Dojo
News and Info
Quotes of the Month
"Practice does not make perfect, Perfect practice makes
perfect." -- Kyoshi June
"Fear not the man who practices 10,000 techniques one
time but respect the man who practices one technique 10,000 times" -- Old
Chinese Saying
Editorial
Tori and Uke
No it's not some weird Oriental
food. These terms refer to
self-defense practitioners in karate. Tori
is the person performing the self-defense move and uke is the person who is
attacking. Tori and uke make up a
self-defense team.
Self-defense is the main reason many
of us started taking karate. To protect one's self and one's loved ones takes
much practice. Hopefully we will
never have to use our karate to defend ourselves but in the changing times and
with the current statistics it is more likely that our skills will be
challenged.
It is very important to
practice self-defense as correctly as possible.
If your uke does not attack you in a way to cause you to perform
correctly, then your practice will not be perfect. It takes much trial and error to get a technique perfected.
If you are attacked on the street your technique needs to be as near
perfect as possible for you to protect yourself without obtaining a serious
injury.
A
uke's job is very important. It is
his job to attack you in the correct manner so that you learn to perfect your
technique. You are not doing your
tori any favors by punching/kicking too lightly or by punching/kicking off
center. That only teaches tori to
block soft or off center and that will get him hurt in the "real"
world when the "bad guy" punches/kicks straight at him.
It is also a uke's job to tell his partner whether or not a technique is
working or if it needs to be changed. This
does not mean that that the uke needs to "fight" a partner's technique
all the time. It takes some time
going slow to learn a technique before putting it to the test.
After getting the pattern of the technique down, then the uke can add
some resistance and speed to develop the technique correctly.
When you are choosing a uke it
is important to pick someone with whom you can work well.
If you are a kid, make sure your parents and the uke's parents are aware
of your plans to practice and when you are testing. You are going to spend a lot
of time together. It is very
important to work with your uke at least a month before any test and for longer
if at all possible. It is also important to make sure that he will tell you if
the technique you are doing is weak or if it is working.
Remember out on the street your attacker is not going to laugh off a
defense gone wrong, he is going to continue his attack and carry out his devious
plans.
Last but not least, make sure several
Black Belts observe you and give you tips on your self-defense.
They all have different strong points and can help you polish your
techniques until they "shine". If
at all possible see if Kyoshi June can observe your self-defense.
Help us keep our Dojo clean
Kyoshi June is requesting that No candy or drinks be
brought into the dojo (water only). The
wrappers and empty cans/cups in the trash can attract insects.
Please put your drink and food trash in the trash bin outside the dojo,
don't put them in the inside trashcans.
Up coming Seminars
Keep a look out for NMAA info on Summer Camp!
Check the web site -- nationalmartialarts.com
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