"HIGH BLOCK, LOW BLOCK,
FAST BLOCK, SLOW BLOCK"
By Master Dave McNeill

A big black eye! That is what your new student is wearing as he says to you, "I tried to do a high block, like you taught me, but it didn't work." It seems that he had found himself in a fight and all those blocks that you had been teaching, failed him. More to the point you, as his instructor, failed him.

Is there a student out there that, at one time, didn't say to himself, "This block would never work in a real fight, so why am I learning it?" But because he is a loyal student - and just a little bit intimidated by his instructor - he pushes that thought to the back of his mind and does another 100 high blocks. And when the instructor tells the student that the high block is used as a defense against a punch, it is usually accepted as the correct explanation without question.  Well, there might be that brief, "Huh!?", but the instructor is wearing a black belt so he must know what's going on, right?  Wrong.     

That questioning student is correct, that middle block, knife-hand block, forearm block, high block or down block would not work in a real fight. Think about it. The student would be hit while doing the preparation move - drawing the blocking hand back prior to executing the block - and would never get off the "block".

Most traditional blocking techniques - as taught - are too slow.  Worse yet the blocks are wrong from an anatomical stand point:  The down block, high block and forearm block all use the ulna - the smallest bone in the arm - to take the impact. The middle block uses the larger radius bone, but the blocking motion uses the weakest shoulder muscles in pulling the arm across the body. The knife-hand block, as performed in the katas, uses a strong motion and strikes with the padded part of the hand, but the angle is wrong to block a punch from an opponent standing directly in front of you.  Some styles have acknowledged this problem. Tatsuo Shimabuku, of Isshin-Ryu fame, had his students use the muscular part of the forearm to cushion the impact of the blocks because he noticed many of the practitioners injured themselves when blocking with the bony side area.[1]

A bar fight in Okinawa two hundred years ago was no different than a bar fight in Reno last night.  In both cases hands were flying hard and fast and no one did a forearm block or a middle block to defend themselves. At least not in the way the blocks are taught in many martial arts schools today.

The guy on the other side of the argument throws his best take-your-head-off punch and your response is to bring your left arm to the right side of your head, over your extended right arm, and THEN pull your right hand back to your mid-section while you pivot your left arm across your body and intercept the punch with your open left hand. Do you really think that a knife-hand block, that you have practiced hundreds and hundreds of times, would save you from being knocked into the middle of next week? The reality is that you would have been clocked while bringing your left hand to the side of your head.

Pro or amateur, then or now, most fights consist of a lot of hands.  Punching, grabbing, poking, slapping and scratching. Hands are coming from every direction and mostly directed to the head.  Head shots cause knock-outs and knock-outs end fights. "Yeah", I heard someone say, "but what about kicks?"  It takes room to kick and the ground or floor could very well be littered with all sorts of debris, so kicks are not that common, or that practical, in a crowded environment where the footing is questionable. And if kicks are used, the most effective, quickest kick is a low kick to the knee, thigh or groin. All high kicks will most likely result in the kicker landing flat on his back, which is a very bad position to be, in any kind of fight. Remember, in a real fight there is no silver medal for second place.

The way to continue a fight is to make the exchange even; he throws one punch, you throw one punch. The way to end a fight is to make the exchange uneven; he throws one punch, you throw two punches. And if you want to increase the power of your punches, hit your opponent at the same time that you block his strike. Master Shoshin Nagamini of Shorinryu Karate judged the worth of a technique by 7 rules, the first of which was; "Block and counter-attack must be one movement.  One act contains two acts."[2]

Using the opponents momentum against himself works, always did and always will. Anyone that has ever fought knows this, and most Chinese and Okinawan martial artists certainly were smart enough to know this fact.  And that is what these "blocks" teach us.  

All "blocks" are in reality a parry and two strikes. The parry happens first, of course, with the first counter strike occurring at the same time as the parry, the parrying hand then delivers the final strike. A parry is the fastest defensive movement available. It’s an instinctive and reflexive move.  We do it without thought and, in most cases, before we are aware of the action that caused it. Since the parry is a deflection of the attack and does not meet the attack head on, it does not take any power to deliver, nor is there any hard contact on the blocking limb.

If what I say is true, - and my sense of logic and intellect demand that it is true - then how did this information get lost? Why and how did the blocks get changed to what is taught today?  

The clues and the answers are all around. Some systems and masters recognized the problem and have attempted to change.   Grand Master Yuichi Kuda - who studied Matsumura Seito Shorin-Ryu under Hohan Soken  - developed five katas, called Niseide, that were meant to reflect the "old style" of Okinawan fighting techniques which employ blocking and punching simultaneously.[3] One of the many reasons for the change in the blocks used in present day katas could be as simple as a safety issue. In April of 1901 Anko Itosu (1832 - 1916) introduced Karate to Shuri Jinjo Elementary School as part of the physical training curriculum. But since Karate was considered too risky for young children Itosu removed the dangerous techniques and simplified his katas into mostly block and punch techniques.[4]

Other reasons could be stylistic. Chozo Nakama of Shorin-Ryu (Kobayashi), who studied under Itosu, stated, "many of the Karate katas taught today are simplified versions of the Chinese forms and consist mostly of block-and-strike techniques in two separate movements, as opposed to the original Chinese block/strike-in one-movement techniques."[5]

Finally, the 'mis' factor may have led to the information not being passed on; misunderstanding, misinterpretation, mistrust and simple mistranslation. Remember, many of these katas and techniques came from the Chinese so the language barrier would have been in place. Not to mention the deliberate withholding of information and the guarding of "secret" techniques.

At this juncture I must confess that I am not sure what to call the blocks that I am about to describe. Do I call the blocks that will get you hurt, old blocks? No, because I believe that many of the old teachers knew the correct execution of these techniques, but somehow the information did not get passed down-line.  Do I call the subjects of this article, new blocks? No, as I said they are very old, it is just that the application has been lost. So I'm going to refer to them as kata blocks and functional blocks.  Now, let’s look at the five most common blocks.

Middle Block.

This is the one instance where you could be defending against a punch thrown to the midsection, although the middle block could still be used against a punch to the head. Photos 1 and 2 show the kata block, as taught in many traditional schools. It should be obvious that there simply is not time to recognize the intention of the opponent, load up the block (1) and then execute the block (2).

Now for the functional block: In photo 3 we see the downward parry with the right hand and at the same time a left punch to the face, followed by a right back-fist (uraken) to the chin (4). The targets would be adjusted depending on the position of the opponent.

Knife-Hand Block

The first 2 photos show the classical explanation of this kata block.  Photo 3 shows the probable result as Ken Mammen plants one on the face of Sensei Jeff Denton. The opponent, delivering the same punch, is now met with an open hand parry and a spear-hand strike to stomach region (4), and then a knife-hand strike to the throat (5).  A far more effective solution against a punch to the face.

Forearm Block     

Here, again, is the kata form of the forearm block (1 & 2). You can guess the results.  Using the parry, strike, strike format, Goju-Shorei instructor Ken Mammen parries and strikes Jeff Denton (3) then delivers a hammer fist to his surprised jaw (4). As with all of these applications, the pressure point student can easily identify the different points on the meridians being hit.

High Block

We know by now what photos 1 and 2 represent; pain, anguish and embarrassment. In the functional block, the deflection of Ken's punch and strike to the underside of his arm (3) sets him up for a punishing forearm strike to the throat (4). The Goju-Shorei system uses the inside arm, not the outside arm, to deliver the "block".

Down Block

This kata block makes the least sense. You must first recognize that your opponent is going to kick you rather than punch you. Then you must make the conscious decision to try to block his huge leg with the smallest bone in your arm. To top it off you go through an elaborate preparation (1) to finally block that kick (2). I have fought in, and refereed in, open and traditional tournaments since 1971 and I have never seen this done successfully during kumite. Never.  The more logical explanation would be that a punch is parried and the opponent's stomach hit (3), followed immediately by another strike to his collapsing body (4).

All of this information on functional blocks should be considered good news. Before, the student was just doing a block; a single move with a single purpose. Now the student has added to his martial arts repertoire of techniques that parry an attack and counter strike with two blows. Best of all, the student has been practicing these moves ever since he started learning the martial arts.

Return to Top of Page

WEAPONS WEB SITE

KARATE WEB SITE

Copyrighted © 2004 Goju-Shorei Systems.
All Rights Reserved.