Northwest Region - Shotokan Karate

The Many Faces of Kime

By J. Timothy Hanlon,M.D.

Introduction

    Over the centuries, pugilistic arts from many cultures have developed and emphasized various aspects of destructive power.  From the joint manipulation and choking techniques of ground based fighting methods to the agile body shifting and timing of aikido, each art has signature principles that have evolved as central to the discipline.  Shotokan Karate, with special emphasis on that system developed and nurtured by the Japan Karate Association (JKA), has as a central theme, the concept of “todome” or killing blow.  Requisite to this concept is the development and application of kime (focus).

    Kime, or focus, is defined as the near instantaneous delivery of maximal force to a specific target utilizing mental and physical power, such that localized destruction of the target is resultant.  Assuming that the target is appropriate and the blow properly focused (kime) on the target, incapacity is produced in the opponent.

Physical Principles

    Synchronized, well-practiced techniques that utilize larger to smaller muscle groups in an appropriate sequence must be learned through years of supervised practice.  The development of kime also requires instantaneous and simultaneous contraction of these same muscle groups in concert with the abdominal and back musculature timed to the contraction of the pelvic and respiratory diaphragms at impact.  Such activation of these muscle groups and diaphragms at the moment of impact combined with rigid connection to the floor through a well-developed stance is termed kime (focus).

     Seasoned and mature karateka can achieve kime times as short as 50-100 milliseconds with a sharp initial impact wave followed by successive “reverberation” force waves resultant from rigid floor compression and stance and body connection at impact.  The ability to provide such short contraction times that deliver energy in millisecond time frames results in potentially devastating power but requires decades of training, study and practice to develop.  This is basic kime.

Mental Aspects

    Obviously, the coordination of such physical technique requires mental discipline and repetition over many, many years.  Only with an attentive mind and thoughtful instruction does such technique develop through constant study and practice.  Without such profound mental discipline karate does not grow.

    Another component of the mental aspect is the mental focus of energy at the moment of kime, which permits the projection of energy into the target more precisely and powerfully.  Such highly developed projection of mental energy during kime allows for feats such as the breaking of specific boards in a stack, as has been demonstrated by Kanazawa Sensei.  An understanding of this mental projection of energy begins to occur only after many decades of training with an active open mind.  Its development, combined with strong physical kime, defines advanced kime.

The Punch

Comparison of the traditional boxers’ punch with gyaku-zuki provides some illustration.  The circular course of some boxing punches is designed to cause rapid acceleration of the skull and as a result is usually not focused.  When the boxer’s fist contacts the face or jar of an opponent it continues to move at high speed through the target (follow through) resulting in rapid acceleration of the skull.  The brain, at rest with its own inertia, is struck by the back side of the accelerating skull and then rapidly moves forward, “catching up” and striking the opposite side of the skull (contra-coup injury). Utilizing the rotational aspect of the boxers’ circular punches places a lateral torsion or rotation (spin) on the skull with resultant additional shear forces on the contained brain.  Such brain acceleration and deceleration frequently results in loss of consciousness.  Autopsy studies have documented external structural changes in the brains of boxers, especially loss of basal sulci (ridges).

    In contrast, the karate punch is focused and lacks physical “follow through”.  The karate punch is designed to deliver maximal shock energy to a small target to cause local tissue injury, whether to a nerve, bone or abdominal viscera (liver, spleen etc.).  Delivery of energy occurs over a fraction of a second and as will be discussed below, will vary with the target choice.  Its purpose, however, is to disable the opponent by local tissue destruction with resultant incapacity of the opponent.

Kime Time and Depth Penetration

    Gyaku-zuki done with complete mental and physical kime striking the point of the jaw will result in shattered bone and likely loss of consciousness as a secondary effect.  Since the target is bone, kime time and depth penetration will be very short to impart maximal force per unit area to exceed the ability of the hard bony structure to maintain its structural integrity with resultant bony fracture.  In physics, the “ultimate strength” of the material has been exceeded.  However, when the target is the abdomen, force must be transmitted to the abdominal viscera (liver, spleen, pancreas, intestines) through the abdominal wall (skin, muscle, fat).  The visceral structure is soft, fluid-filled and lies a significant distance from the surface of the skin (in contrast to the bony jaw).  As a result, the kime duration must lengthen, and as the fist enters the abdominal cavity for a short distance, force must be mentally and physically projected into the abdominal cavity.  This type of force projection requires a greater depth of penetration and a longer kime time than a punch to a rigid, non-compressible jawbone.  A punch that will shatter bone may be too short in penetration and duration to achieve adequate force delivery within the abdomen.  It is intuitive to understand this concept, but in practice the extension of the duration of kime from 50-100 milliseconds, up to perhaps 300-500 milliseconds or longer must be trained and developed.  Coincidental to this is the need to physically extend the punch several inches deeper into the abdominal target than is necessary with bony attacks and to project strong mental energy into the opponent.  This type of kime is rather advanced and requires constant practice with longer kime times.  It also requires impact training and conceptual understanding of the use of body vibration to extend and project power. 

    Punching to the chest through the ribs represents another varied application of kime.  The initial impact is against bone but the target is the underlying structures (liver, spleen, lung, heart).  The kime time and distance are less than for abdominal attacks but more than for purely bony attacks (jaw, skull, etc.)  Two to three centimeters of penetration with intermediate kime (lock down, focus) times should be ideal and allow shock penetration and local tissue injury.  Experience has demonstrated that nerve attacks (generally where a nerve near the surface runs over bone) requires longer contact times to allow for complete absorption by the nerve of the applied energy (force).  Shorter kime times against nerves are generally ineffective.

Snap Back Punches

    The debate over snap-back punches will no doubt continue.  This analysis, however, does shed another light on the topic.  Though little question exists that experienced karateka can cause great damage with focused snap-back punches, the ability to develop the advanced and mature kime discussed in this article is severely if not completely limited by exclusively snap-back punching.  The prolonged kime times, various depths of penetration and utilization of mental energy to project power preclude only snap-back punch training.  To explore these other depths of advanced kime, rapid withdrawal of the fist is not productive, and in fact the development of proper mature kime requires lengthy basic study of the body dynamics and stance structure to deliver this focused energy.

Conclusion

    The evolution of karate from its Okinawan roots to modern karate has added timing and distance for which the Shotokan System is most respected.  But a departure from its martial roots has clearly been concurrent.  A deeper and more complete understanding of kime and its specific and varied aspects is central to the preservation of karate as a devastating martial art.  Recognition that kime has as many faces as there are targets to be attacked should now be intuitive.

    The destructive force that properly developed, target specific kime can achieve requires impeccable basic technique coupled with an understanding of these many faces of kime.

Acknowledgement:   The author appreciates the secretarial and grammatical assistance of his wife Judy in the preparation of this manuscript.