Training Tips
As part of my monthly club newsletters I have written several articles as an aid to training and I thought that I would collect these together and present them here so that these ‘pearls of wisdom’ are available to a wider audience. These are not intended to be in-depth articles examining all aspects of a concept or technique. More simply they are in-class guides to focus or to help you get a better feel for your karate. I hope you find some of these ideas useful.
Rear Foot Angle
To do karate well requires a degree of suppleness in the joints, particularly the ankle joints. Keeping the feet flat on the ground is essential to good karate and this is only possible if the ankles are loose and flexible. The ankles are what help transmit the push from the floor into a strong forward drive of the hips. ‘Loose ankles’ also allow the knee and hip joints greater flexibility, especially whilst moving in low stance and during kicking. Ideally, whilst in forward stance both feet should be pointing to the front. Most students get the front foot pointing in the correct direction but tend to overlook the rear foot position. It pays to look down at your rear foot periodically and ensure you don’t have it at 90-degrees. Training with the rear foot pointed forward like this creates a pull on the Achilles’ tendons that over the months results in elongation of the calf muscles. Forcing the rear foot into a forward direction will also develop a feel for the foot position needed in side kicks and back kick. You might have to shorten your stance a little to achieve the correct foot positions. Persevere and you will notice improvement over time.
Mae-Geri Foot Angle
To get the correct foot angle for mae-geri (front kick) sit on the floor facing a wall with your legs out straight in front of you. Place the soles of your feet flat against the wall. Next push yourself backwards so that your heels lift away from the wall as they can but the balls of your feet remain in contact. Finally try pulling your toes back still keeping the balls of your feet on the wall. Hey presto, perfect foot position. Once you know what it feels like try taking one foot off the wall, let it relax then try and placing it back in the exact same position. Repeat this 10 times with each foot. Finally try the same thing from standing. Remember, keep your foot as relaxed as possible during the kick and only tense it to the correct angle just before you make contact. That way you avoid unnecessary tension in the calf and thigh muscles which otherwise act to slow down the snap of the kick.
Angles Of Attack
Angles of attack are very important in karate. Taking shuto-uchi (knife-hand strike) as an example; this technique involves the hand cutting down at a 45-degree angle. This technique appears in many kata from Heian Shodan onwards. Why would the ‘masters’ have wanted us to practice this so often if it were not so important a technique? As you progress in karate you will begin to understand that many of the moves in kata end up bringing your opponent to their knees, with their neck exactly aligned for a strike at your chest height. Think again about the angle and height at which you perform Shuto-uchi in kata. They match exactly, don’t they? This means that if you practice this movement frequently so that it becomes a reflex-action you will automatically have an effective technique that can be used in a variety of self-defence situations.
The Paradox Of No First Attack
There is a paradox in karate built on the fundamental principle that there is no first attack. By this, Gichin Funakoshi meant that the art of karate is so deadly that we should not initiate any confrontation. This is often misinterpreted to mean that we should wait until we are hit before we fight back. If we think again about what an attack is, I think you will agree that if someone is screaming obscenities in your face and threatening to hit you that an attack of sorts has already begun. It is at this point that you should react with your skills. If your adversary gets in with his first attack that gives him a big advantage, leaving you reeling or worse. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have lost the fight but it’s always better to get off to a good start. How far would you let somebody push you before you let them have it? Would you take the first hit? I hope not.
Yoko-Geri Training Tip
To get the perfect leg position for yoko-geri-kekomi (side thrust kick) face a wall or table etc and hold onto it with both hands. Stand in forward stance with your back leg straight. Without rotating the hips or shoulders lift your rear leg upwards to about knee height. Finally look down your leg without turning your body and you will be in the perfect position for this kick. Slowly place the leg back down and repeat this 10 times on each side raising the leg a little higher each time. Getting the right movement is a combination of muscle strength, body position and feeling the technique. This exercise gives you all three.
Some Reasons For Low Stance
Balance is crucial to most sports but so too is stability. In karate there are times when we need to move fast and light at these times the stance is held relatively high. At other times we need to develop a good push or solid punch and it helps if the stance is deep and low. Students new to karate need to constantly check the height and width of their stance so that they are in a strong position of balance. You can think of the movement between stances as a time when you are less balanced and less stable. So it is important to be able to shift from one stance to another quickly and automatically. As you do longer and more complex combinations your legs will tire more quickly so it is important to strengthen the legs so that they can cope. The best way of doing this is to stay in low stance at all times and not to keep coming up and relaxing. Boxers have effective stances that get the job done but these are not necessarily deep and low. Low stances are mainly for conditioning the legs rather than being effective in a fight situation. Not too sure then check out any major tournament champion from Brennen to Kagawa? How many of them remain in a deep zenkutsu-dachi throughout the fight?
Side Snap Kick Vs Side Thrust Kick
The preparatory mechanics for side snap kick and side thrust kick are performed identically. Of the two kicks people tend to find thrust kick harder to master. The key to mastering thrust kick is to get your snap kick working first. Start with your foot in the correct position so that it resembles a knife-edge held parallel to the ground. Aim to strike with the outer, upper, side edge of your foot, nearer to the ankle where the foot is stronger than nearer your toes. You can use a cushion propped up against a wall to practice getting the strike angle correct. Stand as upright as you can with your arms relaxed by your side as you kick. Beginners can start by holding the kicking leg at calf height whilst intermediate students should start the kick from the knee of the supporting leg and return it back to the same spot. Ensure that once you have the start position you do not move the upper leg when snapping out your lower leg. Once you have a fluid and consistent action try for a little more height and checking you are still making contact with the heel-edge of your foot rather than your toe-edge. Once you can perform this kick competently you can develop it into a thrust kick by turning your supporting foot anti-clockwise through 90-degrees from its start position, so that it ends up pointing in the opposite direction from that of the kicking leg. Just before the leg fully extends push your backside in the direction of the kick This will then turn the snap into a thrust. You might need to lean away from the kick a little more as you push your backside in. Bring your hands onto your hips as you push to facilitate a strong thrusting action. The leg should only ‘lock’ momentarily. As the leg comes back to its starting position simultaneously regain your upright posture as this is essential if you are to regain your ‘balance point’ quickly for the next move. Advanced students should add on a reverse punch at this point as this will give you an indication of how well balanced you are. If everything is well timed you should feel as if one move flows smoothly into the other with no ‘wait time’ between the two techniques.
Dropping Your Centre
Balance is very important when delivering any technique. The lower we get our bodies to the ground the more stable we become. One way of achieving this is by having a long, low stance. However the drawback of being too low is that you cannot move easily. A better way of achieving stability is by flexing the legs to lower your centre. Bent legs also mean that you can push from the floor and move quickly when you need to. If you stand with both your legs straight you automatically raise your centre of gravity, losing stability and the ability to move quickly. Try to imagine you are lifting a heavy weight or pushing a heavy object and try to stand as you would when you attempt to do either of these things. You naturally drop your weight and bend the legs. During your training keep checking your stance and aim for a low centre rather than a low stance.
Self-Checking: The Key To Improvement
The key to continuous improvement is self-checking your own technique. There are obviously many points that could be considered for any given move however if you pay attention to just two to start off they will help you improve much faster. The first is foot position. Feet play an important part in providing a stable stance they also determine the degree of hip rotation that can be achieved during techniques. In front stance always try to get your front and rear foot pointing in the same direction. In back stance always try to get your heels in line and in horse riding stance ensure that your toes and heels are in-line and that your feet are parallel to each other. Once you have your feet sorted start to think about your hip position. As a rule the hips should be turned fully side on (hanmi) with blocking technique and you should keep them square (shomen) during punching techniques. With practice you should be able to get the hips to snap between the relevant positions as quickly as possible as you develop your combinations.
Developing Speed & Power
The key to effective technique is speed and power. The faster you can move your body, arms and legs the more power you will be able to get into your kicks, punches and blocks. Speed is obtained by concentrating on two basic elements, one being effort and the other relaxation. To develop effort it helps if you pretend you have a real opponent standing in front of you. Next imagine that they can move away really quickly so that you have to move very fast to catch them before they are out of range
The second important element is relaxation. As you try to punch harder there is a tendency to tense up, especially in the shoulders. To get the feeling of relaxed arm movement imagine that you are trying to catch a fly as it buzzes around the room. Your best chance of achieving this is when you keep your shoulder and arm muscles as relaxed as possible during the attempt. During kicking try to keep your upper body as relaxed as you can with your elbows down and close to your body. Raising the arms means that you have to tense unnecessary muscles. You do not want this tension to creep to other muscles as it acts as an inhibitor to fluid action.
Lastly, try to use arms and legs with the same feeling (not technique) that you get when you are throwing something a long distance. Try to combine effort, relaxation, flow and snap and only think about applying kime at the last instant.
Pushing Yourself To Higher Standards
As I visit clubs and attend courses around the UK I am aware of how many people seem to coast through the lessons not really pushing themselves to higher standards. One very simple way to train harder is to try and stay in a low, deep stance when performing basic technique. Try to ignore the discomfort and continue to check foot alignment and front knee position. The accumulative effect of doing this will be to strengthen the muscles of the legs specifically for the performance of karate technique. The result will be that your endurance will increase meaning that you can perform more repetitions before fatigue sets in. You should also notice your karate becoming more dynamic and powerful. If you make this part of your class attitude you will be one step ahead of the majority of students.
Repetition Vs Correctness Of Technique.
You have all heard the expression “practice makes perfect” On one level this is true. Perhaps this phrase should be modified to “practicing perfection leads to perfection” Simply repeating exercises without any thought or attention to detail doesn’t always produce the results you want. Indeed it can be counterproductive as incorrect practice leads to picking up bad habits that which can be difficult to correct. It’s much better to practice a technique as well as you possibly can 10 times rather than repeating it 1000 times incorrectly. My job as an instructor is to inform students of the mechanics of techniques i.e. the subtle ways that they can move their bodies to maximize speed and power etc. The student’s job is to concentrate on what their body is doing in class and try to implement the instructor’s requests The problem is that at any one time there is simply too much to concentrate on. Rather than trying to focus on the whole technique try isolating one or two components each class and just work on them. For example you might say to yourself ”Today whilst in front stance I am going to try and keep my centre low to the ground and ensure that my back foot faces as much forwards as I can” If you do this regularly and keep checking during the class this action will become adopted into your unconscious technique avoiding the need for such frequent checks and attention. This then leaves you free to focus on some other aspect of your training and in this way you make progress. Some skills and habits can be put quickly into place; others might take weeks or months before they are performed automatically. It goes without saying that no instructor can do this part for you. If you want to achieve noticeable progress you have to be responsible for your own development.
