Karate Moves We Could Do Without

Have you ever witnessed a technique that was touted as effective that you either felt to be unsuitable or could never work under almost any conditions?

Here's my short list:

• Jump kick. Legend has it that the jump kick was devised by the Hwarang warriors of feudal Korea. The idea was that it enabled one to dismount a soldier from his horse with this airborne leg assault. Also, the tobi geri makes its appearance in numerous karate kata. They look great in demos and in the movies, but jump kicks are definitely not recommended for the street.

• Spear hand. The nukite is a vertical hand technique utilizing the fingertips. Okinawan karateka would spend years hitting the makiwara (striking post, usually made of wicker) which eventually made the fingertips calloused and flat. Nice, but it might make typing blog posts on a keypad a bit of a chore.

• Lunge punch. This is punching that corresponds with the same side stepping foot accentuated with a long stance. Sometimes called a "chasing" punch. Lots of instructors like to demonstrate a self-defense technique against a lunge punch (or a knife in lieu of a punch); the lunging posture puts uke in a compromising position conducive to an easy counter. For this reason, no fighter worth his salt punches or cuts using a lunging stance.

A number of inapplicable techniques continue to be taught because they're "part of the syllabus" that have been handed down through antiquity. Maybe it's time to remove some impractical filler. Modernity engenders the evolution of martial arts.

Deadly Targets

In martial arts, especially karate, the concept of "one-strike-one-kill" probably was derived from earlier weapons systems. In Chinese lore dim mak is regarded as the death touch, not necessarily delivered with brute force but bad intentions. Historian and perennial karateka Patrick McCarthy catalogs a plethora of "forbidden" vital points in his research of a classic text in The Bible of Karate: Bubishi. The said vital points were actually discovered by acupuncturists during the Ming dynasty. Knowledge of these areas in time became the foundation for self-defense, intended for doctors and scholars.

Chinese martial arts eventually made their way to the island of Okinawa. Okinawan karate has distinct Chinese quan fa roots, and naturally karate has developed its own repertoire of vital strikes that are the stuff of legends. In Okinawan Karate: Teachers, styles and secret techniques, author Mark Bishop describes certain delayed-effect strikes that took their toll on many an overseas visiting trainee that failed to abide by dojo etiquette. Months or even years later these hapless victims would suffer from irreparable internal organ damage or some mysterious disease that could not be explained by Western medicine.

In self-defense courses geared towards women, the main target areas are eyes, throat, groin and knees. Supposedly if you kick or strike someone hard enough in the groin he'll pass out. One of Bruce Lee's favorite tricks was a finger jab to the eye, likely a setup for a finishing move. Of course all of this has spawned a market for instant gratification addicts who want to learn "the good stuff" right away without having to devote years to traditional martial arts training. Scores of books and courses found in magazines with titles like "Learn Deadly Strikes" intended to "protect you and your loved ones" have undoubtedly sold millions since the 60s. In the 70s it was the infamous Count Dante, the Deadliest Man Alive, who sold how-to guides on vital area striking methods. More on this particular topic can be found in my Retro Ads post that I wrote in 2006.

There is one area of the body that when targeted is a relatively safe peacemaker: the solar plexus. One guy I train with exploits this target area using a variant of Isshinryu's basic 14: step into zenkutsu dachi (long, forward stance) while executing a palm-heel followed by two consecutive roundhouse punches to the body. His version uses the palm heel to deflect an incoming strike, followed by just one - it's all that's needed - hooking ridge hand to the solar plexus. Game over.

Dealing With Multiple Attackers

I visited a dojo recently that touts itself as traditional. Karate schools seem to do that more and more now with the influx of new styles, MMA and "reality" combat. After a few rounds of kata were performed the instructor had us sit down and asked everyone for their personal take on the ancient forms. One student opined that without kata, karate would just be a form of kickboxing. Another said that kata was a type of meditation.

I suggested that kata represents fighting more than one opponent.

Does anyone train how to defeat multiple assailants in a freestyle manner? Have you ever had to fight off more than one attacker? Realistically you can only deal with one adversary at a time, even if there are cohorts present to ensure a certain victory. Realize that bullies and jerks tend to travel in packs.

According to internal arts expert Bruce Frantzis, there is an upper limit to the number of attackers in a given assault.

Now many of you here probably never had to fight seven or eight or ten or fifteen people at once. So I'll speak personally on having done that on more than one occasion. Here's a simple fact: No more than eight people can come at you at once without them basically getting in each other's way. The only way they can do that is if they have long weapons (such as) spears.

With the increasing presence of gang violence, multiple gang member attacks on solitary non-gang affiliated victims is on the rise, even in suburbia. Many citizens have responded to this by claiming their right to bear arms, but naturally the bad guys are packing heat as well. Needless to say that being confronted by more than one attacker is a worst case scenario, even for a skilled fighter, no matter how well seasoned.

But what to do if this happens? One of Musashi's basic rules of strategy was to establish an escape route, even if facing but a single foe. So my advice for prevailing against a band of thugs? Forget kata, psychology or conflict resolution. Run like hell.