Why I’ve Removed Formal Junzuki and Mawatte Combinations From My Syllabuses - By Sensei Liam Musiak

This wasn’t a rushed decision.

It wasn’t made to be controversial.

And it wasn’t made out of disrespect for karate.

It was made out of honesty.

After reviewing my syllabuses properly — not emotionally, not traditionally, but functionally — I’ve removed formal combinations such as junzuki lunge punches with mawatte gedan barai and jodan uke, including their kette and tsukkomi variations, from all grading requirements.

These movements are not evil, dishonest, or pointless in their historical context.

They are simply outdated.

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I Only Keep What Earns Its Place

My standard is simple:

If something does not work in reality, it does not belong in a system that claims realism.

I don’t care if a movement looks good.

I don’t care if it’s traditional.

I don’t care if it’s expected.

I care whether it survives:

• pressure

• resistance

• chaos

• poor posture

• surprise

Those formal stepping-punch-and-block combinations do not.

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They Do Not Represent Modern Self-Defence

These drills were developed for a different time, different training environment, and different understanding of violence.

Modern self-defence is:

• close-range

• fast and chaotic

• clinch-heavy

• emotionally overwhelming

• legally complex

Long stepping attacks, large formal blocks, clean turns, and fixed sequencing assume ideal conditions that simply don’t exist today.

That doesn’t make them “wrong” — it makes them outdated.

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They Do Not Survive Resistance

Outdated training methods share a common flaw:

they only work when conditions are controlled.

If a drill:

• fails under speed

• collapses under pressure

• disappears in the clinch

• requires cooperation

then it is not a valid self-defence method.

These combinations break down immediately once resistance is introduced.

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They Don’t Even Do What They’re Claimed to Do

These drills are often defended by saying they build coordination or teach fundamentals.

They don’t — at least not in a transferable way.

Real coordination is built through:

• sparring

• pad work

• scenario training

• resistance-based drills

Stepping forward with hikite and punching, or turning neatly into a large block, does not create usable coordination for real conflict. It creates familiarity with the drill itself.

Again, that doesn’t make them useless — just outdated for the role they’re often given.

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Keeping Them Would Contradict Everything I Teach

This system stands for:

• effectiveness over appearance

• reality over ritual

• pressure-testing over assumption

• honesty over comfort

Keeping outdated methods simply because they are traditional would undermine the integrity of everything else in the syllabus.

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This Is Not Anti-Karate

Removing outdated methods is not rejection — it’s evolution.

Karate was built by people who adapted to their environment and refined their methods based on what worked.

Freezing those methods in time and refusing to update them misunderstands the spirit in which karate was created.

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What Replaces Them

Those formal combinations have been replaced with:

• pressure-tested striking

• close-range defence

• covering, framing, and crashing responses

• realistic self-defence scenarios

• resistance-based drills

Every remaining component has a clear, defensible purpose.

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Final Word

This change wasn’t about modernising for appearance.

It wasn’t about rejecting history.

And it certainly wasn’t about controversy.

It was about recognising that some methods have simply been overtaken by better ones.

Outdated methods belong in history — not in a syllabus that claims to prepare people for reality.

— Sensei Liam Musiak