The following video clip is taken from the Practical Shotokan: Beginner to Black Belt Course taught by Sensei Paul Mitchell, Chief Instructor of the Wells Traditional Shotokan Karate Club earlier on today. Sensei Mitchell is talking about stand alone karate kata bunkai which could be fight finishers by themselves. As Shotokan Karate puts a lot of emphasis on multiple assailants, there are many techniques which can incapacitate an opponent very quickly, although they are not always obvious and have been dumbed down a lot over the years for many social and political reasons.
Kaki Waki Uke (Reverse Wedge Block) is usually seen as breaking somebody’s grip when they try to strangle you. However, if they have both of their hands on you, why not just punch/strike them? It is much quicker, they have nothing to defend themselves with (as they’ve committed both of their hands to your neck) and it could finish the fight then and there. If you use Kaki Waki Uke to separate their arms and release their grip, then you can both continue the fight on an even basis.
So what is Kaki Waki Uke more useful for? Well one of the most common street attacks of all is a swinging haymaker, which as Sensei Mitchell demonstrates here can be easily stopped with one side of the Kaki Waki Uke. Note that when he does this, that his opponent head is jerked slightly downwards and onto the other arm with is attacking to the neck.
In this instance Sensei Mitchell quite lightly attacks a specific point on the opponent neck causing him to almost pass out straight away. Had the blow been delivered with any real force, the opponent would have out cold.
Now if you’re thinking multiple opponents, you want techniques which give instant results and doesn’t waste a lot of your own energy (which you’ll need for fighting the others). Sensei Mitchell demonstrates how this can be done very simply using a common technique which most people happily overlook on a regular basis.