Ashihara kaikan
Ashihara kaikan (芦 原 会館), short Ashihara , is a style of karate that was founded by Hideyuki Ashihara in 1980 . The style is a spin-off from the Kyokushinkai of Ōyama Masutatsu and adopts many elements from this style, but also includes new developments and borrowings from other martial arts / styles.
Characteristics
- Full contact combat. As in Kyokushinkai, Ashihara karate is fought with full contact and the goal of a knockout . Minimal protective equipment is used: mouthguards and groin guards, as well as hand bandages. Sometimes shin guards are also used. As with Kyokushinkai, hand techniques to the head are not allowed, but foot techniques are allowed at all heights.
- Sabaki principle. This principle of circular movements according to the "circle and point" principle, which was adopted from Aikido, is the most important characteristic of the Ashihara style that distinguishes it from the Kyokushinkai.
- Completely own kata . The kata of the Ashihara style have been completely redeveloped and have the learning principle in common with the traditional kata, but are more dynamic and less rigid than these.
Sabaki
See also Tai Sabaki
The Sabaki method is a combat principle in which the opponent's attacks are avoided in order to get into a favorable position at the same time and from there to carry out a counterattack. The idea behind this is to use the attacker's change in position to your own advantage. For example, a straight fist attack is avoided diagonally to the front left (with a simultaneous block z. B. soto uke ), where you then in an advantageous position for a counter attack z. B. stands with your fist to your head. The idea of Sabaki comes from Aikido , where dodging is mainly used to exploit the opponent's kinetic energy in a throw. The principle of evasion is used implicitly or explicitly in most martial arts, but is given special weight in Ashihara.
Kata
The Kata of Ashihara break with the tradition of most karate styles, the Kata of which can often be traced back to China over several hundred years and have been changed and adapted in their history by various masters, but without fundamentally introducing new paradigms. In contrast, in Ashihara, the kata were developed from the ground up to adequately represent principles of the style, which differ significantly from more traditional styles. (In contrast, the Kyokushinkai from which Ashihara arose largely retains the traditional kata, although other traditional elements have been abandoned in the techniques.)
All Kata in Ashihara consist of 10 steps, whereby the first step is the entrance into the fighting stance, the steps 2–9 contain different attack and defense techniques and the tenth step represents a final technique.
The kata are divided into 5 rows:
- Shoshinha no kata : These 3 katas contain as the main element backward evasion, distance assessment and defensive movements.
- Kihon no kata : In these 3 forms, evasive action is emphasized.
- Kumite no kata : The main focus in this series, which includes 5 katas, is attack techniques for full contact combat.
- Nage no kata : These 3 katas teach throwing and foot techniques.
- Jissen no kata : This kata (German for "real combat kata") involves the execution of many techniques in quick succession.
Hideyuki Ashihara worked on three more series of kata before his death, focusing on self-defense, weapons and circular movements. However, he could no longer finish it.
In addition to the native katas, some katas from the repertoire of the World Karate Federation and also hyeongs (analogues to kata in Taekwondo ) of the World Taekwondo Federation are taught at high levels .