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“Your hands are your weapons.
Karate teaches you the skill of movement and eye contact. It teaches you to set
your opponent up for your attack”.- Shihan |
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“I come to you
with only Karate, Empty Hands. I have no weapons, but should I be forced to
defend myself, my principles, or my honor, should it be a matter of life or death,
of right or wrong, then here are my weapons, Karate, my Empty Hands.”
Ed Parker |
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Black Dragon
karate is designed for self-defense. Our style is a goju ryu style that
uses both hard and soft techniques. Goju-ryu Goju-ryu, (Japanese for “hard-soft style”) is one of the main
traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and
soft techniques. Both principles, hard and soft, come from the famous martial
arts book Bubishi(Chinese: wu bei ji), used by Okinawan masters
during the 19th and 20th centuries. Go which
means hard, refers to closed hand techniques or straight linear attacks; Ju which means soft, refers to open hand techniques and
circular movements. Major emphasis is given to breathing correctly. Goju-ryu
practices methods that include body strengthening and conditioning, its basic
approach to fighting (distance, stickiness, power generation, etc.) and
partner drills. Goju-ryu incorporates both circular and linear movements into
its curriculum. Goju-ryu combines hard striking attacks such as kicks and
closed hand punches with softer open hand circular techniques for attacking,
blocking and controlling the opponent, including locks, grappling, takedowns
and throws. |
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The tonfa can be
gripped by the short perpendicular handle or by the longer main shaft. In
defense, if the handle is grasped then the shaft protects the forearm and
hand while the knob protects the thumb. If both ends of the shaft are held,
the shaft can be used to ward off blows and the handle can be used as a hook
to catch the opponent's weapons. In offense, one can
swing the shaft to strike the target. Large amounts of momentum can be
imparted to the shaft by twirling the tonfa by the handle. The tonfa can also
be wielded in such a way as to use the knob as a striking implement, held
either by the handle or by the shaft. One can also stab opponents with the
shaft of the tonfa. By holding the shaft and the handle of the tonfa
together, one can use it for holding or breaking techniques. Tonfa are
traditionally wielded in pairs, one in each hand. This is unlike police
nightsticks, which are generally used alone. As the tonfa can be held in many
different ways, education in the use of the tonfa often involves learning how
to switch between different grips at high speed. Such techniques require
great manual dexterity. As with all Okinawan weapons, many of the forms are
reflective of empty hand techniques. |
The bō
is typically gripped in thirds, and when held horizontally in front, the
right palm is facing away from the body and the left hand is facing the body,
enabling the bō to rotate. The power is generated by the back
hand pulling the bō, while the front hand is used for guidance.
When striking, the wrist is twisted, as if turning the hand over when
punching.[4] Bō technique
includes a wide variety of blocks, strikes, sweeps, and entrapments. The bō
may even be used to sweep sand into an opponent’s eyes. |
Eskrima, Arnis and Kali
refer to a class of Filipino martial arts that emphasize weapon-based
fighting with sticks, blades and improvised weapons. Although training starts
with weapons, empty hand techniques, trapping and limb destruction are also a
core part of these arts as the weapon is merely an extension of the body. |
This simple and common walking stick can be used in many ways to defend yourself. We have
several forms that teach an effective way to use this very useful weapon. |
updated August 13, 2010