The way that he stands, he extends his arms out much further away from his head than his opponent does. This would give him less striking ability but more grappling ability. His hands will be closer to his opponent's body than his opponent's hands close to his body.
When you extend your arms out, your opponent's arms have to pass your arms to hit you. That will give you more chance to wrap his arms.
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Again, this is where sport-fighting conventions, particularly the drift in sport karate away from traditional principles confuses & masks the power of traditional karate.
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the hands up form of guard by the Gracie opponent is a boxing, kickboxing convention. The Gracie guard is more akin to a traditional karate guard. In Shotokan, the hands typically are held much lower than Gracie is doing.
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PURPOSE OF THE TRADITIONAL KARATE GUARD:
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1.
The Outstretched Hand Advantage. Just as you stated, the out-stretched hand in the traditional karate guard presents an intercepting barrier against movement(s) on the part of the opponent. Grappling ,striking, whatever.
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2.
The Outstretched Hand constricts Striking Ability. Your position is based on sport-fighting methods. Boxing, Muay thai, etc. Under these methods your statement is true. By traditional karate, your statement is FALSE. The outstretched guard hand works in unison with the reverse striking hand assuming a reverse punch. furthermore, a traditional karate strike can be launched with the forward hand.
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Moreover, sport-fighting is more 1-dimensional in the reactive use of upper body to make strikes. Under traditional karate, the entire body is more engaged the offensive / defensive, to which the guard hand is a part, a unit, that contributes & supports the action of the whole.
