"If there is one thing that you MUST do for your karate, it's to realize....The Importance Of Impact Training!"
From: Jason Stanley
A few year's ago some friends and I went to a demonstration to see some supposed "black belts" demonstrate their skills. I was very disappointed not to mention startled at how ineffective their technique was considering their rank. I should point out that these practitioners were not traditional karateka, but studied another martial art which will remain nameless!
Why was I startled? The effectiveness of their punches was minimal. About six black belts lined up and one after the other, hit a pad held by another black belt at the front of the line. I didn't see any drive from the legs, any hip rotation and as a result minimal impact. As I picked my jaw up off the floor, I pinched myself to make sure this was really happening. Questions started shooting through my mind such as....
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What rank were they really?
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Where did they get those black belts?
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How long had they been training?
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Did they actually practice hitting anything other than fresh air?
Seriously I have seen students who have been training only a couple of weeks hit with more force than these guys. Quite simply it was embarrassing. We then had to witness the ineffectiveness of the kicking demonstration which again lacked severely.
I realized how lucky I was to have learned how to punch effectively. And while many styles of martial arts and schools are fantastic at teaching theory about punching effectively, many only practice fresh air techniques. If you are only learning to punch the air, how on earth are you going to be effective when you have to really hit something or someone?
If we take a step back and look at karate history we see that the effectiveness of technique was traditionally tested and practiced in several different ways...