Age Uke Upper Block Stepping

One of the first blocks practiced in karate classes, is age uke or upper rising block.

It should be noted that karate blocks can also be used as attacks.

In this article and video tutorial, we are going to go through the movement rather than the applications of Age-uke.

Once you have been shown a karate move, it is possible to take your karate to the next level by using books, videos and podcasts, which will enable you to learn karate at home alongside your dojo practice.

Age uke stepping forward and backwards
1. Start from a left gedan barai position
2. The initial movement forward starts with the front knee pushing forward, as the knee pushes everything else starts to move forward.
3. Keep the same height as you step up to the half way position, opening the left hand and placing the arm in the age uke position.
4. At the half way point the knees should be bent and back straight, feet slightly apart. (unless you practice feet together at this point)
5. As uyou start to step forward with the right leg, the left hand stays and the left elbow drops slightly as you bring the right arm up and form an X shape in front of your chin approximately.
6. At this point the left hand is palm down and the right back of the fist is facing away from you.
7. You should now be at the three quaters through the step and your body is square (shomen).
8. As you complete the block, rotate the right blocking arm strongly so the palm is facing forward and at the same time, the left Hikite arm rotates strongly and stops the same time as the blocking arm. The blocking arm moves upward at a 45 degree angle, so the right arm feels like you are punching 45 degrees up to the left side of your body.
9. As the arms complete, the body and hips go from the Shomen (square facing) position to the Hanmi (side facing) position.

Once you have this technique you can then move onto combinations using age uke, take things slowly, especially working on shomen and hanmi when using age uke in a combination.