People often send me emails asking me why I’m so hard on traditional martial arts — like karate, kung fu, aikido, etc.

Only problem is, I’m not hard on them.

In fact, I have nothing but respect for them — as did Bruce Lee and all the other street-fighting masters who have emerged in the past 30 years.

The street-fighting philosophy I teach literally has elements from some 30 different kinds of traditional martial arts. If I didn’t like or respect them, I wouldn’t be teaching them.

But at the same time…Bruce Lee had this saying: “absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”

In other words, take a good look at what’s out there, extract what you can actually use in a street-fight — where there are no rules, regulations or referees — and leave all the fancy stuff out.

Like, for example, the much revered spinning high kick you see performed on TV and in the dojos all the time.

Totally useless in a real fight.

Don’t believe me?

Then go ahead and try it for yourself in a real fight.

Chances are you will either severely injure yourself, or leave yourself wide open to an attack.

Why?

Because unless you’re a phenomenal athlete, with an almost supernatural sense of balance, timing and power…and unless you perform your “super kick” at just the right angle and distance…you’ll fall flat on your face.

Happens all the time.

Reason why is because that particular kick — which is enormously popular in some of the traditional martial arts — was invented hundreds of years ago to kick people off their horses.

Not take out a thug in the back alley high on meth, with a knife in his hand.

You see, the violent criminals stalking our streets today are meaner, nastier and tougher than ever before in history. They have no sense of honor, fair play or morality whatsoever.

And to make matters worse, many of them also abuse mind-altering drugs and even steroids — making them almost immune to pain and pumped with an almost freakish kind of brute strength.

And so, to really defend yourself against these violent criminals you need fighting tactics that are “monkey simple” to learn, work almost automatically when you need them, and that can quickly do a lot of damage — whether you’re in shape, out of shape, or have any natural athletic ability whatsoever.

Bottom line:

When you’re in a violent altercation on the street, leave the fancy “Jackie Chan” moves and Van Dam roundhouse kicks for Hollywood where they belong.

Sifu Matt Numrich is one of only a few instructors with Full Certification in Bruce Lee s Jeet Kune Do, and also the Filipino Martial Arts. His students include everyone from Federal Air Marshals and military elites to small children and 65-year old ladies. Matt also offers free weekly street-fighting lessons by email at http://jkdondvd.com

Tags: Wing Chun, Kung Fu, Las Vegas Kung Fu School, Las Vegas Wing Chun School, Lo Man Kam, Lo Man Kam Wing Chun, Martial Arts Self Defense

Karate-do, in all its various forms, finds its origins in one place - the Ryukyu islands off the coast of Japan. What we know as one of the most widely practiced systems of self defense and discipline in the world is the result of centuries of development. While Karate-do was introduced as a code of ethics to a peacetime America only a few decades ago, it began through the need of Ryukyu natives for better methods of fighting.

There are a few theories about the origins of the fighting arts that later became collectively known as Karate-do. However, it is certain that many notable Chinese kung fu practitioners settled in Okinawa, the capital of the Ryukyu kingdom.

The origins of the Chinese arts themselves are also shrouded in the mists of time. A widely accepted theory is that Bodhidharma, the founder of Ch an (Zen) Buddhism created what would later evolve into Shaolin kung-fu. The original exercises were used to strengthen his monks bodies, minds, and spirits, to help them better fulfill their duties. This level of personal cultivation carried across to many Chinese martial arts. By way of transmission to other countries, this carried across to other martial arts, Karate-do being one of them.

Details are rather sketchy at best as to the actual origins of Karate-do, however. It is most widely accepted that in the year 1507, the weapons ban passed by King Sho Shin led to the rapid development of native unarmed fighting arts. These arts were primarily influenced by various forms of Chinese kung fu, which Okinawans began learning in the 14th century.

Okinawans learned forms of Shaolin kung fu from Shaolin masters who fled China as a result of the oppressive Qing dynasty. Okinawans also learned various forms of kung fu from Chinese merchants, Chinese officials on diplomatic missions, and young members of wealthy Okinawan families who went to China to learn Quan Fa / kung fu to further their education and martial arts studies. The general name given to the fighting arts learned and further refined by the Okinawan martial artists was tode-jutsu (alternately spelled tou-di), the Okinawan name given to Chinese martial arts.

In February 1609, invasion of Okinawa by the Satsuma clan (of Kyushu, Japan) triggered another period of rapid development of native Okinawan fighting arts. Satsuma control lasted until 1879, when the King of Ryukyu finally abdicated and the country became part of Japan.

During this period, kobudo (often translated old fighting method ; commonly used to represent Okinawan weapon fighting) evolved. Farm implements were used as weapons, as traditional weapons were not allowed. However, some of the native Ryukyu warrior class traveled up to the Satsuma clan in the later part of the 19th century and learned their samurai fighting art Jigen-ryu kenjutsu. It was not long after this that Sokon Matsumura, Toudi Sakugawa, and Tsuken Koura, among the many who had made the trip, introduced their contributions to kobudo.

Matsumura is commonly considered the great grandfather of the karate movement in and around Shuri. He learned native Okinawan fighting from Sakugawa (who in turn learned from Kusankun and other masters). He later studied in Fujian and Satsuma. He learned Shaolin Boxing (Shorin-ryu) under the tutelage of master Iwah. As a result of the efforts of Matsumura, the fighting arts that surfaced around the noble / castle district of Shuri came to be known as Shuri-te (Shuri hand).

The Chinese master Ason taught Zhao Ling Liu (Shorei-ryu) to Sakiyama, Gushi, Nagahama, and Tomoyori of Naha, leading to the development of Naha-te. Xie Zhongxiang (nicknamed Ryuru Ko) of Fuzhou founded Whooping Crane kung fu (hakutsuru) and taught it to a number of notable karate masters in the Fuzhou province. Wai Xinxian, it is said, was a Qing dynasty officer, and taught Xingyi kung fu as well as Monk Fist Boxing. It is also said he assisted Master Iwah s instruction in Fuzhou province.

The author lives in Lake City, South Carolina, where he also teaches at his Wado ryu Karate school. For more information about Karate and the martial arts, please visit Johnston Wado ryu Karate - School, Supplies, Downloads or the Johnston Karate Online Community.

Tags: Wing Chun, Kung Fu, Las Vegas Kung Fu School, Las Vegas Wing Chun School, Lo Man Kam, Lo Man Kam Wing Chun, Martial Arts Self Defense

A common term used in the Japanese martial arts community for the defender is called a tori, while the attacker is called a uke. As I was coming up through the ranks, my fellow classmates and I rephrased the Japanese word uke to mean dummy, instead of attacker. We did this because anyone foolish enough to be the uke for one of our instructors during a demonstration was definitely a few cans short of a six-pack. This particular bit of philosophy would follow me throughout my entire journey as a student and as a student/teacher, which is what I still am today. That is a student first, and a teacher second.

Now as much as I hated being the uke for one of my instructors, I must admit that I did enjoy being the tori to my students. A fact I am sure that my instructors would reluctantly admit to. My all time favorite uke was the naysayer student in the class. Now anyone who has taught for any length of time knows just who I am talking about. We have all had that one student who never quite believes you when you teach them something or constantly lives in the land of, What if I have had several such students over the years and one of my favorites was also a friend of mine for a time that we called Big Bob.

Now Bob was called Big Bob for obvious reasons. He stood about 6 foot 4 inches tall and weighed in at a little over 250 lbs. He was literally big, and yes his name was Bob, hence the nickname Big Bob. At the same time, I also had another student who was also named Bob, and he was called Little Bob. However, his stories will be saved for another time.

Because Bob was so big and due to the fact that he was already a fairly proficient fighter, he had a tendency not to believe that a particular technique or techniques would actually work on a larger more experienced person in an actual self-defense situation. Bob was also constantly living in the land of What If Needless to say, he was always putting himself in the position of being my uke whether he really wanted to or not. This ended up backfiring on Big Bob in a really dramatic way one night during a class on judo throwing techniques.

As I was demonstrating the throwing techniques on one of my other senior students who happened to be about the same size as me, I could see this look of disbelieve on Bob s face. I knew that this was going to be one of those times where he didn t believe that the technique that I was demonstrating would work on him. Knowing this, I decided to hasten the course of events that I knew would transpire by asking if anyone had any questions. Not to my surprise, guess who was the first one to raise his hand? That s right, Bob.

Bob was very respectful, yet didn t believe that the throw I was demonstrating would work on a larger opponent. Trying to keep the smile off of my face, I asked Bob to step up and be my uke while I demonstrated the effectiveness of the throw. Apparently I wasn t too successful in hiding my glee as Bob suddenly got a case of the, Oops, I think I m in trouble look on his face, and tried to back out of being the uke by stating that he really did believe me now. Of course I would have none of that and insisted that Bob step up onto the mat so that I could answer his question by showing him that the technique did in fact work.

Bob reluctantly got onto the mat and proceeded to stand facing directly towards me. Now if have ever practiced Judo before, you know that your basic starting position is with both persons facing each other, with their right hand grasping their partners left lapel and the left hand grabbing their partners right sleeve. This is the position that Bob and I took as I continued explaining the intricacies of this move to the class. I told Bob exactly what I was going to do and asked him to do whatever he could think of to avoid being thrown. I moved into position slower than normal and allowed Bob the opportunity to avoid being thrown, which he did do. I then proceeded to throw Bob several times, with him avoiding being thrown each time. Needless to say, Bob s confidence about me not being able to throw him so far was growing exponentially and he was exuding that cockiness that comes when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are right. Only in this case, nothing could have been further from the truth.

As any good instructor will tell you, it is easy to defend against that which is known to you. Yet not so easy to defend against that which is unknown. You see so far during this demonstration Bob knew what I was going to do because I had not only told him, but I had actually performed the moves slower than normal to allow him the opportunity to avoid them. Although this particular portion of the exercise was not consciously known to him at the time. You see what I was doing was setting Bob up, literally, for the fall. While it appeared that Bob had been winning the battles, I was preparing to win the war.

I tried one more time unsuccessfully to throw Bob and then conceded to the class that it appeared that Bob was right, that this particular judo throw wouldn t work on a larger opponent. I then proceeded to start teaching another lesson and once again used Bob as my uke. Suddenly and obviously unexpectedly, instead of kicking at Bob I rushed in grabbed a hold of him and executed a beautiful picture perfect hip throw that had Bob s feet scraping the ten foot high ceiling in our dojo as he flew over my head and landed with a resounding thud onto the mat. Bob continued to lie on the mat for several moments in utter disbelief that I had just thrown him. Finally Bob got up and I could tell that he was a bit upset. I asked Bob what was wrong and he said, You were supposed to kick me, not throw me. I didn t even know it was coming.

Exactly my point I replied, So what did you learn? Bob thought about it for a minute and then responded by telling me that he needed to be sneaky. Not quite the answer I was looking for, but not a bad one either. I proceeded to tell Bob, and the entire class, that if you tell your opponent what you are going to do, then he will expect it and find a way to avoid it or turn it against you. That is why it is so important not to telegraph your intentions to your opponent. This can be done in a verbal manner like I had just demonstrated or by some subconscious action such as bending of the knees, clenching of the fists, moving slower than normal, etc.

I also reminded the entire class that Judo was founded by Dr. Jigoro Kano, a man of slight stature for the express purpose of working against a larger stronger opponent. In addition to that, Judo, as with all martial arts, relies on the proper use of scientific principles and the correct execution of technique in order to achieve its maximum effectiveness.

Remember, ignorance may be bliss, but knowledge truly is power!

Shawn Kovacich has been a practicing martial artist for over 25 years, and currently holds a 4th degree (Yodan) black belt in both Karate and Tae Kwon Do. Shawn also holds ranking in the martial arts of Aikido, Hapkido, and Judo.

Shawn has also gained world wide attention for his two world records for endurance high kicking as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. He achieved his first world record on September 27th, 1986 with 10,502 high kicks in 5 hours and 30 minutes. His second record was even more impressive, with 11,000 high kicks in 5 hours 18 minutes and 43 seconds. This was accomplished on January 21st, 1989.

Shawn is the author of the highly acclaimed Achieving Kicking Excellence series of martial arts books, and is currently working on several additional marital arts and self-defense books, which are due to be released in 2007.

Shawn can be reached via his web site at: kickingbooks.com

Tags: Wing Chun, Kung Fu, Las Vegas Kung Fu School, Las Vegas Wing Chun School, Lo Man Kam, Lo Man Kam Wing Chun, Martial Arts Self Defense