In keeping with the theme of naihanchi being an ultra-versatile kata composed of general-purpose movements, the one kick in the exercise is actually interpretable as several different types of kick or footwork:
- avoidance of a low strike/sweep
- a low, stamping kick to either knee
- a low, angled side kick to the inside of a knee
- a stomp/step onto a foot
I typically don't try to demonstrate applications of these kicks when practicing naihanchi, although I will occasionally do a crossover stomp with the oblique hammers into the jawline. I'm gonna have to practice this along the lines of some of my commentators that suggested that by changing your angulation you could do that same crossover stomp from your right leg to their left leg (I usually think about a crossover stomp going from my right to his left).
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Patrick Parker
