Martin Luther King Day - Your Life's Blueprint

Dr Martin Luther King gave an uplifting 20 minute speech at Barratt JHS in Philadelphia on October 26, 1967 where he spoke of racial pride, and put the onus on these students to use a blueprint to make their lives better.

The quote above was meant for civil rights, but it also applies to civics today. Instead of causing havoc, rioting, and looting, we’re better served by working on ways to improve our lives – as Americans and as private citizens.

It also applies to Karate training during these COVID times. So if you can’t fly, then run… walk… crawl to keep moving forward. We’re not back in the dojo yet, but come work out with us at the Temple, or on Zoom, but keep moving forward.

If your stance is weak, your Karate is weak

A few days ago I posted about weight distribution in stances. This Facebook memory came up on my timeline today:

As far back as 1979 I would go upstate NY to attend Hidy Ochiai's annual invitational tournament. At the Black Belt meeting before the event, he would talk about how he judges from he ground up. He would say that the strongest punch thrown from a weak, wobbly stance is a weak, wobbly punch. *food for thought*

Weight Distribution

def: SHINSA Examination; judging; inspection; investigation.

We held Shinsa (rank examination) yesterday. One student had difficulties with back stances (I understand… COVID times… we’re not in the dojo… we’re on concrete floors… we’re wearing sneakers… yada yada yada), so I asked him what his weight distribution should be. He said 60%-40%. I routinely tell students 75-25 (we’ll discuss this later), so I then asked two Brown Belts what they thought. One said 70-30 and the other said 80-15 (?!). Many different instructors in many different dojos have many different answers. Nobody will put you on scales to see exactly what the weight distribution is, but percentages give you a guide as to how stance works.

Front stance (zenkutsu dachi): I’ve heard 60-70-80% weight on the front leg because your weight/force is going forward. We recognize that the back leg drives the body forward as much as the front leg steps forward. We therefore say the weight distribution is 50-50.

Back stance (kokutsu dachi): Body weight is shifted to the back leg with the feet in straight line. This means your front leg could be swept. With most of the weight on the rear leg you can shift all the weight back to avoid the sweep or kick with the front leg. We use a number halfway between 100%-0% and a 50%-50% shift to front stance. Mathematically, that would be 75%-25%.

Horse stance (kiba dachi) and immovable stance (fudo dachi): Pretty basic, the balance is 50-50 on each leg.

Cat stance (neko ashi dachi): Where back stance is two shoulders length, cat stance is roughly halfway back at around one shoulder length. We say the weight distribution is 85-15.

Hourglass stance (sanchin dachi): Your front heel just about touches your rear ankle. There is almost no weight on the front leg, so we say 95-5.

Crane stance (sagi ashi dachi): One leg is completely off the ground, with the foot touching the standing leg. Weight distribution is obviously 100-0.

Cross legged stance (kosa dachi): We used to look at kosa dachi as unstable, impractical, and not very mobile. We learned from kobudo training with Oshiro-shihan that the stance is highly mobile moving forward and back, as well as side to side. Each foot is turned out 45 degrees, one behind the other, the rear shin resting on the front calf. Most weight is on the front leg, hips drive the body forward, and the rear leg props up the stance. It is surprisingly stable as you are ‘sitting’ on your front leg with the rear leg supporting the stance at 80-20.

We understand that stance is transitional. You do not fight strictly out of front stance, back stance, etc. You should move fluidly, shifting the body, to fit the situation and your strategy. Proper stance strengthens your legs, teaches you to stabilize your body, while upsetting your opponent's balance.