Striking Form: Movement 1: Reverse Punch and Roundhouse Kick

Hi, everyone! :)

It is said that a picture is better than a thousand words.

I think that one thing which is better than a picture is a moving picture.

Like I have said earlier- the striking form is pretty much straightforward where its applications are concerned. That is the thing about striking moves in forms- you can easily see what they are meant to represent. The openings for interpretation usually lie with blocks, parries and grappling moves.

Oh! And then you do get that bunkai researcher/ analyst that will give you some non-striking applications for apparent striking moves...  

Well- none of that stuff is going to happen over here. This the creator of this kata speaking and he knows very well what he had intended when he put these movements together.

First thing that I want to say about this form before I get on to discuss today's movement is:

The first 3 knife hand blocks in the form were only meant to place you in a kamae or ready position from which the combinations could be launched. In the discussions on the applications of this movement and the next you will not even see any mention of the block.

So- even though the form shows the movement like this, featuring the knife hand block in cat stance, you get a discussion on what is shown in the gif above.

 This particular combination is not strange to Karate students. In both styles that I used to study this particular combination was part of the kihon that we practiced in class on a regular basis. Well- more in Shukokai than in Shotokan...

I think the first thing this combination ought to teach you is that retreating in a straight line is a bad idea. A lot of Karate people can execute this combination without thinking and it is not uncommon to retreat in a panic with your eyes fixated on the pair of hands in front of you when you suddenly feel a sharp pain in the side of your head.

Ironically- retreating a lot seems to be more a thing with points fighting styles than it is with full contact or knockdown styles of martial arts sports.

I have trained in both and for a long time I was used to fighting people that did not run away. When I started taking part in points competitions, though, I realised that I was not good at chasing people. 

This particular combination is designed to help with that. You lunge in with your reverse punch. The moment you feel empty air instead of chest when the punch has reached its furthest point the foot shoots past your body to give the retreating opponent a slap against the head.

This combination will be a lot slower if your punch is executed with the upper body leaning into the punch as we often found with boxers or fighters that incorporate boxing into their fighting style. As is the norm with traditional Karate- the punch is driven by the hips. This hip rotation and push with the hips already put the body in position to execute the kick in the smoothest, most effortless way possible. In some Muay Thai fights you can see the fighter throwing the punch as a boxer would, leaning into the punch and then readjusting the body to get the hips to push ahead. With training you can develop the ability to do all that really fast, but you will exert a lot more effort that way.

In another scenario the punch itself is not committed, but rather a feint, which can also be slow and obvious. By the time the opponent's brain has registered that there is a punch heading towards his chest or face he should be getting a hard blow to the side of his head.

And... that is about as much as I have to say about this movement...

I have already taken the videos for next week's gif. Hope you will enjoy it! :)

Until next week- train well!