Structure and Alignment

[Wastelander]

Haisai, everyone,

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of videos on social media from various different martial arts schools from around the world where intermediate (and even some advanced) students lack basic structure and alignment. Obviously, different styles will do things differently, but there are still some fundamentals that are pretty much universal, since there are only so many ways to use the human body to effectively combat another human body. For example, when punching, I very often see these students with their wrists cocked back in the natural gripping position, rather than having their knuckles aligned with their forearm. When in front stances, I often see front knees buckling inward instead of being positioned above the foot. I also notice that many end up with their torso leaning backward in a variety of different stances.

I had to correct all of these fundamenals within the first 3 belt ranks, and would never have been allowed to progress beyond those beginner ranks with the form I have been seeing. Within Okinawan karate, the concept of chinkuchi (muscle/sinew and bone) is a very important structural focus, and while I realize that not all karate styles know what chinkuchi is, I would think that the idea of proper structure and alignment would be something all instructors understood the importance of. I am curious as to your experiences with this sort of thing. Did you have to learn these fundamentals early on, or were you allowed to progress into intermediate or advanced ranks without them being corrected. If you were allowed to progress without them, do you know why?

[bushido_man96]

I learned about structure very early on, and preach it often when I teach classes, especially in stances.  When striking, I teach that power comes from the ground, up through the body, and without proper structure, strikes are moot.  In Aikido I find structure to be just as important, and am learning it in a different manner, and I see that when my techniques don't seem to be working quite right, I can trace the root of the problem back to structure.

I wonder if these schools that you are seeing this problem from stems from the possibility that they don't hit anything?  Hitting a makiwara is one thing; hit that with bad structure and you'll soon realize it.  But even striking heavy bags, kicking shields, and focus mitts can help to see the leaks in a weak structure.  That kind of immediate feedback should help students with these issues to realize their issues.