What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about modern Karate? Most likely, it will be point kickboxing. Kickboxing is now the founding pillar ofr Karate, as punches and kicks are the first and most practiced techniques that you will see in a Karate dojo.
Modern Karate actually offers one of the most effective styles of kickboxing that allows the practitioner to strike and go out as soon as possible. While there are many opinions on Sport Karate, you can’t take away its effectiveness when applied in full-contact.
Let’s start of with punches. Punches are one the easiest and fastest striking tool we have at our disposal in Karate. They are present in every type of Kumite and they are often found in Kata. Karate offers a wide range of punches that practitioners can experiment with.
In Japanese, punches are indicated with the root Tsuki (突き). The term “Tsuki-Waza” (突き技) indicates all the punching techniques. Instead, to specify different punches you add a prefix (e.g.: Oi-Tsuki, Gyako-Tsuki, etc.).
Here is a list of the most basic straight punches that you might encounter in a sport Kumite match or in kata:
However, Karate has more to offer than just this, for example round punches…:
…combos and double punches…:
…and punches that make contact with diffrent parts of the hand:
Besides punches, we also have beating strikes, or open hand strikes, that in japanese are indicated with the root Uchi (打ち). Once again, the term Uchi-Waza (打ち技) is used to descrive all open hand strikes and strikes are specified using prefixes (Shuto-Uchi, Kumade-Uchi, etc.).
Sometimes the term Uchi is replaced by the synonymous Ate (当て), just as the term Uchi-Waza can be replaced by Ate-Waza (当て技).
Sometimes some strikes can be categorized both as an Uchi or as a Tsuki depending on context or personal preference (e.g.: the full name of Uraken is usually Uraken-Uchi, but, considering that it resembles more of a punch technique to me as it’s used often in that way, I categorize it as Uraken-Tsuki.)
Here’s a list of open hand strikes:
It’s important to note that many of the traditional strikes and punches can be ineffective (e.g.: Choku-Tsuki), dangerous to yourself (e.g.: Kakuto Uchi) or to your opponent (e.g.: Nihon-Nukite-Uchi) or targeted to very specific situations (e.g.: Morote-Tsuki).
That’s why just a little portion of strikes and punches is taught frequently in Karate schools, and an even smaller portion is used in sport Kumite. My suggestion is to stick to the basis in Kumite and use these strikes only if you know for sure they are allowed in your dojo or in the rules of your association when you go competing.
However Karate, like many of the oriental martial arts it’s not really known for its punches, that are considered lacking by many, but mainly for its kicks, which come in many diffrent forms. Originally, Karate was more self-defense oriented, so fancy kicks were out of the picture. However, when Karate was modernized in the mid-50s, it shifted to being a tool of self-defense to a tool for self-perfection. That was when high, spinning and flying kicks were added to the art.
The root for defining a kicking technique is Geri (蹴り), while prefixes are added to the root to define said technique (e.g.: Mae-Geri, Yoko-Geri, Mawashi-Geri, etc.), while the term for indicating all kicking technqieus is Geri-Waza (蹴り技).
Geri-techniques can be interpreted both as kicks (Keage) or as foot-thrusts (Kekkomi), depending on which suffix is used: a Mae-Geri Keage is a front kick, while a Mae-Geri Kekkomi is a front foot-thrust. The basic execution and form remains the same, but you don’t retract the kick to make the opponent fall in Kekkomi, while in Keage you hit him and you go back quick. In sport Kumite, most associationn consider illegal a Kekkomi kick, so consider the “Where to use” ratings of each Geri technique refer to the Keage version unless otherwise specified.
Here’s a list of Geri techniques: