Asai Sensei says that in true original martial arts there is no flamboyancy, no unneccessary movements. He says that there should be one attack that "finishes" your opponent. When Asai Sensei attacks his opponent, if his first attack does not stop his opponent, then the oponent will be "finished" by Asai Sensei's second attack. Opponents of Asai Sensei do not see his attack, however, they only see the Zanshin of his thunderous storm-like attack. (Zanshin is the term used to describe the ending posture of an attack.)

It is imposible to know when and where Asai Sensei's technique will come from.

An essential element of Asai Sensei's technique is that it follows no specific rythym. This disables his opponents from finding his timing or the rythym of his attack. It is for this reason that Asai Sensei's attack has no specific beginning and no specific ending. This means that he is capable of attacking at anytime, in any situation and from any angle using the joint techniques we discussed earlier. Once we see this it is easy to understand why his nickname was "Thunderous Storm". There is a method of breathing, that Asai Sensei uses, which is closely related with the movement method. In an exaggerated way, you must stop, or hold down your breathing while you train. Because if you stop your breathing, your muscles will tense, and you will loose your softness. So you must train to maintain your softness when you hold down your breathing, breathing as little as possible. So, Asai Sensei trains for 10 minutes while holding down his breathing.

First let's try it:

For the sake of readers who are finding it difficult to follow Asai Sensei's ideas,we will illustrate some of them here.

Picture A:
Use the knee to attack the pressure point which is one inch behind the elbow.

Picture B+C:
The inside or outside of the knee can he attacked two inches above the knee.


Asai Sensei's movement stems out from the softness of his joints and his knowledge of all the joints. However, this cannot be demostrated in the pictures. Also, you cannot know which part of his body is using the softness technique. So, at this time we ask Asai Sensei to demonstrate this unusual Karate.

Pictures A-D :
The opponent punches jodan tsuki. The defender pulls in the attacking punch while, with the right heel, pulls quickly the attackers left leg, setting it straight on the flloor. Then Asai Sensei, using his left knee, pushes the opponent's pressure point on the inside of the opponent's left knee (gently, for demostration purposes). Then, Asai Sensei pushes his opponent's body towards its weekest direction.


Asai Sensei's power does not originate from one source. He makes his whole body and his joints very soft and supple. This gives him back power, leg power, hip power, plus the powever he can generate from the snap of his elbows and shoulders. All of these sources are at his disposal, and he will use them naturally, without any wasted energy, depending on each situation.

Pitures E-H :
Using the whipping technique, Asai Sensei deflects his opponent's gyaku tsuki. Then, that same deffenssive move, becomes a whip like attack to the opponent's Carotid Artery, the side of his neck. And last using his arm he pushes the attacker down to the floor. Pictures I−Ｌ:
You step back in order to perform a technique, however, not for escaping. You have to maintain the pressure of your intention forward. Then you must enter your opponents guard, grab the shoulder and elbow joint, and then push them in the weak direction. You have to recognize the correct pressure point positioning of your opponent.

Pictures M-P:
Grabing your opponent's Jodan tsuki you turn the body and pull through and throw. Here, you use the opponent's speed to turn it against them. At that time, do not tighten your body. If you keep your body soft, you can use a little bit of movement to destabalize your opponent's center of gravity.

Pictures Q-T:
Use your right leg to block your opponents kick. Without putting your leg down kick your opponent in the groin area. This is the application of the 7-jointed whipping technique of the leg.. Asai Sensei can attack the groin area from any direction in any situation. It is the most simple yet the strongest technique.

Picture U-X:
As your opponent attacks chudan tsuki, enter his guard by countering his timing. Grab his right arm while with empi, using the fist and elbow, push his throat and arm down, in a take down fashion. If you do not know the pressure points you will have to use a lot of power for this technique. However, if you know the vital pressure points, your opponents will fall down with minimal effort.

Due to time limitations we must stop here and hope that, from now on, you can follow Asai Sensei's deep technique and write about them in upcoming issues.