Forming the karate fist (seiken)

Forming the karate fist (seiken)

1. Start from your little finger and bend the fingers in half, one finger at a time.
2. Once the fingers are folded in half, start from the little fingers and roll the fingers, one at a time into a full karate fist, make sure the thumbs are tight and in position, as in the video.
3. If you look at your closed fist with the palm towards you, try to get the fist so you cannot see your finger nails.
4. Keep the wrists straight when seiken is formed.
5. Pull the finger knuckles in towards the palm as much as possible.

There are other types of karate fist, but Seiken or fore-fist, is the first fist we practice in Shotokan karate.

First used for choku zuki (straight punch)

Try not to get discouraged if you feel you cannot make a good fist, it sometimes takes a little time to be able to form the correct karate fist.