Hands on the hips?

[Wastelander]

That's kind of at the heart of my original question. How does one fight or defend oneself and not get knocked out while keeping the hand on the hip? I figure there must be ways to account for that or people wouldn't do it. I know boxers can be good at slipping and dodging punches but I don't know what karate people do.

I can understand doing something for training purposes but I don't agree that it's a good idea to make things more challenging in a fight or self-defense encounter.

I will sometimes grapple or spar one-handed, but that's not what the chambered position is for. As has been mentioned a few times, you don't have to worry about being knocked out when your hand is on your hip, because it should only be there when it has part of your opponent in its grip, which should stop them from being able to hit you on that side.

[mal103]

..... And you will hopefully be at an angle to the attacker/opponent so they have less chance of striking you but you have plenty of chances.

[hansenator]

I just ran across a podcast from Iaian Abernethy and he had an answer that made sense to me. He kind of echoes some of what other people have already said but I wanted to see what you think.

He explained that both hands should be active with either hitting, pulling, holding, or manipulating the opponent. There should never be a "dead' hand. An empty hand pulling back to the hip is certainly a dead hand and is a modern misconception. He also feels that holding your hands in a guard position while at a longer range is a modern influence that he feels is a positive one as long as you don't get stuck with being in your guard position when your hands should be active.

This kind of echoes my own thoughts. Since I haven't noticed any increase in punching power from pulling the other hand back to the hip, it makes sense to me to retract the hand when there's a reason to do so but otherwise try to maintain a good defensive position.

[bushido_man96]

Katas, kihons and all line work we will be expected to have our hand on the hip, back straight and hips forward. its in the foundation of most karate styles generally. When we spar that all changes, hands up, hips sideways Sparring is much more natural body position but it is important to understand the traditional side of karate and why such things exist...

That's been another point of confusion for me. The "classical presentation", if you will, seems to differ from what people actually do in sparring or fighting. I understand the idea of using larger movements as a learning aid or a training tool but I haven't seen people really talk about it.

This is an issue I see a lot. In the ITF, I see the body movement that is referred to as the sine wave motion. The problem I see, however, is that the movement doesn't show up in sparring. Often, neither does the retracting hand that we use a lot of, too.

The thing with the retracting hand is that it is part of what has become the aesthetics of traditional styles. Every basic technique that is done with one hand has the other brought back to the hip or rib area. However, not every technique will be using a pulling hand, or be the result of a grab.

[sensei8]

Let your movements, no matter what they might or might not be, compliment one another, but do not waste movements/energy!!

[armanox]

Katas, kihons and all line work we will be expected to have our hand on the hip, back straight and hips forward. its in the foundation of most karate styles generally. When we spar that all changes, hands up, hips sideways Sparring is much more natural body position but it is important to understand the traditional side of karate and why such things exist...

That's been another point of confusion for me. The "classical presentation", if you will, seems to differ from what people actually do in sparring or fighting. I understand the idea of using larger movements as a learning aid or a training tool but I haven't seen people really talk about it.

This is an issue I see a lot. In the ITF, I see the body movement that is referred to as the sine wave motion. The problem I see, however, is that the movement doesn't show up in sparring. Often, neither does the retracting hand that we use a lot of, too.

The thing with the retracting hand is that it is part of what has become the aesthetics of traditional styles. Every basic technique that is done with one hand has the other brought back to the hip or rib area. However, not every technique will be using a pulling hand, or be the result of a grab.

Interesting. I have found that when I spar people notice influence from the kata - my guard positions, reactions, footwork - all can be traced to kata.

It's rare in sparring that I will simply chamber a hand. If I'm throwing pure punches maybe, and I have used that motion in arm locks before, but it is never the start of the technique.