Ah, the days where MA mags were £1.50! (Or £1.60, it was hard to see). Watching that, I couldn't help but wonder why they never became models. Such good-looking men! Seriously, Consterdine was shown with a gun. Has he killed people with it? If not, going by what they preach, he shouldn't be showing others what to do, should he? Does anyone know if Consterdine ever fought Ticky Donovan, out of interest? (Competition obviously). Off topic I know, just wondered. I have only ever seen one of Abernethy's DVD's, and the kata he did wasn't particularly clear. Maybe it was just the copy I was given. I'd like to see him perform one though.
Iain Abernethy is respected for his analysis and understanding of kata bunkai, not for performing kata to tournament requirements. Mitch
Consterdine is one of the most respected bodyguard trainers in the UK, and use of firearms is part of bodyguard training for those who work outside the UK.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5faGD5b6Zw"]YouTube- SHOTOKAN - Elwyn Hall Looks Back[/ame] Its funny how these two karate masters have never been filmed in sporting action. I would say they are trying to convert karateka over to their new organisation whatever that may be. But i do agree if you train karate for fitness and health and never do anything other than fresh air training, it wont help you much during a real street encounter. You have to train percussion impact and plenty of sparring with contact, no matter how good a technqician you maybe be without those two ingredients it wont get you too far imo. The funny thing is why are they still training karate?
I never said anything about tornament requirements, although I believe he was once a judge of such things. I know what he does, and that is why it would interest me, to see how what he does effects how he performs his kata. Consterdine is one of the most respected bodyguard trainers in the UK, and use of firearms is part of bodyguard training for those who work outside Maybe, but that wasn't what I asked. Is he teaching firearms because he has the experience and shot people, or is he teaching because he has done a few courses and got certificates? I would certainly hope he hasn't killed anyone with a gun, but I think you know where I am going with this.
No I don't know where you are going with this. If it is with reference to experience, so far as I am aware Consterdine has trained with people like Lofty Wiseman and Dennis Martin (who endorses him), and teaches people who come from fairly select military backgrounds in addition to people who go into Close Protection from civilian walks of life. I think that if what he was teaching was inappropriate he'd have been picked up on it.
Well, these sort of people tend to say you need the experience to teach self-defence, and belittle people that teach MA and self-defence for not having the proper experience. I'm not saying this is right or wrong, but if he has never used a gun in a real life situation, should he really be teaching others what to do going by his own rules? Maybe he has experience. Maybe he has shot 34 people, I don't know. But if he hasn't, it seems a bit of a contradiction.
Out of interest, is there any footage of either Thompson or Abernethy performing a Kata from their chosen arts? Go here and download the podcast and the video. http://blog.iainabernethy.com/?p=99 There's a little section in the video where Iain is going through a kata as part of the workout. It's not much (as mentioned he does full kata on his DVDs) but it's what you asked for.
I know I don't come over as one of Mr Abernethy's biggest fans, but actually I had a listen to his recent pod cast on "What is Kata" and I would say in the most part I would agree with him. No surprise really as he quoted a lot of it from Otsuka's book . He labours the point about kata being a way to record the key principles of a fighting system - no problem with that, but... Unfortunately, when I watch the vid - and the tiny bit of what I assume is Wado's Pinan Yondan - I see several things that are in conflict with what I understand as "key principles" of the fighting system. Gary
geoff thompson started out with karate, and he got up to a fairly respectable dan level ( either 3rd or 5th i believe) .....he is also badged and certified in loads of other martial arts. he has gone on the record to say that he thinks boxing & JUDO are the top two.. not good news for all us karateka, but geoff is a real expert. once i have passed my brown belt or dan grade in judo i will investigate boxing to see if geoff is right.
What does boxing have that karate doesn't? I can't think of one technique, whether it be a body movement or punch or anything, that isn't covered in Karate. I love boxing, but it only covers a small aspect of fighting.
It is interesting that he picks two arts, albeit very good ones, that are primarily geared towards the sporting arena.
Live full contact training that builds will power seems to be his major consideration. plus in terms of close contact punching most boxing is light years away from the average (numbers wise) karate-ka, for proof see GoKan Ryu, large numbers, poor realworld abilities: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4Cv1DkmSkg"]YouTube- GKR WORLD CUP 2005 (Kumite 3)[/ame] vs this (ABA boxing, first ever match) [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRTgdE2ckfE"]YouTube- My First UK Amateur Boxing Bout (Im Red)[/ame]
Oh, yes you are right. But I think when people think of boxers, they think of pro's. They don't of the average person training twice a week in their local gym. Obviously there is going to be a big diffference in standards. I mean you picked on Gokanryu, the lowest of the low. But Karate shouldn't be judged by that. My point is, you can not compare an elite fighter in one discipline to another who doesn't take their discipline as seriously. As I said, I love boxing, but can not think of one technique that boxing uses that isn't found in Karate. There are bad standards in boxing too.
My example was the first video I found after searching ABA boxing, as in 'amater boxer' and that was his first fight, so I think the comparison was a fair one, overall. Besides theres a lot more emphasis on head movement, and power hooks/uppercuts and jabs in boxing then in karate. For handwork, boxing is the best, its their speciality, and in general most boxing clubs only let people train if their going to compete, so standards will overall be higher.
There is such a big difference in standard from club to club now in Karate. I think it is fairly safe to say Gokanryu has got to be one of the worst though! As for there being more emphasis on head movement and certain punches in boxing, again, it depends on which club. I can think of even some pro-boxers who lack head movement, and certain boxers who don't seem to have good punching technique. Again, depends on the fighter or club. But Karate still has these techniques. Also, boxing techniques now are done to defend against a gloved fist. Boxing only has punching techniques too, where Karate has a wide range of different hand techniques, so again, I can't consider boxing as a superior art in this section.
