When I attended many clinics with Sherman Harrill I clearly recall the time he maintained that the Isshinryu vertical punch did not have to be vertical. He was not talking about what his brother experienced in Agena when Tatsuo told him that he was then teaching the twisting pinch as opposed to the vertical punch. (For a time in the 1980s he switched back to the twisting strike, later to revert to the vertical strike.)
What Sherman was talking about was that the body is not a straight board such that each vertical strike must be straight up and down. He explained that the shape of the body offered many different places to strike and they were rarely a straight area of the body.
What Sherman explained was the Vertical Strike while practiced standing toward 12 o'clock, could actually be canted towards 11 o'clock or it could equally be canted toward 1 o'clock to enable the strike into the body to more fully impart the impact of the strike.
Even more to be felt when using the vertical ridge of knuckles as the striking face of the vertical strike.
What this actually allows is not just to strike with more force with your punch, but also to create another pathway for the force to enter the body for additional effect. Sherman showed this many times in his clinics. Later training with John Kerker, he re-enforced these principle.
There were those times Sherman demonstrated how a strike to the opponents lower right side, canted to say 11 o'clock would create a force wave that traveled across the opponents body resulting them dropping the head down, creating openings for a new strike.
Of course the use of 11 o'clock or 1 o'clock are just examples not fixed rules. Using clock references they could easily be 11:30, 12:15 or even 1:10. You will learn possibilities from experience.
A similar example from Sherman came when he showed what various Nukite strikes into the armpit would create a variety of different forces.
1. A nukite strike entering the armpit and then moving downward cause the force to strike clearly into the heart area.
2. A nukite strike entering the armpit and then moving toward the front of the body would cause the force to make the body drop forward.
3. A nukite strike entering the armpit and then moving toward the rear of the body would cause the force to make the body drop to the rear.
In any case allowing you to choose what happens allowing your following response to best meet your needs.
Sherman could use the straight 12 o'clock strike into the abdomen cause the force of the strike to rise into the opponents throat, or by choosing the direction of the force of the straight 12 o'clock strike into the abdomen cause the force to flow directly into the area struck.
IMO this is not training for beginners learning to develop their technique and how to deliver power into their strikes. Rather is for the more advanced student and the Dan to work on developing such controlled strikes.
Basic Punching Theory, as applied in Seisan Kata.
Mr. Harrill champions the use of the looser hand to punch, then tighten up the fist on impact, and on the ‘snap-back’ loosen it again. The use of this punch (Harrill Sensei only does it for Seisan and SunNuSu kata openings) is to create a shocking force to rise into the body.
He likens a strike to the abdomen to create a force wave to rise into the throat.
His explanation of tightening the fist on impact, parallels the same information passed by Lewis Sensei.
The other striking style, rests on the used of the compressed fists (as in Seisan’s multiple striking sequences, or the punch, punch, kick, punch) for quick reaction strikes.
Time jump, in time we distinctly noticed the manner in which Harrill Sensei struck. Not with the flat knuckles, but with the standing ridge of knuckles.
Some other thoughts from my Principles section of my Sherm-Pedia, ones I believe also have merit for this discussion.
"6 times in Seisan kata the Snap Punch is utilized. This is where the fist is relaxed for a punch and then tightened during the retracing snap to the abdominal triangle. This will draw out the abdomen and create a shock wave which rises into the throat. [The compression of the fist actually tightens during the strike, naturally, not slowing down the strike.] Use of this form of fist compression actually creates a double strike. The abdomen compresses inward during the striking phase. But then during withdrawal from the ‘snap’, the body un-compressing can and does create a secondary strike as the abdomen immediately un-compresses."
Another post from my blog to consider:
https://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2020/08/to-punch-or-not-to-punch-which-punch-is.html
No comments:
Post a Comment