# Posture in Shotokan



## JBrainard (Sep 26, 2006)

I'm a newbie to Shotokan karate. I've never had good posture, so this is difficult for me in practicing karate. Any suggestions?


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## exile (Sep 26, 2006)

JBrainard said:


> I'm a newbie to Shotokan karate. I've never had good posture, so this is difficult for me in practicing karate. Any suggestions?



JB---what is the specific problem you have with your posture? What kinds of problems does this cause you in doing karate?


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## JBrainard (Sep 26, 2006)

exile said:


> JB---what is the specific problem you have with your posture? What kinds of problems does this cause you in doing karate?


 
Well, especially when punching, my back _feels_ strait but I am actually leaning forward.


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## JasonASmith (Sep 26, 2006)

I've got the same sort of problem, so your not alone...
I am constantly correcting myself, especially when in zenkutsu dachi during a kata.
My Sensei recommended thinking of it like this:  Try to visualize your upper half sitting in a chair while your legs move...
He said that to me in regards to kokutsu dachi, but I have used the visualization for zenkutsu as well, and it seems to work...
Hope that helps some...


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## Touch Of Death (Sep 26, 2006)

Sounds like you are diving into your punches. Relax the shoulder and forget body rotation for now. Stop trying to ht hard and concentrate on form. You will find that once you achieve proper carriage. You will be hitting harder and expending less energy.
Sean


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## Nomad (Sep 27, 2006)

Practice.  Practice in front of a mirror.  Practice in front of a partner who will let you know whether or not you're leaning forward.  

Don't be too hard on yourself or too impatient.  Work diligently, and the problem will go away in its own time.  In the meantime, you'll find great improvements on other parts of your technique while working on this one.


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## exile (Sep 27, 2006)

JBrainard said:


> Well, especially when punching, my back _feels_ strait but I am actually leaning forward.



You've gotten some good advice in response to this post---experiment with it and it'll probably help. One other `visualization' thing: remember that even in a punch, your power comes from your hips. I've seen a guy who trains where I do, who's into MMA/kickboxing stuff, knock a big Wavemaster bag over on its side with front jab that he launches after a quick cocking motion of his hips to set up a sharp twist at the moment of contact. The amount of power he gets into that punch is unreal, and it's almost all coming from the hip. If you think about doing a reverse punch based on hip torque, you'll probably be less likely to lean forward reaching for the impact.

Back in the 1970s I taught downhill skiing for a bit and this was one of the big problems beginners had---keeping their upper bodies quiet while they moved their weight forward and back on the skis to maintain a carving edge, which is how we taught turns. There were all kinds of exercises for that, but it's not an intuitive thing. We really had to train them to learn to separate their upper and lower halves and let the lower half do all the action while using the lower halve to get the dynamics right... it's not that different in karate, really!


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## JasonASmith (Sep 30, 2006)

How are you doing with the posture thing, bub?
Any thing that we gave you helping?


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## AmericanKenpoChris (Sep 30, 2006)

Hey there, I am all for freedom of speech and religion, but the pentagram for an avatar is just plain freaky.  I understand that you might associate evil with being cool or whatever, and that some christian organizations are hypocritical, but for what it is worth, I would rethink the fascination with the satanism.


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## twendkata71 (Sep 30, 2006)

*Yes, this is a martial arts forum. so keep that stuff to yourself. *






AmericanKenpoChris said:


> Hey there, I am all for freedom of speech and religion, but the pentagram for an avatar is just plain freaky. I understand that you might associate evil with being cool or whatever, and that some christian organizations are hypocritical, but for what it is worth, I would rethink the fascination with the satanism.


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## Touch Of Death (Oct 3, 2006)

Being inside the pentagram is to be in the realm of Venus. That is, to derive sexual energy from the Yin; so, it could very easily be considered a martial arts aid. With just a little bit of study we can stop branding everything we don't understand as tools of the devil.:angel: 
Sean


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