Ryukenkan Dojo - Tauranga New Zealand
"Karate in Paradise" - It's a rough task, but someone has to do it!
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Ryukenkan Dojo - Tauranga New Zealand "Karate in Paradise" - It's a rough task, but someone has to do it!
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The 3 Zones of a Striking Technique. Any striking technique, whether linear or arcing in nature, goes through 3 distinct zones of power during its execution. These zones are: 1. The Pre-power Zone 2. The Power Zone 3. The Dead Zone It is important to recognise when a strike is in each stage so that correct defence can be executed. The first zone, the Pre-power Zone, occurs from the beginning of a technique up until around 25% of execution. At this point, the strike is accelerating and has little power, possibly due to anatomical positioning (i.e. too cramped). At this point the defensive tactic should be to jam or stop the technique. An example of this would be to pick the budge of the shoulder before the punch leaves its “chambered” position, and to jam the movement by striking the shoulder, perhaps using an extended knuckle technique to cause local muscular trauma to the joint, leaving the arm impaired. The second zone, the Power Zone, occurs roughly between 65%-80% of the techniques total extending motion. At this point, the defensive strategy should be primarily to use good angulation and evasive movement tactics to avoid the strike, and possibly to attack the weapon as it passes through this zone. An example of correct movement would be to ride with a roundhouse kick and move with the motion of the technique until it enters the Dead Zone before trying to deal with it. The third zone, the Dead Zone, happens during the last parts of extending motion of a strike. At this point, there is little or no power left in the strike, and being struck will cause little or no damage. The defensive tactic at this point is to roll with the strike until it is surely in the Dead Zone, and then possibly to take advantage of the weak posture of the weapon to cause an over-extension and loss of balance. An example of this would be to pull in on a straight punch, causing an over-extension of the arm and possibly an off-balancing, or to bob under a hooking circular type of punch and to push the weapon further on it’s course of motion causing an over-balancing.
Originally written in 1999, Copyright Marty Rickard 2006 - All Rights Reserved
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