Martial Edge has the pleasure of talking to one of the innovators of the martial arts world, 5^th Dan Iain Abernethy, whose work in the bunkai of karate Kata keeps the traditional methods cutting edge. Lesley Jackson meets one of the gentlemen of the martial arts world, whose kindly humorous manner is in complete contrast to the drive and power created by his karate.

In the nicest possible way, Iain Abernethy is a contradiction in terms. For someone who has made his life studying the practical bunkai of karate’s katas, in other words, the bone crunching fighting applications of the pattern movements that resemble a real life, close range punch up, he is an incredibly nice person. A man who is fascinated by his chosen martial art, he is in turn a fascinating person to talk to as his encyclopaedic depth of knowledge of the details of kata, history of karate and its masters. Although only 37, Iain is already a fifth Dan after practising karate for 27 years and is one of British martial arts well known exponents as he is a productive author and regularly holds seminars that are popular with martial artists of any creed, from all varieties of karate, taekwondo and tang soo-do. Originally an electrician based in Cumbria, Iain is lucky enough to be able to practise karate full time, filling his days with teaching, seminars and writing.

Iain describes the time when he decided to give up the day job, “I used to be an electrician as well as being the union rep. Five years ago I left to do karate full time; I got to the point that the karate was demanding that much of my time in terms of my own training, teaching, writing and work was getting in the way. So I had a chat with Geoff Thompson who has always been a good mentor to me and I explained I was struggling for time and he said, ‘well Iain, your job needs to go!’ It’s not without its challenges, it was nice when I got a regular wage and you knew how much money you would get every month. Those sorts of benefits were good and I miss some of the guys I worked with but I’m very lucky I get to do what I love doing for a job. I mean I got up this morning, drove 60 miles to the local Judo centre and spent 2 ½ hours being thrown about, that’s work, that’s my job! It’s great to be able to do that for a living.”

Beginnings

The main basis of Iain’s training is in the Wado-ryu system, which he started nearly three decades ago after watching ‘Enter the Dragon’. What is interesting though is how anyone can keep motivated for so long in a martial art. “Karate hooked me early on. What I love about karate is the variety and depth to it. Like most people I will train in a certain area for so long and then I’ll get a bit bored with it. However, the great thing about karate is that there’s always the next thing to move onto. I’ll maybe work on kata for a bit and then I’ll look at my grappling for a bit and then I’ll move onto the bag work, etc. That’s what I love about karate; there are a lot of elements to it and a variety of flavours to enjoy. It keeps someone with a short attention span like mine interested.

I started in Wado-ryu karate, that’s the art I’ve studied for the longest but what I do these days isn’t really Wado. We still do all the Wado katas and basics but I no longer do the Wado one-step sparring etc. At my club we just call it “Abernethy Jissen Karate” or “the practical karate that Iain does” - that’s the label I’d give it. It’s karate but it doesn’t really fit into any of the four main styles anymore. I’ve studied a few martial arts but the key thing I’ve found is that the individual finds the art that suits them the most. We’ve all got to kick and punch but it has to be the way you do that that appeals to you and keeps you coming back to training.”

My Relationship with Kata

Within the world of martial arts, Iain is probably best known for his expertise in kata, both with its philosophy and bunkai, the word used to describe its practical application. Iain’s relationship with the karate katas is a deep marriage of power and tradition, as he explains in detail to Martial Edge, “I was pondering this recently and the thing that I like about kata is that when you are training, you can commit to it fully. You feel like it’s a real fight, you move like it’s a real fight and you hold nothing back. You can’t do that if you are kicking and punching a partner or you’d run out of training partners really quickly! The elements that I really enjoy are full-on grappling and bag or pad work where you can really give it your all and kata falls into that category for me. You can give it everything you’ve got. I also love that feeling of being part of that tradition: walking in the master’s footsteps and moving in the way they moved and hopefully through that, thinking the way they thought. Kata is a deep thing for me, it really fascinates me and I absolutely love it.

If someone asked me what my favourite kata was, I’ve got two. One is naihanchi, that’s the one that has a lot of depth to me. I’ve read what the old masters have said about it and they’ve all held it in high regard. It has a beautiful feel to it; I love the applications to it and the close range power it generates. If I was allowed to pick a sequence, I would go with the pinan series. It is a very complete system in its application; it has been very well thought through and covers all the bases you need for self defence.

Kata in Depth

When I do the seminars, one of the first things I point out is what kata was created for because once you’ve got that it all starts to fall into place. As martial artists we spend a lot of time training with and against other martial artists of the same style. Fighting a fellow martial artist is not what kata is for. In 1908 Anko Itosu, who was one of the leading Karate masters, wrote in his first of ten precepts that, ‘karate is not supposed to be used against a single adversary but instead it is a method of avoiding injury by using the hands and feet should one by any chance be confronted by a villain or ruffian.’ So it is quite clear that the kata is not for a single opponent, it’s not for sparring or fighting, it is for self defence. When people get that then kata starts to make a lot more sense because sometimes people look at kata from the perspective of what happens in the dojo with another martial artist and they may wonder why there is no fancy footwork; but there’s not in a real fight either. They may say ‘there are no guards in kata’ but there are none in a real fight as you are so close that your hands will be active. So that would be the key thing I would emphasise to people: it’s at close range that the katas and forms come into their own. When you get that, and you understand what a real fight is like, the two start to marry up quite nicely. I’ve studied with a lot of the leading martial arts realists such as Peter Constantine and Geoff Thompson and when I look at what the old masters were doing and what these modern realists are doing, there’s no contradiction at all.

Iain Abernethy

Not everyone understands kata correctly though. Kata can be of great benefit to the pragmatically minded martial artist, or it can be a waste of time. It all depends upon how it is trained and approached. It also depends upon what an individual is training for. Is it art, sport, self-protection or fun? My advice to anyone would be to be clear of what you are training for and then use the methods that help you reach that goal. If those methods don’t help you reach that goal then question why you are actually doing them in the first place.”

Karate History and Tradition

Iain’s knowledge of the foundations of karate is encyclopaedic. His in-depth understanding of its origins and the men who helped shaped its future gives him the rare insight into fully comprehending the details of karate that would pass a lot of people by. “I love the history of karate. The character that would interest me the most would be Anko Itosu. He was the man who made the pinan katas, he was also the guy who kick started the change from this little secret Okinawan art that was practised by a relatively small number of people to the world wide phenomenon that karate is now. When I read his words I think this is a guy who got it. I’m so impressed by his depth of knowledge and the pinan katas he created; the more I analyse those forms and their applications and structure, the more they impress me. If he had not have made the changes that he made and kicked off the modern art, karate would never have spread, I would never have heard of it and neither would anyone else. He’s the one who helped popularised the art. I feel that his katas and the small amount of writing he left behind shows that he understood what a real situation demanded. I find all the masters interesting but Itosu was the guy I’d most like to have a chat with if he was still around.

I find that katas are not generally well understood. Itosu campaigned for karate to be introduced into the Okinawan school system. What happened was that the version that spread to the outside world was a simplified version for the masses and the kata wasn’t studied in any great depth. The solo form was practised, but the depth of the knowledge wasn’t explicitly expressed on communicated. If you read Itosu’s ten precepts, it is quite clear that he didn’t intend to make a children’s art, he envisioned starting the children off in a safe structured manner that would eventually lead to the study of the combative side of karate, but somewhere along the way that got lost. Therefore, karate sometimes has an identity crisis; it’s not quite sure what it is. Is it a self defence art, is it an art we practise for fun and fitness, is it a method of self development or is it a method of sport? It can be all of those things but generally it’s not sure what it wants to be. So we have people teaching sport under the guise of self defence. It gets a bit confusing and I think we can trace that back to when Itosu introduced these other elements and the art spread in a way that has made it lose some of its depth.”

Benefits and Personal Growth

Unlike a lot the martial arts that people are involved in, karate is not a spiritual experience for Iain. Although his life is based around his beloved martial art, the lifestyle benefits are more external rather than looking inwards or upwards. “The character development side of the martial arts is something I am really into, but not in a religious or spiritual sense. Itosu said in the opening line of his ten precepts, ‘Karate did not develop from Buddhism or Confucianism.’ So right from the off, there is no spiritual or religious connotations to this art. For me, the strength of character that karate gives us is because the art is so austere. The training is so hard, it bubbles all of your weaknesses to the surface. Funakoshi talked a lot about this in some of his works. He tells us that we should train with a never-say-die attitude so that we shouldn’t find any challenge too great to handle. It’s the fact that karate training is so physically and mentally demanding that leads to personal development, as opposed to any kind of pseudo-spirituality. I see spirituality as the domain of philosophy and religion. I keep my martial arts free of any notion of spirituality and I think that we benefit from that both combatively and in terms of personal development.

I first had the idea of writing about karate about nine years ago. At school I was really bad at writing and my handwriting to this day is pretty poor, abysmal in fact. So I’d never really considered myself to be a born writer. However, I decided to write a book about the interesting things I was doing in the dojo so I bit the bullet and put pen to paper. I sent it around all the various publishers and got all the rejection letters that you always get. Each and every one of which I’ve kept as I feel the struggles along the way are what eventually leads to our successes. Finally I got the book published; it is just a great buzz to create your first book and then if you can do one, then you can do two, and so forth. I do enjoy the process, it is hard work but I’d say I love having written but the writing can sometimes be hard work but the reward justifies itself, it is fun for me. I will be writing many more books and am currently working on one about the applications of the pinan / heian series.

As regards my future in karate, I want to keep exploring, just keep on learning really. It is something I do that is just so inherent and part of me; I’ll be training until the day I drop. I’ll keep on the path that I’ve started on and keep pushing and see where it leads me.”

Author Profile: Lesley Jackson

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Lesley Jackson, black belt and Taekwondo teacher is deputy Editor of Martial Edge.

Also by Lesley Jackson:

• Sneaking under the Wire
• The Beginner’s Guide to Darkness
• Jamie Clubb the Ealy Years

Thank you Iain, your detailed discussion of the area of kata will give our readers a real insight into this area of martial arts.

www.iainabernethy.com

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Keywords : Iain Abernethy, Karate, Kata, British Combat Association, traditional martial arts world, bunkai, English Karate, Summersdale Press, Martial Arts Illustrated, Geoff Thompson

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