Meet Mark Roemke, one of Hatsumi's aspies.

Today we're going to learn from one of Hatsumi's Shihan, Sensei Mark Roemke. He's going to teach you how to absorb a punch or a kick so that you don't get knocked out. Please watch it first before reading underneath the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FTKBn7m8zQ

Here's my problem with his technique. One, people aim mostly for the head. The reason why is very subtle yet obvious when looked at in hindsight. When you're pissed at someone, with all the screaming, yelling, and shoving, what you want to hit and hurt the most is what's pissing you off. Words come out of the mouth and we identify one another as animals dominantly by the face... so, that's what you want to blast with your fist; their identity.

No one has ever been knocked out by being punched in the shoulder or arm. I've never got in a fight and screamed "I'M GOING TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOUR FRONT RIGHT PEC!"

Which, from an apologists point of view, I'm sure someone will try and say "That's fine, but fights don't include just head-hunters. People do body strikes all the time and it's important to harden the body."

Here's my response: You're right. People do hit more than the face, and training the body to be able to take the impact is important. It just requires something more than the shit you see in his video. No one is going to harden their body by having someone play patty-cake on them. There is a reason why people punch and kick trees and concrete in harder martial arts; it's to actually cause damage to the body so that it repairs itself and gets used to the wear and tear, making it stronger. The Bujinkan doesn't do that because they never haul off and take the time to beat the crap out of eachother. They don't even spar. So why would anyone listen to an organization about hardening when they don't even harden? They think every single attack is a step-forward punch in a straight line.

Does anyone seriously think that the best way to take a strike is to ride the energy back with a big large motion "so that you can settle with your center"? With the potential plus that you can raise your arm after already being hit? The speed of a real fight is so fucking fast that's it's not even plausible.

Here's a common sign that you see in martial artists that have never gotten in a fight or have no sparring in their training. They don't register when an opponent is close enough to hit them, or worse yet... don't even know how to change how they are positioned or what to do compared to when they aren't close enough to hit them.

If you're in a situation where someone is threatening you, the very last thing you want to do is be within punching distance, with your hands down, standing with your nuts and stomach front and center. Fuck this "absorption" crap. It's why the guy in the second street fight in my video got knocked out, and unforunately... that's the same exact distance and situation that this shit Shihan tried to demonstrate for his technique.

Keep those hands up, everyone.