LDK = Loose, Drop-y, Kime

In today's training I did two repetitions each of Nijyushiho, Chintei, Sochin, Meikyo, and Bassai Sho. One of the many gifts my karate teachers gave me was a mental approach, a method for self-training and continuous learning. It might have been Shunsaku Kogo Sensei years ago at the University of Wisconsin's Madison Japanese Karate Club where I started the shotokan journey in 1977, or it might have been Dick Schultz Sensei. Or, it could have been Chris Smaby Sensei or Joe Gonzalez Sensei. It might have been Hidetaka Nishiyama Sensei.

But the method I used in today's kata practice traces back to one or maybe all of them. With each repetition, the instructor would ask us to deliberately think about one aspect, such as breathing. During the next repetition, we were asked to think about low stance, the next repetition, looseness. But what I loved in the approach was the challenging invitation to bring what was emphasized from the previous repetition into the present performance. Thus, we were asked to build proper kata, step by step. That was challenging, especially around the fifth or sixth repetition.

Let's see, as I do this kata, I should remember to keep low, squeeze and expand, visualize opponents, kime during impact then relax into flow, spirit first technique second, keep eyes up, pointed where you want your body to go.

Today I only did two reps per kata. The first rep I tried to be loose and drop-y, sort of like Rick Hotton Sensei's emphasis on the "letting your weight just drop into the floor" feeling, and what Ohta Sensei looks like when he does kata. On the second repetition, I tried to bring the loose, drop-y feeling along into the performance of the movements with kime, focus. I love that that Japanese noun comes from the verb "kimeru," to decide. Today, I decided to put kime in ten kata.

Hiki-te

Iain Abernethy put out a video clip last week forcefully arguing that the pullback hand (hikite) in karate is primarily intended as a grabbing, pulling, and twisting motion, not for power generation.

He uses logic and authoritative sources to support his claim. Boxers do not use hikite in their punching. He sites Gichin Funakoshi's Karate-Do Kyohan: The Master Text. "Pulling-in Block (Hiki-te). This technique is a variation of the hooking block. In blocking the opponent's attacking fist, grasp the opponent's fist and attack while pulling him inward. His balance broken, the effectiveness of his attack is lost and that of the counter-attack enhanced. A pulling motion coupled with a twist is much more effective here than a straight pulling motion (Figure 34)." p. 22.

I remember a seminar in Wisconsin many years ago in which to demonstrate the power boost of hiki-te, the instructor asked us to imagine throwing a rock, first with non-throwing arm dangling at our side, then again using natural movement. The pull-back seemed natural.

I suspect that hiki-te is both. It does have grabbing and pulling application, Mr. Abernethy's main interest, but I think the physics of human motion also play a part as power booster. Besides, my three years of boxing training showed me quite clearly that the twist for both jabs and counter punches with the right hand involved twisting and pulling non-punching side of the body backward. Perhaps not straight back, but a counter-rotation nonetheless.