hikite

[B&D]

during lat night session I was told by another que grade(if thats the right spelling) that my hikite was not going back far enough to the hip. Where my fist was landing was the natural spot for me, should I be thinking of putting more of an effort into taking it back more or could it be that my hips were not twisting enough. Being broad at the shoulders does limit my twisting. I believe that sufficient power was put into the soto uke and it was effective. is the hikite a natural instinct or a thought processed move.

[JimmyTheHoover]

He He - probably depend who told you - if in doubt get one of your instructors to check it 

BTW - its Kyu 

Hikite - literally means "returning hand" - and it should eventually become a completely natural reaction-movement and not involve too much conscious thought process - but don't worry too soon 

Also - if your Hikite "feels natural" (and you haven't been training for several years) then it "probably" isn't "enough" unless you're one of the "naturals" 

Especially when blocking I find that it sometimes helps if you think of using the hikite arm/hand as grabbing an attacking limb and pulling it back hard to unbalance the attacker just before you use the "block" as an arm break 

HTH

Jim

EDIT: BTW - I don't think the "shoulder" build enters into the equation.....

[Moley]

Excellent question B&D...but one that could take a very long time to answer...
I hope I can try to explain clearly.
To begin with...Hikite is an excellent excercise ( training method) for developing kime !...once kime is developed many higher grades leave out the hikite hence the "Do as i say and not what i do" thing... (Think Bruce Lee and his one inch punch)

Going all the way back with the hikite hand also ensures that the punching hand also finishes with maximum impact.

It balances out the body movements and tucks things away neatly ready for the next attack.

Hikite is used in fighting, by grabbing an opponent and "pulling" him on to your attack. pulling is a more natural muscle actionr ather than pushing (i.e.) muscle fibres contract stronger than they relax.

(Mmm that's enough for now i think)