Avi Rokah Archives

Karate Competition and Judging

Kata Look inside and not to the outside, of course, the outside form should be correct, but people have different body types, and the point is not to judge how fancy and beautiful but rather how effectively one uses their bodies, how the whole body cooperates into one purpose, using ground reaction, proper body action and muscle action, and transferring this energy to the technique. This is why kids karate classes at a proper Shotokan karate dojo focus on developing whole-body awareness from the beginning. Judges should learn to see how well one uses whole body snap, make strong and […]

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Thoughts About Traditional Karate

Avi Rokah

Embracing the old as a foundation from which to seek unlimited, infinite growth and development. This is what traditional is to me. The word “traditional” might imply to some people stagnation, sticking rigidly to some meaningless rituals and kata, so maybe I don’t love the word traditional, but I don’t have any other. But to me, traditional karate in a Shotokan karate dojo is using the kata as a vehicle to understand timeless principles that were discovered through many generations and building on top of that. Sensei Nishiyama used to stress that kata gives us many examples, and through those

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Increase Sensitivity and Awareness to Reduce Effort

Avi Rokah

Ruven Sharf told me another great analogy that he heard from his Alexander technique teacher, Meir. In a military bunker there were 10 soldiers, and they were always exhausted because they were almost always on guard around the bunker. A new commander came, and he put a high observation post, so one soldier was in the post, and four around the bunker, and now the other five soldiers could sleep, keeping rotation so everyone was fresh and functional all the time. We can notice that many people in kumite tend to be too tense all the time. In self defense

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Karate Technique Starts From The Center And Energy Increases In A Ripple Effect

Avi Rokah

Imagine a stone falling into a still pond of water, at the point where the stone enters, there will be an explosive splash, followed by powerful ripples traveling away from this point. Sensei Nishiyama used to say: “karate technique starts from the center and increases energy in a ripple effect, from the muscles around the spine, to bigger, outer core muscles and to the extremities.” The outer core muscles (buttocks, obliques, and hips) are the most powerful in our body. The inner core muscles are mostly responsible for stability and providing a base for the outer, bigger muscles to move

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Protect Your Back And Improve Function By Improving Posture And Firing Sequence of Muscles

Avi Rokah

If you asked Sensei Nishiyama what is the best training for yoko geri, he would say “do yoko geri”, and this is totally true. Most of the training for a karate person should be karate technique and timing, whether you are attending kids karate classes or karate lessons for adults, but at the same token, some supplemental training can help. We talk about moving from the center and out of optimal posture. If we don’t have a strong and stable center we cannot move effectively from the center and might also hurt our spine, especially when producing big forces. If

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