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Source: diyshopaholic.com |
Frank Sinatra, in the lyrics of one of his songs, suggested that we
make all the stops along the way. This is the same gentleman who declared near
the close of his career that he did it ”My Way” meaning, of course, his way. At
the start of many of his concerts, audiences were reminded that they were “in
his room”. And so on.
I’m focusing on
Sinatra not because his concept of self was as large as thankfully his talent.
I’m more interested in the idea of “stops along the way.”
And that brings me
from Sinatra…to the front kick.
What if we explored
the little meanings of all the stops or points from the beginning to the finish
and then the retraction of this basic of all kicks shared by so many systems of
martial arts?
The reason for this
little technical outing is due to what often times occurs during sparring
practise. As when we’re standing in a stance, performing kicks against an
imaginary target, we line up a target, this time a live one, in the hope of
connecting the ball of our foot with his stomach or his chest. Or perhaps his
head.
That’s the ideal
world. We practise our speed, distance and timing for just that reason. Our
front kick must always reach a
satisfying conclusion.
But sometimes
objects in time and space refuse to co-operate. Our sparring partner might be
in on us before we can snap out our kick. Or she might have shifted to the
side, leaving us stuck with throwing a straight line kick, or having to comply
with a new point of reference.
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Source: www.technique-karate.com |
“Get a feel for the
kick,” I suggest. “Perform it slowly at first. Explore in your minds what the
first line of points from the stance up to the chambered leg might be used for.
Don’t just mindlessly follow through with the kick, always focusing on the end
point. Combat is fluid and alive. The kick here in Heian Yondan doesn’t by
rights always contain the same point of emphasis. It’s a tool. You use it as
you would adapt a rifle to the necessities of combat. If your target is at the
ideal distance, fine…shoot; if your target is breathing down your front, the
rifle becomes a stick, or a knife.”
So what are the
mysteries of one of the first kicks beginners usually learn?
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Source: www.kungfumagazine.com |
Well, let’s imagine
that we’re in a left forward stance. (Forgive me…I have to start out somewhere
but I may not be applying terminology from your own particular system. How
about if I leave the stance up to you?)
OK, my left leg is
out in front. I’m going to kick with my right leg.
Really Close In
As my right leg
begins to move even a quarter of an inch, I can strike a target very close in
front of me with a bit of my right hip or with the very top of the femur. I’ve
hardly moved but with the use of “short power” I might have already driven into
a significant target at very close range.
This is one reason
why strong stances, hip rotation and a vigorous shifting from one stance to the
next are so crucial, and why one’s centre of gravity should be kept low.
The distance from
hip/leg to target is again minimal, a few inches at best. Nevertheless, the
destructive impact can prove to be exceptional.
Possible targets:
the entire outside or inside of the attacker’s leg. His groin, of course. The
back of his knee.
Can you imagine a
Judoka or a Jiu Jitsuka, giving the inside of an attacker’s right leg such a
short and powerful smash, then reaping back against the inside of his left leg
for a throw?
Further Away
But Still Close In
Again, going back
to Jiu Jitsu and Judo, this is where you raise your leg to commit to an osotogari (outer reaping throw). You can
still do the throw…after you’ve used the initial raising of the leg as a kick.
Friends in Southern Crane and
Goju Ryu Karate will certainly recognize here the stepping patterns you
practise. Every time you slide an inch forward, you’re attacking the
assailant’s foundation.
The Chambered
Position
So now we arrive at
the point where the knee is raised and the bottom of the leg is preparing to
snap out in front.
Returning to the
Kata Heian (Pinan) Yondan, how often do we just plow right on into the final
extended point without “feeling” the knee portion of the kick?
Certainly, we’re
taught to consider an opponent to be in front of us, an imaginary attacker…so
why can’t she be close enough so we can establish kime points all along the way? Fluid kime points.
For example, when
practising the Kata, why can’t we concentrate on the chambered position as a
point of attack? How about a double kick? The knee drives up into the groin,
then the shin bone (tibia) slices up from underneath the groin. Not for the
faint of heart.
The Snap
Forward
Friends in the military. Tell me
of a mission that goes completely and precisely according to the smallest
detail of a pre-c0nstructed plan? Granted, there is always a mission plan but
the strength of a proposed plan also lies in its flexibility to adapt.
Every inch down
along the leg is a weapon, part of the military column that begins with the
knee cap (patella) and ends with the ankle, all courtesy of our basic front
kick, whatever our art may be.
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Source: chisao.com |
And then there is
the top of the foot…and then the ball of the foot underneath, and the toes for
fine pressure point work. A good toe kick spearheaded by the tip of a woman’s
shoe deep into the femoral area is as effective as using the ball of the foot.
The Retraction and Return To Stance
Look for throws, sweeps,
takedowns and secondary kicks. They’re brutally effective.
As the leg snaps
back into the chambered position – and as the foot returns to its initial
stance - we find an extraordinary number of medium to close range sweeps,
takedown, hacking and slicing backward kicks.
In fact, the return
to stance symbolizes a stomp through a joint, possibly as well a downward
stripping of the Achilles tendon, and certainly a crushing of the tarsals and
meta-tarsals.
Back to Karate
Kata, that’s what is happening between the start and the end of the front kick,
only in the Heian (Pinan) Yondan Kata, the right leg stomps down in front,
which is another story.
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