Karate: Sanbon Kumite Part 2

Chudan Ou Tsuki - Soto Uke - Uraken Shomen Uchi

After the soto uke block, your hand is in the natural position for the uraken shomen uchi. The uraken should be very fast and the fist should immediately return to the initial position, so that you can (and often will) perform more than one urakes in a row.

Chudan Uke -Chudan Mae Geri

The most difficult for beginners to comprehend is the fact that 'long' kicks can sometimes be very short. This combination is an example. After the chudan uke, you are literally face to face with your opponent. However, if you follow these simple rules, you can attack him with mae geri.

First, move your foot from the ground via a straight line to the target. Even though you are close to your opponent, can you still draw that line? Yes, in most cases. Then nothing prevents you from sending your foot along this line. Second, do not turn your hips. Keep them on the same place; or better yet, move them block. Or if you want to make the kick even more powerful, move the hip forward in a wipe-like motion. When the foot is halfway to the target, move it back. That will send a 'wave' through your leg, allowing the foot to move even faster. By the way, did you know that the tip of the whip moves at hyper sonic speed because of the wave that runs through it? That's where the sound comes from.

Jodan Uke (Jodan Shuto Uke -Uchi Uke) -Jodan Mavashi Geri

As describe earlier, you need to end a block by grabbing the opponent's hand. The mavashi geri can be done or middle distance, depending on the situation. Very often, beginners are faced with the following question: ''My opponent is standing in front of me. If I take a step forward, as required by the exercise, where should I step inside or outside?''. The answer is ''You don't care!'' By the way, if you can step ON his foot, by all means, do so!

In this particular technique, your foot goes outside your opponent's foot. Then your punch (hopefully) pushes him back, taking some weight from his front foot. At that exact moment. you can perform a trip.