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THE
CHICKEN OR THE EGG
The
answer is all in the timing
Sometime time
ago, I don't remember exactly when, I was in the dojo
practicing standing punches in front of the mirrors and
the darndest thing jumped into my head. It was one of
those odd sort of riddles that make you think, as Arsinio
Hall would have said, "hmmmmmm".
It was that
immortal question to which there seems to be no right
answer, "which came first the chicken or the egg".
Now if you have
ever been asked to answer this particular question it
should appear fairly obvious that you really have only
one of two choices. You either cast your vote for the
chicken, or you cast your vote for the egg.
In trying to
reach a conclusion in this matter one school of thought
will argue that the only the that way the chicken could
have come into existence in the first place, was if there
had first been an egg from which the chicken could have
hatched. The other school of thought will argue equally
passionately, that the exact opposite has to be true,
that the only way that the egg could have come into
existence in the first place was if there had first been
a chicken who could have laid the egg.
It is usually
right about now that someone will then bring up one of
the other unanswered question in all of this. That being,
if the chicken indeed came before the egg, then the
chicken that laid the egg must have been a female, and if
that was the case, where does the roster fit in all of
this, and further more, where did he come from?
I am not going
there.
For one thing I
don't know the answer, and secondly right now I don't
have the time to come up with one.
In a way I
suppose the initial question, and the unasked one about
the roster, are a lot like a Buddhist koan.
Now if you are
unfamiliar with the term koan and you do not know what a
koan is, the best way for me to describe one to you would
be to say, "that a koan is a bit like a
philosophical riddle". A riddle that in fact you are
not always suppose to be able to answer. At least not
always in this lifetime. The theory being I suppose that
some questions in this world are best left unanswered.
Right about know
I can hear you asking yourself, "so what does all
this have to do with karate, and in particular what the
heck does this have to do with standing punches".
Patience, I am
getting there.
Oh yes, one
thing that I failed to point out previously, and what you
need to realize is, that all of this stuff originally
went through my head in as they say, "the blink of
an eye", and at a time when I was working very hard
to once again obtain the feel of the elusive "perfect
punch". You know, that supposed "one in a
thousand" that feels so sweet. But the damage as
they say had already done, and at this point I realized
that my focus was gone, that perfection was just an
illusion, and that all I was really left with at that
moment in time was the question, "which came first
the chicken or the egg".
So deciding that
there must be a logical reason why all of this had
occurred at exactly that moment in my life I decided to
follow what was at best a meandering mixture of thoughts
and see where it all took me.
This then, like
it or not, was the result.
Today when a new
student enters a dojo for the very first time one of the
first karate skills they are usually taught, after
learning how to bow, line up, and some of the other
important tenants of dojo etiquette, is how perform a
proper standing punch. Now way back when I first started
in Shotokan karate more than twenty six years ago, I was
taught as many students are today. That is, when
performing a correct standing punch both fists should
always move in tandem with each other. Meaning that for
every inch you pull the left fist back, (sorry but I am
very old school and millimetres just do not do it for me),
the right fist must move forward an exactly equal
distance, and both fists must finish moving at precisely
the same time. The idea being that this not only creates
an effective punch but also helps keep amongst other
things, proper balance.
Now a punch like
any other karate technique, is singularly unique to each
individual student. What needs to be common to all
students, however, is learning how a proper punch should
be delivered, either standing, or for that matter in any
kind of stance. But since this all started with standing
punches I will use this format as my platform for the
purpose of this discussion. As I said earlier when
performing a correct punch a beginner is taught that both
fists should always move in tandem with one other. Since
this type of basic punch involves no pre-conceived ideas,
or any of the thought processes and advanced body
dynamics, found in a more senior students technique, then
what we are talking about here is white belt stuff, pure
and simple. What you will find when you teach a punch in
this manner, and I think it is fair to say that senior
students will realize this more than novice or juniors
students, is that it really allows a new student to focus
on just the basic underlying principles of the technique
without any outside influences. All of the other stuff
like balance, posture, breathing, power, relaxation, will
of course need to be covered eventually, but for the time
being at this point, they are best set aside for another
day.
As time goes by
of course and as a student rises in rank they obviously
will become more proficient and comfortable with their
punching technique. It is around the time that a student
approaches the rank of 4th kyu or 5th kyu that more
emphasis should begin to be placed on those subtle
changes that will help them to create a more efficient
punch, primarily by bringing stronger body dynamics,
improved timing, hip rotation, and proper breathing to
the very fore front of their thinking.
By the time a
student reaches the rank of Shodan then, their punch
should be sufficiently evolved to the point that it
almost becomes a "thoughtless movement" given
the thousands upon thousands of proper repetitions they
will have performed up to this point in their karate
training. Now with every upside there is of course always
a downside. After many years of hard of training it is
often at this point in their Shotokan career that a large
number of senior karate-ka will hit a physical if not
mental plateau in terms of their punch. Not unlike a
marathon runner hitting the "proverbial wall".
To help these
students break through their wall it is at this junction
that the question that first popped into my head needs to
be answered. Only it needs to be asked and answered in
terms of karate and more importantly strictly in terms of
how the question relates to the quality a punch as
delivered by a student with the rank of Shodan or higher.
So I ask you,
"which comes first, the pulling hand, or the
punching hand"?
The correct
answer of course is the pulling hand.
But like the
rooster, (you remember the rooster don't you), there are
also a few unasked karate question in all of this, and
they are:
"As a Dan
rank should your pulling hand, and punching hand, still
always start at the same time"?
From my personal
perspective the correct answer is, no, definitely not.
"As a Dan
rank should your pulling hand, and punching hand, still
always finish at the same time"?
From my personal
perspective the correct answer is, yes, definitely.
The truth of the
matter is, that what was once an acceptable means of
punching as a beginner, or a kyu belt, is no longer
adequate for someone who has attained the rank of Shodan
or higher. For these students I advocate that their basic
way of punching should now be altered. What these
students should be doing I believe is to focus on
learning what I call, "accelerated timing". The
basic premise being, that starting both fists at the same
time when doing punches should now be a thing of the past.
In fact just the opposite should now be true.
Now don't
misunderstand me, the basic fundamental punch is still
the same. The pulling hand still moves first. The major
different then is found in the initial timing of the
punch. What I am advocating here is that as a senior
karate-ka you should now be giving your pulling hand at
least a twenty to twenty-five percent head start on your
punching hand. In doing this it of course it will then
require your punching hand to greatly accelerate it's
speed in order to still finish it's movement at the same
time as the pulling hand even though the punching hand
had such a large head start in the first place. When this
is done properly and with sufficient speed the pulling
hand will create an accelerated "push" that in
turn will drive the punching hand forward with a new and
previously un-experienced level of momentum and power.
It is very
important to remember though, that this is the kind of
timing can only be achieved when you are totally relaxed.
In fact at this stage of Dan ranks development relaxation
should be emphasised far more often than speed or power.
The truth is, and in never ceases to amaze me just how
many senior students fail to realize this point, even
after years and years of training,
"maximum
speed and maximum power come from maximum relaxation
right up until the very moment of impact".
So this is where
that odd moment in front of the mirror took me.
For me this
works.
My punch feels
much different, it looks different, my balance is
enhanced and many other aspects that I consider important
to my continued progress as a student of the art of
Shotokan karate also seem to be happily in place. Will
this concept benefit you, I have no idea, but why not
give it a try and find out, I hope it does but only you
can answer that question for sure.
In the end it is
not important that we all believe the same things, or
teach the same way, as long as the underlying
fundamentals of the art of Shotokan karate remain intact
for us and for our students. What is important, however,
is that no matter how high your rise in rank never loose
sight of the fact that you are still a student, and as
such always remember to keep an open mind.
After all, while
there are many great Masters of the art of Shotokan
karate in the world today, I bet not one of them would
ever claim to know it all.
Remember
The
essence of karate-do lies not in what you know,
but
in how you apply what you know to your daily life.
In
other words - "seek perfection of character".
Part
the clouds - see the way
"The
objective of karate is to contribute to the evolution
of
the human spirit through physical and mental training."
Sensei
Peter Lindsay
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