KU Quick Tips - Rotation III: Tilted/Shifted Axis

In the third KU Quick Tip on rotation, I look at shifting or tilting the axis of rotation away from the usual vertical axis through our center in order to better align the body motion with the direction and angle of the energy transfer.

As traditional martial artists, we often maintain a very upright posture that is more a result of adherence to prescribed form than it is following natural functional movement patterns.

Maintaining a vertical posture while we rotate around a central axis does indeed push one side of our body forward as we rotate, but the other is then moving backwards. The result is that we do generate power with our rotation, but we're not utilizing the full weight of our body behind the movement. Shifting the axis of rotation (or as a matter of perspective, combining the rotation with a forward translation of the rotation axis) allows us to better use our entire mass.

Likewise, we often consider that the axis of rotation must be vertical, but allowing a tilt in the rotation axis can better align the direction of movement with the angle of the energy transfer.

Cody Stewart is a martial arts instructor of Koryu Uchinadi Kenpo Jutsu under Hanshi Patrick McCarthy. KU is a style of karate that utilizes impacting, clinch, throws, chokes, joint locks, and groundwork within a traditional Japanese budo framework. Emphasis is on civil self defense against habitual acts of physical violence (HAPV) and how all of the defensive themes are embodied in kata movements.