October 9th, 2016

This week's thought is from David Norman – Shodan

Ueshiro Viera Karate Club Under the direction of Hanshi Robert Scaglione

Onegai shimasu Hanshi, Kyoshi, Sensei, Sempai, and all Deshi of USRKUSA.

We constantly hear about the applications and benefits that karate has on everyday life for those who practice it. Likewise, we are constantly reminded during training of ways to visualize our techniques in order to better relate them to other activities we may be more familiar with: the golf swing, a baseball pitcher going through the windup to deliver the baseball, etc.

This TOTW deals with visualizing a basic middle or chest punch (chudan zuki), by relating it to something most of us are familiar with – the baseball swing. In order to achieve this correlation, I have broken both down in order to better see and explain what is happening when the punch is properly executed. This comparison can be performed with almost any Shorin Ryu technique, whether defensive or offensive, and there is a myriad of activities in other familiar sports, arts, etc., that can serve as a point of reference to improve our karate techniques and skills. This becomes very handy when working at half speed and power and when exploring the proper execution of each technique.

The Baseball Swing and Chudan Zuki

We can also add the following points of similarity between the two:

· Both the baseball swing and the Shorin Ryu karate middle punch require a lifetime of practice and fine-tuning to perfect.

· The baseball player will spend thousands of hours working on the swing (“T” practice, indoor batting cage, outdoor life pitch, etc.), while the karate practitioner will spend thousands of hours of dojo practice (kihon, kata, yakusoku kumite, etc. – all of which can be used to perfect the punch).

· No baseball player or karate-ka can “hit a homerun” every time, but both strive for it.

Domo arigato Hanshi, Kyoshi, Sensei, Sempai and Deshi of USRKUSA.

David Norman – Shodan

Ueshiro Viera Karate Club

Under the direction of Hanshi Robert Scaglione