Increasing Punching Power by Opening and Closing The waist area is packed with muscle and potentially will add substantially to your power punching. In karate Senseis often tell you to use your hips but they should really be interested in the waist. After all the hip is no more than a joint between leg and pelvis. There is a lot of muscle working across and around this joint which can contribute to the power...
This post takes a look at the role the deeper core muscles play in connecting the top and bottom portions of the body, i.e. the torso and the legs. This connection is critical if the full potential of power generated is to reach the intended target, because often it is not. Muscles of the Core Muscles are arranged in layers, particularly in the middle of the body, commonly known as the core. At the...
Neko Ashi Dachi usually translates to Cat Stance but that interpretation fails to account for the word Ashi which means foot. So the literal translation is Cat Foot Stance, which suggests that foot is important, how exactly is debatable as whoever named the posture is not around to confirm. Cat Stance for stalking For me it suggests something akin to the outstretched foot of a stalking cat. That should be the emphasis, rather than...
I received an email from someone who read the recent post about Karate stances which mentioned the old old form over function thing. I …… have struggled and struggled with being criticized for not getting low enough. I have done a ton of barbell squat work, wall sits, stance holds,etc. Etc. I just can’t seem to make anyone happy with my cat stance. I am 6′, but have a long torso and short legs....
After years of training in Goju Ryu Karate I needed more than what I was getting, I went out and got it. One of the things that really used to niggle was the insistence on inch perfect stances or dachi in Japanese. All the moving basics that served as stance practice was also irritating and detracting from the good stuff. This involved shuffling around as forcefully as possible from one stance to the next....
Many people, and certainly the press believe that cage fighting is relevant to the street or pub car park! However, it’s good to be reminded that certain aspects of Martial Arts Training are NOT always directly transferable to a self defence assault situation. The following video makes the point in a light hearted manner. Some of this has less relevance in the UK, car jacking is NOT rife over here, if anything it is...
In the last sanchin kata post I looked at the mysterious (to me at least) connection between upper and lower body sections and its importance in punching. Here I intend to use examples from beyond Goju Ryu and Karate to illustrate this connection. As noted this connection is the most important, or prominent, but there are many other lesser connections that need to be contributing to a punch’s delivery, these also should not be...
Sanchin kata can be viewed as many things not least the kata that underpins Go Ju Ryu Karate. This would give the impression that there are lessons in this kata that are worth knowing. Often neglected or completely omitted there is some great stuff to be gleaned from Sanchin if only it were emphasised. Although these days we don’t bother with the kata as a kata as such we definitely do use the lessons...
The phenomenon of ‘sinking’ or dropping your weight was first shown to me by a Go ju ryu instructor in Southampton on a sanchin course I attended many years ago (thanks Mike). I’d gone down there to learn more about the kata that underpins Go Ju ryu Karate. He showed us how the structure of sanchin dachi hourglass stance allows you to drop your weight and make yourself heavier! To ensure that you actually...
My mate sent me this Marius Zaromskis video on Facebook (ta Tommo), it shows the Dream welterweight final between Zaromskis and Jason High. I was watching the clip thinking ‘classic match up between kickboxer and wrestler’ but then BOOM was that sanbon kumite I just saw? I won’t spoil it for you if you’ve not seen it. Marius Zaromskis vs Jason High What a great KO; round kick set up with two feint punches...
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