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Kumite Strategy #1/
It's the "secret" Karate punching tip, that is simplicity itself...
...in fact it's so simple that it'll take you a life time to master.
It involves being able to "let go" of the tension that inevitably resides in your body, in particular your hips, upper body and more importantly, your mind.
You see, tension in the muscles is controlled by the mind and not the body.
The body is naturally relaxed and in a state of equilibrium with whatever activity it happens to be engaged in, "if" and that's a big "if" the mind allows it to be so.
"Letting go" is an idea that involves giving up mental control over the body.
In reality, it's the mental imperative to control the actions of the body that slows down our techniques.
For most of us, that Zen like disassociation from our bodies, even though it is ultimately faster and more efficient is rejected. We would rather have a slower inefficient punch, because it is "us" doing the punching and so our sense of control is preserved.
Another term for "Letting go" is "effortless-ness". I prefer letting go, because that's exactly what our mind has to do.
In the animal world, the cobra doesn't "think" it must coil it's body into a spring and rebound off the ground to attack it's prey...
...it just does it with great speed and efficiency, all without a single thought.
Now that you have the concept of "Letting go", lets apply it...
Stand in your forward stance with your hands at your sides.
Turn your hips into the half front facing position, as if you are doing a block but let your arms and shoulders dangle as if you are a rag doll from the waist up.
Essentially you've loaded your hips just like a cobra coils it's body to spring forward.
Now, release the hips towards the front, because of the tension from torquing the hips, they naturally fall towards the front without any mental thought of having to turn them forward.
If your upper body is like a rag doll, you'll notice that your shoulders naturally follow the hips without any mental directive to do so and consequently your dangling arms naturally follow the shoulders and begin to swing.
Notice how that small hip turn produces a large swinging motion in your arms.
Now turn your hips back and forth a few times to get the "feel" for the natural and effortless progression from the hips to the shoulders and finally the arms.
If you think you've gotten the "bodily" feeling for the sequence, try a punch at the very end of the arms swinging motion...
...let the punch go out all by itself and simply restrain it by tightening your fist before you fully extend your arm and be sure not to lock it.
Instantly release it and return your upper body to a relaxed rag doll position...
That's it, the Karate punching secret that your body already knew and now you've learned it or rather you've learned to let it happen instead of trying to make it happen.
Practice that drill everyday and get a real feel for the natural sequence of movements.
In Kumite, your opponents will be complementing you on your super fast punches but of course you or rather your mind, won't be able to take credit for it...
Don't forget to check out the exciting books and dvd's on Karate, Martial Arts, Zen, Weapons, Nutrition and Health from the Indulgent Samurai Store...
RJF
