What happens if you take away kihon (basics)





Very soon my number 1 Japanese friend and Senpai Miki Yamaguchi is going to grade for her Nidan, or Second Degree Black Belt for those of you who do not do Karate.

Image result for karate kihon

We have spoken a lot about her training and what is required of her in the upcoming grading for the last two months now. One thing that comes up with every conversation is how much work her Senseis (yes- she trains with at least 3 every week!) say there needs to be done on her kihon or basics.



Now- Karate and Kung Fu people can relax- I am not talking to you now. We know very well why this is important.

To those, however, that are quick to say that it is useless to spend time on these "fixed forms" and "rigid techniques" and probably also that they won't work in the cage or- yeah, you know it, on the street- I think there is something you should know about original Asian martial arts.



You see- the number 1 thing that I got reminded of quite recently is that the bodies and minds of many untrained people are simply not suited for fighting.

Moves like what we see in videos like these do not come naturally.

https://youtu.be/EqR3nrT6OGY

Hell! From what I have seen lately not even punching properly comes natural to a lot of people...

Fortunately- the body has a way to adapt to become suitable for the work that you give it to do.

At first many of the stances you are made to adopt feel uncomfortable, but later on you will not only become comfortable adopting these stances, but also find that you can move to and away (and in some cases even around) your opponent with great ease.

My number 1 fault to find with the attacks of an untrained individual that claims to hit really hard (and probably does...) is that a lot of energy goes to waste in delivering those blows.

After a long while of learning the proper technique for punching and kicking with kihon training and then repeating these techniques over and over again over years of time you start realising that your attacks have become a lot more efficient.

Grappling arts are not excluded from this either. My favourite grappling art in this world is Aikido.

Image result for aikido

Why I like it more than Judo is because it spends a lot more time on teaching proper stance, posture and overall technique than Judo seems to do these days.

An uninitiated observer may think that getting flipped over with a flick of the wrist is a load of BS, but if you took the time to actually learn the technique you'd realise how little many non-martial arts trained people know about body mechanics.

To obtain that ability, however, requires a lot of practice in that seemingly boring aspect of the art...

To take things further, though-

In learning Shaolin Kung Fu and Taijiquan you may find that without qigong and what we call "force training" your movements would feel useless and would most likely be as well.

Image result for kungfu force training


I have found that repeated practice of Karate kihon can actually give the same benefits of Shaolin force training. This goes for kata as well. 


Image result for kungfu force training


Taolu (what kungfu people call kata) is already known as a means of force training. Still- although Karate's kata provides similar benefits and in some cases even incorporates the same type of breathing (which is important from a qigong point of view), I have not seen anyone yet who wrote about this aspect of kata yet or even acknowledged that it exists. This particular as pect is real enough in Karate, though. Ask Goju Ryu student who has learnt Sanchin kata at a registered Goju Ryu dojo how that kata gets practiced in class and you will know what I mean.

No! Wait! We have Youtube, right?

Just look here:

  https://youtu.be/amMD5IbxgFI

Didn't take me long to find that...


Kung Fu - A Chinese Martial Art



What you have seen in the video is very similar to how Chinese martial artists develop the ability known as "Iron Shirt" by which the body can receive blows without injury.

It does not happen after a day, though.

Besides that-

Regular kihon training simply makes your techniques look a lot better.

No offence to any of the students appearing in the first of the next two videos, but you can't argue with the difference between this-

 https://youtu.be/mpNq6qa3s9w

and this-

https://youtu.be/6NUs8Lmn1sA


So- if you feel that kihon is unnecessary, outdated or maybe just too much of a bother to spend time on- I will always differ, because martial arts without it just looks crappy...


Well- that's it from me today. Enjoy the weekend and have a great week ahead!








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blindfold training

Image
Now here's something I have not yet written about. :D I have been interested in the Zen side of Japanese martial arts since the age of 16. It was about at this age when I began with Qigong as well. As a young karateka back then I did not have the confidence, strength or aggression of my classmates and looking back- I think it was a good thing. Because of that classes scared me. Now- had it not been to exposure to the mental training techniques provided to me by Zen- I would not have seen this hostile dojo environment as the ideal testing grounds for the things I have read. This is one major factor to which I attribute my development as a martial artist. One very important training tool that has always served me well and that continues to do so to this dat is Zen Meditation. This, in itself, has provided me with a number of benefits about which I can write in detail. One of those- was the development of intuition and sensory acuity. It is actually wonderfu...
Read more

Tai Chi Movement #3- Wave Hands like Clouds

Image
I have just started searching for examples of this movement on the internet and realised that among all the people doing Tai Chi out there I might just be the only one who would apply Cloud Hands the way I do. I have found different variations of the movement itself as well. This makes my writing about my version and its application a bit unfair as you will be missing out on some really elaborate applications. Now- how I always did this movement is starting from a posture like the Lute Playing posture like the picture below- or the Spread Wings posture like this: From either one of these ready postures I then rotate my front foot and let my body follow while my leading hand makes contact with an imaginary thrust and I then complete the rotation by passing the attack while I guide its force past me with minimal effort and my free hand follows the blocking hand to wind up for an outward strike. When the rotation and step is complete I shift weight ...
Read more

Learning a Martial Art- some basic guidelines

Image
I think we have by now come across a couple of people who are studying some martial art or the other on their own. Back when I tried doing it at the age of 10 I used a book and later more books followed. Well- even after I did join an actual dojo more books followed even then... People are quick to say that you can't learn a martial art from a book. That is understandable. I for one know that you can't work as a lawyer if you have only gotten your law degree. In fact- few people feel as incompetent as a bright graduate starting out as a candidate at a law firm. The main reason why martial arts can't be learnt by reading alone is that experience plays a large part in developing the skills that any martial art has to offer. Knowledge is not enough. Nonetheless- self study is possible. We may argue about to which extent, but the history of Chinese and Japanese martial arts feature instances where people studied a scroll or a f...
Read more