Gyaku Mawashi Geri

When I presented the first photo (dating from 1975) of this video some time ago, some people questioned the reality of this technique or thought they recognized a similar kick present in other styles. However, this kick is not widely used and it is not found everywhere because it is rather atypical and is mainly found in the Shotokan Karate school.

There are some misunderstandings about the name of this technique.

So here are some extracts from Mr Nakayama Sensei's book "Dynamic Karate" which dates from 1966 as well as an extract from a video dating from the 1950s.

Above is a link to a video of demonstrating this technique

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRwiQi0H7BI

This technique first appeared after the war in the Shotokan school, by Sensei M. Nakayama (who had been in China) and perhaps also by Yoshitaka Funakoshi? We will never know.

General Choi Hong Hi, creator of TKD (according to the ITF which was created in 1966 by the general himself) had studied Shurity and incorporated this technique into the TaeKwonDo he created. (It should be noted that the general is controversial in the WTF which does not recognise him as the founder of TKD)

Here is this technique at the beginning of the Gae Baek kata (ITF Kata)

Soon after I started training in Isshinryu my father gave me a copy of Dynamic Karate and I saw this kick in there.It was not part of my Isshinryu studies. However I took the incentive to learn it for myself.

Years later when I began training with Tristan Sutrisno, one time I showed him I could do this kick. His response was this kick was not in his Shotokan..

Later I worked it out, his Shotokan came from his father’s own study at the Naval War College in the mid 1930’s. My understanding then was that this kick was not in his father’s Shotokan studies so Trisan never learned it. Of course his own kicking technique was fantastic and he never needed it either.

This was just for my personal challenge that I learnt this kick.

I never taught this to my students.