A joyful and prosperous new year to all my followers!
I have noticed for some time that I have been preferring certain angles of attack during my training.
This is a natural consequence of staying mindful of the opponent's centre line and the limbs that you have to get past when attacking.
For a long time, especially in one's early years of Karate, we get used to square off with our sparring partners. Free sparring at this stage is then usually a manner of moving back and forth with the most dominating fighter driving his opponent back most of the time.
Sooner or later we realise, however, that while increasing the distance between ourselves and our opponent's may keep us safe for a while that safety does not last and- we find it impossible to counterattack from so far away.
One of the reasons why I choose a slightly long stance is that the space between my feet give me enough room to make the space that I need to move back just far enough to counter with a kick.
That distance is just meant to give me room to kick, though.
To avoid attacks I either sidestep, slip or block.
For a good angle it is always nice to have your lead foot in line with that of your opponent. From this position it is easier to make that small step to the side that allows your opponent's straight attack to pass you.
For a counterkick with the lead foot drawing the lead foot back to the rear foot gives you enough room.
To kick with the rear leg after pulling back one can either pivot the lead foot inward for a back kick or spinning kick counter or pivot it outward in the Unicorn Step fashion to set the opponent up for a roundhouse kick.
Using angles limit the amount of weapons that I have to deal with while allowing to counterattack before my opponent can recover his weapon from the first attack or before he can launch his follow-up attack.
Once you have gotten this down the urge to just hastily retreat disappears...
Hope you all train well and stay active!
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