Back Leg: To Bend or Not To Bend

I have been stuck between several flavors of Shotokan in my ten years of training, and each one has had a different view on the degree to which legs can be bent in technique. It can be confusing, frustrating, and more than a little maddening to not see consistency, even between groups that all claim to be JKA. In the end, I've had to try and figure out what was best for me. Some people complain, but then I ask them to demonstrate what is a more effective method. Often they can demonstrate something prettier, but not effective. Sometimes it is faster, but has no real power.

But I think I have been given out a visualization-sensory-feeling method that may be (I hope) helpful -

Stance (feet and legs) are meant to provide support and direct power to the hips. The hips act as a bellows for breathing and transfer energy to the trunk. The trunk stays firmly connected to the hips so it can provide a stable back-stop for weapons to be launched from. Rotational energy from the hips can add power, but there must be a strong firm trunk.

If you take the example of a single kizami zuki thrusting quickly and strongly to the face where the goal is to maximize power in the strike- the rear leg issue can be resolved very quickly. (We are not doing a weak snapping kizami with no power behind it that is often used as a feint or does not even have a tight fist behind it.)

First the feet have to stay flat on the ground, with all three tripod points nice and firm. Do not permit one edge of your foot to come off the floor. Feet and knees point with the strike. Second the front hip needs to thrust/rotate with the kizami zuki - a strong hikite is necessary also. Tension from the hips should be directed up the lats on the kizami side, while the other is more like pulling tension down ward. Front abs and rear back muscles are activated to reduce hunching or chest-swelling. Look where you are punching. If the kizami is a single technique, then exhale with it. If it is in a chain (as in Kizami zuki - Gyaku zuki combination), then you may need to exhale or inhale depending on where the todome waza (final exhale - kiai) is in the combination.

To answer the question on whether the rear leg should be bent - try these two experiments:

1. Have a pal `test' your punching arm my gently moving it in various directions. They can also check your stance by pushing on your hips in various directions. Remember what direction you are supposed to be directing your force in and make adjustments to maximize that.
2. Have a pal help you check the internals of your posture by repeatedly `shocking' the end of your punch. This is done simply by lightly hitting the end of your punch with a pad or a hand - to shock it. You are not conditioning the hand, just simulating an impact on the end. Sometimes you can feel the shock in your back or shoulders or in your legs, if so, then you need to fix this. We do not want our bodies to absorb any shock from out technique at all - these will cause internal injuries.

Try to fix your posture/alignment so that any `vibrations' you feel in your body from the shock are minimized or isolated in the joints. Ideally you can get a feeling of directing it down through your feet in the direction of your punch. You can measure this on a heavy bag or makiwara also.

Depending on how flexible your ankles, legs and hips are, you may or may not have a straight rear leg. I do not. It may look straight, but if it is, then my foot is not solid on the ground, my hip is not supported firmly by my legs or something else it out of whack. Sorry to go through this long exercise and then give an answer that amounts to `It depends', but I think we have to consider the principles behind a technique, test their application, and examine results before we attempt to carve in stone a generality like `Kizami zuki requires the rear leg to be straight/bent'.

Yours,

Henry Norris
Yudansha, Shotokan-ryu Karate-do
Raleigh, NC USA