Have you been planning to learn basic karate kicks and punches at home? It certainly is a great idea. But you don’t know where to start? No need to worry as we are going to share some basic karate moves, karate benefits, and much more.
Learning karate at home isn’t easy at all but with little guidance and basic karate, knowledge will help you become a better karate fighter. Learning karate at home provides you with a solid base of karate when you start your proper karate training.
Do you wish to be a fighter with exceptional techniques and knock the opponent out in no minute? That’s not a lot to ask for. The basic karate kick combinations and a good amount of practice sessions will certainly take you to the next level.
For those who are new to the karate world, here is the definition and origin of the karate fighting system.
What Karate Is?
Karate is a combat fighting art and a self-defense system. The word Kara-Tay means “Empty hands” and in its simplest term refers to a fighting system originating from Okinawa. It teaches a practitioner to utilize their hands and feet to deliver strikes against an attacker or opponent. In addition to that, karate is known for its traditional striking-based martial arts.
Benefits of Learning Karate:
Learning karate kicks and punches at any age can offer the following set of benefits.
- Karate moves help a person with boosting confidence and build a positive personality.
- Karate kick tricks will make you able to defend yourself in an unwanted attacking situation.
- Self-leadership is one of the least-discussed benefits of learning this fighting system.
- Moreover, all kinds of martial art training develop strength and resilience in the human body, and so does karate training.
- Additionally, karate or any other training keeps a person optimistic and in the right mindset.
- Last but not least, self-discipline is another important benefit karate can offer. Repetition of different karate kicks and techniques will make a fighter strong and self-disciplined.
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How to Learn karate kicks at Home:
Before learning karate kicks it’s important to know and understand some karate stances as well. Without learning stances, you won’t be able to throw an impactful kick. Karate needs a solid stance foundation to build powerful fighting techniques. Also, these karate stances help in maintaining the right posture throughout training.
So we are going to share some of the karate stances in this section.
5 Basic Karate Stances:
1: Kneeling Stance or Seiza
One of the most common ways to show respect in Japanese culture is bowing down or sitting on the floor. As we all know, karate has borrowed a lot of good things from Japanese culture.
A kneeling stance is not a fighting stance, but rather a resting stance that can be used during lessons to show respect toward the instructor.
How to Perform Kneeling Stance?
- First of all, simply sit on the floor while resting your butt on your feet.
- Straighten your neck and back. Your posture should be straight and balanced.
2: Standing Stance or Musubi Dachi:
A standing stance is another common stance to show respect to your instructor or seniors. You don’t have to do much to attain this type of stance.
How to Perform Standing Stance?
- Stand straight while keeping your both heels together.
- Don’t keep your toes together, rather turn them in an outward direction to 45 degrees.
- Keep your back straight.
- Open both palms and place them on the outer thigh.
- Don’t squeeze your shoulders but make sure to keep them pushed back.
3: Ready Stance or Heisoku Dachi
This stance shows that you are ready to follow your training or lessons. The ready stance has a lot in common with the standing stance but has two different points.
How to Perform Ready Stance?
- Stand straight with your back and neck pushed backward.
- Now, keep your feet straight and place your heels and toes together.
- Also, make a fist of your both hands and hold them out.
4: Back Stance or Kokutsu Dachi
The back stance is designed to defend yourself during an unexpected fight. This stance shows that you’re ready to defend yourself and a hard kick is in the way.
How to Perform Back Stance?
- Take your back foot out between 45 to 90 degrees angle.
- Keep your front foot and knee a little bend and forward while keeping the foot at a resting position.
- Your maximum weight should be on the back foot while the remaining should be on the front foot. Keep it 70% and 30%.
5: Cat Stance or Neko Ashi Dachi
Cat stance is one of the effective stances for sparring and self-defense techniques. This stance allows a fighter to throw deadly kicks with the front leg as all the body weight would be on the back leg. Also, you can easily avoid attacks by moving your body.
How to Perform Cat Stance?
- First of all, position your back foot at 45 degrees angle.
- Keep your front foot straight and not far from your body.
- Make sure 90% of your body weight should be on your back foot.
- Your front feet shouldn’t completely touch the ground. Keep it slightly in the air. Make sure only the toes and the ball of the front foot touch the ground.
Karate Kicks And Punches to Learn:
You can’t jump into advanced karate kick combinations without going through basic moves and punches. So the coming section is all about basic karate punches and techniques.
Wait! Do you know how to make a fist that could throw a dangerous punch? No?
One can’t learn how to fight without knowing the right way of making a fist. Knocking your opponent out is a far thing but there is a strong chance of breaking one or two bones of your hand. Here is the right way to make a fist.
- Firstly, curl your fingers in a way that the tips of your fingers touch the palm.
- Don’t lose your fist at all.
- Now, fold your thumb and place it over the index and middle finger. Keep your fingers tight.
Let’s not keep you waiting and jump right into basic karate kicks and punches.
1: Straight Punch
One of the most basic and widely used karate kick combinations is the straight punch. Not only in karate but in various types of martial arts. A straight punch can be deadly if delivered with full force and the right effort.
How To Deliver Straight Punch?
- Keep your body posture straight. Then take your palm up hand out in a punching position
- Don’t forget to twist your hand a bit when you throw a punch.
- Extend your elbow completely and stop just right after that.
- When doing hand movements, you have to bring forward your right leg and pull your left hand back.
All of the above-mentioned movements should be done at the same time. Otherwise, you might mess it all up. Make sure you hit a strong punch with strong knuckles right at the chest of your opponent. Perfectly timed and full of forced straight punches can knock your opponent out.
2: The Front Kick
The front kick is one of the most popular and incredibly strong kicks in various combat martial arts. You can surprise your opponent with a snappy and quick front kick. You can use this kick between different karate kicks to shock your opponent.
How to Deliver Front Kick?
- Take a fighting stance, now take your knee and raise your thigh parallel to the floor.
- All of your body weight should be on your back leg and foot.
- Now, stretch your raised foot outward and snap a kick at your target.
- Throw a kick with the ball of your foot. Don’t use your toes otherwise you might hurt yourself badly.
- Also, maintaining a good body posture and balance is very essential for throwing an impactful front kick.
As we have mentioned earlier, if you use your toes to kick the opponent, there’s a strong chance of breaking your bones.
3: The SideKick
An equally powerful kick for attack and defense? The sidekick it is. Not only in karate kick knockout, but you must also have heard about or seen it in other combat sports as well. Also, you have to click on time to land a perfect and deadly sidekick.
How to Deliver Sidekick?
- Turn yourself to your left or right according to your dominant side.
- Prepare for a kick by raising your knee.
- Now, transfer complete force into your knee and then your foot.
- Slightly lower your body posture and then extend your raised leg to the fullest.
- Finally, strike a kick with your ball of foot right at your opponent.
You can, indeed, make your opponent lose all the balance instantly.
4: Roundhouse Kick
The roundhouse kick is one of the dangerous and powerful karate kick combinations. A practitioner can practice low, medium, and high roundhouse kicks. Additionally, you can use it for self-defense and in competitions. Moreover, to make it more influential, you can use elbow strikes, punches, and knee kicks along with the actual technique.
How to Deliver Roundhouse Kick:
- Chamber your leg. The leg should be perpendicular to the target.
- Twist your hips over and start turning the leg for the strike.
- Use your muscles and release the kick while maintaining your perfect balance.
- Put all the movements together.
- Add maximum force and speed to your kick. The more the force the better the kick will be.
5: Upper Rising Block
How can we complete our karate kicks and punches without mentioning karate blocks? You can dodge your opponent with a perfectly achieved block. The upper rising block can dodge many types of karate kick such as axe kicks, hammer punches, and other deadly attacks as well. Moreover, you can protect yourself by blocking coming kicks and punches.
How to Deliver an Upper Rising Block?
- First of all, place your blocking arm at your stomach while opening your palm.
- Now, step forward and bring your blocking leg forward.
- While stepping forward, lift your blocking arm above your head. It should be parallel to the floor.
- Now, make a strong first and twist your arm outward.
- This is your blocking stance and now you can deflect coming punches and kicks.
You can even transform the blocking position into an attacking one.
6: Middle Block
The middle block is another important block to mention in our list of karate kicks and punches.
- Lift your blocking arm and place it perpendicular to the floor.
- The palm of your hand should be towards you or you can make a tight fist as well.
- Now, bring your blocking arm in front of your chest. While doing so, make sure your other arm is beside your hip with a tight fist.
- Now, you can dodge any coming kicks or punches.
This blocking position can even become a deadly attack if landed calculatedly.
Conclusion:
Karate is one of the most learned and powerful fighting systems. You can always start learning some basic kicks at home with proper knowledge and repetitive practice. It’s never too late to start learning karate kicks and punches as one can gain a lot of benefits from it.
We have mentioned some of the basic karate stances, punches, kicks, and blocks. Learning them can certainly make you a good fighter. But don’t expect to become an expert because you can’t reach the professional level by only practicing at home. If you want to be an expert karate fighter, get proper training in karate kicks and punches.
