Kiai Differences

[sensei8]

2 hours ago, bushido_man96 said:

I don't think it's a lost art.  I think it's just that fewer find the true meaning of it.

Hence, it’s facing to become a lost art because the importance of the serious training In its effectiveness of the kiai seems to me that the seriousness of its training is being replaced by the drive to win at some MA tournament, particularly certain Kata divisions!!

Kiai is as personal to the practitioner as air is to the lungs. Kiai must be properly trained and not regulated to some humdrums activity with no importance…something we do in order to appease the CI.

The pageantry of the kiai nowadays can be in the state of disarray because the MAist isn’t mature enough in its training.

Imho.

 

 

[gspell68]

I just yell, “DIE!”

Multi syllable utterances just don’t make sense, plus there’s also the psychological impact.

 

[Furinkazan]

On 4/4/2025 at 1:56 PM, sensei8 said:

Sounds to me that the kiai has become a lost art, and instead, it’s been regulated to more of a showmanship, with no intent or interest of the kiai’s trained effectiveness.

Imho.

 

On 4/7/2025 at 9:43 PM, bushido_man96 said:

I don't think it's a lost art.  I think it's just that fewer find the true meaning of it.

I think it’s important to note that the meaning of kiai as it pertains to karate isn’t a deep one.  The kiai was not practiced in Okinawa until it was added by the Japanese.

The kiai actually came from kendo practitioners who brought it to karate when cross training under Funakoshi.

It’s entirely possible that the Koreans may have been practicing the kiai (or “kihap,” as they call it) just as long as, if not longer than, the Okinawans.

If we are to search for a deeper meaning of the kiai, then the answer is best found in kendo rather than karate.

Edited January 20 by Furinkazan

[Spartacus Maximus]

It is indeed undeniable that karate was influenced by Japanese martial arts when it was brought to the mainland from Okinawa. However it seems odd that the concept of kiai or anything similar would be absent from karate in its earlier history.

It may be a matter of coincidence but something similar to kiai exists in many Chinese martial arts including those taught brought to the Ryukyus by Chinese experts and Okinawans who studied in Fukien. In the case of Shorin ryu there may have been some influence as early as Matsumura Sokon’s time.

After all, Matsumura was known to have trained in China and also in the Satsuma clan’s territory in Japan where he became highly skilled in Jigen ryu swordsmanship. Jigen ryu is well known in koryu kenjutsu for its distinctive kiai called « enkyo » the « monkey’s scream ». It isn’t entirely impossible that Matsumura may have incorporated a few things from the other systems he learned into his personal practice and teachings…