Hikite (withdrawing the hand) discussion on Ikigai
Last one for tonight before I go to bed!
Matt’s done a great post on hikite (withdrawing the hand) and its use/applications on his blog, Ikigai. I love Matt’s posts because he often goes into plenty of detail and explains the practical application behind a number of techniques you learn in traditional Japanese martial arts systems. I harp on a lot about my exploration of application in karate, and his post on hikite is another great example of the importance of delving beneath the obvious to determine the utility of a technique. Hence why I’m plugging it from my site 🙂
This kind of discussion will no doubt continue to be fuel the fires of discussion between the different camps of martial arts theory, in that to some there is little point in applying “artificial” introspec in understanding a technique instead of, well, telling it to you straight away and knocking out the extended learning curve. I would recommend checking out Jon Law’s excellent Epic Martial Arts blog to get the viewpoint of someone who falls into this category – his website has some excellent posts on the topic and I’ve had the pleasure of discussing this with him in the past on my blog and on his, and I think he offers some excellent insight into the opposite end of the argument over traditional vs typical Western approaches to learning martial arts, even if I am usually a little biased as I personally prefer the traditional method, as it suits me and I enjoy the journey (and I also have excellent instructors who don’t just bark orders – they always take the time to demonstrate practical applications and are themselves constantly learning new approaches to martial arts to enrich their own understanding, which is very important).
I think all sides have merit, but as my interest is in learning a traditional Japanese martial art (as discussed plenty of times throughout this blog!), Matt’s post on hikite is essential reading for your truly!