Professor Rick Clark, 8th Dan, is a well-renowned Pressure Points expert and founder of the Ao Denkou Kai. He holds seminar tours twice yearly in the UK. For further details of these seminars please to the Ao Denkou Kai website for further information. Test.

Professor Rick Clark, 8th Dan, is a well-renowned Pressure Points expert and founder of the Ao Denkou Kai. He holds seminar tours twice yearly in the UK. For further details of these seminars please to the Ao Denkou Kai website for further information

Lately I have been involved in some discussion on why Kata does not appear to be bilateral. If you stop and think for a moment you will notice in Kata you will find techniques performed only on one side of the body, or in sets of three. As you have practiced various Kata you may have noticed there are a number of techniques which are found in groups of three or as singular techniques. In addition you will find the turns are done only in one direction. In the various systems of Karate and Tae Kwon Do the basic "H" pattern is used in many of the Kata. In a number of these Kata, at the end of the "cross bar", you will pivot on your right foot in a counter clockwise direction so that your body turns in a 270 degrees. Then as you return back along the "cross bar" you will once again make a turn in a counter clockwise direction with a pivot on the right foot. You will note you are performing this type of turn in only one direction in the Kata.

Even the Kata that does not follow the "H" pattern will have odd number movements. As an example there are odd numbers of movements in the simplified versions of Tai Chi Chuan. These simplified forms were developed by the Chinese Sports Commission in 1956 (24 movement)and 1976 (48 movement) from the Yang, Chen, Wu, and Sun styles of Tai Chi Chuan. Both of these forms have singular and triple movements.

The apparent right side bias has always been a source of interest to me. Funakoshi (1973) states "There is absolutely no need for concern about one-sided development of the body in karate, and the fact of uniform development may be considered to be one of the benefits of karate" (p. 11) Yet, in the Kata there is an obvious bias toward right- handed techniques. Over the years I have heard a number of explanations of this bias. Some say "most people are right- handed, therefore we practice more with our right side." This explanation has never rang true to me.

I am of the opinion if we have a weak side we should practice that side a bit more in an attempt to make both sides equal. Then there is the argument there are more vital points on the left side of the body of your attacker. Therefore, by using your right side attacks you will have the potential of attacking more vital points. While this may have some merit, a look at any acupuncture chart will show the points on the body are bicameral. Yes, there may be a couple of extra points on the left side of the body which are deadly but in the overall picture this logic seems flawed. Yin and Yang are a basic part of the mind set of martial artists. We look to have both sides of our body equally trained. We expect attacks from either the right or left side or even front and back. We look at training against empty hand as well as with a weapon. Yet, in our Kata there does seem to be a right side bias.How is it that we can resolve this question?

Like most things that nag at the back of your mind, in a moment when you least expect it an answer pops into your mind. For me, I was re-reading "The Tao of Tai Chi Chuan: Way to Rejuvenation" by Jou, Tsung Hwa (1981). In it he quotes a book by Chen Yen Lin from the 1920's. In it he states "Next, practice the whole set of forms from the left side using the opposite hands and feet for every one of the original postures. For example, the left hand and left leg would be used for the right hand and right leg." (p. 218) Now I am sure I have read this section several times in the past but never given it much thought. Yet, when I read this it was like a lighting bolt hit me. If you start on the right side then the series of three punches will be left, right, left." The turn that was a counter clockwise to the right now becomes clockwise to the left. The single techniques with the right side become single techniques to the left side. Now if you practice the Kata starting to the right you will have an equal number of techniques to left side of the body. Any single technique will become two and any series of three techniques will become six. As you can see any uneven number of techniques will become an even number if you reverse the order of performance. This will give us a balanced performance of techniques in the Kata and allow us to develop both sides of our body equally.

Now there may be some that say "well that was a Tai Chi Chuan book and they were talking about Tai Chi Chuan not Karate." Fair enough comment. But, let me point out this may have been a common method of practice in this Chinese form of martial art back in the early 1900's. As we are often told, the Okinawan martial arts trace a great deal of their heritage to various Chinese martial art forms. At least for this one teacher he had a clear explanation of how to make his from bilateral. From my personal point of view I don't believe this method of Chen Yen Lin was particular to his system. My feeling is this must have been a common practice in that time period. If for no other reason that it just makes sense to practice movements equally on both sides of the body. In fact to practice Kata starting from the opposite side could provide you with a way to equal out what many of us have in a right or left side bias. If for example we have a right-hand bias we could practice the Kata as we normally do one time, then run the Kata two times the opposite direction to give more practice to our left side.

In a class situation you would still want all of the students to perform the Kata in the same direction, just for order sake. But you could allow the students time in the dojo to run their Kata on their weak side several times for their own practice. Or, as is often pointed out Karate can be practiced anywhere without the aid of a partner. This; individual practice is one of the strongpoints of Karate. If we do see we have a right or left side bias we can train to overcome this bias. Practicing Kata starting on the left and then the right side allows us to develop both sides of our body equally. For me this concept answers some questions that have been at the back of my mind for a number of years.