Tsuki gata is one of the first training forms that you learn in our dojo, as it unlocks the fundamentals that one needs to learn through experience all future techniques in the art.
As a new student tsuki gata teaches you about developing good form and correct structural habits, about getting and moving low in posture, and how to move the entire body as a unified whole. It also teaches you personally about distance- how far can you punch and still maintain correct posture and balance.
In class we often practice this form together by lining up and delivering a strike, while also exploring striking a punching mitt or other padded targets. From there various directions of striking with are explored- roppo and happo.
So how does tsuki gata set the foundation for learning the rest of the art?
Budo is about experiencing the movements from a living source, your teacher, seniors, and masters in the art. Having a waza done to you in a moment gives the feeling, a feeling that one needs to capture, and that feeling is captured by giving a good attack.
As uke, if you can deliver a solid, clean, and correct punch, a punch were tori has to get out of the way, has to apply waza correctly, that will create that feeling of what the waza is intended to do in that moment.
A feeling you now have to build, explore, and understand through the movement.