The Benefits of Makiwara Training - The Art of Makiwara - IV

I believe there is no need for additional reinforcement of an opening statement on this post and any that follow simply because it has been covered and would be redundant to repeat.

First Statement: "Resistance and Response are provided by the makiwara?"

Comment: Yes, a major function of the makiwara. If you have no resistance and receive no response from the training or practice then your not training or practicing. If you do something with intent incorrectly on the makiwara all things being equal the makiwara will return energy and power back into your body at that single and very small point, i.e. like the two fore-knuckles, that will cause pain, discomfort and possibly long-term damage.

Second Statement: "The makiwara can accommodate practice of open/closed hand strikes, kicks, knee strikes and elbow strikes?"

Comment: Yes, this is a few and you can do additional area's for body conditioning. The additions and the relevancy of them depends on the practitioner's goals in practice, training and application of the martial system.

Third Statement: "There are two types of makiwara named by location such as Shuri and Naha makiwara?"

Comment: Honestly, I have never heard of this before. I can say that I practice the art of the makiwara and never once found any reference to this naming convention until today while researching my statements for commenting. Apparently, like relating Shuri, Naha and Tomari to the more modern versions of karate we have the Shuri-makiwara being described and the Naha-makiware as another with slight differences in specifications. This one is open to anyone with any actual historical facts that would support the statement. I can tell you that I am inclined to accept the statement, in a very limited and broad fashion, as true until I find something that proves its inaccuracy.

In this particular post we covered three distinct areas of concern when researching whether a person would utilize the karate tool, the makiwara. The answers here and in following posts will help karate-ka determine their needs in pursuing the art of the makiwara.