Health Benefits of Karate Do Training (Continued) 脇閉め (Waki Shime)

I ended the last post rather abruptly after a very brief introduction to a term that really deserves its own blog post, 脇閉め Waki Shime, the closing or contracting of specific muscles on the side of the body located around the armpit and shoulder region. This term is often used in Karate Do training. If you come to Japan and train for any length of time I am sure you will hear Sensei yell this to their students reminding them to focus on this throughout whatever movements they are performing whether it be during 形 Kata Practice or 組手 Kumite Practice, Waki Shime is a very important part of Karate Do technique. So, let me pick up from where we left off, below is the information that I gave you at the end of my last post regarding the radicals of the Kanji:

脇閉め Waki Shime

I would like to take a quick look at the term Waki Shime as it is a very important aspect of Karate Do training and often a central point of advice given by many Senseii all  over the world. Let's start by taking a closer look at the kanji and break it down in order to build our deeper understanding of the components of Waki I am of the opinion that it means a lot more than just armpit. If we look at the radicals of this Kanji separately we can see it in a new light. Below is a short definition taken from:

http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/aa070101a.htm

that you can find online with a simple search.

Radicals in Kanji

A radical (bushu) is a common sub-element found in different kanji characters. Every kanji has a radical or a radical itself can be a kanji. Radicals express the general nature of the kanji characters. A radical is the part of the kanji character that gives you a clue to its origin, group, meaning or pronunciation. Many kanji dictionaries organize characters by their radicals. There are 214 radicals. (About.com, Japanese Language)

 

There is a great website that lists all of these radicals and their meanings, please check out http://kanjialive.com/214-traditional-kanji-radicals/ if you are interested in learning more. It may also be a good idea to reference this site and compare the Kanji that you are stuying in order to deconstruct them and learn more about their complex meaning. Below are the general groups of radicals and where they are located within the Kanji character:

Radicals are roughly divided into seven groups (hen, tsukuri, kanmuri, ashi, tare, nyou, and kamae) by their positions.

hen tsukuri kanmuri ashi

tare nyou kamae

                                                                                                            (About.com, Japanese Language)

In the case of 脇 Waki, we can see there is the radical of 月 located in the region of the 扁 Hen area of the Character located on the left hand side of the character and three 力 grouped together in the 旁 Tsukuri area which is also referred to as "the body" of the Character.

Taking a Closer look 

At first glance one may assume that the 月扁 Tsuki Hen, in Waki is Moon or Month but, in fact this radical has ties to Meat and Flesh and isn't even Tsuki Hen at all but rather 肉月(にくづき) Niku-tsuki this radical can be found in many Kanji dealing with or related to the body and parts of the body such as 肩 Kata, Shoulder, 腰 Koshi, Waist, 腹 Hara, Abdomen, etc. The 旁 Tsukuri portion of this kanji is fairly straight forward, it means a collection of power; individual areas of power on the human body brought together to create a unified power, in this case for the purpose of striking. The use of three individual characters brought together to form one Kanji can also be seen in the examples of 森 Mori, three trees brought together to represent a Forest. or 口 Kuchi, Mouth brought together to represent an Article or Goods. So, we can see that by deconstructing the Kanji and looking at the radicals individually, we can see the picture more clearly. Please do this in your own research when you come across the various Kanji of importance.

Now, getting back to Waki Shime and the message therein. Developing true power through combining specific areas of strength through natural body movement facilitated by healthy contracting and extending of muscle groups in sequence creating a wave of power that runs through the body and can be delivered in a strike of the hands or feet that all depends upon the quality of our Waki Shime and our understanding of our own bodies.

Health Benefits of Karate Do Training (Continued)

In a previous post, I presented some of the health benefits of Karate Do Training. The blog may have seemed a little bit one sided due to the fact that I only focused on the positive impacts of Karate Do training. Furthermore, I had to end the blog before addressing the Mental and Spiritual benefits that I stated I would. In this post I would like to get back to this thread, but before doing so I would like to clarify one important point regarding the information I provided in that post 'Health Benefits of Karate Do Training'. The information I provided was taken from a book that Chitose Tsuyoshi Sensei, the First Generation Soke and founder of Chito-Ryu Karate Do (O Sensei) wrote, "Kenpo Karate-do Universal Art of Self-Defense." He wrote this book in the late 1940s (1946 or 1947) eventhough it was translated into English by Christopher Johnston and published in 2000 by Shindokan International. (the Cover of this book is pictured below)

 

Training approaches have changed a great deal since this book was written and since it was published. The audience for which the book was intended must also be considered when we read it. It was intended for Japanese Nationals living in post WWII Japan. Many were malnourished and in poor physical health. This book was expressing the benefits of Karate Do training as a way to increase the general physical health of Japan as is stated in three very important sentences in The Purpose of Studying Karate-do where O Sensei writes, "In order to re-build the New Japan, we must first ensure that we are in good health. To begin with, to perform sound physical exercise is to study Karate-do. Initially a way to protect ourselves, Karate-do is the most complete form of physical exercise" (p. 90).

While sports training methods have grown in leaps and bounds in the 70 years since the end of WWII, the health benefits of continued exercise such as the practice of martial arts which now often includes various forms of cross training such as running and other strength training, speaks for itself. There are, however, some things that we do need to be careful of when teaching or training specific 基本 Kihon, Basics and 技 Waza, Techniques, namely the danger of injuring our joints due to the application of stress caused by unnatural twisting, torquing, and pressure. It should be noted that these injuries are not caused by the technique itself but rather by our misunderstanding of how it should be practiced. There is nothing unhealthy about Karate Do,  but the limits of our understanding often lead to unhealthy practice habits. I am no exception. I have had my fair share of injuries which resulted due to my limited understanding. However, since studying Japanese Language and Culture and after coming to Japan and developing relationships with various Karate Do Sensei my understanding has increased and my injuries have reduced in number and severity. I would have to say that only recently have I begun to practice at a level that I feel is indeed increasing my health without a high risk of injury to my joints. It took me almost 25 years to understand, but in the past 2 years I really feel that my Karate Do has changed for the better namely due to deeper understanding in two major areas. I would like to tell you about them. The first area will be the focus of this post and the second I will write in a following post. The first area deals with a more natural use of muscle combinations, focusing on contraction, stretch, and a state in between which may be referred to as neutral, natural, or relaxed.

 

Muscle Use
During my time training in Japan I have grown and and deepened my knowledge base in many ways, all of which have impacted the way I approach my personal training. One of the major epiphanies I had was the realization of how to use the muscle groups in my upper body, namely my shoulders (Trapezius) and Lats (Laissimus Dorsi) in a more natural working combination through out the movements of 基本 Kihon and 形 Kata (See photo below for muscle groups discussed).