Kiah Shouts

[BlackTiger]

the reason people shout is to " let the air out" of their body - holding your breathe is dangerous. The Sensei or Sifu knows your letting it out if you shout. In Kung Fu we don't shout, we exhale loudly enough so our Sifu can head it, breathing exercises are one of the top piorities in Kung Fu. Executing a srike while exhaling in very powerful, this developes and understand inner strength,

[The Shaolin]

A specific example of a Chinese shout could be perhaps when Wong Kiew Kit describes the "Her-it" noise that accompanies many tiger style exercises.

[Traymond]

The way you make the kiai sound matters not. But it can become annoying if its not something serious...for instance I teach a girl that kiais "Suzuki", "Mistubishi" and "Toyota"...I prefer Kiai's Such as "EEEEEEEE", "Iai", "yah", "Ha", Yo", and "Kya".

In Kendo, (The style I was in), the only kiai was where you were striking at, "men", "do", "ashi", "Kote", Skee".

[Patcherson]

I don't say a word my sensai taught me that your kiah comes from just under your belly button

when you punch or strike you exhale from it and the sound comes naturally

i find i make a different sound for every move

[The BB of C]

I don't know if anyone has already seen this one but I think it makes a lot of sense.

[bushido_man96]

That was a nice study. I wonder if he didn't exhale at all on the second break, though. Also, on the slow motion look of the first break, I didn't see the bottom brick break there, either, but it may have been broken with the final collapse of rubble.

But, the numbers don't lie, and missing out on around 500 extra lbs of force would make a difference.

[RichardZ]

What I find important about the kiai, kihap, or "spirit yell" is that it should come from the abdomen, and not from the throat. You should expel the air from your body in a forceful manner.

I thought that the Chinese styles didn't put as much emphasis on shouting as other styles tended to. I could be wrong, though.

You are correct about the way to shout.

A few Chinese styles I was in, did have a shout, but it was unlike others, per Karate. The concept and application were the same as you described.

[duanda]

There have been alot of replies, but I will offer my 2 cents nonetheless.

In the Chinese styles I have practised there are generally 2 different types of noises we would make;

HIN; like biting something

and HAH like spitting something out

They come from the diaphgram not the lungs like others have mentioned. If someone were to press against your diaphgram with two fingers say, each sound will move our diaphgram differently

Another is a sharp E! or Yi! and the feeling is compressed and imploding.

Different sounds do suit different movements better.

[Cable Dog]

My kiai is rather unorthodox as it isn't a word so much as a "bark" maybe? I get a good breath before, and often during kumite I will kiai before a specific move, and condition the person to that. When I decide to make a final move, I will kiai and use an entirely different move which generally speaking throws them off. I have the loudest kiai in my class (most are girls to be fair **not saying they can't be loud**) however it is more like a gutteral yell than a word.

[Tzu-Logic]

Any of you guys watch boxing matches on TV? Boxers are constantly letting out sharp hisses of air when they attack.... Not so much of a yell as a , "TSSST" or something... anyone who watches boxing will know what i am talking about....

anyway i find that to be very intimidating during sparring and so i almost always do that especially with punching combos...

I also find that exhaling during a block or when taking a hit really helps lesten the impact you feel from the blow (unless you happen to be taking a gut shot from a spinning back kick ) and I try to incorporate that into as much training as i can....

When doing forms i generally let out a decent HAI!!!!! at the right places...

that's my little thought on kiahs....