Question Hi
I am age 70 and am having difficulty with the jump in heian godan in terms of height of jump,depth of landing and stability.Would appreciate any tips to help me.
Many Thanks
Tony
Answer Hello Sir,
I am pleased that you're enjoying Karate at your age. Many people enjoy Karate into old age but not many people take it up later in life, so you're doing a great job in my opinion if you're at the stage of learning Heian Godan. You must have learned the first 4 Heian Kata to some extent already, and this is great progress - well done.
Dynamic training can be dangerous for someone of your age so I have to stress that you MUST be careful and only train within your limits.
Having said that, if you feel you can safely train without risking injury, then go for it. To get height, swing your right leg up hard and use this momentum to carry your body up. Then pull both legs in tight to get height above the ground.
As for depth of landing, the correct depth is to have the knees bent the same amount as in front stance - i.e. not particularly deep! The back should be straight (though bent at the waist slightly) so that the wrists cross at about hip height.
Jumping higher can injure your back. Landing deeper places great strain on your knees and can cause injury.
There is one other important thing to consider: What is the jump for? In my (and many others') opinion, jumps in kata signify the throwing of an opponent. In the case of the jump in Heian Godan, the preparation for the jump is obviously the preparation for a throw. So in application, you don't leave the ground, your opponent does. Therefore, height and depth are not for practical purposes, but only for training the body.
Bottom line - YOU are responsible for your OWN training and your OWN health and safety. Don't let any instructor allow you to believe that you have to jump a certain height or land a certain depth if this in any way places your health at risk.
