Snap when doing Kata

opr1945

Blue Belt
Joined
Dec 13, 2023
Messages
202
Reaction score
111
Location
Michigan, USA
What makes the snap noise when doing kata? weight of cloth in GI? cuffs of GI? Slaping body? other...?
Thanks.
 
Traditionally it is the weight of the gi, combined with extremely sharp, explosive, movements.

There are those who slap their gi to create the noise when competing, knowing that judges are often attracted to 'tournament pop'. Some brands of gi are know to produce more or less 'pop'.

It's not unlike the noise made by laundry on the line in the wind, or snapping a belt.
 
It’s the striking on the arms/legs by a heavy cotton sleeve/leg which tends to occur at the antecubital fossa and on the shin. If you pin the sleeve or leg tightly against the limb, you don’t get much of a sound. I remember keikogi advertised as being made of ‘sail canvas’ that were supposed to produce an incredible snap.

I remember the first time I could elicit a snap from a cotton shirt sleeve as a 12 year old and how exciting it was! I couldn’t stop doing it and ended up with sore elbows!😃
 
Traditionally it is the weight of the gi, combined with extremely sharp, explosive, movements.

There are those who slap their gi to create the noise when competing, knowing that judges are often attracted to 'tournament pop'. Some brands of gi are know to produce more or less 'pop'.

It's not unlike the noise made by laundry on the line in the wind, or snapping a belt.
Agree. But nothing snaps like a good heavyweight canvas uniform. Even with poor form they will make a decent snap.
I love it with I am wearing a lightweight sparring Dobok and get drenched in sweat enough to get a good snapping sound out of it.
 
Starting at 31:00, a video talking about Chen Xiaowang making snap noise while punching in a T-shirt only.

I could do that when I was in high school after 1 year of training. During the summer time, I trained 6 days a week, 6 hours each day. After that summer, I could snap with T-shirt only.

If I ask my opponent to punch next to my ear (with T-shirt only), I can tell how hard that he has trained.
 
Last edited:
What makes the snap noise when doing kata? weight of cloth in GI? cuffs of GI? Slaping body? other...?
Thanks.
Some, including myself, often pull the hikite back forefully, especially in kihon and kata, and this for my at least makes up part of the "sound". Ie. the hikite hand slaps the chest simultaneously as the punch (you basically hit yourself with the hikite). That works even without shirt at all.

But it's a lower frequency mighty sound than what might come from the textile-snap of the gi.

Starting at 31:00, a video talking about Chen Xiaowang making snap noise while punching in a T-shirt only.

Sounds and looks to me like his hikite-hand hitting his own chest makes a good portion of this sound?
 
Sounds and looks to me like his hikite-hand hitting his own chest makes a good portion of this sound?
Yes. The video is an exposé on Chen Xiaowang.

I could do that when I was in high school after 1 year of training. During the summer time, I trained 6 days a week, 6 hours each day. After that summer, I could snap with T-shirt only.

If I ask my opponent to punch next to my ear (with T-shirt only), I can tell how hard that he has trained.
Do you have a video of you or anyone else making that snap noise? I can make noise by relaxing and clenching my fist. However, it has nothing to do with "how hard I trained" or punch.
 
Last edited:
Do you have a video of you or anyone else making that snap noise? I can make noise by relaxing and clenching my fist. However, it has nothing to do with "how hard I trained" or punch.
Don't have video at this moment.

The most impressive punch that I have experienced was the 1st time I met my teacher's bother in China back 1980. He punched at my chest. When he pulled his fist back, it created a vacuum between his fist and my shirt. My shirt moved out with his fist.
 
I think to make your kata snappy and make your gi snap is to have powerful kick punches my Nephew did that on his kata it’s always snappy
 
I could do that when I was in high school after 1 year of training. During the summer time, I trained 6 days a week, 6 hours each day. After that summer, I could snap with T-shirt only.

If I ask my opponent to punch next to my ear (with T-shirt only), I can tell how hard that he has trained.
Good punch, but that pales in comparison to the sound of a canvas Gi. Honestly, you make that sound just walking across the room in one.
 
Just watch his hikite. It slaps into his lower ribs, creating a bang and is pulled back to his side producing a scraping sound from his heavyweight keikogi.
 
I carefully watched some black belts doing kata the other day in my club, and some of them make this mighty sound and they indeed slap their ribs with hikite. That is ont just the fabric of the gi, it seems to be the sound also from punching into your ribs (your torso is like a drum) and it resonates well in our dojo, making it effectful. So it makes some sound even without Gi. It certainly is not supersonic booms ;)
 
Back
Top