Ikken Hisatsu is from Japanese swordsmanship and is a perfect example of the Japanisation of Karate. Whereas Karate originally used Renzo or continuous striking, when it came to Japan and was changed to fit the sensibilities of the Japanese it was modeled more on swordsmanship, particularly Kendo. It is interesting that you stated one punch breaking the opponent's spirit, as I believe the kids have saying for this nowadays - the one hitter quitter. It's when you hit someone so hard that you knock the fight right out of them, and they become more concerned with protecting themselves than attacking you. I don't think this is what was meant by Ikken Hisatsu, but I can certainly see how one would use this in place of Ikken Hisatsu these days.
I would like to emphasise this point further. Kata Hangetsu, when we perform the 3 rapid movements of lowerblock/reversepunch/upperblock I believe this to be a tool for developing full use of our hips "shake" In the old 8 animal forms of Bagua its common so as to maximise possible human movement. NOT easy to get 3 movements out in a split second, Yes it is i hear you's all saying, well im talking about the movement of weight for just a lil jab, bust out 3 accurate palms with good weight distribution on that. So theres a hands on egsample of how theres "hidden" lessons within what many perceive to be just movements. Its a lesson in hip use to the max Hangetsu, following with the knowledge of three actions possible of one weight shift. Just like Bagua principals. Now i dont know about you guys but i dont see any reason for tearing through sparring partners (not contacting them obviously) Like not letting them get a few shots off for mutual learning etc. So considering we are free to go troppo for a moment during Bunkai, can not others see that in the TYPICAL Dojo that has all kinds of people to Consider, that its quite plausable to state that were better off relying on that than the mutual respect for another human being that we all show during sparring.... I really thought you's would get that from my statements, really suprised some thought some odd things a few pages into it LOL And i dont see the point in people saying "no chit sherlock" about others attempts at expressing their points. Like saying Hangetsu concentrates on hips, what would be the point of saying "Ooh I'LL just rush and tell my Shihan the breaking news" Really the chap who wrote that belittled himself more than my replies ever could... However as i have stated, im learning all the time, and this particular forum really is the better one ive found. Cheers Mappers
Hi the forgotten This is something that I admire about kendo competition. Numerous "strikes" shall be ignored and not scored if they do not have the proper technique and spirit behind them. Ikken Hisatsu really means the FIRST strike (others may follow). But that first strike MUST assert complete control over the enemy.
Ikken Hisatsu (spelling?) might have come from sword arts, but that doesn't mean it has no meaning outside of them. In my opinion, a really good illustration of the ideal (and it is an ideal, not a rule or a guarantee) is Evans v. Machida. There's no "trading of blows." In both the first and second rounds, Machida evaded, waited for the right opening, than staggered Evans with a powerful blow, establishing control as Koyo mentioned. In the first round, it was the front-kick-stepping-punch combination. In the second round, it was the reverse punch to the tip of the chin that staggered Evans so much that Machida moved in for the kill.
I actually just talked to Jason (TSD coach at our school, did Shotokan before he did TSD) about "one strike one kill" thing today. He said that the practical meaning his Shotokan school used that saying for was something like "each strike or block must be strong enough to damage the opponent".
agreed ikken hissatsu (which is discussed what, once every three months here?) is wrong when taken in its original context. applied to empty hand work, it can be applied in four ways, IMHO. first we have the most literal interpretation, which is one-hit kill, and basing one's training around only one hit. we all agree this is silly. then we have the opposite end, which spinmaster accurately described, which is the training of each and every blow for maximal effectiveness. i like explaining this as "your punch must kill, but then you kill him four or five extra times to make sure". in between this, we have two variations on the same concept. one is setting up one powerful strike with other movements, using ikken hissatsu to refer to THE one strike that ends the fight. the finisher if you will. OTOH, we have a variation, which is the strike to "break the opponent's spirit", but doesn't necessarily "end the fight" literally, but instantly prevents the opponent from effectively putting up resistance. both these "mid-points" in the ikken hissatsu "scale" of interpretation are present for example, in machida's fight against evans, the latter being what mitlov described, blows that give you a great advantage that you can use, and the former being the blow that actually ended the fight, once evans was overwhelmed by machida's punches. bam- bam- bam- BOOM! (headshot :evil my 2 cents on the matter
Thanks Theforgotten, you simplified what i was saying perfectly. i'm sure it's not exactly what that concept means, but it's just a way of putting it that my club uses to get the point across to our lower ranks.
