In any contact style, as students advance further in their training, they begin focusing their attention on how to knock their opponent out with one punch or kick. Everyone wants to think, “I can knock someone out with this punch/kick.” But in reality, this is much easier said than done. In the first place, your opponent is thinking the same thing; they’ve probably been training just as hard as you. In order to defeat the person you’re fighting, you have to arrange your favorite techniques into an effective strategy. This means you need to set-up your Tokui/Kime Waza (Favorite/Finishing Techniques).

   Very rarely will you be able to directly execute your best techniques in a tournament fight. For example, let’s say you have a great back spin kick. You imagine that when you fight, you’ll knock your opponent out with one shot. However, in reality, this technique requires a large motion that is easily read by an opponent. You’re not going to risk suddenly turning your back to someone who is attacking you. Of course, it’s not impossible to effectively execute a back spin kick directly, just not very likely.

   In most cases, good fighters use a steady kamae (fighting posture). They use other techniques to set up for a knock out. So what techniques are best to use as set-ups? What’s the best way to give cumulative damage to your opponent and get into a better position to attack?

   Of course, your lead hand and lead foot are important. But good fighters also use lots of Gedan Mawashi Geri (Low Kicks). To execute an effective low kick, you can either kick with the sune (shin) or the top of the ankle where the shin and instep meet, depending on the distance. If you want to be a good knockdown fighter, you must be able to execute good low kicks with both feet. Most likely, you’ll kick with one leg more than the other, but you need to be able to kick effectively with both legs.

   Low kicks give damage to your opponent’s legs, but they also force your opponent to concentrate on blocking. After a few good shots, their attention, their chi, will become focused on avoiding further damage to the legs. This will allow you to move into a better position to attack the head and body.

   Detailed instruction on low kicks can be found in the Perfect Karate and Kyoten books. Here are some basic points to help you in your training:

TO BE CONTINUE.....