Unit 03
Blocking
Although punching is often taught first, karate teaches us that we should never start a confrontation (outside of competition). Karate is for self-defense, so often we’ll have to defend ourselves from someone else’s attack. To do that, we use blocks. In simplest terms, “blocking” is putting something in the way of an oncoming attack to prevent it from hitting its intended target.
The Japanese word for “block” is “uke”, but “uke” really means something closer to “receive.” This will make more sense over time because, as your skill with karate grows, your blocking techniques are less about “bashing” attacks out of the way and more about “redirecting” them.
Your arms will probably get sore after blocking practice, but think of it this way: It’s better to have a bruise on your forearm than on your face.
Downward Block
The first block we’ll learn is called “downward block” in English or “gedan barai” in Japanese. In karate, targets are divided into three vertical levels:
- Jodan: From the shoulders up.
- Gedan: From the waist down.
- Chudan: Everything in between.
Thus, “gedan barai” is used to defend against attacks directed at the lower part of your body.
We’ll begin with isolating the motion of the arms by standing up straight, with our feet shoulder width apart. Start with your left hand out and your right fist on your hip, as though you just finished a punch. Now aim your punch down, as though you were aiming for the other person’s knee. (You would probably never do this, but it’s the easiest way to explain this starting position.)
For now, we’re only going to use one arm, so keep your “punching” arm still. Then:
- Take your back hand (the one on your hip) and put it on the opposite shoulder, with the palm facing towards your ear.
- Sweep that same hand down and across your body, ending up parallel to your other arm.
From the ear, think of sliding your blocking hand down the other arm, scraping as it goes. That’s why we’re not moving the other arm for now. It helps us learn the path that the blocking arm should take.
Repeat this several times, then switch arms, still ending up with both arms parallel at the end. You want to condition yourself that the hand on your hip is the one that does the blocking. First it comes to the opposite ear, and then it sweeps down across your body to block.
Once you’re comfortable with this, we’ll learn to retract the other hand. To do that:
- Take your back hand (the on on your hip) and put it on the opposite shoulder, with the palm facing towards your ear. (Exactly the same as before.)
- Sweep that same hand down and across your body and, at the same time, pull the outstretched arm back to your hip.
There’s just one more important piece: The hip on the opposite side from your blocking arm should rotate back. In other words, you should end up with your hips at about a 45° angle, with the hip on the same side as your blocking arm forward.
The bad news is that this is a very complicated motion. The good news is that this is probably the most complicated of the “basic” blocks. Once you get this, the rest of the blocks will be a piece of cake.
Karate History
If you ask most people, they’re likely to say that karate comes from Japan. But saying karate comes from “Japan” is like saying hula dancing comes from “The United States” - it’s technically correct, but lacks historical context.
Geography
Because of its unique location at the crossroads of many Asian trade routes, the culture and history that led to the development of what we now call “karate” owes much to the geography and history of its birthplace - Okinawa.
Okinawa
Here’s a map of Southeast Asia, where it’s easy to see China, Japan, and both Koreas. Okinawa is barely visible at this scale, but it sits almost in the middle of China, Japan, and the Philippines.
Here’s another map, zoomed in on Okinawa. Try zooming this map out to get a sense for Okinawa’s size and location.
Because of its location, Okinawa was a convenient “stopover” location for merchant ships traveling between China, Korea, Japan, and the Philippines.
Merchant ships carry valuable cargo, making them a target for bandits and pirates. This led to the need to protect those ships, which led to the development and exchange of fighting skills between these cultures, all of which came together in one place - Okinawa.
Okinawa was a Chinese tributary state from the 1300s until the early 1600s. During this time, its primary cultural influence was China. Unsurprisingly, the history of karate began with the blending of Chinese and native Okinawan fighting arts.
Japan
In 1609, the Japanese Satsuma clan of samurai overthrew the Okinawan kingdom and Okinawa became a Japanese tributary as well. This continued until 1879 when Japan formally annexed Okinawa, forcing the end of the Chinese tributary relationship. This relationship continued until World War II.
The United States
After World War II, the United States occupied Japan and its prefectures, including Okinawa. While the US left the mainland in 1953, it retained control of Okinawa until 1971. Even today, the US maintains 32 military bases on Okinawa, making it home to thousands of US citizens. Many US servicemen and their families were drawn to learn the fighting arts of Japan and Okinawa, and brought them back to the United States when they returned home, helping fuel the spread of karate around the world.
Karate’s Name
Today, the word “karate” is made up of two Japanese characters (空唐), meaning “empty hand”, but this wasn’t always the case.
- Karate was originally just called “Di” (手), meaning “hand.”
- Later, because its primary origins were Chinese, and in order to differentiate it from other fighting arts on Okinawa, it was named “To Di” (手唐), meaning “Chinese hand.”
- As it made its way to Japan, they began pronouncing the same characters in the Japanese way, so “To Di” became “Kara Te”, but it still meant “Chinese hand.”
- Later, a combination of politics and business sense changed it to 空唐, which is also pronounced “Kara Te” but means “empty hand” instead.
Click the video below for more detail.