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	Stances Strikes Kicks Blocks/Counters The Kiai Kihon Roughly translated, "Kihon" means "basics" or "basic training." In karate and all the martial arts, repitition of the fundamental motions and techiques of the art are the only way to re-train the body to move seamlessly and automatically. The goal of every martial artist is to train the body to the point where he or she can perform the movemenst of the art without thinking, much the same way that we all walk up or down a set of stairs with little to no thought about or actions. Yet despite this automaticity, we masterfully and often gracefully navigate our way through the extremely complex function of climbing or descending a set of stairs nearly every day. Once the basic motion has become automatic the martial artist's mind becomes available to focus on some other aspect of the art (e.g., breathing) until that also becomes automatic, and the process of learning continues. This method of learning requires much time and repetition. As such, the majority of classtime is devoted to performing the basic motions - the kihon - of the art. We have listed five categories of kihon on the left. Click on each of the categories to learn more about the basic stances, strikes, kicks, and blocks/counters in Goju Karate. We have included pictures / video clips of each of the basic motions within these links.
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