Big Wheel

 

In general, in the ancient martial arts, step by step teaching methods are

employed and the master moves his pupils from one stage to the next after

carefully observing their character and ability. Even though styles may

be quite similar, instruction in the oral tradition can result in one learning

the more powerful and dangerous aspects or secrets of a move. In the Hazuki

Style, these are called the Innermost Secrets and are not usually imparted to

young people such as Ryo, but because Ryo was to be the next generation master

of the style, his father Iwao made an exception and taught a few to Ryo.

The Big Wheel is a powerful variation of the Elbow Slam. Whereas the Elbow

Slam is executed from close quarters, the Big Wheel is aimed at the opponent's

collarbone, with a diagonal blow struck after the practitioner closes in. The

move does not involve a simple swinging of the arms, but is executed with a

headlong dash as though the entire body were rotating forward, which gives

devastating results.

Move Origins

The Big Wheel has its origins in the Kyokushin style of karate. Kyokushin karatekas frequently make use of this punch due to the ruleset forbidding punches to the head. Not only can this punch break the opponent's collarbone, it also gives a similar opening to head-body combinations in other martial arts by drawing attention upwards and leaving the lower body vulnerable.

Roman Nesterenko using the Big Wheel in clinching range to setup combinations.

Fans of Street Fighter might also recognize this move as Ryu's Collarbone Breaker.

 

Oral Traditions and Secrets

Japanese schools of martial arts (ryūha) were very secretive in general to maintain the element of surprise in battle. They often reserved techniques and weapons training from the public eye during demonstrations. They even hid certain teachings from their own students and only taught them to the most senior students who had been with the school for years. All of this was done to prevent a student from a rival school acting as a double agent and learning their secrets. In the most extreme cases, these teachings were only taught to the inheritor of the ryūha, as Iwao did for Ryo in this case.