Master Genshin Hironishi
President of Shotokai Worldwide
With respect to tsuki, the intention was to hit and penetrate in large body areas, due to the fact that it is very hard to hit small areas. Considering the difficulty in protecting your legs, many joint attacks were studied. Today those techniques are prohibited precisely because they are very hard to guard against
attacks.
In any normal sport the judge only assures himself that rules are followed and has no power to decide who wins, something that does not occur in sports karate where the judge can decide who has won.
You can see that there are many differences between real combat and sport and this is visible in kamae (not only the physical guard but also the attitude). Kamae expresses itself in a way that denotes the mental state and attitude (level of ki), and even though sports competition blows may hurt, their goal is not to kill the opponent. Actually, analyzing competition in terms of real combat, it is better to receive the blow and afterwards strike with the idea of going through the physical barrier. Under those circumstances, do not be afraid, let yourself be hit and enter with decision.
From competition to the real form everything changes.
If we observe sports Judo, we see that combat begins by grabbing, without pondering the possibility of an attack before that point in time, there is no study of ma-ai (distance and timing). In Kendo, in the past, the training position was kokutsu-dachi. In our days, due to sports rules, the guard has risen and there are no longer gedan level attacks. In the past blows were delivered obliquely from the neck, with the intention of going through the body. Today you only attack the head with sharp blows and without using the hips.
