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Karate

[tree - history - kata - kumite - kihon - contests - courses - Dojyo Kun - belts and examinations]

The kumite

The Kumite is an exercise performed between at least two karate practitioners. It is the application of the Kihon and the Kata.

The Kumite gives karate other dimensions, i.e. ' timing ' (the way the practitioner moves in function or not of his partner, fighting frequency, etc.), ' awareness ' and ' control '.

' Timing ' is important. The karateka has to learn how to move and attack in an efficient way in order to destabilize his opponent's technique.

Learning how to acquire awareness enables the practitioner to know which technique he will have to use and in which case. Fighting is not only a question of physical power and a karateka has to adapt to this. Changing one's mind and preparing oneself to an attack requires a lot of experience. Being calm and attentive to the opponent's movements are things the karateka will also have to master.

Control means that the karateka adopts a perfect distance to lightly touch the opponent, to be able to stop when he wants to !

With regard to free-style sparring (jiyu kumite, which is practised in tournaments), karate luckily offers codified kumite, of which difficulty keeps on increasing according to the grade. These kumite are taught and designed in view of learning all concepts described hereabove.

For example, white and yellow belts learn Gohon Kumite, a five-step attack. They learn how to adapt to their opponent, to adopt the perfect distance, to keep the attack under control, etc.
The higher the practitioner ranks, the freeer is the Kumite, but the practitioner has definitively acquired the essential bases and will be able to apply them.

Among the basic kumite, let's mention :

Gohon Kumite (5 step attack)
Kihon Ippon Kumite (1 attack + 1 defence and counterattack); Kumite on one step, static and codified
Jiyu Ippon Kumite ; same as Kihon Ippon Kumite but dynamic and the techniques are different and more complicated
Okuri Jiyu Ippon Kumite ; same as Jiyu Ippon Kumite but in this case, there is a second attack technique which is non-codified and totally free + defence and counterattack on this one.
Jiyu Kumite :free-style sparring

For the DAN grades (black belts), the kumite turns more onto Jiyu Kumite and Okuri Jiyu Ippon Kumite but also multi-attacker sparring, with projections, locks (self-defence techniques), blows on vital points and armed fighting. However, a theory is given to Kyu grades' students (lower grades) on these various black-belt kumite.