75 Down Blocks: Refining Karate Techniques (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Grasping the essence of karate-do is an elusive goal reached only by few..." (more)
Key Phrases: pull your right hand, grab your opponent, punch your opponent, Gall Bladder, Triple Warmer, Large Intestine (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 185 pages
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing; 1 edition (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804832188
• ISBN-13: 978-0804832182
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #873,764 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wealth of interesting ideas, August 22, 2003

By	Z. Dienes (UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In recent years we have learnt that to understand our style thoroughly we have to go beyond our style; but in so doing we can find the effective self defence principles that were there all along. So practitioners of karate, tae kwon do, kung fu and so on are realizing that their kata and even basic kihon can make sense as self defence -in a way they never did as "traditionally" taught - if we have the eyes to see what they could be. Because at this stage in the evolution of our arts this is largely a process of reverse engineering, the sticking point is having the range of conceptual tools to see what the moves could be. Having trained with Rick Clark regularly on his seminars in the UK, I was always struck by how someone could show him some piece of kata from their style, and Rick could see immediately a number of interesting and worthwhile applications. He has taken that vision of his and inspected one of the most basic movements in many styles - the down block. What comes out is a wealth of ideas - just the inspiration the modern practitioner needs to understand his art. Any one person should reject many of the ideas and accept only a few for regular training, so that what they take fits in most coherently with what else they use for other movements in their kata etc. But each student will select something different, and so seeing a wide range of possiblities is invaluable for guiding one to create one's own personal self defence system. Presented here are many principles of jujutsu, arnis and kyusho jutsu applied to a simple move of karate, illustrating the fundamental unity of all styles. It's a book I will return to many times.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Detailed and technical, April 2, 2005

By	magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Prof. Rick Clark isn't your usual martial arts writer. For one thing, in this book he writes about the ideas of Wilfredo Pareto, the 19th century economist who invented the 80/20 rule, and how that idea applies to martial arts; crime statistics for violent attacks against police officers and their implication for martial arts training; and in the second appendix to the book, there is a brief history of the reintroduction of Japanese martial arts into their univerisity system and the contribution of a German doctor who became physician to the Meiji emperor's son in that regard by the name of Erwin Baelz.

The title of the book derives from the fact that the author uses the concept of the down block as a metaphor to examine similar motions and to compare different techniques across the martial arts. For example, he mentions how the nikyu technique in aikido resembles the down block in many respects. Also, the book contains 75 different self-defense techniques against various kinds of attacks.

The techniques also follow the rationale of being designed around the kinds of attacks one can expect based on the aforementioned crime statistics. According to the statistics, most percussive attacks involve either a simple front kick or punch, kicks being about 10% more likely than punches. Grabs at one's wrist or lapel are also very common, along with the attempt to twist the arm, but rarely does anyone try a specific choke or arm hold or technique.

So as I said, although the technques run the full gamut in terms of responses, from holds and locks to takedowns and the usual karate techniques, they are organized around and seleted according to the critieria of probability of occurrence. I liked this aspect of the book and thought it made a lot of sense. The author's crime statistics are based on FBI crime figures from past decades.

Another strong point of the book is that the percussion techniques are directed at the Chinese dim mak or vulnerable points, so you learn some of that too. I'm not going to debate the validity or efficacy of those theories of Chinese medicine here, I just mention it for accuracy's sake. The self-defense techniques in this book are more hold and lock oriented than karate oriented, so they take more skill to execute. Some of these techniques would qualify as very advanced and probably the average martial artist wouldn't be able to perform it in a real street situation. In that sense many of the techniques are more suitable for the advanced practitioner.

One of the more advanced aspects of the techniques is that reversals against a wrist lock and arm bar are shown. These technqiues won't work, however, if you wait until the last minute to execute them, and the best reversal techiques aren't the ones actually illustrated, but they are the simplest. However, the author mentions the first point in the text.

That having been said, most self-defense is pretty much the same whether one is talking about judo, BJJ, karate, or kung fu. They all invaribly involve how to escape from such things as wrist graps, chokes, and how to respond to kicks and punches. So the techniques illustrated here run the full gamut from basic to very advanced. Another reviewer here said some of the techniques are unrealistic in that they require grabbing a punch out of mid-air, but then that's no different from what many martial arts and artists teach. One has to take the good and useful along with less than useful and filter the techniques accordingly, although that takes some experience and skill.

Some of the photo sequences are a bit unclear and required more photos to show the complete transition in the technique, but then, that's also a common problem in martial arts books on the grappling arts. The only real cure here is to use a book like this in conjunction with a video illustrating the holds and locks if one doesn't have access to a real teacher.

So despite the above flaws, overall, an excellent book with a self-defense oriented theme from Prof. Clark.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book as important as "Barefoot Zen" - Persuasive,Effective, May 3, 2004

By	Golden Lion "Reader" (North Ogden, Ut United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

"The down block is perhaps the most common technique used in martial arts. The down block motion is found in virtually all kata and is utilized in various stances.

One hand comes up toward the opposite side of the head then moves down to groin level, while the opposite hand is brought back to one's side.

The inclusion of this movement in so many kata is a clear indication of how important this movement must have been in the eyes of the old masters.

So, why are we taught such simplistic bunkai if kata are so important to our understanding of the martial arts? When I began to look at explanations for the various movements in the kata, I became very interested in the answer to this question. I began looking into the history of the martial arts and, in doing so, I discovered a number of reasons why we have been taught this way.

* Knowledge of more esoteric aspects of the martial arts has been kept secret from the general population, so those in the upper ranks can maintain their position of authority
* Historical developments in Japan-specifically, the western "opening" of Japan in the mid-nineteenth century-made it necessary for the nation to move beyond the martial arts as part of its military culture.
* When combat techniques, which had been restricted to the warrior class, began to be taught to the general public, they were often to be less dangerous-or less effective, depending on how you look at it.
* These techniques were further simplified when the martial artist were introduced into school system, more formalized aspects of the martial art forms began to dominate.

"

Here are the types of attacks most likely to occur in a self-defense situation:

1. A grab
2. A push
3. A punch
4. A kick

A grab will probably be for your wrist, forearm, upper arm, lapel, or throat.

Technique 1

1. Your Opponent strikes long distance with a L back snap kick
2. L downward block

Technique 2

1. Your opponent kicks at your chest with the right foot, medium distance away
2. Shift your weight to the rear, sweep deflect with the left hand
3. Punch to the ankle (spleen 6), pressing with the left hand on the other side of the ankle

Additional thoughts: Reach with the right hand over and grab the heel, full circle of your head flipping while stepping back into a horse stance, the opponent flips onto his face, left stomp to the tail bone.

Technique 3

1. Your opponent prepares a R thrusting side kick at solar plex level.
2. You are in a L cover, shift weight into a cat stance, Draw your hand up and under the opponent leg (spleen 6) and grab the ankle with the L hand
3. R elbow down on upper thigh (gall bladder 31)
4. R downward hammer strike to groin or tail bone

Technique 4
1. Your opponent prepares to deliver a R front snap kick with R punch combination
2. L 45, sidestep movement, deflect R punch with L inward block, right scoop his ankle with the R hand and pull to the R hip. You now have the opponent center control at the most powerful leverage point on your body.
3. L downward sweep knocking him down over your left knee.

Additional thoughts: follow through with a pivot 90 degrees to the L, shuffle downward with the knee about 3 inches above the ground and finish with a R punch to his L ribs.