What To Do With The Thumbs?

Well, I can tell you emphatically I'm too old to suck them... :-)

Instead, from a karate perspective, how are the thumbs engaged during the process of applying open hand techniques?

I practice opened handed techniques as part of my self defense focused training. In each case I keep my thumbs tucked in for safety's sake. Often though I see pictures or watch slow motion educational bunkai videos on Youtube which show the thumbs sticking straight out while applying these types of techniques.

Personally I believe having the thumb sticking out simply increases the chances of injury to it during application.  It's not difficult at all to have the thumbs get briefly stuck in loose clothing, or limbs while moving through the technique in a full throttle situation.

Instead I tuck my thumbs in: whether it's a knife hand, palm heel, spear hand or finger strike, the thumbs are tucked in.  This further engages the muscles of the hands which make them stronger while making contact, but more importantly, protects them from serious injury. Keep in mind the hand loses much of its functionality with the thumb injured, so protecting it is common sense and part of self preservation.

Well, that's all for now...

Tried A Couple Different Things

Thank God spring has arrived in the Philadelphia region of Pennsylvania!

I have four or so outdoor areas within a ten minute drive where I practice my outdoor karate, primarily through kata. A couple of newer spots have nice single track trails, which make excellent trail running training. Another couple spots have a nice ten foot wide gravel and dirt trail which I've used for practicing kata and kihon training. I spend less of  my training time on kihon, well specifically air kihon.  Still I certainly believe it has its place. My typical kihon training though, is against one of two heavy bags I own ninety percent of the time.

Anyway, I decided the trails were perfect places to practice my attack oriented kihon training. By that I mean I tend to stride and slide into a technique, meaning I'll land in such a way that my foot, while solidly connected to the ground is capable of moving as my momentum may take it.  I don't want to fight against the ground, I want it to fight with me as my partner.

Last Thursday I practiced twenty repetitions of the basic kihon taught to new students along the wide gravel trail. One technique per stride. In my mind though I envision these movements as attacks. Each one a decisive strike to end the threat. My stride length is seventy-five percent of a stride on a solid, safe surface like a clean dojo floor. Also, the back knee is always kept slightly bent for cushioning and stability. Friday (yesterday) I worked twenty reps each side of my front-snap, side-snap and roundhouse-snap kicks down the single track trail along the Schuylkill River. Great training with the uneven ground providing extra incentive to perform the kicks correctly!

Both exercises proved very fruitful I thought. Transitions between techniques was loose and relaxed, with focus on good balance, positioning and recovery. I think I'll be adding these as regular parts of my outdoor training, we'll see how it goes...

Well that's all for now...