Oyata Blind Speed - Part I - (A Kyusho Principle)

This video is all about a principle we've come to call Oyata's Blind Speed or Blinding Speed. Taika Seiyu Oyata was great at manipulating your body against you and not doing the typical thing or responding in the typical way.
Taika would often say that you are faster with your hands low than hands high but that is actually a perception thing. In reality, it isn't that you are faster, it is that you should be staying in their blind spot, created by their own body, until the last possible moment.
Matching or mirroring with your hands up simply shows them your hands. It becomes easier for them to react and thereby block your motion if you bring your hands up above theirs where they can see them and have adequate reaction time to defend.
The key principle here, is we are decreasing their reaction time
Part II: (Response to 2 skuwatti-bushi) • Oyata Blind Speed - Pa...

[@truthserum9456]

More gold nuggets from Lee Richards.

[@rightfootlefthand]

Thank you for the educational video. Change playback to 0.25x analyze the demonstration at 1:52: hand makes contact first, then the right foot lands. In other words the move is out of balance, which forces the left foot to slide forward seeking to regain balance. At 1:53 his left heel is on the ground (toes up) while his right toes are on the ground (heel up). All the while his partner is pretending with a smile that that strike had a potentially devastating effect. I understand the idea is to try and take advantage of the 'invisibility' of the height differential of the hands - however, if faced with an opponent that close with their hands up, in my opinion it is high risk to keep your hands down without a guard. Nevertheless, let's give ourselves the benefit of the doubt and assume we are an ultra-speed karate master and we are willing to take that risk: even then, lunging into a 'surprise attack' without the support of the feet underneath seems to be taking additional risk. I think if the guy on the receiving end was being serious (instead of being nice to his sensei so he could get the next dan degree) he would have been able to knock his sensei out at 1:53. If by contrast we analyze Bruce Lee's fast punches, similar to this technique, we will notice that his forward foot was always pre-planted before the fist made contact. I believe that is the effective way to punch, if we demand our punch has more impact than a mere slap. Arigato.

[@KCRyuShinKan]

Rightfootlefthand: “Change playback to 0.25x analyze the demonstration at 1:52: hand makes contact first, then the right foot lands. “ Lee: Precisely. Oyata believed that you did not land first with the foot but with the arm/hand. He constantly preached ‘Hands before feet’ and frequently had us do drills with long weapons like the bo as this would make it very evident to the person training and those watching that you were wasting motion when you landed foot first. This is one of many core principles of Taika Seiyu Oyata. He frequently would ask a student why they wasted a step when he saw one of his black belts land a foot first then land a punch or forearm strike. If foot is first, you wasted your body weight implementation. Rightfootlefthand: “In other words the move is out of balance, which forces the left foot to slide forward seeking to regain balance. Lee: The left foot was NOT coming forward due to imbalance, it is a common tactic in Oyata’s arts to press forward, as well as many other arts. The Principle is being shown here in the video for my students so the neck strike is deliberately being pulled. If I didn’t pull it to be nice to Steve, it would be faster and get a much greater reaction from him. Rightfootlefthand: “At 1:53 his left heel is on the ground (toes up) while his right toes are on the ground (heel up).” Lee: Again, this is as intended. This is actually emphasized in several other principles of Taika’s. The ‘Pop-A-Wheelie” principle of which my students are aware among others such as cross-crawl. Rightfootlefthand: “All the while his partner is pretending with a smile that that strike had a potentially devastating effect." Lee: Steve (partner) is not pretending. He is 100% one to call BS on a technique in any situation with any person. His smile is due to his appreciation for that fact that I am pulling the strikes compared to other off camera sessions. Your assumption about why he is smiling is completely off base. Rightfootlefthand: “I understand the idea is to try and take advantage of the 'invisibility' of the height differential of the hands - however, if faced with an opponent that close with their hands up, in my opinion it is high risk to keep your hands down without a guard. “ Lee: Again, this is teaching the principle, explaining it to my students. I, nor Taika, would just stand there indefinitely with the hands down. To take the time to explain it to the camera, it seems like an eternity to someone unfamiliar with the fact that this is an instructional video and not a demo. Taika would say to let their hands come up first which is a sign of aggression (primary physical aggressor) and then immediately spring into action using the blind technique when possible. The Pin and Float principle is applied to help speed up the attack. Again, another assumption based on the fact that I’m taking several seconds to explain something to the camera. Rightfootlefthand: “Nevertheless, let's give ourselves the benefit of the doubt and assume we are an ultra-speed karate master and we are willing to take that risk: even then, lunging into a 'surprise attack' without the support of the feet underneath seems to be taking additional risk.” Lee: I don’t consider myself a master and never use titles. My instructor didn’t like titles either. People initially called him master and he eventually convinced them to call him Taika which just means head of family. If you note on my gi there are no fancy colored belts and my first name is on the gi. I am no master, just a follower of Taika Seiyu Oyata. I, along with most Oyata practitioners will just have to agree to disagree with you on the no foot underneath you. Again, ‘Hands before feet’ is a core Oyata principle. I don’t want to waste my body use, I want to use physics to my petite aide. Rightfootlefthand: “I think if the guy on the receiving end was being serious (instead of being nice to his sensei so he could get the next dan degree) he would have been able to knock his sensei out at 1:53” Lee: There are no ‘Next Dan Degree’s” in this art. We are not a rank bearing style, we have no black belt ranks or titles. Again, Steve would not be able to knock me out at 1:53 if I was a) actually hitting him and not pulling the punch, and b) wasn’t facing the camera at that point to discuss the principles being applied. Assuming that this instructional video for my students is even remotely close to what I would actually do in reality is pretty sad analysis. Rightfootlefthand: “If by contrast we analyze Bruce Lee's fast punches, similar to this technique, we will notice that his forward foot was always pre-planted before the fist made contact.“ Lee: Bruce Lee and Taika Seiyu Oyata were two different stylist. Having trained with Oyata’s for a quarter century prior to his death, I am obviously biased but though SPEED is in the title of this video it is one small part of the principles being trained. A blinding fast and speedy touch with all your weight already spent is in complete contrast to what Taika taught. I’ll stick with Taika’s method as my personal experience with it has proved his method enough to me where pre-spent and planted weight has let me down in previous styles studied. Rightfootlefthand: “I believe that is the effective way to punch, if we demand our punch has more impact than a mere slap.” Lee: Again, your assumption of a mere slap is me being nice. This is not a demonstration. This is an instructional video of principles for my students. Nobody forced you to watch this video. If you believe in other principles, by all means keep training in those principles and styles. In my experience as a smaller officer, I found that Taika’s principles helped me survive many years on the streets and have not let me down in real life altercations.

[@rightfootlefthand]

@KCRyuShinKan Thank you Lee sensei for your in-depth comments. Having read your comments, I now understand your techniques were in fact intentional. I appreciate the way you responded, which inspired me to understand more about the execution of techniques and the underlying principles of your style. The fact that the execution is very different from what I learned through traditional karate makes me think there is a whole different world of principles out there that could be equally effective. I shall try to learn more about your style and principles. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@1mataleo1]

In regard to Bruce Lee, he also taught that the lead hand punch should land before the lead foot in order to ensure that all of the body weight drops into the enemy via the punch. He clearly states this in multiple books, including the Tao of jeet kuen Do, so I’m not sure what this guy is on about

[@russelsellick316]

Very interesting. In my youth I became a firearms instructor but our chief instructor was very involved in Martial Arts of all sorts and technically could be both a Sensei and a Sifu. He showed us the basics much as you have in this video.😊

[@KCRyuShinKan]

I apply a lot of Taika's principles to firearms training as well.

[@chadmartin6958]

An amazing martial art

[@nikyuansari]

Love watching you move sir!

[@KCRyuShinKan]

Thanks. Broke my personal record yesterday, now at .15. :)

[@jamesnevitt3400]

​@@KCRyuShinKanthat's why some arts teach stepping out at a 45 degree angle .

[@therealbenlurie8810]

Its the punch you dont see that knocks you out. My friend growing up did kyukoshin, i always though mas oyama seemed like a badass.

[@budoschulesamurai]

Finden Sie es nicht merkwürdig? Auf den Videos von Mas Oyama, hat Oyama beim Tsuki IMMER die Ellenbogen nach unten, dies obwohl er auch die Faust dreht. Die meisten seiner "Karate-Enkel" aber, drehen nicht nur die Faust, sondern auch den Ellenbogen, so das dieser seitlich steht Die Schulter ist dann offen, und der Transfer der Energie, vom Boden über den Körper in den Arm, gestört. Übrigens: ALLE Meister, aller okinawa Stile, haben, zwecks höherer Schlagkraft, den Ellenbogen nach unten.

[@MistaP13]

Ummm…who’s holding their hands like it’s the 1910s boxing stance? 😳🤔🤷🏽‍♂️

[@KCRyuShinKan]

Arms end up in an UP position frequently during fights. This is not a start position but a principle. You start here in TRAINING to learn how to hide a punch. These are fighting principles. I, as my instructor Taika Seiyu Oyata did, teach principles then techniques.

[@MistaP13]

@@KCRyuShinKanAh Ok, so they do yeah how to protect against someone who holds their hands in the proper position. Cool!

[@KCRyuShinKan]

You learn static/still, gradually add motion, gradually add speed. Eventually you can hide a punch from various positions at various speeds during an attack. It doesn't even have to be high, hands could be lower and you get a belly or hip shot to off balance them. Watch videos of Taika Seiyu Oyata or discuss it with anyone that experienced it with him. You didn't see him hit you as often as you felt it. Others like Bruce Lee did this effectively.

[@Painfree_fitness]

Same side touch switch