Further to my article about sokumen awase uke in sanseiru, I promised to write another blog about the "other" sokumen awase uke in karate. Here it is. For the sake of convenience I have referred to it as "sokumen te awase uke" - since it involves more of the palm and less of the forearm. I considered calling it "sokumen nagashi uke" however I use "nagashi" for different purposes (sweeping sideways).
Here is a video about the block. Sorry about the sound quality - but I filmed it mid-way through a lesson tonight. The rest of the class were busy on bunkai of other kata.
In relation to the seiyunchin version, note carefully the lifted front foot: this functions to put immediate pressure on the opponent. Given that the tenshin (evasion) or taisabaki (body movement) is directly in towards your opponent you have to be quick. Lifting the front foot and letting your weight fall forwards is the quickest way to put pressure on the opponent.
The deflection utilises an "upward circle", and the lifted foot helps this aspect as well. In this respect the kata is very xingyi-like; xingyi uses upward and downward circles to deflect while it moves forwards and backwards in a linear path. There are many examples of this kind of upward or downward deflection in seiyunchin prompting me to wonder whether seiyunchin is not influenced/partly descended from xingyiquan (despite its shikos etc.).
The way I learned my Seienchin is to quickly bounce the body forward and use the saluting hands to shoot out a strike at the head or upper chest of the opponent and to block the opponent's striking hand at the same time. There is another move related to this, that is to use the left hand to grip the right hammer fist and quickly bounce forward to land the hands as a forward back fist to the head and/or upper chest of the opponent.
