Genesis: the beginning

 VITRUVIAN SHOTOKAN

JUST THE BASICS

As a very basic introduction to me and my concept here. I am an over-the-hill, dumpy white guy who still pretends to be athletic. I am closer to 60 than I want to be and I have been involved in martial arts since my early twenties. The majority of my time training has been in Shotokan style, and most of that was with the traditionalist ITKF.  I have a really good basic knowledge of Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan (great for training while injured), a year with Shorin Ryu and a few bizarre seminars with a Ninjutsu fanatic that introduced me to crazy Vietnam vets who like to play with knives.

My concept was originally an illustrated manual of karate technique showing in detail the actions, the transitional movements and the bio-mechanics of the movements (what muscles do what and when).  I always thought that the skills of a great graphic artist would really help my efforts but, unfortunately, I have NO artistic ability beyond a vision and I could never find a graphic artist with the time, knowledge and passion to undertake this thankless task.  I ended up going with "plan D minus" when I discovered the plastic artists model called "Body Kun" on the internet.

The plastic model is actually quite difficult to work with if you have the obsessive-compulsive mind of a Shotokan karateka (well known for having one year of experience repeated indefinitely until the practitioner finds mythical perfection).  The joints of the plastic doll are not anatomically flexible and this creates an unacceptable limitation of movement: the sharp eyed people viewing this (all three of them) will note that the stances are slightly too short and the range of motion at the hips specifically is too small (or maybe the doll is reminding me that my own range of motion sucks these days).  The other issue is that each action has an equal and opposite reaction, so when I move one part of the doll, another part shifts without warning; sometimes I fail to notice that shift until I am proofing the photographs and, truthfully, I am just too damn lazy to reset the entire scene.  I ask my viewer's indulgence.

For the technical end of things, here is my set up. If anyone wants to improve on my work, feel free since this is truly a plastic project, to be updated as I go along.  The "Body Kun" model (child's action figure as my wife refers to it) is available through Amazon.ca and is sold by Bandai S.H.Figuarts under the title of "Body Kun".  I have two, one in "flesh" and one in black.  I am using the Sony RX100V camera on a tripod to shoot with: it's my new toy and it may not be as good as my Canon digital SLR, but it does not require Photoshop to edit.  I made my own light box out of a simple cardboard box and white photo mounting foam. I use a bright, full spectrum fluorescent light to illuminate.  I tried using the flash and it washed everything out way too much (I will try it again when I start using my black doll).  The editor I am using is a free program available off the Internet called "Fotor".  It's easy to use for even an old fart like me.  I usually jack up the contrast to give the doll hard, easy to see details and, as you can see, I am still playing with the "in photo" labels.  I still have not figured out how to draw arrows on the photograph, but this is just the beginning.

I will putter away at this. I am not averse to input from others, but I will be working from Shotokan canonical standards because that's what I know best. Other styles will find what I say to be "wrong" and, if you want to give your input from another point of view, that will be welcomed...as long as you clearly state what your style is so we can all learn a little through sharing.  Internet Trolls need not apply because I am virtually impossible to irritate or tease: I'm too old and have buried far too many of my family to really give a shit about the opinions of a pizza-faced teenager typing away in the moldy confines of his mother's basement.  I also have an extremely sharp writing style, so be prepared to get worse back than you send.

Shizentai: ready position.  Start right to finish right.

Shizentai lateral view.

1. Chokutsuki: square punching. BASIC

2. Chokutsuki: lateral view

3. Initiation: pulse from the floor

4. Mid point: fist is thrown from the hip by the hip movement.

5. Mid point: elbows down, through the center.

6. Completion. The doll is incorrect: the elbow looks high

7. Completion: kime point. It is not a finish, but the beginning
of the next punch. Always think of it that way. Always
ready for another technique.

1. Always settle into a good Shizentai stance and dial up your
intensity and awareness. This is practicing for fighting, not just
mindless exercise.  If you want that, do cross-fit instead.

2. Beginning Gedan-uke. Everything moves simultaneously.
Think "quick" rather than "power". Speed is power.

3. Lateral view: the feeling is both driving into stance and
using gravity to drop into stance.

4. Almost there. Note the hands are static while the
body moves. Hands are fast and can always catch up.

4. The pivot foot lands on the ball and acts as "the brakes" that will snap
the body into stance and throw the receiving hand (block) out.

5. Completion: the hips rotate into the technique as the uke waza is snapped out.
The completion (kime) represents the beginning of the next technique, not
a static stop.  Think more like a reciprocating mechanism: the end point of one cycle
is the start point of the next cycle.

6. The most important point here: the receiving hand (block) DOES NOT extend
more than a half a fist outside the body-line. The easiest way to control this is to
aim the elbow throughout the movement and snap the block in the direction the elbow
is aiming.  The elbow leads the action.

 7. A better model positioning: note the
rear foot at an angle and the greater
rotation of the hip/ torso unit.

8. Every reception (block) assumes a follow up counter-attack. Here is the first gyaku-tsuki
(reverse punch) image I will have here. This one should have it's rear heel down, not lifted.
Sensei needs to smack this beggar with the shinai to remind him.

 9.  Lateral view: one of many to follow. The gyaku-tsuki is the work-horse of Shotokan and must be repeated. 
Here is a lesson in basic Shotokan: anything you see repeated in training or kata is an important basic skill
or basic strategy.  Learn to see strategy by watching what the drills are teaching (ie: stepping in to receive
rather than jumping back: early-reception timing is the strategy)