TECHNIQUES - KIHON

purpose of
kihon

Kihon is a traditional method to practise Karate technique. Many people see kihon as the originator of kumite, but this is a wrong perception. Kihon means basic. From the basics you will improve to kata, partner exercises called yakusoku gumite and eventually to sparring or jiyu gumite. Off course you can misjudge easily and think therefore kihon is the originator of kumite. But actually it is vice versa. Karate was born from the idea of selfdefense that originates from the fight. Learning to defend yourself is better learned if it is repeated training. Therefore Kata was created. Kata is a fight against multiple opponents. In Kata the techniques are practised in a continuous matter. Kata is to isolate but the techniques were not separate, but continuous. So, Kihon training allowed the Karateka to practise the techniques of the Kata separately. Much later many teachers started experimenting with yakusoku gumite and Jiyu gumite. Hironori Ohtsuka sensei of Wado Ryu was actually the one responsible for the basic rules of our present-day competition.

Kihon is an extraction from Kata. Like Kata, Kihon is a training to learn (for example) how to use speed, power, timing, balance and have a correct posture. In kihon it is therefore important to focus on these points. I like to compare it to fitness. A basic idea of fitness is to isolate a certain muscle group that you like to train by body posture and correct body movement. A device that claims to make you the next Arnold Schwarzenegger within a few weeks and only one workout that covers the whole body is thus nonsense. (Be careful, there are actually dojos to claim similar!) In Karate it is the same to me. If you don’t isolate movement you will never learn it correctly. Kata already isolates many aspects, but extracting these techniques and practising them alone (in fact creating small kata) can focus on typical points of that technique. One technique can be incorporated in many different kinds of practise, each time focussing on different aspects of the technique. Also, students will have problems with typical aspects of technique. It would be better to make them repeat a method that focusses purely on that problem.

Traditional kihon training focuses on the correct execution of the techniques. Since the purpose of a punch is to knock somebody out, one of the most important point of tsukiwaza is the point of impact. The point of impact is the moment of energy transfer. To learn how to transfer your energy and thus have the correct timing of relaxation – contraction, using the weight in the punch and the forward movement all at the same time, there should be an “end” after every execution. This “end” is very difficult to explain, I think you should feel it yourself. This “end” is always there if you transfer your energy. Make sure to cut off the power at the last point of the technique, this is called nuki. To feel this energy and controlling it at the moment of impact the best is to have a stop in your body movement, in Kihon! This stop ensures you to isolate this moment.

Look at pinan nidan for example. The first movement is to learn how to use gravity (therefore mahanmi neko ashi dachi). In reality it is more logic to twist the body too, in any appropriate direction at that time but to isolate the use of gravity this is not incorporated to this movement. The twist is isolated in pinan sandan and pinan godan in the first movement. Therefore shomen neko ashi dachi, zenkutsu dachi would be turning too, but with much use of change of weight. Anyway, that should be in the kata analysis part.. What I want to show you with this example is the isolated practise versus the practical use.

Like I illustrated it would be more logic in reality to twist to in the first movement of pinan nidan. This would be a practical approach. This should be practised too. Let’s look at junzuki. A term used in kihon is ayumi ashi. This means a 'step' forward with the hind foot, not moving the front foot from its place. There is also tsugi ashi (some might use other terms) wich means that you have to slide with the hind foot. This can be seen in Tobikomizuki. Does kihon junzuki have more impact then kihon tobikomizuki? Tobikomizuki uses tsugiashi. Practically (wich is the goal) there is no difference in energy transfer (witch is the goal) using tsugiashi or not. Not using it is just a form of isolation. Using it can be a point of focus too, but for kihon don’t do it. Though I feel for kihon it is not really incorrect, I teach my students to keep their heels to the floor and not to use tsugiashi. Some talented students maybe don’t need it to focus on this technique, but you can never tell.

Like I said in the beginning all originates from the fight, so actually using tsugiashi is much more realistic. I teach my students the original kihon and my own adjusted kihon practise that focuses on tsugiashi and hikite/hikiashi (pulling back of the fist/leg). Also, this applies to kicking techniques in particular, I focus on going over the centre of gravity when kicking. In traditional kihon you try to keep the balance by kicking when you are above the centre of gravity. The other training is more practical and focuses on forward body movement.