Chris Denwood.com
  • Blog
  • About
  • Store
  • Virtual Dojo
  • Mailing List
  • Blog
  • About
  • Store
  • Virtual Dojo
  • Mailing List
Picture

TRADITIONAL KARATE FOR HOLISTIC GROWTH

Okinawa karate should be both life preserving and life enhancing.
Join Chris as he explores the essence and application of this incredible art...

On Developing Muchimi

9/10/2014

10 Comments

 
Rice Cake
Make your karate more rice cake-like!
The term 'Muchimi' is used in traditional karate and refers to the 'heavy and sticky' feeling sought during the application of certain techniques and is one of a number of a key feelings developed during the practice of kata.

The word ‘Muchimi’ is actually derived from the old Okinawan dialect for rice cakes, which is 'Muchi' (Mochi in Japanese).  So in karate, ‘Muchimi’ literally means to have a 'rice cake-like body'.  If you've ever tried a Japanese rice cake then you'll know exactly what feeling this describes!

The combative application of muchimi can be very effective and traditionally, there are actually two methods of expressing this principle:

  • The first relates to the level of contact made with the opponent and how that contact is maintained.  If used correctly, the recipient should feel overwhelmed by pressure and unable to shake it off.  Think about how a boa constrictor progressively squeezes the breath out of it's prey by 'filling in all the gaps' and you'll have some idea of how muchimi may be applied.  This method is generally emphasised in Naha-based styles who focus heavily on close-range grappling and tactile-based applications.
  • The second is linked to the progressive and fluid acceleration of technique, similar to a wave crashing on the beach.  The energy (or more actually, pressure) is gradually built up inside the body and then released into the strike.  This 'whip-like' power is very different to that produced by muscular contraction alone, relying more on the potential of stretching muscles and their associated elastic quality.  This method is often favoured by Shorin-based styles, which promote swift and successive percussive impact.

Like all other qualities found in karate, there are times to use muchimi and times where other principles are applied to create contrasting feelings   For instance, there are situations where you may want to be heavy and sticky, but then there are other circumstances when you may want to be light and swift.  It is really the experience to know not only how, but WHEN to express these qualities that makes them practical and functional.
Tai Chi
Functional Taiji practitioners understand that elastic power can be derived from 'stretching' muscles, which can be up to 10 times stronger than 'contracting' muscles.
Following are some suggested training methods that may help you develop a greater sense of muchimi... 
  1. Practice a multitude of sticky-hand drills to get used to flowing with the opponents energy, adding pressure and filling the gaps.  Use these as a common reference for your kata applications and work from various tactile connections.
  2. Make full use of gravity to increase the 'heaviness' in your hands.  Excessive contraction literally pushes us away from the Earth.  By learning to relax more, the apparent softness can become a very destructive force.
  3. Incorporate traditional body forging techniques (tai-kitae) with a partner.  Not only will these help tremendously towards your level of physical conditioning, but they also get you accustomed to making contact with another human being.  This is a COMPLETELY different feeling to making contact with a heavy bag, focus mitt or makiwara.
  4. Learn to transcend from visual aesthetics and search for the correct feeling behind your techniques.  Listen internally and monitor what's going on.  It's ironic that in some ways, the more effective we become, the less visually impressive our technique can look due to lack of excessive physical effort.  However, the results can tell a different story.  Through our culture, we are often conditioned to associate success with 'working hard', rather than 'working smart'.  Thus, development in karate is essentially about dong less to achieve more.  before you can step below the surface of karate you must first rewire certain movement habits and come to terms with the fact that more physical (contractive) effort does not necessarily equal more effective output.
  5. When hitting the makiwara, incoporate strikes that stick to the pad rather than swiftly retracting.  The body has to work slightly differently using this method to cope with Newton's laws of motion and the inevitable resultant energy.  Although many karate practitioners consider the 'delivery system' of their strikes, the effective application of muchimi also relies on correct application of the 'reaction system'.
  6. Focus on using your body as the 'engine' to drive your hands.  There should be no hand movement that hasn't been first derived from the core and then when you advance further, the floor.  Incorporate the practice of hip shaking drills that originate from pressure changes at the feet and whilst keeping the arms completely relaxed, learn how to project them accurately in various directions.  Think about how you would crack a whip and how you could determine exactly where in space that crack will occur.  Imagine the core of the body as the hand that holds the whip, with your hands being the tip.  This notion is incredibly hard to train (I still have a very long road ahead of me), but even small progressions can have a significant impact.  Remember that karate is about the progressive collaboration of many small adjustments, which integrate to make a massive difference! 
  7. Work on the feeling of sequential delay through the body from the floor to fist.  This should feel like a wave travelling upwards from the feet, directed and amplified by the core and then released out from the striking limb. When moving the arms, project from the shoulder first, to the elbow and only then to the hands.  consider a direct relationship between the lower and upper parts of the body i.e. wrist/ankle, knee/elbow and shoulder/hip.  Use tools such as the makiwara, chi-ishi and kettlebell to help develop this fluid-like attribute. 
  8. Aim to become more 'circular' in your movements, smoothing out the corners so that no sharp change in angle occurs.  The journey that the limbs take is very important in terms of muchimi and 'square' movements require regeneration of potential (just like setting the pendulum swinging again on a large grandfather clock).  In contrast, smoother angles through the use of curves help perpetuate and amplify energy seamlessly throughout the movement path.  In traditional karate, even movements that seem to look linear may actually be made up of numerous circles and spirals both outside and inside the body. 
Yuchoku Higa Sensei Striking the Makiwara
Yuchoku Higa Sensei, student of Chosin Chibana, striking the makiwara.
Karate is often regarded by many to be an entirely external art.  For me, this is not true.  Of course, a superficial understanding will only take you so far, but by taking time to look a little deeper and beyond the surface, numerous internal components are revealed that combine with an external expression to create something very different indeed.  Whereas the beginning karate student may only 'see' from the outside and the intermediate karate student aims to 'listen' from the inside, the advanced karate student should aspire to 'feel' the integration of both outside and inside.  The notion of muchimi is therefore merely one principle of this collaborative application of both In (Yin) and Yo (Yang).

Many thanks for taking the time to read this short article and I hope you found the content useful..    
Chris Denwood
10 Comments
as always you flick the switch tbat turns on the light in my brain Chris Sensei. As the well known saying goes karate without the guidance of a good teacher is like wandering in the dark. Thankyou for the light.
12/10/2014 03:41:02 pm

Reply
Pete Welsby
14/10/2014 06:18:26 am

As always, you flick the switch that turns on the light in my brain Chris Sensei. As the well known saying goes karate without the guidance of a good teacher is like wandering in the dark. Thank you for the light."

Reply
Christopher J Denwood
14/10/2014 06:40:54 am

Thanks for the kind words Pete and happy to hear you enjoyed the article! Best wishes and speak soon, Chris

Reply
Gabriel Tiste
20/10/2014 06:32:40 am

Insightful post, made me think long and hard about my own progress and future development. Thanks for distributing these thoughts!

Reply
Christopher J Denwood
20/10/2014 06:50:03 am

Thanks for the kind words Gabriel - they're much appreciated and great to hear that you found the post useful! Best wishes, Chris.

Reply
Dan Richardson
24/10/2014 05:37:23 am

Nice piece and well explained. Nothing, like this, is easy to get across in text.
Many thanks.

Reply
Christopher J Denwood
24/10/2014 06:17:35 am

Thanks for your support Dan and my pleasure - good to hear that you enjoyed the read! Best wishes, Chris.

Reply
Robert Bongiorno
19/12/2014 04:07:14 pm

Hey Chris, awesome website. Enjoyed the article on Muchimi. Do you have any tutorials that show a Kata done using the Muchimi method? I am an older karateka, with a beat up body and using the Muchimi method of doing Kata would be a great help.
Thanks!

Reply
Alfred G Rivera link
22/9/2018 06:17:26 pm

Very interesting. I share the same feeling that you express in your article. We must look deeper than we can see to really understand the meaning of what we do or try to accomplish...

Reply
Chris Denwood
22/9/2018 06:55:06 pm

Thanks - happy you enjoyed the read!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Articles
    Books
    Bunkai
    Health & Fitness
    History
    Hojo Undo
    Inspiration
    Interviews
    Kata
    Knowledge
    News & Updates
    Principles
    Reviews
    Training
    Video

    Archives

    March 2022
    December 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2019
    October 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    January 2017
    August 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    June 2015
    May 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    RSS Feed

Picture

Terms & Conditions  |  Privacy Policy  |  Contact 
Copyright © Chris Denwood 2013 All Rights Reserved
Photos used under Creative Commons from Genista, SLImagesCa, ser..., The Consortium, perpetualplum, cphoffman42, ennuidesign, stoermchen, Ksenia Ruta