Tony's Take on Traditional Training

Sensei Tony Christian was an eagerly awaited guest to Elephant & Castle's Institute of Traditional Karate as part of a special instructional seminar organised between him and old time friend, Sensei George Andrews. According to Sensei George they'd kept in touch throughout the years and had reaffirmed their friendship when they met again whilst making presentational appearances to commemorate the 50th anniversary of English Karate at last year's Budosai. Sensei Tony had subsequently extended an invite to Sensei George to visit his dojo in Wigan and run a special training course which Sensei George had accepted. Sensei George was now the host for Sensei Tony as he ran a special one day seminar at the Headquarters Honbu Dojo of the Okinawan Traditional Goju Ryu Karate Do Association.

Sensei Tony Christian teaching at the Institute of Traditional Karate with Sensei George Andrews in the T-Shirt behind

Sensei George had put word around his students that this was a class they should make the effort to attend and it was quite a gathering. Karate students from across the country gathered together to fill the London dojo, with Sensei Andy Barker of Hallam Dojo in Sheffield leading a large contingent from the North of England, whilst others came from Hereford, Surrey and the South coast. After a brief introductory welcome, Sensei George led the group through warm ups and handed over to Sensei Tony and we were soon to find that today Sensei Tony was in the mood to share liberally from his many years of study.

"It always got me" spoke Sensei Tony, "that when you'd see photographs of the old masters like Choki Motubu, they'd have their hands in these weird postures. I'd think to myself, surely there must be more meaning to that as the first thing we learn in karate is how to make a proper fist? Well the truth comes from looking at the history of karate and knowing that in the past it was used in the battlefield. Weapons would be taught before unarmed combat and empty handed techniques were there for if you lost your weapon. They were therefore designed to kill an opponent and that's what we are going to be looking at today."

Sensei Tony shows the non-dentistry method of tooth extraction! This was a Saifa bunkai that culminated in a choke hold.

True to his opening, Sensei Tony took us into a variety of Bunkai - applications - from the Kata of Okinawan Karate that have their origins in the martial arts of Fukkian province, China - the legendary Shaolin fighting arts. With moves from Sanseru, Shisochin and Saifa, Sensei Tony showed how these techniques could be used against an opponent with a knife to cause massive and overwhelming injury - blocked windpipes, broken necks, blindness, dislocated joints and so on. Sensei Tony spoke of how Sensei Teruo Chinen had told him to practice these for empty handed application despite their obvious connection to Kobudo.

Naturally when the knives came out and we started practicing these techniques against an armed opponent, the tempo suddenly hit a new high! Sensei Tony spoke of experiences from his youth in Merseyside and cautioned us that despite Liverpool's rough reputation, London has a far higher rate of knife and gun crime. It would therefore be wise to understand the dynamics of such a situation and master one or two basic techniques that could save our lives if push came to shove.

Here's a quick look at some of the action:











Following Sensei Tony's practical teaching, a student of his set up a laptop and projector for what would be an hour long examination into the horrific reality of street violence. Dr Gary Masterson is not only a black belt in Karate, he's also a Consultant Anaesthetist who has worked in one of the most respected trauma treatment centres in the world - Baltimore's R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center Center. As their website says:

The R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center Center is the world's first and foremost center dedicated to saving lives of people with severe, life-threatening injuries sustained in auto crashes, violent crimes and other traumatic incidents.

The trauma staff treat more than 7,500 critically injured patients each year who arrive by helicopter or ambulance — and more than 97 percent survive. The facility is the only one in Maryland with a PARC (Primary Adult Resource Center) designation, signifying that it provides the highest level of trauma care in Maryland. Shock Trauma is also the designated statewide referral center for head and spinal cord injuries, multi-system trauma and severe orthopaedic injuries.

It is named after its founder, R Adams Cowley, M.D., a pioneer in trauma care. He came up with the concept of the "golden hour" — that lives can be saved when trauma patients receive appropriate care within one hour of their injury. Medical providers from throughout Maryland, the nation and the world come here each year for training.

Since 2001, the U.S. Air Force has partnered with the Medical Center and School of Medicine to use Shock Trauma as its readiness training site for its worldwide medical personnel.

The concept of a "golden hour" would be one that recurred through Dr Gary's presentation.

At outset, both Dr Gary and Sensei Tony stressed that the presentation would open our eyes to a number of things:

1. How easy and common it is for people to get severe and life threatening injuries, especially when the head and throat are targeted
2. The sort of state you are likely to be in if you get attacked and don't try to defend yourself
3. The reality that karate, especially the older Okinawan systems, contains a vast arsenal of lethal techniques that can enable a woman to defend herself against a man or a small person to balance the odds against a big person or group of attackers

That said, it didn't prepare me for the slides that would follow! Gruesome fails to do it justice and the fact that these were all of real people wheeled into hospitals where Dr Gary has treated them made it even more frightening than any Nightmare on Elm Street style movie. Here were people with their faces literally smashed in, with knives stuck in their eyes or their throats, with their throats slashed open and much more.

A consistent running theme through the injuries was the likelihood of hemoraging causing death. A blow to the head can cause sufficient swelling to damage the brain whilst a neck injury can restrict the airway. It was a really sobering thought to see that the injuries that Dr Gary was showing were by and large caused by random drunks on a Saturday night. A trained martial artist should therefore have little trouble in causing greater damage.

A big thanks goes out to Sensei Tony Christian and Dr Gary Masterson for sharing their knowledge and insight so freely during the seminar, and also to Sensei Tony's helper (I'm sorry I didn't catch your name) who accompanied and helped with all the demonstrations. Thanks also to Sensei Daphne Leister of Camberley Martial Arts who photographed the event liberally for me! Thank you also to Sensei George for hosting this event and thank you to all the Senseis and students who made it such a memorable day that we talked about many times after.