QUOTE
In This Issue
> Working Stances Through Our Kata
> Flex And Fexibility
> myGKR Training Tip Sample
We constantly focus on ways to produce better technique, gain speed, increase snap etc. In most cases, practising is looking at what we can add to our technique. But maybe the answer lies within what we already know. Starting with taking away the ‘extras’ we may have unknowingly added over time.
Keeping this in mind there’s a number of ways in which we can apply this focus for maximum results. I suppose one of the most difficult areas of our karate is our ability to move from ‘knowledge’ to ‘applied knowledge’ (or skill). Most of us from time to time would see this as the thing that may separate us from the higher grades within our class environment. But this is something that all grades can practise.
I think before we move forward we first need to understand where the changes need to be, and in doing so, we’re working on developing how something works. Our elite karate-ka constantly work on eliminating the ‘extras’. Excess body movement, subtle posture issues, excess weight shifting with stances.
It also helps to think about what we want to achieve first, rather than just doing, doing. We may be practising and working very hard, but still not getting the results we’re after. There’s a possibility that our focus on results may be clouding the area we really need to work on. Refining our thoughts behind our movements I believe is the first step to us opening the door to an area that holds limitless improvement, and therefore making us more efficient.
Breaking down our kata would possibly start with our stances.
Again not just knowing the stance, but being able to perform the stance when needed with control. Early preparation can assist us with our improvement and help us to bring the confidence in our stances that we’ll need to make them stick. A great example of this is during a ‘mawate’ (190 degree turn). With this we must step the foot across, then plant the foot, then turn and execute the technique. A very simple yet extremely effective process. Planting the foot first gives us the foundation to move not only with speed but stability and confidence.
Other areas of development with perfecting stances are with timing and hips.
These other areas can only become effective once a strong foundation behind the stance is in place. These are the last 2 pieces of the puzzle to great movement in stances, they add the dynamics and speed to our kata, but this is an area of continuous practise and development.
If we break it down slowly step by step, we’re able to see with clearly what aspects within the stance we need to work on. Usually the slower something is performed, the harder it is to execute. This can often show up our weaknesses in our stance but is a great development tool. Finally a simple way to start could be to make sure our feet movements are direct and precise. The more we work on making the technique simple, the easier it will become to move towards our goals.
Flexibility is said to be the absolute range of movement in a joint or series of joints. Flexibility is affected by the following factors:
- the temperature of a joint and associated tissues
- the ability of a muscle to relax and contract to achieve the greatest range of movement
- the elasticity of muscle tissue (muscle tissue scarred due to a previous injury is not very elastic)
- the type of joint and the internal resistance within a joint
- the temperature of the training location (a warmer temperature promotes increased flexibility)
- the time of day (most people are more flexible in the afternoon than in the morning, peaking from about 2:30 pm - 4pm)
- injuries (injured joints/muscles shorten and offer less flexibility)
- age (pre-adolescents are generally more flexible than adults)
- gender (females are generally more flexible than males)
- commitment to achieving flexibility
Warm-Up:
Stretching is not warming up. Warming up should consist of something that raises your internal body temperature.
The warm up is divided into three phases:
1) general warm up (muscles)
2) Joint mobility
3) specific sport activity. It is vital to complete the general warm up before stretching. Don’t attempt to stretch before your muscles are warm.
NEVER perform static stretches before a full warm up, and NEVER before you do dynamic stretches (eg leg raises).
Breathing:
Correct breathing control helps to relax the body, increase blood flow and helps to remove lactic acid and any by-products of exercise. Take slow relaxed breaths when you stretch, exhaling as the muscle is stretching.
Water:
An increased water intake can contribute to increased mobility as well as increased total body relaxation.
Ageing:
Ageing has some of the same effects on muscle tissue as lack of use. With appropriate training, flexibility can be developed at all ages. Flexibility cannot be developed at the same rate by everyone. In general, the older you are, the longer it will take to develop the desired level of flexibility.
Strength Training:
Strength training and flexibility should go together as these enhance one another. If you are attempting to increase active flexibility, you should also strengthen the muscles responsible for holding the stretched limbs in their extended positions.
Static stretching:
Loosens up tight muscles and helps the muscle to remember its full range of movement. It also helps to remove lactic acid and from the muscle.
Benefits of Stretching:
- enhanced physical fitness
- reduced risk of injury to joints, muscles and tendons
- reduced muscular soreness and tension
- increased suppleness due to stimulation of the production of chemicals which lubricate connective tissues
Summary:
- Warm-up properly before any stretching.
- Remember to breathe out as you stretch (use relaxed deep breathing).
- Drink sufficient water before and after your training session.
- Increasing flexibility takes time and patience.
The karate journey is a constant strive for perfection – perfection in our technique and our mind. Sadly, perfection can never be attained. It wasn’t attained by the masters of old, and won’t be by Kancho Sullivan, Shihan or you or I.
No matter how good we become, there will always be some sort of flaw in our stance, posture, technique, kime, timing or mindset. So in many ways, the journey of karate can easily become a frustrating one.
Sometimes when we don’t progress as quickly as we would like, the frustration really sets in. We get frustrated with our sensei, our training partners, GKR as a whole and primarily ourselves.
Frustration can take all the fun out of training, and when we stop having fun, we start to question everything.
The trick is NOT to look at how far off you are from perfection. Instead, it is to look how far you have come.
You may be miles away from perfection, even months away from a great kata, but you are light years ahead from where you started. Who cares if you aren’t perfect? You’re a whole lot better than the person who chooses to sit on a couch every night of the week!
> Working Stances Through Our Kata
> Flex And Fexibility
> myGKR Training Tip Sample
We constantly focus on ways to produce better technique, gain speed, increase snap etc. In most cases, practising is looking at what we can add to our technique. But maybe the answer lies within what we already know. Starting with taking away the ‘extras’ we may have unknowingly added over time.
Keeping this in mind there’s a number of ways in which we can apply this focus for maximum results. I suppose one of the most difficult areas of our karate is our ability to move from ‘knowledge’ to ‘applied knowledge’ (or skill). Most of us from time to time would see this as the thing that may separate us from the higher grades within our class environment. But this is something that all grades can practise.
I think before we move forward we first need to understand where the changes need to be, and in doing so, we’re working on developing how something works. Our elite karate-ka constantly work on eliminating the ‘extras’. Excess body movement, subtle posture issues, excess weight shifting with stances.
It also helps to think about what we want to achieve first, rather than just doing, doing. We may be practising and working very hard, but still not getting the results we’re after. There’s a possibility that our focus on results may be clouding the area we really need to work on. Refining our thoughts behind our movements I believe is the first step to us opening the door to an area that holds limitless improvement, and therefore making us more efficient.
Breaking down our kata would possibly start with our stances.
Again not just knowing the stance, but being able to perform the stance when needed with control. Early preparation can assist us with our improvement and help us to bring the confidence in our stances that we’ll need to make them stick. A great example of this is during a ‘mawate’ (190 degree turn). With this we must step the foot across, then plant the foot, then turn and execute the technique. A very simple yet extremely effective process. Planting the foot first gives us the foundation to move not only with speed but stability and confidence.
Other areas of development with perfecting stances are with timing and hips.
These other areas can only become effective once a strong foundation behind the stance is in place. These are the last 2 pieces of the puzzle to great movement in stances, they add the dynamics and speed to our kata, but this is an area of continuous practise and development.
If we break it down slowly step by step, we’re able to see with clearly what aspects within the stance we need to work on. Usually the slower something is performed, the harder it is to execute. This can often show up our weaknesses in our stance but is a great development tool. Finally a simple way to start could be to make sure our feet movements are direct and precise. The more we work on making the technique simple, the easier it will become to move towards our goals.
Flexibility is said to be the absolute range of movement in a joint or series of joints. Flexibility is affected by the following factors:
- the temperature of a joint and associated tissues
- the ability of a muscle to relax and contract to achieve the greatest range of movement
- the elasticity of muscle tissue (muscle tissue scarred due to a previous injury is not very elastic)
- the type of joint and the internal resistance within a joint
- the temperature of the training location (a warmer temperature promotes increased flexibility)
- the time of day (most people are more flexible in the afternoon than in the morning, peaking from about 2:30 pm - 4pm)
- injuries (injured joints/muscles shorten and offer less flexibility)
- age (pre-adolescents are generally more flexible than adults)
- gender (females are generally more flexible than males)
- commitment to achieving flexibility
Warm-Up:
Stretching is not warming up. Warming up should consist of something that raises your internal body temperature.
The warm up is divided into three phases:
1) general warm up (muscles)
2) Joint mobility
3) specific sport activity. It is vital to complete the general warm up before stretching. Don’t attempt to stretch before your muscles are warm.
NEVER perform static stretches before a full warm up, and NEVER before you do dynamic stretches (eg leg raises).
Breathing:
Correct breathing control helps to relax the body, increase blood flow and helps to remove lactic acid and any by-products of exercise. Take slow relaxed breaths when you stretch, exhaling as the muscle is stretching.
Water:
An increased water intake can contribute to increased mobility as well as increased total body relaxation.
Ageing:
Ageing has some of the same effects on muscle tissue as lack of use. With appropriate training, flexibility can be developed at all ages. Flexibility cannot be developed at the same rate by everyone. In general, the older you are, the longer it will take to develop the desired level of flexibility.
Strength Training:
Strength training and flexibility should go together as these enhance one another. If you are attempting to increase active flexibility, you should also strengthen the muscles responsible for holding the stretched limbs in their extended positions.
Static stretching:
Loosens up tight muscles and helps the muscle to remember its full range of movement. It also helps to remove lactic acid and from the muscle.
Benefits of Stretching:
- enhanced physical fitness
- reduced risk of injury to joints, muscles and tendons
- reduced muscular soreness and tension
- increased suppleness due to stimulation of the production of chemicals which lubricate connective tissues
Summary:
- Warm-up properly before any stretching.
- Remember to breathe out as you stretch (use relaxed deep breathing).
- Drink sufficient water before and after your training session.
- Increasing flexibility takes time and patience.
The karate journey is a constant strive for perfection – perfection in our technique and our mind. Sadly, perfection can never be attained. It wasn’t attained by the masters of old, and won’t be by Kancho Sullivan, Shihan or you or I.
No matter how good we become, there will always be some sort of flaw in our stance, posture, technique, kime, timing or mindset. So in many ways, the journey of karate can easily become a frustrating one.
Sometimes when we don’t progress as quickly as we would like, the frustration really sets in. We get frustrated with our sensei, our training partners, GKR as a whole and primarily ourselves.
Frustration can take all the fun out of training, and when we stop having fun, we start to question everything.
The trick is NOT to look at how far off you are from perfection. Instead, it is to look how far you have come.
You may be miles away from perfection, even months away from a great kata, but you are light years ahead from where you started. Who cares if you aren’t perfect? You’re a whole lot better than the person who chooses to sit on a couch every night of the week!
Comments, as ever, welcomed!
Tom.