Sport karate is a combat sport which mainly utilizes strikes and blocks with upper or lower limbs. Contact is usually limited (e.g. punch must be controlled when attacking opponents´ head). However, some karate styles allow full contact. The original aim of karate was purely practical. It served people as a simple but effective self-defense system. For the sake of safety, sport karate has more limited array of techniques allowed by the rules than traditional karate. The aim of a karate match is to win by scoring points for striking the opponent with quality techniques.
Punch is one of the basic offensive techniques in karate. Punch is usually performed as a straight thrust of the arm. However, roundhouse (circular) versions also exist. The effectiveness of a punch is ensured by a sufficient speed, power, and especially by a controlled trajectory. The main striking surface is a so called seiken, the joints of a first and second metacarpus.
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Front kick inherently belongs to the basic karate techniques. The striking surface of the kick is usually a ball of the foot, the so called koshi. A very important element of the kick is lifting the knee up to the level of the waist, while the lower leg is pointing vertically downwards. After snaping the leg forward at the target, the leg moves swiftly back on the same trajectory in order to prevent the opponent from catching the leg or losing stability. A relative technical simplicity of the kick allows to attack all parts of the opponent´s body.
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Yoko geri, side kick, uses large muscle groups of the lower limb and is thus one of the most powerful means of attack in karate. The striking surface of a kick is usually the outer edge of the foot (sokutó) or heel (kakató). In order to kick, a knee is lifted up to the level of the waist and leg is thrust to the side, after which it retracts along the same trajectory.
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Mawashi geri, roundhouse kick, is a kick thrown at the opponent along the circular, outward and horizontal trajectory. The knee is brought up to the level of the waist, while the lower leg is positioned horizontally and the heel is pulled to the buttocks. Subsequently, the lower leg describes a circle forward. In a sport competition, an instep (haisoku) or lower shin is used as a striking surface. During the kicking, a supporting leg slightly rotates in the direction of hip rotation, so it stays in line with the knee as much as possible. Mawashi geri is a very popular kick in karate competitions. It is the highest scoring technique when led at the opponent´s head.
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