The Kiai 気合
By Ric Light
As I suggested with the blog (2) on breathing, humans are the worst breathers in the animal kingdom. When animals are confronted with danger and are threatened, they either fight or flee (humans can also freeze). Whichever they choose, their first response is to inhale, to ground and then respond instinctively. For those that chose to flee, their first explosive leap away from danger is aided by powerful exhalation. Those that fight exhale powerfully as they strike at their foe, and often with a loud roar or cry to increase power and give total commitment. This is the animal’s version of a kiai.
When you strike with your hands or elbow or kick the power of the impact is the result of a rapid sequence of movements usually beginning from the feet and moving through the large muscles of the lower body to rotate the hips. This momentum generated in the lower body is then allowed to pass rapidly through the smaller, upper body as an example of Newton’s concept of the conservation of momentum. As the momentum passes through the smaller upper body it accelerates until impact with the target. This is what you learn in karate in kihon, kata and kumite.
You allow the power to pass through your upper body until the last fraction of a second before impact that often involves a screwing action such as in a punch or shuto. A good technique exerts maximum force over a very short time (a milli second) with the kiai pulling your body together in one moment. It is a moment of mushin (no mind) in which the body, mind and spirit combine as one. To be effective, the kiai must be short, intense, and perfectly timed with impact. It must come from your tanden and takeover your body. You don’t say “kiai” or any other word, or utterance. It is an animalistic roar that comes from deep inside you and is timed perfectly with the physical power developed at impact. At this point the kiai unites physical, spiritual, and mental power. Literally kiai means to combine or join (ai) and internal life force (ki). It is what comes from your hara and tanden that matters and not so much the sound that comes out of your mouth. It comes from deep within and not your throat.
You should focus on what’s inside you and not outside. Develop your inner self and learn how to create power from within. You do not kiai for people listening. It is not a show. You kiai to combine physical skill, your spirit, and your mind for maximum impact. You can do this in class during kata or kihon when your target is imaginary and/or when hitting something like a hit pad to develop the timing of your kiai and its power. You will feel it when you get it right.
