Tsuki
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Tsuki, is the Japanese word for 'thrust,' written with the kanji (突), coming from the verb tsuku (突く), meaning 'to thrust.' When transliterated into English, it is a homonym with the Japanese word for moon, but is written with a different kanji.
[edit] Kendō
Tsuki is one of the five strikes in kendō (along with men, do, hidari kote and migi kote). It is a point thrust toward the neck, aiming at cutting a carotid artery. In combat with a live blade, the opponent would then bleed to death. Unlike most other martial arts that use this term, in kendō, tsuki is a comprehensive term that also designates the movement, the target, and the protection that covers the throat. The kiai for this strike, unlike other strikes in kendō, is not the name of the target (the neck, or kubi) but rather the name of the attack (tsuki).
Tsuki may be performed by either the left (katate-dzuki, 片手突き) or both hands. The right-handed katate-dzuki is unorthodox, and shortens the striking distance for the attack as the right hand is positioned higher on the hilt of the shinai (bamboo sword) than the left. It is typically disallowed for persons under university age and the rank of shodan to use this attack in practice.
The attack is performed with a subtle twist of the blade through ninety degrees to the right such that the back of the shinai faces right. This stabilizes the thrust and centres the blade without much effort. Since in a standard chūdan kamae the blade should already be pointing at the opponent's throat, a minimum of movement is required to effect the thrust. When thrusting, attention should especially be paid to the position of the left hand. The grip should be firm as in a typical kendō grip, but the palm should be rotated to face downwards, and there should be a minute push downward while thrusting forward. While this leaves the left wrist in a rather overextended position, it is essential to the accurate placing of the shinai on the opponent's centre line.
While variants of tsuki exist in other martial arts, in kendō it has no variants; the target is always the same.
[edit] Karate, its variants, and other arts
In karate and its variants, tsuki is used generally as a part of a compound word for any one of various punches, and virtually never stands alone to describe a discrete technique. (note that in a compound word, where tsuki does not come first, its pronunciation and writing changes slightly; this is transliterated as zuki)
Some examples of use for basic techniques include:
- Choku-zuki; used for 'Straight Punch,' although it literally translates to 'direct thrust.'
- Gyaku-zuki; used for 'Reverse Punch,' although it literally translates to 'reverse thrust.'
Other arts, including throwing- and grappling-oriented styles such as jūdō, jūjutsu, or aikidō, also often use this terminology to describe such an attack.
In the jōjutsu practiced in many systems of aikidō (most notably the Iwama style aikidō of the late Saito Morihiro Shihan), tsuki is used literally as part of the name of numerous thrusting techniques with the jō.
