Top 12 ways it differs from modern karate.
-- Funakoshi Gichen
When In first created this blog, I promised an
article on what makes “old style” karate different from modern karate. Well now
that I’ve sat down to outline this article; I realize that it would not be
possible to do the topic justice with a single post. So I’ve decided to create
a short post mentioning the top dozen differences (as I see them). I hopefully
will get around to discussing all of these as I continue to post on this
blog.
Very few dojos actually incorporate all 12, but I feel that those schools which
include a majority are firmly in the “old style” category.
Motobu Choki doing a tuidi technique from Naihanchi Shodan (locking the right elbow
while trapping a left punch) |
1) Focus on close range techniques and tactics (which in turn necessarily
creates an emphasis on limb control and/or trapping, low-line kicking, and so
on)
2) Emphasis on special
qualities which often are expressed by somewhat rare Okinawan terminology (muchimi,
chinkuchi, gyame, muchi, gamaku, etc)
3) Body Conditioning
(kote-kitae, iron sand palm, machiwara training etc)
4) Tenshin /
tai-sabaki (evasive body motion/ body-rotation, sophisticated footwork)
5) Hojo-undo / kigu-undo (supplementary training especially functional strength
training using special implements)
6) Tuidi (aka gyakute
or karamidi etc ie joint-wrenching and joint-locking)
7) Use of sensitivity
drills (kakie, sticky hands, Okinawan versions of "Hubud" etc)
8) Techniques are not
“squared off” or enlarged for aesthetic reasons
9) Use of unusual
(typically very small) striking surfaces
10) Medical knowledge
(bone setting, kuatsu, herbal medicine, moxa, cupping, tsubo massage etc.)
11) Kokyu-ho / kiko
(breathing methodologies, qigong type training)
12) Chibudi / kyusho
(study of anatomical weakness and exploiting body-reactions)
Monday, January 23, 2012
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