ABOUT URBAN TIGER KEMPO

EXPLORE BLACK TIGER MARTIAL ARTS

Concepts of our Kempo System

All Sparring Etc is as per Sabaki Knockdown rules

Urban Tiger Kempo is Jissen based so hence the kata are Jissen based which is slightly different. Wado and other Traditional Kempo are Goshin based so their kata is Goshin based. I have bridged the 2; my students study Jissen Kempo as they do not "like" or "understand" traditional Kempo. I want to "feed" them Wado so they can understand that Traditional Kempo is not just about doing forms that do not mean anything at all to anyone except the creator.

Tai Sabaki (体捌き) is a term from Japanese martial arts, and which relates to 'whole body movement', or repositioning. It can be translated as body-management. It is a term used widely in kendo, jujutsu, aikido, judo, Kempo and Ninjutsu. Tai Sabaki is usually used to avoid an attack, such that the receiver of the attack ends up in an advantageous position and it is often wrongly referred to as evasion.

An example of Tai Sabaki is 'moving off the line' of attack using Irimi and Tenkan movements rather than to 'move against' the attack. This implies the use of harmony rather than physical strength. Different styles have a different concept of how to perform "tai Sabaki" none are incorrect, just a different way of doing the same thing.
Tai Sabaki is related to ashi Sabaki (footwork) and Te Sabaki (handwork).

http://www.wikihow.com/Do-Tai-Sabaki-(mart...-Body-Shifting)

This is a good observation from a Japanese Wado Ryu Yudansha (he trains with Hironori (Jiro) Ohtsuka II Sensei); of the two styles

"After looking at the Chinese characters "Goshin" is "guard self" and "Jissen" is "true battle". It makes sense.

You tend to find that Wado is very 'Goshin' because it is mostly based on Jujutsu and became Kempo when Otsuka sensei studied with Funakoshi. It then broke away from Shotokan as it was not maybe 'aggressive' enough because there were no free sparring elements in Funakoshi's Shotokan.

A Goshin base seems to be more for intercepting attacks 'should' they come not necessarily when they come. Wado in my opinion seeks to attack an opponent first but should the opponent attack then it can be intercepted. The Wado kata though seem based on only the moving around of attacks and then striking your opponent. Otsuka Sensei shows this well when he demonstrates...idori"

Jissen seems particularly good for stand up battering each other but it seems to favour a power base over a speed base. Both require good Tai Sabaki however Goshin requires accurate strikes to critical points with speed in real situations, but Jissen requires you to mess up your opponents form as much as possible then take them out with a powerful strike."

I have described it slightly different below for those who still do not see the difference

I suppose we could put it in another Context, the difference between Football (soccer for the Americans) and Rugby. Jissen being Rugby and Football being Goshin.

Jissen (Rugby) Kempo. Knockdown Kempo is very dare I say "aggressive" you can see that in the sparring - the same as in Rugby. The players are "aggressive,” but it is a controlled "gentleman's" aggression you get more knocks, bangs, and bruises etc. You are tougher, you can take more punishment before you 'fold' and you are stronger too as you need to be to be able to take on the bigger players. You tend to go straight in towards your opponent, but you do twist and turn as your heading up the field.

Goshin (Football) Kempo. Traditional Kempo is dare I say "passive" you can see that too in the sparring - the same as it Football. The players are "passive" but can react "aggressively" when required. The players are leaner and move quicker and are work more on timing and twisting and turning as opposed to going directly at their opposite player. It is about tapping and "hit and run" in the game using your speed and accuracy rather than strength and aggression.

Hope this helps to understand what was written - remember all is an opinion and can be amended and change as Do is a way of life and we continually spend our lives correcting and amending and changing ethos regards our Kempo.

Hence why I have looked at the kata of Urban Tiger and keeping its core, which was Ashihara Kancho's brainchild.

I can see where you may say "Watching the new kata created for Urban Tiger Kempo to me anyway looks like drills found in kickboxing, nothing wrong with kick boxing but its not Kempo." Similar can be said to an outsider of traditional Kempo that "it looks like a "Dance" or "Yoga" that is just moving and twist the body in positions for no real reason"

I agree that for some it is just pre-applied combinations that can be found in a kickboxing school. At the beginning of my journey through Urban Tiger Kempo that is what I thought too. Then I began to look more into the style of Kempo itself, looking at the kata thinking about each move. Why is it there? What is it for? Can it be used for anything else? I through my experience of Traditional Kempo looking into the core of Bunkai. I amended most of the kata to make a more realistic approach and now the kata can support a various amount of Bunkai I have added moves, body twists, changed round kicks to front kicks, taken moves out included "grappling" techniques into the kata etc to make the Kata and style "complete" or "whole".

Once I have managed to film the kata and its Bunkai you'll understand what I mean.

Kempo and kata go hand in hand, Kata was the Sensei's way of recording his/her fighting style for all time I say this as Naihanchi (Tekki) Bassai and Kushanku (Kanku Dai/Sho) were all fighting styles that are no longer practiced in main land China.