Discover Top Posts Tagged with #karate training

I got this today! :D New brown belt, I'm happy!!! It was hard but I did it and sensei said good things about me so it's great. Still a lot to learn and improve!

#budoblr #shotokan karate #karate training #karate #happy #brown belt test

Italia at the WKSA mondial karate championship 2017 in Treviso

#gif #karate italia #WSKA #karate competitions #kumite #kata #traditional kumite #karate training

Transcending speed of technique

I was always impressed with the movie kuro obi (black belt) in one scene where the antagonist is teaching his students and he shows a student the power of karate. He executes a shuto to the student’s neck, executing with such precision, speed, and power, and stopping just as he touches the neck. (https://youtu.be/v6Xjcs6_vVk?t=30m50s) The technique was instantaneous and with a noticeable snapping sound. This made an impression on me to the power of karate. I’ve thought about this much over the years of karate training and I believe I have an answer to executing such a technique.

Many people try to increase the speed of their technique by applying more force and power into the technique. Tensing their body more. This will only increase the tension in your muscles and make it more difficult to execute. It takes much more force to move a stiff tree than a soft twig. The trick is to have your body like a soft twig. A twig snaps quickly. I will explain this further ahead.

When you get to a point where you are comfortable in your technique in its execution, the movement, and it starts to become second nature, you have a solid understanding of body connection and flow of energy (energy from floor transfer through body and into your technique), and techniques become fluid and easy (I would say this is probably at brown belt level or higher), then you are ready to add your ultimate speed. Speed which transcends your body’s boundaries. This can only come from practicing hundreds of techniques so that your body is used to the movement, and it must be natural.

I don’t purport to say that there is some kind of magic or special power involved in making lightning fast techniques, but there is a proper method to its execution. It’s always said in karate that tension and relaxation of the body is important, and this principle is important in executing fast techniques. The simple idea is that the body must remain completely soft (or as soft as possible) before and during the technique, with maximal tension and power upon contact or at the complete finish of the move. While this seems like a simple principle, it is counterintuitive to remain completely limp while executing a fast and powerful technique, but it is possible with focus and training. Imagine the difference between swinging a log and a twig. A log comes with much force, but is very slow and requires vast amounts of energy. A twig is fast, and snaps, and is almost effortless. Now imagine the twig become like a log at the instant of contact. It has all the benefits: speed, effortlessness, snap, and power.

For execution of technique, I think of this as using your foot’s contact with the floor as your “on switch”. Once you use your contact to the floor (which contains almost unlimited amounts of potential energy) to “steal” the energy and transfer it into motion, the energy must find its most efficient path through your body to the point of contact (knuckle at opponents jodan, inside of hand haito neck, etc.…). This takes practice of learning this technique and must be practiced first slowly so that you can feel the energy transfer from floor to point of contact in technique. The minimizing of all this energy into one small point increases the power multiple fold. The energy must find the shortest path to the target because: the longer the energy is in your body, the more energy is lost to friction (muscles, joints, etc.…), and using the principle of physics work = force X distance (W = Fd) the more distance from floor to technique requires more work, and we want to conserve energy in karate. Also, work/distance = force (W/d = F), so the lower the distance, the more force per work is created. Once you learn the more efficient path and feeling of the energy transfer, you can start adding speed of technique, and with this keeping a limp body. Imagine yourself completely like jello, that your body is so soft that you’re barely adding enough muscle stiffness to stand, and then muscle tension 0 --> 100% upon contact.

While the trick of a completely limp body with efficient energy transfer will give you fast techniques. Very fast techniques. Yet, even further this can be transcended. The above principle(s) rely on the body and physical nature (laws of physics). The technique can be limited by your attention to the execution of the technique. Here the trick is to work on the mind. The mind can be a limiting reagent in the reaction of bodily kinetics. What this means is that once you have learned your maximal bodily capacity, you can further increase your karate technique by focusing or freeing your mind. Just like keeping your body limp, you must keep your mind limp. I will explain this in the next passage.

How does one keep their mind limp? Easy – don’t think about the technique, “Just do it”. Once you’ve reached the point where you must work on your mind, your body has already mastered, or very well adapted the physical principles I mentioned are important in execution of technique (efficient transfer of energy, limp body, etc…). So you should be able to execute a technique without even thinking, and that’s the trick. Don’t think about your technique. Don’t think about adding speed. Don’t think about moving faster. The only thing you should focus on is hitting the “on switch” of your technique (stealing floor’s potential energy) and finishing the technique on your target. Anything in between is unimportant and will slow down your mind. A quick mind can execute quick technique. Here’s what must be done: you must think of two things only: hitting your “on switch” and your hand being at the target. Don’t think of moving your hand to the target, put your hand at the target. Imagine the technique has already landed before you even know it has landed. Imagine your body has just “appeared” where it was supposed to go. Your prior experience should be a sufficient prerequisite to the success of the technique. This is a bit difficult to explain but what it results in is that you have no knowledge of how you executed your technique you just know you’ve acquired some of the floor’s energy and that your technique is now on the target. All you really simply do is imagine your hand at your target, and its there! The only two things in your mind for an instant is grabbing the floor’s energy (switching “on”), and 100% tension when you feel the technique land/execute correctly. It should feel like a lightning bolt.

While I said that this is not magic, it isn’t. But when executed correctly it does feel like magic because your mind cannot process information as fast as your technique is able to move. It’s almost as if your technique teleported to where you willed it. You only really know that your technique landed where it was supposed to. By doing this, every other intervening thought which can slow your mind is cut out. You don’t imagine the energy transfer through your body, you simply will this energy at your target. It’s a mind-over-matter principle: the matter doesn’t mind, only the mind matters. The mind transcends the body’s limiting laws. The body is limited by speed of neural transmissions, but thought doesn’t necessarily. In the instance when I throw the techniques I don’t think about the move, I only know that the move has landed where it was supposed to. This practice also allows you to focus less on body dynamics, and allows you to focus more precisely where your technique is going to land. It frees up the mind’s resources so that you can focus on where your technique is going, and increase your awareness. I amaze myself every time I throw these techniques because they just seem to “appear” where I willed them to go. It’s almost feels like I’ve cultivated some kind of mystical power. But, this is just the power of karate.

Osu

“Keep your body limp, and your mind limper”.

#karate #shotokan #speed of technique #karate training #transcending physical boundaries #lightning fast technique #fast punch #speed #martial arts #physics of karate

Kata

Budo - The Martial Way Kata (in Japanese), the solo exercise central to traditional Oriental martial arts. Different languages and cultures use differing terms, but they all the mean the same thing : Form. Which means the way something *is*. To form, to create the martial art with your mind by using your body to create its actions.

#martial arts #traditional karate #kungfu #kung fu #karate #karatedo #karate training #goju ryu karate #gojuryu #budo #budoblr #Youtube

Self Defence

Defence is way more than just kicking and punching. It doesn't have to be complicated. Here is a lovely illustration of some other components. First, calmness. Next, awareness. Then, timing along with commitment. Lastly, improvisation.

#martialarts #selfdefense_ #karatedo #karate #gojuryu #gojuryukarate #gojuryukaratedo #kungfu #combat #combatives #traditionalmartialarts #mma #rbma