Thoughts on the Makiwara and related training

 

There is no doubt the origins of karate included training on the makiwara, and I am sure it was intended for life. There are other sorts of impact training, for the foot, spear hand, etc. that also included their versions of the makiwara. The goal to strengthen the hand/spear hand/foot to deliver harder impact. Similarily training like knuckle pushups can provide similar training.

 

But except for the two years I trained in Tang Soo Do, where there were several great makiwara which I used every day of training for up to ½  hour after class, life has not permitted me to have same.  As a result of that training where my knuckled flattened a bit, I developed callouses on the pads of my hand learning how to tighten the fist to a greater extent.That training made a result with my fist for decades.

 

There certainly are programs which continue that hard focus in their program.

 

Among those I discovered Bando training included training with sticks being smashed into large branches to condition the hand to deliver greater impact with the stick. That same training also conditioned the fist to clench more tightly. At a Bando summer camp one of the Bando seniors explained that Dr. Gyi would take the seniors into the woods for private training. There they would cut/strike with their gukri into various rocks, also to condition the fist to make greater impact.

 

I taught youth through the Boys and Girls Clubs and impact  training for the young is not a good idea. My surgeon in my program heartily agreed with me on this. Then many of my students were senior adults who such training was similarly not a good idea, nor did such potential fit with their life.

 

I also discovered incredible karate programs which do not train impact. Instead they take different approaches to make their techniques work against an opponent.

 

Having trained with Sherman Harrill and John Kerker, both of Isshinryu, I am a huge believer in what decades of impact training can accomplish.

 

But with the explosion of karate world wide, I am sure there are many who do not use the makiwara too. It is a big world after all.