My sincere thanks to to Eli Elfassy Sensei of Karate Goju Ryu Israel. I appreciate your invitation to teach a seminar at your dojo!
I enjoyed meeting the students, and sharing some Okinawan karate and self defense!
We worked on controlling the opponent’s center as means to avoiding prolonged exchanges of blows. A prolonged exchange of blows (aka, “slug-fest”) is not desirable in a self defense setting because in such an exchange, sooner or later you are likely to get hit.
By taking control of the opponent’s center, we position the opponent out of alignment, making it much harder for him or her to strike or grapple effectively. This also puts the opponent in a good position for us to execute strikes, joint locks, and throws. Controlling the center can therefore end the fight decisively and early.
Tuidi is the name Okinawans use to refer to the arts of seizing and grabbing. At the seminar, we learned a flow drill that helps develop and cement some of those skills. I have personally found this flow drill to be of excellent utility in helping martial artists develop and hone these very useful seizing skills. It more time you and your good partner spend with it, the more you will learn to recognize and capitalize on different opportunities to capture your opponent’s center and end the fight.
I am looking forward to seeing you in the future!
