Breathing For Karate - More To This Than Meets The Eye

Now that I'm thinking about my breathing, I've noticed two things: Firstly, nobody has ever given me any detailed instruction on it and secondly, it seems a pretty hard thing to do correctly. The second point may explain the first - breathing techniques are not for beginners. The act of inhaling and exhaling does much more than just supply oxygen and remove carbon dioxide, although in Western culture you would never know it. Eastern cultures believe that energy - the energy of the universe or Ki - is tied up with breathing. I don't understand this, but I do feel that correct breathing can intensify your power and I wonder if I was training in the East, if I would know so little about it from my Sensai. Correct breathing can help you store energy for the most powerful moves at which point to generate this power, you must give back the energy as a loud exhalation or Kiai. Most people more experienced than me still breath mostly through biological need - quick breaths at best, timed to their movements with little thought to their energy, however those much more advanced can generate additional power through correct breathing. Perhaps this is beyond the grasp of beginners busy with replicating form, but I feel it is a shame this is not more openly taught.

Breathing For Karate

Breathing is important in karate - beyond the fact that you'll collapse if you don't do it, how you breath improves your performance and makes you feel better while you're performing. I'm referring mostly to kata and basic training. Despite being well practiced in the art of breathing for everyday life, it's really hard to do correctly during kata. The rules are simple:

Slow moves - breath in through your nose and out through our mouth
Fast moves - breath in and out through your mouth

Despite the simplicity, I forget to breath during the fast bits of my kata. Breath holding holds you back! Unfortunately, by the time I've learned the moves, worked out how to get from move to the next with power and speed, I have no brain left for breathing. So I break it down into segments with appropriately planned breathing, but it still breaks down when I string all the bits together. Still practice makes perfect. I'm looking forward to the day when I can breath properly throughout the kata in a way that adds my performance.

The Power of Youtube

If you really enjoy a sport and this concept is new to me since I only started getting fit seven months ago, but regardless, it's fantastic to watch 'The Best'. In life, if you are serious about doing anything well, then get yourself as close as you can to the very best people. You may not become as good as them, but they will drag you someway closer to their level. In my case, being a middle aged, late comer to the sport of karate with only modest talent, 'The Best' will avoid me like the plague. Fair play to them, they have better uses for their time. Enter Youtube. With Youtube 'The Best' are in my kitchen with me where I can watch them, pause them, serve dinner to the kids and then watch them again. Possibly better than the real thing and undoubtedly less resentful. Now there's always a lot of rubbish on Youtube and regardless of your starting search title, after you've watched the first clip, the suggested follow on clips inevitably contain porn. If you wish to avoid this and a lot of other rubbish clips, I would suggest sticking to the WKF videos at least initially and then follow up a certain person of interest as required. It's great for kata - for example, our Sensei demonstrated the kata Annan the other day - we spent a full hour on it - one hour later at home I could remember exactly three moves in sequence and ten that definitely occurred somewhere in the kata and the other minute was a blank. If you have one of those Sensei who has a box set of DVDs and a fantastic website with video clips in your exact style - congratulations. Mine has an unforgiving sense of altruism and refuses to profit, or even generate anything that might be looked upon as money making. So I trawl Youtube for 'The Best' to do it in something near to his style, so that I can at least look like I know the moves for the next class. There's a lot of bad, no terrible, kata out there, so WKF is a reasonable starting point. As for kumite - it's great. You can memorize a sequence and try it out next session.

http://www.youtube.com/user/WKFKarateWorldChamps

No More Broken Toes?

Further to my last entry regarding the difficult time my toes have been having during sparring - I may have found a solution - Turner Sports shin and foot protectors - there are probably others that are similar on the market, but these have been perfect for me and much better than the pull on cotton ones I had been using which stop just beyond the instep leaving toes exposed. See the link below. Essentially they cover your entire foot yet the elastic is only underneath the arch of your foot leaving the heel and ball of the foot free to grip the floor. There is an additional piece of elastic which goes under your toes which I just hook over my big toe to maximize foot-floor contact. Fantastic! I feel considerably more secure when sparring now.

link to Turner Sports

Kumite Injuries - Toes

Now that I'm starting to enjoy sparring, I am also having to deal with the inevitable consequences of throwing punches and kicks at someone - pain. Invariably the person has more experience and skill than I do. This is good - the more experienced the better - an experienced practitioner is much less likely to injure you in my limited experience. However, minor injury is part of the deal. Not broken bones, but the odd bruise and in my case, sprained or broken toe. Twice now, once each side - I did my right foot, so I used my left leg more and did my left foot. Now I have two sore feet and high heels are out for the time being. Something that male martial artists don't have to consider for the most part. Fighting without kicking is not as effective and more importantly, it's less fun. I suffered a sprained finger only once and now I never leave them sticking out, but you can't make a foot-fist to tuck your toes away. Toes are just out there, tiny weak things ready to be snapped. It's not that my opponents are out to get me or lacking control, it's just that it takes very little force to break a toe. Both mine were done by people not unreasonably blocking my kicks. I'm going to invest in some more substantial leg and foot shields, but most of these devices leave your toes sticking out like the ones I've got. Until I become massively better at sparring, I'm not sure what the solution is.

I've turned to youtube. Watching good fighters is a good way to learn if you're a total beginner like me - this chap Rafael Aghayev is great to watch and he seems to incorporate judo throws which is a nice touch if you can do it. Also the sparring is remarkably controlled with both competitors trying to score the point rather than inflict damaging force. In fact looking at the WKF footage the fighters in general are very respectful of each other. Despite this, theirs toes are still sticking out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKrfJuQjTP4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0GD9kanca4

Weight Training - Is It Important For Karate?

Before I started karate I had heard of people lifting weights and I'd even seen them in the gym. Groups of tattooed, muscle-bound, men training to achieve their own particular vision of physical perfection. Not really my thing. Also muscle that looks good may not be functional and anything that doesn't help you - like fat or unnecessary muscle - will hold you back. However, there are others who lift weights to develop muscles for a specific purpose other than looking good - to help them do their chosen sport better. Karate is no different and power needs muscular strength as well as good technique. I started about a month ago after our Sensei incorporated weights into a particularly gruelling training session where we used hand held weights and replicated different types of punch and blocks. It was great! I now use small weights at home to do the same along with sit-ups, modified press-ups (still can't do a full one), planks and squats, but I'm not up to doing this with my muscular brethren in the gym. So I do think using weights will be an important part of my training once or twice a week for about fifteen minutes, but karate seems to be one of the best all over conditioning sports there is, so weight training should not be done at the expense of karate training if you have limited time, but rather as an addition.

Mawari Ashi - Turning

Moving from one technique to the next is hard for beginners like me. At first you "walk" into the next technique, rather than deliver the technique with power. This continues even after you know the moves and feel confident with them. Arriving at the next move is different from really delivering that move with power. This is really obvious in kata. Take Pinan Ninan for example - the first, simplest kata, but one it is hard to do well. To actually deliver each move correctly and with power and speed takes practice and more practice and I still can't do it, but at least I know that. When I perform kata, I sometimes catch my Sensei smiling - he's not happy, it's suppressed laughter - because the sight of poorly performed kata carried out with sincerity is almost too much for him. It took me a few months to realize that I was simply walking through the kata. Movements in a straight line are hard enough, but the real challenge is  on the turn, or mawari ashi. If you're a beginner, try the moves below on this website. They're very helpful since it is hard to do the entire sequence with good technique and power. Good luck!

http://www.shitokai.com/shihouke.php