Karate is wrestling- upward block: an amazing grappling technique! age-uke bunkai

[@raylantz5144]

I've studied Karate my entire life, and almost no one agrees when I make these same points. Thank you for the video coach, now there's two of us! 😅

[@wayneholmes637]

That is because the Japanese took out all of the genuine bunkai leaving only fake relatively harmless bunkai suitable for children to learn. Japanese karate is shadow of its former self.

[@Uncle_Tijikun]

@ray you're not alone man, been saying this stuff for years. Props to Ramsay for the great work he's doing spreading great info

[@AveSicarius]

Because there's a dogma behind it, like most "traditional martial arts" (because they aren't, they were all heavily modified in the past half century or so) people are fundamentally indoctrinated into believing nonsense from day one. When a students teacher, and their teacher's teacher, and their teacher's teacher's teacher, all the way back to (probably) Funakoshi are saying the same thing, people are going to have some residual intolerance to change even if it's complete nonsense. I've seen the same thing in both Shotokan, Taekwondo, and elsewhere. Hell TKD tells you that it's some 3000 year old Korean traditional martial art, when it's clearly just Korean Shotokan even if you ignored everything else and purely looked at the forms and techniques. It's actually very easy to demonstrate this evidentially though. Look at the traditional Okinawan Karate stance, look at the Traditional Boxing stance (which was also grappling heavy originally), now look at the current MMA meta and stances or techniques in common use in a grappling heavy environment. There's a significant amount of overlap, traditional Boxing and Karate look almost IDENTICAL, and we know the former heavily incorporated folk wrestling in its original form (it was apparently pretty damn effective, too effective, as people would get injured all the time limiting those who could compete in competitions), so we can assume that traditional Karate was designed for a similar combative purpose and likely including grappling. Unfortunately Modern Okinawan styles were retroactively effected by the shift to Shotokan in Japan, and most don't train the effective grappling components now, so those of us saying "Karate is a clinch fighting stand-up grappling style" are vastly outnumbered.

[@Plantaman]

Same here, buddy.

[@billschmidt4192]

This make total Sense to me.

[@Annokh]

Jesse Enkamp: "Everything is karate!" Ramsey Dewey: "Everything is grappling. Including karate."

[@RamseyDewey]

Hahahaha! True!

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

Everything is Greek .. without the Greek none of this would be.

[@EgoCZ]

@@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed Wrestling was in all cultures

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

@@EgoCZ when you find me a group of aborigines that know how to technically strike grapple do submissions and use weapons, i will believe the nonsense You are spewing

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

@@EgoCZ Pankration is the first MMA of the planet. Karate was invented by the Minoans. No knuckle dragging Neanderthals knew how to technically strike grapple and do submissions till the Greeks showed them.

[@Cavalier9500]

The way you interact with your students is really admirable. There's no ego or authority. Feels organic and instructive. They're lucky to have you as a coach.

[@uli9084]

The really good ones dont need ego they are over it...

[@moustachio334]

Alot of Kung Fu and karate forms include grappling. It seems only recently we are rediscovering these forms which is awesome. As a kid, I hated doing forms in TKD. I couldn't figure out why we did certain movements. Then I started learning clinch work for Thai boxing and the big lightbulb went off in my mind.

[@wayneholmes637]

The third Karate kata that most people learn, Heian/Pinan Sandan is about 80% grappling techniques. The Two before that cover the initial contact and then the time before things get to the grappling stage. However Shotokan swapped the order so that you learn the second stage of contact kata before the first, annoyingly.

[@lethn2929]

@@wayneholmes637 Regardless many of the kata techniques in Shotokan and karate generally are bonafide grappling, takedowns or joint locks, people just don't see it until they're shown it which is why they assume karate equals striking style and other techniques are just useless or aesthetics. I've been practicing Shotokan for decades now nearly and I've had my mind blown by it all because you still keep discovering new things. People also don't go into a lot how shotokan katas can be used in tandem with weapons, then it gets even more mind blowing.

[@kevinjung6130]

It's awesome to see how an open mind, context & experience, and function-based approach can decipher techniques that are mostly done for the sake of doing them/or for performance. I'm happy to have witnessed the end of the low-mid-high block = grappling trilogy.

[@RamseyDewey]

Hahaha! It has been a trilogy, hasn’t it?

[@joshparrott8841]

very interesting!!

[@counterstrike89]

@@RamseyDewey So do you still think you could beat Bruce Lee?

[@youngmf6052]

@@counterstrike89 Bruce lee was half his size, of course he’d win. Done be stupid…oh, you already have a video game for your name huh, so I guess it’s too late to not be stupid.

[@kevinjung6130]

@@RamseyDewey THE RETURN OF THE KING (yes)

[@xKaidoh]

Based on this video, it's more like karate is for anti-grappling, because instead of following up by establishing grips, the karate kata uses the blocks to break grips/establish position and posture to follow up with a strike. This really helps establish why one of the traditional philosophies of traditional karate is one strike one kill. Because if it's done quickly and in this manner where you are basically targeting a counter, it can actually happen.

[@themetal]

My Taekwondo instructor Lloyd Plaguer made us spend about half of our time breaking different holds. I mostly understood as the time that if someone were to attack you they would be grabbing on you and trying to control, but as a kid it felt weird to me that we spent so much time on that when all the competitions were centered almost purely on striking. As an adult that's practices a few disciplines now, I'm actually really grateful and feel like he would have spent even more time on grappling and follow throughs if it weren't for all the parents that showed up to watch their kids learn to punch, kick, and twirl a bo.

[@AveSicarius]

Unfortunately Taekwondo is based in Shotokan, so it takes all the stuff Funakoshi changed into it's syllabus rather than traditional Karate techniques (though it is further modified). It's not grappling heavy because Funakoshi's Karate is not Okinawan Karate, it's a modified variant he sold in Japan due to their desire for something like Western Boxing and not another grappling style, a striking style closer to home was very palatable. This is why TKD is so striking heavy despite it being ostensibly for Korean military use at the time (it was more a nationalist icon than anything though, Choi was looking for ways to unify South Koreans), though many Korean TKD teachers did actually learn Judo and other Martial Art's leading to the birth of Hapkido (but they were much better at actually fighting back in the 70s/80s), it wasn't part of the TKD syllabus, and unless you were competing in a "Karate" tournament I don't think even sweeps would be allowed. I'd actually say old-school "power-era" Taekwondo, before the Olympic sport focus, was one of the more legit striking styles though, basically developed all the kicks we see today bar one or two.

[@ehisey]

​@I, CATO SICARIUS Choi also included 2 other arts. Chan fan and the taekkeyon. As he codified it there was a lot more standing grappling or fast wrestling built in to the system.

[@AveSicarius]

@@ehisey The whole "Taekkyon is a part of Taekwondo" is a myth within the community that emerged more recently. This just isn't historically accurate (for one Taekkyon was basically non-existent at the time compared to Shotokan and even Judo in Korea) and not supported by the actual technique and form of Taekwondo. Yes both incorporate lot's of kicking (Shotokan already had high kicks introduced by Funakoshi's son which look far more like the TKD variants than Taekkyon to say the least), but the extent to which Taekkyon is a part of TKD is that you do lot's of kicking. There's a book called the A Killing Art by Alex Gillis that cover's this in far greater detail based in historical records at the time. The key people involved were all Korean Shotokan Karate practioners, with some minor input from Korean Judoka, and given what we can actually see even in the original TKD form (very easy to see as they basically videoed everything) it's clearly the primary influence. Taekkyon was basically dead post-Korean War, it's more like a game than an actual Martial Art, and didn't really make any comeback until decades after. Hell it's still a very rare thing to see in Korea despite the revival. It's unrealistic to assume anything but Judo and Shotokan Karate, the two most predominant styles in Korea at the time, were involved in the technical development of TKD. As for grappling, nah, there was a bit but it was largely a few sparse Judo techniques like hip throws. Taekwondo was designed to be this radical appealing style, hence why the demo's in the 70's are all dudes flying side kicking over cars and the like. Many Korean TKD practioners and teachers absolutely knew how to grapple, but this was because Judo was incredibly popular in Korea (the two predominant styles at the time were Judo and Shotokan, both Japanese, hence the creation of a Korean style). This is why no grappling survived in the form or the competitive elements even in the early days. I mean Hapkido is basically TKD combined with old-school Judo to some extent, that's what TKD would look like were it more grappling heavy. If you look at initial demonstrations and the earliest technical teaching materials, TKD had every kind of kick imaginable, but not much more. That was the selling point and the way to diversify from other Martial Art's at the time. Now the Korean military absolutely taught Judo alongside it, and stuff like Boxing as well, but that was never part of the TKD syllabus from what I've seen. I would point you towards Kyokushin to see what a kick heavy style with some stand-up grappling looks like. Basically you clinch fight into setting up headkicks at chest to chest ranges, actually pretty effective because you can use your opponent for stability, but it requires specific technique. Taekwondo is historically much longer ranged than this regarding core techniques like the TKD sidekick, though power-era practioners could definitely headkick you point blank

[@ehisey]

@I, CATO SICARIUS the influence of taekkeyon has been a stated part of the history by Choi since the beginning along with Chan Fauh So it is not exactly a recent myth. He even states the art was basically dying out, and that was part of why he developed his form of TKD. Is Choi lying, maybe, but I will tend to believe the creator of a system as to what he based it on. This goes back to Choi's book published in 72. And yes he also credits karate, but does not name the style.

[@Plantaman]

@@AveSicarius Funakoshi's karate still had plenty of locks, throws, and grappling, and current day shotokai practitioners train them. Regular shotokan is a bit too streamlined, true.

[@jamesw713]

A collaboration video with either Jesse Enkamp or Sensei Seth on this topic would be great. They both have a lot of knowledge and are open to the exploration of ideas. Pushing martial arts to places people have forgotten is always an interesting exercise.

[@Holygroundmma]

Yes that would be amazing 🤩

[@michaelw7769]

This is totally making sense, all karate senseis should watch this, karate is 80% grappling

[@Eliphas_Leary]

You do know Iain Abernethy, Ramsey, don't you? I'd love to see the two of you in a conversation, because you both help to rediscover what Karate was before it became a sport.

[@RamseyDewey]

I think I’ve seen a few of his videos before.

[@Eliphas_Leary]

@@RamseyDewey He came up with a grappling kata for his Karate.

[@Knurrbauch1]

In our Karate school we teach always 3 applications for the "block" technique. Yes they can be set to block but attacking and grappling is also an application. I knew the one for gedan barai and sotou uke but, the one for the ake uke is a new one for me thanks. Learning stuff everyday 😮

[@sea-ra9995]

As a karate practitioner, this is a new approach to age uke that I will absolutely wont forget :D I have also seen other bunkais of age uke ( for knife defence, throat holding etc.).In our dojo we usually practice strikes but there is no throwing or grappling exercises. Thank you for your video Ramsey-san :)

[@RonioFOX]

New? I'm sorry for your bad experience with karate, but yes, karate is Okinawan, depending on the style it is striking with grappling (most of the time), sometimes it is grappling with striking. Japanese jujutsu is basically the inverse of karate, heavy grappling with a lot of strikes

[@ghlu9408]

Hi Ramsey, I have been using all of this in BJJ and it WORKS SUPER WELL. The upblock sets up singles really well

[@RamseyDewey]

Awesome!

[@donyoung5091]

Some years ago I read a book which casually stated that Karate was a combination of Kung Fu from China-Karate originally meant “China Hand”-and an indigenous WRESTLING martial art called Te. I don’t know how accurate that was, but as soon as one thinks of those moves in Karate and Karate kata that don’t seem to make sense (eg chambering a fist next to the ribs) as WRESTLING instead of striking or blocking, those moves begin to make a LOT more sense. Thanks for highlighting this in your videos, and in a way that gives appreciation to Karate.

[@RamseyDewey]

“Kara te do” (empty hand way) was originally called “to te do” (Tang dynasty/Chinese hand way) Most of the punching and kicking you see in modern karate are a modern addition.

[@honigdachs.]

This is brilliant dude. This stuff makes way more sense for handfighting and clinching than for "blocking".

[@Dannyboy-ci3qk]

Thank you for articulating it in a video. What you explained and experimented with today i've been playing with for about two years now. I've been in martial arts my whole life I started in karate went to kickboxing bjj and mma ect. And I'm currently a kajukenbo blackbelt. What i've noticed was most people have all these poor explanations and I myself in my early twenties and teens even said these things. But the realization that I have had lately and what ive been saying to my clients is that people were not bad at fighting back then! It was more socially acceptable in the past to get into fights. They weren't dumb. There is a reason these forms are first. But when it's taught today in so many schools the explanation doesn't make sense and implies that no one fought intelligently in the past. One of the lessons I teach basically boils down to this concept. "The founders said that if you have an in-depth understanding of the heian kata, one can feel confident in defending themselves in most situations." "Now, do these most common explanations sound like you could defend yourself? Or that the same kata is also regarded as a children's form? That doesn't track, so maybe there is much more to kata than one being a 1vs8 fight."

[@RamseyDewey]

Exactly.

[@MrMagnaniman]

I agree. The human body hasn't changed radically in the last several tens of thousands of years, so it's silly to think people in the past were unable to work out how body mechanics worked. I'm convinced the best fighter of all time was most likely some prehistoric dude, wrestling since he was a wee baby crawling on the cave floor.

[@notmyname3681]

I've been doing Tang Soo Do and some of the given applications are laughable. What's worse is there's serious resistance to examining the forms and traditional techniques. Some of the given applications are so bad that anybody attempting to use them would risk serious injury to themselves. It's sad because I love the techniques and their potential, but any attempt to approach this is dismissed as disrespecting 'the tradition'.. for a Martial art that's less than 100 years old, and changed a ton of good traditional techniques to nonsense.

[@junbi4life112]

I was told that in the past karateka might only learn one kata but go infinitely in-depth with it. There are many layers to a kata. I wish you the best with your training.

[@paolojeromecristobal2873]

Yessss i agree. Hence why i cross train whenever i can to learn more about the clinch game andto include more wrestling , throws and sweeps in my techniques. I strongly believe kata shouldnt be maintained, it should be broken down and made to fit a fighter's understanding based from his experiences. The important thing is to make the blueprint useful. Also, now that ive learned the kata, id rather teach the techniques and drills of the technique and then connect it to the kata to make it more meaningful to the students. Although kata is inportant, the lessons should be stresed on the actual fighting, wrestling techniques. Although i am thankful to my sensei who taught me his karate from the 60s with a lot of sweeps and throws. I still feel like it is lacking in some aspects. That is why i am looking for techniques that seem plausible to connect with the kata. Although it may not be the truth or true intention of the kata, id rather find a way to make it functional than to repeat the cycle of memorizing forms without any resistance drills. Much of the applications that i know and try to use are from the similar silat djurus i was taught in intially. If i find a kata movement that had a similar movement, i try to apply it from the kata. Somehow even if kafate is my chosen base style, even if j started in filipino martial arts (fma) i admire how new forms are being made which is based from practical techniques. I just find it common in karate xircles to be too narrowminded that their kata focuses more on how it looks at a certain angle over how it can be used to fit a student's body type and technique. I have mucb to be grateful for to my sensei's devotion to karate. But we conflicted a lot in our views of kata. Even if i treasure our friendship, I will continue in my path to find ways to make the kata that i practice connected to a technique, drill and partner with resistance.

[@joshuamaurer9784]

"Karate is wrestling." Someone forgot to tell karate practitioners.

[@RamseyDewey]

They sure did forget, didn’t they. They sure did…

[@wayneholmes637]

Not all forgot but good luck finding a dojo (looking especially hard at you Shotokan) that teaches karate as it was meant to be taught.

[@redshankyman4181]

​@@wayneholmes637 I've been practicing Shotokan for many years and we were always taught bunkais for grappling as well. My Sensei even told us to learn wrestling to better understand Karate.

[@ZanOGAL]

From what i know. Okinawan karate did mention it was to control an opponent. That means breaking their grips and fighting according to what YOU want. They had low kicks and didnt prefer high kicks because of takedowns. Japanese karate mainly became only striking because of propaganda and because of the high trend and popularity of western boxing. And the japanese didnt want their people to do westerrrrrnerr martial arts. So they made karate into a striking focused art instead. Withiut okinawans really agreeing. This is what is told

[@jacobharris954]

I would disagree karate is boxing

[@kyusama347]

I'm gonna show this to my Tang Soo Do teacher. My class needs to see this!

[@junbi4life112]

Great video! Okinawan karate teaches a lot of these techniques. Practically every kata move has both grappling and striking applications. The master can move seamlessly through both. I learned the "upper block" as an escape from the rear bear hug, also. While stepping forward to pull opponent off balance, execute upper block to break the hold while a high hikite delivers a rear elbow. I believe katas may be taught in layers. What a move means to a white belt may be completely different than what it means to a shodan. Again, love the video!

[@lethn2929]

This is exactly right, all techniques can be applied in different ways and the idea is you learn the applications as you go up the grades and get stronger and used to the movements. The problem is people either don't know this, or simply don't explain it properly and then that passes down those misconceptions to everybody else. I'm really glad to see so many people in the comments pages getting this about karate in general, it is not just a striking art.

[@thunderkatz4219]

I do Okinawan karate this true

[@camiloiribarren1450]

I’m so glad that Ramsey did this because old Okinawan karate INVOLVES a lot of locks and grappling before the Japanese incorporated and got RID of the grappling (Japan already had jujitsu and judo, so they wanted a striking art strictly). Okinawan karate (Goju, shorin, matsubayashi, etc) have grappling , take downs and joint locks

[@wayneholmes637]

Exactly, Japanese karate is the stunted child of Okinawan karate.

[@lethn2929]

@@wayneholmes637 It's interesting you mention this because as Ramsey has been pointing out in his videos on karate, the techniques are all still there, they're just hidden techniques and most people don't even realise that they can be used as grapples, joint locks or grabs. Kata is a great example of this in particular as quite a few techniques that make zero sense are either throws or grapples, they also can often be used alongside weapons. In Shotokan for example Sai and Tonfa almost perfectly work when it comes to kata and then all of a sudden the epiphany comes. For a specific joint lock kata as an example the first couple of moves of Jitte are in fact joint locks and grabs and they are actually quite powerful techniques, but the average person looking at them is just going to think they're weird hand movements that don't do anything. Slow movements in kata when done as a practical application are done really fast.

[@AveSicarius]

@@lethn2929 They aren't really still there as most of the techniques have been changed significantly over the years, especially by Funakoshi initially, to accentuate that striking aspect over anything else. Could you retroactively change them back to their original form and make it work? Sure. Iain Abernathy does something pretty similar and it seems fairly effective, but it's a lot of work and takes a significant amount of study to actually get there. Also you usually need to train MMA (or Judo, Sambo, or whatever else you have available) alongside it to actually understand grappling fundamentals to incorporate there, because that's usually the hard part for striker's. The thing with Kata is it was actually designed for periods where sparring wouldn't have been practical either due to limited students or teaching time. You go home, you practice the Kata by yourself, you come back and you spar with your teacher or fellow students with better muscle memory regarding position. It can absolutely teach you better striking principles, but for the teaching of grappling, it's very, very difficult unless you already have a solid basis. Also yeah, most of the moves interpreted as "double punches" or esoteric striking are absolutely based in grappling techniques, usually pushes, trips, throws, or clinch fighting techniques (there's lots of clinch fighting in traditional Karate).

[@AveSicarius]

Not the Japanese, Gichin Funakoshi, who was Okinawan himself. Funakoshi saw the desire for Western Boxing or a predominantly striking style, and changed his Okinawan Karate into Shotokan to sell it over there (one of the several reasons Motobu Choki hated his guts). It became progressively more striking focused over the subsequent generations, with Funakoshi's son being one of the first to introduce high kicks (you don't see these much at all in older martial arts for various reasons) that eventually led to what we see in Taekwondo years later (TKD is fundamentally Korean Shotokan with a heavier focus on kicking), but fundamentally Funakoshi pulled the pin on that grenade. I would say sadly that the Okinawan styles have degenerated now as well, if you look at how they are taught it's primarily striking focused and based in Kata more than actual sparring. It's like this degenerative effect that influenced everything around it. Most offshoots, like Kyokushin, which is probably the most effective style of Karate right now, because they actually fight full contact and are generally hard as nails, are also influenced by this. There's still some legitimate lineages out there I think (I think Choki's style still exists somewhere), but they aren't really accessible to foreigners or even to more than a relatively few students given how obscure some of this is. It's pretty similar to what happened to Traditional Boxing, which looks a whole lot like old-school Okinawan Karate, but is basically non-existent now. Both were clinch heavy hybrid styles built for practicality, not really something that didn't flourish over the past century or two it seems.

[@lethn2929]

@@AveSicarius This is why I think it would be awesome if Ramsey went over to Japan and sought out some Japanese instructors to explain it all to him in detail, possibly with a translator if he knows somebody and I bet he would have his mind absolutely blown at the way traditional techniques are used by people who know what they're doing. He's clicking onto something that those of us in the traditional sphere know about but of course we're outnumbered by the McDojos and the fakers that unfortunately dominate these styles. It's like you guys point out, these people who really know the styles are out there, but they're pretty out of the way especially compared to the bigger dojos.

[@southpawmoose]

Yeah, old karate as done by the masters of Okinawa fought at much closer range than we see today. Karate Culture, hads some great videos explaining these closer range techniques.

[@junbi4life112]

I had a Uechi sensei tell me you should be able to fight in a phone booth... now THAT'S old school. lol

[@NBTKDA]

One application of the hikite for a high block is to pull down on their wrist / sleeve as you press your forearm across their sternum, throat or face, in my opinion.

[@GearandGames]

When I was a kid, it was interpreted as a block. As I got older my sensei explained it that since the word uke means "to receive", you are not blocking but more of intercepting the attack. My style meets the attack (punch) in the space between us and from there a few things can be done. The first and easiest it the motion that looks like a bock or deflection. The more advanced technique is to "ride" the arm of the punch to counter punch while deflecting the attack.

[@alLEDP]

Just watch an UFC fight or other MMA fights and stop in between when they are doing stand up wrestling. Often times the positions hand postions and stances are directly out of a Karate form

[@teikarate]

Great video. So much of this true application was lost after modern karate was developed post 1930s. Thankfully, people like Hanshi McCarthy and sensie Abernethy, etc have reignited peoples curiosity into what it's all really about. And it makes sense as okinawan martial arts developed out of Chinese martial arts and indigenous okinawan wrestling. Well done that man.

[@DrMARDOC]

I am an old man. A practitioner of just 54 years, now approaching 70 years old. I have lived most of my life on Taiwan. This is the best Chin-nah joint lock n throw video I have ever seen. Thank you for being real!

[@RamseyDewey]

Thank you!

[@erykkai]

Thank Ramsey for bridging classical traditional kata to close combat grappling applications that make sense. Grip strip, Takedown, Clinch Distance. It takes a great wrestler to read and apply the kata.🙏

[@alejandrogarcia3227]

This is awesome I never thought about it like that... And here I thought these karate blocks i learned were for blocking and counter punching 😅

[@CarlosMendoza-mb3di]

There is a guy on the internet that talks about how much of Kung Fu is actually mostly wrestling . Watching your video brought back to my mind about how traditional karate had suplexes and some other type of wrestling techniques however with the popularity of Tae Kwon Do a lot of schools abandoned their traditions to compete against the new thing .

[@thetrexus6988]

I have to say thank you Ramsey, when you said in Sydney that "the more I learn about other martial arts and techniques, the more uses I find for karate" I thought you might have been talking about something like this. It's a shame it's not explicitly taught within the system, but I decided today to teach some of the older students how to use these "uke" this way. Thank you for your further contribution to the conversation!

[@afterzanzibar]

Just started my first wrestling classes and I can't wait to see if this works live!

[@SilencerXLR8]

It does if you train

[@rollinOnCode]

omg. i am gonna have to start using this in my grappling, wrestling and bjj ❤ thanks ramsey!

[@Xzontyr]

This really is fascinating. It's makes absoloute sense. It would be amazing and so beneficial if all of the arts that possess this had a Renaissance of sorts and embraced their hybrid lineage, so that they trained in a more mma fashion, apart from the ground grappling. Iv heard of countless karateka already studying wrestling on the side, it would probably really shock them to stop and think about all of those forms they have done and how it can transpire to it.

[@sjhmagic1]

It makes sense. Karate was made to counter fight wrestling. I can't believe it took me this long to realize this basic concept with blocking.

[@flamezombie1]

I like using the upper block as a reverse collar tie, pulling the hand or leg back to off balance your opponent. Gives you good access to the lead leg, or isolates the arm you’re pulling with the hikite to turn into a top double wrist lock/kimura or something.

[@flamezombie1]

And you start using the palm with an open hand instead of a fist, all the blocks become much more “friendly” - I think almost all of the open hand techniques in the kata are grappling techniques on that note too. The goofy knife hand stabs CAN be neck strikes I guess, but I think they’re usually just showing pummeling or something like that.

[@wolfzwizdom]

I'm so glad u did this video cause growing up this was a major thing I used to talk to my instructor about. "At what point are we not wrestling" was my thought process and they way I viewed making contact in contact based activities changed drastically. I went into karate wanting to excel at striking but when I got experience I learned it's all grappling and always has been...

[@terryhardinjr3581]

Ramsey I love your takes on approaching techniques from various different contexts. It has been a direct influence on my mindset while practicing martial arts, and I think it is a major factor in the spikes in success I've been seeing lately. I think it is super super important to analyze a movement under the lens of several different contexts, because the same movement in two different contexts could be the difference between the movement being successful and the movement getting you killed. Thanks for your work and keep it up!

[@laperrablanca1]

Great insights! As a Shotokan karate practitioner always looking for practical meaning of kata moves, I'm going to adopt some of the applications you showed. Also, great remark by your student about the importance of what people were wearing in their daily life when they designed the kata techniques. Great video!

[@bashlivingstonstampededojo882]

Some very legit great applications of the rising block

[@bashlivingstonstampededojo882]

Karate culture was a great channel that talked a lot about the grappling aspects of kata I don't see them around anymore.?

[@internalwarrior2410]

I'm totally mindblown and humbled.. I used to think karate was the most primitive backward impractical martial art.. after watching this video you changed my perspective on karate to point I now see Karate as something totally awesome and respectable . You done the impossible, well done. Thankyou

[@EinTagedieb]

I am doing Karate for about 25 years, done boxing, kickboxing, muay thai - classes, sparring with other friends that practice various martial arts, but Karate always sticked with me. This is one of the best videos on Karate applications that I have ever seen. I personally think the kihon and the kata (both techniques in a formal manner, just like drills in boxing are in some sense) are like forging tools. And you have to sharpen them, perfect them. But what good is a saw when you need to drive a nail? In the end, you have two arms, two legs, knees, ellbows, a torso and a head. It all comes down to using those tools. The application is what matters. And since the so called traditional martial arts have been passed down, not only Karate, not even only the Asian ones, I mean literally all of the "older" systems, the applications have worked and do work. There is simply no sense in teaching complicated, wholistic movements if there is no need to it, so there has to be a meaning to all the additional movements. KZbin and the internet age is a great time for this, if you are open minded - I have seen so much graeco roman wrestling, MMA and grappling martial arts that used e.g. simultanious pushing and pulling motions in a clinch position to get on top of the opponents center of mass that actually are the same movements as a shuto uke (knife hand block). All is actually one since we are all humans that have the same materials to forge the same tools and can apply them in the same manner. No need for all of that my style and art is the ultimate one bs.

[@ThePsychoguy]

There was a Rokas video a while back showing that Kung Fu is mostly wrestling too. I feel like many functional martial artists could do videos on how X Traditional Martial Art is actually mostly wrestling, and they’d be right.

[@TimRHillard]

Kata was used as a way to pass information on to the next generation, before the advent of the cell phone☺☺.

[@willowwren615]

This is by far some of the best karate application/bunkai I have seen. Definitely about to get out there and train!

[@crazygreek6341]

I love the Age uke Bunkai, this move confused me so much when I did Karate. When I started BBJ and Muay Thai it gave me some clarity over the meaning of some kata sequences but never the Age Uke. I thought of it like some frame or when clinching but never with the crossed arms. Thanks for the video man it gave me a lot of clarity

[@avlinrbdig5715]

This kind of content is gold!!!

[@deansander441]

Did Karate for years, after learning some wrestling I started saying the same thing. The Okinawans even practice submission wrestling as a past time during the time period. For some reason few other karateka seem to agree :|

[@TonyqTNT]

I remember watching a self-defense video by Michael Janich and learned about karate blocking techniques with regard to the iconic martial arts motion of pulling the punching 👊 fist back to the hip. I always wondered 🤔 about that motion when I was small first taking Kenpo Karate and Tae Kwon Do. The above Ramsey Dewey video made me cognizant of the potential grappling applications inherent within the traditional arm extension/contraction articulations of the traditional karate upward, downward, inward, and outward blocking motions. The Janich video made me aware of the potential grappling applications of returning the punching and/or blocking arm and fist back to the hip area. For example, in the Janich video, Michael seized his opponent's striking hand by the thumb pad area after blocking or parrying the opponent's hand strike, and Michael subsequently pulled the opponent's hand back to his hip area effectively pinning and immobilizing his opponent's hand against his own body!!! With the opponent's hand immobilized, the subsequent counter striking motions of Mr. Janich were facilitated. I believe the striking and blocking motions of Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Kung Fu, Silat, as well as African and European martial arts Worldwide 🌎 have dual purpose grappling applications 😀 as well!!!

[@derek6817]

Also realize these systems originally had a large quantity of wrestling, it wasn't until it was taken to Japan where it was turned into a quasi kickboxing art. This was due to the fact that the powers at be in Japan didn't like how popular western Boxing was becoming, so they changed karate applications in order to compete with the popularity of boxing.

[@martialmanhunter]

We all know that a lot of karate masters look at your channel. I guess this video could become a game changer in a lots of way. Maybe it will take time, but I think that you made a great gift to karate and traditional martial arts with this video.

[@mattsuran1270]

You are really making kata come alive. These are great videos.

[@REDLINE.FGC1]

A great channel that covers these aspects is Karate Breakdown. Very interesting to see these movements used in functional ways

[@fabio1160]

I have practiced Karate for many years, and despite me getting a black belt, despite my "suspension of disbelief", it NEVER made sense to me (now I realize), until I started considering the classical movements for their close-range applications. I had my "epiphanies" when I started following Iain Abernethy (check his application of "blocks" by the way), and then started to practice some applications on my own. Every time I re-interpreted those moves as a close-range maneuver (call it grappling, call it hand-fighting, call it dirty boxing...I think that at that distance from the opponent the differences blur) it was one "ooooh, right...." moment after the other. It's thanks to masters like you that (despite not teaching karate) we karatekas can put our "convictions" to the test, and actually make them useful. Thanks for the video!

[@Chibodian]

This is a nice teacher student relationship. Reminds me of my own teacher. I love how u came up with a move on the spot and amazed urself. Very chill video.

[@mega1283]

Sensei Vinício Antony who trained Lyoto Machida for some of his UFC fights actually has a karate style called karate-jitsu that is all about this applications

[@notmyname3681]

Great vid, would love to see an extended series in this covering the fundamental 'traditional' techniques. One thing I think is important; these techniques and especially those in the heian/pyung anh forms are intended for everyday people to defend themselves against thugs or petty criminals. They are not intended (originally) for soldiers or highly trained ninjas and martial artists. That's part of why they are such simple movements, yet are applicable in multiple contexts. I realised yesterday that what we call a low block is also what is called a body sweep in Muay Thai. Exactly the same technique. Then remembered that I've seen Lyoto Machida use it in exactly that way in the UFC. Personally I believe that anybody approaching the 'traditional' arts with an inquisitive and open mind, who actually follows the body mechanics, would end up at a similar place of understanding. It sadly shows how little most TMA practitioners think about what they are doing.

[@matthewbaumann630]

Can you explain the low block or body sweep move a little more? Thanks.

[@baustinshaw2375]

Loved these video topics! And ever since i started judo, I have been finidng the grappling in my taekwondo and it gave meaning to alot of things that at first didnt have concrete ideas!

[@AngryGrape1337]

I think Karate is more like the MMA of the day. A common misconception of any TMA is that it's all striking, but I tend to think a lot of cultures-especially East/Southeast Asian-knew that you can't simply dragon kick your way out of all conflicts, sometimes you just need to get up close and personal. Hence why every TMA (Karate included) initially had some form of grappling.

[@robert4965]

Ramsey I've watched you do stuff with moves from traditional martial arts and how they are interpreted but as a practitioner of kung fu who dabbles in grappling this has blown my mind !

[@variouselite]

I am just so freaking thrilled with the developments in martial arts happening in my lifetime. Awesome video brother.

[@isaiahsaavedra6242]

I use to study Goju Ryu karate and traditionally it was considered standup clinch striking, however all the bunkai i was taught didnt seem to fit that description. I think this application of "blocks" (proper transition means to recieve) is really cool and fits the description of traditional karate.

[@MJRLHobbyStuff]

Thanks coach. As a life long karate ka, and I’ve been studying MMA for many years this is invaluable Osu.

[@prosdad6438]

Good information and I really enjoyed the patient way you interacted with the students.

[@WadeSmith-oe5xd]

Correct. High angle block vs overhand right/left allows you to set up an easy hammer lock vs attacker, and either submit opponent or dislocate their shoulder. This is the second counter-attack we taught white belts in Isshinryu Karate. The backward elbow can also be a counter-attack vs someone attacking you from behind. I studied "Karate and Japanese Jiujitsu" together for 15 hours per week, 6 years of my life, and I know between 250 and 300 unique submissions.

[@tyrausfarrelly6257]

Some great insights, well done. We have used traditional karate blocks for close range, grappling and holds etc, for many years. We also teach these in our "primary applications", right from white belt. Keep exploring as there is STILL so many more great practical applications. A few examples, when you hold the finished position of the upper block, your upper arm is protecting the side of your head against round techniques. The block is often just thought of as the forearm doing the block, but the upper arm, is actually much stronger as it is closer to your body and covers the whole side of your head. We use this in sitting self defence scenarios for attacks to the side of the head, think hay-maker/yobo punch, even roundhouse kick. The other aspect to explore is the "chamber position". When you are facing your opponent with head and wrist control, this is the chamber position for lower block. Hikite controlling the wrist and blocking arm (that goes across to opposite ear), controlling the head. Same goes for taking your opponent's back, hikite controlling arm around opponents back and chamber applying rear naked choke. You can even use the chamber position movement to spin your opponent into a rear naked choke. So many applications when you use the entire movement of any, so called, traditional karate block. I could go on for hours about knife hand blocks 🙂 Good luck and keep exploring.

[@Dale_The_Space_Wizard]

I learnt all those Karate blocks as a kid and teenager. I did not realise until I was in my twentys before I was mature enough to realise that they could never work. I felt bad that I had wasted time on these Karate moves and kata, so I really like these videos that validate all that time that I spent as a youth.

[@hmldjr]

I've been saying this for years and this man is proving it. Study tai chi its 90% grappling.

[@melisslacour15]

This is probably the best video I've seen on this subject I just learned so much my mind is blown thank you for this!

[@alexandrel.c.4796]

Purple belt in Shotokan here, back in the day! Very interesting approach! Now boxing and BJJ, keep up the good work!

[@salvatoreplacidoplumari3840]

Could you please break down a whole kata in this way? Like a drill likewise in Koryu Uchinadi.

[@RamseyDewey]

When I finally understand a full kata, perhaps I will!

[@wayneholmes637]

The problem with that is every move can have 3,4,5 or more possible bunkai. Even the relatively simple Heian/Pinan Kata would make a long video if you were to try to show all possible bunkai for each section of the Kata.

[@B..B.]

To train under you advise is probably amazing. You are a great man, and a great master in fight. I'm evolved and keep evolving just by learning with your videos in general. I'm really grateful. Aways hope for the best of you and your family. Thanks. And I'm going out now To train

[@christiangauthier727]

Wow. I'm on a tight schedule, but as soon as I'll have a minute I'll come back to comment in depth, because as a Shotokan Karate Black Belt who was trained by an AMAZING Teacher (spent 2 months a year in Japan to train and share knowledge and experience with the best, and was recruited by the Canadian Karate Olympic Team a year after I left) who taught us both the "traditional" way of doing things, but also how to adapt everything into something functional, adapted individually to our own physiology, actively encouraged us to find new, creative applications of techniques (also modified) and to openly discuss and test them in Kumite.

[@bradlwykfulbright]

With your video, I Am now adding these karate forms to my daily routine! Simple, but EXREMELY effective in appliction!

[@mrmoth26]

What do you think of Polish folk wrestling ("biady")? It involves two wrestlers grabbing eachother either by their belts or in an over/under grip like in backhold wrestling and trying to throw eachother and land in a dominant position.

[@szalaierik]

I love this. My karate instructor was somewhat aware of these so we trained it a bit, but not how you show it here. A lot I figured out on m own, but never applied in any system.

[@Kivarenn82]

Nice job finding this. I finally see some context with the same side wrist grab too. More schools should start coupling the wrist grab with neck control.

[@punteroism]

I remember learning Karate growing up and I always thought the bringing arm back for "blocks" was weird. We were told to snap with our hips to hammer strike away punches with the block. And the "reason" we brought our arms back was to "chamber" the punch. But in reality we never used blocks in sparring the way we did in kata of these big movements just to smack away our opponents arm. In fact our blocks looked more like boxing blocks of little movements to deflect punches. Only bringing the arm back when punching. Instead the only real use I found for crossing the arms was to make a crisp snap sound with my Gi when doing kata. 😂 What you demonstrated makes WAY more sense, and I plan to use in grip fighting. Thank you.

[@muslimfitnesssante6832]

Thanks so much for explaining what I believe, train and teach as well for years !

[@dfk09]

This video was an eye opener for me! Great video!!

[@ThomdeVries-xl9ps]

Awesome use of the technique! In the book budo Karate of Mas Oyama there is an insight towards the use of techniques: a blow is a throw is a block is a lock. And in the book it is stated that as an Martial artist you should look for different applications of the different techniques. To me this video is really helpfull in the practical application of that insight. Thank you! Osu

[@kmbs4913]

I’m surprised that so many just recently start to realize that traditional Okinawa karate is close fighting with all nasty attacks. Eg. Look at Okinawa Goju ryu kata saifa, seiyunchin, seipai etc it is grappling. I’m glad you start to find it out:)

[@IsaacLausell]

Yes! Excellent video! This is actual karate applied contextually! Karate comes from Okinawan wrestling (Tegumi, Shima), Chinese martial arts from Fujian and the Satsuma Samurai clan. The Satsuma brought Yoshin Ryu Jujutsu to Okinawa. The katas were used as a recording device in order to document the techniques. The point being that the techniques came before the forms. Nowadays schools do the opposite. They teach forma without teaching their meaning. Even Funakoshi sensei himself the founder of Shotokan said that kata without its understanding is useless which is what we see. For example when one delves into the Pinan/Heian Kata. One can find a lot of Jujutsu or grappling because this group of kata was conceived as a self defense system and self defense does happen at close range. You can see Morote Seio Nage, Yagura Nage, Ashi Barai, Chokes and Arm bars, slipping and framing among other things. Another important concept from the Satsuma was the view of techniques as structures to be used for striking, grappling and with weapons. If one knows what to look for there is much of the sword and/or spear in karate as well. The only solution I see nowadays is to cross train as too many schools teach the sport but no longer teach the martial art of karate. It is also important to look at Okinawan karate as there are practices that at least seek to preserve the roots.

[@liamwandi]

This really jells with my thinking and interpretation. Thank you.

[@kanucks9]

Wow, when you followed up the grip break with the karate punch + hikite... It looks both very effective, and very karate

[@AlphaProto]

This is interesting. I was in Kenpo for 10 years, and I was never taught this. The told us the over extensions on block was to make sure we protected our entire bodies during real fights. Not to release the grip from opponents. Now it all makes sense.

[@agricolaurbanus6209]

Absolutely right. Like Kata, also in Kata Bunkai, the understanding has to deepen from beginner stage to advanced stage to mastery, from building basic muscle memory and body conditioning, to understanding the transitions and opportunities that result from the technique's basic applications. Same with all the stances, in the beginning you practice them to condition your muscles, balance, orientation etc., but in real fight it is to transition to places and opportunities. Then the "stance" is just a snapshot, a stable point in a transition from one move to another. They are not meant to be thought as static ever. But especially absolute beginners need basic body and reflex conditioning. Then comes the adaption of your repertoire to real fight situations. Later you might learn about weapon/weapon defense techniques hidden in Kata, that were not pointed out to the beginner. As you grow, you have to think and train less schematic. One just has to start somewhere and not overcomplicate things at start.

[@Mr440c]

12:26 It is. The way it works is you basically disconnect your opponents arm from their lats. From that point it really doesn't matter how strong a person is if you rotate their arm with enough force you can dislocate the shoulder. That's also prime reason why in many karate classes basic blocks and strikes are taught to be done with your shoulder as low as possible. It is to avoid having it dislocated in combat. But many sensei's don't even know that or are just hiding the knowledge for monetary reasons.

[@StrykeTeamOfficial]

Not how I usually see these but I like your interpretation. I will probably add this to my drilling.

[@chrismayclin6397]

Beautiful applications of basic movements. Thank you!

[@TchallaKilmonger]

Great points and true

[@weaponman3872]

I have always felt like this karate was mainly to 1 be simple and easy to teach many people basic techniques at once 2 the blocks are multi purpose, for grappling , striking as well as blocking incoming clobbers from a weapon of something , very general purpose, great video!!

[@vincentestrade1283]

Thank you sensei Ramsey! I will try these exercises in my next karate class! 🥋

[@resolute123]

Thank you! I always wondered about the high block.

[@christopherhermawan9627]

Beautiful sensei. The first time i realized the application is counter grabbing is watching the shotokan one step kumite then really asking if it really block a strike. As karate is a self defense art first rather than competition fighting, i thought that the only other form of defense must be from a grabbing attacks. Then i look into youtube and glad that there are like minded bunkais

[@filipinosatisfied6039]

Atlast somebody spoke up about blocks being a grappling technique.

[@rickeymckissick2065]

Thank you for figuring that out. That’s interesting because that’s what it really is for.

[@VanishingNomad]

Holy WOW! I dont know if I should save this to my "Ramsey Dewy" folder, or my "Karate" folder!

[@cahallo5964]

I define Karate as: what if you really really wanna get dqd at a wrestling match?

[@unitynofear7758]

From age-uke to shadow wrestling, so glad I searched this video!

[@MrMattias87]

Glad to see that you're exploring bunkai