Hip use in Karate

Koshi Kaiten, Gyaku Kaiten, Jun Kaiten, Shindo Kaiten, Tsukidasu Kaiten! Some of these we hear a lot in class, others we hear nothing about and some we only hear in English (regional language) and never are they really all explained! They are all ways to use the hip to generate power!

Koshi Kaiten means Hip Rotation and it’s a very important and basic part of generating power in karate for both kicking and striking. With proper hip rotation (Jun Kaiten) and reverse rotation (Gyaku Kaiten) you will generate more snap and more power. Jun Kaiten means to rotate with the techniques, this would be similar to rotating the hip into the techniques and Gyaku Kaiten away from a technique. It actually has little to do with position (hanmi, Shomen and Gyaku hanmi).
Jun Kaiten is when your hip rotates with the movement. So when you are performing Gyaku zuki or reverse punch you will rotate your hip into the movement by rotating the back hip along with the arm into the target. This generates a great deal of power as you rotate and also use the back leg to push with off the floor. This power full technique will generate a huge amount of power as you move from position to position.

Some JKA groups suggest that Gyaku zuki will move from Hanmi to Shomen as you punch some groups barely move into Hanmi when they start the punch and others stay Shomen when moving and punching. I advocate a full range of motion from Hanmi to Shomen and finishing in Gyaku Hanmi. This serves multiple purposes from martial power improvement to a more natural movement process and also strengthening and creating flexibility in the hips. This is a great example of un Kaiten, the hip is going the same direction as the technical movement.

Gyaku Kaiten is the opposite of Jun Kaiten in that the movement of the “power hip” goes the opposite direction as the technique being applied. A good example is a Gedan Barai or Uraken with the lead hand while standing still. The rear hip moves away from the front line so your hip/body goes from Shomen to Hanmi position to give snap and power to the front hand. In this case a Hidari Gedan braai Zenkutsu dachi is done ( left side down block in left front stance) the rear power hip rotates away from the down block powerfully and the front hip thrusts into the movement.

Some JKA groups again don’t use a Hanmi position for the Gedan Barai, but most advocate this movement to that position. I also feel that leaving the hips Shomen as long as possible will add rotational power to your techniques and you should remember that this is a thrusting in movement with the hip.

A similar movement is the Uraken done with the left hand when in Left side Zenkutsu Dachi. As your arm extends out you will quickly rotate your back hip away, thus making Gyaku Kaiten, and then as the technique is being whipped back you will rotate the hip back to assist with drawing back the hand.

Shindo Kaiten is the vibration that is used by the hip when executing a technique. Again, many trains of though when doing this power generation and many ways to do it exist. Some will do the “vibration” similar in motion to Gyaku Kaiten or Jun Kaiten, others will wiggle, some move the hand the opposite way from the hip movement then try to catch up to the arm movement with the hip and “piston” the technique.

My thoughts on Shindo Kaiten are that you should launch the arm movement with a hip vibration. This means if you are standing in natural position and punching with your right hand, your right hip will start the small vibration by moving forwards into the target then move back to the Shomen position before impact. Because the movement of the hip is literally a inch or two your arm will not lose any momentum from the reset of the hip to Shomen, or it shouldn’t unless you rotate and don’t vibrate.

Shindo Kaiten also has one other factor that some groups do not focus on. The vibration is not just with the hips, the support leg also pushes into the ground to generate drive, and the arm must punch out fast and focus the whole body on impact.

Tsukidasu Kaiten means Hip Thrust or push forwards and it is actually done with the rear leg pushing in and the pelvis forced forwards so you do not lean in. Some groups do not focus on this at all and you see students leaning when they move forwards or back and you find that its normally the least flexible students that have the biggest issue with this.

Tsukidasu Kaiten is also used in conjunction with shindo Kaiten in Mae Geri, as the back leg transitions into a front leg for the mae geri the rear leg forces into the floor and the hip rotates forwards hard thrusting in. This kind of movement in combination with Atoashi Suiryoku or rear leg thrust will generate a great deal of power. Kicking and striking can benefit from this technique when working for more power.

Shisei or Kata Dachi means general posture. It can mean how your feet set in stance, knees bent or straight, alignment of your spine, shoulders, the way you hold your arms, were your head is tilted or straight ext and so on. For my purposes in this I will be focusing more on the stance itself and spine! Generally I suggest that the ear, shoulder and hip should always be aligned. This way you know your posture is good, some people lean to much front or back when moving and it will throw off your balance as well as your power.

When you are off balance your body will react in a strange way, you lose the ability to direct power away from your body. A good punch or front kick will lose power and will be ineffective if your balance is off. In Judo the use of off balancing or Kuzushi is used to assist in a throw, in karate it is important to have great balance, but when you note that the aggressor is off balance you should be focusing on attacking at that moment.

Kata Dachi includes aligning the body so that the hip is ready for use and the use of the rotations or vibration will be at its maximum efficiency, the use of bad Kata dachi will throw your body off and you can actually harm yourself if you execute a rotation with bad body alignment.