Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)
The true principle taught by the Isshinryu tate-ken is structure. the structure of the hand, wrist and forearm. It is taught by chambering the fist at the hip and then using a natural rise to strike at the center of an adversary's body at approximately the solar plexus area, i.e., depending on one's height vs. an adversary's height, etc.
The control of the tate-ken comes when one learns to apply that to any number of strikes controlled by one's elbow, upper arm and shoulder girdle. Depending on the positioning of those parts, assuming structural integrity, it will rotate ones tate-ken to any number of positions as determined by targeting. This is one reason why the common rotating strike is still just a version of the tate-ken, i.e., its integrity and structure depends on how well the structure of the tate-ken is maintained, i.e., the structure of the hand, wrist and forearm.
Using the rotating strike to its most effective means structure integrity and stabilization that comes from the tate-ken. I believe that because of the tate-ken's importance to all fist strikes, punches, etc., that Tatsuo-san decided to focus on teaching that principle using the tate-ken with the rising punch. Where the first-gen's failed is not taking it beyond that strike and then making it a symbol for the Isshinryu system and then furthering the mistaken concept to a unique and singular way to use the hand in fist form to strike and punch.
The structure and stability of the hand/fist, wrist and forearm are what make the fist useful against soft targets keeping in mind that the fist alone is vulnerable simply because the hands many bones are fragile when the structure hits harder targets ergo why boxers use tape and gloves and violence professionals depend on a lot more than the fist.
Isshinryu has made the tate-ken into something far more than it was meant to be, a simple tool necessary to make just one small part of your arsenal effective, especially in self-protection where a broken hand can result in a lot of those tools going away when you need them most.
For reference and sources and professionals go here: Bibliography (Click the link)
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