Shouting in martial arts

I don't yell, just exhale heavily.

It does sometimes come out as a grunt or growl, not done intentionally though.

 

Good point.

Kind of like biofeedback, yelling in a confident manner can make you feel more confident, to a small degree.

 

What he said.

My TKD teacher once said we could shout Ice or Ti but not to scream Ice Tea....

 

I always wanted to shout 'ANUS' in the middle of a kata, just to annoy my po-faced and self regarding sensei. Never had the guts to actually do it though, just left that school.

 

Shout something crazy and they may hesitate more thinking what and then you hit them.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7InIZNv5Vg"]YouTube - Bobby HIll going Nuts[/ame]

 

Here in China, some styles shout: Ha~~ Ya~~~ Za~~~~

Some argue that this kind of shouting is no good for the qi, those adapt either a silent version or make sounds without opening the mouth.

Then there are of course situations where shouting would be disastrous. In stealth combat etc.

 

Possibly it was for those situations when the sentry or whoever THINKS he saw you, but he's not sure, so he comes closer to investigate. You yell, he's startled, you kill him.

 

Ahhh but it could be deception

- you are a ninja

- you shout

- the emery thinks "He can't be a ninja - he just shouted"

- then you ninja his a$$...

 

Possibly. But I'll bet you one Occam's Razor that shouting simply didn't originate in ninjutsu.

 

Might be one of the many theatric elements tacked onto the character of the traditional asian arts in order to appear more intense than you actually are. Actually, I'm pretty sure that's it.

 

Ha, me either, I have been getting better at remembering to shout though. I have found it does give a bit more power to your strikes.

 

Cool, I am going to shout "WHO'S YA DADDY"

 

How about POO?

 

Ai-Ya

 

If you have to remember to do it, don't bother.

Kiai is supposed to be natural. They train people so hopefully the will get some inkling of what is going on. Not because they want people to mentally think "I must kiai at the same time I perform a movement".

I tell you what. I am in a supremely generous mood at the moment. You want to know the easy way to understand what I am talking about and what Kiai is about? Do you have a dog?

Go to your dog and make it bark. While it is barking, watch it's butthole. Seriously.

What you see will explain to you what Kiai is about, what it is for, and what I mean about it being natural.

 

No.

Most of what we do is only natural after a period of being unnatural. And, while analogies to the actions of animals are all the rage in martial arts, they're unrealistic. We're people. We reason, where animals are more dependent on instinct. So, when we need to cultivate instinct, we have to go through reason first. Meaning we have to try and remember until we internalize the practice.

As for staring at a dog's bum, you're on your own there.

 

Staring at my dog's bum beats reading those posts.

 

actually ap, regardless of how jinkan put it across, he does have a bit of a point, as the kiai as performed in karate (audible yell or no audible yell) is, when performed properly, used to maximize intra-abdominal pressure in order to solidify your "root" and lead with your center of gravity/hara/dan tien when you move your body, as well as affirming structure in your torso. it's basically the same thing the goju guys do when they do the ibuki breathing during sanchin training, but explosive instead of sustained, and requires raising of the pelvic floor (including tightening of the sphincter), to prevent your abdominal pressure from being released downwards through your sphincter (which, if you ask the okinawan sensei, apparently gives you massive hemorrhoidal bleeding) instead of upwards through your breathing.

 

Yeah but who feels like kiai is natural when they first start ma. I never. it felt very unnatural at first. It comes naturally later.

 

Well sure. But it's not like that's a natural act for a person. And if they just stop thinking about it too much and take their cue from a dog's backside, they'll just be able to kiai with the best of them.

It's a technique. A breathing technique, but a technique all the same. We learn it as an intellectual exercise, then we internalize it into instinct. Telling someone that they don't get it because they're thinking about it isn't terribly constructive.