Balance

[Fish]

Does anybody know any good exercises for developing balance? Mine doesn't seem to be very good yet. When I perform mawashigeri or sokuto I want to fall over!

[P.A.L]

From what you explained ,I think you need to work on your flexibility first, if you can keep your upper body close to your center line you will have a better balance.

[isshinryugurl]

if you are having trouble with balance, just practice. practice round house kicks with a partner. hold hands, and kick each other in the stomach, using the other person for support. start with one, and work your way to twenty, then back down. this helps you on balance, and them on conditioning.

 

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make'm cry or get disqualified!

[SaiFightsMS]

It comes with time. And the longer you train the stronger the small supporting muscles in your feet and ankles get. That makes a big difference.

[NidaninNJ]

Does anybody know any good exercises for developing balance? Mine doesn't seem to be very good yet. When I perform mawashigeri or sokuto I want to fall over!

Just do it! Like somebody else already wrote, just keep practicing and it'll get better. If you want extra practice, just stand on one foot whenever you have a chance during the day.

[Hobbes]

There are some very good tools to develop core strength and balance.

We've used wobble boards for years. One product I really like is http://www.fitter1.com/exercises_wb.html?mtcPromotion=Exercises%3EWobble

you can make your own if you want.

Edited December 29, 2005 by Hobbes

[Killer Miller]

Balance is 98% technique. Bend your supporting knee when doing your round-house to keep the center of your body weight distributed over the center of your supporting foot.

- Killer -

[Hobbes]

simplistic. Hey Jack, didn't you know? Karate is unique and other sports movies do not apply. Information can not be transferred from one to the other...

Your table tennis has no effect on your karate and vise versa...

[JimmyNewton]

heres a good drill we did for balance, ankle strenghtengfing, etc.

stand with feet about shoulder width apart.

start right leg, raise knee, front kick. thats 1

then for 2, raise knee, 2 front kicks then set leg down.

3, 3 front kicks, set leg down. and so on up to 10. by 10, its really hard, but with practice, gets better. then go through the left leg 1-10.

then with proceed to do roudhouses and side kicks in the same fashion.

by the tim you get to 10, doing 10 kicks onwhile staying staionary and not setting the leg down in between..it works wonders for conditioning, balance, anke strenght, etc.

its a good drill, but it takes practice.

[Killer Miller]

Most sports use karate technique... Although playing table tennis most of my life, I took up karate in the early 70s to improve my table tennis. The technique of karate and table tennis were identical. Luckily I had some awesome instructors and thus got more involved in karate for 17 years. So many sports are unstructured in terms of technique and technique standards and that became one of my missions to introduce proper body mechanics and movement to table tennis - which I still play. The sports/arts I've participated that karate techniques are the same and have influenced are:

• Table Tennis - same stances, heavy use of hip rotation, and lots of shifting and stepping exactly the same as karate.
   
  Archery - same breathing techniques, shoulders down and relaxed, and stance is a modified centered 50/50 stance (45 degree angle) similar to karate to provide good anchoring and a smooth release of the string.
   
  Golf - hip rotation and breathing.
   
  Baseball or Softball - hip rotation.
   
  Classical Guitar - Breathing techniques, relaxation of entire body with focus on left and right hand movements (arms staying relaxed) and keeping all movements to the center of the body. Also, learning new pieces, especially Bach, working on "phrasing" like you would in a kata. you work on the outside movements of the piece, then learn the inside movements/feelings of the piece - this includes appropriate pauses for proper timing, proper breathing, and to dynamics for entertainment value and your interpretation of the piece. Just as you would performing a kata in karate.

Many similarities with each other...

Gee, this might be good for another thread?

simplistic. Hey Jack, didn't you know? Karate is unique and other sports movies do not apply. Information can not be transferred from one to the other...

Your table tennis has no effect on your karate and vise versa...