Much of the spotlight in the 100m will fall on Noah Lyles, the young 200m standout who has also begun to carve out a name for himself in the shorter dash during his first serious season of 100m racing.
The 21-year-old took the US title in 9.88 and finished third in the Rabat and Birmingham legs of the IAAF Diamond League. He'll be joined on the Americas team by 2011 world champion Yohan Blake of Jamaica who clocked his 9.94 season's best at the IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels where he finished third.
South African Akani Simbine leads the African team. The 24-year-old has pieced together a long solid season with just two victories, but both came in his two biggest competitions: the Commonwealth Games and African Championships. He's clocked 9.93 this season.
He'll be joined by 21-year-old Arthur Cisse from Ivory Coast who clocked a 9.94 national record in June and finished second to Simbine at the African Championships.
Turkey's Jak Ali Harvey, the European Championships silver medallist with a 9.99 season's best, and veteran Churandy Martina of the Netherlands will carry the mantle for the European team.
Asia-Pacific also comes armed with two sub-10 men: Su Bingtian, who has twice equalled the Asian record of 9.91 this season and more recently clocked 9.92 to take the Asian Games title, and Barakat Al Harthi of Oman, who has improved to 9.97 this year.
I’m currently rereading “The Study of Karate Techniques” by Morinobu Itoman (1934). It’s great book that all pragmatic karateka are sure to enjoy. The book includes discussions on throwing, choking, pins, improvised weapons, “cheating”, verbal deception, pre-emption, etc.
You can get a great English translation from Mario McKenna via this link: http://www.lulu.com/shop/morinobu-itoman/the-study-of-china-hand-techniques/hardcover/product-20620858.html
Morinobu Itoman was a police officer who wrote to book with a view to helping other police officers:
“Choking techniques are usually applied to an opponent’s throat or stomach, and can use the bare hands or legs, the opponent’s clothing, or the use of an object. The neck can be strangled with the bare hands or feet and techniques include the hooking choke, pressing choke, single arm choke, and single leg choke. Abdomen chokes include the single leg choke. Chokes using the opponent’s collar are essentially the same as those found in judo, however they have been much more thoroughly researched in judo. In karate then, it is important to study and be familiar with chokes, throws, and trips because failing to do so can place you in serious danger.”
Aside from being yet more confirmation that “old school” karate had a solid grappling component (there’s loads of it in the book), the above quote is very interesting because of the comparison with judo. He does this is other places too. For example, he also remarks that ground fighting holds have not been studied in karate to the same degree that they have been in judo. He also makes many judo comparisons when discussing several karate throws:
Front leg trip: “The front leg trip resembles Judo’s major inner reap, small inner reap, major outer reap, and small outer reap where you hook the opponent’s leg to trip him to the ground”
There are lots of other grappling methods listed where comparisons to judo are not made, but there’s no doubt Itoman definitely sees some commonality in method. However, despite this, he clearly marks the difference in the degree of “research”.
Karate definitely does contain a significant grappling component, but – primarily being a percussive self-protection focused system – karate does not study these methods to the same degree that Judo does. I talked about this in my “Karate Grappling: Did It Really Exist?” article: https://iainabernethy.co.uk/article/karate-grappling-did-it-really-exist
In my dojo we have the mantra that, “We can’t be experts in everything, but we should be beginners in nothing”. So we place the primary emphasis on striking (in which we aim to excel) and back that up with core grappling methods (in which we aim to be competent). The difference is therefore primarily the degree and depth of study, as opposed to the field of study. Karateka and Judoka will both study throws and chokes, but the Judoka will do so to a much greater degree.
The key is to determine which methods are most likely to lead to the achievement of your objective, and then study those methods to the appropriate degree. The karate of the past’s stated objective was dealing with criminal violence; and I think it has the balance right.
There are only so many hours in the day, so if you overemphasise one element, you won’t have time to develop other elements sufficiently. Ignore grappling all together and then you are, as Itoman states, placing yourself in serious danger. Study grappling too much and you have less time for striking practise; the core striking skills will deteriorate and you are again placing yourself in danger.
“If protective equipment was worn for a match, then the ideals, meaning and significance of karate would be lost”.
“If you spit in a person’s face they will unconsciously turn their face away in revulsion; you can then use that natural response to help with both your attack and defence.”
“Stones, branches, handkerchiefs, or even eyeglasses can be thrown at an opponent’s face to create a distraction that can be taken advantage of. Even teacups, lighters and matchboxes can be thrown; anything that will create a distraction can give you an advantage.”
It’s a great book that reflects karate’s nature as a civilian self-protection system (i.e. an emphasis on keeping yourself safe from unsolicited criminal violence, as opposed to defeating a fellow martial artist in a consensual exchange). It also captures karate’s holistic nature, and the degree to which all the various elements are emphasised. Something of a must read book for us pragmatic karateka.
1) Provide an inventory of the most common or most important karate techniques (including verbal, tactical, and other methods).
He deliberately leaves out anything on kata routines, except listing 13 types of enbusen and the names of 42 katas, but tells us that kata "comprise the most important half of Toudi as a martial art and must be practiced". His reason for not including kata descriptions is that the were already enough books out there that would provide those, and that static pictures of postures would not really be able to teach kata. Only learning from a live teacher would do that.
What I like about the book, besides its being a document from 1934, is that Itoman places an emphasis on the versatility of karate techniques, and I got the impression that he did know his stuff when it came to the practically important things, as Iain wrote in his post above.
What confused me on the other hand, was that he brings forward several of the things that in this forum we like to be critical of, for example: In many of the photographs showing the application of techniques the attacker would attack with a chudan gyaku-zuki with the other hand chambered in a "ready position" on the hip. He lists 13 types of kata enbusen (stepping diagrams) and tells us that they mean the kata has techniques against up to eight opponents. He recounts the story of Bodhidharma and the Shaoin monks.
Those are very valid critiques and we need to remember that the book as “of its time”. Therefore, things like misunderstandings around angles (rejected by Mabuni) and Bodhidharma being the founder of Shaolin martial arts (dismissed by Itosu and now entirely disproven – myth comes from a dubious 17th century chi-kung book) are in the mix. As always, we need to read with discretion.
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