In Part 1 of How To Put A “Whip” Into A Linear Punch, I looked at how to use the hips properly to generate a waveform motion through the body for basic punches. Many people struggle with this because as beginners we tend to move the whole torso as one, rather than generating movement from the hips and simply relaxing the rest of the torso so as to let it flow naturally. This puts tension into the body and takes away our power.
The method used in the first video is great for single basic techniques, especially Choku Zuki (straight punch in upright standing stance) and Gyaku Zuki (reverse punch), where we end with the hips square to front or just 10 to 15 degrees past square. Well in this next video we take it a step further. When you snap a towel (or your belt), you have a “pull back” just at the end of the forward movement. We can incorporate this “pull back” to gain extra whip/snap when we perform a snap punch, or multiple techniques (e.g. stepping punch, reverse punch or block then reverse punch). That pull back at the end of the first techniques not only puts an extra whip/snap on the end, but also initiates the hip movement for the second technique.
Now I know that not everybody will have been taught this way, so before you watch my video, please have a quick look at this one by Master Kagawa, 8th Dan Shotokan Karate and Technical Director of the JKS. As he performs Age Uke (rising block) you can clearly see his hips rotate fully, then just settle back slightly at the end of the movement. This settling back (or pull back) gives that extra little “whip” on the end the rising block and can be used to initiate the next technique (which is usually a reverse punch). So for anybody who has not seen this before (and there will be very many who haven’t), I’m not making it up. This is nothing new, it’s always been there, its just always explained in detail. I’ve been lucky with my teachers.
[Waveform punch Part 2]
