Power Training by Morio Higaonna

I recently had the pleasure of watching "Power Training" by Morio Higaonna. It gave me a lot of food for thought when it comes to classical karate training.

"Power Training" is all about the different methods Higaonna uses to create strong and powerful karate practitioners. Higaonna himself is renowned worldwide as a skilled karateka and strong individual. Many people marvel at his archaic methods of training and wonder how he has achieved his famed abilities.

The video begins by exploring Higaonna's stretching methods. Although this sounds pretty mundane, it is interesting to see the the ways he integrates karate style breathing into his routine. Sometimes odd looking and sometimes a bit confusing, Higaonna's stretches leave you with something to add into your own workout.

Furthermore, Higaonna shows us how to do two man warmups and exercises.

This is probably just the westerner in me talking, but these drills are a little too up close and personal with your partner for me. Higaonna is practically climbing on top of his student half the time when helping him stretch. Personally, I prefer a little breathing room.

Next in the video is something for which Higaonna Sensei is famous – Hojo Undo. Hojo Undo is the usage of old style tools and methods in order to make the body tougher and stronger. Bells, rocks, and iron bars are just a few devices used to turn the body into a fighting weapon.

Shown here are ishi sashi, nagiri game, ch’ishi, and kongo ken.

This portion of the video was very interesting, and anyone who has dabbled with the idea of including Hojo Undo in their training would benefit from seeing Higaonna Sensei at work.

Shown next is kata and various two man drills. Higaonna and his assistant Tetsuji Nakamura show different ways of using pads to improve strikes, but also demonstrate ways of using body-to-body contact as yet another way to strengthen the body.

One drill I found particularly interesting was called Kakie. This is something I have trained a bit in the past, and Tai Chi practitioners would recognize it as quite similar to "push hands". This is an excellent drill to practice spontaneity and different strikes and joint locks.

Overall, I thought this video was very well produced and contained great information. Many martial arts dvds lack a certain production quality – "Power Training" does not follow that mold. Interesting, well edited, and insightful, I would watch this again to gain further insight into Higaonna's methods.

Ikigai108 gives "Power Training"…