The following article appeared in the Irish Fighter magazine in May, 1998.

Last year I got the chance to spend six weeks in Johannesburg, South Africa on a customer project. Luckily for me, I had almost every evening off, and I used the time to train with Sensei Stan Schmidt, 7th Dan JKA. Sensei Schmidt was the first non-Japanese to be awarded 7th Dan in the JKA, and has written several books on karate. He is an excellent teacher and I feel privileged to have spent so much time training with him. In fact, I got to train with him most evenings, and also two mornings per week at 6:00am!

While much of his training was similar to that of other karate instructors around the world, he did have many interesting concepts and training exercises that were new to me. Throughout the time I spent there, Sensei Schmidt kept referring to his ‘eight insights’, and would often get students to name them. Sometimes he would focus on just one of these points, and the entire class would be designed to enable us students to learn a bit about it, and to try to implement it in our training. At other times, Sensei Schmidt would emphasise the necessity of developing each area equally in training.

Stan Schmidt’s Eight Insights are:

1. Full range of motion
2. Target
3. Don’t show
4. 1/50th of a second
5. Expansion/Contraction
6. Hard/Soft
7. Fast/Slow
8. Together

There is nothing especially new in any of these ‘insights’, and most students of the Martial Arts will have seen some or all of these before. However, I have learned that you don’t have to see something new to learn, you only have to see something old in a new way. Sensei Schmidt certainly has a gift for showing old principles and even techniques in a new way that opens up a whole new understanding. The following article is my personal interpretation of each of these insights, which has unquestionably been guided by Sensei Schmidt himself.

These insights, as with all elements of karate, can be studied and interpreted at many levels and in many different ways. Each one is valuable, but must be considered in conjunction with all the others, rather than in isolation. This article will focus on my personal interpretation, and will only scratch the surface of the possible meanings. There can be many other interpretations, and students of the Martial Arts should be encouraged to find their own meanings and interpretations in these insights, to make them their own. For me to attempt to provide all possible meanings here, would be to rob the reader of the chance to discover their own, and would also be a futile exercise as no one person has ‘all the answers’.

Full Range of Motion
I feel that this is a very important point to stress, particularly with beginners. Many people have a tendency to take "short-cuts" with their techniques, either to perform the technique quickly enough to keep up with the class or because they do not understand the full implications of the movement. (Of course, it could also be laziness, but we will give the benefit of the doubt!)

By emphasising the importance of using your full range of motion both in the chambering, or preparation, of a technique and also in the execution and follow-through of the technique, students are not only taught to maximise the use of the natural power of their body, but they will also develop faster and more completely through using the entire body.

Another aspect of this point is flexibility. In order to maximise mobility, flexibility must also be maximised. By improving flexibility, our range of motion, and our control over that motion increases proportionately. Naturally, because ranges of flexibility differs from person to person, so will the range of motion. Therefore, "full range of motion" is not a concept that can be standardised, but will vary from student to student.

It is important to note that "full range of motion" also does not imply a large wind-up for the technique, but rather stresses the importance of maximising available power in the individuals body and completing each technique fully. This can apply to any technique in Martial Arts, from strikes to blocks, and from throws to locks. It even applies to stepping out of the way of an attack - if you don’t complete the move you will still get hit!

Target
Probably the most important point of all, in any Martial Art. It doesn’t matter how fit, fast, strong, flexible, intelligent or bull-headed you are - if you miss the target you are ineffective. Pick a specific target and aim carefully for it. There is no point is sacrificing target to gain speed or power, but with the right targets you can often practically eliminate speed and power.

When most of us think about a target, we think ‘face’ or ‘ribs’ or some such thing. Sensei Schmidt explained to me that when he performs a face punch, he is aiming for a particular point, at a particular angle, such as rising into the base of the cheekbone to affect the sinus. This attention to detail allows Sensei Schmidt to very effectively neutralise almost any attack without needing to generate huge amounts of power.

This efficiency of motion became very necessary to Sensei Schmidt, after having both his hips replaced a few years ago, following a serious car accident. He worked this type of philosophy into his training, and now his enforced insights in this area will benefit anyone who wishes to take their training from the ‘brute force and ignorance’ phase to an efficient art form.

Another meaning of ‘target’ can be our targets, or goals, in life. This is a very broad meaning for target, but it is of equal significance to the physical targets. By knowing our target, or goal, we can aim for it by taking positive steps towards achieving it. If we don’t know what we want, we usually won’t get it. Sensei Schmidt summed this up very well for me, saying "The way you conceive your future sculpts your present."

Don’t Show
This refers primarily to ‘telegraphing’ of techniques. Everyone has little ‘tells’ that allow an experienced person to anticipate our moves before we even start them. By minimising or eliminating these we can become far more effective strategists. (I am purposely avoiding limiting the benefits to just fighting skills. For example, the exact same philosophy is reflected in the term "poker-face" and is used in many different contexts.)

It may also apply to the showing of pain or weakness. By showing pain, an opponent is given an invitation to finish the job off. The only time that showing pain or weakness is a good strategy is if it is being faked, to lure the opponent into a trap, or possibly to gain sympathy from either the opponent or from by-standers (or spectators).

1/50th of a Second
This is the practically immeasurable length of time that Sensei Schmidt recommends for "kime", or focus. This is the length of time that every muscle in the body should be tensed and that the mind should be focused, on impact with the opponent. In other words, there should be no tension as the technique is executed, only for an instant on impact, and there should be an immediate return to a calm, relaxed state after that impact.

An invaluable aid to developing this difficult skill is tension and relaxation training. In order to understand tension, one should practice making the body as tense as possible. There are many ways to do this, such as performing techniques slowly and deliberately against a strong resistance. Equally, practising relaxing is a very useful way to assist with development. Reaction training is often used to make students relax, as it is very difficult to react quickly when the body is not relaxed.

Expansion/Contraction
All movement of the body is governed by the expansion and contraction of muscles, and it is the control of this expansion and contraction that is vital to development. Without the continuous expansion and contraction of the involuntary muscles, such as the heart, we would die. Without developing the expansion and contraction of the voluntary muscles our karate will also "die" or stagnate.

It is expansion and contraction of muscles that generates speed and power, that allows movement and also cessation of movement. Through studying how muscles, and groups of muscles, work we can develop a greater understanding of the dynamics of our chosen Martial Art.

It is important to note that power can be generated both by expansion and by contraction, and that both have appropriate and inappropriate uses. Correct training in the basics of your style will help develop a knowledge of these uses.

Hard/Soft
Within the karate family there are styles that are considered "hard" and styles that are considered "soft". There is even one that is called "hard/soft" (goju). It is important to use both concepts for overall development in karate.

In the various kata of karate there are moves that are hard and moves that must be soft. In fact, as we have seen with "kime", each move should be soft and relaxed to generate speed, and should only be hard for an instant on impact. Also, there are times to meet a force head on, standing your ground and using direct power to defeat the force, and there are times to adopt a more yielding approach to perhaps use the opponents energy against himself.

This can be the same for attitudes towards situations or people. Sometimes it is necessary to take a hard attitude towards a particular situation, and other times it is more appropriate to take a softer, more yielding, more forgiving attitude. Even recognising which is which can be a difficult skill to master!

In training the physical side of training can be equated to "hard" training, while the philosophical aspect of training can equate to "soft" training. Both aspects are important and complimentary to each other. Without both, one is not really practising karate-do.

Fast/Slow
In most styles of karate there are kata with combinations of fast and slow moves. The concept of fast and slow is very useful for developing a number of skills in karate.

Performing moves quickly helps to develop speed, while performing moves slowly assists with the development of focus of mind and body. Fast movements also help develop sharp reflexes and reactions, while slow movements enforce the development of correct techniques. There can be no short-cuts with slow, deliberate movements!

The combination of the two assists with the development of rhythm, tempo and control of the body. The ability to change rhythm and tempo is very valuable, as it gives an element of unpredictability, and also makes the student more adaptable. Most students have a "preferred" rhythm and tempo and are often unwilling to change it. A useful training method can be to get students to perform some techniques or kata at a very fast pace, and then at a very slow pace. With a number of repetitions, the students will tend towards their own natural pace. This can be even more evident with sparring training. Sparring in "slow-motion" is often the most difficult drills that students have to do, because they will always tend to speed up to a pace that they are comfortable with.

Together
The concept of "together" can be applied to several different areas of Martial Arts training.

A significant step in karate is in getting hand and foot to work together. Step and punch at the same time. Don’t punch first and then step, or step first and then punch. This element of timing and co-ordination is an important one for students to develop.

The element of co-ordination is taken a step further with the idea of controlling the entire body. Loose, sloppy movement is discouraged, and training focuses on keeping movements tight and together. All body movement is controlled, concise and purposeful.

Learning to control the body is the first step in learning to control the mind. Bringing mind and body together is the next step. By focusing the mind and body together, a great deal more can be accomplished than mind or body alone. This is a state of harmony that is very difficult to attain, but is well worth striving towards.

Another element of "together" is with rhythm and timing. Whether practising kata, sparring or doing self-defence drills in training, or in a real confrontation in the street, it is important to maintain a sense of rhythm and timing, to keep the senses together and overcome any sense of panic or fear. When panic sets in, we cannot keep our thoughts together, and even our control over our bodies diminishes. Preventing this in a street situation could be vital.