Shisei: Posture

Shisei: Posture

                It’s funny to read through so many blogs and find that the term Shisei has been misused in a few of them because the writer was saying it meant “Attitude” which in a way it does, but not the way they think. Shisei is posture or the way you hold yourself, which can be called Attitude if you look at the definition of “posture” some call it the bodies attitude…meaning how it is held…so I get the confusion, but the authors I was reading were going for the “Attitude” as in Taido…or emotional attitude…which is obviously not correct.

                When I grade students in Kyu level rankings I look for both Shisei and Taido. Of the two Taido is something that grows with time as students become more comfortable in Karate and learn to express themselves while performing Kata and Kumite. However Shisei should be taught from day one. It is often the missing link between what a student is showing you and good Kihon waza.

                When I teach good Shisei I always work on the two planes that the body work through when moving backwards and forwards. I tell my students they must maintain the Ear-Shoulder-Hip line to keep from leaning in or back and truthfully leaning back slightly is okay. When you lean forwards you end up A)Closer to the fist of the person punching you and B) losing power from the back leg. It also limits you to moving in and out and does not work well for side to side movements.

                The other plane that I work with on students the lateral plane. Students tend to lean side to side a lot when moving laterally during Tekki and when stepping sideways. The idea I tell them is that they need to keep their nose-chin-belly button in line. If they lean sideways the hip tends to jut out and you lose your momentum and power. This is a hard one as most people try to gain ground rather greedily when making a side step movement. You have to convince them that controlling Ma-ai and maintaining potential power is much more important than stepping long across the body…that can be a challenge.

                The two biggest mistakes I see are normally easy to fix once you give the student the idea and the exercises to fix them. The first is leaning in when attacking. This is normally caused by students throwing their shoulders in and sticking their butts out! The reasons and the ramifications are different. The reason I normally see is the “Boxers mentality” we have in the west. We think to have big power in our punches we need to throw our shoulders into each punch and on a straight punch that means throwing it straight forwards. The student cannot generate power from the back leg and hips/torso when they do this. To fix this issue I often put my hand on their lower back and push in, or on the back leg to illustrate were the power comes from. I also use their belt to pull them and let their shoulders “fall back”. When they attack this makes for stronger base power and they can generate more push or drive from the back leg.

                The same can be said of retreating and leaning forwards. The problem with leaning forwards as you retreat from an attack are similar to when you are moving in. You limit your ability to move laterally or on an angle and you also are much closer to the attacking weapon. It slows your ability to retreat properly and it also limits your ability to continuously move. When you starting doing Jiyu Kumite you will see that you are always on the defense and losing the matches to someone that is not that much faster to you. If you can keep your hips “under” your head you will be able to move more successfully and also defend and counter properly. This problem, as well as when attacking, is best worked out by using a Shinai and  a few extra belts. Sensei Dingman showed us this trick for teaching good posture years ago, he will tie the Shinai into the students belt in the back and then tie a belt around the students head and the top of the shinai. He then does three step or five step…or 25 step with the student monitoring and giving feedback about their posture. Once they are comfortable with the shinai Posture training he will take the stick away and guide them through proper posture while moving in and back to ensure that they don’t form bad habits again.

                Shisei also is affected when kicking, especially Yoko Kekomi and Mawashi. For some reason the students lean forwards at the waist while kicking and this greatly affects balance. During the side thrust and even side snap kick, some students will lean forwards to try and throw their leg up higher and in the Mawashi geri they will do the same. The leg may gain a few inches of height but the loss of balance and power greatly affects the efficiency and power that you can generate. Try and maintain as upright a posture or at the least as aligned a posture as is possible.

                Shisei is a great way to tell a persons skill level. If they have not been practicing they will have poor posture, and if they have had poor instruction they will reflect that in their posture. It is important to always teach proper posture, especially in very basic Kihon like Oi zuki. Keeping good Shisei will help with Balance and with power generation but it also helps with health and limits the chances of one getting injured during the work outs or kumite.

                When someone is teaching, or training, focus on shisei should always be on proper body alignment and on proper use of posture during movement, or when stationary. Bad habits will lead poor body dynamics and then to injury or to slower movement and lack of power. Shisei is truly the missing link in good Karate!