|
Two styles of Karate that follow vastly different styles when doing pre-arranged pairwork are Wado Ryu (evasion and avoiding) and Kyokushin (take a hit to give a hit), Shotokan is a blend of the two ideas. Usually the higher the grade the student is in Shotokan, the more the emphasis is on the use of tae sabaki (evasion of the strike) and also powerful defenses being used to attack in the same move. See the kihon section of this technical area for more details on blocking and striking and how they are not what they seem! With each description is a rather simplistic animation (that do tend to hurt the eyes after a while so dont spend too long looking!) of the movements of the red circle reprensenting semete (attacker) and the black circle representing ukete (defender).
|
Give ground until attack is completed and then retaliate, initially a very basic way of defending (using force to stop the attacker) which is taught through gohon (5 step), kihon ippon (basic set) and sanbon kumite. Allows for keise (soft) blocking and tae sabaki (evasion) to be used when the student is more confident and proficient and is practised in kihon ippon (advanced and free choice sets). Left image shows the defender giving ground and moving back as per the jodan attack (age uke block) in basic kihon ippon kumite and the right image shows the defender moving round the attack as per a keise block in the advanced set of kihon ippon kumite. |
  |
|
Give ground feigning weakness and then attack half way through the attack, lure the attacker into a false sense of security and strike them when they have commited themselves and are not able to stop. This relies on very good timing and fast reactions so that the defender can still react to the attack if their strike is not effective. Practised in jiyu ippon kumite for the kicks, giving ground for the blocks to the kicks and springing forward to strike the attacker. The term "Go no sen no sen" is used in Advanced Karate-Do by Elmar T Schmiesser and is included here for people relating this information to his excellent but very advanced book. |
 |
|
Dont give ground and attack as the attacker moves, this follows the idea mentioned above where the avoiding technique (block) is used to injure the attacker as well as provide a strong defense from the attack. The feeling should be like being a batering ram and causing a high level of injury to the attacker. This is a simultaneous attack and avoidance or 'block' and depending how it is done the first strike may also land as the counter strike does hence requires a lot of commitment (if you are going to be hit then make sure you hit them even harder) and timing (land your technique no later than theirs). Practised in jiyu ippon kumite for the jodan (avoid the attack but go forward through the attacker) and chudan attacks (stop them dead). This is the precurser to sen sen no sen where you are looking to beat the attack to the attack by moving faster. |
 |
|
Attack as soon as the attacker thinks of attacking, this is an advancement of sen-no-sen and is by far the hardest to master and requires the ability to sense an attack and move fast enough to land a technique before the attack is complete. Again this requires commitment but a high degree of training, this is designed to stop the attacker in mid flight before they make contact with their attack. This is not to be confused with simply attacking someone, this is reacting to the impending threat of attack and taking the initiative. This idea is still within the "karate ni sente nashi" (2nd precept of Master Gichin Funakoshi meaning "there is no first strike in karate") as the encounter has already started and this sen sen no sen technique is a way of stopping the incident quickly once it has reached a point where it is beyond reasoning and a physical confrontation cannot be avoided. |
 |
|
