Knee Strikes and Wansu Kata

Approximately in the middle of Wansu Kata there is a section where you turn to your rear with a sweeping open hand side strike, followed by a knee strike and then a punch.

 

Charlie Murray made a real impression on me during our training together, describing how proficient the Okinawan’s (and of course Master Shimabuku) were with their knee strikes.  He remarked they were vastly more powerful than what he saw over here from his training with Master Shimabuku and Shinsho in 1971.  As he put it he felt their knee strikes would demolish their opponent.

 

Where the basic execution of the knee strike was to lift the leg directly up with the strike, and the foot and toes flexed to point to the ground, what he saw in Okinawa, was they slightly pulled the foot back first, and then drove the knee forward into the strike. A much more focused action where the foot being drawn back is similar to the cocking motion of a gun before firing.  Of course this gets the entire abdominal region, quadriceps, ilia posis, and ‘hip’ area much more involved in the strike, too.

 

As I train my students, under brown belt we practice the earlier method, and upon brown belt, reset the technique to the latter.

 

There is another knee strike story in Wansu kata, too.

 

At the end of the kata, after you stack your hands, I was taught by Sensei Lewis to deliver a front kick with the front leg (in two directions).  I also clearly remember him telling us that he originally learnt it as a knee strike with the front leg followed up with a front kick with that same leg. But in early open style American karate tournaments, judges who didn’t understand Isshinryu would decide the person ‘blew’ a front kick, not understanding the knee strike/front kick combination. As a result of such instances, the kata was changed to the front leg front kick.

 

Where I’ve always practiced the ending of Wansu as I was shown, years later upon learning Goju Saifa Kata,  I was shown that kata with the knee strike then front kick with the same leg combination. [For those who practice Goju Saifa, there are also those Goju groups which deliver just a front kick in that section of the kata, too.]    As I eventually practiced it and later taught Saifa as a kata between Isshinryu Seisan and Seiunchin, as my students were then practicing that leg combination, I’ve never felt compelled to consider changing my Wansu kata, to explore the earlier tradition Mr. Lewis described.

 

Now there are perfectly acceptable application for the stack hands front leg front kick combination. But the front leg knee strike then front leg front kick combination has interesting applications too.

 

One potential of raising the knee strike is to jam or block kicks.  Ueichi Ryu uses the raised knee block in their Seisan and Sanseiryu Kata.  One possibility is that from Shimabuku Tatsuo’s friendship with Master Ueichi, this original combination may have been from that source.

 

On the other hand. Goju’s Saifa kata is also done with a similar combination (in some groups). I such a case a knee strike into an attacker will cause them to move back away from the knee, and that opens room for the following front kick, as one possible application, too.

 

I’ve heard reference from others in Isshinryu that they’ve heard of Wansu’s ending kick(s) being done in this manner also. 

 

I think it may be interesting to discuss how we all address the knee strike(s) in Wansu.