Techniques

Contact Points

Techniques are based on predefined contact points with Japanese names.

• Kentos, fist head

  
• Uraken, back of fist

  
• Tettsui, fist hammer

  
• Ippon-ken, fist tip

  
• Nukite, fingertips

  
• Shuto, hand sword

  
• Haito, hand sword reversed

  
• Haishu, back of hand

  
• Teisho, Palm of the hand

  
• Nihon-nukite, two finger prick

  
• Empi, elbow

  
• Ittsui, knee

  
• Kakato, knee

  
• Haisoku, top of the foot

  
• Koshi, ball of the foot

  
• Sokuto, foot edge

  

Positions

Positions are specific to each style, even though there is a lot of resemblance for a spectator, for the practitioner, the differences are very significant depending on the style.

Techniques

There are also predefined postures and movements, all with Japanese names. Thus, by combining contact points, postures, and movements, we obtain karate techniques.

The techniques are well defined, also with Japanese names, and are then combined and repeated incessantly during karate training. When applying the techniques, the rhythm of the different muscle contractions is very important for effective technique application. Of course, this is a very brief summary of the techniques, a book would be needed to explain them properly.

Table of Katas

A Kata is a simulated combat against multiple opponents