Core kihon: The heart of Karate-Do waza

I have discussed the importance of relentlessly practicing "the core kihon" many times in the past. This small pool of waza (techniques) is what can be found in the grading syllabus and generically establish “the foundation of all other karate motions…” and, indeed, applications.

Broadly speaking these techniques include jun-zuki (oi-zuki), gyaku-zuki, kizami-zuki, mae-te-zuki, yoko uraken-uchi, yoko empi-uchi, shihon nukite, mae-geri, yoko-keage, yoko-kekomi, mawashi-geri, ushiro-geri, all kizami-keriwaza (mae-ashi-geri), jodan age-uke, chudan uchi-uke, gedan-barai, chudan shuto-uke, From there we also have to consider the stances utilized; namely, zenkutsu-dachi, kokutsu-dachi, kiba-dachi and jiyu-dachi. Furthermore, the footwork used; primarily, aiyumibashi (fumidashi), kosa aiyumibashi, yori-ashi (yose-ashi) and tobi-konde.

Beyond these broad `labels' there are, as mentioned before, the basis for the other stances, techniques and movements/transitions. For example, inside of a stepping motion we can find neko-ashi dachi, sanchin-dachi and other stances. We must also consider goshin-jutsu (self-defense techniques/applications) and military CQC (close quarter battle) principles, all of which are within traditional Shotokan-ryu. It comes down to one fact, all one needs is Shotokan, "...if they train hard and simultaneously, they train smart".

My point, in this post, is to emphasize that karate-do knowledge is stratified. That is, there are many layers of physical understanding and application. Nevertheless, irrespective of how deep one decides to train, "...karate-do always comes back to the core kihon”. Osu, André.









© André Bertel, Aso-shi, Kumamoto. Japan (2014).