Oi Zuki is a great and beautiful technique. And it’s also one of the most misunderstood one, and even by Karate-ka themselves! “Karate is not effective, you cannot use Oi Zuki or such low stances in real fight!” Such statements can only be made by someone who has never truly practiced or even understood what traditional martial arts are and the beauty behind their legacy. Of course Oi Zuki is not intended to be used as is in a fight or self-defense situation. But Oi Zuki contains all the keys and principles that can make you master more advanced techniques and strategies designed for that. This is the beauty of the traditional Japanese spirit: taking something, studying it, practicing it, mastering it, refining it and transforming it into an art, a way of being. And Karate is no exception to the rule. In order to be able to master something, Japanese culture tends to simplify it as much as possible, to remove all uncertainty, everything that is unnecessary to understand its heart, its principles and its intrinsic beauty. So that you can practice it more easily, more freely, and touch, then master its fundamental principles. That’s why Karate may seem very academic to many, because for learning purposes it has been broken down, structured and ordered with the ultimate purpose of improving its teaching and understanding. You may not agree with this way of doing things, but if you look at the Japanese objectively, they are always able to achieve a world-class level in all areas, by observing, learning, rehearsing and polishing whatever they appropriate. When I was in Japan for my first trip, during the first three months, the Sensei basically only taught me Oi Zuki. Of course I was practicing other techniques, but they only cared about the way I was moving forward to punch. And during and after class, they only corrected me on this technique! At that time I didn’t fully understand this, but I was trusting them, so I was relentlessly repeating my Oi Zuki in front of the mirror every day after class.

Hi! Here's a video of one of my last black belt classes. We worked a lot on using of the Tanden as the starting point for each technique. The Tanden is one of our internal energy centers called "Ki" ("Chi" in Chinese, "Prana" in Sanskrit). In fact there are three main Tanden in our body (which each correspond to a particular Chakra): "Jo Tanden", "Chu Tanden" and "Seika Tanden" (also called "Ge Tanden"). In Karate, we focus primarily on the Seika Tanden (which is located inside the belly, a few centimeters below the navel), and when we say "Tanden", we are commonly referring to this one in particular which is the primary location of the Ki that we aim to use in techniques. I believe this is one of the most important things - too often forgotten - to understand and master in our Karate training. Using the Tanden will create more powerful techniques and put us on the way to "Kime" (battle-ending decisive attack). We have a lot of preparation exercises to feel this sensation and it's particularly difficult when performing Kizami Mawashi Geri because we have to use all our internal power (from the core muscles and Tanden) to control our bodyweight and not lean backwards. It may not seem like it, but it is also very difficult to execute this properly in Oi Zuki because we also have to defy gravity while the back foot slides forward. It's also very interesting to note that this core power that we cultivate through the Tanden is also used in Yoga practice to perform some very difficults Asana (postures). In Yoga this internal power is created by using the Bandhas which somewhere are related to the Tanden in Japanese and Chinese culture. It is also very interesting to note that this core power that we cultivate through the Tanden is the same that we use in the practice of Yoga to perform some very difficult Asana (postures). In Yoga, this internal power is created using the Bandhas (and proper breathing) which are somewhere related to the Tanden in Japanese and Chinese culture.

Hey! 👋 I just added a new course in our Classroom!!! 😀 I will bring together there some short tips or tutorial videos aimed at helping you improve your Karate practice. To watch these videos, simply navigate to the Classroom section at the top! OSS! 🙏

Hi! 👋 As a bonus for the level 2 Foundation Course, I added a video taken last week during a private black belt training. During this training, we focused on the correct use of the Shotokan core principles and the use of the whole body in our attacks and blocks. The training was in French, but don't worry, English subtitles are available! 😉 Keep going! OSS Nicolas PS: Attached to this post just an excerpt, the full 7 minute video is in the classroom, inside "Yushin Geiko Foundation Course #2".