Body hardening in Martial Arts - Kote Kitae



Photo of Soke Hausel taking full force kick at
half time (University of Wyoming photo).

One part of martial arts neglected by most martial arts groups, particularly sport karate, is kote kitae - or body hardening. In the traditional forms of karate, the body is trained to accept hard punches and kicks by training with a makiwara board. The board produces harden knuckle bone and callus over a period of time. Other types of training may include kicking and punching bags, and still other forms may require use weights or train on rock in bare feet.  But nothing is as extreme as combat ki - a martial art of Juko Kai International created by its grandmaster - Dai Soke Sacharnoski.  

The first time (and second, third, forth, and so on) martial arts students and instructors sees this, they are in denial as well as in complete awe. We all try to figure out how a person can take a full-force kick to the groin and not flinch, let alone not collapse in a heap singing soprano. But all of the ki masters I've communicated with, all sing in a normal voice.

 

There are suggestions these extreme individuals must some how suck up their testicles into their stomach, or some other ridiculous theory that is physically impossible. And of course, none of the combat ki people wear any protection what-so-ever. So how do they do it? It is done like any other martial art - they train hard and long and learn to use this art properly.

Another form of body hardening - weight training.
Soke Hausel squatting 400 pounds at a body
weight of 165 pounds. He use to squat as much as
600 lbs at this body weight and one of his students
witnessed him squatting 800 lbs while at UW.

One of the more incredible people to master this art is a jujitsu stylist from Louisiana by the name of Kirby Roy. After watching him get kicked in the groin, punched in the neck, knife hand in the neck, punched in the sternum, upper cut in the liver, etc, he just stands looking at the attacker as if he is thinking - "is that all you have?"  Talk about a humbling experience for the attacker.

Believe me, this art is many magnitudes beyond any other. And so how do you learn this?  The only way to learn it is to join Juko Kai International. However, a great majority of applicants are refused entrance because of lack of proof of lineage in martial arts. This organization includes the best traditional martial artists in North America. And in the case of body hardening, there is no second best.

 

In the summer of 2013, I took a group of my students - traditional Shorin-Ryu martial artists from the Phoenix Arizona and Gillette Wyoming to the Juko Kai National clinic in New Braunfels, Texas on June 15^th to train in this incredible art known as Combat Ki – a martial art of extreme body hardening that allows JKI martial artists to accept full-force strikes to vital parts of the body with little effect. The art, created by Dai-Soke Sacharnoski in 1960, is so advanced it has been featured on several programs in recent years including Stan Lee’s Superhumans, Sports Science, Discovery Channel and others.

Dr. Jesse Bergkamp from the Arizona School of Karate trains with vases
 filled with sand while on vacation in Okinawa in 2013.

While at the clinic, we trained in Okinawan Kempo and Tode. At the close of the clinic, martial artists from around North America including those from Arizona and Wyoming tested for rank and some of our students were awarded Menkyo Okuden (a combat martial art rank essentially equivalent to 1^st dan black belt). Those from Gillette Wyoming who attended the clinic included Kyle Gewecke (4^th dan), Chase Cassidy (1^st dan), Brandon Brown (3^rd kyu) and Nick Jarvis (4^th kyu). Those from Arizona included Dr. Neal Adam (6^th dan), Victoria Davis (1st dan) and Ryan Nemec (4^th kyu).  Menkyo Okuden ranks were awarded to Neal Adam, Kyle Gewecke, Brandon Brown and Nick Jarvis. Chase Cassidy was awarded the rank of Menkyo Kyoshi (essentially equalivaent to 3rd dan).

Awards were also presented to two martial artists from Arizona. Ryan Nemec was awarded “Outstanding male martial arts student of the year”, an award presented by the JKI Hombu for students who have shown exceptional dedication in the martial arts.

Soke Hausel was awarded Meijin Wa Jutsu’ for lifelong contributions to martial arts as an instructor. Only a few martial artists have been presented this award.

In 2012, Soke Hausel was also awarded junidan and became one of a handful of to be awarded this rank since the 18^th century. Soke Hausel began training in martial arts five decades ago and taught at four major universities prior to opening the Arizona Hombu (world headquarters) in Mesa in 2006. Recently, he was also inducted into Who’s Who in America 2013 and 2014 and has been selected as a Who’s Who honoree more the past 25 years and inducted into 16 Halls of Fame since 1998. He was also inducted into Whos Who in the World, 2013 and 2014.



Andy Finley of Casper, Wyoming accepts kick from Kyle Gewecke from
Gillette, Wyoming.

So, if you would like to learn the traditional martial arts, please come join our martial arts family on Baseline and MacDonald on the border of Mesa and Gilbert. We have a wonderful group of individuals (about 25% women) who are learning martial arts the way it has been taught for centuries. Our students are from Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix and Tempe.

In traditional martial arts you only compete with one person - yourself.


In 1996, Shihan Hausel takes strikes to vital parts of the body at halftime at a University of Wyomnig basketball game.
Here, sensei Donnette Gillespie, 3rd dan, kicks Hausel in the ribs with all of her power. Incredible, but
nothing compared to what others in the JKI have done over the years.

Training on 1.4 billion year old granite - circa 1992.

A makiwara in Gilbert Arizona. This is used for striking
with the hand, elbows and feet.






 

 

 

 

With Spring comes TAMESHIWARI in Arizona and Wyoming

After I piled up rocks for my students at the University of Wyoming Campus Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo Club,
 the Casper Dojo and Gillette Dojo, I explained to them the philosophy of breaking, how to break and then
demonstrated using the largest rock. Few, if any believed this could be done. After I broke the rock, gave
them an opportunity to break, they were all successful.

What is Tameshiwari?  When I started training in karate as a teenager, nearly every person in the US as well as Hollywood had the misconception that karate experts not only registered their hands, but also trained constantly hitting sand with the side of their hand (shuto te) until the developed a lethal strike that could break almost anything in half. This became known as the Karate Chop or Judo Chop.

Donnette Gillespie, white belt, breaks her
first rock at the Laramie Bushido Dojo in
Wyoming (about 1977). Donnette retired
from Karate and moved to Alaska many
years later after first earning a 3rd degree
black belt.

Today, we hope most people realize breaking things in karate is a very, very minor part of karate. For me, I see breaking (tameshiwari) as a unique optional addition to karate training but it is seldom practiced in our dojo around the world. It has two uses - (well possibly three if you include a geologist who forgets to take his rock hammer to the field):
(1) developing self-confidence as there are few people if any, who believe they can break a rock when I first show them the specimens, and

(2) entertainment for martial arts demonstrations.
Because of this, we instructors tend to give the public the wrong idea of what karate is all about.

George Chakmakian, 1st dan, breaks rock
at the University of Wyoming Education
Building Gym during training at the Campus
Shorin-Ryu karate club.

Even so, I like to break out a truck load of rocks each spring for my students. You should see their eyes if they have never done this before. And if you could read their minds, this is what they are saying, "Are you crazy?"

I like to teach them to break rocks. The reason for this is rocks are many times more challenging than the run-of-the-mill rebreakable boards, wooden boards, tiles and cinder block. And everyone (particularly boys) has experience getting hit by a rock as a kid, and we know how hard these can be. So it can be a real self-confidence booster and also results in good word-of-mouth advertising from our students and those who participate as part of an audience.

How difficult is it to break rocks - very. But the benefits are good. And during my more than 40 years as a karate instructor, I've only had one person who was unable to break a rock who tried. But she had built a barrier in her mind which made the rock to be much harder that it was. This psychological barrier was impenetrable for her even though she had the ability to break it. So the statistics are on the side of those who try to break rocks with proper instruction.

Termite mound (foreground) in
Ellendale Field of Australia.

Years ago (about 1965), when I was a teen at South High School, I demonstrated to a couple of students that I could break a rock. Like a wild fire, this news spread rapidly throughout the school and in a week, I had people stepping way out of my way and acting very polite. So rock breaking can have added benefits we are unaware of. There was another time, in the outback in Australia in 1986 with an international group of geologists. It turned out that we had some from Japan with black belts so we had a contest to see who could break the most tops off of anthills (termite mounds). Not easy to do as most were highly silicified and could not be broken with a sledge hammer.

Sensei Lenny Martin breaks his first rock
at the University of Wyoming

So, this Spring, we will again introduce our students at the Arizona School of Traditional Karate (Seiyo Shorin-Ryu Hombu) to rock breaking. When the sun stays up a little later in the evenings, watch for our rock breaking event at the Hombu at 60 W. Baseline Road. This event will occur on a Tuesday evening in March and we'll try to make a family event of this so our families can cheer on our rock stars.
If you watch our facebook pages for Arizona and also for the Seiyo No Shorin-Ryu Martial Arts organization, you can be updated on our activities.
LIKE our Arizona School of Traditional Karate facebook page
and LIKE our international federation's facebook page to keep updated.

Jessica Ricks (now Nidan) prepares to break rock.
In the following photo, she hit this piece of Forelle
Limestone with so much force it crushed the rock!

Eric Hausel tries a rock and breaks it at the University of
Wyoming

Breaking a rock while others stand around to discuss their breaking successes.
Rock breaking at the University of Wyoming Geology 101.

Kyle Gewecke, 4th dan, from Gillette, Wyoming prepares to break rock

Karate demo from 1976 where I break cinder blocks with head.
Arizona School of Traditional Karate, Mesa, Arizona.

1976 Demonstration of breaking roofing tile with fist (tsuki). Arizona
School of Traditional Karate Chandler, Mesa, Gilbert, Tempe, Phoenix Arizona

Soke explains to Mesa-Gilbert martial artists about the technique
of rock breaking.

Patrick breaks rock on first attempt

Te, the art of the empty hand - sketch by Soke Hausel of Phoenix Arizona.

1985 photo of Soke Hausel from Mesa, Arizona, demonstrating side karate kick at 9,000 feet in Happy Jack, Wyoming while standing on 1.4 billion year old Phanerozoic Sherman Granite.