Jesse Enkamp I have a question, I am 14 years old and I am a black belt in Taekwondo and a white belt in Kenpo Karate, the style of Kempo Karate I'm practicing is called tetsu shin Ryu Kempo, they do a lot of hook punches and upper cuts and stuff like that, it's kind of like MMA, and you know how old taekwondo martial artist Spar like they do open handed stuff, when I grow up I want to get a Taekwondo dojo, how can I combine the open-handed strikes with the hook punches, because the style of Kempo that I'm practicing has a front stance of fighting, Taekwondo has a much wider stance, how can I combine a wide stance open hand strikes and Kempo MMA punches
hey jesse have you actually fought using your karate and won or quoting cobra kai have you ever kick the shit out of a bunch of assholes who deserve it :) does karate work in a street fight and no im not planning to fight anyone but i want to practice and feel secure that works in the real world. in my country theres shotokan, enshin (comes from kyokushin) and shorin ryu an okinawan style and im leaning to the last one but i saw the early ufc II and the practicioner of shorin ryu i think a dutch guy gets destroyed and by the way he fought he was actually trying to use some karate bloking but man he just got smashed, which one you recomend me i've practice a little mma but im in my thirties and would like to practice some traditional style cuz im a bit old for mma but i want a karate that kick ass.
Something I've wondered-is the Ryukyuan terminology and the proverbs for Te still extant? I understand the reasons the native language use was dropped c. 1937, but shouldn't we respect the Masters and the heritage by using their language? It would be like teaching Glima using Dutch terminology. Okinawan languages are 1500 or so years divergent from Japanese, and are mutually incomprehensible.
Jesse I got hit in the war. I started watching your videos has inspired me to get out of the bed and go back to my routes. I have even started teaching again god used you in my life I bought some gear from you and Oliver but I could never pay you back for your motivation
I remember Hanshi McCarthy from when I was studyig at The Australian College of Natural Medicine in Brisbane - many moons ago now. He was always so generous with his time, and to this day I remain amazed at his knowledge and skill in Karate. Massive respect.
What I really like about this video is the emphasis that what we have in common is more important that what separates us, which applies to all martial arts and not just karate. The human body might come in different shapes and sizes, but mechanically they all work the same way. Once you understand the mechanics behind each thing in a form/kata, you can see how it is applicable in multiple scenarios and how things might look different, but really the mechanics are the same and so the technique is really the same. I've practised Wing Chun and one of the drills here is exactly the same as the pak sao drill, as are so much of the application of the katas shown here. I also really like the idea of the kata being a time capsule, and how you can practice it, combine it with drills and sparring and then come back to see where and how the form was found in all of those. A lot of modern martial artists like to bad mouth other arts and styles, so it's great to see practitioners like yourself Jesse, who sees what we all have in common and how it's all about finding and testing what works.
I am a Goju Ryu and Isshin Ryu practitioner who also trains Gracie Jiujitsu. There are so many similarities in kata bunkai and the self-defenses we do it is crazy! I love the comment "the things that separate us are not as important as the things that bring us together." Patrick and you inspire the practice of true and pure karate. Thank you! Keep up the great work!
Hi Tim My son is also doing Goju Ryu karate and also Ji Jitsu. He also started doing some more intense kumite training, but at a Shotokan Karate Klub. All of this made him a even beter karateka! With Ji Jitsu he knows how to handle himself on the ground and with the Shotokan Kumite he knows how to do effective throws.
I'm a practitioner of a hybrid Karate style with lineage to Kyokushin and Daito Ryu Jujitsu and also now train in BJJ as well. I like to combination and agree Kata's have a lot self defense techniques including joint locks, take downs, throws, break out techniques not just strikes.
tremendous gratitude to Sensei Jesse for making all these great videos and doing all the research, traveling, and teaching so that we can learn about karate and add a comment or two.
Sensei Enkamp, Jesse--thank you very much for your videos, you have re-awakened the Empty Hand spirit within me to start training in this great form of practical martial way once more. Shotokan was the path I chose back in 1995 to the early 2000s, however once I enlisted in the US Army the training went dormant due to lots of moving around, however Wing Chun, Judo/BJJ was with me throughout the years and now recently I have picked up Isshin Ryu Karate and will tell you that it feels amazing to come back to Karate. Thank you once again for your dedication to everything Karate, the different branches you cover in your videos and your steadfast dedication to our benevolent and effective Martial Way... Alfredo OSS
I study Taekwondo ,and I am breaking down the forms myself ,watching your martial style is really enjoyable and educational !!so please keep it going :)
Sensei McCarthy is such an interesting gentleman. I was fortunate to meet him many yrs ago when he spent a few days visiting my Sensei at his home. Thanks for sharing this video, can’t believe I just found it.
As always, fantastic video :) I don’t actually practice karate. BJJ is my passion with regards to martial arts. Years ago I used to practice dragon style kung fu and wing chun. Forms were practiced during that training process. The emphasis on forms and, in my unfortunate case, complete lack of sparring (aside from sloppy point sparring in which the strikes likely would not have stopped a determined attacker in an extreme self defense scenario), ultimately turned me off and led me down a different martial arts path. Despite that beginning and where I am now in my martial arts journey as an adult learner, your channel has helped ignite an interest in karate (and the striking arts in general) for me. Kata in my opinion preserves the tradition of the ARTS. They’re entertaining to watch. They can be practiced alone and foster coordination memory, and discipline among other things. As stated in the video, there are common self defense situations located in the Kata, (many of which are grappling focused). Regarding applying the Kata to become a better functional martial artist (ie fighter)... the essence in my opinion is knowing what those situations are in the Katas, and doing a lot of situational sparring with progressive levels of intensity and resistance (intensity and resistance are not mutually exclusive). Sparring with progressive levels of intensity and resistance against training partners who know what you’re trying to do, and aren’t going to let you do it for free needs to occur if the goal is to acquire the mindset and physical skill set of overcoming an aggressive resisting opponent. One of the the things I enjoy about you is that you are not afraid to branch out and cross train in other styles you are well aware of this notion of pressure testing techniques in sparring. Thank you for all that you do for the martial arts community :) -Mike
Kata is a beautiful form of self expression, an art form that defines Karate. Without it Karate would simply be like boxing or wrestling. The technical aspect of it is very prescribed and demanding and cannot be altered. It is like yoga in action. A weapon to fight the spiritual battle that rages in each one of us. Kata eventually transcends the physical. To quote Bruce Lee, It is truly the art of fighting without fighting. This is the path prescribed by Bodhidharma.
Thank you Sensei McCarthy. And thank you Sensei Enkamp for posting this video. This is great! A black belt once told me (when I was a white belt) "You look like someone who wants to live his life with Honor." He made my day with that and I still carry his words of encouragement in my heart.
Jesse sensei every videos in your channel encourage me all the time no matter how many times I rewatch it! I truly respect your way of thinking and you're so amazing! Ossu. Greetings from Philippines!
Thanks for the video Jesse-San! McCarty-San is awesome. In my books, the value of kata simply can’t be overestimated... if properly explained, applied and trained.
Loved this sentence "the things that tend to separates us, are not anywhere near as important as the things that tend to bring us together", bunkai is a great way to practice and create, Sensei Mitsuo Inoue once said "do you think you can use the technic as it is tought in that book? practice your own aplication, because if you can't do it, that bunkai is not real!" grat video Jessie!
Thanks for bringing this video. I have been a fan of Mr. Patrick McCarthy or a long time, since I learned that he has researched very deeply the origins of karate and used that information not to try to go back, but to go forward in an environment where lots of teachers want to maintain things unchanged. My favorite phrase of his is "The best way to honor those who brought us the fire is by keeping the flame alive, not by adoring the ashes they left behind".
I train in a competition style dojo. While it isn't practiced as much as competitive style kata, we still do our best to break down the bunkai and meaning of any of the katas we learn. It's been about a year since I earned my first dan, and it's DEFINITELY only the beginning.
I am a 1st dan Shidokan Shorin Ryu and have seen so many similarities between karate styles...such as mine, Shotokan, Kyokushin all because of the grandfather art known as Shuri Te. Yes I have gotten into confrontations and used my knowledge of the katas and it associated bunkai to help protect myself and subdue the assailants in the past. One can never stop learning from Karate or whatever respective art one trains in
The final part of the first intervention of Sensei McCarthy contains such a powerful message about what brings us together, rooted in such deep understanding of the root, of the "reasons why" we train in a certain way, that it should be remembered each time we get lost in those confusing thoughts that divide practitioners instead. That message, linked to the pathway, goes so much beyond the practice that it's essential, it summarize the essence of martial arts, which is - sadly forgotten - learning to fight to avoid fighting, to comprehend peace. So grateful to Sensei Jesse for the opportunity to listen to Sensei McCarthy.
One of the best simple explanation of kata that I ever got was that katas are a way to develop the gross muscle memory for the different techniques. When you get better, one (subconsciously) goes "oh hey" I recognize this position in a violent encounter and instantly/instinctively do x, y, or z out of the bunkai of whatever kata best address the situation.
Another great video! Sensei McCarthy's explanations and bunkai demonstrations were incredibly informative. Also his emphasis on Kata being a pathway or a bridge from kihon to kumite was a great insight.
I did learn and practice some karate a few decades ago. Our sensei thaught all this his own way, telling us to imagine the opponent in front of ourselves. The better our own representation, the better we perform the kata in all its aspects, the form by itself, the strenght involve in each part, the rythm, the link between parts... He thaught that to the youngest classes (6 yo) to adult, using that language while commenting on each one performance. We were even ask to build between students reconstruction of those situation throughtout a kata of our choice once or twice a year. I did love that kind of self-involvement in learning. At the end, I had to change town, province and style and the next sensei had his own style to make us learn katas. Once a group has a good technical performance with a kata, he add some move at each cluster of the form, putting everyone out of balance for a while, forcing integration of something new like the unexpected in real 'street' situation. That way had its dtrenght ans weaknesses, specially because he never refer to the reality of the form. It was less rewarding, at lest for me.
Wow..! Thanks for the information. I like the way you explain things about karate. Did various types of martial arts but never was into the belt system. I was more into the self defense aspect of the art. Which it was very helpful while I was a cop in NYC.
The problem with listening to a genius and by far the most knowledgeable Karateka I have ever heard of or encountered, is that Hanshi McCarthy’s level of knowledge and thinking is so far above that of most humble mortals, that 5 minutes speaking with him, and listening to him…..Literally blows the mind. I speak from personal experience…..But, for any doubters, look at the stunned facial expressions of the assembled Karate experts in that dojo! 😂😂😂😂😂
Wow, so glad I watched this. So many things make sense after all these years. Thank you for doing all these videos. You have restored my faith in karate
Such philosophy about kata is important for any martal art!Honing the skills that you have already learned is so important! And this master is amazing!
You are doing a good work brother. I started learning old school karate outside in the park in 1987. We sparred daily and it was painful but we learned how to fight. We cross trained with other arts even boxers. But my teacher did not focus as much on kata and as I got older and practiced less I lost speed and timing. It was going back to the fundamentals and kata that helped me continue to grow even in my older age. We have to be realistic and understand age and our limits even in the realm of self defense.
great video, I specially liked the concept of "redescovering" the katas and the open criticism. I practice goju ryu and katas are kind of dogma, "you do not discuss kata, you practice kata"
I’ve practiced Shito-ryu karate since I was sixteen on and off. Learned Wally jay small circle jujitsu, and modern Arnis as well. Kata sped up my learning of the other two arts because I’d already acquired reflexes to practically fall into the correct stances to throw and to apply and position limbs to manipulate my opponent. Love McCarthy’s wisdom and knowledge.
I always enjoy your clips Jesse and I always get a kick out of seeing my old mate Pat doing his thing. I'm really looking forward to seeing him and his lovely family when I'm back home in Oz next month. Thanks for this and all your clips.
I love learning about the bunkai in kata, it helps a lot to know why I am doing all these different steps. Also there are more than one way to defend and attack!!!! Total karate nerd here😄
Really appreciated Sensei McCarthy sharing his knowledge on the bunkai, that was a real eye opener. Some real ah-ha moments in that short demonstration.
Started reading McCarthy's translation of "Bubishi" recently. Thanks for the heads up, Jesse. Much appreciated. I am enjoying studying it immensely and can hardly wait to get home and continue. :)
My teachers explained to me right from the get go that it was a traditional thing that was kinda like shadow boxing, so it was like if you where attacking or counter attacking in a hypothetical scenario.
The karate kata's are so beautiful and so rich.. there's an endless world of knowledge, history and cultural significance in it. I practise taekwondo myself and I love our kata's (poomsae) as well, but whenever I see you perform and break down kata, I can't help but to feel a little bit jealous...
This really just reinforces my feeling that "it's all just Karate". Pretty much everything said by McCarthy sensei could, & should, be applied to Tae Kwon Do; regardless of whether it's ITF or WTF "style".
Robert Wallace Yeah, I've heard of that. I'd also like to get a copy of Choi-nim's 1965 translation to English of the TKD forms; which also includes some Shorei Ryu & Shorin Ryu forms that, he also taught (Jion, Bassai, etc)
When I was younger, I came into the Traditional Martial arts.For me it was Taekwondo, I was strong from years of bicycle road racing, and weight training. I was looking to competition fight. And I did that with good success. My instructor Roy Washington insisted that I learn poomse. Now I do see bunki as secondary but I believe Form,Kata, Poomse. Is body,mind and spirit maintenance for a trained fighter. It keeps your balance,muscles and mind sharp. But doesn’t teach fighting it maintains a fighter that’s been taught.
Kata is the combining of emotional content and physical attributes in relative motion, which is the core element in any discipline, we must focus and visualise in order to gain a deeper understanding of whatever intention we intend to project, patience and perseverance results in beauty and understanding, only then will you attain true ZEN. We do, so we don’t have to.. Your brother in Budo..
What's funny is he's showing a lot of techniques that get taught in McDojos, like biting, eye gouging, and groin shots, but the difference is that a McDojo teaches those things as if they're fight enders in and of themselves, and claims you don't need anything else. What he's teaching is to use every weapon and dirty trick available to you in order to create the openings you need to execute effective techniques. He's very obviously a man who knows what he's talking about. Great video. 👍
I have to be honest: it kinda angers me that the application of forms (kata/hyung) seems to be lost in many modern karate/tkd schools. I studied TKD for three years, and while I learned the forms, all I learned to do was point spar and, being the young and inexperienced teen, I thought THAT was real martial arts. I really, really wish that more masters would go back to doing what guys like you, Patrick and Iain Abernethy are doing and showing how kata is to be applied. I watched some actual kata application on Iain's website (including his lesson trade with you, Jesse), and said "Why wasn't I taugh this while in TKD?" Makes me question whether or not modern masters actually know the applications.
I suspect they often do know them, but whether from tradition or from laziness or from excessive secrecy, they withhold that knowledge from all but their most advanced students. No doubt it's a wonderful feeling to have all that knowledge suddenly unlocked. But giving out manageable bits of it along the way would encourage less experienced students -- and give them more practical skills and a better shot at walking away unharmed should they ever have to use martial arts in a real-world setting.
@@bilbobaggins5815 This isn't a kung fu movie like "snake in the eagle's shadow" with jackie chan. They don't. You may forever think you ALMOST have an idea of what you're looking at, could be right could be wrong, but at the end of the day you're just gonna have to settle for what you THINK is right, and what you THINK is what was intended. The problem with that is while you may get some parts right, at some point even if only 1 out of 100 times(though it's extremely likely) you'll get a part wrong, because you'll have applied your common sense to these seemingly random and cryptic movements that you never truly got an explanation for. So now you got a part wrong or even several but you got the overall idea, you then teach it to your students like that, they then too apply their common sense to fill in any gaps make their own mistakes, then teach both yours and their mistakes to the next generation, and this repeats till you basically played the telephone game and now have this watered down sloppy clueless art. Which is why as things stand if you don't understand the true meaning of it, it should just be dropped altogether and left to those who do. As a person who practiced katas for years, and never understood the remote significance of any of them, i'd have been better off just learning the techniques that not only have obvious application, but my teacher and subsequently I were 100% certain of.
Spoiler: they don't know as well, because THEIR masters didn't know as well, because THEIR masters didn't bother to teach them. It's a Confucian way of doing, common in Asia: you never ask your teacher anything, because it's "disrespectful". Amd your moron teacher believes you will eventually understand on your own
I know not all schools are the same, but that is the main reason I started in Judo. To show you how true your statement is for SOME schools, right after I received my sankyu (lowest level brown in Judo) a friend's cousin, who was a 5th degree black belt in TKD asked me to teach self defense to his students! He said that his master wouldn't teach the "hidden" techniques in their forms, so he didn't know. This was about 1992 so the internet was not a viable option.
hi jesse.i love your videos a lot and i learned a lot from you even if i just started karate last year:) please keep it up;) greetings from switzerland
whilst i can see an d understand this it took me time to really appreciate the value of kata the founding fathers of martial arts where of great intellect
Excellent always amazing how when explained and explored in such detail you can see the similarities in all arts for instance the check and sweep drill Hanshi McCarthy demonstrated is Identical too A common Hubud drill from the art of Kali and is also found in Wing chun
Katas, and all forms, fulfill three basic functions. First, they teach a self-defense. Kata is just a bunch of smaller self-defenses put together. Second, kata (and again, all forms) teaches the strikes, blocks, etc. of your style. You won't find a strike in your style that isn't somewhere in some form. And third, kata teaches body mechanics. No one punches from a chambered position, but it helps show the push/pull mechanics, helps you focus on footwork and hip rotation and more. Chambered punches, solid stances, etc. that are hallmarks of karate is just the "cleaned up" way to pass down self-defense from a time when there was no other easy way to keep the information alive. If you loosen up the stances and interpret the strikes differently from the prescribed bunkai, you get better application, but you had to learn the mechanics and movements first from formal kata.
i was supposed to be going to patrick McCarthys seminar in london 2nd july but i have had to cancel due to work commitments. It would of been my first patrick McCarhty seminar so i was really looking forward to it. I am absolutley gutted to be missing it!
Great video! Kata is important and difficult. In Kata, I see that I still have to learn and practice a lot. It always helped me, when Kata combinations are explained with Bunkai, or were shown repetedly before training the elements myself. Once things make sense and get logic in the understanding, they get better into the neurological cells and spead up the related neurogenisis.
Another very educational presentation. The information presented is gold. I don't know how many will appreciate how valuable it is. Also, if you know the bunkai, you will see how many throws are actually in karate. I have learned so much in recent decades about the truth of karate and kungfu forms and how narrowly they are taught because the instructors don't know or don't teach the throws in their arts. So many practitioners of striking arts are clueless, and therefore practically defenseless against grapplers ( in certain situations) because of their ignorance of the wholeness their art offers. I am not claiming one style is superior, merely that much of the fullness of karate has been left unused. The same is true of many grappling arts that abandoned striking. Judo and Ju Jitsu all contained many elements of striking, but many schools either ignore or don't practice them. It is important for self defense that strikers be at least proficient enough in close quarters to be able to use their strength in striking to their advantage. The reverse is true for grapplers. Shotokan was my first introduction to throws in kata. Then at a seminar a friend introduced me to the throws in kung fu. I felt like a kid in a candy store. I truly believe their are not many different martial arts that eventually flow like rivers into the vast ocean, but Martial arts are the vast ocean that individuals draw small streams from.
This is the basis of Moshe Feldenkrais' analyses of self defense, derived from attacks. He replicated an attack and spontaneous reactions that failed. Through analysis effective defense was created for that person, drawing from old style judo ( pre WWII). This led Feldenkrais to his movement mehod. As Kano said, Randori is Kata, Kata is Randori.
Hanshi McCarthy promotes live growing karate respecting traditional but moving on and making it your own (a very Sifu Lee like idea) Agree it’s the training methods that are different. Great content Mr Jesse!
Jesse I Just Started Karate 2 Weeks Ago I'm Still A White Belt Almost Turning White And Yellow. Can You Make A Video Explaining Blocks, How To Do Them, How To Pronouce Them In Japanese. Thanks For Being A Inspiration!
ArcticShot How to do blocks will be very much dependent on your style. I train primarily in Wado-Ryu and our blocks are executed from a completely different perspective to those in Shotokan. It’s also worth noting that a block isn’t necessarily a block. The word “uke”, which is commonly used in the name of blocks, actually means “to receive”, thus allowing for a greater scope of follow up actions than just stopping an attack. Hope this is somewhat helpful 😊
I like having the explanation and purpose of each kata. So you know your not doing these moves to look funny. Kata helps one remember the blocks better helps transition into other techniques and the bunkai applications. I like to see more of kata explained.
So, If I understand correctly, Kata is a ritualized short hand to help one remember the proper philosophy from which they may derive reactions to a given set of aggressive behaviors. If your opponent does these things you should react this way and can then, once a superior position has been achieved or a strike has been neutralized, the opponent can be further pacified in these ways. The Kata teaches us a way to practice these core philosophies outside of sparring so that we can then learn to link our Kihon and our drills internally until, through sharpening our understanding through kumite, we can come to a place where should our lives be threaten with physical violence in one of the many habitual ways human beings offer that threat, we will be ready.
I liked the story about first learning the technique and then learning to apply it against progressively resisting opponents. I would assume that the technique first learned will change and as to be modified during your learning. We don’t know how opponent will react so we need multiple answers/reactions/counters… I don’t think that modern reactions are same compared to 150 years ago when some of the katas where taught. It still makes kata a dance with out functionality. Good practise and fun to watch. I think karate can be karate even without a kata. (I am not saying that kata is useless. Its a way to be connected with tradition and history and can be a good workout, too.) If we say that everyone has their own karate. It can include boxing, grappling, wrestling and so on. So it should also be possible to exclude competition or kata or even kihon.
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Thanks for your nice comments! Makes me super happy to hear 😄 Check out my website to learn more about Karate: www.karatebyjesse.com 👍
Jesse Enkamp I have a question, I am 14 years old and I am a black belt in Taekwondo and a white belt in Kenpo Karate, the style of Kempo Karate I'm practicing is called tetsu shin Ryu Kempo, they do a lot of hook punches and upper cuts and stuff like that, it's kind of like MMA, and you know how old taekwondo martial artist Spar like they do open handed stuff, when I grow up I want to get a Taekwondo dojo, how can I combine the open-handed strikes with the hook punches, because the style of Kempo that I'm practicing has a front stance of fighting, Taekwondo has a much wider stance, how can I combine a wide stance open hand strikes and Kempo MMA punches
hey jesse have you actually fought using your karate and won or quoting cobra kai have you ever kick the shit out of a bunch of assholes who deserve it :) does karate work in a street fight and no im not planning to fight anyone but i want to practice and feel secure that works in the real world. in my country theres shotokan, enshin (comes from kyokushin) and shorin ryu an okinawan style and im leaning to the last one but i saw the early ufc II and the practicioner of shorin ryu i think a dutch guy gets destroyed and by the way he fought he was actually trying to use some karate bloking but man he just got smashed, which one you recomend me i've practice a little mma but im in my thirties and would like to practice some traditional style cuz im a bit old for mma but i want a karate that kick ass.
WOW! I am speechless!!! That is an amazingly complete defense technique in a simple kata! WOW!!! Please post some more! 😍😍😍😍😍
Where is ur dojo in. Stockholm. Jesse san
Something I've wondered-is the Ryukyuan terminology and the proverbs for Te still extant? I understand the reasons the native language use was dropped c. 1937, but shouldn't we respect the Masters and the heritage by using their language? It would be like teaching Glima using Dutch terminology. Okinawan languages are 1500 or so years divergent from Japanese, and are mutually incomprehensible.
Jesse I got hit in the war. I started watching your videos has inspired me to get out of the bed and go back to my routes. I have even started teaching again god used you in my life I bought some gear from you and Oliver but I could never pay you back for your motivation
He is the grandpa of all karate nerds, I love this stuff 😊
Hanshi is a global treasure without a doubt. So glad I have had several opportunities to learn from him directly.
Treasure every word from him and every second spent together. My Hanshi passed away last year. 😢
I remember Hanshi McCarthy from when I was studyig at The Australian College of Natural Medicine in Brisbane - many moons ago now. He was always so generous with his time, and to this day I remain amazed at his knowledge and skill in Karate. Massive respect.
What I really like about this video is the emphasis that what we have in common is more important that what separates us, which applies to all martial arts and not just karate. The human body might come in different shapes and sizes, but mechanically they all work the same way. Once you understand the mechanics behind each thing in a form/kata, you can see how it is applicable in multiple scenarios and how things might look different, but really the mechanics are the same and so the technique is really the same. I've practised Wing Chun and one of the drills here is exactly the same as the pak sao drill, as are so much of the application of the katas shown here.
I also really like the idea of the kata being a time capsule, and how you can practice it, combine it with drills and sparring and then come back to see where and how the form was found in all of those. A lot of modern martial artists like to bad mouth other arts and styles, so it's great to see practitioners like yourself Jesse, who sees what we all have in common and how it's all about finding and testing what works.
He had me at "cojones".
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I am a Goju Ryu and Isshin Ryu practitioner who also trains Gracie Jiujitsu. There are so many similarities in kata bunkai and the self-defenses we do it is crazy! I love the comment "the things that separate us are not as important as the things that bring us together." Patrick and you inspire the practice of true and pure karate. Thank you! Keep up the great work!
Hi Tim
My son is also doing Goju Ryu karate and also Ji Jitsu. He also started doing some more intense kumite training, but at a Shotokan Karate Klub. All of this made him a even beter karateka! With Ji Jitsu he knows how to handle himself on the ground and with the Shotokan Kumite he knows how to do effective throws.
I'm a practitioner of a hybrid Karate style with lineage to Kyokushin and Daito Ryu Jujitsu and also now train in BJJ as well. I like to combination and agree Kata's have a lot self defense techniques including joint locks, take downs, throws, break out techniques not just strikes.
@@timlinator sounds cool, what is the karate school?
tremendous gratitude to Sensei Jesse for making all these great videos and doing all the research, traveling, and teaching so that we can learn about karate and add a comment or two.
Sensei Enkamp, Jesse--thank you very much for your videos, you have re-awakened the Empty Hand spirit within me to start training in this great form of practical martial way once more. Shotokan was the path I chose back in 1995 to the early 2000s, however once I enlisted in the US Army the training went dormant due to lots of moving around, however Wing Chun, Judo/BJJ was with me throughout the years and now recently I have picked up Isshin Ryu Karate and will tell you that it feels amazing to come back to Karate. Thank you once again for your dedication to everything Karate, the different branches you cover in your videos and your steadfast dedication to our benevolent and effective Martial Way... Alfredo
OSS
I study Taekwondo ,and I am breaking down the forms myself ,watching your martial style is really enjoyable and educational !!so please keep it going :)
Poomsae are Quite cool.
What kind of forms? Chang hon, taeguek, or orther?
I study songham Taekwondo
@My Northern Garden USDA 9a what do vaccines have to do with it?
This. Sensei. Is. Well spoken. Logical. And. A. Fine. Historian...
Sensei McCarthy is such an interesting gentleman. I was fortunate to meet him many yrs ago when he spent a few days visiting my Sensei at his home. Thanks for sharing this video, can’t believe I just found it.
I don't practice karate now, but you are still converting me into a Karate Nerd with content like this.
As always, fantastic video :)
I don’t actually practice karate. BJJ is my passion with regards to martial arts. Years ago I used to practice dragon style kung fu and wing chun. Forms were practiced during that training process. The emphasis on forms and, in my unfortunate case, complete lack of sparring (aside from sloppy point sparring in which the strikes likely would not have stopped a determined attacker in an extreme self defense scenario), ultimately turned me off and led me down a different martial arts path.
Despite that beginning and where I am now in my martial arts journey as an adult learner, your channel has helped ignite an interest in karate (and the striking arts in general) for me.
Kata in my opinion preserves the tradition of the ARTS. They’re entertaining to watch. They can be practiced alone and foster coordination memory, and discipline among other things.
As stated in the video, there are common self defense situations located in the Kata, (many of which are grappling focused). Regarding applying the Kata to become a better functional martial artist (ie fighter)... the essence in my opinion is knowing what those situations are in the Katas, and doing a lot of situational sparring with progressive levels of intensity and resistance (intensity and resistance are not mutually exclusive). Sparring with progressive levels of intensity and resistance against training partners who know what you’re trying to do, and aren’t going to let you do it for free needs to occur if the goal is to acquire the mindset and physical skill set of overcoming an aggressive resisting opponent. One of the the things I enjoy about you is that you are not afraid to branch out and cross train in other styles you are well aware of this notion of pressure testing techniques in sparring.
Thank you for all that you do for the martial arts community :)
-Mike
Sensei McCarthy gives the most nuanced explanation based on experience Thank you
Kata is a beautiful form of self expression, an art form that defines Karate. Without it Karate would simply be like boxing or wrestling. The technical aspect of it is very prescribed and demanding and cannot be altered. It is like yoga in action. A weapon to fight the spiritual battle that rages in each one of us. Kata eventually transcends the physical. To quote Bruce Lee, It is truly the art of fighting without fighting. This is the path prescribed by Bodhidharma.
Thank you Sensei McCarthy. And thank you Sensei Enkamp for posting this video. This is great! A black belt once told me (when I was a white belt) "You look like someone who wants to live his life with Honor." He made my day with that and I still carry his words of encouragement in my heart.
Jesse sensei every videos in your channel encourage me all the time no matter how many times I rewatch it! I truly respect your way of thinking and you're so amazing! Ossu. Greetings from Philippines!
Thanks for the video Jesse-San! McCarty-San is awesome. In my books, the value of kata simply can’t be overestimated... if properly explained, applied and trained.
It’s truly the essence
Loved this sentence "the things that tend to separates us, are not anywhere near as important as the things that tend to bring us together", bunkai is a great way to practice and create, Sensei Mitsuo Inoue once said "do you think you can use the technic as it is tought in that book? practice your own aplication, because if you can't do it, that bunkai is not real!" grat video Jessie!
Amazing video sensei Jesse!! Sensei Patrick McCarthy is like a walking encyclopedia of Karate🥋👏 BTW Happy New Year💪👍✌
Happy new year!
Thanks for bringing this video. I have been a fan of Mr. Patrick McCarthy or a long time, since I learned that he has researched very deeply the origins of karate and used that information not to try to go back, but to go forward in an environment where lots of teachers want to maintain things unchanged. My favorite phrase of his is "The best way to honor those who brought us the fire is by keeping the flame alive, not by adoring the ashes they left behind".
I train in a competition style dojo. While it isn't practiced as much as competitive style kata, we still do our best to break down the bunkai and meaning of any of the katas we learn. It's been about a year since I earned my first dan, and it's DEFINITELY only the beginning.
I am a 1st dan Shidokan Shorin Ryu and have seen so many similarities between karate styles...such as mine, Shotokan, Kyokushin all because of the grandfather art known as Shuri Te. Yes I have gotten into confrontations and used my knowledge of the katas and it associated bunkai to help protect myself and subdue the assailants in the past. One can never stop learning from Karate or whatever respective art one trains in
The final part of the first intervention of Sensei McCarthy contains such a powerful message about what brings us together, rooted in such deep understanding of the root, of the "reasons why" we train in a certain way, that it should be remembered each time we get lost in those confusing thoughts that divide practitioners instead. That message, linked to the pathway, goes so much beyond the practice that it's essential, it summarize the essence of martial arts, which is - sadly forgotten - learning to fight to avoid fighting, to comprehend peace. So grateful to Sensei Jesse for the opportunity to listen to Sensei McCarthy.
One of the best simple explanation of kata that I ever got was that katas are a way to develop the gross muscle memory for the different techniques. When you get better, one (subconsciously) goes "oh hey" I recognize this position in a violent encounter and instantly/instinctively do x, y, or z out of the bunkai of whatever kata best address the situation.
Another great video! Sensei McCarthy's explanations and bunkai demonstrations were incredibly informative. Also his emphasis on Kata being a pathway or a bridge from kihon to kumite was a great insight.
Wonderful, I would LOVE to attend a seminar with Sensei McCarthy! Such a brillant and nice person. Oss!
Allways a pleasure listening to McCarthy....and his cojones
Thank you for this awesome video. I'm asked all the time why we practice forms so much. This is a great way to answer that question.
I did learn and practice some karate a few decades ago. Our sensei thaught all this his own way, telling us to imagine the opponent in front of ourselves. The better our own representation, the better we perform the kata in all its aspects, the form by itself, the strenght involve in each part, the rythm, the link between parts... He thaught that to the youngest classes (6 yo) to adult, using that language while commenting on each one performance. We were even ask to build between students reconstruction of those situation throughtout a kata of our choice once or twice a year. I did love that kind of self-involvement in learning.
At the end, I had to change town, province and style and the next sensei had his own style to make us learn katas. Once a group has a good technical performance with a kata, he add some move at each cluster of the form, putting everyone out of balance for a while, forcing integration of something new like the unexpected in real 'street' situation. That way had its dtrenght ans weaknesses, specially because he never refer to the reality of the form. It was less rewarding, at lest for me.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, Sensei.
Wow..! Thanks for the information. I like the way you explain things about karate. Did various types of martial arts but never was into the belt system. I was more into the self defense aspect of the art. Which it was very helpful while I was a cop in NYC.
The problem with listening to a genius and by far the most knowledgeable Karateka I have ever heard of or encountered, is that Hanshi McCarthy’s level of knowledge and thinking is so far above that of most humble mortals, that 5 minutes speaking with him, and listening to him…..Literally blows the mind. I speak from personal experience…..But, for any doubters, look at the stunned facial expressions of the assembled Karate experts in that dojo! 😂😂😂😂😂
Wow, so glad I watched this. So many things make sense after all these years. Thank you for doing all these videos. You have restored my faith in karate
A true Gentleman of the martial arts. I have had email exchanges with him and he is generous and gracious with his knowledge.
Sensei McCarthy is really impressive and shows an intellectual tradition in a brutal art.
Such philosophy about kata is important for any martal art!Honing the skills that you have already learned is so important!
And this master is amazing!
Great stuff - Patrick McCarthy is always worth checking out. Andrew
Thanks for the insight about basic foundation of kata.
You are doing a good work brother. I started learning old school karate outside in the park in 1987. We sparred daily and it was painful but we learned how to fight. We cross trained with other arts even boxers. But my teacher did not focus as much on kata and as I got older and practiced less I lost speed and timing. It was going back to the fundamentals and kata that helped me continue to grow even in my older age. We have to be realistic and understand age and our limits even in the realm of self defense.
I could listen to Hanchi McCarthy talk all day! Thank You Jesse for sharing this!!
That makes two of us! 😜
great video, I specially liked the concept of "redescovering" the katas and the open criticism. I practice goju ryu and katas are kind of dogma, "you do not discuss kata, you practice kata"
I’ve practiced Shito-ryu karate since I was sixteen on and off. Learned Wally jay small circle jujitsu, and modern Arnis as well. Kata sped up my learning of the other two arts because I’d already acquired reflexes to practically fall into the correct stances to throw and to apply and position limbs to manipulate my opponent. Love McCarthy’s wisdom and knowledge.
I always enjoy your clips Jesse and I always get a kick out of seeing my old mate Pat doing his thing. I'm really looking forward to seeing him and his lovely family when I'm back home in Oz next month. Thanks for this and all your clips.
this is pure gold! thx for sharing this... EPIC!
All successful martial artists are good showman...all good martial artist are just aware. I applaused his success.
I love learning about the bunkai in kata, it helps a lot to know why I am doing all these different steps. Also there are more than one way to defend and attack!!!! Total karate nerd here😄
Really appreciated Sensei McCarthy sharing his knowledge on the bunkai, that was a real eye opener. Some real ah-ha moments in that short demonstration.
Now that's real karate. About as real as it gets. Practical applications. I love it.
Started reading McCarthy's translation of "Bubishi" recently. Thanks for the heads up, Jesse. Much appreciated. I am enjoying studying it immensely and can hardly wait to get home and continue. :)
My teachers explained to me right from the get go that it was a traditional thing that was kinda like shadow boxing, so it was like if you where attacking or counter attacking in a hypothetical scenario.
The karate kata's are so beautiful and so rich.. there's an endless world of knowledge, history and cultural significance in it. I practise taekwondo myself and I love our kata's (poomsae) as well, but whenever I see you perform and break down kata, I can't help but to feel a little bit jealous...
Jesse
I truly enjoy your video training sessions.
AMAZING ... APPLICATION KATA BY MASTER MC CARTY ...
Great work Sensi Jesse and Sensi Mc Carthy. Demonstrate a kata for multiple attackers 🙏
Great Teacher!
Bunkai is always very interesting. I love the way Sensei McCarthy teaches! Great video Jesse! :)
This really just reinforces my feeling that "it's all just Karate". Pretty much everything said by McCarthy sensei could, & should, be applied to Tae Kwon Do; regardless of whether it's ITF or WTF "style".
Great! Researching the true history of Taekwondo (not the official PR version) will give you even more clarity :)
Jesse Enkamp Thanks Sir. Do you have any suggestions for good, reliable sources for that? Ones which have not been politicised.
That would be pretty hard given the subject matter! I really appreciated "A Killing Art", but your mileage may vary.
Robert Wallace Yeah, I've heard of that. I'd also like to get a copy of Choi-nim's 1965 translation to English of the TKD forms; which also includes some Shorei Ryu & Shorin Ryu forms that, he also taught (Jion, Bassai, etc)
I practised Tang Soo Do over 15 years ago; they taught Pinan, Bassai and Naihanchi.
Your discussion is very useful especially the historical background of KARATE., #NoobiesLittlePlayground
When I was younger, I came into the Traditional Martial arts.For me it was Taekwondo, I was strong from years of bicycle road racing, and weight training. I was looking to competition fight. And I did that with good success. My instructor Roy Washington insisted that I learn poomse. Now I do see bunki as secondary but I believe Form,Kata, Poomse. Is body,mind and spirit maintenance for a trained fighter. It keeps your balance,muscles and mind sharp. But doesn’t teach fighting it maintains a fighter that’s been taught.
Kata is the combining of emotional content and physical attributes in relative motion, which is the core element in any discipline, we must focus and visualise in order to gain a deeper understanding of whatever intention we intend to project, patience and perseverance results in beauty and understanding, only then will you attain true ZEN.
We do, so we don’t have to..
Your brother in Budo..
marty wilson McCarthy uses word salads to say very little
mister patrick has great energy
What I don’t get is who are the dbags who unlike these brilliant videos ..... extremely informative as always.
What's funny is he's showing a lot of techniques that get taught in McDojos, like biting, eye gouging, and groin shots, but the difference is that a McDojo teaches those things as if they're fight enders in and of themselves, and claims you don't need anything else. What he's teaching is to use every weapon and dirty trick available to you in order to create the openings you need to execute effective techniques. He's very obviously a man who knows what he's talking about. Great video. 👍
Thank you 🤗🤗
I have to be honest: it kinda angers me that the application of forms (kata/hyung) seems to be lost in many modern karate/tkd schools. I studied TKD for three years, and while I learned the forms, all I learned to do was point spar and, being the young and inexperienced teen, I thought THAT was real martial arts. I really, really wish that more masters would go back to doing what guys like you, Patrick and Iain Abernethy are doing and showing how kata is to be applied. I watched some actual kata application on Iain's website (including his lesson trade with you, Jesse), and said "Why wasn't I taugh this while in TKD?" Makes me question whether or not modern masters actually know the applications.
J. Dean if you practice the kata long enough... the applications open up
I suspect they often do know them, but whether from tradition or from laziness or from excessive secrecy, they withhold that knowledge from all but their most advanced students. No doubt it's a wonderful feeling to have all that knowledge suddenly unlocked. But giving out manageable bits of it along the way would encourage less experienced students -- and give them more practical skills and a better shot at walking away unharmed should they ever have to use martial arts in a real-world setting.
@@bilbobaggins5815 This isn't a kung fu movie like "snake in the eagle's shadow" with jackie chan. They don't. You may forever think you ALMOST have an idea of what you're looking at, could be right could be wrong, but at the end of the day you're just gonna have to settle for what you THINK is right, and what you THINK is what was intended. The problem with that is while you may get some parts right, at some point even if only 1 out of 100 times(though it's extremely likely) you'll get a part wrong, because you'll have applied your common sense to these seemingly random and cryptic movements that you never truly got an explanation for. So now you got a part wrong or even several but you got the overall idea, you then teach it to your students like that, they then too apply their common sense to fill in any gaps make their own mistakes, then teach both yours and their mistakes to the next generation, and this repeats till you basically played the telephone game and now have this watered down sloppy clueless art. Which is why as things stand if you don't understand the true meaning of it, it should just be dropped altogether and left to those who do. As a person who practiced katas for years, and never understood the remote significance of any of them, i'd have been better off just learning the techniques that not only have obvious application, but my teacher and subsequently I were 100% certain of.
Spoiler: they don't know as well, because THEIR masters didn't know as well, because THEIR masters didn't bother to teach them. It's a Confucian way of doing, common in Asia: you never ask your teacher anything, because it's "disrespectful". Amd your moron teacher believes you will eventually understand on your own
I know not all schools are the same, but that is the main reason I started in Judo.
To show you how true your statement is for SOME schools, right after I received my sankyu (lowest level brown in Judo) a friend's cousin, who was a 5th degree black belt in TKD asked me to teach self defense to his students!
He said that his master wouldn't teach the "hidden" techniques in their forms, so he didn't know.
This was about 1992 so the internet was not a viable option.
hi jesse.i love your videos a lot and i learned a lot from you even if i just started karate last year:) please keep it up;) greetings from switzerland
great Video thanks Jesse and Patrick.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful explanation 👍
Just excellent
Awesome! I would love you to demonstrate the "9 Funakoshi throws"
Thanks for this - great theory & applications / explanations.
Good stuff, we know that the Master's borrowed from each other and so we can find these when comparing different styles.
Outstanding lesson. Thank you.
whilst i can see an d understand this it took me time to really appreciate the value of kata the founding fathers of martial arts where of great intellect
OMG This video was great and the talk by Patrick McCarthy was beautiful.
Jesse plz make video on leg sweeps for MMA 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Excellent always amazing how when explained and explored in such detail you can see the similarities in all arts for instance the check and sweep drill Hanshi McCarthy demonstrated is Identical too A common Hubud drill from the art of Kali and is also found in Wing chun
Katas, and all forms, fulfill three basic functions. First, they teach a self-defense. Kata is just a bunch of smaller self-defenses put together. Second, kata (and again, all forms) teaches the strikes, blocks, etc. of your style. You won't find a strike in your style that isn't somewhere in some form. And third, kata teaches body mechanics. No one punches from a chambered position, but it helps show the push/pull mechanics, helps you focus on footwork and hip rotation and more.
Chambered punches, solid stances, etc. that are hallmarks of karate is just the "cleaned up" way to pass down self-defense from a time when there was no other easy way to keep the information alive. If you loosen up the stances and interpret the strikes differently from the prescribed bunkai, you get better application, but you had to learn the mechanics and movements first from formal kata.
Awesome stuff Jesse-San!
Its nice watching this vids seeing other karate nerds like me
i was supposed to be going to patrick McCarthys seminar in london 2nd july but i have had to cancel due to work commitments. It would of been my first
patrick McCarhty seminar so i was really looking forward to it. I am absolutley gutted to be missing it!
Great video! Kata is important and difficult. In Kata, I see that I still have to learn and practice a lot. It always helped me, when Kata combinations are explained with Bunkai, or were shown repetedly before training the elements myself. Once things make sense and get logic in the understanding, they get better into the neurological cells and spead up the related neurogenisis.
Great stuff!
Thank you
Another very educational presentation.
The information presented is gold.
I don't know how many will appreciate how valuable it is.
Also, if you know the bunkai, you will see how many throws are actually in karate.
I have learned so much in recent decades about the truth of karate and kungfu forms and how narrowly they are taught because the instructors don't know or don't teach the throws in their arts.
So many practitioners of striking arts are clueless, and therefore practically defenseless against grapplers ( in certain situations) because of their ignorance of the wholeness their art offers.
I am not claiming one style is superior, merely that much of the fullness of karate has been left unused. The same is true of many grappling arts that abandoned striking. Judo and Ju Jitsu all contained many elements of striking, but many schools either ignore or don't practice them.
It is important for self defense that strikers be at least proficient enough in close quarters to be able to use their strength in striking to their advantage.
The reverse is true for grapplers.
Shotokan was my first introduction to throws in kata.
Then at a seminar a friend introduced me to the throws in kung fu.
I felt like a kid in a candy store.
I truly believe their are not many different martial arts that eventually flow like rivers into the vast ocean, but Martial arts are the vast ocean that individuals draw small streams from.
This is the basis of Moshe Feldenkrais' analyses of self defense, derived from attacks. He replicated an attack and spontaneous reactions that failed. Through analysis effective defense was created for that person, drawing from old style judo ( pre WWII). This led Feldenkrais to his movement mehod. As Kano said, Randori is Kata, Kata is Randori.
Hanshi McCarthy promotes live growing karate respecting traditional but moving on and making it your own (a very Sifu Lee like idea)
Agree it’s the training methods that are different. Great content Mr Jesse!
Jesse I Just Started Karate 2 Weeks Ago I'm Still A White Belt Almost Turning White And Yellow.
Can You Make A Video Explaining Blocks, How To Do Them, How To Pronouce Them In Japanese. Thanks For Being A Inspiration!
ArcticShot How to do blocks will be very much dependent on your style. I train primarily in Wado-Ryu and our blocks are executed from a completely different perspective to those in Shotokan. It’s also worth noting that a block isn’t necessarily a block. The word “uke”, which is commonly used in the name of blocks, actually means “to receive”, thus allowing for a greater scope of follow up actions than just stopping an attack. Hope this is somewhat helpful 😊
Fidgottio Thanks It Did Help :)
Great educational and practical video
Jesse enkmap I training in Okinawa tii karate it own style I love doing kata
I like having the explanation and purpose of each kata. So you know your not doing these moves to look funny. Kata helps one remember the blocks better helps transition into other techniques and the bunkai applications. I like to see more of kata explained.
So, If I understand correctly, Kata is a ritualized short hand to help one remember the proper philosophy from which they may derive reactions to a given set of aggressive behaviors.
If your opponent does these things you should react this way and can then, once a superior position has been achieved or a strike has been neutralized, the opponent can be further pacified in these ways.
The Kata teaches us a way to practice these core philosophies outside of sparring so that we can then learn to link our Kihon and our drills internally until, through sharpening our understanding through kumite, we can come to a place where should our lives be threaten with physical violence in one of the many habitual ways human beings offer that threat, we will be ready.
I liked the story about first learning the technique and then learning to apply it against progressively resisting opponents. I would assume that the technique first learned will change and as to be modified during your learning. We don’t know how opponent will react so we need multiple answers/reactions/counters… I don’t think that modern reactions are same compared to 150 years ago when some of the katas where taught.
It still makes kata a dance with out functionality. Good practise and fun to watch.
I think karate can be karate even without a kata. (I am not saying that kata is useless. Its a way to be connected with tradition and history and can be a good workout, too.)
If we say that everyone has their own karate. It can include boxing, grappling, wrestling and so on. So it should also be possible to exclude competition or kata or even kihon.
Can you please make a playlist of most often katas you teach your students?
Thanks for posting.
that is cool explaination, made my day
would love to see you also break down more of your forms ,for self defense applications :)