The Basic Basics

By: Jason Kraus

We often try to do too much. We put our attention on all the things we want to improve, instead of focusing on improving one or two specific things during our training session.

It’s a common problem and a trap we all fall into: By trying to improve everything all at once, we end up improving nothing at all.

That said however, there are those factors that we should always be aware of, at least in some small part. I call those the “Basic Basics”.

Here’s my short list in no particular order:

• Keep your eyes up and on your opponent (real or imaginary). Try to see them without focusing on them. If you focus on one point (nose, throat, collarbone, solar plexus, etc), your attention collapses to that one place and your awareness of everything else diminishes. A good time to practice this is while moving in a crowd. See everything.

• Maintain your intention. Without martial intention, karate is hollow.

• Breathe naturally. Relaxed breathing results in relaxed muscles. A tight body is a slow body. A good time to practice active relaxation is when you’re laying down.

You're never too good for Basics.

o Relaxing is actually more difficult than it sounds. Many people mistakenly believe that it is something you just do. “Just relax.” But it’s not easy. In our often hectic and constantly stressful world, relaxing is a skill that one must work to develop (the contradiction of that is not lost on me…).

One way I’ve used is to lay on my back and breath naturally until I’m ready to progress. Then I try to imagine my feet and toes made of warm wax. Once my feet are warm wax, try to do the same with my ankles, then my calves, moving up the body until I’ve reached my eye sockets and forehead.

Frankly, the process is so effective that I often fall asleep in the middle of it.

I think if you do this for a while you may also identify certain locations in your body that are chronically tight. My left shoulder is that spot and so now I can consciously relax that space (move the shoulder outward and downward) and feel the rest of my body automatically relaxing. It’s become sort of a relaxation shortcut. Learning this takes knowing your body, which is one thing we can develop as karateka.

• Keep your fist soft. Fold your fingertips into the top of your palm and roll them softly down to expose your knuckles. Fold your thumb over your pointer and middle fingers, and make sure the tip of your thumb points at your pinkie. This creates a fist good for striking and blocking, but without tightening too much the muscles in your forearm and shoulder that will slow you. It keeps your fingers and thumbs safe from impact or from getting caught on something.

o Funakoshi Sensei suggested that to really understand how to make a fist, practice doing so fifty times each day.

This is the ideal time to pay attention to how much muscle all along the length of your arm you’re unnecessarily using when simply making a fist. Again, a tight body is a slow body.

• Make sure you bend your knee in the same direction your second toe is facing. If you bend your knee toward any other direction, you put strain on your knee and can damage it.

Even the smallest misalignment, practiced tens of thousands of times over many years, can cause destructive wear-and-tear on your knee that will eventually cause major problems. This is probably the most important “Basic Basic” for long-term health and functionality.

o A good time to practice this is while climbing stairs two-at-a-time. Make sure your knee is bending the same direction as your second toe. Does your knee wobble? Investigate why.

• Hit things. That is the only way you can understand whether you’re building good karate technique. Punching and kicking air – while useful – gives is the wrong impression on what generating a powerful technique feels like and how impact affects your body in response.

There is only one way to practice this. Please bear in mind that many people don’t like to be hit, so maybe using a punching bag or makiwara is better than punching friends and loved ones.

• Remain humble. Remember that no matter how long you’ve been training you are still a karate student, so give yourself permission to be imperfect. An overdeveloped sense of perfection – a large ego – makes it much more difficult to learn anything new. And we all have much to learn. Related: Honework

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Jason Kraus is a lifelong martial artist. Jason spent decades in various martial arts including traveling to and living in both Japan and Korea. He has most recently returned to his first love, Shotokan Karate and trains at Missouri Karate Association.