Instructor’s Certification Course
Dec. 8, 2007
Active and Supportive Karate
Wendy Mach
In Shotokan karate we strive to incorporate our entire body into every technique. We never punch with just the arm and we never kick with just the leg. Performing a technique in this manner might be some form of self-defense, but it definitely would not be Shotokan. To learn how to use our bodies effectively, we need to understand how our muscles work and how our joints move in order to perform the most efficient and powerful techniques for our own individual bodies. We also need to understand the biomechanics of how different areas of the body move in relation to each other and how various areas of the body can support the movement of another area. The goal is to use our bodies naturally according to the laws of anatomy and physiology without wasting any energy.
The part of the body that is actually performing the technique, is the “active” side of the body. This is what your mind is focusing on and where your intension is. “I intend to punch now.” For the purposes of this paper, the corresponding part of the body is the “supportive” side. These definitions for “active” and “supportive” will be used throughout this paper.
In order to perform a Shotokan technique correctly, the entire body must become involved in the technique. These movements are not random and they are not haphazard. Each part of the body functions in coordination using an appropriate amount of contraction, expansion, and muscular tension with the active weapon. The muscles and joints must be relaxed to generate the maximum speed and power for the technique. This is what Shotokan practitioners refer to as “Minimum effort to generate maximum effect.” Using the least amount of muscular tension necessary during the execution of a technique produces a very efficient technique that can generate the maximum amount of impact power that your body can produce. Using more muscular tension than is necessary for a technique will result in less speed and power.
Each part of the body should move so that it adds speed, body mass, power, stability, or balance to the resulting technique. All supporting parts of the body must move in precise coordination and harmony with the active part of the body that is performing the technique. This incorporates coordinating the legs, hip joints, abdominal and glute muscles, torso, shoulder joints, and arms for every technique.
The obvious example to start with is choku-zuki. One of the first things that students learn is the importance of hikite. (This was one of the examples in my Anatomy/Physiology paper.) The faster and more forcefully we retract the hikite elbow backward, directly corresponds with the speed and power of our choku-zuki punch. The choku-zuki arm is the active side of the technique, and the hikite arm is the supportive side. The hikite arm is not directly involved in the technique; however, it does support the technique by dynamically assisting it adding more speed and thus more power to the technique.
Gyaku-zuki is an explosive, attacking technique that is designed to generate devastating, destructive power. (This example was used in my Yondan candidate paper on makiwara training.) All parts of the body must be precisely coordinated so that they all reach their ending position at the same moment of impact with the target. This results in more body mass being directed through the target. The gyaku-zuki arm is the active side of the technique, and the rest of the body supports the execution of the technique.
Starting from the bottom up, the feet should be pointed forward so that the ankle joints will direct power forward into the target. The rear leg starts from a compressed position, and then explosively expands forward pushing from the rear heel into the target. This supports the active weapon by providing a solid connection from the fist to the floor thus producing “shock” in the technique instead of just a push. This movement is coordinated with the full rotation of the hip and torso from maximum hanmi to maximum front facing position, and with the extension of the fist from hikite directly into the target. The rotation of the hip and torso adds support for the technique by directing more body mass into the target. As with the above example the supportive arm that is moving into hikite position should have the same emphasis as the active arm that is punching. The muscles of the body should be relaxed throughout the execution of the technique in order to generate maximum speed and power.
The next example is a technique that is similar to the first movement in Suishu. This is a defensive technique that will neutralize an attack without causing permanent injury. First an attacker who is standing in front of you grabs your lapel with his right hand. At this point he is in control, but not for long. Your first movement is to raise your right arm up in front of you. Your right arm is your active weapon. This movement serves as a diversionary tactic. A diversion is a technique that has a specific purpose; it is not just waving your arm in front of your body. Diversions can be used to create an opening in the attacker’s defense, to redirect the attacker’s mind away from his attack, or to unbalance an attacker.
Dec. 8, 2007
Active and Supportive Karate
Wendy Mach
In Shotokan karate we strive to incorporate our entire body into every technique. We never punch with just the arm and we never kick with just the leg. Performing a technique in this manner might be some form of self-defense, but it definitely would not be Shotokan. To learn how to use our bodies effectively, we need to understand how our muscles work and how our joints move in order to perform the most efficient and powerful techniques for our own individual bodies. We also need to understand the biomechanics of how different areas of the body move in relation to each other and how various areas of the body can support the movement of another area. The goal is to use our bodies naturally according to the laws of anatomy and physiology without wasting any energy.
The part of the body that is actually performing the technique, is the “active” side of the body. This is what your mind is focusing on and where your intension is. “I intend to punch now.” For the purposes of this paper, the corresponding part of the body is the “supportive” side. These definitions for “active” and “supportive” will be used throughout this paper.
In order to perform a Shotokan technique correctly, the entire body must become involved in the technique. These movements are not random and they are not haphazard. Each part of the body functions in coordination using an appropriate amount of contraction, expansion, and muscular tension with the active weapon. The muscles and joints must be relaxed to generate the maximum speed and power for the technique. This is what Shotokan practitioners refer to as “Minimum effort to generate maximum effect.” Using the least amount of muscular tension necessary during the execution of a technique produces a very efficient technique that can generate the maximum amount of impact power that your body can produce. Using more muscular tension than is necessary for a technique will result in less speed and power.
Each part of the body should move so that it adds speed, body mass, power, stability, or balance to the resulting technique. All supporting parts of the body must move in precise coordination and harmony with the active part of the body that is performing the technique. This incorporates coordinating the legs, hip joints, abdominal and glute muscles, torso, shoulder joints, and arms for every technique.
The obvious example to start with is choku-zuki. One of the first things that students learn is the importance of hikite. (This was one of the examples in my Anatomy/Physiology paper.) The faster and more forcefully we retract the hikite elbow backward, directly corresponds with the speed and power of our choku-zuki punch. The choku-zuki arm is the active side of the technique, and the hikite arm is the supportive side. The hikite arm is not directly involved in the technique; however, it does support the technique by dynamically assisting it adding more speed and thus more power to the technique.
Gyaku-zuki is an explosive, attacking technique that is designed to generate devastating, destructive power. (This example was used in my Yondan candidate paper on makiwara training.) All parts of the body must be precisely coordinated so that they all reach their ending position at the same moment of impact with the target. This results in more body mass being directed through the target. The gyaku-zuki arm is the active side of the technique, and the rest of the body supports the execution of the technique.
Starting from the bottom up, the feet should be pointed forward so that the ankle joints will direct power forward into the target. The rear leg starts from a compressed position, and then explosively expands forward pushing from the rear heel into the target. This supports the active weapon by providing a solid connection from the fist to the floor thus producing “shock” in the technique instead of just a push. This movement is coordinated with the full rotation of the hip and torso from maximum hanmi to maximum front facing position, and with the extension of the fist from hikite directly into the target. The rotation of the hip and torso adds support for the technique by directing more body mass into the target. As with the above example the supportive arm that is moving into hikite position should have the same emphasis as the active arm that is punching. The muscles of the body should be relaxed throughout the execution of the technique in order to generate maximum speed and power.
The next example is a technique that is similar to the first movement in Suishu. This is a defensive technique that will neutralize an attack without causing permanent injury. First an attacker who is standing in front of you grabs your lapel with his right hand. At this point he is in control, but not for long. Your first movement is to raise your right arm up in front of you. Your right arm is your active weapon. This movement serves as a diversionary tactic. A diversion is a technique that has a specific purpose; it is not just waving your arm in front of your body. Diversions can be used to create an opening in the attacker’s defense, to redirect the attacker’s mind away from his attack, or to unbalance an attacker.
In this case your arm comes up in a fluid motion, hitting the attacker’s jaw and bending his head backward. This serves to redirect the attacker’s mind away from you and toward the pain in his jaw, and it moves his head so that he can no longer see you. At the same time the rest of your body supports this movement by lowering the tanden and engaging the abdominal muscles while keeping the back straight, grabbing the attacker’s hand with your left hand, and beginning to rotate your left hip and torso away from the attacker. Lowering your tanden slightly and engaging the abdominal muscles makes your stance more stable while still keeping mobility. Grabbing the attacker’s hand gives you control of the attacker’s weapon. He cannot use it for another technique if you have control of it. Slightly rotating the left side of your body away from the attacker moves his weapon away from his tanden, making his grasp less effective. The abdominal muscles remain engaged throughout the entire technique.
At this point the functions of your arms dynamically change, and your left hand that is holding the attacker’s hand becomes the active weapon. Your left hand is going to peel the attacker’s hand off of your lapel while remaining close to your body. Your right arm supports this action by sliding down the attacker’s right arm and digging into his elbow joint with a downward force causing the attacker’s upper body to snap forward thus taking him off balance. Simultaneously your lower body drops down farther and your left hip and torso rotate farther away from the attacker.
Your left hand remains active by keeping control of the attacker’s right hand and remaining connected to your tanden by muscular contraction. Your right arm continues to support pulling the attacker off balance by continuing to press downward and inward toward your tanden. Simultaneously your left hip and torso continue to rotate away from the attacker while the left foot slides backward into kokutsu-dachi. At this point the attacker will have fallen onto the floor.
Your left hand keeps active control of the attacker’s right hand while your right foot slides back and you stand up straight. Your left hand locks the attacker’s wrist joint while your right hand supports the joint lock by either keeping the attacker’s right elbow joint locked straight, or by holding on to the pinky side of the attacker’s right hand and assisting in the joint lock directly. Your hands should be kept close to your body, and in the later case the attacker’s right elbow should be tucked between your knees and locked straight.
This entire technique should be performed with a “feeling” like that of flowing water. If there is a rock in a stream, water does not jump from one side to the other instantaneously. It flows smoothly around the rock, keeping constant pressure on the surface of the rock at all times. This is how this technique should be performed. All movements are fluid, and once you make contact with the attacker, you keep in constant contact with him throughout the rest of the technique, keeping constant pressure on him.
Even though gyaku-zuki and the first movement of Suishu are very different in strategy and execution, the principles of body movement are the same for each. The Suishu movement adds another element into the confrontation equation. You must know how an attacker’s body will react to different techniques so that you can exploit the intrinsic weaknesses in his posture and be able to predict how his body will react when you make contact with him. This way you can blend smoothly with his movement neutralizing his attack, then gain control to manipulate his body to a weaker position for him and a more advantageous position for you.
This is one reason why Shotokan is an art form for thinking people. By understanding the body mechanics of anatomy and physiology, and learning how these principles relate specifically to our own bodies, we can improve the quality of our movement in each of our techniques making them more efficient and more effective.
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