1/ MUCHIMI - characterizes the motions of "heavy/sticky hands". It resembles two students arm wrestling. Purposes for practicing Muchimi are the following: arm/wrist strengthening and conditioning, stance strengthening, posture and sensitivity control. You should always go toe to toe and wrist to wrist with your partner, so your bodies are in proper alignment. If correct resistance is applied, 7 to 10 reps. is sufficient. Make sure you apply full range of motion during the process of Muchimi to ensure proper development.


2/ KAKE TE - is similar to Muchimi. Here the arm's motion is reversed and there is more of a hooking resistance applied. Benefits are similar to those of regular Muchimi practice. Again 7 to 10 reps. is sufficient if correct tension is applied. Make sure not to break correct posture, and try to learn your opponent's motion through the sense of touch.


3/ KOTEKITAI - is an Okinawan form of body conditioning. Here the conditioning takes place on the forearms. Kotekitai is an excellent way to work on speed and on the co-ordination of the hands and feet. The benefits are many: it conditions the arms for strong blocking techniques, it teaches the student to turn and react quickly to incoming attacks from their behind and also it enables the student to break the common arm lock technique following up with an eye strike.

It is best if Kotekitai is practice in both directions. If we break up Kotekitai on 4 counts starting with our left hand, on count 4 we make the turn in the desired direction by placing our inside leg forward and completing the turn. To my knowledge, the Dai Sensei uses the cat stance with inside leg forward on counts 1 and 4. Sources reveal that Dai Sensei learned this version while on one of his many trips to Taiwan during the sixties and seventies.


4/ MAKIWARA TRAINING - a Makiwara is simply a wooden striking post used to strengthen student's technique. Mainly used for punching, it can also be used for kicking, striking, etc.. If you are interested in Makiwara training, you should talk to your Sensei first. When hitting the Makiwara for the first time, go slow and make sure that you are not hurting your fist, foot, etc.. It is especially easy to tear the outer layers of your skin on your knuckles, if you are not used to this type of training. Always keep in mind, when you are training either by yourself or with a partner, safety comes first.

Once you have become more comfortable with Makiwara training, you can start using more reps consisting of more power. But remember, do not over do it.

A tip of advice, if you practice punching, be careful of your wrists and make sure you keep them straight when you punch.