One of my Black Belts and I have a running gag that there are only 20 corrections in all of Shotokan. Is this an accurate statement? Probably not, but it’s interesting to see how often the same few corrections come up in a class. For example:
- A student might lean his upper
body forward in front stance; we’d walk over and tell him to straighten his
back and push his hips forward into the stance.
Another one of my Black Belts might say to tuck his tailbone forward
under his hips (same idea). I find that
a quirky explanation often sticks better in the students’ minds, so I’ll say,
“Push the tush”. Same idea.
- I might then walk over to a student having problems with Tekki kata, with his head forward and his back hunched. I’ll tell him to straighten his back and ‘push the tush’. It usually works.
- Another student might have a short front kick, with little reach or power. He’ll then be told to ‘push the tush’ - thrust his hip forward with the kick and then yank the hip back as the leg snaps back. Again, the same idea.
How can the same correction apply to so many different situations? It’s really pretty simple. It’s not so much a matter of correcting the technique, but understanding that, regardless of the technique, we’re all using the human body. If your body works mechanically correct, you can’t help but have good technique, power, speed, and mobility.
One of my Black Belts had a long hiatus due to injury, and came back filled with concepts, ideas, and theories he thought about while ‘benched’. One question he posed was: We say that front stance and fighting stance should be one shoulder’s width, fudo dachi one-and-a-half shoulders' width, and kibba dachi should be two shoulder’s width. Should width be determined from instep (arch) to instep (arch) of each foot, mid foot to mid foot, or outer blade to outer blade? Simple question – some may even say it’s a petty issue. He wasn’t aware that we addressed this question long ago while he was out. Proper width should be measured from outer blade to outer blade. Your feet should be within the shoulder’s width. Mid foot to mid foot is only about 4” wider and instep to instep about 8” wider, which doesn’t sound like a big deal, but if your stance is a little too wide it puts unnecessary lateral strain on your knees. Outer blade to outer blade keeps your feet directly under your knees, allowing the knees to bend forward and backward (as they’re designed to bend), and not flex side to side, which causes weakened stance and potential knee problems in the future. We’ve seen students with long legs who could step much wider than the prescribed one shoulder’s width (or two, in the case of kibba dachi). I’d tell them that that just because they could step wider doesn’t mean they should. I’d stand them in front of the mirror and they could see for themselves that their feet are farther apart than their inward-bent knees. This one correction comes up many times in class during basics, kata, etc.
Next week I will blog about a time I helped a high school cross-country runner improve his time by using one of the ’20 corrections’ in Shotokan’.
- I might then walk over to a student having problems with Tekki kata, with his head forward and his back hunched. I’ll tell him to straighten his back and ‘push the tush’. It usually works.
- Another student might have a short front kick, with little reach or power. He’ll then be told to ‘push the tush’ - thrust his hip forward with the kick and then yank the hip back as the leg snaps back. Again, the same idea.
How can the same correction apply to so many different situations? It’s really pretty simple. It’s not so much a matter of correcting the technique, but understanding that, regardless of the technique, we’re all using the human body. If your body works mechanically correct, you can’t help but have good technique, power, speed, and mobility.
One of my Black Belts had a long hiatus due to injury, and came back filled with concepts, ideas, and theories he thought about while ‘benched’. One question he posed was: We say that front stance and fighting stance should be one shoulder’s width, fudo dachi one-and-a-half shoulders' width, and kibba dachi should be two shoulder’s width. Should width be determined from instep (arch) to instep (arch) of each foot, mid foot to mid foot, or outer blade to outer blade? Simple question – some may even say it’s a petty issue. He wasn’t aware that we addressed this question long ago while he was out. Proper width should be measured from outer blade to outer blade. Your feet should be within the shoulder’s width. Mid foot to mid foot is only about 4” wider and instep to instep about 8” wider, which doesn’t sound like a big deal, but if your stance is a little too wide it puts unnecessary lateral strain on your knees. Outer blade to outer blade keeps your feet directly under your knees, allowing the knees to bend forward and backward (as they’re designed to bend), and not flex side to side, which causes weakened stance and potential knee problems in the future. We’ve seen students with long legs who could step much wider than the prescribed one shoulder’s width (or two, in the case of kibba dachi). I’d tell them that that just because they could step wider doesn’t mean they should. I’d stand them in front of the mirror and they could see for themselves that their feet are farther apart than their inward-bent knees. This one correction comes up many times in class during basics, kata, etc.
Next week I will blog about a time I helped a high school cross-country runner improve his time by using one of the ’20 corrections’ in Shotokan’.
No comments:
Post a Comment