Guidelines for Partner Training in Karate

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What NOT to do

Do not hit with full speed and power from the word go, rushing in like a bull. Do not continuously hit slow and without commitment, as your strike becomes effectively unblockable because your partner has nothing to block.

Guidelines for the person defending

Move only once your attacker moves. In other words, don’t start your defensive action until an attack has commenced. When your opponent attacks, block the attack, whether there was a command from the instructor or not. Block every time as if it was a serious attack, regardless of the intensity of the attack - take it seriously every time. Don’t adjust your stance or technique because of the short-comings of your partner who performs the attack.

This is a common problem for new karate students. They hear the instructor, and they start their blocking technique, regardless of what their attacker is up to. Clearly, a block performed this way is not very effective. If the blocker does his block to the count, the attacker who may have delayed his attack is now pretty much at a loss of what to do. He can either contort himself to put his punch where it would have been if it had been properly blocked (bad idea). He can simply ignore the defender’s premature movement and continue on with the attack undeterred (and thus whack his partner in the nose - very bad idea). He could be tempted to ask the defender to reset his position so the exercise can be properly performed (bad idea too - this will make both partners lose sync with the instructor).

Not following these simple guidelines means that you always move in preconceived ways, practicing a useless choreographed ballet which has really nothing to do with karate or martial arts.

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