Koshi no kaiten
腰の回転
Hip rotation, the source of the power of strikes, kicks and throws. In karate it is practised in every basic technique.
Quick Facts
Word breakdown
Definition
Koshi no kaiten (腰の回転) means “turning of the hips”: koshi are the hips, kaiten is turning. It is not the name of a technique but a description of a movement, explained in the Japanese martial arts for almost every technique: the power of a strike comes not from the arm alone but from the turning of the hips and pelvis, which is transferred through the trunk into the arm or leg. In karate the hip rotation is taught in kihon with gyaku-zuki, where the hips start the movement and the arm completes it, and with the pulling hand hikite. In judo the same hip movement is the essence of the koshi-waza throws.
Relations to other terms
See also
Pulling hand. In karate the arm drawn back to the hip during a strike or block, in judo the hand that holds and pulls the opponent's sleeve.
Koshi-waza腰技A group of judo throws in which the attacker's hips serve as the support and axis of the throw. The Kodokan lists ten techniques in it, for example o-goshi.
Hara腹The belly, in martial arts chiefly the lower belly as the body's center of gravity. The point below the navel is seika tanden, the Japanese counterpart of the Chinese dantian.