WJKA Canada

BASICS

 

Basics what is that you ask? Well Basics or Kihon in Japanese is part of what’s known as the 3 K s in traditional Shotokan dojos. The 3 Ks are Kihone, Kata and Kumite. Some dojos don’t do Kata (forms) anymore as they feel it isn’t productive. I disagree with that philosophy however I say each to their own.

The way you may be taught Basics vary from dojo to dojo but they are similar. You generally start with learning a front stance (zenkutsu dachi) and then back stance (kokutsu dachi) followed by Horse stance (kiba dachi). There are more stances that you will learn as time goes by and depending on the dojo you are in you may learn some of the others first.  To go along with these stances you will be introduced to punching, blocking and kicking.     Again depending on the dojos you will be introduced to them in a variety of ways. In some dojos you may be in a standing position with your feet slightly apart and your feet turned out at an angle which we call the Hachi Dachi stance or natural stance. From this stance you will be instructed on how to punch, block and kick. It sounds easy and once you get the knack of it after awhile it becomes easier. You may be asked to do any of these operations of course from any stance you have been taught. These punches, blocks and kicks are done repetitiously. The purpose of doing this is to make you able to do this without thinking about it. The main goal of course is to become proficient in that the techniques become powerful and relaxed. The addition of movement adds more difficulty to the practice of basics. Just when you think you are getting the hang of it they want you to step and punch or block or kick. No problem after a short while you can do this without much difficulty, maybe not perfectly but for the level of your current karate experience. Now that you feel somewhat comfortable with some movement they will ask you to do combinations of movements, such as stepping forward blocking counter punching or some such similar movements.

As you can see Karate is not something you can crash study for like a school exam. It is not only physical but mental where you have to think about what you are doing until you have practiced enough to bring in muscle memory. Oh and speaking of muscle memory in order to do some of these basic moves you have to build your muscle in order to support the movement. This comes from continual practice. It doesn’t come over night. Let’s face it though anything worthwhile takes time.