One Karate Technique or Many?

There are many techniques in karate that run the gambit from straight punches, elbow strikes, high kicks, low kicks, finger attacks, joint manipulation, etc. The more advanced you become in your practice of karate, the more techniques you will learn: many of them, subconsciously. For you see, part of the genius of karate is its many “hidden techniques.” You may learn one movement but in actuality you are learning several. I remember, for example, in all my classes throughout the grading process, my sensei would make us do several techniques over and over again. Gyaku tsuki, soto uke, gedan barai, on and on and on. To the untrained observer we were only practicing one punch, one block, but the reality is just one technique could teach you how to fight as well as an entire kata. Allow me to explain.

Let’s take a classic staple of karate: the reverse punch. Now, the reverse punch is just that: a punch. You generate the power with your hips, remaining lose, and throw your fist out with tremendous stopping–and killing–power. However, there is a reason why so much emphasis is laid on this one particular technique: because it is the backbone of many closely related movements. For example, done in reverse, this same technique becomes a powerful pulling motion. It is also used as a wrestling-type shooting motion which gets your arm behind someone who is grappling you. More boradly, it teaches you the importance of staying lose and generating power from your waist.

Let’s look at another example to better flesh out what I am talking about, this time using the mawashi uke, aka the tora guchi. It teaches you how to attack simultaneously, how to block and strike in a non-linear fashion, how to tie up someone’s arms for a throw or a takedown, and even how to handle multiple attackers (that is why the mawashi uke is repeated throughout the suparinpei kata in conjunction with so many turns). You are training yourself, on a subconscious level, how to execute many different techniques through through the training of muscle memory as well as reinforcing the necessity of attacking and parrying in a circular fashion.

Thus, the genius of karate. You learn one technique, practice it over and over again, and you have actually taught yourself a plethora of techniques and concepts without even realizing it. Any substantive traditional martial art will do this as well, not just karate. So if your teacher tells you to practice one movement 1000 times, do it! He knows the hidden power of doing so, and the fact that by learning one move you are actually learning a hundred more!