Karate - Trips

Yesterday was a great day for trips. It was also a great day for weapons.

Like I've written, time and again, Karate is more than just kick and punch. It has alot of takedowns. Though, there is something specific about karate takedowsn that distinguish them from judo, catch-wrestling, or any grappling. Karate takedowns seek to end the fight with a strike, one, hard, swift strike. For the karate-ka the takedown isn't to continue the fight, it is to end it.

Now, that isn't to say that the karate-ka is out of options once he hits the ground. He has an entire aspect of groundfighting striking to conside. There is a sleu of techniques that consider one to be on his or her back. These are mostly kicking techniques, but effective nonetheless. Likewise, there is no rule in the All Ruling Handbook: Ultimate Guide to the Mystic Art of Karate that says the joint-locks and strikes used in stand up cannot be used from being on the ground.

As for the evolution of groundfighting and oriental martial arts, that is for another blog. Onto the nature and importance of tripping. The foundation for art of tripping is a single principle: place the opponent on the ground and retain the superior position.

In the karate mindset: standing is always superior to not-standing. There is another rule that comes into play, however: Being able to reach when you opponent cannot reach you is a superior position that must be used to the advantage (if the fight must continue). This is why I mentioned the groundwork of karate, above.

I've mentioned the principle that puts ground work right into karate curriculum, but there is one other thing to beware. Many people thing tripping is easy. It is not. You cannot strike the foot and you cannot collapse the knee with your leg. It won't work or you'll be trapped. That being said, there is one place that you can find great videos that detail correct examples. You Tube.

I am presenting this clip from the first karate kid movie. It's a movie? Sure is. But so many techniques from both forms and ippon kumite (one-step sparrings) use "takedown-finish" combinatinos, and you hardly see them applied. This movie just used them very well. Attacking an opponent on the ground is not easy ( as you see in the final fight), but it is easier to attack a rolling opponent than one trying to kick you in the face. I'll leave this with you to digest.

In addition to trips and takedowns, I teach striking while on the ground and I view it as an essential fighting mode. I also view learning how to stand up properly and not provoke an attack from your opponent while you are defenseless nearly as important as falling properly. But that is for another time.