After belt promotion, we would learn new kihon, new defenses, etc.
But fundamentals never changes, and will continue to remain important
even as we proceed on to higher belt levels, one of it being ki-ai.
Ki-ai might seem like just a shout to accompany the cuts, but it is
more than that. Ki-ai helps to regulate breathing, so you don’t end up
breathless after doing a series of cuts. Of course… I don’t think
irregular breathing is good for the heart and lungs either.
In sparring, a loud and especially sudden ki-ai along with a strike
can startle the opponent by having a killing intent, leaving an opening
to strike. Much advantage, many wow.
So how did we go about training our ki-ai on the 5th of April? Sensei
Val instructed us to do crunches during warm-ups. Other than to prevent
yourself from having a “family pack” at your tummy, crunches can train
up the core muscles. This can help us maintain our stance and allow us
to have better stamina. Training the core muscles can also help in
ki-ai.
After the warm-up, we had our first exercise. We were to pair up, and
one of us will face our back towards the other. The one who is facing
the opponent’s back would take a step forward and ki-ai. The opponent
that is not doing the ki-ai have to try not to flinch. The next
difficulty would be for the opponent whose back is facing the person
doing the ki-ai to turn around once the ki-ai is heard, as fast as
possible. This is to train alertness and area awareness, which should be
useful in competition sparring as there would be a limited area for the
sparring.
Nevertheless, ki-ai has an array of advantages and uses, although it
might take some time to get used to it. Practice makes better.
Jiejing (JJ)
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