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Showtime Continued

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 8:42 pm
by Bill Bauknecht
Here is a good training aid for the wrist strike. Any striking device can be used as long as it can be held by your partner. The old leather medicine ball gives a great striking surface for this and many other strikes. I'm using my little mobile bag which Glenn has on his shoulder. Your partner can really feel the power or weakness of the blow from this position. Notice the closeness of the striking hand to the bag. All the power must be instant. The use of those large back and shoulders muscles and the snapping of the hand and wrist will drive it upward quickly.

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What would any karate book be without the ever popular elbow strike?
This blow can come from just about anywhere or any angle. However, let's not forget that this very tight and powerful strike can be used from more than just hitting the body or head of the target. Before I get into these areas, let's go over the power elbow.

In kata work we have the elbow strike in all karate styles. It is a well recognized strike by all. What is not recognized by all is the exploding method of delivering it. In order to get maximum results on impact, the elbow itself must be ripping into the impact area.
Many actually strike the target with the forearm because of improper mechanics and understanding of this strike.
In photo #16 we see the front power set up for the basic elbow strike to the target. The tightness and explosion comes from the path of the arm.
The hand in photo #16A is almost placed on the top of the chest as the strike begins. The torquing of the back and trunk accompany this hand movement. The elbow is actually delivered like a sickle. On impact, the entire striking side of the body has rolled into the strike as in #16B. The elbow will ride along your side as the fistpulls sharply back toward your sternum. With all the large muscle groups working together in a smooth quick torque, you've got one big bang here.
#16B shows the stopping power area that the elbow wants to hit. The tight arc of this strike should find this egg shell area quite nicely.

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PHOTOS #17,17A.17B.17C:
When the situation is at the grabbing stage, the elbow is at its best.
Photo#17 is tight, with a strong grab of the inside hand. The set up is similar to the body punch except the shoulder joint rolls over the top instead of rolling under.
17A begins the hand position accompanied by the shoulder and hip torque. Please notice the very slight movements of the striking hand throughout this entire sequence. All the right hand does is turn the palm down as it moves tighter to my sternum.
17B starts the arcing of the elbow as the inside hand torques the strong grab downward. The elbow rolls over the targets shoulder keeping your right hand tight to your chest, which now adds to the speed and it's explosiveness of this strike.

In 17C the final torquing of all muscles are coordinated and focused on impact. This shows the striking area to be at the ear portion of the target's head. When the elbow strike is done in this manner it will usually find this area. The strikes continues in a strong downward arc through the target.

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Nest week, more nasty elbows.
Art