Osaka Shihon 8th Dan JKA Living Textbook of Karate 

Pure true words Rob...he is magnificent!

I know I'm terribly late here, but could you elaborate on the whole "body mechanics in martial arts" thing? I'm a hobbyist boxer currently considering other styles like Karate or BJJ and I've never heard of muscle tension in the shoulders and neck being important in a punch 🤔

@@steponme661 hi mate, not a simple answer I’m afraid but stay with me. In Karate we developed something called ‘Kime’ which translates as focus, but in essence it is using all of the muscles in the body to tighten and clench at the moment of impact. Example exercise Stand totally relaxed, then suddenly clench every muscle in the body for a fraction of a second then go back to being totally relaxed as quick as possible. [so you go from spending 0% energy to 100% and back to 0% again in the shortest amount of time as possible] [you want as much muscle power as possible to deliver energy into the target for the shortest duration as possible] So if your fist could arrive at the target at the fastest speed possible whilst using 0% energy to get there.. you could in theory clench every muscle in the body at the last moment at hit the target with 100% of your potential energy possible. [but in reality this is impossible because you will expend some of your energy along the route using muscles to deliver the punch along the route] To travel fast you need to be supple, pliable and flexible. [the muscles need to be loose] The problem comes when people try to use overall effort all over the body to travel fast and strong. This problem is best illustrated when you see someone using muscle tension in the arms, chest and shoulders when trying to make their legs move fast. [as a good example watch a 100mtr sprint Olympic runner in slow motion, their entire upper body is loose and flexible as they run] Any muscle tension in the upper body does very little to assist the movement in the legs and if anything it hinders movement because the body then becomes stiff and inflexible. And not only that this burns addition energy along the route to the target so you have less and less potential energy remaining available to hit the target when you get there. [if you burn 70% of your energy along the way you can only hit with 30% when you get there] To the extreme this relates to being ‘muscle bound’ You can define this even further by examining what muscles are being used in the upper body and arms when you punch. So basically you want only the muscles that are required to propel your fists and arms forward to be in tension and contraction while you send the punch, and all other muscles in the shoulders, neck and chest to remain relaxed as the fists travel… So you are expending the minimum amount of energy as possible to go as fast as possible The other muscles that are not required at that time are relaxed, pliable and soft so they offer no resistance or hinderance to movement So you Arrive at the target in the fastest time possible with the maximum amount of energy available possible to hit the target with when you make contact. Basically Any muscle tension in the shoulders and neck while you punch will make your punches slower and weaker. and also These unwanted muscle tensions tend to telegraph to you your opponent what you are doing so if you stay relaxed by the time they see the punch coming it is already too late and you have hit them. Hope that wasn’t too long winded but it is something that can take many years to learn to get right All the best 👍😁

He (Dchulala) is not confused, but your level of understanding does not permit you to see

Sorry, I disagree. You need to find a better dojo. A JKA dojo will probably make you happy, but to be fair, good dojo are hard to find because Americans usually want easy instead of hard work.

what is wushu, sounds like woohoooo

What????

I did a few clinics with O'Sensei Tsuruoka before he died and he always described kata as the beginning of fighting. I never got a chance to ask him about bunkai unfortunately. What I picked up mostly was his breathing which was the opposite of the way most people were doing the moves. I try not to pay attention to any bunkai that doesn't resemble real fighting.

The mechanics of karate are excellent, but violence is close range, fast and chaotic, you don't have to train at that speed and intensity, but rather train for that type of violence. With that said, any step and punch technique done from a long distance that allows you to react and have a nice form, it's fake. I can write a book explaining this, some people get it some do not. Long story short , kata is based on real violence, close range, relentless (until you end it) and chaotic. Stay safe

dchulala How do you interpret the circular downward strike he does in this video? It looks too slow to intercept a punch like the way the sensei in this video does it.

I don't know exactly which one, but if it is the one in Hean Godan, when he crosses his hands up and spiro downwards slowly. As a rule of thumb, any slow move means grappling. so you intercept the punch and you roll down the arm into an arm -bar, so actually the user it is across your belly, not able to move. Then you move the arm forward to secure the face, and step and punch the side of his face (jaw, ear or behind the ear) the punch is Chudan, but is going to the face, because you have pulled the opponent down and the punch is going in a downward motion to end it right there. I hope this helps.

Thanks. I think I got this one mixed up with Chinte. Someone was using a circular hand technique to block a lunge punch but it seems like it would be too slow in sparring or real fighting. I try to think of the blocks as strikes to avoid all the bunkai nonsense. I could see the high block being useful the way Machida did it against Ryan Bader to knock him out though. I'm interested to know the real meaning behind the katas and learning the rare ones like Wankan and Jinn.

I think you don't have the palest idea of who this master even is. Before judging, any person should have some history of what he wants to judge. Osaka sensei is one of the best karate practitioners and teachers in the world and what he teaches is the purest shotokan conceived by Funakoshi. If you don't practice shotokan style you just cannot judge it, maybe you can disagree but don't boast thinking you are the truth in person. Are you any kind of sensei? I believe not!

@Billis Tester Ahhhahahaha... when you will be doing bassai dai for more than 42 years then we talk. ok?

It looks like you don' have a Martial Art back ground... It looks like you've never been in a dojo...