The laws that make karate technique effortlessly secure will additionally have you injury-free. That is one of the advantages of karate!

In karate, we are striving for the “beauty of one finishing blow technique”, and also, I believe, that we are trying to train and keep improving till old age.

Those two concepts are not at all contradictory, at least not in Shotokan, on the contrary, a proper, effective technique should have all the same qualities that will reduce stress from our joints and spine, will keep our spine and joints stable, robust, pliable and healthy.
In fact, the principles of karate technique are in accord with the laws of physical therapy and injury prevention. As well as peak performance.

Don’t forget, exercise is stress, only that we want to have a strain on the body that is constructive and not destructive.

Technique is chain reaction from the ground up, if our technology is initiated from the feet, we will not move the extremities in isolation, the whole body will cooperate, technique will be more powerful, there will not be extraneous or contradictory energy in the method, yet there will be less stress on the shoulders or hips.
When a technique is produced from the arms or legs, the technology is laboured, weaker, even when it feels firm, and there will be increased stress on specific joints and the spine.

Optimal posture allows for effortless control of body dynamics, and the full range of muscles contraction/relaxation, and for smooth transmission of forces through joints.
This same optimal posture prevents space from the spine.
For example, analysis shows that during the lumbar spine is flexed, it is 40% lighter in producing force, and more sensitive to injury.
In a head forward posture, the weight of the head create constantly more stress on the lumbar spine, and at the same time, the thoracic extensors are lengthened and weakened, and forces cannot transfer smoothly from the body centre (sacrum) to the arms, through the thoracic spine and shoulder joint as should be.
Muscles should act on a joint should be in optimal balance (force couple), When the muscles around the shoulder (or any joint) are imbalanced, the chest and anterior deltoids are short and tight, and the scapular adductors and posterior deltoids are over lengthened and weaken, the joint is not in moving in its optimal axis of rotation, force transfer is not efficient and premature wear and tear is inevitable.

The optimal sequence of body segments as well as the sequence of muscles firing timing.
In order to achieve maximum force in a technique within a given space, each body segment should be used to the fullest, and then the next section smoothly adds force. For example in backwards punch, feet within legs, hip turn, shoulder stretch, then elbow extension than forearm snap at the elbow. In addition, force is transferring at the joints. Therefore, each joint should be a stable centre to allow the full transfer of energy from one segment to next.
This same principle of producing force is key in preventing injuries, and stress on a particular joint, if one joint is “skipped” or lacking in range of motion, the joints above or below will have to compensate.

Internal muscles firing timing
In karate, we want to move from the centre out, in order to move from the centre out we must have a stable centre first.
When we say centre, we mean three fingers below the navel toward the spine, which is the sacrum area.
The centre has to be firm while the bigger muscles around the centre, which produce the most force, has to be relaxed and activated according to the task.
The smaller muscles around the sacrum and lumbar spine have to be activated before the bigger muscles and also in the right amount, according to the stabilization need. The stabilization needed is different for walking or for sprinting.

Research shows that in healthy individuals the smaller muscles around the sacrum and lumbar spine (transverses abdominus, multifidus, pelvic floor and diaphragm) were firing 30-50 milliseconds before arm movement, and 110-130 milliseconds before leg move, subconsciously, this is called “feed-forward tool”.
For people who had delayed or no activation, there was a high likelihood of back pain, since the spine was not stabilized and protected against the movement of the arms and legs.
This activation can be determined, and this is what we do in karate, activating the centre first and connecting the centre to the extremities than moving from the centre out.

The gluts
Those are of the biggest muscles in our body and are responsible for stabilizing the back, producing force, and transmitting force from the legs through the sacrum to the upper body.
The gluts attend to be a “lazy” muscle and are lethargic for many people. When the glutes are weak, there is more likelihood of back pain and weak technique.
In karate, we feature engaging the glutes in every method, I used to return from Sensei Nishiyama’s class with purple buttocks and had to sleep on my stomach.
Full range of movement in technique

in The Life Sports we train, at least in the basics to the full functional range of each technique for many reasons, such as conditioning the muscles to the full range, easy to learn proper coordination through big action, and if you control the big, you control everything in between, so the transition to smaller action in application is easier.
Most injuries happen in the outer ranges, and by developing control and stability in the full range, we become more resilient to injuries.

The body center is the engine

Technique is initiated from a firm center using ground reaction; the body center is also important in transmitting forces from the feet to the arms and vice versa. If the center is unstable, forces from ground reaction will dissipate and will not transfer to technique, as well as stresses will be put on the lumbar spine and sacrum. Firm, properly activated stabilizers around the low spine are important in order to alleviate stress from the spine.
When the spine is stable, it also serves as an anchor for the bigger core muscles, and those muscles can function more optimally.

Join karate classes in Pune at “The Life Sports” and get rid of your day-to-day worries.