One of the difficulties in karate is how to move in a fast and powerful way. Maybe we might learn a thing or two from a toddler. After all, toddlers can make very fast and unexpected movements that are hard to catch even for an expert karateka.
Take a good look at a toddler and youíll see why it can move so fast: it moves in a very simple way. If a toddler moves an arm, then the arm is all that gets moved. There's no initial movement. There are no accompanying movements as to generate more strength. It's simple. It's basic. And it's therefor hard to catch. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to move like a toddler?

But the obvious drawback is that toddlers hardly generate strength. A punch from a toddler isn't likely to knock you out. Is it?
Maybe simplicity in movement should be sought elsewhere....

In karate it is often said that one should 'move from tanden'. The tanden, sometimes referred to as seikatanden is located a few inches below the navel. If one speaks about 'moving from tanden' in the company of karateka, one is likely to receive nods and grumbled approvals: "yes, sure one should always move from tanden".
But if you ask HOW to move from tanden, many won't have an answer: "well... you should... er...um.....move from the abdomen! Yes?"
It appears there's in fact only few people that have a training system that truly incorporates 'moving from tanden'.

However, I don't think it's all that complicated. Simplicity is what counts. Less is more. 25 years of training have led me to believe all techniques, and I mean every technique as in 'no exception' should start with a contraction of the muscles in the lower abdomen, the seikatanden. Exactly the same as in coughing or a hiccup. You don't see a cough coming. Nor do you see a punch coming if it originates from seikatanden.

It may sound simple but it is very hard to do. How to train something so difficult?As a fresh father, I came up with a training method.


Take a toddler. Nice thing about toddlers is that they don't lie. That makes them very harsh teachers. If you don't have a toddler, borrow one. Or make one. But bear in mind it'll take some time for the toddler to reach the appropriate size.

Now lie on your back and put the toddler on your lower abdomen. The trick is to move the muscles in the lower abdomen in a powerful and sudden contraction. As a cough. If indeed you suddenly contract your lower abdomen, without first moving other bodyparts, the toddler will love it. The surprise of this sudden 'explosion' under his butt is an absolute delight. So the toddler will burst out laughing.








If, on the other hand, you move other bodyparts first, or are incapable of producing a sudden contraction, the toddler will keep sitting still.

















You will find that it is far from easy to entertain the toddler. And it takes a lot of muscle power too. Do this several times right, and next day your abdomen will ache with muscular pain. No kidding.Be careful with the toddler though. People tend to be sensitive about damaged toddlers.












And what's with the name? Why is it called a 'Noa' exercise?
Well, as often with good ideas, someone came up with it already centuries ago. There was this Okinawan monk by the name of Noaki Kamaritsu who ran a kindergarten............
No, just kidding.
Noa is the name of my first born, the one I did my first experiments with. But rest assured he is alive and well today.
Noa, as a name for the technique, is convenient. Every time I’m not able to find the right tanden-feeling in training, I think Noa! and wham, there I go. I hope you will too, next training..........

Igor Asselbergs
1/3/2002



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