Some Notes on Training Power and Focus1
Uchi Waza
The importance of training uchi waza with power and focus cannot
be too much emphasised. A karate maxim familiar to most people
is ikken hissatsu (ichi ken hissatsu; 一拳必殺) – “one blow, certain
death.” Needless to say, the idea of killing somebody with one blow
(or at all!) is not be taken literally; nor must one ever lose sight ofthe principle that karate does not strike first: karate ni sente nashi (空手に先手なし): the karateka must never be the aggressor. The point,
however, is that if you are attacked you will need and want to
defend yourself as quickly and decisively as you can. The worst
thing you can do is allow yourself to be drawn into a slugging
match with someone stronger than you (and it is prudent always toassume that anyone who attacks you is stronger than you). If
attacked, it is vital to seize the advantage as quickly as you can anduse it to the full. The ideal, therefore, is to strike once but to makeyour one strike so effective that only one is necessary. This principle– strike once and strike with complete effect – should be kept
always in mind. To have to strike at all is bad. To have to strike
more than once is worse.
“One blow and it’s over” is, of course, an ideal from which it
may be necessary to depart in “real life”. Even an accurate and wellexecuted strike may not be enough stop an assailant who isanaesthetized by drink or drugs or fuelled by anger and adrenaline.
Anyone with any experience knows this. One should therefore
always be prepared to retaliate with multiple strikes and/or locks
and restraining holds if necessary, and for that reason practisingcombinations in partner work is an essential part of thedevelopment of effective karate. One should certainly not train insuch a way as to develop an invariable, robotic “block and strikeThis article is adapted from M. Cowie and R.W. Dyson, Kenkyo-ha Goju
Karate Kempo: An Introduction to the Way of Karate (Kenkyo-ha Budo
Renmei, 2012).
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once” response as a conditioned reflex. Having said this, though, itshould be remembered that criminal codes generally specify that
only “reasonable force” may be used in self-defence, and that courts(certainly in the United Kingdom) tend to be very narrow orconservative in their interpretation of what “reasonable” means.2
Even someone who has been subjected to an unprovoked assault
can find himself in trouble if the court can be persuaded that heused more force to defend himself than was “reasonable.” This is
one reason why the principle of one strike only, or at any rate ofminimum necessary force, is a good one to adopt. Train your uchi
waza, therefore, with a view to securing the desired effect with as
few strikes as possible.
It is important that, when training your strikes, you should for mostof the time make contact with an actual target. “Air” strikes against
an imaginary target will (a) tend to harm your joints in the long run
by hyperextending them, and (b) will not teach you anything about
power and focus. This is where the item of traditional “hojo undo”
equipment called the makiwara comes in. Its responsible andcareful use is very important to the development of accurate andpowerful uchi waza.
Makiwara (巻藁) is literally “straw roll,” because that is what theoriginal ones, used for cutting practice with swords and as archerytargets, were (and still are). The traditional karate makiwara ismounted on a wooden post some eight feet long,3 three feet or so of
which are buried in the ground. When this is done the buried end
is nowadays usually embedded in rough concrete. This method has
obvious drawbacks. It is not always convenient or possible to2

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The meaning will, of course, depend on the circumstances. What isreasonable against an unarmed attacker will be different from what isreasonable against multiple attackers or someone with a weapon. It is
important to remember, though, that – rightly or wrongly – thejudiciary (at least in the United Kingdom) seems not to like self-help or
to approve of martial artists. This statement is supported by anecdotal
evidence only, but it as well to err on the safe side.
The exact length of the post will depend on the desired height of the
makiwara, which should be roughly at the level of the karateka’s chest.

practise out of doors, and when the post wears out or breaks there
will be the chore of digging up a large lump of concrete. Insteadof burying it, it is a simple matter to attach a post of suitable length
to the dojo floor by the sort of metal bracket illustrated below,
which can easily be bought or fabricated. This is the usual modern
form of the makiwara. The post should be of sound, knot-free 4”x 2” (10 cms x 5 cms ) timber. In use it should be flexible enoughto “give” when the makiwara is struck, so that the hand and arm
are not always jarring against an unyielding surface, but resilient
enough to provide the user with “feedback” about the quality anddynamics of the blow. Japanese cedar is the wood traditionallyused, but experience shows that oak or ash usually give the rightdegree of flexibility (though just what degree of flexibility is“right” will to some extent depend on the individual). The post
(or the unburied part of it, if you are going to have a garden
makiwara) should be tapered down to 0.5” (12 mm) at the top. An
outdoor makiwara post should be thoroughly treated with a goodquality waterproof sealant. The striking pad at the top was inearlier days made of rice-straw rope (strictly speaking it is thispad, rather than the whole apparatus, that is the “makiwara”).
Rope is still used, but nowadays a leather-covered pad of dense
foam is more usual, and much more durable. The pad should beperhaps 6” from top to bottom and extend across the whole widthof the post.4 It is possible to buy wall-mounted striking pads thatare less fuss to install, but the practitioner may find that these lackflexibility. Also, if you miss such a pad (and it is easy to miss sosmall a target, especially for the beginner) you will strike the wall
to which it is attached.

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In our experience, makiwara are always rectangular in cross section;
though in his 1932 book Watashi no Karate Jutsu (trans. Patrick andYuriko McCarthy; International Ryukyu Karate Research Group,2002), Motobu Choki describes a “round” makiwara that can be struck
from any direction. We have never seen one, but presumably such amakiwara would consist of straw rope wrapped around a cylindricalpost.

It is of course not necessary to feel bound to any one design orpattern. There is no reason why the individual should not design
training aids to his own specification and make them out of
whatever materials come to hand. We have seen striking posts
made along the lines of the Wing Chun or Choi Li Fut “woodenman,” with various projections added to represent arms and legs;
we have seen makiwara made out of old rubber tyres, pieces ofcarpet, and so forth. There are no limits to human inventiveness;and this is, after all, quite in keeping with the time-honoured
Okinawan practice of improvisation using everyday objects.

The older type of makiwara post was buried in the
ground and bound at the top with rice-straw to forma striking surface. The karateka in the picture
is Funakoshi GichinMakiwara posts are nowadays more often bolted to thefloor indoors by means of a metal bracket ...

... and have a leather-covered foam pad instead of
the traditional rice-straw striking area

There is no reason why the individual should not design
training aids to his own specifications and use whatevermaterials come to hand
Practice with the makiwara has two great advantages. Because thestriking area is so small, each strike has to be very accurately
focussed. (It is, we point out again, possible to hurt yourself if you
miss the makiwara – especially if the makiwara is installed with awall close behind it, or fastened to the wall itself. Care is necessary,
especially at first.) Also, there is no psychological limit to the force
that you can use against the makiwara. It is an inanimate object thatyou can hit without inhibition as hard and (subject to what we shallsay in a moment) as often as you like. You will find that constant useof the makiwara will strengthen your wrists and thicken the skin ofyour knuckles. Rubbing surgical spirit or rubbing alcohol into yourhands or steeping them in salt water will also help to toughen theskin (vodka will do the trick too, but surgical spirit is cheaper). The
various “secret” herbal preparations that can be bought for thispurpose do not, in our experience, have much to be said for them;but there is no harm in trying them. You will probably find that theskin of your knuckles will break and bleed initially, and you should
not apply anything toxic (e.g. arnica ointment) or astringent tobroken skin. It used to be said that the rice straw of which makiwara
were traditionally made has antiseptic properties, but we know of noreason to think this true.

Another variation on the makiwara theme

The makiwara must be used sensibly and with moderation. Resist
the temptation – and the temptation is strong at first – to overdo it.
Start modestly, with no more than ten strikes with each hand daily,
and gradually build up to a maximum of 100 strikes with eachhand. You are likely to experience diminishing returns if you domore than this, and feats of endurance that lead only to pain anddamage have nothing to commend them. Use the makiwara under
the supervision of your teacher, and be guided by your teacher’sadvice. Be especially careful at first not to let your wrist buckle
when you punch the makiwara, as it may tend to: this can lead to apainful sprain injury. You will find that your wrists will becomemuch stronger in a comparatively short time. Because of the issuesof bone damage that can arise in relation to the still-developing
physique of young people, no one under the age of eighteen should
use the makiwara at all.
Please take seriously the following points in connection with yourmakiwara training.
1. There is a Zen saying that you should want the dharma as you
would want a bucket of water if your hair were on fire. One can makea similar remark about karate practice. Once you are used to themakiwara and confident with it, strike as if your very life depended
on it, with all the speed and force of which you are capable. Strike as
if, at that moment, there were nothing in the world but the gestalt
you/strike/target. You cannot hurt the makiwara, and half-hearted
practice is worse than no practice at all.
2. Power will be added to your strikes by giving a loud and explosive shout as you deliver them. This sort of shout is called “kiai”
in Japanese (気合): a word that conveys the idea of a concentrationor unification of energy/force/spirit. Giving a loud yell or fullblooded scream – a sort of “war cry” – will liberate or disinhibit
you, and the sudden expulsion of breath will help to “root” yourposture. In “real life” a sudden and unexpected scream will also
startle and distract – will “take the mind” of – an attacker. Make
whatever sound you like, as long as the full force of your intention

is expressed in it absolutely. Yell as loudly as you can, holding
nothing back; let your shout be a “hara” shout, coming from deep
inside you. “Hai!” is a good sound, and – because “hai!” (はい) is“yes!” in Japanese – suitably positive or affirmative. (One hassometimes heard people shout the word “kiai!”; but this is, in effect,
to shout the word “shout,” and seems a little odd.)
3. When practising your strikes a relaxed and “grounded” postureis essential. If you “throw” a punch with your arm and shoulder –in other words, predominantly using your pectoral and anteriordeltoid muscles – your punch will be weak and the action ofthrowing it will destabilise you. Such an “upper body” punch willtend to have more effect on you than on its target; if the target weresuddenly to disappear or evade you, you would tend to stagger
forward, off balance. It is important that your strikes should comealways from the kind of sunk, rooted posture that Sanchin kata is
intended to teach you. In conjunction with that posture ...
4. ... train yourself to strike in such a way that the force of the strike
depends not primarily on what your arm is doing, but on theunified energy of your whole body pushing off the floor. (Sanchinkata will help you to develop this way of striking as a conditioned
reflex.) It is not easy to put this into words; but think of the sort ofeffort that you would exert if you were moving something like a
piano. You would not use your arms only, but the strength of yourwhole body in a sort of co-ordinated effort. It is this sort of wholebody feeling that seems to be meant when it is said that yourstrength should come from your “hara.” Hara (腹) is literally“belly” or “abdomen,” but the word has also the connotation of“mind,” “motive” or “intention.” In every sense your strength
when striking is a sort of “core” or central strength coming fromdeep within you. Do not come up on your toes when you strike,but try to feel that you are pressing your feet into the floor.
5. Everyone has “favourite” or habitual techniques – aiyo (愛用) –that suit his or her physique or personality especially; but it is a
mistake to let your repertoire become too limited and hence to findyourself relying on a restricted range of responses. Do not be misledinto thinking that the makiwara is only for punching. You can andshould train as wide a range of techniques on it as you can.

Using the makiwara to train shuto uchi and uraken uchi:
remember that the makiwara can be used for much
more than punching
A valuable supplement to the makiwara is a heavy hanging bag.
The chief advantage of the bag is that it can be hit from a wide
variety of angles and hence used in combination with realistic
footwork. Also, because it can swing towards you and “oppose”
you, it will give you a kind of instructive experience different fromwhat is obtainable from the static and relatively rigid makiwara.
You can in a certain sense spar with it. In addition, the bag can beused to train kicks much more satisfactorily than the post-mounted
makiwara can, though one sometimes sees a lower pad attached toa makiwara post and used for a limited form of kicking practice.

A heavy hanging bag is a useful supplement
to the makiwara

The karateka should for the most part train his or her strikes tohave short-range penetrating power. You will find that a heavy bag
will help you with this aspect of practice very specifically. As withthe makiwara, you can hit the bag as hard as you like and without
inhibition; but you will probably be able to visualise penetration far
more easily with the bag than with the makiwara. Imagine that you
are aiming not for the surface of the bag, but for a point several
inches inside it; visualise your punch tearing through the fabric,
and your hand inside the bag grabbing and pulling out the stuffing(it is hardly necessary to comment on how easily this visualisation
can translate into a picture of what you might do to an attacker).
The bag will give you a kind of feedback unique to itself. You can
see the fabric dent under the focussed force of your strike, and you
can see and hear the bag “shudder” on its hangings. If it swings
away from you rather than “shuddering,” you are pushing rather
than striking/piercing it. The difference between pushing andstriking is often surprisingly difficult to feel, but it is important tounderstand and master it, and the bag will help you greatly in thisrespect.
As with the makiwara, do not overdo your use of the bag. Make
haste slowly, gradually increasing the force of your strikes and theduration of your training. When you feel confident and “at home”
with it, train with all your heart; but never forget that every welltrained strike is potentially lethal, and be mindful always of the
responsibility that this imposes on you.

Tameshiwari
Karate is associated in many people’s minds with the breaking ofhard objects by striking them with various parts of the body(including the head). The Japanese word for such exploits istameshiwari (試し割り), “testing by breaking” (with a sort ofconnotation of chopping or splitting firewood). As part of a ruthlessly single-minded approach to their discipline, generations ofmartial artists have prepared themselves for combat by putting
their limbs through gruelling routines of “conditioning” – plunging

their hands into pans of sand and gravel, thrusting their fingers into
bundles of bamboo, and so on – with a view to desensitising themand toughening the skin and bones. Uechi Ryu karateka conditioneven their extended fingers and big toes to deliver damaging
strikes. Tameshiwari is both a part of this conditioning and a wayof testing it. It is said also that tameshiwari builds self-confidence
and increases the accuracy of strikes. Objects broken include bricks,
concrete blocks, paving stones, roof tiles, baseball bats, wooden
boards – even coconuts (coconuts are said to have tensile properties
similar to those of the human skull). It is nowadays possible to buy“rebreakable” objects made out of hard plastic that have similar
properties to bricks and boards but can be used without the waste
and expense of smashing up piles of the real thing.
It has to be said that spectacular displays of breaking are often
illusory, or at least a good deal easier than they look; there is a gooddeal of room for fakery and illusion. Even with this qualification,
however, our view is that tameshiwari is a harmful and dangerous
practice. Perhaps this is a heresy to some, but we speak in the lightof our own – sometimes painful – experience. If tameshiwari isdone at all, it certainly should not be done with the elbows, knees,
extended fingers or head. Knees, elbows and fingers are easily
injured, perhaps irreparably, and the unwisdom of hitting concrete
blocks with your head perhaps needs no elaboration. Apart fromthe immediate risk of injury, tameshiwari is an almost certain way
of storing up trouble for yourself later on. Anyone who thinks that
kendako (拳ダコ) – enlarged and heavily calloused knuckles – area badge of honour (and plenty of people seemingly do think this)has probably got a nasty shock coming in later life. Osteoarthritis isa painful and disabling condition that can arise both from wear andtear of the joint and as a result of injury.
Tameshiwari is in any case a largely pointless practice in themodern world. Its rationale, if it has one, dates back to the days
when an unarmed Okinawan might have had to defend himself
against an attacker wearing wooden armour. To use tameshiwari
as part of a training regime for self-defence in the twenty-first
century is like preparing for a darts match by trying to throw dartsthrough a wall. They don’t have to go through the wall; they only
have to stick in the dartboard. In short, we would strongly
discourage anyone from practising tameshiwari or undertaking thegruelling conditioning that is often associated with it. There arehealthier and more effective ways of building confidence anddeveloping strong and focussed strikes.

Osteoarthritis is a painful and disabling condition that can arise bothfrom wear and tear of the joint and as a result of injury5

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Photo by courtesy of James Heilman, MD.