Karate in the New Year!

A small number of us chose to start out the New Year right: with karate! I admit that accepting the teaching assignment for today was certainly an aid for me. Nothing inspires you to dust off and brush up on a particular skill set like having to teach it!

Jumping right into the Deep End: Lower Twenty-one

We decided to jump right into the deep end by taking on the Lower 21 moves today. It was a good choice, since none of the students in attendance felt secure with it. Admittedly, I was not comfortable with it until I spent time drilling it, I also practicing how I might teach it. Before falling asleep, I went over the moves in my mind. Upon waking, I found myself going over them once again.

17 Hand Techniques and 21 Lower Techniques: Background

Here is an excellent reference posted by the Kyokushin Academy in the UK:

https://www.advosis.coA.uk/assets/Kyoku/syllabus/21_leg_techniques.jpg

According to the Kyokushin Academy, the seventeen hand techniques and twenty-one leg techniques were developed by Hanshi Steve Arneil, who trained under our style’s founder,  Masutatsu Oyama. Hanshi Arneil founded the International Federation of Karate (IFK). When we were a physical dojo, our Sensei R. affiliated with the IFK for long stretch of time after leaving the IKO, and has deep respect for many of its leaders and instructors.

The Nitty Gritty Details: Lower 21

I found that the best way to attack teaching the Lower 21 was to divide it into sections based on both the kicking technique and the foot position. Of course, like the upper 17, we know that we start on the right side, then each technique alternates from left to right. Often, we change levels: so if you do a gedan (low) technique on the right, you can expect a chudan (belt-level) on the left, followed by a jodan (high) technique on the right. We accept and expect this pattern, so we can focus on the techniques and foot positions.

Leg techniques

Here’s the breakdown for leg techniques:

• 2 knee techniques (hiza, knee to the face, followed by a “roundhouse” knee)
• 1 groin kick (kin geri)
• 2 front kicks (mae geri, chudan and jodan levels)
• 4 stretch kicks (ke age, front, circling outside-in, inside-out, side)
• 3 round-house kicks (mawashi geri, gedan, chudan, jodan)
• 2 “knee” kick-attacks, to the side and then we pivot to the front for the second (kansetsu geri)
• 4 side kicks, (yoko geri), alternating between the side and front, chudan then jodan on both sides
• 3 back kicks (ushiro geri, chudan on each side, followed by a complete spinning jodan back kick)

Foot positions

The foot positions can “transition” between these moves, and we are also moving through haisoku (pointed toe), chusoku (striking with the ball of the foot), sokuto (the “knife-edge,” outer side of the foot), kakato (the heel) and occasionally, teisoku, or the “inside”side of the foot. Here is a breakdown by foot positions:

• 3 haisoku(s) (making contact with the target using the top flat of foot, toes pointed down, techniques are 2 knees and the groin kick)
• 3 chusoku(s) (ball of the foot, two front kicks and the front stretch kick)
• teisoku (inside of foot, technique is outside-in stretch kick)
• haisoku for the inside-out circling stretch kick
• sokuto (knife-edge of foot) for the side stretch kick
• back to 2 chusokus ( round-house kicks)
• 1 haisoku (jodan round-house kick)
• 6 sokuto (all of the kansetsu and yoko geri kicks)
• 3 kakato(s) (heels, all back kicks)

Reference Videos

While trying to figure out how to teach these techniques last night, I found a few useful videos. One in particular gave important insights into both the knee techniques and foot positions.

The very first technique, hiza gammen geri, is a knee to the face. Now, if you’re reading this and you don’t know me, know that I am short: just over five feet tall. So I’m thinking, how the heck would I get my knee up that high? Well, I did see some images of karateka using beautiful jumps to raise their knees to the level of an opponent’s face. That is one way. The following video, however, demonstrates a good practice technique, holding your hands at chest-level, then kneeing your own hands. Today we did this as a warm-up between stretches and kihon.

This video also covers another point of reference: why the emphasis on the foot positions? After having his student practice hitting his hands with his knees, he goes on to explain how the foot position, chusoku verses haisoku, can direct the force of the strike. This video was shared on YouTube by Karate-Kata. Please refer to the first segment labelled “Hiza Geri.”

Unfortunately, the video itself appears to be a collection which does not mention who the instructors are or which dojos they belong to. I also tried to find information about the poster through their YouTube “home” page. While the poster includes links to other interesting karate pages and a memorial to Jon Bluming, I wasn’t able to find more information to share about these folks.

Zoom Instruction

Our class today was small: just my son and me, two young junior shodans, and one very dedicated adult green belt. I lead the warm-up, then had students perform the knee kicks to the hands. We started at chest level and tried eye-level, but that was definitely challenging.

For kihon, we did a round-robin: each student lead the exercises associated with a stance. Most students did twenties! So it was a hard kihon. After a water break, I had us once again do those knee exercises, then proceeded to break down the lower 21 by leg technique. With each one, though, I was careful to point out the required foot position.

Finally, after going over the 21 techniques with me, we did another round-robin. I asked everyone to go into Gallery View in Zoom. We all unmuted our mics. Then, I called out the order in which students would do the techniques, and each student led one technique until we got through all 21. If a student didn’t remember which technique came next, I helped him or her out. But most folks knew or guessed which technique came next, and many remembered those foot positions! I’m very proud of the class.

Point Needing Clarification: Ushiro Geris, two attacks or three?

We also had a big discussion about the last three ushiro geris. So, if you go strictly by what the cheat sheet shows, we might assume that the first two kicks are part of a single attack: you spin 180, then deliver a back kick with the right, then left leg, then spin 180 to complete the attack. In all honestly, for that to work, you’d have to be pretty fast in delivering those kicks to an opponent. Either that, or confident your first kick lands. Normally, we would not want to keep our backs to an opponent for two techniques. But given that the cheat sheet shows no transition between the first right and left chudan-level back kicks, this is one way to make sense of that.

Alternatively, and an equally valid assumption, would be for the karateka to know that each ushiro geri is proceeded by a turn, then the kick is delivered, and the technique is completed by a turn back to face the opponent. In this case, both the right and left ushiro geris would be separate attacks.

I emailed Sensei T. for clarification and will share his more educated opinion when I hear back from him.