The Benefits of Being the Uke

Want to be a fearless martial artist?

Want to learn resiliency?

The uke in martial arts is the one who receives the hit from a technique from the sensei during a demonstration. Being the uke can seem miserable, but it is actually a great way to become a better martial artist.

If you practice karate-do for any time at all you are going to get hit. It goes with the territory. You have to learn to deal with a certain amount of pain in karate-do, because there really isn’t any way to avoid it. And there’s another reason for learning how to take a hit. 

If you ever have to fight an opponent who will not give in, who just keeps coming at you; then you’re going to have to take some hard licks. You’ll need a resilient spirit to fight back when it gets tough.

If you can face up to your sensei when he looks you straight in the eye, and you know pain is forthcoming, then you aren’t going to be scared of other people. They can’t possibly do anything to you like your sensei has already done. So, while others are thinking they’re glad it isn’t them, a good uke is thinking something different. He or she is glad to have such a great opportunity.

Learn more about the uke on our website!

Receive Rank from an Authentic Japanese Karate Association

Are you serious about karate?

Instead of ranking with organizations that don’t have ties to Japan, you can receive rank certificates that actually mean something from The Shudokan Martial Arts Association. Join the SMAA as a full member for only $30 a year for the ability to receive rank and teaching titles. All you have to do is send a video of yourself performing with your membership application. You can have pride knowing your skills are recognized among other exceptional martial artists. 

Submerse yourself in an international community of karate-do enthusiasts when you join SMAA’s karate-do division. You’ll stay in the loop with our martial arts and community news and enjoy hours of martial arts reading and content.

If you’ve been searching for a Japanese karate association, look no further than SMAA! Contact us today to join. 

The Relationship Between Kata Geiko and Seishin Tanren

What is seishin tanren?

How is kata geiko related to seishin tanren?

Seishin tanren means “to forge the spirit,” meaning that martial artists must have a focused mind and be calm under pressure. This comes from samurai training.

Traditional Japanese martial arts, as opposed to some martial sports, are concerned with living and dying, in that the samurai had to face the reality of death more than most people. In this respect, martial arts that evolved from samurai practices are similar to religion, which also deals with death.

Kata means “form,” as in the formal practice of prearranged techniques. It is universally used in traditional Japanese martial arts as a key method of training the mind and body.

To carry out kata geiko techniques in real combat, seishin tanren is needed. Without this capacity for calmness under pressure, no martial arts technique will work. The martial artist will freeze.

Read more about kata geiko and seishin tanren!

Join an authentic Japanese martial arts organization

The Shudokan Martial Arts Association promotes training based around the two central pillars of classical Japanese martial arts: kata geiko and seishin tanren. The use of handed-down kata helps our members, regardless of division, to forge their spirits to face the stress of combat and the uncertainties of life. In this way, folks in the SMAA learn to protect themselves, and live well, while they develop the spiritual strength needed to make a positive contribution to their communities and the world as a whole.

Contact us today to join a martial arts organization with high-ranking members around the world!

What is Kata Geiko?

What is kata geiko?

How is it used in martial arts training?

Kata means “form,” as in the formal practice of prearranged techniques. It is universally used in traditional Japanese martial arts as a key method of training the mind and body. Many martial arts enthusiasts have heard the term kata used in karate-do, where kata are often a series of predetermined solo techniques directed toward imagined opponents.

In some martial arts systems, students start by practicing handed down sequences of paired techniques, which are designed to internalize a principle (or principles). Once these principles are absorbed, advanced practitioners create personal variations, such as applying a throw or immobilization against a different attack than is found in the classical kata.

Kata-based practice is a time-honored, intelligent, and progressive way of building up skill in a martial art. The kata are taught in a specific sequence, allowing students to gradually and scientifically develop their abilities in a way that’s easily understood.

Learn more about kata geiko’s purpose!

Join an authentic Japanese martial arts organization

Interested in Japanese martial arts?

The Shudokan Martial Arts Association is open to all budo enthusiasts, martial artists or not!

Contact us today to join a martial arts organization with high-ranking members around the world!

Movement in Budo

Wonder how martial artists move so quickly?

With such force?

Learning a Japanese martial art requires adherence to correct technique and an understanding of the correct technique requires attention to closely related things like posture, kinesiology and balance. Efficient body movement requires a degree of mastery of all of these.

Relaxation

Martial artists, like those engaged in most other physical activities, must learn to relax. Tension is your enemy. After developing the ability to do some basic techniques in a relaxed fashion, the techniques must be practiced thousands of times to imprint the movements into the body and the brain. But the practitioner must always be relaxed.

If you want to throw a good front punch, you must relax your upper body including the muscles in your face. If you remain tense, effective punching is nigh impossible. Your “punch,” if you can throw it at all, will inevitably be slow and weak.

Physics

Kinetic energy, or “moving energy,” in this case the energy you deliver to whatever you are punching, is directly proportional to the mass you can generate by the use of your body mass and directly proportional to the square of the velocity (speed) with which your hand strikes its target. Said in a slightly different way, the mass delivered is how much of your entire body mass you can recruit into your punch and deliver to your target. If you double the mass you deliver, you double the kinetic energy delivered to the target. In other words, if you increase the mass you deliver from one unit to two units, you increase the amount of kinetic energy delivered by a punch from one unit to two units. You double the kinetic energy delivered.

To learn more about the science behind budo, read here!

Advance your rank with SMAA: Martial arts certification

Want to put your skills to the test?

Receive rank certification as a full member of the Shudokan Martial Arts Association!  Test under an SMAA teacher or send us a video of your budo performance along with a membership application. SMAA offers separate divisions for karate, aikido, judo, traditional jujutsu, and iaido.

Rank today! Call us today at 734-720-0330 or contact us to learn more about martial arts certification.

Budo and the Body

 Did you know knowledge of anatomy, physiology, relaxation, and physics is essential for martial arts training?

Want to learn how martial artists stay safe?

Studying the Japanese martial arts is a physical and mental endeavor. We sometimes get so wrapped up in training in the dojo that we ignore basics such as anatomy, physiology, relaxation, and physics, each of which is essential to the development of high-level skills.

Anatomy

Learning the basic karate-do horizontal front punch illustrates the need for understanding at least a little anatomy. The knuckles of the index and middle fingers of the fisted hand, the part of the hand that transmits energy to the target, must move just a tiny bit to the outside just before impact with the target. This allows the alignment of these two knuckles and the metacarpals behind them with the radius and ulna in the forearm, thus enabling the delivery of the kinetic energy generated by your body mass and the punch’s velocity to the target. If these bones are not properly aligned, the punch will deliver less energy and be less effective. You will also be at increased risk of injuring your hand.

Correct Form

Physiology

Physiology is also important. Your muscles must have energy to function. If your muscles and liver are, due to fatigue, depleted of glycogen, a precursor of glucose that is the basic fuel of skeletal muscle and most other tissues, you simply cannot deliver an effective blow. You have heard of marathoners and triathletes who “hit the wall.” They “hit the wall” because their muscle and liver stores of glycogen were too low to sustain prolonged exercise. They may quit, or often they struggle to finish, sometimes collapsing either physically, mentally, or both during the struggle. Nausea, cramps, and mental disorientation can result. The same thing can happen to martial artists who do not understand the need to fuel their muscles. While martial artists are not generally thought of as endurance athletes, even moderate glycogen depletion with the resultant reduction in blood glucose levels can reduce mental acuity, reduce reaction time, reduce coordination, and decrease strength.

To see how relaxation and physics play a role in budo, visit our website!

Advance your rank with SMAA: Martial arts certification

Want to put your skills to the test?

Receive rank certification as a full member of the Shudokan Martial Arts Association!  Test under an SMAA teacher or send us a video of your budo performance along with a membership application. SMAA offers separate divisions for karate, aikido, judo, traditional jujutsu, and iaido.

Rank today! Call us today at 734-720-0330 or contact us to learn more about martial arts certification.

How to Find Time for Budo

Do you feel like you’re working all the time?

Are you making room in your schedule for martial arts?

Many martial artists struggle to find time to train. However, it’s important to keep your family and work duties in line first.

No income, no budo

Without a stable job and income, you really will have a hard time paying to train. You need to pay dues, room rent, buy new training gear when the old ones wear out, be able to pay for travel expenses to attend seminars and workshops, and pay for medical bills if you fall the wrong way or get hit in the head by a wayward stick. So you have to do your best at your job and secure a decent wage for a decent days’ work.

If you have enough extra time between your family and job responsibilities, you can enjoy budo as a pastime. With a supportive family and good job, doing budo is a plus, a way to keep yourself mentally and physically healthy, a way to engage in an activity that you enjoy with others who enjoy it with you, a way to develop bonds and friendships outside of family and work.

Read more about budo and family responsibilities.

Join an international martial arts association

Are you having trouble integrating your love for budo into your schedule?

Join a community of international martial artists who feel the same as you. SMAA offers separate divisions for karate, aikido, judo, traditional jujutsu, and iaido. As an associate member, you’ll receive a quarterly journal full of martial arts news and articles that may satisfy your budo desires.

Apply today! Call us today at 734-720-0330 or contact us to learn more about our international martial arts association.

Why Family Time is More Important than Training

 Are you a martial artist?

Are you struggling to find balance between family and budo?

Finding the time to train is a problem many martial artists have felt and will continue to feel. Even the samurai had to become bureaucrats, administrators, teachers and lawmakers, and they too struggled with balancing work, family and budo training.

Family responsibilities

If you can’t commit a reasonable amount of time to your training, then perhaps your life is full as it can be already, and you may have to forego it, at least for the time being. There is a hierarchy of values, and never let your love of martial arts eclipse the other responsibilities you have, or in the end you will be left with nothing. You have to put in adequate time for family, first, because without the support of your family, your life is meaningless. Whether family is just a spouse or significant partner, or ten kids, a wife and three ex-spouses who receive alimony, you have to shoulder the responsibility you took on, and spend the time and effort with family, and extended family, to make sure the family endures, and you as an individual in that family contributes your fair share. That is what being an adult is about. You no longer take everything. Now you have to give.

Read the full article here.

Join an international martial arts association

Are you having trouble integrating your love for budo into your schedule?

Join a community of international martial artists who feel the same as you. SMAA offers separate divisions for karate, aikido, judo, traditional jujutsu, and iaido. As an associate member, you’ll receive a quarterly journal full of martial arts news and articles that may satisfy your budo desires.

Apply today! Call us today at 734-720-0330 or contact us to learn more about our international martial arts association.