Block and Multiple Counter Drill [Video]

Jason Stanley 

Last night my entire production crew (Larry holding my phone), shot this quick video of Mike and I demonstrating a simple drill we were working on during class.

It’s a good karate drill for practicing close range techniques with fast reactions. It uses 4 different techniques that you can string together, and unlike a lot of karate drills that involve stepping with a single counter, this drill makes use of multiple counter techniques.

  1. Stand at punching range and have the first person punch to the face (mae ken zuki) while their partner makes and open palm push block (nagashi uke).
  2. Person 2 now counters with a back fist strike to the head (uraken), follows immediately with a reverse punch to the body (gyaku zuki) and finally with a front hand punch to the face (mae ken zuki).
  3. Person 1 now counters by making nagashi uke, uraken, gyaku zuki and mae ken zuki….
  4. The process repeats…

(click the play button below to watch the video)

Karate drills like these are great because they help develop fast reflexes at close range.

Hint: When you teach this for the first time, save it until the end of class. During class, practice each of the techniques in the drill as basic repetitions. Once you have it down, use it as a warm up in future classes.

Share and enjoy...

- Jason

 

Jason Stanley

Jason Stanley has been practicing karate for 37 years. He is a 5th dan in Shitoryu/Shukokai, and 3 x stick fighting world champion. Since 2002 Jason has provided karate tips, hints and information to help both students and teachers increase their karate knowledge, deepen their understanding and improve their karate skill sets. His materials, e-books and courses have sold in over 35 countries. If you haven't already done so, please subscribe to the KarateTeaching newsletter and receive free karate teaching tips delivered to your inbox. No spam. No BS. Just helpful info to improve your skills. 100% privacy.

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13 thoughts on “Block and Multiple Counter Drill [Video]”

  1. Jim Doan

    Looks good…I will give it a try this week. Okay, you caught me; I will get a couple of brown belts to experiment with it first, THEN I will try it.

    Reply

    1. Jason Stanley

      Good idea Jim… and make sure they go FULL speed right from the start.

      Haha..

      Reply

  2. Alan Lewis

    I like that Jason. Wasnt quite sure what to do in class today,so broke it all down and had a good sesh!!
    Cheers mucker.
    All the best Alan

    Reply

    1. Jason Stanley

      Cool!

      Glad you liked it Alan.

      Reply

  3. Bill DeGrafft

    Good combo. The combinations are almost endless and I like that they are starting to get to street speed. That is very important.

    Reply

    1. Jason Stanley

      Absolutely Bill. Achieving combat speed is critical. Like my sensei says, “You never heard of the slowest gunfighter in the West…”

      Reply

  4. Richard Holdstock

    Excellent action and reaction drill Jason ~ equally important is to keep students keen by throwing new challenges at them.

    Reply

    1. Jason Stanley

      Thanks Richard. Glad you liked it. Of course you can sub out any of the techniques for others, once they master it.

      Reply

  5. David

    Another great idea, thanks Jason.
    To step it up to another level, the students could start to move around, and then get them to incorporate the drill into their sparring for another step up.

    This will definitely be getting a run in our adult class.

    David

    Reply

    1. Jason Stanley

      Great idea David…

      Reply

  6. Jay West

    Jason
    Not sure what I’m doing wrong but haven’t been able to download the last two videos

    Reply

    1. Jason Stanley

      Hi Jay,

      The video is in flash format, so you will need a flash player plugin to watch it. Some mobile browsers don’t have installed by default. Can you tell me what device you’re trying to watch this on please?

      Thanks,

      Jason

      Reply

  7. ricardo

    Thank you for the Demo., it really work it looks like a master piece in Karate-Do, I like it.

    Reply

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