PRINCIPLES - TECHNIQUES

impact

Naoki Ishikawa - Hironori Ohtsuka - Jiro Ohtsuka - Teun Tromp during seminar Netherlands 1977. H. Ohtsuka explaining Newton's law

Impact has a only a few features. Mass and speed. If you multiply them you will get impact. The mass, as presented in the formula, must be a unity. If the mass is not a unity the formula is not optimally used and thus impact decreases. Imagine a strong built car hitting an object with a certain speed. Now imagine the same car hitting an object at the same speed, but the car being very fragile. This would definitely decrease the impact, since it doesn’t connect the object as one. In karate you should hit the opponent with your whole body, as if you are one. So don’t punch with the fist alone, making your body parts adding up to 4, 2 legs and 2 arms. No, strike as being one, with the whole body. I just thought about an other example. Imagine a pudding and a rock, but the same mass, you can imagine the rock being more hard having a harder impact, as the pudding would just spread over the object. My reason of these examples is the note the importance of correct muscle contraction.

So correct impact is ensured if you use the following:
- Mass
o Forward moving energy into the opponent.
o Muscle contraction.
- Speed
o Hip movement (no hipmovement, no speed results)
o Relaxed movement (only use maximum power/contraction at impact)

Add al these and execute as a whole.

MASS.
As presented in the explanation of junzuki, you should transfer the energy as the forward moving body (foot) grips the floor, else all forward movement will be lost in the ground. This exact moment you should release all the energy at once into the opponent. This moment of transfer and the moment between gripping and gripped the floor is very short, so use caution. A way to start feeling this timing you should have a relatively high stance. Then drop forward into a deep stance, giving yourself plenty of time to calculate the moment of gripping the floor and executing the technique. You can do this with or without a makiwara. Use the gravity to add more (moving) weight/mass in your attack. Bottom line is that you have to use the energy of the forward moving mass whenever you are able to use it. Use the gravity accordingly.

SPEED:
The actual factor of speed doesn’t kill anyone. Speed is only useful if it can multiply the mass as presented above. Still, without speed you will not gain much result. If you punch only with the arm you won’t have any speed results, therefore use cut the hip to accelerate the punch or kick.

The moment and amount of impact is decided by the factors mentioned above. But the actual moment of energy transfer it is “not all about “power” or “strength” but rather a sharpness in ones punch that matters the most.” As stated in Mr. H. Ohtsuka’s book.