Shotokan Information

The Makiwara

Example of the traditional

And the modern

 

Traditional Shotokan karate practitioners often hear the terms “focus”, “kime” and “ikken hisatsu” being repeated by our Sensei over and over again. As students of Shotokan karate we often struggle with how do you achieve focus (kime) and of course the ultimate, ikken hisatsu (one blow – one kill). We also ask ourselves, what does it feel like to experience real Kime?

Shotokan teaches that in order to deliver an ikken hisatsu punch you much learn to master kime. To do this you have to perfect joint alignment, strong hands, wrist, elbow, Shoulder, back, proper waist-hip rotation, strong rooted legs that deliver power with the punch. The antagonist and protagonist muscles must work together in harmony. As the protagonist muscles contract and push out the punch the antagonistic muscles must relax and pull in the opposite direction. This is based on the expansion-contraction principle that master Gichin Funakoshi taught. The faster and harder you pull the opposite hand, the faster and harder the punching hand comes at the target.

An important and often forgotten point here is that in order to develop your maximum speed for delivering your punch to the target, you most keep your muscles relaxed. Since tight and tense muscles only act to restrict the free movement of joints and therefore the speed of delivering your punch. Secondly you expend more energy than you have to.

For kime to occur you must remain relaxed during the punch and just at the point of contact with the target you tighten your fist and push hard, through the target! Then, as quickly you relax the muscles so you can as quickly withdraw your blow to prepare for the next technique.

An important element of ikken hisatsu is power (force). Obviously if your punch lacks power, no mater how fast your punch travels you will never achieve ikken hisatsu. How is power (force) developed and delivered at the point of impact? Well lets go back to physics 101. Do you remember the formula for force? Right, Its:

The determining factor for the power of your punch, kick or any blow for that matter is detemined by this Physics formula:

Force = mass * speed

Master Motobu

 

The speed part we already talked about so how do we account for the mass component of the formula? If we use just our arm and hands when we punch we limit our mass to just simply the mass of our hand and arm. Now, if we add the shoulder-waist-hip rotation and the deep rooted legs and feet all working together we have added more mass to the punch. Finally we add the forward momentum of your whole body with all of the above and you have POWER! This is why you have to deliver your punch in unison with your forward movement and not move, stop and then punch. In the latter you lose the mass of your body moving forward. The punch must be delivered to your target just before you stop moving forward or you lose the mass of your forward momentum.

Ok, but what is the best way to get all of this together so I can develop ikken hisatsu? Well the masters have answered this question long ago, they developed a training devise that with consistent and patient practice will help you develop ikken hisatsu. The device is a makiwara board.

Example of an indoor Makiwara

The origin of the makiwara board is from the place of the birth of karate, Okinawa. In 1908 master Anko Itosu stated that the hands and feet are important so they should be thoroughly trained on the makiwara to develop their full potential .

Master Anko Itosu

I have seen many different types of so call makiwara and some should never be used, they will injury you if you do so. Lets talk about the correct type of makiwara and the only type you should ever use.

 

A traditional makiwara is made of rice straw wound into a rope and then this rope is wound around the top of the board in several layers. The board that is used reaches your shoulder height while in zenkutsu-dachi. The board is tapered and measures 3” thick at the base and 0.75” at the top and 4” wide. In Japan the preferred wood is Japanese cedar. The wood has to have flexibility, durability and strength so it won’t break as you develop your power in time. Ash is a good wood to use and its use in baseball bats and hockey sticks prove its strength, durability and flexibility. Flexibility is important since the makiwara has to give with your punch or you will cause damage to your hands, elbows and shoulders. If there is no give to your makiwara

your body parts absorb all of the impact of the blows and it does take a rocket
scientist to figure out what the consequence is to this type of physical abuse to your body over time. So makiwara that are fastened on to non-giving surfaces like walls and post are purely for decoration purposes only and not for makiwara training. You can use them but you will only be giving your money to the orthopedic surgeons later. I prefer to be able to train into my senior years and stay away from the orthopedic surgeon who will only shake his head and ask why you punched walls or a post everyday and expect it to not have lasting harm on your body.

The proper makiwara must have flex to absorb the blow but have just enough stiffness to cause resistance that it will develop strength in the hands, wrist, elbows, shoulder and back. The resistance will teach the need for proper hand, wrist and elbow alignment. Since not many of us have rice patties in our back yards we need to find our second shock absorber other than rice straw. The most common is a 2” to 4” closed cell foam rubber pad (most common is 3”). It’s either covered with a canvass, synthetic leather or the real thing, leather.

When first starting you must remember that it will always be there and it will never be knocked down. So, START SLOWLY! IF IT HURTS, STOP AND TRY AGAIN LATTER AND LASTLY DO NOT! START MAKIWARA TRAINING WITHOUT A SKILLED SENSEI TO TEACH YOU AND TO GUIDE YOU IN ITS PROPER USE OR YOU COULD EASILY HURT YOURSELF.

Master Oyama

1.Just start out lightly tapping the pad to get the feel and the technique. If you don’t use the proper technique, the makiwara will let you know right away! You’ll get a skin burn or your wrist will bend. The makiwara will teach you how to punch correctly by giving you instant feedback.

2. Use the first two larger and stronger knuckles only! Your last three knuckles are weaker and will cause harm if you punch something with those knuckles. Also, hitting with the first two knuckles cause you to properly align your wrist so that you have the strongest punch possible and prevent your wrist from bending on impact and causing injuries.

3. Extend your arm into the punch but don’t lock it. Punch through the target. This is another benefit of makiwara training you learn proper distance from your intended target.

4. Shoulders down and into the punch

5. Head up and look at your opponent (makiwara). DON’T LOOK AT THE GROUND OR THE SKY! Start learning to focus on your opponent now or you will learn the hard way one day and be looking at your opponent from the floor on your back!

6. Shoulder, hip, waist rotation well coordinated into the punch

7. Strong rooted stance using your leg and foot power into the punch

8. Remember what we talked about earlier; relax your muscles that you are not using in the punch and KIME! RIGHT AT THE POINT OF IMPACT! KIA!

9. Start with 15 to 30 each side and work up to 100 per side.

10. When you achieve expert status you can then start trying applying you full mass into the punch by lifting your forward foot and moving into the punch. Delivering the punch just at the moment your front foot is about to be planted.

11. You can practice different types of blows on the makiwara but the makiwara isn’t suited for full force striking from the foot or knee. The makiwara built for punching is too flexible for the more powerful legs and may break

12. Remember, if you hurt your body is telling you that you are not doing the technique correctly. The makiwara is not for splattering blood all over the place and it’s not for destroying your hands (remember, it may make the orthopedic surgeon rich but you may need your hands for more useful things like performing work so you can make a living, unless you are a rich guy who doesn’t need to work and doesn’t mind living with damaged body parts, namely hands, wrist, elbows and shoulders. Its for perfecting your punching technique, speed and power not for destroying your punch! So listen to your body and again makiwara training should be done only under the supervision of a skilled Sensei until you know what to do.

13. Done properly like any other training modality, makiwara is safe and will help you get to IKKEN HITASU.

14. Remember Kime. You have to tighten the fist at impact and push through or you will be hit with a Jelly fist and arm. You can hurt yourself and there will be no effect from your punch.

Master Giko Funakoshi

 

OSS!