By Peter Damen
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According to Jesse Enkamp, Karate Nerd
of the famous website KARATEbyJesse.com, the snapping movements of many kata world
champions are insanely impressive.
I agree with him.
For instance, Rika Usami, female kata
world champion, has tremendous speed and kime in her techniques.
But how do these champions get that
crazy snap in their techniques?
Apparently, Jesse had the same question.
In an article on his website titled ‘How
to “Snap” Your Karate Techniques Like Rika Usami’ (http://www.karatebyjesse.com/rika-usami-karate-technique-s…/), Jesse explains that the snapping techniques can
be compared to the sound of a cracking whip.
Later on in his article, he explains
that according to Yoshimi Inoue, the sensei of world champions like Rika Usami
and Antonio Diaz, three distinct principles provide an optimal technique,
namely; speed, timing and balance.
Jesse then tells at the end of the
article that if you want to snap your techniques, you have to focus on correct
technique (speed, timing, and balance) in order to generate enough power to
crack your body like a human bullwhip.
Great advice.
Some time after reading this article, I
saw an interesting video on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2WyOBRDNBo) where karate techniques were explained, and the
aforementioned world champion Rika Usami demonstrated the beginning of kata
Pinan Nidan.
That's when I noticed something VERY
remarkable!
The snap that should come from the first
technique in Pinan Nidan, a technique known as "otoshi uchi" (at 7:15
min in the video, and again on 7:21 min), did not seem to come from the
technique - but from a slap of her right hand on her left forearm shortly
before she executed the technique
Unfortunately, it went so fast I could
barely see it!
In order to examine it better, I
subsequently downloaded the video, and observed the corresponding movement
frame-by-frame (see figure 1) and my suspicion was clearly confirmed.
While turning to the left to make the
otoshi uchi, it is clearly visible that during this process, Rika slaps her
right hand on the sleeve of her left forearm (red arrow in figure 1) before
very quickly bringing her right hand to hikite and making an otoshi uchi with
her left arm.
Incredible.
Subsequently, I checked a number of
other videos of Rika Usami (in which she performed katas like Kosokun Dai and
Chatanyara Kushanku) and noticed, after frame-by-frame analysis, that the
snapping sound was often not the result of the execution of a correct technique
(with speed, timing and balance), but the result of slapping the gi in various
places.
Jesse
Enkamp
When I saw this, I started looking at
other top kata athletes on YouTube.
My discoveries may surprise you...
For instance, I found a video on YouTube
in which the Vietnamese top athlete and former world champion Hoang Ngan Nguyen
performed the kata Anan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=362xQmlj1zA).
Using a frame-by-frame analysis, I saw
that her techniques were often accentuated by striking with a completely flat
hand on her karate gi.
This is particularly evident in figure
2, in which a number of consecutive images around the time point 0:49 min are
shown.
In the sequence in this figure, it is
clearly visible that Nguyen, before pulling her left hand to hikite while
performing a shotei uchi (palm strike) with her right hand, slaps her flat left
hand on her karate gi at the height of her abdomen (red arrow in figure 2).
That's not all!
Take a look at the following video of
world champion Antonio Diaz (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxTMP5_kA3Y), which shows him performing shuto uke (knife hand
strike) in kata Chatanyara Kushanku (around the time point 0:50 min). Look
closely.
Antonia adds an extra slap on his chest
before every shuto uke technique (see figure 3).
But the movement seen in photographs 1
to 5 of figure 3 is completely unnecessary, since the shuto uke is performed in
photographs 6 to 8!
From a budo perspective, this is a
completely irrelevant movement with the sole purpose of generating a snapping
sound in order to create the impression that this snap comes from performing a
shuto uke.
I think this is remarkable to say the
least.
Undoubtedly, there are many more
examples of elite karate-ka in the international field of kata that perform
this type of slapping on their karate gi, and since the above mentioned people
are at the top of the international kata world, they are obvious role models
for many karateka. For this reason I have mentioned these top kata performers
in this article.
But I would like to emphasize that these
international players are obviously exceptionally skilled athletes, who have
trained for many years to achieve international excellence in kata.
However, I find it disappointing that
they use these kinds of "tricks" to enhance their performance,
because they should not need to use these tricks. This is to say, they are very
talented and can compete at the world top even without it.
This trick, slapping your karate gi, is
in my view comparable to the loud exhalation many Shotokan karate-ka performed
a number of years ago during kata competitions. Just like slapping, some
breathing may be heard in support of your technique - but it should not be
given priority over the correct execution of a technique.
Now, some people might think that what
is discussed in this article is a distant reality, only carried out in
international kata competitions.
Wrong.
As I pointed out above, these
international athletes are role models for many karateka. They are admired, and
hence copied, by local kata performers all over the world on a daily basis.
To illustrate this, I would like to
refer to the following two videos, in which the same local kata performer can
be seen in 2011 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tydAa?yXU4E) and a couple of years later, in 2014 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRzZSzhD9gM).
When the execution of these two kata is
compared, it's clearly visible that slapping the karate gi has been learned in
this period of time, from 2011 to 2014.
Moreover, even in the karate schools
where I teach, I have to deal with students that emulate, or want to emulate,
this slapping behavior. It's very difficult for me as a teacher to prevent
students from doing this, since, as they say themselves, it scores during
competition.
In conclusion:
I think the snapping sounds that are
heard and seen in the above mentioned examples have nothing to do with a
correct, fast execution of a technique or kime - but solely with slapping the
forearm, chest or side of the body.
In my view it is strictly a show
element, theatrical support, which I think does not belong in karate.
Moreover, it devaluates real kime - and
this fact should be included into the final decisions of trained referees.
Judges should take due account in their
assessment since it is clearly defined in the kata rules of the World Karate
Federation, WKF, (cf. Article 5), that the "Use of audible cues (from any
other person, including other team members) or theatrics such as stomping the
feet, slapping the chest, arms, or karate gi, or inappropriate exhalation"
is counted as a foul.
Kata is not a dance or theatrical
performance, and fortunately this is also clearly stated in the competition
rules of the WKF.
Therefore, I sincerely hope that this
kind of theatrics will disappear from the kata discipline, so that I (and
others) can concentrate on teaching the proper execution of kata, in which the
martial values and principles prevail.
Finally, I hope that this article will
motivate judges to assess kata correctly regarding the theatrics described
above, and will give a positive contribution to the kata discipline of karate -
which for many karate-ka is so much more than a sport alone.
Victor Donald Smith Everything
old is new again, Way back in 1974 when I was a beginner, my seniors used to
describe this happening to me, for understanding how the world works. I imagine
way back someone figured it out as a way to pop up public performances. Not
really new, but you can get new articles out of republishing old ideas too.
Jim Keenan For those who value kata as performance art, performance enhancers
are natural additions. 40 years ago, one of the nationally ranked weapons
competitors privately shared with me one of his secrets for bo kata. He taped
cardboard sheets against his ribs. When he did his hits, they made a loud
"crack!" Very impressive to the audience (and judges).
It's useful for actual martial arts practitioners to know about and understand
how these things work. (They are show tricks, rather than indications of
martial skill.) I can tell you exactly how to alter your gi to get amazing
CRACK! on your gestures. I can tell you exactly how you need to alter your
movement to maximize that noise. For me, though, this is all wasted and off the
point. It causes people to focus on something other than martial skill and can create both short
term bad habits and long term injury.
I do not practice or teach kata as a dramatic performance
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