The grappling of karate is not comparable to the highly skilled grappling exhibited by MMA or Judo practitioners. It is, by design, very crude by comparison. But karate’s grappling methods did exist long before the rise of MMA.
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There are those that believe only Judo or BJJ can provide grappling and throws, and the grappling contained within karate doesn’t exist on the grounds that their sensei never taught them such methods. These practitioners need to explore their art in the depth it deserves.
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As an example, Judo throws are not best served in traditional pragmatic karate, as modern versions would not be suitable for the self-defense focused karate practitioner, due to the need to stay upright on our feet, avoiding fists, feet and weapons.
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Shigeru Egami, in his 1975 book “The Heart of Karate-do” wrote about the neglect of karate’s grappling methods. Egami wrote, “There are also throwing techniques in karate… Throwing techniques were practiced in my day, and I recommend that you reconsider them.”
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The kata are a collection of karate’s most brutal and effective fighting techniques, throws, trips, locks, sweeps, takedowns, strangles, chokes….all of these are found in the kata of karate, but for the most part they are not included in todays dojo training.
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In our dojo we work all of these techniques as part of our curriculum. Strikes are always the preferred weapons, but you can’t ignore what may happen when the distance closes…., and it will, and you’re faced with grappling an attacker.
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“As up to now [1938] karate has only partly been introduced in Tokyo, people who exercise karate in Tokyo believe that it solely consists of punching and kicking techniques. When talking about ‘gyaku-waza’ (locks) and ‘nage-waza’ (throws) they assume that these only exist in Jujutsu and Judo. This way of thinking is exceedingly counterproductive with respect to karate itself and can only possibly be attributed to a lack of knowledge.” – Kenwa Mabuni
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Karate was never meant for a competition, one-on-one, karate-vs-karate contest, or a consensual dual of egos. Karate for me has to be practical, something that is often lacking in the karate world today. A practical approach to karate training for the purpose of self-protection is something to which many karate instructors give lip service to at best.
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Techniques that are effective for kumite and sparring in the dojo, are not necessarily sensible choices for self-protection. What happens when the distance you are accustomed to vanishes and you find yourself in unfamiliar territory…… Then what?
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With thanks to Iain Abernethy
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