREN'T. The opponent makes a move, some change, you quickly adjust to the change, move & apply proper technique in precise response to overcome what his does... entire body of yours behind the action. Starting to get 1-Steps?

Of course boxing has it's own version of this. The difference is karate tradition works on mental discipline first, technique is merely the physical vector. We'll see what Woodley & Duke Roufus do to address that....

Very nice, I have no karate experience, so I didn't know what the 1-step was. Very interesting though..I think ofcourse this method when used correctly is very instructive..even in boxing that's really what people do in order to learn a move, but you're right in that TMA have a difference to that in the mentality. Pretty nice bro.

 

[KataKing]

Very nice, I have no karate experience, so I didn't know what the 1-step was. Very interesting though..I think ofcourse this method when used correctly is very instructive..even in boxing that's really what people do in order to learn a move, but you're right in that TMA have a difference to that in the mentality. Pretty nice bro.

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You may not have karate experience; yet, you have quickly seized the concept. Which the inability to do so is why the majority of the failures of karate vs. MMA happen. Boxing most certainly has a version, just as you say. It's just approached from the physical level, as a better reaction. That's sport. Karate proper is 100% deliberated.

I didn't post any videos because I wanted to float the concept of traditional karate training. There are many martial facets incorporated in 1-steps. The mental side particularly. So let me just address one more specific, that figures in to what MMA colloqually refers to as "distancing" & "finding the range." I myself never thought in these terms. I'll explain the 1-step way.

The karate critic cites that having the opponent stop well short of a strike landing worsens the rigid nature of the exercise. On the contrary, by mental discipline training... it's not a problem @ all. WHY? Because you are learning, in a moderated environment where you can maximize your thinking, that the threat comes from an opponent moving toward you. By the exercise, you wait for his (her) assault, then respond effectively. So what's the implication in this broader objective. Well there is a layering of objectives, for one. in 1-steps, as in all of karate kumite, we answer the assault with a comprehensive tactical response. The when the opponent moves, the first question becomes multi-part: Is the movement a realistic physical threat, or is it too far away? If the opponent is too far away, an immediate tactical response isn't necessary.

Now lets suppose the opponent does move into a striking (or grappling) range. He's now close enough to launch and land some technique. At this juncture, we have to make a 2nd level of decision. Should we wait until some optimum range in our mind; or should we initiate a movement in order to reach that optimum range. WE DO NOT WAIT, HESITATE, EQUIVOCATE, ETC, ETC, until the opponent does the exactly the "right" / "wrong" move so our left hook reaction clocks him hopefully. Instead, we make a decision of whether to adjust and if so how much. So by this thinking, should the opponent "stop short," we are disciplined in our thinking about how to mentally make the proper adjustment by 1-STEP PRINCIPLES.

In practice, should the opponent stop short, I can still do the 1-step, realizing that my technique will also fall short. What is important is to mentally engage the opponent by principles. WHEN THE OPPONENT MOVES IN (for illustration purposes, the "extended straight punch"), I still move in response, knowing it won't be effective at that point. I'm then faced with another decision-tree of what tactic I will then apply in order to engage the opponent. Karate is continuous fighting. OTOH, should the opponent continue to press forward beyond just out of range... then my 1-step response will then be on target. So mentally, we are in fact staging exactly what can happen in real fight. The focus, however, is one engaging the opponent in a way that addresses his assault. When an opponent steps or moves into me and a strikes... what IN PRICIPLE, do I do? What are my tactical options? What is the best, good or properly effective tactical response drawing up the strengths of karate's inner power of mind & body...? What's been reinforced is that mentally, I must physically move in a way that provides the answer to what the opponent has done.

IN summary, the point is that MENTALLY, I use my mind to consciously decide when and how much to move in response to the movement of the opponent. The 1-steps provide the PRINCIPLED structure for the tactical response, the particular decision & strategy are always up to me. Moreover, the 1-steps as taught train kicks for longer range.... punches or hand strikes for mid-range, and elbows & knees for close infighting.... Wonderboy, like good kickboxers... is versatile in ranges long & mid... which Hendricks so painfully learned... 1-Steps provide structured exercises consisting of tactical techniques for all three ranges,,, and combinations of fighting range. So again another tactical decision-tree contained in 1-step fighting: long range-kicks: mid-range, punches, short range elbows / knees. We expressly match technique by range. We specifically adjust the range to then apply technique for that new range. The pace of the exercise allows and facilitates the learning of all these multi-layered principles and learning how to accurately use them.

What Slack and others fault as a rigid, pre-programmed, noobie physical drill, is in reality; discipline, discipline, mental discipline to do the right thing, in the right way, at the right time, IN PRINCIPLE. So the training direction of the 1-step progresses from (1) on instructor command, to (2) on count, then on (3) self-directed kihap, then (4) to opponent moves -you respond. The lesson here is you don't move (one never moves) until it's time to move. Period. AND THEN YOU MOVE, with your whole body and mind together!!!! This is why we see these flash knockdowns by karate competitors that seem so seamless & spontaneous... absent the large, expansive body mechanics, the aggressive forward body momentum found in Woodleys KO of Lawler. In karate, all of a sudden, the karateka's body coordinates into the technique, and BAM, the opponent is floored beyond the what the actual effort would portend... coming suddenly out-of-nowhere... NOthing is more dynamic than thought....

I don't "find my range" because mentally I've disciplined by 1-Step tactics to know the range at all times... Combat range is actually implicit in the mental training of KIHON ) basics, and is implicit in the mental performance of kata. In kata, the mind is made constantly aware of how the body is moving... how far, how fast, how strong, how relaxed, in what stance, in what direction, to what degree, with what technique, which work together, in a particular transition of precise, controlled, continuous motion from beginning to end.... the consummate martial exercise.... a mental one first & foremost....