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Out all the senseis that you visit he is my favorite. Explains things in a much less abstract way. Also a lot of what he said and the way he showed the techniques line up with what I have been learning recently in biomechanics.

The Okinawan Karate masters are very humble to teach anyone.

The knee does eventually have to come up in order for the leg to move forward. The key is that it is generated by the movement of the hip preceding the knee, and keeping the full upper-body core musculature connection. He's right that it's very much how Muay Thai initiates kick, but with a relaxed recoil after. His is more like a full body whip where Muay Thai is a baseball bat.

Kudos to Yusuke for having the humbleness and grace to experience a totally different karate from the one he is familiar and being open and humble to risk failure and set backs, for the benefit of his viewers, as a process of learning something new. Discovery of something new doesn't always come easy for any of us not matter at what level.

Yes, he is right it's like Tai boxing. That's what I also learned when I transferred from karate to kickboxing. So I am for optimal combination of flicking and arching the kick. Everyone should find their own optimal kick. But I like self defense and from my experience the way that this sensei is teaching is true and efficient in real combat.

There are many Great karate instructor’s around the world, having the opportunity to train with them is truly a blessing. When your hair turns gray remember to impart the valuable finer points. I attended a seminar that left me sad. This senior led us through a good hard workout, that was it. No correction, no knowledge, just a very expensive workout. Thank you for sharing your time in Okinawa 🙏

Weird. I was a Shotokan guy back in my teenage days and worked out alone alot outside of dojo time. My Shotokan coupled with my Boys Club boxing was pressure tested in real life due to the area and times I lived in. Through solo training I eventually modified my kicks more like what the Okinawan way displayed in this video. Pretty cool.

Only 1 Gi I wear that's SHUREIDO made Karate Gi . 30 years and still wearing the same Gi . Very comfortable. How's that for getting your money worth.

The bow and arrow analogy is brilliant. The knee will still hit that position in the movement, So practicing raising the knee to learn how to control the joint positions is absolutely necessary. “If you can’t do it slow you can’t do it fast“ The timing changes when someone is ready to advance understanding timing (and power conservation) aspects to striking.

Oh wow, that hip movement on the maegeri is the same for a Muay Thai-style mawashigeri (or at least very similar). Love that rolling of the hips, too. I wouldn't be surprised if that's better for the hip joint.

I think this is extremely effective movement but very difficult to teach. He’s the kind of Sensei you want to find after you’ve had 10 to 20 years of conventional Karate training, then you could really learn from him.

I'm no expert, but I think the knee lift kick method was probably the result of the evolution of Karate techniques in mainland Japan due to the adoption of point fighting tournaments. Making the opponent guess which direction the chambered knee kick would come from without intentionally hurting him with full power contact would have been the logical step in the development of tournament point fighting tactics.

In Muay Thai, the Golden mid Kick is similar. The midkick starts from the foot push, but "simultaneously" from the chest. The wave goes from the chest to the hip and leg. The hip and foot rotation follows at the end, just before the shin reaches the elbow. Martial arts is simply fascinating.

In my days training Hung Gar kung fu, this was fairly close to how we performed our kicks. Generally speaking, kicks above the waist were discouraged. Every class, we drilled three kicks (front snap kick, side kick, and the "kidney kick" which is kind of a hybrid of a front snap kick and a round kick); the front snap kick was drilled from a hanging leg stance, and the two others from a stance with heals together. The drills were done at a pace of about one kick per second, which pretty much eliminated having time to chamber the kicks and also hurried the leg retraction. In sparring, we obviously wouldn't use a stance as impractical as the drills, but the drills made it so we could pretty readily kick with either the front or back foot without telegraphing too much intent.

His take on the uke and gedan barai also was priceless. He whips and snaps them with minimised motions from the shoulder, something I really like since watching the seminar with Yoshimi Inoue. Getting gedan barai to snap properly is one of the more difficult movements, and the approach here still helps a bit with it. For the geri, apparently here he uses a different whip. Where Yoshimi starts the whip with an upward hip rotation from the iliopsoas muscles, and subsequently rotates it back down when delivering the kick, the approach here appears to be the bring the kick in with the rotation more similar tot he usual horizontal rotation of the hip and whip it by pulling the hip back and a little down again to maintain balance. Both interesting approaches, but different rotation axes. We know from Thai boxing that this kick does work. I like this motion. The little upward/downward difference in the whip helps stopping the kick, because gravity.

Anyone else think of the scene in Happy Gilmore....."It's all in the hips. It's all in the hips". Yusuke has become one of my favorites. His content is top notch.

Sensei has great power from his flick kicks,,can see he's hitting with his body,,,, never seen this in karate training,, always being taught by Karate instructors to chamber the kicks before release.,,,

the physique of someone dedicated their whole life to karate is incredible ! Was smiling when you practiced that hip movement with the master 🙂

Both, Acceptable, Depending

I was taught to whip my kicks the rechambering applies to the return and recovery of the kicks same with punches. This does several things allows for a quicker follow-up strikes, mitigates you being countered or caught.

The mastery and techniques involved are impressive.

Thank you!

Amazing content. I love okinawa karaté. I learned so much from your Channel. Keep up the good work. Greetings from France!

this is totally interesting... thanks for sharing!!!

I wish to offer to your country my condolence for Mr. Abe. As an older person I remember him well thru international news. My condolences.

i was happy to have a sensei that used to study with higaonna sensei and which was not focused on a certain style but more on the usefulnes of the karate itself. Most of the stuff he told us was goju ryu, but there was also some stuff from other styles. I really enjoyed watching that episode because of that sensei showing you a kick, that is basicly almost exactly like a muay thai and he is not too proud to say it. Really an amazing Sensei!!. And i really envy you to being able to make this experience Yusuke sensei.

as a Dancer, as well, makes Perfect Sense! ☯️

There's a very similar concept when it comes to punching. You whip your shots as opposed to 'muscling it' like so many do who tend to load up which leads to being you being read like a book but also fatiguing you. This is well known in boxing. Your punches will be fluid (energy efficient), still have a lot of power at the end of the snap (end of extension) and you'll be much faster too when you whip from the hip. It's all efficient energy transfer. 👊🏻

Many thanks to you both! these techniques starting from body moivements are really great and will work for close-in or street fighting particularly against graples. Yet, is long distance kicking based on the same principles? Paul, 68, retired inmstrictor with expoeriences fist in Shotokan then Goju-ryu Karate.

Shotokan here too and I think a lot of what we learn is designed as "training wheels" something that we should eventually take off and learn to ride unaided. Only to be put back on when something goes wrong and we need to go back to basics to fix it. Or at least that's what I am starting to feel after much training.

We use the same coiling and uncoiling concept in Choy li fut. Use the body's natural mechanics and inertia to increase speed and power. It's tough to start...and hurts until you get used to it. It actually lessens joint damage and leg and arm muscle fatigue. It's also very effective for follow up attacks and makes attacking less telegraphed since the movement flows into any other movement. Watch it back and you'll notice after he recoils from the kick, he could launch a punch off the same inertia.

In Matsumura Seito we practice what we call a "whip kick". There is no real chamber before the kick, and it is with the toes like Sensei describes here. He explains the body mechanics differently, but it is basically the same. Having that whip action makes it a very effective kick.

That's the beauty of the Martial Arts. There's so many different approaches to the same thing, you just need to find what works best for you and why. One of my students asked my why I focus so little on side kicks. Well the answer is I'm terrible at them and always have been because I have issues with my hips. So I don't do them . But they are a great tool and he should find some teachers that are adept in them and decide for himself. I respect when teachers know exactly why they do what they do and don't just blindly follow along with whatever they were taught.

Do not overthink it. Just turn your hip in gyaku-zuki position and put your weight to the front leg and lower your center of gravity before you start the kick. Your kick will more-more powerfull if you start it from this position (gedan-mawashi, chudan-mawashi). In kumite you try to punch a fake gyaku-zuki and from the gyaku-zuki pozition you can kick. Test it on heavy bag. The bag is the best teacher.

If you watch Masao Kawasoe Sensei in Shotokan, he teaches the kicks exact the same way. Mae geri, yoko geri, mawashi geri turning the hip like loading the spring, for yoko and mawashi even overturned in gyaku hanmi and then let it go in a straight way or in a curve. It’s interesting that it has direct Okinawan roots. But I still think that mawashi geri, yoko keage and kake/ura-mawashi geri are an invention of Shotokan like kokutsu dachi. At least we should thank those masters who implemented them first. Thanks a lot Yusuke!

Our founder and first soke did muwashi Geri in a similar way, he even earned the nickname “golden snake foot” for this kick. He passed away at 52, 30 years ago. I wonder if his kick would look more like Higa Sensei’s kick had he lived to an older age.

That hip rolling is similar to what my physical therapist said to do for my back issues. I think it’s gonna help my kicks feel less painful now that I know this…thanks for sharing this video

The flicking method follows more the gestalt of in fighting. The flick needs minimal space and movement to deliver the power. Great video!

Very nice😍

I train to hind my kicks, but i see the merit of learning the whipping. I am going to try it and see I can add to my kicking style.

Muito bom guerreiro

I'm adapting my Shotokan to align more with the Okinawa ways

In Kyokushin, we do these types of kicks in warm-up and in drills practice.

I think the sensei from Okinawa was on too something, especially when he said the kicking principle are the same in muay thai. I've noticed muay thai martial artists don't really chamber their kick but still retain power. I tried myself on a heavy bag, and felt I had more power to the kick by not chambering, and I also felt like the release of the kick was a lil more faster, than when I incorporate the chambering

I learned from watching Izzy's ? kick to push off the person with your striking surface for extra tenseness on impact & speedy retraction.

Very good and true, the only real way to catch that would be if you were able to use techniques like "sticking hands" with your legs, which is a thing but not common

Wonderful technique. Makes good sense but takes more practice than one would expect.

the student is focusing on leaning backwards the teacher leans forward. Ending in a slight lean back while leaning forward twisting while slightly moving backward. Students focus is on kick...teacher moves upper body to flick the foot to the target. This appears to be taken from the way the Bujinkan kicks....but only has a tiny part of what's involved in our kicks.

Knee up: if you don't have the flexibility or the timing right lifting the knee helps you bring everything together. If you have the timing right the knee up can actually slow the kick down a lot. That Okinawan arch of the bow style kick is really good to get in quickly but a someone with a good grappling would use that as a perfect place to set up a variety of sweeps and throws. Literally something that the knee up has so much advantage against. You can go back and forth either way and both will have advantages and disadvantages and you can learn to generate power in either direction with the knee up or rotating the hip. I really like this sensei I've seen him in a lot of videos and he has a real sense of what years and years of practice can do.

Amituofo, your Karate has improved my kung fu

Ouch my knees hurt only of watch this

Dear Mir. Yusuke, Again, many thanks afor this special edition of Sensei Higa´s kicks. Probably the bow and arrow principle could fit best, but technically it´s a kick starting right from the ground at a steep angle, the reason why it´s almost impossible to grab. I learned the similar effect in kumite when facing ushirogeri kicks, no chance from catching by hands, just evading it or parrying them with legs only. My question is concerning th ckick higher thand the waistline, which probably cannot be performed withtout the classical chambering of the knes., as in Japanese Karate. Hoiweverô, crescent leg kick hitting as high to the head from oslightly outside or inside are again a challenge. Just keep on researching. Many thanks again.Paul, 67

The devil certainly is in the details! Excellent video!

In my humble opinion. Abandon the older style just for a few months in order to focus your practice properly. But after that reintroduce the older style once more. Both styles have their advantages and disadvantages. Sparring will help you make your choice on what works best for your personal style, but being able to recognize an opponent's style and as well switch your own on the fly is an incredible advantage.

This one with the kicks is difficult for shotokan guys to do because we've hardwired the exact opposite feelings on literally every aspect of the kick. It took a couple decades before I finally relaxed enough to get the kick out totally relaxed and it is FAST to let the knee naturally go where it needs to instead of aggressively chambering it. Fast enough opponents have zero chance of blocking or countering if you don't telegraph anything on the upper body.

Seems similar to Muay Thai round kicks, with a more flicking, upward motion and less or no chamber... EDIT: And two seconds after where I paused the video, the teacher makes that comparison. Great job, I'm really adding a lot to the conversation.

Wow, like muay thai... super interesting differencies

superior weight transfer but vulnerable to kuzushi (counter by moving outward)

腰の回転はともかく、弓のように全身使って蹴るというのは空手家纐纈さんも似たことやっていますね

It's two different techniques for different goals in the fight. The kick he's demonstrating here is not lifting the knee and aiming the kick, which is very traditional across the schools, he's using the entire body as a whip, starting with a slight shoulder involvement right through the leg and out the toes. The bow and arrow analogy is close but I think the whipping action of the leg is more accurate, using the front of the foot like the tip of the whip,snapping it for maximum power.

Hello Sensei, Is the Repulsive power spoken about in this video the same force derived or channeled, when we first push our rear kicking foot hard into the ground and the relaxed leg rebounds, bringing the kicking leg up, not the leg muscles used when raising your knee first?

03:06 Think you just introduced some dancing to Karate😂 Look at Sensei, he wanted to laugh.

Can you give some tips for kumite in tournament with semi body contact rule. Pls

That's pretty insane. We used to refer to the rolling in as chambering a kick. I can completely see what he means about grappling, because by rolling in you are telegraphing your movement more towards the opponent. The figure 8 movement he's showing is waaay harder to read lol. I remember I heard someone say there is 3 ways to throw a punch or kick in all martial arts. You can throw it linearly, in a circle motion, or a wave motion. Normally the linear or straight line movement is the common case in Karate. Kung-fu I've heard on the other hand uses the other two, instead of a straight line motion. Also the different methods also change the way you build momentum with a strike or block.

OSS hello from algeria

I think there's more than just one way to strike, so I would actually try it out in practice. However, I'm confident about the knee chambering type of technique, which is the one I'm looking to get better at. As a matter of fact, when you think of shotokan techniques, they're known to carry some very destructive power. A fully absorbed mawashigeri wouldn't just hurt the opponent, but bend him in half. Because of the type of competiotion, you don't normally see that happen, but when techniques lack control, they do serious damage.

Yusuke, when you get back to watching this video look at how Sensei Higa is using his upper body (look at his hands and you will understand) to counteract the initial inertia of the leg executing the kick. Also do not disconnect your body, somehow your upper body remains backwards because the core is too relaxed. P.S.: I'm looking at your background in the video description - I knew you were a 3rd DAN blackbelt, maybe the video description template used is an older one before you were promoted?

Definitely similar to muay thai roundhouse kick, as Sensei said. In my opinion you are finding it difficult because you are missing one particular: you are not rotating your front foot. If you rotate your front foot, your hips will rotate according to that, allowing that "flick"! Thanks for the contents! Greetings from Italy

In Taekwondo we need all the movement to gain momentum in power as possible

similar to muay thyai kick but little bit different. Seeing the video i understood that he sensei knows well what talking about. If i do karate i would learn from him....but i practice Muay Thai :D

Tetsuya naka also taught about this kick but somehow not clear about upper body movement / some chinese kungfu book explain about it there also some abandon karate chanel try to explain it too 🤔 I have my own researched done / look on sanchin kata and neihanchi there are secrets in that 😉 I m practicing now and it amazing punch and kick fast and powerful

Just before the sensei mentioned it, the kick is similar to Muay Thai, except some gyms have more follow through with the Thai kick.

It's similar to one of the techniques use in Capoeira kicks, since Capoeira uses a lot of deception and avoid telegraphing kicks when initiated. "Telegraph but change the intention"

HI! If someone is looking to buy a quality gi for kata, what would you recommend?

I believe that the proper way of kicking is to shoot your leg forward using shortest way by flicking as demonstrated by sensei but bending the knee as much as you can on the way back. That way it becomes most efficient because you 1) you break contact immediately after sending impulse 2) you regain your footing faster 3) you spend the least amount of energy that way due to the fact that the first action of flicking your leg forward is more natural (as opposed to lifting your knee first) and on the single action of retraction bending your knee is way easier due to the fact that your leg recoils back just like a whip so it's easier to pull back.

Sensei am curious, why don’t you bring a kicking shield?

If you combine speed with power, you are really hard to counter. It is very important to strike so fast you can not be grabbed because for me, it is very bad when the opponent grabs the leg. It is unless to strike high if you are not fast.

This is very similar to the way of kicking in Shorinji Kempo

The whipping looks like it can hurt people's joints. I am going to try this but softly.

Now I see where old tkd took its kicking core base technique.

If you whip your upper body and your punches, doesn't it make sense you would do the same with your lower body? You can punch with the foot. Think of your ankle as the wrist of the foot. It works the same way. All this stuff you are being made aware of we do in Kenpo. It's great that you are finally getting exposed to this at your age. This gives you time to master it. I like that you have an open mind and willing to try whether you understand or not. Keep it up. @karate dojo waku

Knee lift is to check an incoming kick

In sparring, it seems the whipping style is more likely to end up in a cup check for you partner than if you chamber first.

Its like Tani ha shitoryu, Shukokai

It looked like you were having trouble connecting the kick to your core. I don’t think you should abandon your traditional Shotokan kicks, just add his kicks to your arsenal.

Yeah pretty hard to catch a low kick...

Mr Higa, turn off the audio, then watch your Chest rotation in relation to your Kick return and Hip return. While you are getting your chest and hip rolling WITH the kick going OUTWARDS... you are NOT rolling your hips and chest backwards... AS the kick is RETURNING. This then creates two main problems... 1) You lose the ability to kick correctly, "instantly", on the next upcoming kick 2) You lose both speed on the return, and lose overall stability.. when trying to return and set back down. 3) You also lose all momentum... which is related to both #1 and 2. A good way to practice a kicks Return... is to place your extended kicking leg.. and rest it on the wall/target. Then immediately whip it back to the floor, as fast as you can. The return speed, body movement and timing, and accuracy in placements... are all EQUALLY as critical as the OUTBOUND attributes. Too many artists make it so that their kick is decent on the Outbound... but then they stop / give up... at that moment of impact or simulated air-impact. They lazily set their foot down with poor stability, no knee bend, wrong toe angle, incorrect weight distribution between the lead and rear legs... and more. You want to think of each return, as if its an actual forwards attack. If you were to place a target next to your hip... your hip should be slamming into it just as hard going forwards, as it does going backwards. Same with the chest movement (as if a target was placed near your shoulders). All of this said... this particular whole body type of kick, is more easily Read by the OP... just like Muay Thai kicks. They are very "Telegraphic". The reason why his kicks are not getting grasped... is because they are likely thrown lower in level... and because of the speed and power that he pulls them back at.. right after the exact moment of impact.

yes his teaching is more accurate and similar to the Kung Fu teachings, the concept of the bow/arrow is a common concept and the proper biomechanics of the human body

You want to learn to both. The shooting out is great for power but you can lose balance with higher kick and harder to combine different kick together. The shooting out is great for power but you do lose some range.

Na, you gotta chamber your kick, the trick is having no pause as you move through that position. A chambered leg after the kick is pretty important too or your next move will be on the ground.

The "number eight" thing he's saying reminds me of reciprocating machines that create liner force by doing more complex, circular movements. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocating_motion

Trying to get into the Olympics has denatured karate!

I still prefer raising the knee for kicking. You will need to for high kicks anyway. Raising the knee also makes it easier when performing multiple kicks with the same leg. This low knee flick kick seems better if you never kick high, and only do front or roundhouse kicks, just my opinion.

Supposedly

All great, but would be great to show power, impact, and effectiveness in a fight or into a heavy bag. and, I don't see how this compares to a Muay Thai Roundhouse or Teep at all to be honest.

Thanks mate. I get the impression you haven’t kicked a ball ⚽️ much. Also old school boxing teaches east west rotation of the hips for punching that same rotation can be utilised for kicking too. It’s the same movement so a cross could happen and the kick at the same time or the jab and the front kick you we’re being taught. The other observation I made was your lack of arm movement and therefore lack of dynamic balance. Nice to see though cheers

very nice ......but it gets deeper than that .....I find that you should have your toes and ball of your foot turned in even more towards your other foot in a crescent shape with the point/front big toe facing your centreline. Putting pressure in this turned inward foot and then releasing the pressure as you move forward and kick all at the same time loosely dropping your weight at the snap makes your kick crack like a whip. You should be able to hear the crack off your pant leg if your pants are baggy enough. You also need to hollow out your groin and hips a little more. Check out the video ...Bruce Lee bullet speed kicks. That is a supernatural level of what he is leaving out from the camera. I talk a lot here ....but I have the real 2 snap shadowless kick to back it up. My warm up used to be 1500 in a row.

Yip. You've got it now. The cat's out of the bag. Told you how simple it is... Of course, you'll have to figure out your own personal expression(s). Enjoy..! ;)

Now you looks so different, this is Karate with his principles and concepts, karate sport even in kumite or kata of competition dont habe nothing.