Few thoughts about relaxation

Relax is not a letting go or collapse, relax is the due amount of tension for the activity.

Think of Usain Bolt, it was measured that with each step he produces reaction from ground equal to 1000lb, that is a lot of power, yet his face appears totally relaxed, he put all the tension where it should be.

I picture sensei Nishiyama’s punch and it is always seem effortless, that is for the same reason, no tension is used that is not contributing for the purpose.

For me the best way to describe it is the right amount (of muscle activation) in the right time in in the right segment.

Sensei Nishiyama used to say “keep your very center and contact area strong and everything in between soft”, and that is also tricky, because he spent a lot of time trying to explain what strong means, it is not tight, it is firm, sometimes Sensei will say “put ki energy in center and contact area and that is it”.

The wrong tension is like pushing the brakes while you are driving, it kills speed; it will create contradictory and extraneous energy.

Bud Winter was at one time the coach of all sprinting events world record holders, he coached his athletes not to extend a 100-percent effort. He claimed and proved that far more can be achieved with a four-fifths effort.

He encouraged athletes to use four-fifths effort and get timed. You will find it faster than 100 percent, even though it will not feel as fast.

How much contraction is necessary? How do we become more relax? In the next article.

UNDERSTAND FUNCTIONAL BODY MOVEMENT

This is not a pure karate article but I believe that is directly related, the more we understand human motion and the latest research of functional movement, the more we can enhance how we move in karate, and also we can condition the body to perform better in karate, and in addition prevent and rehabilitate injuries.

Functional science is based on how the body is designed to move, it is derived from principles of functional bio mechanics, its purpose is to balance the body musculature and posture, to teach the nervous system to recruit muscles in proper sequenced, to improve effective range of motion and strength through these ranges, in short, the purpose is to enhance one’s ability to perform in sports or to enjoy life, and to make the body more resilient to injuries.

Functional conditioning exercises are derived from principles of function:

Principle: Movement is 3 dimensional.

In textbooks Joints are described as uni-axial, bi-axial or tri-axial, this is based on independent motions during nonfunctional movement such as when lying on the therapist bed not considering the influence of gravity, ground reaction and momentum.

All joints move in 3 planes and are 3-D.
In textbooks the knee is described as bi-axial, with saggital (flexion, extension) and transverse (rotational) movement.

In reality as example, during weight bearing function the chain reaction created by gravity and ground reaction when landing creates frontal plane movement at the knee, adduction and abduction or side to side.

This motion of the knee activates the hip muscles, which protects the knee.

This concept is very important to how we create and tweak exercises for improve performance, injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Limitation in one plane of motion in one joint will create compensations usually elsewhere along the kinetic chain.
For example, if hip internal rotation is limited in a golf swing the lumbar spine will have to do more of the rotation and is likely to be strained.

Principle: Movement is driven.

Total body movement is created by forces = drivers.

Physical drivers – gravity, ground reaction force, momentum

Physiological drivers – muscles, ligaments, fascia

Behavioral drivers – pain, fear, guilt

Principle: Movement is chain reaction.

The body is made up of connected parts; a driver affects the entire body.
Example, when your hand moves the ankle will respond, when your eyes move the rest of the kinetic chain will be influenced and follow.

Principle: Movement is subconscious.

The chain reaction occurs in a subconscious level.

Conscious of the task, but not bones, joints, muscles.

The goal is to give a person a task based on the principles of functional science in order to create the desired chain reaction.

Strategies based upon the principles suggest the task to use.

Principle: LOAD and EXPLODE

In order to accomplish any task the body needs to load, movement is required to load the system; the body knows it needs to move opposite the desired movement, you create tasks to produce the desired load.

Failure to accomplish the goal (explode) often is caused by failure to load effectively.

Limitation of motion at one link of the kinematic chain will inhibit the loading chain reaction.

Example: motion blocked at one plane will inhibit motion in 3 planes at multiple joints. Loss of right ankle dorsiflexion will alter the way a squat is performed, knee can’t move forward due to ankle limitation, so the butt must move back to lower the body. Lack of motion to load creates great deficits in spite of good muscle strength.

Principle: optimal posture is where all movement should start

Total body movement is made of multiple segments movement, not isolated movement. Out of optimal posture force can be transfer smoothly through the kinetic chain, muscles will function optimally and joints will have least stress.

For example in the common head forward posture the thoracic spine is hunched , the upper back muscles are over lengthened and the shoulders migrate forward and are out of optimal axis of rotation. Forces cannot transfer smoothly through the thoracic spine to scapula to the shoulder, the shoulder will have to compensate, and it is already out of its axis of rotation.
We must do extension exercises and corrective postural exercise to strengthen the posterior chain muscles, ideally not isolating but zooming on those muscles within total body movement.

Hikite - Pulling hand

Hikite – pulling hand

Hikite is one of the most important yet neglected aspects of the technique.

Most of us concentrate on the result, which is the technique itself, this is what we see and we are end gaining and want results.

Therefore, most people focus on technique side and ignore the hikite side.

When Sensei Nishiyama was testing people we used to joke that for sure one of his comments will be weak hikite".

If you ever tested for 3rd dan by sensei nishiyama and he asked you to correct another student, you would have a sure right answer if you said "weak hikite", 99% of the time.

Hikite is more important than technique hand since the technique hand does not increase speed and range of the body action and is only a result, an expression.

It is the hikite that directly increase the speed and range of motion of the body action and in turn increases energy to technique arm.

The hikite also help increase the contraction of the torso at kime, the technique arm also does so to a lesser degree. Just try for yourself and make body contraction without hikite and see how difficult it is. Therefore, at kime hikite twist and glued to the body.
Notice how the hikite can help you engage the back muscles, if you are in a good posture.
Strong hikite is making a strong base side, where energy is being delivered from.

Attention to the hikite also will center mentally and physically make us more centered, while attention to technique will make us uncentered.

Sensei used to repeatedly scold us, “more strong hikite, hikite, hikite is more important than technique” and usually it followed with the shinai hitting my hand, even if my hand was taped and was obviously injured, sensei would still hit my hand, and believe I can feel the pain till today, so I don’t forget about hikite.

Aiko San told me constantly “both sides of the body have to b used through the center”.

Hikite will balance both side of the body and of course will make for cyclical action, when one technique ends the hikite side helps loading the body for next action.

Aiko San used to stress how the hikite elbow should travel in shortest line, if hikite make circle and travel through a long course, the body action and technique will be slow.
Aiko San also used to stress that the elbow of the hikite side should heavy as if a dumbbell is attached to it to help firm base side.
Generally, try to think of the hikite as the active arm, and the technique side as the passive, receiver.

Be aware of the placement of the hikite, when you place the arm to your side, where the elbow is, that is where your hikite fist should be, for reasons of connecting the body to elbow which is important in any sport, think of tennis, shut put.

Hikite is a learning tool, helping us to learn to connect body to elbow and use both sides of the body through the center, but in reality, and in advanced level, karate technique starts from anywhere, no hikite is needed.

Does it seem that I am contradicting myself? Well when you digest the principles of hikite, you can forget the form yet you will never violate its principles.

Try to play with those points and let me know how it works for you, I hope it will be useful for you.

Tune to opponent, accept the attack, anticipate and hit as he/she moves

Tune to opponent

When facing an opponent, the eyes should be drawn back, see yet not look, monitor don’t judge, be aware of the whole, one idea is to look at the opponent as a shadow, so you don’t get caught in details. The way to perceive the opponent is using the breath to catch the opponent rhythm, or lead the rhythm as one strategizes. The same breath that catches the opponent’s rhythm also creates potential energy in my footwork, which means that the breath and footwork has to match, and that should not be too difficult if one has good basics, since the breath should control the body center, should control the legs and footwork, that should be developed through the kata and basics, so it should be a given.

If one has difficulty following with the breath and you feel that you are behind rhythm, or the legs get heavy and stuck (Itsku), than try to tap dance with your partner, so your feet are catching his rhythm, try to make it as internal as possible, don’t show it on the outside.

I do it whenever I feel. That I am looking too much, over using the eyes, which makes me behind, or when I face small, quick opponent, and have hard time to follow with the breath. Make sure that at any instant you are ready to apply pressure to floor, using breath, center, and feet interaction to initiate technique. Feel as if your feet are one paper space from the floor, which indicates floating (ukimi) and allow for making pressure at any moment.

Accept opponent’s attack

This is one of the most enlightening guidance I received from Aiko San who was second to none in her budo understanding; it changed my view of kumite. When you are tune to the opponent, accept his attack, look at it as your opportunity, because whatever attack he/she will do, the in between space is bigger than when just moving around, a space is open and that is a chance, qio, and you must take advantage of it.

In order to take advantage of the attack one must be comfortable with the opponent attacking, have the feel of “come, come”. Most people are not comfortable with being attacked at full speed, and in that they separate themselves from the opponent, conflicting with opponent, and therefore they either rush to attack themselves, or being confirming, recalculating when being attacked, and therefore behind on the response and counter.

If you accept the opponent’s attack you should be totally relaxed, yet loaded, not sloppy.

Hit the opponent as he move

That is easy if you follow and internalize the first 2 steps described, when opponent move, react with your breath, don’t look and than move, if you see the attack you are too late, when opponent moves your breath and feet are already in motion, as if you are his shadow. We either hit the opponent as he commit or in between techniques, never in same rhythm. We catch the rhythm in order to break the rhythm.

Back heel up or down in gyaku Zuki (reverse punch) at kime? (in kumite)

I am being asked that question by many people so here is the point of view of budo karate, Nishiyama system.

The answer is not so simple and requires understanding the priniples of stance and delivery of force. Basically the answer is heel down, heel firm on the floor, but this is the ideal, the kata and basics show us the optimal.
In basics (kihon) and kata there is no compromise, the heel should strictly be firmly down (unless one is injured), and if one has stiff ankles, the stance should adjusted, shortened so the back heel and outer edge of the foot are firm on the floor.
Now, in kumite (applications), one can violate the form as long as the underlying principles of the kata are not violated.

Lets get into it:
Heel on the floor allows for stronger driving from the back leg and supporting the technique at kime, engaging the back leg fully, back heel down make stronger connection of the back leg to body center, it allows at kime for breath pressure to front foot and reaction of this pressure to back foot, which makes for a cycle of energy, unbroken wheel of energy if you will. This allows for more power transmission, and keeping potential energy, and therefore smooth transition without gaps and initiating even the smallest action from the feet and ground reaction.
Don’t forget that kime should also be best condition to start next technique.
When the back foot is firm on the floor, at kime when we make pressure to floor, there will be no escape, dissipation of energy, and the reaction from this pressure will be absorbed through the kinetic chain and fully delivered to line of technique, whilst if the heel is up some of the pressure will escape.
This might not be important for a boxer or kick boxer since they don’t use the concept of pressure to floor at kime but rely on momentum.
Maybe not even for a sport karate practitioner where the fist or foot reaching the target is considered a scoring point and Todome is not the goal.
When someone throws a baseball, the heel coming off the ground is necessary since it is additional power of the ankle, but there is not reaction force at contact.
For us in karate, pressure is main energy; especially in short space where the luxury of big momentum is not available, and we need to avoid recoil, bouncing at impact.
Sensei Nishiyama had us punching the pads and at impact confirming the back foot receiving pressure back, before transition to kamae.

In reality, sensei Nishiyama was the only person I knew who could keep his foot always firm on the floor even when while shifting. I try very hard, but I admit that sometimes my heel still comes off the floor.

Here is the answer:
We should strive to keep as close to the optimal as possible, but what really important is that we don’t lift the heel so much to the point that the weight and body center shift over to the front foot, since that will make us floating, we will lose the interaction between the feet, and between the feet and the body center, we will lose potential energy and the ability to make pressure to floor.
So even if the back heel comes off the floor slightly, one must make sure to keep the back leg engaged, keep the cycle of energy, pressure from back foot through center to front foot and reaction to back foot which in turn delivers the energy to line of technique. Keep the ability to make pressure to floor with least leaking of energy.
One should make sure to avoid pronation of the back foot (rolling toward the inner edge and lifting the outer edge), avoid over stretch of the back leg, since it will become like an anchor that contradict energy direction rather than support it.
Those faults can also create injury over time.
Keep optimal space between the feet.

Similarly, when talking about posture in basics we want to be upright as possible, but in reality we are not mummies, and sometimes applications require that we lean in certain way, yet, we must keep as close to optimal posture as possible, and even when leaning, we want to keep neutral spine as possible, connection through the kinetic chain, and optimal length for function of all torso musculature.
So once more, the form can be violated as long as its underlying principles are kept.

Observations of AAKF nationals 2011 (Atlanta)

Karate competition is different than other sports, it is based on Shiai –testing each other for future development rather than winning trophies, it is based on one chance win or lose rather than accumulating points and it is only one aspect of karate, a mean and not an end.

The true winner in competition is the one who reflects and take lesson into future training.

If I won any competition, the following day Sensei Nishiyama would never tell me how well I did, but rather point at the many areas that needs work, and he will use the Shinai to help (not so gently) correcting me more than any other day.

It was partially to keep me humble and mainly since competition will magnify your weaknesses and habits so it is a learning opportunity we should not miss.

In the past nationals in Atlanta, some athletes did very well, but karate is limitless and there is always plenty of space for improvements.

I was very proud of the Power brothers who performed beautifully, and even when Barry and Brian had to fight each other they gave it all but with love as brothers.

Shiri, Taichiro, Kamil, marcus, salma and everyone did great and gave it all.

Of course each person has different weak and strong points, but here are some general points that I felt need work:

1.
On the attack, move foot first, body center second and than technique. A lot of times I saw shifting the body center too soon, which makes the initiation slow and expose space for counter. Also it makes it difficult to make pressure and causes floating at kime.

2.
On the Amashi Waza (shifting back using distance and than counter) footwork, the switch from back shifting to forward counter is too slow, and that is for 2 reasons: first, over using the legs, the body center should suspend the legs (ukimi), and move the legs, the legs should be soft and the feet light.
At same token, some people over shift the center, jump back, and create a lot of space between.

3.
Zanshin – most dangerous moment is after kime since we are at optimal distance for our kime, which is usually optimal for opponent if we miss. Many people let go mentally and physically after kime.
In kime as one delivers energy they should also be recharged physically, and have the mental awareness, monitoring.

4. Kime –mainly in the kata kime should be complete, pressure to floor and contraction of total body musculature, to the point that next technique just happens without a choice, effortlessly, as reaction.

Many people transit from one technique to next before completing kime.
Of course, to say that at kime we give all breath, maximum pressure and contraction is general since every kime is different depending on purpose.

5Kumite stategy – many competitors need to think more of making strategy to create chance rather than rush to attack and be faster.
Using the space and distance effectively should be considered more as important part of strategy.
To make strategy and set up, one has to accept the opponent’s attack and be comfortable and confident with the attack and anticipate and capitalize on it.

A budo story about the importance of breath

The following story was one of Sensei Nishiyama (and mine) favorite stories and he told it to us at least every 4,5 months, usually when the focus of training was on breath and timing.

An old sword master had to choose a successor between his 2 top students.

He decided to test them, and the test would be how many times they can cut a falling water drop.

They had a week to prepare, and they both train very hard, all day.

The first student practiced over and over, actually cutting a falling water drop.

The second student did not touch the sword; he practiced “cutting” the falling water drop with his breath and imagination.

Guess who won the test…you are right! At the day of the test the student who practiced cutting with the breath won and became the successor.

On the one hand we say that breath initiates the technique, and on the other breath catches the opponent’s rhythm and reaction is by breath, so reaction and action are one.

It is not as simple as that since breath is at top of the pyramid, and to get to the level that we can initiate and control all aspects of technique with breath and intention, there are lots of skills that have to be acquired.

The breath has to match and control internal muscle action and external body action and technique, it has to initiate action as chain reaction from the ground up, using optimal stance and posture and all parts of kinetic chain are linked. It has to use the right amount of motion and muscle action in the right time, from start to kime.

And only when all those skills are digested we can talk about breath reaction, which means, by passing the brain, not over analyzing and judging, which cause over information, than doubt, hesitation, unstable emotion.

Only when we allow breath reaction we can see the information that is available before the opponent even moves, we can catch his intention, allowing the natural breath reflex to work for us will also heightened our sensitivity, and ultimately bring us to level of “not knowing – yet knowing”. Seeing the opponent action is too late.