Zen Shaolin Karate. Nathan Johnson

      In this chapter I will introduce the physical aspects of the art beginning with a brief description of some exercises that may be useful for warming up. Following that I will describe the stances, basic strikes, and kicks that need to be perfected before one can begin to study the Saam Chin kata and its application. I will finish with a description of the rolling techniques that are so vital for the safe practice the Nai Fuan Chin applications in Chapter Four.

      Warming Up

      If you believe, as was traditionally the case, that the purpose of karate is either exercise or practice of the art's theories, then the kata become the warm-up for those activities. Zen Shaolin karate does not make any use of the squat-thrusts, jumping jacks, body toughening, or many of the other preparatory movements often found in karate classes. Instead, it uses the traditional kata to prepare the body for the specific exercise in which it will be involved, the application of the kata.

      The Zen Shaolin karate warm-up method involves practicing the Saam Chin kata and then the more mobile Nai Fuan Chin kata. While performing these kata, no use is made of kinte (focus) because stiffness or jerky tension is extremely detrimental to the correct practice of Zen Shaolin karate. Also, it should be noted that Saam Chin and Nai Fuan Chin contain no ballistic movements, so one should not throw full-power punches or kicks into thin air as they can hyperextend the elbow or knee.

      The need to warm up is apparent, with the most common reasons being getting the body going, "heating" the body in order to avoid injury, and stretching so as to be able to punch, strike, and kick. Convinced that we must prepare the body for a grueling challenge, or pseudo-combat, it is still easy to become confused about how we are to warm up most effectively. Warm-ups need to achieve three things: first, to raise the pulse rate; second, to provide movements for mobility; and third, to stretch the body. The degree to which this takes place is, of course, dictated by the type of activity being pursued (i.e., a table tennis player will warm up in a different way to a sprinter). It is doubtful whether the ancient founders of karate practiced the full splits or the whole host of gymnastic and athletic exercises seen in the modern karate warm-up. The general feeling of modern practitioners is that the ancient masters were not as educated or as scientific as we are. This book postulates the reverse, that the old masters' methods contain a true science based on sound body mechanics, symmetry, and safe, economical movement. They may not have been able to explain it in modern terms, but they could do it!

      The aims and objectives have changed in modern karate. I do not wish to degrade or in any way devalue flexibility. I simply wish to encourage a more reasonable approach, making long-term and short-term safety equally important for karate students.

      Far from being old-fashioned, traditional karate kata (with their high stances) parallel very accurately the findings of modern sports science, which state: