Subject: Attitudes (wasRe- Silent or 
Distribution: world
Organization: IE Technical Services Holland
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 22:58:36 +0000


In article <1992Sep7.124350.22615@samba.oit.unc.edu> Paul.Elkins@bbs.oit.unc.edu writes:

>
>In article <9209050002.AA10951@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>> david_yeh@MACMAIL.MED.NYU.EDU ("David Yeh") writes:
>>
>>                      Attitudes (wasRe: Silent or vocal sparring?)
>>carbon@bnrmtl.bnr.ca (Peter Carbon) writes:
>>
>>>So what do you people think? Is it better to fight silently, thereby
>>>conserving energy, or to use kiais to perhaps disconcert your opponent
>>>and add more emphasis to a strike?
>>
>>But what I especially remember, though, was when we were sparring, I didn't
>>make the Hoo! Ha! Kia! sounds.  HOWEVER, every time I'd tag an opponent, I'd
>>whisper out "boom!" "wham!" "pow!"  or something.  It had a definite
>
>A classmate of mine that I greatly respected made similar noises when
>sparring.  At first I though it was funny, so I mentioned it to him.  He
>said he did it primarily to keep breathing; to counteract the tendency to
>HOLD his breath while striking.  I had the same tendency so I adopted the
>same strategy.  (Never forget breathe Danielson).
>
>I kiai occasionally when SPARRING;
>         to startle or intimidate an opponent,
>         to strengthen my spirit or resolve
>         to maximize power (and celebrate) a finishing technique.
>
>Although I do NOT kiai with every technique I can understand the theory as
>it relates to my own "rules".
>
>        a)  IF finishing technique THEN Kiai
>
>                        AND
>
>        b)  (as is commonly heard)  One punch, one life.
>
>
>        THEREFORE Kiai with every technique.
>
>I think where it begins to break down is that sparring/training situations
>are not "life and death" (TM) situations.  Sparring continues much longer
>than a real fight might, because sparring is training.  (You don't get
>in much training time if after 10 seconds one partner is dead.)
>
>                - Monta
>

Sorry to have included the all the above and for the length of what
follows, but there is something important here which I think is often
missed.  There is a major difference between kiai and the normal
shouts, grunts, and exclamations made by martial artists, especially
karateka, when striking.

Kiai is the spirit shout, it is part of the tradition of Ki Jutsu.
The normal shout or exclamation heard when a strike or technique is
being made is a breathing shout.  There is a specific art which
covers the technique of breathing but I cannot recall its name.  The
aim of this shout is to produce an expulsion of air and so:

  1/ release additional power to be focused into the blow,

  2/ make the party breath.

There is another tradition in the martial arts, which is that of
distracting or upsetting an opponent.  There is actually a whole
traditional art built around this which has a specific name, which
again I cannot recall, but it translates as ``throwing sand/ashes
in the eyes/face''.

Pure kiai can stop an attacker totally, they will freeze, even
fall over.  I know this can be done from my own experience.  It is
said that the masters (fortunately apparently very few) can go a
lot further.  This I can believe because in Han there is a similar
tradition of a `spirit shout', which it is reputed could kill.

Kiai needs to be concentrated and very carefully timed.  It is
generally used BEFORE the technique, not at the point of technique.
This is very different from the use of breath shouts and confusion
shouts.

Because of its very nature, the use of kiai puts the practitioner
at a major disadvantage if it does not work.  Therefore, it can
only be used once in combat.  This is very different from the
approach used in modern martial arts.

Nigel
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Nigel Backhurst ( nigel@ietech.demon.co.uk )
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