In this video we look at a close-range Naihanchi / Tekki-Shodan pad-drill! The purpose of the drill is to allow the practise of some of the motions of the kata, in sequence, in a way where we can actually make hard contact with a target. When practising with a partner – which is also obviously very important – power needs to be taken out of the striking. Drills like this one can help correct for that.

This drill mainly looks at the rising strike and the horizontal hammer-fist. On both strikes the non-striking arm is clearing the path to the target. At close-range, it is far more effective to have the hands active in this way; as opposed to having them held in a passive guard. We see lots of active hands throughout kata (which is also why we don’t see passive “guards”). The drill also includes the “retuning wave kick” from the kata, which is an effective close-range kick.

This is just one of many drills, and all other strikes in the kata should also be drilled against impact equipment in this way. This is not something the past masters could do; because modern striking equipment was not available to them. There was therefore limitations on the way they could practice e.g. you could not do the kata sequence covered as is on a makiwara (hitting from differing angles, clearing real limbs, etc). Modern equipment should therefore be embraced – alongside their older counterparts – for the improvements to karate training they can permit.

All the best,

Iain

PS The YouTube link can be found HERE