The Circle And The Point
"KARATE INSTRUCTORS GUIDE TO THE CIRCLE AND THE POINT"
Introduction:
The practice of traditional karate is the quest to train and purify the mind, body, and spirit of the human being. Furthermore, in our quest to train ourselves to be better people we also must take notice of the fact that we are becoming warriors. Therefore, we must train ourselves to understand the forces used in combat, the purpose of these forces, and the honorable way to use karate to defend ourselves and others who may need our help. Understanding the circle and point will assist us in this quest.
The circle and point has been a part of human movement, mobility, and balance from the beginning of time. A better understanding of how the circle and point work during movement is essential to the practice of karate. Generating the maximum amount of impact force using the least amount of human energy is one of the main goals of the practice of traditional karate. To attain this goal you must learn how to use the circle and point to conserve energy while effectively applying force to your opponent. Completing the “100 man kumite” (fighting 100 fighters without a break) is the best example of a fighter’s need to conserve energy.
The purpose of this manual is to guide karate instructors in how to teach the circle and the point to their students from the day the student begins training. In other words, the circle and the point must be taught during every class no matter what the students are practicing. The instructors must have a thorough knowledge of the concepts of force, movement, balance, and the biomechanics of the human body as it relates to the circle and point. Once an instructor is confident that he/she can teach the circle and point, as well as, demonstrate the application of the forces generated by the circle and the point, the instructor will realize that you cannot teach traditional karate without using these concepts.
Most of you have already read about the history of karate, and therefore, I am not going to bore you with another article on that topic. Instead, I'm assuming you know where and how modern day karate began its development into what it is today. Karate is the science of unarmed combat. I know what you're thinking!! The practice of karate includes weapons. True, it does, however, how many times have you had your nunchuks in hand when a possible street combat situation arose. Mere possession of nunchuks in a none-training environment is a crime. The truth be known, the practice of weapons is actually more valuable to the karateka as a means to learn defenses against the weapon. With that in mind, the following pages relate the value of understanding the physics of karate to how the karateka generates powerful techniques through the use of the circle and the point.
Introduction:
The practice of traditional karate is the quest to train and purify the mind, body, and spirit of the human being. Furthermore, in our quest to train ourselves to be better people we also must take notice of the fact that we are becoming warriors. Therefore, we must train ourselves to understand the forces used in combat, the purpose of these forces, and the honorable way to use karate to defend ourselves and others who may need our help. Understanding the circle and point will assist us in this quest.
The circle and point has been a part of human movement, mobility, and balance from the beginning of time. A better understanding of how the circle and point work during movement is essential to the practice of karate. Generating the maximum amount of impact force using the least amount of human energy is one of the main goals of the practice of traditional karate. To attain this goal you must learn how to use the circle and point to conserve energy while effectively applying force to your opponent. Completing the “100 man kumite” (fighting 100 fighters without a break) is the best example of a fighter’s need to conserve energy.
The purpose of this manual is to guide karate instructors in how to teach the circle and the point to their students from the day the student begins training. In other words, the circle and the point must be taught during every class no matter what the students are practicing. The instructors must have a thorough knowledge of the concepts of force, movement, balance, and the biomechanics of the human body as it relates to the circle and point. Once an instructor is confident that he/she can teach the circle and point, as well as, demonstrate the application of the forces generated by the circle and the point, the instructor will realize that you cannot teach traditional karate without using these concepts.
Most of you have already read about the history of karate, and therefore, I am not going to bore you with another article on that topic. Instead, I'm assuming you know where and how modern day karate began its development into what it is today. Karate is the science of unarmed combat. I know what you're thinking!! The practice of karate includes weapons. True, it does, however, how many times have you had your nunchuks in hand when a possible street combat situation arose. Mere possession of nunchuks in a none-training environment is a crime. The truth be known, the practice of weapons is actually more valuable to the karateka as a means to learn defenses against the weapon. With that in mind, the following pages relate the value of understanding the physics of karate to how the karateka generates powerful techniques through the use of the circle and the point.
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