Is kiai necessary?

[RTKDCMB]

That's exactly what I tell kids when they're too shy to do proper kihaps.

I also like to tell them: "Where else can you break things and not get into trouble?".

 

[Gerry Seymour]

The sound for the 'traditional' kihap, the one used to focus energy, comes from the abdomen and therefore, in my case, doesn't affect the throat much. The kyeorugi kihap or long yells before breaks in demonstrations often are higher throat-based yells though. I tend to hear higher kihaps in Poomsae competition a lot, too.

Anyway, in my case I use different kihaps in breaking, forms and kyorugi. Did you also end up having different kihaps for different occasions?




That's exactly what I tell kids when they're too shy to do proper kihaps. ;-)

When taking falls, the neck muscles will tighten (supporting the neck), which will sometimes lead to sympathetic clenching of the throat muscles. That constricted air stream can irritate a throat that's already irritated (allergy season, for instance). The "ha" sound, if unconstricted, is pretty easy on the throat. My unscientific experimentation found that some other sounds ("roi" was my favorite) seemed easier on the throat during those times. It might be more a matter of placebo effect than actual mechanics of the sound.

 

[Rough Rider]

If I triple punch in a horse-riding stance, is that "ha-ha-ha", one long "haaaaaaaa", or just a short "ha" at the last punch? I like the exhale sounds in ITF/boxing better in cases like this.

The triple punch in horse-riding stance is something we usually do in warm-ups, with the entire class doing it in unison. The tradition in my dojang in that situation is to shout Tae! Kwon! Do! Now, if I'm doing three part combinations on a heavy bag, whether it's punches, kicks, or both, I do the quick exhale on the first two and a "Ha!" on the last.

 

[oaktree]

The sounds have different meanings and are an expression of the different movements and energy one is using, if used correctly at the right moment it breaks your opponent balance and spirit, can stop his movement.
If looking at it in the context of life or death in ancient times on a battle field or duel.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

A full exhale means full commitment. Sometime you just use 1 move to set up another move, you don't want to make full commitment, and you don't want to exhale fully.