Your Kiai.

[patusai]

Key y eye

[Sohan]

Picture a lighting bolt piercing the skin of a 3000 pound bull with a serious personality disorder while surpassing supersonic speed and....

OK, not really. But it's REEALLY intimidating...

Sohan

[jaymac]

I am not really sure how to spell out my kiai in words. Definitely a yell that comes from my lower abs. It works for me anyways. There is a purple belt in our class, a teenager, who I have been working on his kiai. Everytime he kiai'ed, previous to our working together, it came from his throat and he sounded like he was vomiting. It took every ounce of professionalism to not laugh. I think he is finally coming around though. I did it by boosting his self esteem ( I hope). I told him he is getting to be such a powerful karateka, that we should develop a kiai for him that shows his power. Hope he didn't see through my plan.

[innocui]

mine is like "eeeeh" louad but short, like sensei Nagamine (Matsobayashi shorin ryu) , sensei

Higaonna(Goju ryu) also has a good kiai from abd. mine is not good since coming from throat not deep enough.

have you ever been knocked out by kiai?

Its not a kiai if it comes from the throat, it should just be a noise, which totally empties your body of air.

An good indication of a kiai from the throat is a pronounced constanant sound, or a change in sound (e.g. TTTTIIIIYYYAAAH, or HHHHIIIIIYYYYAAA!) Two favourites from my class.

Also, do the new starters/low grades/kids at your class shout KIAI.

I mean, imagine defending yourself against some yob screaming at the top of your voice "SHOUT OF SPIRIT"

[MizuRyu]

Mine is a sharp explosive "kia"... like the car

[Sohan]

Also:

It's really a hoot to listen to the kids' kiais. They get so serious in their little faces and let out as menacing a shriek as possible. I really get a kick out of them because I know they love doing it.

Respectfully,

Sohan

[jaymac]

innocui, We usually do not have a problem with little kids starting and kiaing. They love it because they can do it well. It it the teenagers on up that have the difficulty with kiaing because they feel strange. If they stick with it though, they learn to do it automatically. I love teaching little kids to kiai. Their awesome. After their first day (for a while), they kiai all the time and with every move

[Whitefeather]

I (actually we, as it is kinda a Shudokan thing) do the Ay-Yah kia. Supposedly, combined, the two sounds are the loudest a human can make. It sure is funny how the little ones just love kiai-ing, but the moment they hit the teens (or, when teens start), it is like it is totally not cool to kiai.

David

[P.A.L]

mine is like "eeeeh" louad but short, like sensei Nagamine (Matsobayashi shorin ryu) , sensei

Higaonna(Goju ryu) also has a good kiai from abd. mine is not good since coming from throat not deep enough.

have you ever been knocked out by kiai?

Its not a kiai if it comes from the throat, it should just be a noise, which totally empties your body of air.

An good indication of a kiai from the throat is a pronounced constanant sound, or a change in sound (e.g. TTTTIIIIYYYAAAH, or HHHHIIIIIYYYYAAA!) Two favourites from my class.

Also, do the new starters/low grades/kids at your class shout KIAI.

I mean, imagine defending yourself against some yob screaming at the top of your voice "SHOUT OF SPIRIT"

yes i know some of the kids in dojo realy screem "kiai" , i only kiai during the test and not much care about it anymore since my direct sensei also doesn't do it, if somebody kiai during spar i make sure to throw something to their solar pleux right then ,it's a good knockout.

there is no kiai in crane katas as we do so half of the problem is solved and shorin ryu test is due 2-3 years from now.

[Dragn]

Haha, I used to shout "kiaii" when I was a kid too!

Now, "ESH!" Short n sharp, from the gut.