Direct and indirect rotation

Now so far, I’ve only covered a very narrow range of hip rotation – during punching. When your hip turn adds body weight to a technique - in other words, the hip turns in the same direction as the technique, it is called “direct rotation”. Punches, ridge hand strikes, rising head level blocks, outside blocks, front and round kicks, all use direct rotation.

However, many techniques use a type of hip movement called “indirect rotation”. Examples are; side back-fist, inside knife hand, inside block, down block, and hook kick. In these techniques, the hip rotation is in the opposite direction to the delivery of the technique, and has the effect of whipping the technique out, rather than adding mass.

Unlike direct rotation techniques, where the hips are held off until the end, the hips are always triggered first for indirect techniques. Think of a whip. It’s impossible to make the end of the whip move unless you first give the handle a yank. However, to follow the analogy, just giving one sharp upwards tug on the handle is not enough to produce that sharp cracking action. If you watch a child use a whip, they will try to do exactly that – they’ll give the handle a single jerk and wonder why the tip just flops limply. It’s only experience that teaches you that you need the sharp counter-motion, to produce the devastating crack that can literally cut through flesh. Only the very greatest experts will have the timing down to such a level of perfection that they get the perfect crack every time (I used to hate those towel whipping bastards in the school changing rooms!)

Returning to your karate techniques, most of the same criteria apply. The techniques are all initiated from the hips, which sets the relevant limb off on its undulating motion. However, because your limbs are rigid (they have bones – duh!), the reverse action is not used in every case.