Waza

Waza (literally: “skills or techniques”) is the Goshin-Jutsu term for simulation training. Waza are preplanned, prearranged defenses for specific attacks, which teach our bodies how to move, and our minds how to react. If individual techniques are the notes of your victory song, then waza are the scales which you must practice over and over to refine your fundamental playing skills.

Real attackers won’t follow a script, so you must train with the intention of developing a general fighting sense. This is why our waza are intentionally unnamed, presented in no particular order, and are to numerous for any one person to remember -- so they all blend together after a while. (This website's numbering scheme is entirely meaningless, and it should never be referred to; it is a necessary evil for website maintenance.). When bits of one waza seamlessly flow into another, you wind up doing the most appropriate response for a given situation, regardless of the attack or the attacker. At higher levels, waza can move away from the pre-arranged, and be performed against random attacks from random directions (free-form waza). When done correctly, free-form waza is natural as walking, and it is so smooth and effortless that it appears to be staged.

Considerations

When performing waza, it is critical to keep the following points in mind:

• All techniques must be fully-controlled; meaning, they completely stop 1” (~2.5 cm) away from your opponent. Training partners are hard to come by, so you’ll need to make them last. Our critics claim that “pulling our punches” trains students how not to hit people, leading to failure at the crucial moment. However, making striking focus pads or heavy bags a regular part of your training will correct this problem.
• We do not train to hit lightly. During waza, all techniques must be performed at full power, and directed at one of the opponent’s anatomical weak points with a “malicious intent”. There is no situation where hitting someone lightly makes sense; if the option not to incapacitate, maim, or kill an aggressor still exists, then that option must be pursued.
• Masters are people who do simple things well, not the ones who do complicated or visually-stunning moves. The techniques performed in waza require the same attention to form as those in kata practice.
• Most real altercations last less than five seconds. You must quickly eliminate the dangers facing you. Win or lose, it will be over soon. There is no time compute a solution; you must know the answer ahead of time. This why you must train waza to the point of becoming natural reactions.
• Stay calm, relax -- and most importantly -- breathe. Panic assures defeat. Overcoming the reflexive panic or freezing when confronted with is the major hurdle in learning self-defense.
• You must practice waza with partners of different sizes, heights, and genders. Victims do not choose their attackers. Students must know how to apply their techniques on anyone, and those techniques may require subtle modification to accommodate different body types. Waza gives students an opportunity to experience may different types of attackers.
• Attackers must have malicious intent. Waza must simulate the intensity of a real attack to teach students to cope with the intensity of the situation.
• A given waza can be applied to a variety of contexts. Twenty-six letters can be arranged into countless thoughts and ideas. Likewise, one waza can become 10,000 waza. For example, defenses against one-hand lapel grabs can easily be re-imagined as defenses against a groping pervert.
• "Any empty-hand waza can stop any armed attack; you only need the confidence to do so." However, this requires true confidence, which is based on ironclad mastery of technique. Novice students tend to mistake arrogance for confidence, and think they are invincible, simply because they know a waza. This is why defenses against armed attackers are reserved for the advanced students; because by this time, students will have realized the inherent dangers of armed attacks, and won’t take them lightly.
• Martial artists have tools, not answers. There are no universal solutions; every situation must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Flexibility is critical. We invite you to invent your own waza, to train your creativity and adaptability.
• Self-defense is not a game; there are no points. The goal of self-defense is stopping attackers and removing yourself or others from danger -- not to kill, to punish, or to “teach someone a lesson.” We control our opponents through controlling ourselves. We defeat the fear of an attack through our preparation and training, which allows us to respond appropriately. To do this, we must train to defend ourselves against a variety of attacks, to provide us with different options in a variety of situations.
• Karate ni sente nashi.

Novice waza

Novice Waza
001	002	003	004	005	006	007	008	009	010
011	012	013	014	015	016	017	018	019	020
021	022	023	024	025	026	027	028	029	030
031	032	033	034	035	036	037	038	039	040
041	042	043	044	045	046	047	048	049	050
051	052	053	054	055	056	057	058	059	060
061	062	063	064	065	066	067	068	069	070
071	072	073	074	075	076	077	078	079	080
081	082	083	084	085	086	087	088	089	090
091	092	093	094	095	096	097	098	099	100

Intermediate waza

Intermediate Waza
101	102	103	104	105	106	107	108	109	110
111	112	113	114	115	116	117	118	119	120
121	122	123	124	125	126	127	128	129	130
131	132	133	134	135	136	137	138	139	140
141	142	143	144	145	146	147	148	149	150

Advanced waza

Advanced Waza
151	152	153	154	155	156	157	158	159	160
161	162	163	164	165	166	167	168	169	170
171	172	173	174	175	176	177	178	179	180
181	182	183	184	185	186	187	188	189	190
191	192	193	194	195	196	197	198	199	200
201	202	203	204	205	206	207	208	209	210
211	212	213	214	215	216	217	218	219	220
221	222	223	224	225	226	227	228	229	230
231	232	233	234	235	236	237	238	239	240
241	242	243	244	245	246	247	248	249	250
251	252	253	254	255	256	257	258	259	260
261	262	263	264	265	266	267	268	269	270

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