| Basics What are the fundamental training areas of Karate? The fundamental training areas of Karate are stances, hip rotation, advancing and retreating, changing direction, and the techniques used in all of these situations. What are the primary skills of Karate? The primary skills of Shotokan Karate are the step in punch, the reverse punch, and the front snap kick [oizuki, gyaku-zuki, maegeri]. These are the most basic techniques and the most heavily used by Karate experts. How are the stances trained? Stances are usually trained by demonstrating the proper proportions and joint positions in the lower body. Following this the instructor usually forces the students to stand in stances for a length of time in order to strengthen their leg muscles. The stances are practiced while utilizing the rotation of the hips, and they are practiced while stepping forward and backward up and down the floor. Finally, the student learns to move about in various directions and to combine different stances in different situations. How are the hips used? The hips are used to add body weight and force to techniques by increasing the mass that is being accelerated toward the target. These motions also increase the amount of distance the technique will cover, increasing the striking force. There are several methods that are taught in order to accomplish this. They are hip rotation, advancing, and thrusting the hips in various directions to aid kicking. Some instructors teach that the hips should be vibrated or wiggled in order to add force to techniques. This action has not been shown to have any affect on technique other than to weaken stances by moving the knees. Perhaps these instructors and students misunderstand the concept of setting up extremely subtle body momentum to launch any technique - however, it is ever so delicate and internal, not an external wiggling action. How are the hips trained? The student practices rotation by standing in place and rotating the hips from the half front facing to the front facing position over and over again. The hips are trained in the other methods while performing techniques or stepping about without making any techniques. How are the techniques trained? Techniques are usually first practiced in a stagnant position that isolates the arms and legs from the torso. Then, the techniques are applied during stepping and hip rotation exercises. Finally, the student begins to combine techniques with each other, combine stances, and change techniques rapidly in combinations of movement and techniques that are very difficult and complex. When taken to a particular level, this type of training becomes kata. What are some common Japanese terms for Karate techniques? Every instructor should hand out a text book or a list with the names of the common techniques on it to their new students to help them learn to recognize the names. There is a complete cataloging of the techniques with pictures and techniques using the Japanese names in Dynamic Karate by M. Nakayama, 1966 Kodansha International. See the last section of this document for a list of good books on Shotokan Karate. What is a makiwara? Maki means to wrap or a roll. Wara means rice straw. A makiwara is a bundle of tightly woven rice straw that is attached to a flat post deeply rooted in the ground. The Karate enthusiast strikes this post repeatedly in order to strengthen the muscles of the body that resist the reaction force that inevitably occurs upon impact with a target. Many think that the purpose is to condition the knuckles against impact, but this is not true. The makiwara can also be used to practice applying force to a target, to practice aiming and to practice punching "through" a target. What are tetsugeta? Iron clogs. These are sandals worn by Karate enthusiasts who wish to strengthen their legs and hips for kicking and stepping. The shoes weigh around 10 LB, and they are lifted usually around 50 to 80 times on each leg in various directions. Doing kicking with any speed while wearing the tetsugeta, or with ankle weights, is very damaging to the knees, so it is best avoided. However, slow, gentle lifting actions are perhaps more safe. What are important aspects of good technique? There are three large categories listed in Dynamic Karate as the important aspects: expansion and contraction of the body, concentration of power, and proper speed of technique. Others have identified as many as fifteen different variables which could be trained separately: preparatory attitude, ending attitude, fixing the eyes, proper lower body structure, proper upper body posture, raw speed, controlled speed, distancing, timing, expansion and contraction of proper muscle groups, relaxation and tension of the muscles, breathing, kiai, and other variables. One important aspect of learning techniques is the order in which actions are learned. Mechanics, dynamics, and then control are learned in that order during the process of studying any technique. What is kime? Most Westerners use the English expression 'focus.' However, the word in Japanese means 'decision.' The idea behind the English expression is to focus all of the tension in the muscles upon impact with the target so resist any reaction force that will occur. The Japanese word suggests that one will make techniques decisive and deadly. Are the fists tight throughout the punch? When making body tension to resist the reaction force in Karate punches, the muscles of the body are tensed to lock the body in position so that the target absorbs the damage from the collision rather than the person punching. There is a point of confusion, however, about whether or not the fist is tight throughout the punching action, or whether it is clenched only at the moment of impact. One answer is this: beginners should probably clench the fist all of the time. Intermediate students (brown belts and shodan) should begin to try to clench the fist only upon impact. Higher ranking students should have the timing and distancing necessary to easily choose the proper moment to clench the fist, so that safety is not a concern and they can benefit from the total relaxation provided by a loose hand. During kumite drills, many very high ranking Karate players like to keep their fists loose even on impact, so that they can strike actually touching the opponent without injuring them. After long years of training, the expert can easily choose to clench the fist or to keep it loose in any situation. How do you expand and contract the body? Various parts of the body are stretched and contracted at different times during Karate performance. When punching, the muscles of the back are contracted tightly to draw back the arm, and the muscles of the chest are expanded. This is one example of expansion and contraction. Various instructors put a different spin on expansion and contraction (Tai no Shinshuku) by suggesting that it involves moving the torso and both shoulders together. It is a vague expression that does little to explain the actual activity, at any rate. What are the two kinds of techniques? There are techniques that snap and techniques that thrust. Thrusting actions are usually taught first using the hands, but snapping techniques are usually the first kicking actions taught. As the student progresses, they are taught thrusting kicking actions and snapping hand actions. There is much debate about the efficacy of thrusting vs. Snapping punches and their resultant pressure generated, but there is no scientific evidence to back up any claims. What are the four common basic blocks? The rising block (age uke), inside block (uchi ude uke), outside block (soto ude uke), and lower block (gedan barai). What are the four common basic kicks? The front snap kick (mae geri), the side snap kick (yoko keage), the side thrust kick (yoko kekomi), and the round snap kick (mawashi geri). Why do we hold our arms out when kicking? An important aspect in Shotokan training is to eliminate extraneous movement and foster relaxation during the execution of movements (but not at the moment of focus). s a training aid we hold our arms out when kicking to discern whether we are tightening our upper body while executing the technique. During an actual confrontation we would keep our hands in a defensive position. More advanced students are easily able to keep their upper bodies removed from the kicking process, so they will usually practice keeping their hands up and unmoving during a kick. Other instruction methods include putting the hands behind the tail bone, crossing the arms in front of the chest, or holding both hands forward in a punching action. Keeping the hands isolated also enables the Karate expert to punch and kick in combination without having excess body tension prevent certain timings for the actions. |
