Makiwara training

[Decker]

No disrespect intended towards Egami Sensei, but if he had trained with the makiwara for 25 years and found it not only useless in developing power, but also detrimental to ones health, then he obviously did not train with it properly.

Hmm, yeah I was thinking the same thing. Personally, I feel that despite the fact that Egami Sensei was up there with the rest of the karate greats in terms of seniority and skill etc., he might not really have achieved the same level as the rest of them.

I've heard a quote from another karate sensei about makiwara training being for the hips.

Still, thanks.

 

[seasoned]

For the ones that do not like or think there is no value in Makiwara training, I feel they are focusing on just the knuckles alone. For those that understand, they know the valuable tool, the Mariwara is. As with any tool, it has many functions, and much to be learned. The knuckles are not the end all, but the by product, of an over all body involvement. Just a thought.

 

[Brandon Fisher]

No disrespect intended towards Egami Sensei, but if he had trained with the makiwara for 25 years and found it not only useless in developing power, but also detrimental to ones health, then he obviously did not train with it properly.
He is not the only one to have had misconceptions of proper training, and sadly, there are still many who train with it incorrectly.
Dai Sensei Meitoku Yagi (my sensei's sensei) trained with the makiwara not only regularly, but developed such power, that he could snap them in two at will. My own sensei, Masaaki Ikemiyagi, used to do it himself quite often, but tired of replacing them, so now keeps a punching bag behind them for support. I myself have used the maki for many years, and yet, like my sensei, I have very little calluses or scarring and have found it to be essential to developing proper technique and power delivery in all my strikes.
If used correctly, it is an essential tool that can help your development greatly, if used incorrectly, the practitioner risks serious injury and possibly long term or permanant damage to ones limbs/joints.

Great example!! I don't hit anywhere near as hard as Yagi Sensei or Ikemiyagi Sensei but I do hit very hard. The more I use the makiwara the harder more penetrating my strikes get so maybe one day I will be able to snap a makiwara post (umm probably not). After 15 years+ of using the makiwara the visual effects are not that noticeable on my hands either. I think that maybe even some japanese / okinawan masters might have misused the makiwara but I would bet not many.

 

[Todd]

I probably should have explained the context of the Youtube makiwara training video I posted up in #20. The woman in the video is Onaga Michiko, the top student of Onaga Yoshimitsu, of the Shinjinbukan Shorin Ryu organization in Naha, Okinawa.

Here is a link to their makiwara training information: http://www.okinawakaratedo.com/Shinjinbukan net/makiwara.htm