Hikite: Why the Pulling Hand Is Probably Still Letting You Down
Most karateka have had their hikite corrected dozens of times. Most of them are still making the same mistakes. That is not a character flaw - it is a structural problem with how hikite gets taught and how the brain handles it under the pressure of training. Here is what is actually going wrong, and what to do about it. The Mistake Hidden Inside the Translation Hikite means "pulling hand," and that translation is part of the problem. Hear the word "pull" and the natural instinct is to focus on speed of retraction - get the fist back to the hip quickly and consider it done. The hand moves, the shape looks right from the front, and nobody says anything. But the shape of hikite and the substance of hikite are two different things entirely. What you are actually trying to produce is opposing force through the body - a bracing tension that runs from the retracting elbow, through the lat and across the back, and out through the punching fist. Without that, the punch ...