For any fighter, his their connection to the ground is his lifeline. Movement, evasion, attack, defense - everything starts from the ground. Without this vital connection, a fighter loses all of his power, speed, and mobility.

Much of karate is based around the concept of distance. A fighter needs to maintain the proper distance between himself and his opponent throughout a fight to stay in control of the match. Distance provides a fighter the ability to strike when it’s most effective, evade when needing to defend, and counterattack when an opening presents itself. In karate, the fighter who has the strongest understanding of distance and can manipulate it the most to his advantage is often the winner.

That’s why when the mats are slippery, a karate fight becomes infuriating.

Imagine trying to throw your favourite kick. It’s the same technique you’ve thrown after years of practice. You start your kick, your foot slips on the mat, and your foot ends up completely missing the target.

Or imagine trying to defend with evasion. Your opponent is slowly attacking with a flurry of punches. You want to back up but your feet can’t find the grip to move you back nearly far enough. Maybe you dodge one punch but you eat the next three punches.

Or imagine trying to counterattack. You manage to defend an attack perfectly and your opponent is standing right there in front of you, completely open to a counter. You try to change your momentum from moving backwards in defense to forwards in attack. Your feet fail to grip and you end up not moving at all.

Slippery mats are the karate equivalent to internet lag in an online game.

Slippery mats are the karate equivalent to ballpoint pens that stop working once in a while and you have to scribble on some scrap paper to make them work.

Slippery mats are goddamn aggravating.

But somehow, the best of the best karate athletes find a way through. World champions aren’t impeded by slippery mats. How are they adapting?

Find a way to make your feet stick

I’ve seen Coke and hairspray as quick solutions at tournaments. Athletes actually pour a puddle of Coke beside the ring and step in it before their fight.

Adapt your strategy

Favour strategies that rely less on critical quick footwork reactions. Static anticipation timing defense can be easier as opposed to doing an evade-counter style of defense.

Leverage the disadvantage against your oppoenent

If you can’t move and evade as easily, chances are your opponent can’t either. 2-3 combo blitzes or body kicks can capitalize on an opponent who can’t get out of the way as easily as they usually do.

Ultimately, I’ve lost tournaments because I couldn’t adapt to slippery mats. And this last weekend, I struggled to train at a karate camp because of slippery mats. There’s real work required to adapt to slippery mats, and not thinking about this issue can be critical.

comments powered by Disqus