Why do you only use one arm to block?
Importance of proper application of blocks and combinations
Guiding Principle #6:
In actual training, move up from the easy to the difficult, and from the simple to the complicated. More time and hard work will be required for repetition and continuous training. Never hurry but strive for gradual development, and never engage in senseless or reckless practice.
This guiding principle was explained to me by Taika Seiyu Oyata. It is important to always try to understand what and why you are training to avoid dogmatic thinking; always feeling like there is something missing.
I arrived in the United States in 1984 with a strong background in Judo, Shotokan, and Kyokushinkai Karate. I felt my training in my home country of Poland prepared me well; my timing, speed and power all passed the test. However, deep inside, I felt that I was missing something. In the US, I had the chance to train with some talented martial artists but it wasn’t until I met Taika Oyata in 1989 that my study of Karate gained an entirely new light.
I met Taika Oyata at a seminar in South Carolina, where I learned that after 19 years of training and teaching martial arts – that I did not even know how to punch correctly. It was a difficult – but exciting – awakening, and I will never forget it.
Taika picked me out of the crowd and asked me to punch him. Not wanting to hurt the “old man”, I threw a semi-speed strike in the general direction of his face. He didn’t even blink.
“What was that? Are you a chicken? Punch hard, he asked.
Egged on by his comment – and the laughter of the other black belt students – I threw a “real” punch, the way I had trained for almost two decades. I hit hard and I hit fast, and I ended up on the floor in pain. I felt that Taika’s technique could have broken my arm. I couldn’t believe what had happened to me. This wasn’t how it was supposed to work; but what came next was even better. This time, Taika said now he was going to punch me.
I braced myself, ready to block with all of my speed and power, certain I would stop his punch since I was ready for it. Instead, he tapped me on the nose! No feints or fakes, I just couldn’t catch him. It was like magic. I told Taika I was impressed with how fast he was, and he just laughed. He explained that he wasn’t fast; I was just slow.
“Do you cross your forearms when you practice blocks?” he asked. “If you cross your forearms when you block, then why do you only use one arm when you try to block my punch?”
I was confused. “That was the way I was taught...”
“And that is why your blocks don’t work,” Taika replied. “You’re slow because you don’t understand how to move your hands and body to be fast. The movement of the blocking arm cannot be to the side; it must be forward. A punch is a straight line and is faster than the circular motion of a block, so the first motion of your block also needs to be punch.”
Seeing I was only getting more confused, Taika asked me which arm is most important when performing a left arm chudan uke (middle block). Since it’s a left arm block, I firmly answered “Left! The blocking arm must be the most important.”
“Wrong!” Taika replied. “Right is the most important. Right arm is the offense, striking and diverting the attack with a kake. The left arm is the follow up defense, striking and blocking the arm.” Taika further demonstrated that this applied to all blocks, leaving me in pain on the floor several more times.
Another approach to this kind of training is the fluidity of the motion.
Left arm chudan uke (middle block) in defense from a right-hand punch
Defending from a right arm punch, a left arm chudan uke begins with the right arm striking with a closed fist punching motion, on the base of the attacker’s bicep, as they extend their right arm. Your left arm finishes the chudan uke with a back fist strike, to the same area on the attacker’s biceps.
The motion of your feet follows your hand (your hands need to move first, or you will be too slow). We will concentrate on the upper body for this article, so for now we will simply say that you will move back, stepping back with your right leg, just enough that attacker can’t reach you, but you can still reach attacker.
Right arm jodan uke (high block) to catch the attacker’s right arm.
When your left arm finishes the middle block, your fist should be at your attacker’s base right bicep. Immediately after completing chudan uke, us the arm of attacker is pulling back, strike (jodan uke) the back of the right attacker fist numbing it.
Chudan-gedan uke (double block) to perform an armbar on the right arm
Having hooked the attacker’s right wrist with your right arm jodan uke, bring your right hand (with your attacker’s right wrist) down and your left arm up into a double block position as you pivot your body. Your left arm forearm should be located on the attacker’s right elbow. Remember, hands lead the body, so your hands should move first. You should now be in position to perform an armbar on the right arm. You should be at the shoulder, or slightly behind the attacker.
Meeting Taika changed my life. I opened my own Dojo in Bethesda, MD and taught many students, bringing it back to Poland and other countries, establishing what is now the International Okinawan Kempo Federation. Always moving from the easy to the difficult and from the simple to the complicated. Always striving for gradual development.
YouTube video (actual speed):
YouTube video (slow motion):
I hope this article is helpful to you. As you study your kata and techniques, I hope you can take this concept and apply it in your own practice. Blocks, much like the strikes they are meant to stop, must go forward to be effective. Otherwise, they are too slow and too weak.
If you have questions or would like more information, please reach out to me. You can reach me at