A classic, well-trodden technical theme, if ever there was one, the hips play an essential role in our technique. But have we really said everything?

Lower and lower

From the very first moments of practice, the constant recommendation to the practitioner is to lower the center of gravity, i.e. to lower the hips as much as possible. This is accompanied by significant muscular work on the legs and knee and ankle joints.

But why go down at all? Documentary photos show Master FUNAKOSHI almost standing as he performs the Tekki - his favorite Kata, as well as other techniques. In contrast, the Shotokaï practically crushes the stances to the point of sometimes grazing the ground. Yet, be it Master EGAMI or Master OHTSUKA, founder of Wado-Ryu, and many others, all were direct pupils of Gichin FUNAKOSHI.

A simple explanation was suggested to me by one of my own teachers, and it boils down to this: in a critical or real situation, the unconscious tendency will (unfortunately) be to stand up, but the ascendancy is taken by the person who lowers his center of gravity BELOW that of his opponent. There's not much more to say. You just have to work at it, and I'd like to add a "trick" that makes the job easier: rather than focusing on bending our legs, and indirectly on the painful tensing of our thigh muscles, let's just relax our shoulders and let our belly pull us downwards, sliding along the "sky-earth" axis, storing energy - the "Ki" - in our abdominal chamber, a technique well known to experts in T'ai-Qi, Qi-Kong, and so on.

Rotation - yes, but not only!

Another leitmotif universally heard is hip rotation. Using the "Gyaku Tsuki" as a pilot example, it is explained that hip rotation acts like a slingshot, releasing energy by centrifugal force. This is not fundamentally wrong, of course. But it's not enough, far from it.

Let's look at one way of doing Gyaku Tsuki (Chudan), from the Kiba Dachi stance. This is called "Sokumen", as in the "Gankaku" Kata, for example. Some experts, including Master Tsutomu OHSHIMA, assert - and irrefutably demonstrate - that this is the most effective way to do Gyaku Tsuki, and devote a large part of their basic work to it. This is achieved by full connection of the back leg, as well as LINEAR engagement of the hip in the direction of the Tsuki, in addition to rotation of the pelvis and torso, without weakening the stance. The truly right realization is very difficult, but the search for deep sensation is subtle, and experiencing it will make considerable technical progress.

Simply in the direction of the attack...

If we extend the above to stances such as Zen Kutsu or Fudo Dachi (and to a lesser extent Ko Kutsu), we must apply the same considerations. In other words, Kime is obtained by engaging the hip FORWARD, rather than worrying about rotation. This may raise legitimate questions, or even controversy. But it's obvious to say that any technique must be accompanied by engagement of the hip in the same direction. Now, we distinguish between "longitudinal" and "circular", and there should be no "mixing" of the two, this being physiologically incoherent.

This is why, even in Gyaku Tsuki, let's think of pushing the hip forward, without especially trying to turn the chest and shoulders around the body axis. And you'll find that the technique's extension - and penetration - is greater, as are stability and the ability to link up.

In this way, we respect the sequence of forward projection of the mind, exhalation and gesture, based on the essential principle of homogeneity "Ki-Ken-Taï".