Ashihara Karate can be described as moving in circles.
The symbol of Ashihara Karate illustrates the
principles of the most efficient movements of the human
body. The human body has a natural inclination
to move in circles and in three dimensions, this transposes
to the movement of a sphere.
Circular movements mean that, rather than meeting an
opponent head-on, you move around him, staying
at his side or back, deflecting attacks and making yourself
a difficult target.
Learning the techniques and forms of this "risk free"
karate is pure pleasure. Punch without being
punched! Fell your opponent without going down yourself!
In striving to achieve the maximum
performance of the human body, the chances of being injured
are reduced and the probability of victory
correspondingly increases. This is the philosophy of
Ashihara Fighting Karate.
According to Narker, the main concept behind Ashihara
Karate is "Karate without Tears." Narker took
pains to point out that his karate does not believe in
combatting force with force. Instead it believes in
capitalising on the opponents strength. "The aim is to
punch without being punched", said Narker
smashing his fist against an imaginary opponent after
side-stepping the blow. "Never meet an opponent
head-on. Always move around him and attack from the side
or back where he is the most vulnerable.
This way you will avoid injury to yourself."
In some styles of karate, confrontation with an opponent
is a relatively rare occurrence. Not so in the
Ashihara Karate schools directed by Hoosain Narker. Indeed,
it would seem that the heart of this system
is built around the idea of facing at least the simulated
hostility of another student.
In explaining how his system differed, he stressed the
importance of lateral movement, teaching the
student to handle himself at three different ranges,
the use of the knees and elbows, use of the legs to
block kicks and the importance of punching through the
intended target.
Ashihara Karate has been influenced by Aikido evasive
techniques and this has lead to the development of
Ashihara's Sabaki principles. Narker stated "That in
this style of karate you never come straight in. You
angle, get in a position where you can do harm but he
cannot". Some styles do some Tai Sabaki, but with
Ashihara total emphasis is placed on it as everything
revolves around it. Most combinations, etc. are done
by the stepping out or absorbing principles. So important
is the concept of angling that the Ashihara logo
illustrates it.
The Ashihara reverse punch is another difference to traditional
Japanese Karate. With Ashihara stylists,
the rear heel is lifted off the floor, for one thing,
and the punching shoulder is allowed to rotate towards
the target. When you are hitting, you want to punch through
the target to penetrate.
You do not, for instance, see a lot of back fists or ridge
hands , and certainly no showy blocks. Instead
you have the relatively high, short stances of the professional
kickboxer - along with the kickboxer's
fondness for elbow and knee strikes. Whilst the Ashihara
punches show a clear boxing influence, the style
itself prefers a hooking elbow smash to the standard
boxing hook.
At close range, the Ashihara style inevitably proceeds
towards a take down. And whilst there are a variety
of trips and sweeps employed for getting the man down,
once he is down he is finished off with punches
and stomps. At a medium range, the adept makes use of
shorter kicks and longer punches. At long range,
the emphasis shifts to roundhouse kicks and evasive and
gap closing counters. Anyone wanting more
information on Ashihara Karate please visit http://come.to/ashihara
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