Whole lotta shakin': an addendum
A colleague of mine on gojuryu.net recently said the following in response to my article: “ Whole lotta shakin’: pre-loading the hips ”: “When stepping, there is an inherent motion to the hips. If this is utilized to load a technique, then there is no telegraphing or slowdown. I think examples where there is a block THEN hip load THEN strike will never work against a properly motivated attacker. However, why can't all three of those things be the same - ie, block and punch with the same hip motion at the same time?” I think this is an excellent point. It occurred to me many martial arts movements are specifically designed this way. Consider the humble sanchin dachi (3 battles stance) as it occurs in goju ryu and other karate kata. That stance involves a pelvic tension which occurs as you step up into the stance just before you effect a technique (whether it is a block or a punch or both). That pelvic tension produces a 45 degree movement in the hips, creating forward and “upwar...