The Okinawa Takeoff

[Brent Yamamoto]

Fighting is fighting and bodies move the same way with every weapon.

Sometimes the characteristics of a given weapon require an adjustment with your technique. A take off to 7 o’clock is more complicated with a long gun and a pistol. But we have a workaround for that...and it’s hidden in “Watch Your Back“.

Imagine “Diagonal Lines” performed with a rifle. It works the same way. I don’t know if Gabe has designs on completely different long gun kata, but Diagonal Lines could easily translate as it is.

[barnetmill]

Fighting is fighting and bodies move the same way with every weapon.

Sometimes the characteristics of a given weapon require an adjustment with your technique. A take off to 7 o’clock is more complicated with a long gun and a pistol. But we have a workaround for that...and it’s hidden in “Watch Your Back“.

Imagine “Diagonal Lines” performed with a rifle. It works the same way. I don’t know if Gabe has designs on completely different long gun kata, but Diagonal Lines could easily translate as it is.

Diagonal lines I am sure will be part of what ever rifle kata comes to be.

The assault rifle is not only a projectile weapon, but it can be used to strike people as in this photo from the AK DVD.
Below strike number one.
numberone strike.jpg

[Gabriel Suarez]

The other thing to consider guys is that the original Okinawan karateka (karate guys) trained outside in the open...in nature. When things were taken "inside" many of the original masters scoffed at "Parlor Karate". What problems does this bring? I will list them

1). The footing "outside" is different than the gym floor. There are no mats by the way for those who like to go to the ground. Training barefoot on a flat and clean floor is necessary in early development but as a fighter develops he must take his fighting system outside. The daily clothing, foot wear, weather, and surface will affect the expression of your skills in one way or another.

2). The environment may be constricted or it may be open. This forces the fighter to - wait for it - adapt to his environment. Some kata were designed for close fighting, others for open ground fighting...but the foot work of each can be adapted. The close quarters of a gym create an artificial limit to movement that may or may not be there in the real world.

3). Now for the one that will be unpopular. What you carry and HOW you carry will determine the effectiveness of this strategy. Carrying a weapon with a safety "on", in a thum-break holster, under a layer of concealment, behind your back will retard your ability to move dynamically and produce the weapon while doing so. I do not care how many SF-SEAL-SOCOM Ninjas carry in whatever way, we all have two arms and two legs and are limited by the container of the human body. Some things make this easier and others do not.

4). Another unpopular - the more athletic you are, the easier this is to do. If you can only manage to waddle to the firing line between doughnuts and cigs...sorry..you have much bigger issues. But this too can be remedied.

5). In original traditional kata, when you see something done slowly, it is because the original teacher wanted to emphasize its value and importance. Today slow segments are done that way at the McDojo for dramatic tension. That was never the original idea. Take the after-action process in Diagonal Lines. There is a definite change in tempo. or speed. There is a deliberateness that is shown in those movements. Why? Because one scans to see additional targets...not just to look like they are doing something cool.

[Gabriel Suarez]

Well...keeping Felix secured in the bag - what we are working on is better.

Diagonal lines I am sure will be part of what ever rifle kata comes to be.

The assault rifle is not only a projectile weapon, but it can be used to strike people as in this photo from the AK DVD.
Below strike number one.
numberone strike.jpg

[Mike OTDP]

1). The footing "outside" is different than the gym floor. There are no mats by the way for those who like to go to the ground. Training barefoot on a flat and clean floor is necessary in early development but as a fighter develops he must take his fighting system outside. The daily clothing, foot wear, weather, and surface will affect the expression of your skills in one way or another.

This also shows strongly in fencing. Modern fencing is entirely indoors, often on a high-traction strip that allows a very aggressive footwork style. Old-school epee was fought out of doors on a grass strip. Much lower traction, and the old school epeeists favored a very subtle technique that was more based on bladework. When I was teaching fencing, I'd take the students outdoors on occasion just to get them used to it, because it made that much of a difference.

[Gabriel Suarez]

Dont get me started on fencing. Fencing is exhibit A in the case of how sport totally eliminates any axtual combat value from a system and turns it into a game. Olymoic Tae Kwon Do is Exhibit B.

[Brent Yamamoto]

Demonstrating the kata on a flat, clean surface is necessary so students know exactly what movement is intended.

Learning it on a flat, clean surface is helpful...eliminating variables when first learning it is important.

Once the pattern is learned, practice it in a variety of environments.

Very important to practice the takeoff on grass, sand, dry pavement, wet pavement, etc. You have to know how it works in different environments.

[mattmann]

Brent, thanks for all your videos lately man. I’ve got my 2nd degree in Taekwondo and me and my family are starting Krav next week. Might not be the best, but hand to hand skills are the most important in my opinion. Plus great way to see how bad you need to work on your fitness


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[noonesshowmonkey]

One of the other massive advantages of this kind of movement--where one 'falls' into motion rather than 'stepping'--is that it subverts the natural movement pattern that humans expect to see. When people do not have the visual cues of normal movement, they do not 'see' it. If you do not step forward, your head does not bob up or down. If you do not step forward, your feet don't lead a movement finished with your hips. Etc.

These kinds of 'takeoff' movements use a different system of generating forward motion than is typical to the human animal. As a result, if you're clever about it, you can move quite a distance before your opponent sees you. Speed in fighting comes from two places: actual velocity, and the suddenness of movement. Moving without telegraph is 'fast'.

This kind of footwork is fundamental to accelerating without telegraphing your motion.

If it takes your opponent longer to realize what you've done, you can 'teleport' towards them. The result is mentally unbalancing. It can legitimately cause a kind of vertigo. Koryu jujutsu teaches this kind of movement, too. I've had a man execute this kind of movement so quickly and suddenly and without warning, and move into a dominant position, that by the time my mind caught up with things, I literally recoiled like a cat, jumping back. It was too late, and he had already struck me.