Traditional and sport
Kumite principle
Go-no-sen 後の先
Late initiative — block, then counter
What it is
In plain words
The opponent attacks; the attack is received; the counter follows. The initiative is taken back after the attack has committed. It is the first of the three initiatives taught, because it is the only one that can be practised safely from the beginning.
7 points
How it is taught.
The trigger that starts it, the distance and timing it needs, the decision it represents, and what it costs when it is wrong.
- Trigger
- A committed attack, already launched.
- Mechanics
- Receive — block, parry or evade — and counter into the opening the attack has left. The block and the counter are consecutive beats, not two exercises.
- Distance
- Whatever the attacker chose. The defender is working inside a distance somebody else set, which is the cost of this initiative.
- Timing
- After the attack commits, before it recovers. That window is the whole technique.
- The decision
- Chosen when the opponent’s attack cannot be pre-empted, or when their pattern is not yet known.
- The risk
- It concedes the initiative and therefore the distance. Against a fast opponent with good recovery, the window may not open at all.
- Application
- The foundation of gohon, sanbon and kihon ippon kumite, and the initiative every student learns first.
2 faults
Common errors, and how to fix them.
Fault
A pause between the block and the counter.
Why it happens. Practising them as two techniques.
The fix. Insist on consecutive beats. If the attacker has recovered, it was too slow.
Fault
Blocking hard and staying put.
Why it happens. Treating the block as the answer.
The fix. The block finishes with the hips loaded; the counter uses that loading.
Practice
Drills
- Kihon ippon kumite with the counter required before the attacking hand returns to guard.
- Block-counter on a partner throwing at unpredictable intervals.
Kumite ↔ kihon ↔ kata
What it connects to.
Techniques
- Age-uke Rising block
- Soto-uke Outside block
- Uchi-uke Inside block
- Gedan-barai Downward sweep, low-level block
- Shuto-uke Knife-hand block
- Gyaku-zuki Reverse punch
Kata
- Heian Shodan Peaceful mind, first level
- Heian Nidan Peaceful mind, second level
- Bassai Dai To storm a fortress, major
3 terms
The Japanese, explained.
- Go-no-sen 後の先
- Late initiative. Receiving the attack and then countering. The initiative is taken back after the opponent has committed.
- Sen-no-sen 先の先
- Initiative ahead of the initiative. Attacking into the opponent’s attack as it begins — after they have committed but before it lands.
- Tai-no-sen 対の先
- Simultaneous initiative. Meeting the attack at the same moment it is launched, so both techniques travel together and the better structure wins.