Dear Students, Teachers and Parents,

The Pikes Peak College karate team did well at the tournament this
last weekend. I attended the referee clinic on Saturday and will set
up a training seminar to go over the changes in the rules soon as our
next event will be held at Timberview middle school on April 19th.
This is open to all students and is designed to be a fun and friendly
event where everyone walks away as a winner. Everyone is encouraged
to compete at this sanctioned tournament and all senior students are
encouraged to come and participate as a competitor, referee or judge.

Saturday the 22nd of March Sensei Scott Richardson will be teaching a
bo seminar. If you do not already have a bo, please register early
so that we can have time to order you one. Seminar starts at 9:00 am.
To register, please see Sensei Mary or Sensei Dawn.


If you are interested in going to training with Kyoshi Kennedy in
Kansas over April 25th,26th, and 27th please let me know as we are
currently making plans at this time.

Lesson Of The Week

This week's lesson is an article written by Dan Smith for a training
camp back in 2000. As you read it, please see how this information
can help you develop more power in your kata and your karate.

How Kyan Made Power
By

Dan Smith, Kyoshi, Shorin Ryu Seibukan
This is proprietary information for IOSSKA members only)





Kyan was small even by Okinawan standards. He stood approximately 4'
10" and weighed slightly over 100 pounds. His father knew that his
son would be small and needed to learn how to use all of his
potential to become a skilled martial artist.

Kyan's strategy for fighting was to never back up, to jump in on the
opponent at the beginning of an attack or to evade the attack and
jump back in with a counter. How did such a small man develop the
strength to accomplish this strategy? Kyan dedicated himself to what
is known in modern terms as biomechanical study of movements to get
the most out of his body to fit his fighting strategy.

Tendons and Ligaments versus Muscle

Kyan leaned that the strength, flexibility and use of the tendons and
ligaments along with the most efficient body motions created what the
Uchinan cho called "Chinkuchi", the special power that comes from the
utilization of all the body to make one action.

After the time that Kyan had moved to Kadena due to economic
hardships he worked at odd jobs to make money. One of these jobs was
loading the samisens or small boats carrying goods along the coast of
Okinawa to various villages. When Kyan was in his 50's he could load
bags of sugar weighing two hundred pounds with a pole. He put one end
of the pole into the top where the bag was tied and with the rotating
motion of his wrist, forearms, waist, hips and legs could throw the
bags onto the boat. The other men loading the boats would have to
load them on their shoulders and carry them on to the boat. This is
an example of "Chinkuchi" used by Kyan. The story was relayed to me
that he used the motion of chudan soto uke with the bo to accomplish
this feat.

The Okinawans believe that the muscle will deteriorate faster than
the tendons and ligaments. By developing the strength and flexibility
in the tendons and ligaments the karate movements are made stronger.
The greater the range of motion the body has and the greater the
snapping motion a technique has the more torque is produced. The
muscles only serve to contract, which initiates the movements, but by
depending on muscle contraction alone your technique along you will
not by utilizing all of the body to make the technique. The greater
the snap of the tendons and ligament the greater the power is of the
technique. Many of the unique tools used by the Okinawans to make
their bodies strong provide for this development of the muscles and
tendons.

The Okinawans had a custom of cleaning the bones of a person one-year
after their death. There is a story of a great karate man that died
at and advanced age and when they went to clean his bones the
ligaments and tendons were as if he were still alive. Of course this
is a story and seems totally unbelievable and I only include it to
show how important the concept of well-developed ligaments and
tendons are to the Okinawans. As humans reach middle age the
ligaments and tendons start to tighten from lack of use. As this
tightening process begins they lose flexibility. The body begins to
stoop due to the legs and back not being able to fully straighten.
Kyan built his special power through the use of the shitabara along
with the snapping motion of the tendons and ligaments. The use of the
shiko dachi versus the front stance in the kata is due to using the
spring action from the shiko dachi to enable Kyan to move quickly in
any direction. The use of the kosa dachi or crossed leg stance with
both feet flat on the floor versus one-foot being on the ball
requires the stretching of the tendons and ligaments. The neiko ashi
dachi formed by touching the toe to the floor with the ball of the
foot raised is another example. The naifanchi stance used to keep the
lower body facing forward while the upper body turns sideways is
another method of developing the tendons and ligaments in the waist
and spine area. The flexibility and strength of the spine improves
the strength of the shitabara. Having both feet facing directly
forward in a front stance with both ankles bent forward is another
example of stretching the tendons and ligaments.

Kyan focused on making use of the full range of motion of the body
and to get the full range of motion the flexibility and strength of
the tendons and ligaments are very important.

Soi de and hiki de

Kyan concentrated on using techniques of movement to integrate his
muscles to get maximum power with minimum effort.

Soi de means following hand and hiki de means withdrawing hand. The
majority of movements made in Kyan's karate contains one of these
elements. Every kata has both elements in them and the applications
of the kata are predicated on the understanding of these two methods
of movement.

The hiki and soi de movements are not necessary for actual combat to
have a strong technique. The use of the hands along with the
coordinated movement of the shitabara and koshi develop the maximum
use of the koshi. Once you have discovered the power of the
withdrawing or following hand you realize that you can apply the
techniques with strength but you will also realize where the
development of power came from. This understanding makes the practice
of hiki de and soi de even more relevant.

Following hand

The soi de is best described in the opening movement of Passai as the
left hand follows to give strength to the right hand. This is not to
be contused with morote uke or reinforced block. The morote uke is a
specific technique that uses soi de.

The following hand techniques are used when close to the opponent to
allow you to use both hands in coordination of blocking or attacking.
Even in the double punch technique in Passai one of the hands follows
slightly behind the other thus making it the following hand.

The middle level open hand block of Kyan is another example of the
following hand. Kyan used the same motion to create his open hand
block that is used in the opening movement of Passai. The use of the
open hand block by separation of the hands causes a loss of speed,
power and balance. Kyan wanted to move in when blocking with the open
hand block so therefore he moved both hands in the same direction.

The Withdrawing Hand
The hiki te, or withdrawing hand, is the most common way of moving
the hands. Anytime that anyone uses the withdrawing hand movement
they must be at a distance that allows the hands to be able to move
apart. For example; if you are close to an opponent and you pull one
of your hands away from the opponent to allow the opposite hand to go
forward then there must be enough distance between you and the
opponent for the hand to move far enough to create velocity. If you
use the withdrawing hand when to close to the opponent then you will
lose balance, speed and power.

The withdrawing hand helps move the body away from the attack.
Generally in the Kyan kata you only use the withdrawing hand
movements when you are retreating or evading and attack. The
withdrawing hand helps move the body and at the same time allows you
to deliver a blow or block to the opponent.

Kyan focused on these two hand movements and instructed Zenryo
Shimabukuro to always use the appropriate hand technique for the
right distance. The two methods of moving the hands is very important
to Kyan's fighting strategy. If you take the initiative when you are
attacked and move in you must use the following hand movement to have
enough strength to intercept the attacker. The pulling of the hand
backwards when you evade helps you move away and be ready to spring
back in for a counter attack.

The other standard of making Okinawan karate power were used by Kyan.
Methods such as concentrating energy in the shitabarra or lower
stomach, relaxed breath control, using relaxed whipping actions and
proper stance. The use of the following and separating hand were
specific specialties of Kyan. Sensei Zenpo Shimabukuro teaches these
methods to the Seibukan students and a high level of importance is
put into the mastery of these techniques. The unusual strength, speed
and power that Sensei Shimabukuro has developed came directly from
understanding Kyan's method of making power.

Respectfully,
Terry Bryan