Ever wonder why Karate people hold their fist down at the hip, yet never leave it there in either self-defence or sport fighting? I won't tell unless you ask me. Funny thing is, nobody ever taught it to me.
Ever wonder why the basic round kick is launched from beside the body, yet is rarely ever used that way? It used to bother me, but then I figured that one out, too.
We do a lot of strange things.
Why are the stances so long and low? This makes them pretty useless for movement. Some folks think it is to strengthen the legs. If strong legs were the goal, there are better ways to achieve it. Why the low stances? Why learn them first, before the more reasonable free fighting stances?
These puzzles are what make Karate such a strange activity.
Likely there are a zillion other anomalies I haven't picked up on, let alone solved.
I hope I can find a new one soon.
I am a 68 year old retired teacher living on the west coast of Canada. I spent over 30 years as a student of Karate until my knees stopped liking it. My current passionate activity is Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, which I've been at for about 13 years.
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