Thoughts on Naihanchi

Discussion in 'Karate' started by Mitch, Dec 18, 2009.

  1. ojisan

    ojisan Valued Member

    That circular opening is strictly an Otsuka addition, as far as I know. I don't know how to interpret it as he does not lean forward and he circles very high over his head. Are there akido waza that begin like that?

    The looking left and right may be Motobu, but I was taught kanku sho (from a Shotokan perspective) beginning with a look left, right, then left again accompaning the first technique. I'm not sure but I don't think the JKA etc. begin it that way. Just an observation.

    Most of the Wado kata I have observed, for the most part, closely resemble the early kata as shown in the 1924 tape of Funakoshi. Naihanchi does not, and clearly was heavily influenced by Motobu. The way Wado practioners block high, upper arm almost parallel to the ground, is also reminiscent of Choki.

    Not to drift too far, but I don't think Otsuka got the "viewing the sky" from Motobu. FWIW
     
  2. John Titchen

    John Titchen Still Learning Supporter

    I do the same move occasionally (or rather DID the same move) but with a slightly different movement angle. I used to use it as a double tap to GB20 on both sides. Followed by the redundancy of the pushing pf the head downwards and then a knee to the temple as you step over.

    I haven't sen it done with a palm downwards raise before - only ever with a palm upwards raise.
     
  3. Mike Flanagan

    Mike Flanagan Valued Member

    As has been indicated by others...I don't think these movements are 'indigineous' to Naihanchi. My impression is that that these were grafted on to the kata by Ohtsuka - for reasons I would'n like to guess at.

    The arm circling comes from Kusanku as far as I'm concerned, the looking to the left and right bit I really don't know - its not in any of the classical kata that I know of.

    In terms of application the raising of the arms puzzles me TBH. You see a similar movement half-way through Passai-Dai, but here the forearms supinate (turn palm inward) as they raise up - this is mechanically powerful. But raising the arms with the palms down (pronated) is most certainly not.

    Circling the arms down, however, is a powerful movement. The combination of circling the arm around the shoulder joint coupled with forearm supination enables you to bring a number of different muscles into play, at the same time and also in sequence. So the arm can continue to accelerate (and therefore generate force) throughout the movement. Doing it with both arms at the same time has a synergistic effect, ie. the power produced is greater than twice the power of one arm working alone. This is because both sets of muscles (on opposite sides of the body) are working against the same base(s), eg. one of the muscles involved is the pectoralis major, which pulls on the sternum - if both work on the sternum at the same time the sternum becomes a better base for the other to pull against.

    Obviously this movement can be used to strike (as with other inward knifehand movements) but it can also be used to control an opponents arm (either grabbing or sticking), in which case the rotation around the shoulder makes it easier to rotate the opponents arm arm around their shoulder (unlike a straight line it is harder for them to resist the force with a continually changing direction of travel, and of course their arm is designed to move easily in an arc with their shoulder at the centre of the circle).

    Tactically then you could block (and possibly catch) and redirect/control the opponent's arm. You could strike. You could control with one hand and strike with the other.

    At the end of the movement the hands come back together. Tactically this can be used to feed a captured/controlled limbfrom one hand to the other.

    Application of looking left and right? Erm, seeing all the enemies on both the left and the right?

    Mike
     

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