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Wastelander
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Pinan Yondan/Kusanku vs. "Hockey Punches"

Hello, everyone!

In this Waza Wednesday, we take a look at a sequence found in both Pinan/Heian Yondan and Kusanku/Kanku. In our version, this is the "stacked hands" position, to a hammerfist and front kick, followed by a supported elbow strike. In this video, we use that sequence to deal with "hockey punches," where your opponent grabs your shirt with one hand and throws punches with the other.

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Thanks for posting! You’ve got to love those cultural references :-) As a Brit (a place where Ice Hockey is not really played) it took me a moment to get the reference to “Hockey Punches”. The not grabbing the sleeves because the heat in Arizona means they are rarely there is also interesting. I live in the north of England where it is wet and cold most of the time … and where wearing a jacket is taken as a sign of unmanliness ;-) As an example, I know the local postal service workers have this thing where the first person to switch to long trousers and sleeves is widely ridiculed … the result is shorts in the middle of winter. Same issue for different reasons :-)

Back on point, I like what is shown and noted the used of the word “strike” as opposed to “block” in order to install the right mind set and action. So important to get the words right like that. Something I am much more mindful of these days.

All the best,

Iain

Wastelander
Wastelander's picture

Iain Abernethy wrote:

Thanks for posting! You’ve got to love those cultural references :-) As a Brit (a place where Ice Hockey is not really played) it took me a moment to get the reference to “Hockey Punches”. The not grabbing the sleeves because the heat in Arizona means they are rarely there is also interesting. I live in the north of England where it is wet and cold most of the time … and where wearing a jacket is taken as a sign of unmanliness ;-) As an example, I know the local postal service workers have this thing where the first person to switch to long trousers and sleeves is widely ridiculed … the result is shorts in the middle of winter. Same issue for different reasons :-)

Back on point, I like what is shown and noted the used of the word “strike” as opposed to “block” in order to install the right mind set and action. So important to get the words right like that. Something I am much more mindful of these days.

All the best,

Iain

Haha, yes, I've had a couple people comment on the "hockey punches" verbiage. I used to call them "bully punches," since that was contextually accurate for my experience with them, but over time, I noticed that most people were calling them "hockey punches," and if you've seen a hockey fight, it makes perfect sense :P. I hadn't considered the "unmanliness" factor of clothing in colder climates, but that's a good point, too, and an entertaining anecdote!

Wording can definitely change how people think about a given movement. We still call things "blocks" a lot, because that's what people are familiar with, but in writing I use "receiver" instead, except in cases like this one, where it is specifically being used to strike. Thanks!

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Wastelander wrote:
I hadn't considered the "unmanliness" factor of clothing in colder climates, but that's a good point, too, and an entertaining anecdote!

We have a postal work train with us and I asked him last night how long he’d been wearing shorts and short sleeves … he replied it was “5 Years”!That’s dedication to proving a point! :-)

Wastelander wrote:
Wording can definitely change how people think about a given movement. We still call things "blocks" a lot, because that's what people are familiar with, but in writing I use "receiver" instead, except in cases like this one, where it is specifically being used to strike.

There is definitely the problem of common terminology vs the best terminology. We need to the common terms so we can communicate clearly with others, but we also know those common terms can be problematic.

In my own dojo, we generally stick to the Japanese terms (in common use and they don’t infer much about application to English speaking minds), descriptions of application (“clear arm out of the way and strike to neck”), and descriptions of motion (“hand comes toward shoulder and then sweeps down”). However, they do need to be aware that others use English translations such as “knife hand block”, “lower block”, etc. So that needs to be added into the mix with appropriate history and caveats.

The chief point needs to be that the labelling we have these days is “new” i.e. it was added to the kata a long time after their creation, and was in accordance with the largely bunkai free practise in the Japanese universities at the time the labelling was added.

Hopefully, things will move on yet again and a new, more application focussed, universal terminology will develop. I doubt that will happen quickly or soon though.

All the best,

Iain

Marc
Marc's picture

Another fine Waza Wednesday! - Thanks for sharing your videos.

Take care,

Marc