Stances in basics

There are many stances in the shotokan system. It is understood that having a strong rooted stance with correct posture and form provides a student with a strong foundation to produce powerful techniques. Basic stances in shotokan develope strength in the legs thats needed to distribute your body weight from front to back and side to side (tia sabaki). Using your strength to develop balance while your body is in motion.  Understanding weight distribution, while maintaining a lower center of gravity and longer stances.  Strength is necessary for mobility, flexibility is equally as important. To creat movement, the muscles have to expand and contract. Flexibility plays an important role in providing a greater range of motion in your movement. Correct positioning of the feet and Gripping the floor with your toes will help you from slipping and give you a feeling of stability.

Stances in kata

Shotokan instructors will almost always correct a students stances first then work on other details second. Proper stances are the foundation that a shotokan stylist will build upon in order to maintain stability and effective defensive or offensive movements. Stance, posture, balance and Kime (focus) with a lower center of gravity will give the karata-ka  the proper platform to build on. Developing strong stances in your kihons (Basic) is of the highest priority. Then applying theses strong basics in kata is the ultimate challenge and goal. Shotokan kata’s are extremely dynamic in motion so movement must be fluid and natural. There are many physical complex systems in the body that are almost working all at once during the performance of a kata. Muscle strength, muscle elasticity, and joint alignment will give you the form. Proper breathing will keep you relaxed and not over tense. Utilising the waist and Hip rotation. All these factors will enable you to create the right kime (focus) and Ki (energy) thats necessary to perform the kata with confidence and excellence.

How stances affect kumite (fighting)

Correct form is when all parts of the body move in harmony to provide the speed and power necessary to execute an affective technique. Basic shotokan stances are taught to develope the body to be able to extend your attack into your opponent, to avoid an attack with swift speed and agility, at its extreme distance. In our basic stances, Of course, we do not fight in this position at all. In a more advanced way, we maintain a more natural stance, kumite kamae (fighting posture). This is more realistic simulation. A more advanced student with strong shotokan basics, will have the agility and speed with-in them. The ability to move instinctively with no hesitation or restriction. Zankutsu dashi (front stance) will bring most of your weight forward. Kokutsu Dashi (back stance) will bring most of your weight to the back. Hangetsu Dashi (hour-glass stance), you would be more stationary and so on…….. So weight distribution is key in your ability to apply strategic quick reactions at what ever distance (ma-ai) is necessary. So even though you are fighting in a more natural stance you are still applying your basics in everything that you do.

Author: Cheyne McMahon
Source: ezinearticles.com

Forward, Backward, Left, Right, Jump, Duck, & Switch

Type: Class Drill

Level: Basic

Equipment: Nil

Objective: Improve reaction and footwork

This is a great drill, drills
, for beginners, as it teaches the basic movements in kumite. The movements in this drill are moving, drills
, forward, backward, left, right, jumping, ducking, and switching, drills
, legs while in kumite stance.

The instructor out shouts a command, left, and everyone moves left. The Instructor shouts a different command, forward, and everyone moves forward, etc. The, drills
, more advanced drill is combining two or three commands together.

When moving it is important that the student moves the closest leg first. Shifting forward, the front foot moves first. Going to the left, the left leg goes first. It follows the principle CWCT – Closest Weapon, Closest Target. Although there isn’t necessary a weapon or a target, the principle is the same. This ensures that students aren’t falling over their own feet, drills
, .

Make it a competition! If a student makes a mistake, they are out. The winner is the last one standing. The advanced method is, drills
, when the instructor says a command, but does something different. This makes students listen and react to noise rather than sight.

Tip – Make sure students don’t close their eyes! This is an easy way to cheat, so keep an eye on the students.

Sun and Shadow Drill

Type: Class Drill

Level: Basic

Equipment:, drills
, Nil

Objective: Improve reaction and footwork

Similar to, drills
, the first footwork drill,, drills
,, drills
, this is to increase reaction, drills
, time and improve the ability to move when sparring. This, drills
, drill utilises Forward, Backward, Left, Right, Jump, Duck, and Switch.

Partner A, the initiator, is the sun, and Partner, drills
, B, drills
, is the shadow, the follower. If the, drills
,, drills
, ‘Sun’ moves forward, the ‘Shadow’ moves backward. If the ‘Sun’ moves, drills
, left, the ‘Shadow’ moves right. The distance between, drills
, the two should be the same, and about as far as when sparring.

The goal for this drill is, drills
, to react, drills
, to the partner’s movements by watching how they move.

To increase movements feel free to add two or three movements at once.

Cheyne McMahon

Senior Instructor
Australian Karate Academy
http://www.kumite-tips.com

Ng Pei Ru lost her match in the 61kg category. Her Malaysian conterpart now goes on to compete against the Indonesians. If Malaysia wins, then we are still in the running for a Bronze medal. If the Indon comes out tops, then we can kiss our Womens Kumite medal goodbye.

Well done, Pei Ru. Keep it together and stay strong. There’s still hope yet!

          

We are proud to see Sensei Kyle Funakoshi on the front page of black belt magazine jan. 2010 issue with an excellent article about affective Advanced fighting strategies of shotokan karate. Sensei Funakoshi has been a world champion in karate for many years and annually visits our dojo. He has testing for dan grading (Black belt ranks) and we follow-up with a seminar. Every year he leaves us with a rewarding experience in the education of technical skills in shotokan karate. His physical ability has always amazed our student. Sensei Funakoshi’s powerful techniques and lighting speed seems to leave an impression on your mind, as wells being a fine down to earth gentlemen to talk to. Many character traits of his famous world renown father Shihan Kenneth Funakoshi.  He continues to inspire our dojo’s development every year.           

Here is the article that was written about advanced fighting strategies of shotokan Karate.          

When you want to get good at anything, it’s always best to go to the source. When that anything is shotokan karate, the first source that comes to mind is anyone with the surname Funakoshi.Kyle Funakoshi, a martial arts instructor based in Milpitas, Califor­nia. He grew up in Hawaii, where he started training when he was 5. His sen­se; was his father, Kenneth Funakoshi, a man who’s no stranger to the pages of Black Belt—he appeared on the cover of the June 1992 issue. The Funakoshi family moved to San Jose, California, 24 years ago so they could administer their association’s many dojo from a more centralized location. Since then, they’ve built a reputation for offering the highest-quality instruction in the Japanese art. More than 31 years of traditional training and national and international competi­tion have brought Kyle Funakoshi to where he is today—seventh-degree black belt. Ask him why he’s dedicated his life to shotokan, and he’ll humbly hint that he wants to carry on the tradition of the art’s founder Gichin Funakoshi, his fifth cousin. Black Belt arranged for Kyle to drop by for an interview and photo shoot to help readers better understand the advanced fighting strategies of shotokan. He imme­diately started explaining what could have been a complicated subject, breaking it down into terms and concepts anybody can comprehend. “Some of the factors in­volved are rhythm and timing, not only of your techniques but also your opponent’s so he doesn’t know when you’ll attack,” he said. “When he’s unsure of when you’ll strike, that opens up his body to you.” Those two sentences marked the beginning of what amounted to a private lesson.         

Feinting is defined as a strategy that entails using a deceptive movement to dis­tract your opponent from your true intent. It’s often a matter of partially executing a technique to elicit a reaction from him. “If a beginner tries to throw a feint, he’ll face several problems,” Funakoshi said. “Because he doesn’t know how to control his body yet, it won’t be believable. It’s im­portant to do it only after you’ve reached a level where you can relax your body enough. You want your opponent to be­lieve you’re attacking him and react to it. Then you can control the situation.” The key to executing a convincing feint, he said, is movement: body movement, head movement, hand movement and hip movement. “It’s not just about moving your hands. You have to make it believable in every way.” Challenge No. 2: Even though you’re using essentially your whole body to sell the feint, you must avoid committing to the point that you can’t follow up with the real technique. “You have to make it short and quick,” Funakoshi said. “If it’s too long or there’s too much of a lag time, you might get caught or your opponent might not react because he knows nothing is coming in.” The master’s reference to the thought processes of the opponent begged a fol­low-up question: Are there some people who simply will not react to a feint and some who will react to anything? “Yes,” he confirmed. “If they don’t react, it’s be­cause the feint was too fast or you’re not at the level yet to throw it effectively—in other words, your opponent is faster than you and can see that you’re not going to commit.” Knowing that feinting may fail if you’re facing a faster foe, should you try the tactic once and immediately change course if it doesn’t work? Not necessarily, he said. “I would give it a couple more tries because sometimes the person is slow. Maybe he doesn’t have the reaction time to respond to your feint. Maybe you have to change the rhythm or timing of it. Instead of 100 percent, you might have to slow it down in the beginning to create an opening. “Also, if he’s tired, he might be too ex­hausted to react to anything. Then you can kick or punch him at will. If he’s fresh, he’ll be more on the ball and likely to react to your feints.”      

In a way, baiting is the opposite of feint­ing. In feinting, you do something to create an opening. In baiting, you do nothing to create an opening. That “doing nothing” might entail keeping your hands high to give the impression that your body is ex­posed or keeping them down so he thinks your face is exposed. Either way, Funako­shi said, you counter when he comes in for the kill. The strategy would seem to be risky against an unfamiliar opponent because he might be faster than you. “That’s why you should do it only when you feel com­fortable and you’re fast enough,” Funako­shi said. “If you’re at a tournament, it’s a good idea to observe the competitors, to study how fast they are and what tech­niques they like to use.” Another key to success is following up with the right counter. Should your re­sponse be preplanned, or does it depend on how he takes the bait? “It’s not some- thing you can think of on the spot—as in, if he does this, I’ll do that,” Funakoshi said. “It has to happen instantly because there’s no time for thinking.” The secret, one would suppose, lies in having had sufficient kumite experience to figure out what the best counters are in each situation. “That’s right,” he said. “It has to be natural, like the way animals fight. They don’t think; they just react. That ability comes from experience you gain in the dojo. There’s no secret to it.”     

There are all sorts of rhythm,” Funakoshi explained. “There’s which you’re not moving”. There’s a rhythm in which you’re pressing your opponent. There’s a rhythm in which you’re doing a yori ashi, or sliding back and forth. “Whenever you have an opponent in front of you, that changes rhythm again because both of you are moving—espe­cially when he throws a fake, or when you do and he reacts to it.” One of the most common manifesta­tions of rhythm can be seen when two tae-kwondo stylists face each other and begin to bounce. Funakoshi said such a tactic is valid but using it requires caution. “There are many ways to use rhythm in your ka-mae, or fighting stance. One could be you’re stationary and pressing your oppo­nent. Another is you’re bouncing to get your own rhythm. You might be bouncing up and down or forward and back. If you bounce too high, you can be timed and hit with a reverse punch, front kick or side thrust. If you move forward and back, you have to be careful of the distance. If you bounce too far, it can leave you open to attack or telegraph your intentions. You have to find the distance that’s just right for your body.” If you’re a beginner, be extra care­ful or you risk exhausting yourself before you even engage your opponent. “If you bounce too much or move inefficiently, you will tire yourself out and be ineffective, and it will be harder to throw the technique,” Fu­nakoshi said. “Everybody’s bounce is dif­ferent; it has to be adjusted to your body.” Blast from the past: “Back in the old days, they didn’t bounce around at all, “he said. “They had a more macho way of fighting. They would take their kamae stance and just press each other. There were no feints. Whoever was the strongest would win. A lot of it was intimidation. You didn’t show any emotion; you just came straight in and threw your technique, which was usually a strong reverse punch. “Why is kumite so different now? “There’s more timing involved because of the point system,” Funakoshi said. “It’s not just about scoring a killing blow anymore. Because karate is a sport, there’s more emphasis on speed and timing. You move around more in the kamae stance before and after you attack because you don’t want to be stationary.” Like most things in life, that trend is both good and bad, he said. “It’s good because it attracts attention to the art and brings people in. And, if people just train in the dojo without competing, they can get burned out. It’s better if they have a chance to use their techniques in a controlled envi­ronment such as a tournament.” Timing goes hand in hand with rhythm, Funakoshi added. “If you aren’t comfort­able with your own rhythm, it will adversely affect your timing. You won’t be able to time when your opponent will attack, and you won’t be able to time yourself. That means you can’t throw a feint effectively.”    

The progression to mastery of these methods starts with practicing drills in which you try the strategies on your part­ner in the dojo. “After the drills, you have to develop your ability to apply them in dojo sparring matches,” Funakoshi said. “Once you have a feel for them, you can try tour­naments. There’s no easy way to master them. It’s like kihon kata: You have to prac­tice slowly and correctly at first, then the speed and power will come.” Now for the big question: How far along in your training should you be before you start using them? “At least first-degree black belt, which comes after about three years, assuming you train two or three times a week,” Funakoshi said. “Before first degree, you should be practicing the basics slowly and correctly, which leads to proper development of the muscles that affect the execution of your techniques. Once you’ve got the basics down and your body has developed, you can perform the techniques correctly and with explosive-ness. After that, you can get into these ku­mite strategies.”

Decorreu no passádo Sábado, dia 5 de Dezembro no Pavilhão dos Bombeiros Voluntários de Caneças, o primeiro Estágio de karate de Outono da KPS (Karate-Do Portugal Shotokan).
Da UKSB (União de Karate Shotokan das Beiras), estiveram presentes o Mestre César Olival em representação do Centro de Artes Marciais da Guarda e da E.D. de Celorico da Beira, Sensei Pedro Veloso em representação dos Clubes de Karate de Gouveia e Mangualde e o atleta Hugo Gonçalves atleta do Clube de Karate de Gouveia.
Este estágio teve componente teórico-prática, onde durante o período da manhã o treino esteve focado em técnicas de kumite (combate), mais propriamente projecção ao solo. Após esse trabalho, desenvolveu-se o trabalho de rapidez e explosão nos Katas (técnica). Durante o período da tarde o foco foi novamente o Kumite, desta vez com trabalho de rapidez e controlo, inserido em diversas técnicas de ataque e onde o Kyoshi José Chagas, árbitro Internacional referiu alguns pontos essenciais para um excelente desempenho desportivo.

O tira-teima entre o paraense de coração Lyoto Machida vs o curitibano de nascimento Maurício Shogun Rua foi confirmado pelos dois atletas.

Lyoto anunciou ontem via twitter os planos de encarar Shogun mais uma vez. O campeão meio-pesado do UFC está se recuperando de uma cirurgia na mão e só retornará aos treinos em janeiro.

Do twitter do Lyoto:

– @ruycohen @diegotunisi: está certo a luta contra Shogun para o dia 1o. de Maio sim!
6:12 AM Nov 23rd from web

Portanto, uma das lutas mais polêmicas do MMA moderno terá um novo capítulo. No primeiro duelo entre eles, Lyoto venceu, mas não convenceu.

A vitória por pontos depois de uma luta igual durante 5 rounds foi ofuscada pelas sonoras vaias de fãs descontentes com o resultado.

Parte dos críticos também achou injusta a vitória de Lyoto. Dana White, presidente do UFC, prometeu a revanche para Shogun horas depois da derrota dele.

Palavras de Shogun a propósito da revanche:

- To muito feliz com a confirmação da revanche. Já vou começar a me preparar e vamos que vamos.

- O UFC já confirmou com o meu empresário que eu luto contra o Lyoto de novo. Só falta agora assinar o contrato. Mas tá feito o acordo verbal.

- Não pensei ainda se seguirei a mesma estratégia da luta anterior ou se vou mudar de plano. Ainda vou sentar com a minha equipe para resolver isso.

- Essa revanche é muito desejada porque é uma disputa de cinturão, é pelo título mundial. Esse é meu maior interesse.

- Com certeza to preocupado primeiramente em concretizar meu sonho, que é o de ganhar o cinturão. Vingar a derrota para o Lyoto está em segundo plano, em primeiro plano está o cinturão.

- Com certeza fiquei engasgado pela derrota contra o Lyoto. Mas ele não tem culpa. Quem tem culpa são os juízes que foram as únicas três pessoas do mundo que viram que ele ganhou.

Espirtito Forte, Alma de Guerreiro. Caio Augusto, 6 anos.

4a. Etapa do Campeonato Catarinense de Karate em Rio dos Cedros.

Próxima etapa – Balneário Camboriu – dia 05 de dezembro.

Top tip for everyone…

Next time your training, when you are doing a move/exercise/drill/stretch etc, just ask yourself:

“Why am I doing this move?”

And make sure you give yourself a good, honest, detailed answer.  Don’t let it be the usual:

• It’s what I have always done
• I saw someone do something like it once
• A bloke in the gym/magazine told me to do it
• My coach/instructor/teacher told me to do it

Make sure you know exactly why you are doing it, and what it does.  So much of fitness/coaching/training is full of “stuff” that fills up the time between the beginning and end.  It is just padding.

There is a lovely person here in the gym at work who spends HOURS every day doing “stuff”.  They were doing a stretch I had never seen before, so I ask them what it is for and what it stretches…and they said “I don’t know.  I’ve always done it“.

Don’t let that be you!  Don’t be a parrot and copy and go through the motions mindlessly.  Find out why you are doing what you are doing.  Ask your coach/instructor/teacher and make sure they know why…and when you find out why you are doing something, ask just 1 more question…

…does it work?

Last week I told you about warming up in general.

As promised, this week I’m going to give you an account of one way I warm up a Karate session.  For me, the priorities of Karate training are:

• Acceleration
• Reaction/reflexes
• Body Coordination/balance/agility
• Limb/eye coordination

My warm ups usually start with basic, generic moves and progress onto more Karate-specific drills of increasing speed and complexity.

Remember, this is just an example of one way I warm up a session…here goes!

• Easy, gentle shuttle runs back and forth.  Do these forwards, backwards and sideways.
• Easy punching while jogging.  Punch Jodan, Chudan and Gedan, putting emphasis on BIG shoulders movements.  Do these jogging forwards and backwards.
• Hopping on one leg.  Do these forwards and backwards.
• Keep walking, but then do arm swings/rotations.  emphasis on BIG shoulder moves.  These can be swung forwards, backwards, across the chest, as if you are swimming front crawl, back stroke, or any combination of these (this will really get your brain working)
• Multiple sets of sit-stands (sit down then stand up), lie-stands (lie flat on your back then stand up) and pressup-stands (do a single pressup then stand up).  emphasis should be on BIG movements, progressively getting quicker and more dynamic. 
  

  Dynamic thigh stretch

   

• Dynamic thigh stretches.  Shift your weight from side to side in an easy, controlled manner.  emphasis on constant movement.
• Exaggerated punches/kicks.  These are done from a relaxed fighting stance and emphasis is put on big, flowing, long range moves.  Don’t bother too much with speed yet, just get the whole body (stance, torso, shoulders and arms) moving BIG.
  • Kizame Tsuki – lunging punch (twist the body and reach)
  • Gyaku Tsuki – reverse punch (twist the body and reach with the arms and legs)
  • Mae Geri, Yoko Geri, Mawashi Geri – front, side and roundhouse kicks (keep it light and go for distance)
  • Any and all combinations of the above basic moves (increase the speed and snappy-ness of the moves as the minutes go by).
• 1,2,3,4,5 drill.  Do a different move depending on the number called out by the instructor.  As the warm up progresses, the speed and randomness of the counts increases.  This will help wake up your reactions and reflexes and ability to react with different moves in a split second.  You can customise the actual move you use depending on your goals.  The moves and numbers i often use are:
  1. Kizame Tsuki – lunging punch
  2. Gyaku Tsuki – reverse punch
  3. Swap leading legs
  4. Squat and touch floor with both hands
  5. Mae Geri – front kick
• Tag sparring.  Push numerous flags/tags/handkerchiefs into your belts and pair up with another person of similar level.  On the command, you both start “sparring” and try to grab the tags off your opponent, while defending your own tags.  Use similar rules as normal sparring/kumite.  This is a great stepping stone between a warm up and training proper, it forces the mind/body to work fast, it’s a good drill to learn/improve distance, it’s great fun and its very safe.  For more advanced students, you can not bother with the tags and do “play sparring”.  By altering the rules/goals, you will change the outcome of the drill.  Some examples include:
  • First to 10 points – this makes it more of an endurance/conditioning exercise.
  • First to 1 point – this develops tactics and an explosive body/mind
  • Kicks only – good practice for a weak kicker
  • Punches only – good practice for a weak puncher
  • 1 side can only score with counters – good for someone who gives ground too easily
  • 1 side can only score with an attack – good for someone who is not aggressive/up front enough

As you can see, this warm up started out light, easy and very generic.  But with each step it got faster, bigger and more specific to the training session that was to follow.  The final step being almost indistinguishable from the training session itself, but working on various “skills”.

In fact, the warm up is often a very good time to learn/improve skills.  Skills are often best learned/improved at reduced speed/strength…and a warm up is done at reduced speed/strength.  So take advantage of this time, allowing the rest of the training session to be done fast and furious!

Note the almost total lack of the usual static stretches you usually find at the start of traditional Karate sessions.  This is because Karate is a dynamic, quick game and the body needs dynamic, quick moves to prepare it.  I also found my brain going into auto pilot during many traditional warm ups, and it didn’t wake up for 10-15 minutes into the training session proper.  This is 10-15 minutes training time wasted, where all I was doing was learning how to move like a zombie, not like some ninja in the night!

There is a time and a place for traditional static stretches.  But that time and place is right at the end of the session, one of the last things you do.  When your body is hot ,bendy and tired.

I hope this has given you something to to think about.  Let me know if you agree/disagree and how you would improve on it!

Half time display at the KUGB Nationals 2007, by the Chelmsford Display Squad:

Sensei Paul James (5th Dan) takes you through a possible Bunkai to Empi.

Important:  This is a possible bunkai to Empi.  So before thousands of you keyboard warriors start foaming at the mouth saying that it is wrong or a corruption of Shotokan, remember the most important words to live by…

Movement & Variety.

If you can’t see that there are at least 1,000,000 different ways to do anything, then you are not going to be able to adapt to life and you will become extinct (and i’m not going to miss you )

If you like this, make sure you get the DVD it came from.  It’s our

Guide to Advanced Shotokan Kata.

You can get it by going to our shop by clicking here.

Get more Kata and Bunkai at:

www.clwb-heb-enw.co.uk

See Sensei Paul James at:

www.aberkarate.co.uk

KARATE DO SHITO KAI MÉXICO tiene el honor de invitarles  a participar en su  Torneo COPA MURAYAMA XXVI  la cual consta de los siguientes eventos:

• Seminario de Kata y Arbitraje
• Torneo XXVI de la Copa Murayama

Fecha:

• Viernes 23 Octubre (Seminario)
• Sábado 24 Octubre (Competencia de Kata)
• Domingo 25 Octubre (Competencia Kumite)

Lugar:

Gimnasio del Instituto Regiomontano

Av. Simón Bolivar 601 sur. (entre Fco. G. Sada y Larralde )

Col. Chepevera, Mty. NL.

Horario:

Seminario:

Seminario Arbitraje ( Dr. Fernando Martínez Meza) 9:00am – 1:00pm

Seminario Kata ( Lic. Kunio Murayama ) 3:00pm -5:00pm

Competencia de kata:

Competencia 8:30 -12:45

Inauguración 1:00-2:00

Exhibición 2:00-2:30

Competencia 2:30 hasta terminar

Competencia Kumite

Competencia 8:30 -Terminar

Requisitos:

• Presentar credencial vigente al momento de comprar las boleta y al graficarse.
• El karategui deberá portar su escudo rojo Shito Kai
• En la competencia de kata deberá tomar en cuenta la lista de katas señaladas en la convocatoria.
• En la competencia de kumite será obligatorio usar protector bucal y de nudillos y en el caso de varones la concha protectora.

Costos:

• Seminario                                      $500
• Kata individual                              $300
• Kumite individual                           $300
• Kata y Kumite                                $500
• Competencia Equipo                      $400

Para más detalle informes en la escuela ó visita directamente la página www.shitokaimurayama.com ahí encontrarás la convocatoria completa.

¡¡Sé parte de ésta gran fiesta!!

Click the symbol for an mp3 file for your iPod. Download it, play it and practice.

Age Uke – Rising Block. Blocks a punch to the head. The block works by quickly twisting the forearm at the very end, and as with most blocks, the body is twisted to an angle of 45 degrees.

Click the symbol for an mp3 file for your iPod. Download it, play it and practice.

Empi Uchi – Elbow strike. Despite the name, the striking point it immediately above or below the elbow joint.

Click the symbol for an mp3 file for your iPod. Download it, play it and practice.

Gedan Barai – Downward block defending against a kick to the body. The twist of the forearm at the very end of the move helps the block. As with most blocks, the body is twisted to an angle of 45 degrees.

Click the symbol for an mp3 file for your iPod. Download it, play it and practice.

Kizame Tsuki – Lunging punch. Twist the body to get more distance, but don’t let the shoulder lift up.

Click the symbol for an mp3 file for your iPod. Download it, play it and practice.

Kokutsu Datch – Back stance. Make sure the feet are in a straight line, the back foot is pointed at right angles to the side and the front foot is pointing directly to the front. The body weight distribution should be approx. 3/4 on the back, and 1/4 on the front leg.

Click the symbol for an mp3 file for your iPod. Download it, play it and practice.

Mae Geri – Front Kick. Always done as a snap, and making contact with the ball of the foot. Make sure the knee is lifted high both before and after the kick.