Training methodologies of Karate

[K-man]

If you cross bridges with some more WC/VT/VT people you will find that different groups vary greatly on how much pressure they exert. Some are very soft and yielding, and they never use force to take the centerline, rather they flow with and/or around you like water to occupy the center.

What is characteristic of good WC is that, no matter how soft and subtle, there is constant forward spring, from arms, to body, to stance and steps. There should be no retracting or withdrawing of energy. The forward flow of energy should be consistent and relentless like water flowing downhill. Your hands are always seeking an opening or "hole" to flow through and strike center. Our objective is not to stick and "chase hands," but to flow through any hole in our opponent's defenses and to strike.

By contrast in then the kakie clip below I see a lot of pulling or withdrawing energy. and sticking for it's own sake. It is indeed similar to WC chi-sau on many levels, but I sense that it's overall objective is quite different.

Thank you for posting that video. I hadn't seen it before but I will check it out in depth later. I do very little Kakie because I believe my 'Chi Sau' variant is a more practical way of entering a conflict with out clashing and I teach to always keep extending the energy forward, even if your hands are coming back. That is the same principle as Aikido.

I will respond in greater depth later because we are just about to leave for a couple of days away.

 

[K-man]

By contrast in then the kakie clip below I see a lot of pulling or withdrawing energy. and sticking for it's own sake. It is indeed similar to WC chi-sau on many levels, but I sense that it's overall objective is quite different.

OK, back in the land of the living ...

Kakie is almost regarded as a physical conditioning exercise more than a practical one. When I practise it I do consider it training extending energy rather than just physically pushing. With all respect to Higaonna, a lot of the techniques he showed will not work unless you are physically stronger than your opponent. The direction is not technically correct. It is the same criticism directed at Aikido and in the video Uke was going with the technique. That is not to say that the technique won't work with a little help from a strike, but I do like it when people can make these techniques work softly against resistance without requiring the strike.

We do use Kakie and we do use it to move into kata bunkai but as I said before if refer the Chi Sau approach because it is softer and teaches you to blend and move with your opponent. Another thing we practise in our training are bits and pieces on Chi Na. That works well with Chi Sau but not so much with Kakie and I think that this reflects the differences in karate's origins to where karate is in most places today. Most karate schools train the 'hard' with, kicking and punching but in my opinion ignore a lot of the 'soft' manipulations.
:asian:

 

[K-man]

After geezer posted the Kakie clip above I looked at another clip of Higaonna. In this one Higaonna is demonstrating some of the finger locks found in Chi Na. When you delve into karate it has a lot more than just the punches and kicks everyone is familiar with.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gsaSwsodFQ0&desktop_uri=/watch?v=gsaSwsodFQ0
:asian: