Kumite in Shotokan and Wado Ryu
Ostensibly similar, fundamentally different
“In a contest, there is both machite and kakete. Machite is the method with which one responds when the opponent strikes first; kakete is the opposite” – Otsuka Hironori[1]
“Karate is on the side of justice … There is no first strike in Karate [Karate ni sente nashi].” – Funakoshi Gichin[2]
I’ve been talking to Sensei Tim Shaw 7th Dan, who writes Budo Journeyman here on Substack, about some conceptual differences between Shotokan karate (my style) and Wado-Ryu (his). We ended up focusing on kumite (formal sparring exercises) and the following post was inspired by dozens of emails back and forth this past week.
Shotokan: Formlessness into Form, Form into Formlessness
In Shotokan we begin practising kumite at 10th kyu (white belt, no rank). At my dojo, Kenshinkai, Sensei tells us, we follow a kumite syllabus developed by Kanazawa-soke.
Gohon-kumite: 5-step attack
Sanbon-kumite: 3-step attack
Ippon-kumite: 1-step attack
Jiyu-kumite: freestyle.
Attacker and defender begin facing each other, at an arm’s length apart. They each take a step to the left, and bow. The attacker assumes the zen-kustu-dachi stance (front leg bent, back leg extended) and announces his target (for example, “JODAN!” a strike to the head, “CHUDAN!” a strike to the centre, “MAE GERI” a front-snap kick). The defender remains standing in shizentai, that is, a natural and relaxed, but alert, standing position. The attacker initiates the attack, and the defender assumes a stance and blocks. When the sequence of attacks and blocks are finished, the attacker will have a gap in his defences exposed, and the defender will be in a perfect guard position to exploit this vulnerability and unleash a devastating counter-attack. This might take the form of a gyaku-tsuki (reverse punch), enpi (elbow strike) or a shuto (knife-hand) to the neck, and will always be delivered with forceful kiai (spirit shout). But why perform these drills in this manner at all? Why not skip to free-style which will better simulate real combat and begin to provide real physical conditioning?
Nishiyama Hidetaka in Karate: The Art of Empty Handed Fighting warns that jumping straight to free-style sparring impedes the acquisition of skill. [3] Junior grade students will have a poor sense of spacing, and will not have developed the control to stop short of striking their sparring partners. But besides the risk of injury, they will not be honing the strong blocks which are essential to the Shotokan, and can only come from moving up and down the dojo in zen kutsu dachi and ko kutsu dachi (back stance), and striking in perfect sync with the shifting of the hips from hanmi (side facing) to shomen (front-facing):
Blocking techniques are highly developed. Most of these are performed with the hands, in which the opponent’s attacking hand or foot is struck, deflected, pressed down, hooked, or in some other way blocked, so that the attack is rendered ineffective. A distinctive feature of many karate blocking techniques is that they are “focused” blocks, in which the whole strength of the body is concentrated at the blocking point and then withdrawn. The advantage of this is that they often inflict such pain on the opponent’s attacking arm or leg that he is discouraged from attacking again. Also, this kind of block enables one to maintain his posture and balance and be immediately ready to perform the next technique, be it a counter attack or another block.[5]
To see it in action see this demonstration with Kanazawa Hiyori, Kanazawa Nobuaki and Taka-Sensei of Kuro-Obi World.
Power is generated from deep stances, and, like in traditional Chinese martial arts, from tanden (“qi” or focus an inch or so below the navel, for stability). “We also practice basics from the waist down on a daily basis,” Kanazawa Nobuaki says, “If the lower body is not developed, even if the technique is learnt, it cannot be utilised.” Taka-Sensei claims the techniques look fairly light and relaxed, but still knock him off-line before Kanazawa Nobuaki can deliver the counter-attack (“How could we even finish Gohon Kumite!?”)
So, this is our approach to kumite. Wado Ryu on the other hand, appears to reject our hard striking blocks, as well as the notion that the defender has to remain passive until the attacker demonstrably initiates combat.
Uke Tomeru and Uke Nagasu
The Shotokan approach approximates the Okinawan Te principle of Ichigeki Hissatsu - ending the confrontation in one technique or as few as possible. What Shotokan Karateka do would be classified as Uke Tomeru “which means blocking by hitting and should be avoided [in Wado Ryu] at all costs”. More desirable is Uke Nagasu, “which is a controlling deflection of the incoming energy, where the opponent can’t do anything about it - in fact the more energy they put into it the worse they come out of it.” (my personal correspondence with Sensei Tim Shaw)
In the video below Sensei Roger Vickerman breaks down three cornerstone principles of Wado-ryu: Nagasu, Inasu and Noru
Vickerman translates Nagasu as “to float, set adrift”. Where the Shotokan karateka is controlling the space in front of him as his opponent advances, and stopping him advancing past a certain point, the Wado Ryu karateka flows around the strike. Inasu is translated as “to parry, let by”, and means to adjust the trajectory of the attacker’s strike. The defender moves his blocking hand by making adjustments to his body position (Tai Sabaki) and diverts the attacker with a light but firm guard hand, which has the effect of knocking the attacker off balance. As an analogy, Vickerman invites his students to imagine swinging a sword, primarily using their hips to make the cut rather than swinging their arms. Finally Noru, “to go with, to attach, to be carried”, the defender allows the attacker to advance into his maai (zone of attack), using Tai Sabaki, Nagasu, Inasu, to redirect and evade damaging blows and deliver a counterattack.
There is sometimes a first sente in Karate
In Wado Ryu, there are two kinds of timing for responding to an opponent who strikes first (machite), and one for pre-empting an aggressive opponent (kakete). These concepts come from older Japanese budo arts, and are also found, for example, in Kendo, but don’t seem to occur in the lexicon of the Okinawans Master Itosu and Funakoshi Gichin. Otsuka Hironori defines each, however I’m going to opt for definitions Sensei Tim Shaw has sent me, because something important was lost when the translator rendered Otsuka’s book in English:
Go no sen - “You allow your opponent’s attack to play out, while making a defensive move to be safe, and then retaliate before his failed ‘Plan A’ gets chance to turn into a ‘Plan B’. [NB: this more or less describes what Shotokan Karateka are doing]”
Sen no sen - “Both you and the attacker engage at exactly the same moment, but through superior positioning you hit him rather than be hit.
Sente - You read the attackers intentions a nano-second before they materialise and take ‘initiative’ (‘Sen’ means initiative’. But this does not mean you sucker punch him, it is much more refined than that). (my emphasis)
Compare the above Shotokan kumite drills with the Kanazawas with Wado Ryu Kihon Kumite below.
You can see a mix of blocking, pre-emptive strikes, the defender anticipate the strike after it begins but before it can land, as well as the defender taking the initiative before the attacker launches a follow up attack. Stances also aren’t as low and deep.
In the Ishida Shingo’s English translation of Otsuka’s book, this sense of Sente as ‘Initiative’ is lost. Ishida says sente is when one “attacks first by catching the opponent off-guard” (which, as Sensei Tim Shaw anticipates, could clearly be misconstrued as sucker punch), but of course sente is not necessarily a physical strike. “There is no first strike in Karate” in the original Japanese is “Karate ni sente nashi”. Funakoshi’s ideal is not only not a first physical strike but forbearing from projecting any kind of hostile attitude or intent — for as long as reasonably possible. There is, it seems to me, a ritualistic affirmation of the principles of the founder in Shotokan kumite. When Kumite begins, the defender is standing in shizentai, he has no aggressive intent, and he does not adopt a combat stance until he is engaged. ‘Justice’, so to speak, is on his side. After he delivers his counter attack he steps forward into yoi, the attacker steps back into yoi, and both bow. The ‘peaceful’ defender is always victorious, morally, as well as in the physical encounter.
So which style does kumite better?
Probably highly impertinent for me as a junior grade to tell Sensei, Shihan and Hanshi what is objectively best (!). I would say, however, there is a chance that high-ranking karateka of different styles do not - through no fault or failing of their own - fully understand other approaches. Sensei Vickerman suggests that hard, tensed blocks compensate for weaker stances in the video above, but, as we have seen, the power of the block is generated from rigorous training of stances.
I’m going to abstain from giving a verdict, and only say that learning about Wado Ryu will only further enrich my own training in Shotokan, especially as I progress to Jiyu-Kumite.
“Never let your style limit your Karate” – Jesse Enkamp.[6]
Osu, Thank you for reading.
(Thank you Sensei Tim Shaw. Go check out Budo Journeyman)
Hesitation is defeat.
Otsuka, Hironori, ed. Hellingrath Annette, tr. Shingo Ishida, Wado-Ryu Karate, (Masters Publication: 1997) p. 33
https://blackbeltwiki.com/20-principles-of-karate (accessed 07.09.2023)
Nishiyama Hidetaka, ed. Brown, Richard C., Karate: The Art of Empty Hand Fighting, (Tuttle: 2019) p. 183
Ibid, Otsuka, p. 32
Ibid, Nishiyama, p. 99
Why All Karate Styles are Fake, (accessed 07.09.2023)