In I have previously discussed the origins of the kata known as "naihanchi", and "tekki"1. As most people are aware, there are 3 in the series, shodan, nidan and sandan.It is important to note that not every school of karate practise all 3 naihanchi kata. Our school is one of many that practises only the first of the series, feeling that it is sufficient.
his book "Wado Ryu Karate"2 Hironori Ohtsuka goes further, saying:
- ""There are three (Naihanchi) Katas, Shodan, Nidan and Sandan, but the last two are almost useless."
Ohtsuka was, of course, principally referencing the shotokan versions of these kata, having studied directly under Funakoshi Gichin. Accordingly it is apposite to examine tekki nidan and sandan from shotokan to see what he might have found objectionable.
I certainly have great difficulty with one particular technique in the versions of tekki nidan and sandan as practised in modern shotokan - see 0:19 in the videos below:
Tekki nidan as practised in modern shotokan
Tekki sandan as practised in modern shotokan
The movement of your arms in that direction is, quite simply, very weak utlising small muscle groups. It forces your arm into an unnatural position. I'm pretty certain that nothing has ever compelled me in sparring to use such a movement - even in grappling. And if a kata has such a technique I can't help but incline away from it.
The video below shows a JKA embu featuring the application of that particular move, however I still find it unpersuasive. In short, I wouldn't use that application in a pink fit.3
JKA shotokan embu of tekki nidan, showing an application of the palm-up gedan uke
It is my view that under real pressure (particularly someone trying to kick you) your elbow is likely to be severely strained.
Nor does the "augmentation" avoid the problem: a gedan uke with the palm up, whether augmented or not, still uses small shoulder muscles to effect the movement rather than the back and chest. Augmented moves are okay, but this augmentation doesn't fix the essential problem.
If you want a functional analogy, think of the backhand groundstroke in tennis. The move as performed in nidan/sandan is analogous to using the top edge of the racket in the backhand stroke rather than the back face - obviously you could still use the face of the racket if you change your grip but this kind of stroke is never used.4 Do a normal backhand groundstroke and compare it to a gedan uke (downward block) and I'm sure you'll agree that they are more or less the same.
If games like tennis or golf don't utilize a strange arm/elbow position, why should a martial art?
It is also apposite to note that I have never seen a palm-up downward block/deflection before in any Chinese forms - particularly the internal arts (which I have studied since 1990).
Aside from blocks/deflections, I can't see anything else dictating that the arm should be inverted at the low (gedan) point. If the move is an attack behind your opponent's leg (as has been suggested to me), it can (and should, in my view) be done with the normal (natural) gedan position, then turn over as your raise it (as necessary).
I think the issue with this technique disappears only once you raise your arm to chudan (chest) level (ie. once you change the technique from a low block to a chest-level block). Held palm-up, once your arm drops below chest level it starts to become weaker and rely less on the back muscles and more on the shoulder muscles. A more fully extended elbow is also problematic on impact.
This particular technique in naihanchi/tekki nidan and sandan appears to be restricted to modern shotokan karate and its "offspring"; other Okinawan karate styles appear to substitute the (biomechanically safer) augmented chudan uke (chest level block).
Consider for example the following performance by Chibana Choshin:
Chibana Choshin demonstrating naihanchi nidan
Similarly Shimabuku Eizo also does not do the move, again substituting an augmented chudan uke.5
Shimabuku Eizo demonstrating the naihanchi kata series
As previously noted, when the technique is performed at a chest level, my objections to it disappear. I can see its application as a chudan uke (chest block/deflection), but it obviously has other applications too. The main thing is that the movement, once lifted to chest level, is not unstable and dangerous (to the user that is).
So how did the shotokan version evolve? I believe the answer lies in looking at the surviving footage of Funakoshi Gichin performing the kata.
Funakoshi Gichin's tekki nidan
His version looks exactly half way between the modern shotokan and other shorin systems. Accordingly today's shotokan version looks to me to be a victim of "Chinese whispers" - what started out as a chudan uke (which Funakoshi dropped a bit, probably through bad habit) has ended up as some kind of inverted gedan uke (probably through dogged adherence to "traditional" form - ie. an attempt to preserve what they had seen Funakoshi doing - without any real appreciation of the application of the move).
So what about the rest of naihanchi nidan and sandan?
I see why someone might well like to keep all 3 naihanchi kata, but I see this as a personal preference. For my own purposes I can't see sufficient additional techniques in naihanchin nidan and sandan that would justify their inclusion in my karate syllabus.
Footnotes
1. As I discuss in my article "The naming of 'naihanchi', 'naifuanchi' or 'naifunchin'", the kata is known by quite a few different names, however we use the "naifunchin" for the reasons set out in that article.
2. Ohtsuka, Hinori (1997). Wado Ryu Karate. Rising Sun Productions. ISBN 0920129188.
3. As a matter of interest, my teacher was once with JKA and I retain a lot of respect and fondness for shotokan. However I bear the scars of trying (in sparring) some of the bunkai of JKA (which, was not a big part of their curriculum and produced some rather odd - dangerous even - applications in the early days). One of these (from the kata hangetsu) involved stopping a front kick by jamming the shin with your 2 palm heels. The back of my hand fractured and I still have a sharp bone jutting out.
4. If anything, a backhand groundstroke in tennis often twists the grip a bit further in the opposite direction to that which one would have to employ if one were to hit a ball in the manner consistent with the low palm-up block in tekki nidan and sandan.5. It is interesting to note in Eizo's version that after the kagi zuki (hook punch) in naihanchi shodan, he appears to use a haiwan nagashi uke followed by downward block and then an uppercut (as practised in Funakoshi's shotokan), where in the same position in nidan and sandan he uses the more commonly seen chudan + gedan uke (simultaneous chest level and downward blocks) followed by an uraken (backfist).
Copyright © 2009 Dejan Djurdjevic
5 comments:
Interesting article. Chudan does seem to make more sense.
As a side note, I have watched Chosei Motobu perform the Naihanchi series and in Naihanchi 2, he also uses the low augmented block that he learned from his father Choki Motobu.
Wonder what the original intent/application was to keep it like that?
concerning the "augmented downblock" of tekki nidan:
I consider the movement before in the kata (the cross stepping) as a release
technique from a both-wrists-hold; the following "augmented block" (in horse stance) is the control of the
left arm of the attacker while hitting his groin; finally while closing
the feet together (and raising my position) I perform an upward elbow lock (slow
movement in the kata meaning "this breaks the elbow" at full speed...)
PS. I explain the last movement of hangetsu as a wrist lock.
K-Hirakis - I didn't know Choki Motobu also did the low augmented block.
Ken, if I understand you, you see the low augmented "block" as a control of your opponent's arm... or do you see the "augmentation" as the control and the extended arm as a groin strike?
Whether it is a control, strike or block, the same biomechanical principles apply. And I think the move is still unsound on these principles. Quite simply, I can see nothing that one might do "palm up" in that posture that you couldn't (and shouldn't) do palm down (at least at the low point).
Hi,
I've watched my tape "The karate of Choki Motobu" again and Chosei Motobu explains the augmentation as "a support of the blocking arm to make the block stronger". He shows the same application as shown in the JKA Enbu.
I prefer to apply the kata-moves as closerange selfdefence-techniques and in this case: control of the attackers arm with my left hand while striking his groin with my right fist.
regards,
Hmm. No augmentation here can correct what is biomechanically unnecessary and wrong.
Consider the double backhand in tennis - augmented, yes, but with your elbow pointing at the target, not side-on.
Whether you are blocking or controlling the same biomechanical principles apply. Your elbow should not be used in such a weak position (nor your weaker shoulder muscles etc.) - especially when you can use the natural, much stronger, approach when you are low (then move to the "palm-up" position when you raise your arm - as necessary).
I'm beginning to suspect that this technique was in fact introduced by Itosu (and was common to both Motobu and Funakoshi). If so, this detracts from his karate legacy in my opinion.
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