Miken waza in Kata?

Miken waza in Kata?

                First off let me say “NO, I don’t speak Japanese at all” I do however know “Karate terms and do use them in classes and when talking about Karate. The reason I do this is that I think it very important to keep Karate in the correct context of the Japanese culture and I think that it loses some of the context when we use English to describe it. The cultural and linguistic context or FEEL should be used as often as possible in teaching and training. Okay, that’s my two cents worth on why I do that.

                Now the other day I was chatting online with a person I will call a Kuchiolzuki Bushi or “Mouth warrior”. You know the kind of person and you probably train with a few but don’t know the context of what I am saying. The Kuchiolzuki Bushi is the guy that spouts off about things they don’t know about in Karate. They exaggerate their training understanding and they push the limits of the truth in the context of what they actually know.

                Let me be clear here, some Kuchiolzuki Bushi are very talented physically and they can DO Karate well, but they over step and over reach their bounds as intellectuals, historians or technical people. See doing a perfect Mawashi geri is great, but being able to describe it in the context of useful information or breaking it down to make it better…that’s a different thing. Knowing that Shotokan came from Funakoshi Sensei is much different than understating the synthesis that he undertook to actually create his system. Knowing who his teachers were is different than understanding what they probably taught him.

                Okay, so this mouth warrior was spouting off about the Miken Waza in Kata. He was saying that the Kata has hidden meanings and techniques that can be used for different things. His “research” concluded that the masters had hidden special techniques in the Kata for use in things like removing a person’s throat or a special technique for breaking a grip and then striking the persons wrist with a downward strike.  The problem is that, of course, the whole idea is just silly…..for several reasons.

                First issue with the whole idea of Miken Waza in Kata is that the “Masters” all admitted that the original Katas were taught WITH OUT Bunkai! This means that that the masters learned the movements for the Kata and were to INTERPERATE the Kata using their knowledge of Kihon.  Also, Funakoshi has spoken a lot about how he did not get trained in Kumite as we know it, he did what we would call one step sparring. So, no Bunai…how can there be hidden techniques without any knowledge of the very masters that passed on the Kata?

                Now some would look at this lack of Bunkai training of the masters as a mistake or over sight from their masters. I don’t! I think it was shear genius to not give them the “THIS IS THIS” or “THAT IS THAT” kind of break down. It forced them to think and to dig deep to find applications. However by not giving them a step by step application guide it also left room for Kuchoilzuki bushi to step in and ruin it with crap-kata-bunkai that drives me nuts. Also, it may be that the masters thought that it was so freaking obvious what was intended that they did not think it necessary to tell the students what they were doing. OR even better, Kata is Kata…they taught it as a whole, then they took the kata and broke down the Waza and taught it as application…the way they do it in the Kata…no Miken Waza just a block is a block and a punch is a punch. But some people just NEED to know stuff that no one else knows and feel special.

To me his telling me that there was Miken Waza and he knew the MYSTERY techniques was a lot like talking to a Christian about the Bible and them saying that their particular sect knows the true meaning of what a bible verse means. They are very intent on saying that a particular meaning is present but they have not a lot of basis to make that assertion. (that will piss a few people off but so what…get over it!).

                The other issue I have with this assertion is that most of the movements he was showing or talking about had to be altered significantly to make them work as Miken Waza often do. If you have a Bunkai (application) idea for the Kata and it does not follow the Waza of the Kata then its NOT from the Kata. Period…no more debate…end of story!  I Laugh so hard at people that say a particular move is “this or that” and yet the movement does not follow the Kata at all. For instance the movement in Empi were you  are opening your hand after Age Zuki and then stepping into Kosa dachi is not a throat grab and ripping of the throat out…its just NOT.

                Now, having said all of that I use Occams Razor A LOT in my bunkai study.  What the hell is Occams Razor you ask…well if you train with me you don’t ask that at all but I will humor those that don’t train with me. Occams Razor was a problem solving principle created by William of Ockham, an English Friar and scholar around 1287-1347. Essentially the theory states that when one is considering a problem first they must limit the number of plausible answers and then limit the field again based on tighter and stricter standards.

                So, how do I use this theory of reductive reasoning by logic when doing bunkai. Well first thing I do is I ask myself if the application has to alter the Kata movements to attain the outcome that is suggested…if yes I trash the whole Idea. Next I use my knowledge of anatomy and physiology to see if the suggested outcome is even plausible. If the answer is no then its trashed…what is left is a much more plausible field of useable bunkai.

                So, when the gent suggested that the movement ripped out the throat I laughed…Knowing a thing about anatomy and physiology and that I have never met a person that could actually remove a persons throat…yah I kind of think its Bunk not bunkai. Next the whole wrist thing in Empi had to include a great deal of alteration to the Kata and that automatically removed that one from the running to.

                Point being that often we are told about these mystical and super interesting applications or Miken waza and the person that is selling you that bit of fantasy is basically full of it. Be kind, nod and leave the conversation…unless you are an instigator like me and want to just push a few buttons.

                There are no Miken Waza, the obvious things you are doing is probably what the Kata is meant to be. Some may be a bit harder to see than others but the truth is, while I always agree that there are often multiple applications for a move…none of them are hidden!