We have the world around us telling us
What we're supposed to be doing and inside of us we know what we're supposed to be doing
There's a warrior inside of you
Today we are at Knowles Karate Academy to learn about the art of karate
Karate is one of the main martial arts that comes from Japan
Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles, most of the media I consumed as a kid involved martial arts
The Karate Kid is the single most
Formative piece of media in my life both as an artist and as a human being
The good one, not the original
I grew up in a town of 2,000 people. There were karate classes
I learned from Mr Keith. I'm not kidding, he's the first Keith I met
Jaden Smith, he just really embodies everything that I'm about
I love him, I love his character, the journey
I'm more of a lover and less of a fighter
But Eugene got to pick this video, so we're doing karate
[martial arts noises]
My name's Michael Knowles and we're here at Knowles Karate Academy
and I've been training for about 29 years now
You've been training longer than he's been alive
Yeah
Is that right?
Yeah
I guess I'm old or you're young
We can meet in the middle
I actually took Taekwondo as a kid for ten years and have a black belt but I never took karate
So technically I'm on the same playing field as the other Try Guys
I am actually the only Try Guy who has trained in karate
I don't remember anything
except that we would cross back and forth across the floor
So today we'll do the private group lesson
And then we'll meet some kids during the kid's class
Then we're gonna do an adult class where we're gonna put your skills to the test
And at the end of the day each of you is gonna break a board
I have broken my wrist and my pinky before so I'm not excited to break a board
It's real, it's just a real board you don't like do like a perforated edge or nothing
Can we talk about that
[music]
[gong noise]
[music]
So let's line up according to experience and I gathered Eugene you have some experience so you'll be first
Technically - technically it's a different art
However if it's gonna be how you treat us through the class then Eugene should go
Okay I'll go with Eugene first
Okay Eugene, 'cause he's like-
Keith, you can be second
Yeah, I'll be second
Karate is is affiliated with or associated with Japanese style
The style we're actually going to be teaching today and learning today
Is Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan
Which means it's Korean karate
Oh come on
Because- [Keith: Wow]
He doesn't need more of an advantage, this is ridiculous [Keith: Wow]
(in Korean) attention
Good, feet together; hands by your side
(in Korean) please sit
Have a seat; cross your legs.
The uniform you're gonna wear - we call it in Korean Dobok
You'll hear me saying some Korean terms because this is a Korean style karate.
Do we call you like, teacher, master, sensei [Zach: Sensei]
Sabunim
Sabunim?
Yes, it was designed by a Korean guy: Hwang Kee is his name
He was influenced by the Japanese style karate because Japan occupied Korea at the time
But then he also traveled to China and studied Tai Chi
So this style has softness and hardness and it's a nice blend and mix of it
Which I think also
Helps us come- find inner peace
Close your eyes focus on your breath and just focus on that breath going in through your nose
Filling up your lungs and giving you life
And then emptying out through your nose all the impurities are leaving
There are a lot of misconceptions about martial arts
In movies they're portrayed as very aggressive
Weapons, in essence, but the truth is martial arts is not about fighting
It's definitely about ending conflicts to find inner peace and spread peace
Hopefully to the community we live in and the people in their lives
I've been in fights but never because I started it. It was usually
A situation that I was getting picked on
Or I was trying to help someone who was getting picked on
So I feel like that's still in line
Everyone should know what it feels like to get punched in the face (Eugene Lee Yang, 2019)
So we're gonna do a set of breathing exercises called Moo Padang Coombs
Eight exercises
Left hand reaches to the windows, now switch your hands and inhale
Inhale
Hands together
Exhale
Right hand out
Inhale
Exhale
I feel like we look so cool right now
Seems very like meditative almost
It's hugely meditative and it forces your mind and body to work together
Which brings you toward peace
The reason that we train in bare feet is actually to stay connected to the Earth's energy that's coming up
You're more in sync with your mind and body right now
And I hope you feel the difference just in this short period of time
With as little experience as you have
What I'd like our goal to be is to get in touch with that inner peaceful warrior
Martial arts is like a controlled environment of fighting
What a great way to take out your aggression
Way better than yelling at your coworkers
All right, now we're gonna get a little more intense
Loosen up your wrists so whenever
I give you a command I want to hear you say yes sir afterward
Shoulders back
Yes Sir
Excellent
This is how you prevent yourself from falling forward off a cliff
Chung dyung poco kei can you say that?
Chung dyung poco kei
I said this is what it'll look like
[martial arts noises]
Excellent
He did not say to scream, Eugene. That was terrifying
Sorry, I didn't know that came out of me naturally
[martial arts noises]
(in Korean)
Do you feel yourself getting in touch with that inner warrior we were talking about earlier?
Yes, sir
No doubt
Now you guys really have great energy
For one by my count
Yes, sir
[martial arts noise]
Jaden Smith!
What's going on with Jaden Smith, man?
[gong]
[martial arts noises]
Zach: *screams* (Ned: *laughs in French*)
Today we're gonna try to each break a piece of wood
Has anybody here done that before?
Wow! Whoa- wait, hold on, timeout, timeout
What advice do you have for us, as we're going to do it? 'Cause we've never- we've only been training for a day
Kids: *laughter*
That's it - I gotta keep that one in mind
Would you guys be okay with doing some exercises with the Try Guys?
Yes
They can be bad guys for you so you can get some practice and show 'em how to do it
We're pretty good guys
Bad guys lose
Yeah, y'know, you just gotta pretend get in touch with that bad guy
The bad guy was inside your heart
Right next to the black belt
First, we bow
Hello, tiny assassin
Kids: *laughter*
We all go to chumbe
Yeah
*in very bad Russian accent* Bad guys are we ready? We ready to go bad guys
Okay Rafael, here it comes
Rah!
Hiya!
Kids: *laughter*
Whoa - glasses came right off!
Kids: *laughter*
One, two, three! Rah!
Yeah! Yeah!
[gong]
(in Korean)
[martial arts noises]
What's the deal with the stripes?
So the belt system here is very simple: we start with white, goes yellow
Orange , orange with a stripe
Then all the way up to black
Double legs swing up - Kihap on the second one
So what are the chances that the four of us today become black belts?
Here's the interesting part of that to answer that question
You're already black belts
I know Eugene you're looking at me like: what the hell is he talking about?
It's a mind game here, what does that mean?
I tell this to all my students:
the black belt's inside of you
In all honesty you really are there- there's a-
A warrior inside of you
The more you train; the more in touch you'll get with it
And eventually you'll reveal that black belt that you always were
Do you think that any of us could break a board today?
I absolutely, 100%, know all of you could do it
What!
Shut up
I don't understand wha- wha- what is the significance of the board?
So that you can show yourself how much power you truly possess
But what if we don't?
Well, you may surprise yourself
Alright so Zach
Yeah
We're gonna focus on breaking your wood
Let's
That didn't sound good
Nah I- I'm into it
We're gonna do it with a hammer fist
So, close the fist
Just I just want a light tap
I don't even want you to hit hard
I just wanna feel- no, double that
Now, didn't you feel how strong that was?
Hurt more than I wanted it to
I only started exercising like six months ago
But I saw your hands too: they're very big and strong
They're big hands - they're just full of bones
Now make sure you rotate all the way, so you don't want to keep it si-
Like this
That's right
Straight in
I've seen many people - there are times when they won't break it on their first try
And then they get determined and they focus and they break on their second or third try
And they go: wow it was mostly up here - they just didn't believe they could do it
My right leg is like it's kind of like a little sprain little banged up
Do you want to try with the other side?
When you kick it- it's just practice
You're going high; go straight in
Little higher than that, but that was much more- much more powerful of a kick
Failing
No, you're not
I'm doing so bad
You're doing fine
I'm failing
we all miss sometimes
That was pretty good
That was a good one
Walking into today I was like I definitely don't want to punch a piece of wood
And now we're gonna do it
Now are you thinking like- no I want to do it
I'm gonna hit it so hard it's gonna shatter into little pieces
It'll explode so I would recommend you put on some science goggles
I say- I think I'm willing to
Yeah, I think you should
Thank you
(in Korean) Thank you
Thank you
Eugene
Sir
Slow feel your groundedness to the earth
Kihap and go right through this
You have to try not to hurt yourself
If you hit it hard you can die
Take a couple deep breaths now ground yourself into the floor
Feel the energy from Earth coming up giving you power
In my practice I missed a blue board so now I'm kind of nervous
I was super confident before
Good so that was a good solid hit but you hit a little bit too high - you got this; keep breathing
You got it, Ned
There's gonna be a punch now so you see this see where it curves here
Right that line that's your line that's your focus all right are you ready sir?
Yes, sir
All right now I want to take two deep breaths
And then when you're ready you Kihap as loud as you can you go right through
You need to have the energy to break the board
Ned - focus your energy into your heel, and focus on the spot on the board you're gonna hit
That felt like a really hit hard hit I think you hit off to the side?
You can do this Ned.
All right, Zach
Hammer fist - put your hand on that board, take a couple deep breaths
When you wind up: you come down through that and you Kihap loud
here's the thing that we're practicing, and the more that I practice the more I'm like hm this is starting to hurt
And then it's getting in my head and the more that we do it the less I want to do this
You need to Kihap really loud and make sure you kick in the center of the board
Get in a good stance and use your heel to break it
Do you want to try the other foot?
You can do it - you can do it
Think of and see yourself going through it this time
you can do it
Make sure you're doing it as strong as you can
You need to put all the power into that one spot
Excellent class today
Thank you - Try Guys for trying out karate
Thank you for having us
Thank you so much
Thank you for letting us join you
Do you think if I do really well in this video Jaden will watch it and then maybe he'll DM me?
Ooh- maybe if a lot of you guys tweeted him
That's what everybody's tweeting they're trying to be so original with their fucking garbage joke with some commentary
Do you wanna hold him?
No, I don't...
He hates looking at me
I prefer dogs over babies