Showing posts with label tai chi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tai chi. Show all posts

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Should Women Take Karate?

"Japanese Bridge" original sketch - copyright by D. Hausel

Yes, all women should take karate! Why?

Some people attend local gyms to access aerobic kick boxing classes. These are nothing more than aerobic classes that don't provide much insight into self-defense - they burn a few calories, but not much more. While teaching at Gold's Gym in Mesa, Arizona, one karate instructor was asked to take over a kick boxing class, which he did out of curiosity. After talking to the women in the class, they were surprised to find they could not defend themselves with that kind of training.

For aerobic value, examine a table of calories burned verses types of martial arts activities: it is interesting that kick boxing not only does not come close to self-defense effectiveness of karate, but it also burns less than half the calories. This gives a general idea of the energy burned during martial arts training, but is so generalized that the calculator does not differentiate between different types of martial arts. For example, if you train in tai chi, you stretch your muscles slowly, but don't expect to burn many calories. Tai Chi is nothing like the 'hard' systems of martial arts such as karate or judo. But when it comes down to self-defense, karate in many cases is the best choice for a woman who wants to learn self-defense and burn calories.

Why would anyone learn karate? Karate has many health benefits and provides a person with personal self-defense. For example, translated from Japanese, "Kara te" means "Empty hand"and one interpretation of empty hand is a method of self-defense using no weapons - in other words, this is a personal form of self-defense. 

Why not just carry pepper spray? This is not a bad idea, but what happens when you are attacked on the beach wearing a bathing suit, or attacked without warning and can't get to your bottle of spray fast enough. Most serious attacks occur without warning!

White crane kung fu (copyright sketch by D. Hausel)
Recently, Grandmaster Hausel at the Arizona Hombu taught a self-defense clinic for a group of women organized by one of his female engineering students. Amanda was concerned for her friends' safety. In particular, one of her best friends jogs at night after work and was recently mugged while jogging. She had a bottle of pepper spray, but never took it jogging with her because she indicated that it got in the way! The nice thing about karate is that you always take it with you!

White Crane martial arts (copyright sketch
by D. Hausel).
All women should take karate and kobudo and all public schools should be required to teach karate and kobudo! These are traditional martial arts that teach discipline, honor, physical fitness and self-defense. Wouldn't it be nice to see kids today with manners?

Kobudo can be a valuable as karate as it teaches how to use tools at hand as weapons - such as car keys, coins, rocks, etc. Recently, a clinic taught a group of librarians in Chandler, Arizona how to use hands, feet, elbows, knees, staplers, paper weights, credit cards, coins and even books for self-defense! Unfortunately, only a few karate instructors are educated in kobudo even though kobudo was created before karate and eventually became part of every karate system until after World War II. Only in the last 50 to 70 years has most Japanese, American and European karate schools avoided kobudo probably because of complexities - but it is nothing more than an extension of karate and uses the same stances, blocks, strikes, etc.

If we were all equally armed, there would likely be fewer attacks on the street. I am reminded of a couple of thugs who recently tried to rob an Internet cafe in Florida. One thug carried a gun, the other a baseball bat when they ran into a 71-year old senior citizen who ruined their day.

One of several ways to use car keys for protection. Note the
leather strap attached to the keys - this is also used in a variety
of ways for self-defense - such as a Japanese weapon known
as kubotan or kusari fundo. It can also be used like an
Okinawan nunchaku if you are experienced.
So what happens when you take your first karate class? Karate classes are as different as gyms. Each instructor (known as a sensei in Japanese, or sifu in Chinese) has their own idea on how to teach, but most important is experience. Look for someone with evidence of good credentials (look at their diplomas on the wall of the school) and search the Internet for evidence of a resume. It is likely more than 50% of martial arts instructors with commercial schools have no certification, no history, and are self-appointed. We've heard from some legitimate martial arts associations that as many as 80% are not certified. SO INVESTIGATE the INSTRUCTOR.

When you first start karate, you will likely learn how to tie your belt (obi in Japanese) and put on a karate uniform (known as gi in Japanese). Then you will learn how to stand and move. Then your instructor will start you on blocking, punching and kicking. If it is a traditional (an original form) martial art, you will likely learn to bow, when to bow, etc., and then you will start learning kata. If you are shy, first watch a class at a local dojo (karate school), take a friend, your mother, daughter or grandmother and decide if it's for you. And when you start, try to begin an affirmation that you will train for the rest of your life - for health and self-defense. Often, people start, set a minor goal, and then quit. To keep karate effective, one must always practice, no matter what rank you earn.

Kata are liken to Asian dance forms in that they have set patterns designed to teach muscle memory. And if you have a good instructor, you will learn to use every single movement in kata for self-defense (these are known as bunkai in Japanese).

White Crane karate can be beautiful as well as deadly. The
rare art mimics movements of the white crane. Dr. Teule
and Sensei Martin train in White Crane at the University of
Wyoming.
As you search for a school, look for either (1) Sport Karate or (2) Traditional Karate. Sport karate focuses on tournaments while traditional karate focuses on the individual and self-defense. Some schools declare themselves as traditional, but take part in tournaments. A true, traditional karate school will not because tournaments are a recent invention. 

There is a long history of women in martial arts. One of the more powerful forms of Chinese kung fu was developed by a lady who watched the movements of white cranes. Her style became known as Fujian kung fu. This style was later picked up by some Okinawan students who converted it to Hakutsuru karate (White Crane Karate) which has been incorporated into many Shorin-Ryu styles of karate.
Professor of Martial Artrs, Soke Hausel, Hall-of Fame Grandmaster of Shorin-Ryu Karate teaches White Crane Karate at the University of Wyoming. Professor Hausel also taught similar arts at Arizona State University, University of New Mexico and University of Utah, and now teaches at the Arizona Hombu in Mesa, Arizona.


Friday, September 6, 2013

Arizona Martial Arts Instructors


"No such thing as bad student. Only bad teacher." -Mr. Miyagi (The Karate Kid)


Just like any profession (except politics - where honesty seems to elude all), there are good instructors and there are bad; there are honest instructors and there are con-men. so before you sign up for classes at a local martial arts school, learn about the martial art and about the instructor.

Schedule a meeting with the owner of a martial arts school and meet the instructor or instructors and find out what qualifications (if any) they have. What is the instructor like - are you going to be able to get along with this person? How well does he or she teach? Ask to watch a class or two to see what goes on in the class and then ask to talk to some students to get their perception.

Master Gichin Funakoshi, Shorin-Ryu Instructor from
Okinawa, considered the father or Modern Karate (sketch
by Soke Hausel)
Ask about the instructor's lineage. This may be the most revealing information you will find. If you get a response like 'Lineage?" you might think about checking elsewhere. Ask the individual where he or she taught in the past and how long they have been training in martial arts and how long they have been teaching. If you are going to be taught by a child, remember this is going to be very awkward. We had one of our Japanese-American karate instructors who told us about her horror story learning taekwondo many years ago in Arizona. She was the only adult in the class and at the end of each class, the school would vocalize the schools philosophy. She would stand in a line with about 2 dozen 3 to 10 year olds and say together - "I will obey my mommy and daddy".

Ask about the martial arts style? Where did it originate? Ask about tournament requirements if any? Are there extra fees for training with weapons? Take notes to be sure that the information matches what you find on the Internet. And something that should be considered for most women is the type of martial art. I do not recommend judo, jujutsu or aikido for most women, as this requires using a lot of upper body strength. Look for karate, taekwondo, kung fu, tai chi and similar classes. But remember, tai chi is very good for your health, but of little value for self-defense., 

Tournaments are new to the martial arts - this is something that began in the mid 20th century. Many traditional martial arts instructors feel tournaments breed the wrong attitude and lessen a person's ability to defend. But at the same time, supporters of tournaments feel these provide good competition among students and also helps students to build good reflexes, especially if they are full contact tournaments.

And weapons? Weapons have been part of the martial arts training regimen for centuries. Only recently have some martial artists divorced themselves from weapons, or have found a way to require more fees to learn the weapons. Many traditional Okinawan martial arts schools start teaching weapons the first week beginners sign up for classes.
Shaolin Temple Guardian. Sketch by Soke Hausel.
Look closely at instructor certificates posted on the walls of the dojo. This could be a very important hint as to the qualifications of an instructor. Do the certificates have Chinese, Japanese or Korea symbols?  Find out what martial arts associations the instructor is listed with and check the Internet for information about the associations as well as do a search for the instructor's name and school. Ask to see old photos of the instructor. Write down the names of the individuals who signed the diploma and search them on the Internet.

Today, there is a problem. More than 4 decades ago, everyone knew everyone else in the martial arts in the US, and there were only a few legitimate martial arts associations. Today, there are all kinds of MMA (Mixed martial arts), Kickboxing, Sport Karate that have little evidence of legitimacy, but if you are interested in learning these, check out some classes and see if that is what you want to learn. Since most are not martial arts and there is little to go on - just like boxing schools. Many will teach you how to fight, but most will not teach you how not to fight.

Now that sounds pretty strange. But think about it and look back to the Karate Kid:

Daniel San: So, karate's fighting. You train to fight.
Miyagi: That what you think?
Daniel: No.
Miyagi: Then why train?
Daniel: So I won't have to fight?