Sport Karate and the down fall of traditionalism

Sport Karate and the down fall of traditionalism

By J.James

 

            As of late I have been talking a lot about sport karate vs traditional training or Budo style training and how it’s not a good idea to change your views and practice in training. Ironically I have been doing this as we are now part of a provincial Karate group that does a lot of WKF Karate training.

The thing that has bothered me is how this involvement in sport has change the way that traditional Karate people are training and they are creating a new tradition and new mentality in their training, and I am actually not a fan of this. Also the “Sport” style is a merging of styles…again, not a fan of this practice….next the sport body now gives out Dan ranking…again…not a fan of this. I love watching different styles like Goju, Uechi and Shito do their Kata, but the idea that they should all compete against each other in a Kata competition is ludicrous and silly.

I have to explain that I am a traditionalist and I was trained and programed to view Karate as a specific and traditional art. Because of this I have a hard time watching Karate change, I admit it…it’s very hard for me to watch WKF stuff and view it as nothing more than TAE KWON DO, which in itself is not wrong, but the whole thing is a bit of a slap in the face to traditionalists because we pride ourselves on repeated aesthetics that make our style unique. The sport Karate tries to create a generic system that allows all styles to participate but in my mind it causes a “Vanilla” version of Karate.

If you think that this sounded harsh towards the WKF rules, well wait for it. The interpretation of Kumite by the WKF rules is a total divergence from the traditional intent of Kumite and by definition the WKF rules are NOT Karate…which is why Tae Kwon Do fighters often, as in the case of Karate Team Canada, end up on the “Karate team”.  I am not saying that they are not athletic, the WKF athletes are in great shape and can move fast, but the rules that they play with is creating generic version of Karate that waters down or sands down the corners that create the uniqueness of each style. Have you ever watched a Goju person do one of their Kata or a Uechi person perform their Kumite. Its very distinct and very beautiful, how about a Shotokan person doing Kumite or doing Kata…again, a very beautiful aesthetic is created. Now train them to all move the same, turn on a weird TKDesk side stance and kick box for points…not so beautiful anymore.

The bouncy stuff aside, using the Sport Karate rules of needing to make multiple points takes away from the ideology of traditional Shotokan Karate! So what exactly are the difference and why between Shobu Ippon style tournaments and the WKF tournaments. Well let’s look at the rules first and by the rules I want to first explore the Kumite part…then the Kata and you will see how it changes the soul of Budo Karate, then we will define the Sport Karate world vs the Budo Karate world!

      In Traditional Shotokan tournaments or Shobu Ippon tournaments the participant is looking for the perfect technique, the application of perfect timing, power, control, distance and correct movement to create the feeling of “ikken hissatsu” or one punch one kill. The idea is that one movement earned you the fight, your reverse punch to the face/body was so sufficiently created that your fight would be over in real life. You have reached perfection in your technical application.

      To be fair the JKA and many traditional tournaments do use a “Sanbon Shobu” event or “first to two points” kind of set up for some events, but the more traditional is the Shobu Ippon or perfect one point event. To score a point the attack must “land” or be targeted to Jodan or Chudan (Head or body) and points are equal if you target the head or the body. The movement must have the following criteria; proper execution of power, distance, timing and correct posture, concentrated mind and spirit and proper frame of mind and execution to the proper target.

      You can get an Ippon also if you counter powerfully, knock your opponent off balance, you catch your opponent so well that they cannot defend themselves or you use a combination and all the attacks land. You can also put together two ½ points or Waza-Ari into a full Ippon to win the match.

If the techniques are not perfect, lack some of the requirements the attacker may be issued a Waza-ari or half point. Because of these rules the Ippon focus makes the individuals focus more on execution of the perfect technique over just throwing massive amounts of unfocused techniques at their opponent. The idea is striving for better Waza and the perfection of the mind and body in doing so. Sounds kind a hookey but its true, that’s what Kumite should be.

Now WKF rules are a lot different, First off you can score an Ippon which is worth 3 points, a Waza ari worth 2 points or a Yuko worth one point. How you score these points is very different. Yes you need good form, sporting attitude, vigorous application, good timing and distance but Ippon is only awarded for a throw or fallen opponent or a head kick! Waza ari is scored with Chudan kicks and the Yuko are given for punching or striking……never mind if they are perfect or not. In order to win you must have a “Clear lead of eight points” or the time runs out, then the person with the highest number of points wins.

When you are doing the WKF rules you are trying essentially to tag your partner more than they tag you, and use techniques that are more flashy and exciting like head kicks to do so or sweeps and throws then tag your partner so you can gain more points. The focus is taken away from perfection of form and functionality and put towards scoring points. Watching the WKF rules tournament I can say that the focus is definitely removed from perfection of Waza and replaced with a tag style mentality. Also, some of the competitors score a higher amount of points then play keep away to run out the time for the match; both of which take away from the true Budo spirit of Kumite.

 

      Kata competition is another world as well. With Kumite I can see opponents from different styles competing against each other…Kumite is Kumite after all. However we now run into a different issue in judging Kata. I have been doing Karate for 37 years (maybe a bit longer) and I can confidently tell you that I have no hope of judging a Goju Ryu Kata or Uechi Kata with any kind of confidence or competence!  I also may feel that I can recognize different Kata from Shito and a few other styles but I have no business judging a person’s form in a style that is different than my own, nor does a Goju, Shito or Uechi person have any business judging a Shotokan guys Kata.

The JKA outlines 10 major criteria for judging Kata and right off the hop they basically say you need to KNOW the kata to judge the kata. The first criteria is proper sequence of movements. If you have never studied the Kata then you don’t know if they are doing the right movements! Goju/Uechi/Shito practitioners that do Kata at the WKF training level have a plethora of Kata open to them that I have never seen or trained in and I would not feel comfortable judging these kata.

The next few criteria for Kata in JKA rules tournaments are athletic in nature; levels of strength, Contraction and expansion of the body and proper seep, power and accuracy of technques, posture, balance, stance and accuracy of use of the “weapons”. Flow and synchronization during team kata all make up the basic criteria for the Kata. Watching JKA kata for me is also a form of dramatization of the characteristics for each Kata. Empi needs to look different than Jion ext. I personally love good Shotokan Kata, its dynamic, explosive and shows great form….and its something I am used to. I get very uncomfortable watching other styles Kata as I know I am critical of them and bias against them, and I also don’t see the aesthetics I am looking for in the Kata.

WKF Kata rules are much the same but there are issues with the application of the Kata rules. First off, and most importantly….the competitors can choose from any of the Ryu Ha style Kata. And I have seen Shotokan style competitors start dipping into different Ryu ha kata in an attempt to stand out as different. The result is a “Shotokanized Goju Kata” or other styles Kata. This looks strange to both Shotokan and the other Ryu Ha’s membership. My feeling is that you should be selecting from your own styles Kata base and not trying to do a different Ryu Ha’s Kata. Also, I know of several “Shotokan” style members who do only Kumite and don’t even know a Kata from their own Ryu ha….you are not a black belt in Shotokan if you cannot do Shotokan kata! Nuff Said on that!!

To score points in Kata performance for WKF you need proficiency in three different areas. First is conformance…..Are you doing the standard Kata from an accepted Ryu Ha! In other words did you pick a kata or make one up! The WKF traditionally has been very lenient in this regard. If you pick a known Kata or can demonstrate it comes from “SOME” group then you can do it. The old required Kata are out the window and now you can do almost any Kata….regardless of your back ground.

Technical Performance is Much more important than picking an appropriate Kata! The judges look at stance, techniques, Transitions, timing, correct breathing, focus and Technical difficulty….like diving! So as long as you look great…..you get points. Next up and more important to WKF in my view is the Athletic performance. The “performer” must show proper strength, speed, balance and rhythm. Never mind that they don’t know the Kata the judges will look at what kind of athlete you are while doing the Kata.

Having watched high end JKA competitors and regional competitors as well as WKF rules competitors the two things that I can say about Kata competition is first off EVERYONE DOES UNSU TO DAMN MUCH! What is with doing Unsu for every match or Sochin as a close second. The JKA syllabus has 26 Kata in it, you surely can find a unique Kata to do for the tournament other than the one that EVERYONE is doing! And secondly the JKA guys blow the athletic types at WKF out of the water when it comes to showing proper execution of power and timing!

One of my other pet peeves is the “Fibered up” requirements for the Kiai in WKF tournaments to sound like the person is trying to pass building material while doing Kata! For me this also smacks of TKD style forms were the practitioner Yells and yells trying to show spirit and showing a complete lack of knowledge as to what Kiai is used for and should sound like!

      The last WKF rules tournament I went to I saw some very intricate WKF Kata being done from what I can only guess is Shito ryu, but the Kata was unimpressive and looked like a dance with no real applicable movements. Yet the person doing the dance won first place. I think Kata has to look a specific way and the student doing this Kata  has to understand it as being training for fighting not performance art!

 

            The next thing that I noticed after years of using only hand pads and a mouth guard was the LEVEL of foam gear that was being used by WKF rules competitors. JKA rules or Shobu Ippon rules states that you must have a mouth guard and hand pads to compete, that’s it. I have competed with this gear for a long time and never been seriously hurt during matches. The focus on control and single perfect techniques helped stop a lot of us from flailing and hurting each other. Extra foam was always seen as a bit of an insult, meaning you did not have the right level of control! After hundreds of competitions I can only remember one or two accidents that lead to injuries.

            WKF rules state that you need special hand pads, mouth guard, shin/instep pads and in some cases chest and head guards. The limited time I have seen competitions using this kind of Foam dipped in plastic I have seen more cuts and pulled skin, more  impact related injuries because people now lack the control that we ask for in Shobu Ippon tournaments. Also I see more flailing and praying for points at this level and a call for more head kicks as ways to score points has led to more injuries due to dangerous techniques that the Shobu Ippon rules.

            In WKF rules more points are scored with dynamic head kicks or using poor controlled moves than the JKA rules that see more points from Gyaku Zuki and other more controlled attacks. This is the key difference created by the point scoring system. If we focus on control, better form and functionality over tagging someone for points we will be much safer. This is why I discourage most students from doing the WKF rules tournaments in favor of sticking to JKA rules or Shobu Ippon rules Kumite.

 

            I get a lot of “this is traditional Karate” style arguments or “This is how multiple styles compete against each other” kinds of arguments. The truth is that just because you have a picture of a founder on your wall does not mean you are doing something that the founder would even recognize as traditional. WKF rules training is so very different from what we are taught in the JKA and the JKA was founded on the principle that tournaments were needed to draw in more students. The WKF took the JKA or traditional rules and made them more sporty, for some this is fine, for the rest of us this is confusing and counter to what we teach in the Dojo.

            I always ask myself if the practice or application of rules at a tournament comply with my ideology of what Karate is. Does it enforce the idea that your style must be applicable in a real situation or does it encourage a style that is not applicable and trends towards a sport environment and application that would require a compliant attacker. In other words does your kata look real and would it be useable in a defensive situation and is your Kumite training real or just patty cake sport Karate? Too often the answer is that its fancy and it won’t be useable, its “creative” and fun but not applicable…you just left the realm of martial art for the arena of sport Karate.

 

            My focus when I teach and train in Karate is to work on Budo Karate or what I call Showa Karate and to apply the principles of this to everything I am doing. Budo Karate people can use sport as a tool to learn and apply, but only if the rules are set up to reinforce this principle in training. Non-Budo Karate lives in the sport field and they play patty cake or tip tap to score points. They don’t have a true understanding of Budo because the rules leach this ideology out of the training itself.

            Training in Budo/Showa Karate is challenging, rough, repetitive and challenges the mind and body. It looks simple but teaches lessons like patience, persistence and proper Karate waza. The application is often seen as brutal and direct, the relentlessness of training is criticized by many as overly harsh and often instructors are seen as task masters who push students to perform thousands of repetitions of a single movement before moving on. The sport coach is doing fun drills and setting up students to work on dynamic things and constantly giving positive feedback. The honest truth is that traditional artists will be very good at the few techniques that they work on, they will have great form and application of the movement is almost a reflex. The sport persona will have fun and use much more dynamic movements, but fail to gain the deeper understanding of movement and application. However the training is much easier to sell and Dojos are full because of this. However in a real life situation the traditional student can upholster the basic waza they train in and use it.  Kihon practiced until its reflexive is the martial way!

 

            Okay, so why am I so dismayed at the WKF/Sport Karate and why is it not okay in my mind. Two things….One its not traditional Budo, which is what the Karate systems were essentially trained as.  Budo Karate is a special kind of training. It does not matter if its JKA, Other shotokan, Shito ryu, Goju ryu or other styles, the ideology of the training is the same. You train to improve your mind, your system is done in such a way that its applicable and you train to perform realistic and repeatable movements. I think of people like Mario Higoanna Sensei who is a Goju instructor, his Karate is Budo! My lineage is budo as well. We don’t suffer sport Karate types well and we see the holes in the training and methods. Once sport is gone so is the student!

            We are really facing a whole generation of sport Karate students who will be lost to Budo/Showa Karate if we do not act to counter this. As instructors we need to focus on more traditional Shiai training for our sport outlets and we need to build our students understanding of Budo/Showa Karate with more focused training and talk to them about the training being about mind, body and spirit not just gaining medals and we need to educate the public about the execution of one perfect technique over playing Tag with our students at tournaments. Now after all of that, WKF rules may not be my cup of tea, and its truly the spirit of the training that is important. I feel that tournaments are a good thing, you just need to adjust your thinking and focus on budo training with traditional rules that make sense and are geared towards your ideology. More sport Karate is not the answer, more Budo/Showa Karate is!

           

 

 

 

The passing of a Karate silent sage!

The passing of a Karate silent sage!

 

This past week end I was asked to officiate and help with the service of a great man. It was very strange for me as I am a bit socially awkward and used to playing the part of the drill sergeant not the part of a funeral lead, but I accepted the second his wife asked me to do it. I accepted because of my history with my big brother in Karate and knowing that he would have first gotten a kick out of me doing it, having known how hard and nervous It would make me, and secondly to honor him as he was a great man.

 

 I struggled to not say too much or talk for an hour and I struggled reading other peoples words about this man and realizing that I would not be able to chat ironically about this with him later. My friend Scot was a unique guy. He was not what you would call the typical Karate guy, but in a lot of ways that’s what made him so damn special. Physically he struggled with his weight and joints to make his Karate work, but he worked so hard at the details that he made it work. He was a big guy and a lot of people would write off training with someone like him, but he was dangerous when you would spar with him. He studied Karate, he did not just do it!  Karate was NOT a sport to him, it was a field of study!

 

Scot was a philosopher king! He could have a conversation with you about various different things, He would chat with me for hours about the policies struggles in the states, our own politics, health care, nutrition, Karate, Bruce Lee, flying, Motor cycles, his family and oh how his family was his favorite topic.  He would listen to me as I would break down over family issues, my daughters health, missing my brother Alan, who ironically in this case die of Cancer as well. He was a man with a great big heart, and while his Karate was violent and efficient, he was gentle and kind.

 

I really don’t think that his loss has hit me yet. Its kind of surreal, normally you get hit when you go up to do the eulogy or when you see his urn, but its not really their yet! I know it will hit me out of the blue the first time I set foot on the Dojo floor and realize I don’t have Scot to help support me or to assist with a class, to lend a hand or a comment during a class or seminar. I wont get to hear his Harley as he bikes into the city to take a class. And I wont get to sit and chat with him after class.

 

I first met Scot in the 80’s when we both started taking Karate under Dingman Sensei. At first, being the shy kid that I was, I just observed the “Cool kids” in the class, and Scot was about 10 years older than me and one of the cool kids. He trained with the team in team classes and came out to the evening classes. Later on when I was in university and made my class times set up so I could zip off to a lunch class and then take an evening class I got to train a great deal with Scot at lunch. That’s when we started talking a lot and training even more together. I liked Scot, far more than I liked a lot of people who were part of the “cool kids” group. I always felt that the “Cool kids” were looking down on the rest of us, but I saw something in them, the fact that once sport was gone for them…most would leave. But not Scot! He was in it for the passion of it.

 

I formed a tight bond with my instructor at this time and took up learning how to teach under him. I opened my own club but trained daily at the Hombu and got to see Scot a great deal. He was humble, and while he could rip most of us apart on the floor he did not. He would not make it easy for you but he was there to help you grow, not embarrass you. He was good with kids, new students and those of us who had years under our belts. He was patient to a fault and had a soft, sometimes gravelly voice that just kind of calmed you, but he had this kind of misfit in him that came out once and a while. A smile that said it was time to play hard and have some fun, and if you were lucky he may let you stay vertical. Being as he was a black belt in Judo he could sweep or throw almost anyone in the Dojo and if he got his hands on you he would shake you playfully letting you know that he could pretty much do whatever he wanted to with you.

 

Years rolled on and we trained with each other a great deal, a strange reversal happened as he had graded for his Nidan and I my shodan, then he left for a bit. We moved from one club to another and he trained sporadically and was missing for most classes at one point. He came back hard when we landed at Clifton community center. We often talked about how the old Dojo should have gone on and kept going, but family issues with Sensei and the changing economy as well as the change in mentality of people in general made it hard on Sensei to keep his beloved Dojo. But Scot was back and wanted to help out as much as he could.

 

Scot and I both had a dream of a standalone club that would honor Sensei and his passion, we both thought we had it with a club that one of our juniors had opened. We both pitched in and taught or trained and we both tried to guide the instructor who owned the club, but after a few years of trying very hard and feeling like it was home, the instructor informed us he was leaving the JKA and joining another group.  I was mad, but Scot said it was okay, this was obviously not the right path for us at this time…”when something comes easy it is often not worth the effort” Scot said. He was very sad but it was time to move on! He was mad at the situation, but as it was Scot he said someday we can forgive the other instructor for his actions, just not today he would say.

 

We promised each other we would take the summer off a bit, train on our own, he was wanting to do some hard core traveling with his wife and “reconnect” with the road! He was told a few weeks later that he had liver Cancer. I remember when he emailed me, he said he wanted to tell me face to face because he remembered my brother Al was taken by Cancer. But his emails were as patient and calming as his voice often was. He assured me after telling me about how he had found out that he was up for the fight and his wife would help him out, his ever present hope was there in that email.

 

We emailed back and forth a great deal that month. I would drop him a line about how stressful things were and how mad I was that I did not have a Dojo of my own, and he would calm me down. I would ask how he was doing and he would tell me as always he was fine, tired…but hey he was “Dropping some pounds” as he said. Scot had this unique way of being slightly self-deprecating and trying to use that to make you feel better.  Over the month we both focused on totally different issues, but we threw short emails at each other and the last one I got from him was an endorsement of sorts, I asked him to sit on the board of directors, rather my Kohai had sent him the email.  He replied simply “whatever Sensei James requires I will endeavor to accomplish”.  

 

One month after telling me he was diagnosed with Cancer I was at home stretching out and drinking coffee on a nice summer morning, I got a frantic text from my Kohai asking me to call her right away. I ventured outside and a million things ran through my head as to what the crisis could be, I actually thought my Sensei had passed away. I took my coffee and went outside, sat down on my patio chair and called her. Her voice was shaky and she gave me the news.

 

The world began to spin for me, Memories of me chatting with him, his big smile and his HUGE hands as he would throw me around the room and more so his presence just kind of sat down on me and her words kind of trailed off into the distance as the realization that Scot had passed hit me. My rock was gone in Karate, the one person that I knew would give it to me straight, support me no matter what and help me guide my Sensei’s organization to the future was now gone. I can say that I trust few people in this world and anyone that knows me will tell you I don’t make friends easily. I’m stubborn as hell, loyal to a fault and often extremely socially awkward. Those I count as friends in Karate are “ride or die” kinds of friends. Losing one is hard and hurts a great deal. Scot was one of those “ride or die” kinds of people.

 

I am a Karate Purest and a bit of a Karate Snob, I hate Karate sport and I even tried to keep the JKA/MB pure and away from sport. It was Scot who convinced me that we needed to get back to tournaments. When the instructor left us recently I was very upset and used the term Hate a great deal. Scot talked me down and convinced me to let it go. When Sensei got sick and could not teach anymore it was Scot that told me it was my job to take over and he would support me and help me, but to lean on others as well. When I told him that I was scared we would lose the tradition in Karate and that it was becoming some kind of farce, he was the one that said “Do what you do, those that come and enjoy it will stay…those that don’t will leave”.  

 

Scot was going to be the first person in the door of the new club he said, and then when we rebuilt enough and started with the new stand alone in a few years he wanted to be the one to cut the ribbon. Now I am not a religious person but I feel that he honestly will be the first on the floor in spirit and I will continue to train and teach the way that he liked and keep the tradition alive for him. To honor him and my Sensei and I will try and reflect as much as I can on Scot when planning out the future of the JKA/MB as its his heritage as much as it is my instructors or mine.

 

Ous!

Describing Karate using the laws of thermodynamics!

 

 

                Yes, you read that correctly! I will be attempting to describe Karate to you using the laws of thermodynamics. Well Actually I will be using thermodynamics to answer some of the more common questions I get about Karate from people that are looking to Join Karate or those observing different Shotokan groups and wondering why they see what they see…and also its kind of geek cool to look at it using this.

                Before I go there I have to do some quick review  with you about the laws of thermodynamics and then you will start to see how they apply to the vast differentiation of styles, both personal and systematic in Karate. The laws also start to show how and why this occurs and explains why it is PERECTLY NORMAL AND OKAY to have different ideas, different techniques and how being creative and different is good. I will also start to throw in some ideals that I learned growing up in Karate to show that the idea of creativity is important in Karate and how our more modern practice of conformity is bad for Karate and stifles our potential.

 

                The laws of thermodynamics define the fundamental physical quantities that characterize a thermodynamic system. This closed thermal system is kind of like  a Dojo or auditorium that has Karate black belts training in it, let’s say doing Kata. The laws explain some very interesting things that can be applied to different sciences outside of Thermodynamics; such as genetics, but for our purposes we will be sticking to Karate.

                So Thermodynamics have three laws that we will look at Zeroth law, and the first and second laws. The Zeroth Law states “if two systems are both in thermal equilibrium with a third system, then they are seen as in equilibrium with each other. Basically if your Kata looks like another students Kata and their Kata looks like the instructors Kata…then your Kata looks like the instructors Kata….simple right. Well only to a degree. Basically its more of an overall for Karate. If my Kata looks like our national instructors Kata and his looks like the world instructors Kata then my kata is the same as Ueki Sensei’s kata…probably not but it’s a gross generalization that we are looking for anyways and we found it using this.

                Basically the Zeroth law is how we form systems and styles in Karate and to a certain degree how we form Karate vs Kung fu or other systems that have forms in them. Our Karate looks like Karate, so if your Karate looks like someone else’s Karate…well its Karate. That’s a grand scale kind of thing.  Think of it this way, if you have a room full of Karate people all from different styles you will be able to tell the difference between the different styles as an observer from a medium distance, but once you go into a faraway view of the room and watch them all doing Kata you will see one thing…Karate! If you were to  introduce a Kung fu person in white doing a slightly different form you would see him no problem as being different, from further out however you would see a vast sea of white movement and think “ah, Karate”.

                The damage occurs to this closed system in equilibrium when you start moving in on it and analysing the different movements of the individuals. You would first see the Kung fu guy and then the Goju guys would look different from the Shuri style guys….then the differences of Shito and Shoto groups would come into view, then finally you would see the difference in Asai style guys and JKA or SKA Karate ka. 

                Basically this law states that when observed the similarities of one to the next is only confirmed when you view the similarities of those two to a third body. So the root JKA stylist will look similar to a ISKF guy and a IKD guy will look similar to an ISKF guy so the IKD guy is similar to the JKA guy. That is the law of Zeroth in a confusing little nut shell that you can forget now.

                Now I am going to use the second laws to describe why variation is a good think in Karate and how it actually benefits the greater good over conformity of style and training. Its also why having multiple instructors with different skill sets and different approaches excites me as a student and why I feel, as a head instructor, its important for students to be exposed to different ideas and different teaching….after they have a solid base and foundation in training.

 

                The first real law of thermodynamics has to do with energy and its very important in Karate…but not in what I am trying to write here, nor is the third, which again is really cool and can be applied to Karate (see what I did their….no…ready about the third law and you will chuckle) so I am going to jump to the second law and how it applies to Karate and the growth and creativity we need as individuals in Karate.  

 

                Before I get into the second law of thermodynamics let me explain a key component to the understanding of this law and how it applies to Karate…Entropy. Entropy is a degradation of the matter and energy in the universe to an ultimate state of inert uniformity. It’s a process of degradation or running down to a trend of disorder. In essence it chaos from order! Easy enough eh! No?  Okay think of it this way, the natural trend of things is to start off very ordered, the system is in perfect harmony and all objects or structures are not just similar, they are the same! Then over time and as things progress they degrade and start to change, sometimes big changes and sometimes small changes and then you have “chaos”. 

                First thing we need to address is that “Chaos” is not a bad thing, well in some instances. Chaos is the defining component of creativity and change! Chaos is another way of saying Randomness or without pattern or predictability. In Biology Chaos is often called Evolutionary Synthesis. Let’s face it that’s a good thing! Without randomness in evolution we would not be here! As Hominids we grew out of lesser Bipeds and continued to evolve into…well us. Without the random selection of genetic selective in our evolutionary path to “us” we would still be clubbing dinner and not yet figuring out how to read or do math, sciences or even cook proper Yorkshire pudding!

                So, what the heck does Entropy or Chaos have to do with Karate and our evolution to what we train in now….well its about selection and changes, personal spins on ideas and growth and development of basic fundamentals…then learning to express them in specific ways. Entropy and chaos are not absolute however, and this is very important.

When you have complete chaos and complete variance on key fundamentals in biology you develop a runaway body that is acting against the purpose of the cells that it in habits, or cancer! In Karate you have off shoots that don’t look anything like the original at all, like Shuri Te! (note, I am NOT comparing Shuri Te to cancer…not really….its nothing like Cancer!).

Entropy and Chaos must be introduced in small doses for it to be effective and for the alternative system to survive and prosper. So in this case when Shotokai and Shotkan gave burth to the SKA system under Oshima it was similar enough to both and held the same principles that it looked rather like Shotokan and rather like shotokai but unique enough to be different, but survive. When Kanazawa or Asai changed their system of Karate to be variations of JKA system Shotokan they survived because they were similar enough to the origin that they looked and sounded like Shotokan but they broke several rules to become separate systems.

In mainstream Karate and even more so in Shotokan style Karate the level of entropy is minimul, you will see some change between an ITKF student and a JKA style student or a ISKF black belt and a JSKA Student but if you compare them to a similar style like Shito Ryu you see a massive amount of entropy. Get them to do Bassai Dai/Passai Dai and watch the differences! If you put the Shito Ryu student in with people who are ITKF and JKA you will see the vast differences in the Shito to Shoto guys, but strangely the level of entropy from the ITKF/JKA students seem minimal. Now remove the Shito student and have the two students do Kanku Dai. The Entropy levels seem to raise…but its perception.

                Entropy means change with in a closed system. In this case Karate is one system, Shuri Te root style would be the next enclosed system and then Shoto styles the last. Entropy is not a bad thing. It’s the minor changes in Kata, the changes in approach, Kihon changes or the dynamics of a system, even the way that they are presented that create variance that we see as Chaos but really should be seen as creativity.

 

                Okay, now that we kind of understand Entropy/Chaos and how it’s a good thing lets look at the second law of Thermodynamics and how it can directly apply to Karate and our training. The second law of Thermodynamics basically states that the entropy of the universe is always increasing. So entropy of any isolated system increases spontaneously and evolves towards thermal equilibrium. For us I will break it down. The alterations and changes in Karate will continue to develop and grow until new systems and ideas develop that break away from the normal standard and established system. This…is a good thing.

                One way to look at this is that a system that is constantly changing in a vacuum that has no access to the root system will continue to change unabated until it’s a new system.  In the law of thermodynamics it states specifically “lack of order or predictability; gradually decline into disorder.  In essence it is inevitable when you add unknown quantities to a system , like the individual and unique thinking and perspectives of individuals, that the system will adapt and change and subsystems will grow out of the root system that look similar but often have unique qualities that make them different. This is how different sub systems are created and why not everyone is doing Shotokan and JKA system Karate or why we are not all doing Shorin ryu or some other ancient style.  Entropy and specifically the second law of thermodynamics explain why evolution of the systems exist.

 

                Entropy in Karate, on a much smaller scale, is seen in one’s conformity, or lack thereof, to individual training. When you start in karate you are given a series of principles, a foundation in the system that you train in as it were. Then you begin to develop and train and understand your training, you internalize the training and begin to play with different ideas. You go from Ippon and Gohon Kumite which drills the fundamental ideas to Jiyu Ippon and Jiyu Kumite to help build your own style after working on the core believes and system specific strategies. After a while you begin to bring your own ideas to the table and your Kumite changes and shifts to be more developed for your body and more in line with your skills. After a while you realize you don’t move like your instructor taught you to as a Kyu level student and you have now demonstrated Entropy and the second law of thermodynamics at work.

                When you move into a Dojo view and watch the black belts develop different systems and skill levels and movement patters the entropy in a Dojo becomes much more noticeable. I always say YOU SHOULD NOT LOOK LIKE ME WHEN I DO KATA OR KUMITE, but the fundamentals should be the same!  At a Dojo level the instructor should be managing the entropy and to a certain level encouraging it for variety and to help the individual in Karate train to their maximum potential. If we all looked the same, like those cookie cutter Dojos we all know about, then we are stifling creativity and the individual is going to find that they get bored being forced into a specific mold.

                I want to be clear here however in that the fundamentals of a system the Kihon and to a very specific level the dynamics of a movement should be all the same, it’s the application and the unique way that a student develops their expression of those core principles that you are trying to encourage.

                If you take a dojo full of black belts and randomly have six of them do Bassai Dai at their own pace…it should be Complete Chaos, each of them doing Kata at their own pace and with slight variations on Bassai Dai…but all Bassai Dai! However the fundamentals and core principles will all be the same, this means they are doing the same style but expression of that style is unique to the student. This is true Karate Entropy.

                Now an interesting thing happens with Entropy in a large scale enclosed system like the JKA organization. When you compare it to itself you should technically see different seniors doing things differently, but when you compare it to other groups like KWF or SKI you will see that the similarities are greater with in the single enclosed system like the JKA. The JKA takes it a step farther however and tries to make everyone look as close to the same as possible, but I will get to that later. ON a larger scale however the differences should disappear when you compare the large enclosed system to another large enclosed system.

                To really see how entropy works watch a single person doing a kata in your club. The performance should fit into specific criteria to be seen as “Shotokan” or “JKA” Style Kata. The individual will have to perform specific movements in a specific way to meet a fairly moderate set of rules. Then put two or three people in the same situation and you will see that even with the moderate parameters being met by all three…the three Kata will look different slightly. Add more Karateka doing more varied Kata. Take the spectrum of performers now and find two people that are at different ends of the spectrum and have them do the Kata side by side. The differences will make them look like different organization based students, but because the two ends of the spectrum are close enough to the norm or middle, they are the same…thus the first law of thermodynamics is used to say they are the same.

               

                I am about to make a GIANT leap here and jump from thermodynamics to Karate theory, but I will bring it back around. Don’t think it’s a different paper you are reading, this is going to make sense…I hope.

 

                In Karate we have a Theory or explanation of how students grow in Karate…or are supposed to. When a student starts in Karate they begin learning to perform movements that are rather unique and foreign to them. The system is not natural and they must study hard to incorporate it into their movement systems. The basics are drilled and the instructor tries to manipulate, teach, cajole and push students to do the movements correctly. We create a “cookie cutter” environment and we push them to capitulate and not be creative. However there are reasons for this….to create power most people are not moving correct, or they are limiting their ability to increase speed with horrible movement dynamics. We have to teach people how to use their body correctly…which in some cases is funny because I have students joining at 40 who don’t know how to use their body…they have been using it wrong for 40 years! Well, wrong in the sense that they are not able to defend themselves, they can walk and they know how to eat and move their arms, but they lack the fundamentals of movement dynamics to effectively use their body.

                In the Karate vernacular we call this level of training “SHU” or to “Obey” its learning fundamentals, Techniques and its about traditional wisdom or the learning that my instructor went through. A perfect example of the “Shu” level of training is line work in Kihon or basic Kumite and Kata work. You line up and a senior or your instructor counts, you repeat the movements over and over and try to increasingly build up the “Same looking and acting body dynamics as your instructor and senior”.  This level of training is illustrated in Sanbon Kumite. You step in three times and perform a specific movement, and then you step back and do the same movement. The instructor/senior makes a few corrections and hopefully explains what was “wrong” and then you do it again till you get it “right” and hopefully you improve and move towards the norm.  Thus you are fulfilling the first law of thermodynamics in your Karate.

                Now the “Shu-Ha-Ri” concept of stages of learning or mastery is supposed to have different levels and the masters, instructors, and seniors should ALL be encouraging this, I was lucky enough to have a instructor growing up in Karate who saw that uniqueness is a gift, creativity and freedom of expression is the way to create better Karate and make things more pliable and applicable to the individual….not all instructors get this and some…I fear most….discourage this! To some extent I see big organizations trying to cookie cutter the hell out of student practice and stick the students under Shu from white belt till they leave or till they are beaten over the head with conformity so much that they end up avoiding the next two levels for fear that they won’t grow as individuals.

 

                The next level after Shu is “HA” or Detachment from self. “Ha” training is when you notice that a student is starting to use the traditional and the level of conformity is complete. They are doing the Kata the way they were taught exact and now they have perfected the ideals an concepts. And some would say they have “made them their own” but I say that the system has taken over the student and they are conforming 100% to the system. In some cultures this is seen as bad….”oh, conformity is bad” but for Karate its actually a necessary step and one that can be seen at Shodan and Nidan level.

                The student has now made his body work exactly like his instructors and he has adapted, to the best of his ability, his instructors methods and ideas. In terms of Kata he strives, and to the most part, meets the requirements for the system and is now doing what the “Ha” level best provides for…understanding and study of the system.

                The student now has the opportunity to work on improving his foundation, but more importantly he is learning why the foundation was set up that way, what the concepts are is part of Shu, Ha is the why and how. The student now is working on understanding the why and how of hip rotation, Kime, body movement and dynamics and the multitudes of other ideas and concepts that the system has, he has gone from what…to how and why! This is a huge leap and some never make it. Most students who fail to make this leap do so because of poor instructors or jealous and ego driven instructors not wanting to share the why and how and keeping the student in the dark. They want to have the student regurgitate what they were taught and that’s all, doing it well, understanding why and how is of no interest for fear that the student may start to make the leap to the “Ri” level.

 

                “Ri” is the level that most people at Sandan or up will reach, most…some will maintain at Ha and stay their due to issues with change or wanting to conform and fit in. “Ri” is about creativity and moving beyond dogma. It means “Transcendence” at this level you see that the constructs of the system disappear and you can now create new and dynamic movement styles and your overall skills become unique and creativity sets in, you experiment and bring new elements into the training. Its about expansion of your understanding. Now that you have a solid base of understanding and you know your body better as it pertains to movement patterns you can create new ones and experiment with developing new concepts or encompassing ideas from other systems. In essence you create a new twist on the old ideas to make a new system.

                The Ri level of learning is something that you should naturally move into, not to soon or you will fail to create something new and just be melding together different systems that are not your own, in essence you are stuck in Shu or Ha but putting together two systems incompletely without mastering your own. If you don’t go to the depth of one style and conform, understand and get hardwired with the ideals and concepts then you should not go to another to try and bring parts of it to your system you are currently studying.

                I have seen people try and make the leap to soon and the training system that comes out of it is a mess, also the student regresses in their understanding by trying to mix to many concepts to soon and the worst part is they don’t see it. The result is a “Student of several styles” at the Shu level who has no hope of moving forwards and who begin to develop an ego issue. The system they create for themselves is a mish-mash and not complete, they don’t get to the point of mastery before they begin to dabble in other systems and the resultant system is weak and ends up being two separate systems instead of a single system with a deep conceptual grounding and additions or alterations that make it unique.

 

                Having said all that I have to say that I am all for students dipping into other systems, being creative and reaching out to find new ideas, exploring different ways of moving or different systems to see if you can take some aspect from that and apply it to your Karate….but you have to understand your Karate and the concepts well enough before you make that leap and try this or it will hamper your progress.

 

                The idea of being different, of moving different, of exploring and creating new systems and new movement skills/patterns is fairly new to modern Karate. It was an excepted norm in the past when masters would go from one style to the next in China and study forms of fighting, train daily for hours and study them meticulously and then move to the next master…then they came back to Okinawa and created a system that was then designated as a new fighting art. Take for instance Sakakawa Kanga or Sakugawa Satunushi (Tode Sakukawa)…..all the same dude just three ways of saying his name. HE was born in Akata village on Okinawa and studied Tode with Peichin Takahara, he then studied under Kussanku in Chun fa. He had mastered Tode when he began working in the Chun fa system and created Te or “Hand”. His student Matsumura Sokon studied Te for many years and then studied Jigen Ryu (sword fighting) and merged the movement system of this system…and then learned from a Chinese sailor named Chinto or Annan. The system he learned was a crane style system and he built his style out of this. 

                Both men took systems they were deeply trained in and then built new systems that looked similar but had new aspects of movement to them. The idea of being different was good, as long as it worked in a real fight….did I mention that both men were royal body guards that were tasked with protecting the royalty of Okinawa during a time of great violence with the Satsuma clan?  These men knew that expanding their ideas and skills was very important, being creative but effective was very important. Matsumura once said that he took from Annan some of his movement patterns that made Annan untouchable when they were fighting, but he also discarded much of the movements that were of little to no benefit.

               

                The ideal of Entropy is one that should be explored more by heads of Karate organizations. The fact that our evolution as a species relied on entropy to develop is a sign of its worthiness as an approach. We should foster a practice of teaching our system to students using this three level approach, first we teach them and force them to comply to our standards and systems and then we move to helping them understand why, this seems to be the most effective way to present your system to new students, not to much talk…just lots of practice and then explanation as to why. Then we encourage them to expand their training and figure out what works for them, what outside ideas assist them and teach them how to critically look at the subject of movement patters, defensive skills and Dynamics and let them grow as individuals. In essence learn my system, make my system yours and then create your own system. With the first law of thermodynamics as a rule to follow the student will stick with in the standards of the enclosed system even at the third stage and will create a new twist on the old style that is still recognizable as the original but masterfully manipulated to be more effective for the individual expressing the art.

                In the end the base model is the same as the new model, but with extras or with things removed that are not needed. My style of Karate is different than my instructors because he encouraged me to study and develop my own ideas after I had focused for more than 20 years on his style of teaching and training, while we were built differently I got the idea of Kihon-centric training from Dingman Sensei and modeled my training after this. The idea being that all Karate should be focused on having the best possible Kihon. And also not to skimp on Kihon to try and gain a “point” in Kumite or to make a Kata look more dramatic. You have to focus on scoring points in Kumite with good form and you have to do your kata with good form.

                However My karate also takes some aspects from Aikido and Judo as well as from my brief study in Itto Ryu to study movement patterns. I also put a great deal more science and specifically kinesiology into my training and studies, I understand the body differently and the mind of my students from a different point of view from my instructor. This brings a new perspective to my students who will hopefully follow the same path as me and create a system that suits them better as well.

 

                Through the study of the laws of thermodynamics, at least the first few, you can gain an understanding of the idea of entropy and how variance in the norm is a great way to build a solid system and work towards the future. I think that its important to maintain tradition, but its also important to make tradition work for you!

     

Funakoshi and the “two styles” lie

 

                I have an issue with another piece of History….In Karate it is a part of the dogmatic history that Funakoshi Sensei brought his version of Karate to Japan in and around 1922 and set up shop on the big island teaching “Karate” that eventually became “Shotokan Karate”. It is also well known that he HATED that name and felt giving Karate a name for your specific style was pompus and ignorant of what Karate is/was.

                It has also become common historical dogma that he “created” his style out of Shorei Ryu and Shorin Ryu, two very different “styles” of Karate. I call poppycock on this! First of all I have had countless instructors  and it became a truth that even I told people! But recently I started looking into this and its not as cut and dry perhaps as we think.

 

                So the story goes that Funakoshi, a school teacher from Okinawa, came to Japan and merged Shorei Ryu and Shorin Ryu together to teach his style of Karate…which became known by his pen name as “Shotokan” or house of the wavy pines…his pen name being Shoto or wavy pines. The story goes that he A) hated that name and B) would not use it….but shouldn’t the story also be that he did not actually train in Shorei ryu itself?  Okay, I am getting ahead of myself.

 

                Okay, So it is well known that Funakoshi Sensei had three main instructors, Anko Azato, Anko Itosu and he also trained a bit under the great Matsumura Sokon (who taught both Azato and Itosu). A great more history can be dug up as well from just a quick google but this is the gist of it…he trained extensively with these two first instructors and what may be said as a bit with Matsumura. The way I see it is he trained with Azato for most of his Karate training and moved to Azatos friend, Itosu, when is master died.  He was also brought to their instructor to train as he had great potential and was seen as worthy of training with the great master….Okay that last bit is a bit of an over reach. But who were these masters?

 

 

                First we have Anko Azato or Azato Yasutsune in Japanese.  Azato lived from 1827-1906 and was not only a Karate master but a great sword fighter and horseback rider (an art in Japan).  He trained exclusively with Matsumura Sokon in Shuri Ryu or the hand of Shuri, a royal martial art style that was light, quick and focused on power development through rapid movement.

                As the story goes, Azato trained under Matsumura and served as a palace/royal guard.  Azato came from a Tunchi or hereditary town chief family and was part of the upper class.  He was recruited to work as a royal guard, not like a military position but more of an advisor and body guard to the royal family. His training included lots of weapons training, Shuri Karate  and Jigen Ryu Kendo. He was also an exceptional Scholar.

                By all accounts he was smart, wealthy and seen as “upper crust” in the grand scheme of things. He served as the official body guard of King Sho Tai till Okinawa was taken by Japan in 1872 and by all accounts he retired and lived out the next 34 years teaching Karate, not a lot is written about his later life other than through the telling of his students life, he only taught Funakoshi Sensei and his son, who is lost to history.

                Azato taught a very strict style of Karate based on Shuri ryu and his training in Kendo, this is why a lot of our Karate can merge so well with the strict linear approach that Kendo and Kenjutsu holds in their training. Apparently even though Azato and Itosu were friends, they did not share the same style of Shuri Karate, which is one reason that Funakoshi’s Karate looked very different than his contemporaries.

 

                Anko Itosu or Itosu Yasutsune in Japanese….and possibly Ichiji Anko in Okinawan dialect, lived between 1831 and 1915 and was a contemporary of Azato Anko’s as both served as Royal advisors/body guard. Anko Itosu is a bit of a different guy from Azato. Where Azato trained in Kendo and exclusively with Matsumura in Shuri Ryu, Itosu trained with Matsumura for much less time and most of his studies were done with Nagahama Chiludun of Naha. From all accounts Nagahama taught a style similar to Shuri te and not the Naha Te you would expect…however I have my doubts. 

                The story goes that Anko Itosu left training under Master Matsumura because Matsumura called him slow and insulted him regularly. He went and found training under Nagahama and worked hard to master his style. But when Itosu got older he told his students he had been wrong and Nagahama had told him on his death bed to go back to Matsumura and beg to be taken back as he was all wrong with his Karate and Matsumuras style was much better. Again, I have my doubts about this.

                The story suggests heavily that Nagahama A) said his own teaching was flawed and wrong….Something that I doubt he would admit to a senior student and sending him back to a task master figure like Matsumura…well kind of out there and B) it heavily suggests that someone from Naha was training in a Shuri style of Karate. Assuming that the story is accurate…and again I see MAJOR holes and Gaps, it would suggest that Itosu learned a flawed system from the Nagahama and then went back to Matsumura after this master passed away, so how much of his teaching was flawed?

 

                Matsumura Sensei was the source of a lot of the early generation Karate. He was a palace guard/body guard and advisor to the king and by all accounts a Shuri master without equal. Born in Yamagawa Village Shuri Okinawa he began training under the great Sakukawa Kanga, the original Karate master. Matsumura Sofuku, Matsumuras father was a Shikudon or high level Pechin in the gentry rank and asked that his son follow in his foot steps and serve the royal family. Matsumura started out his life as a bit of a trouble maker and through hard training (and probably realizing his lively hood relied on this) became more conservative and eventually a bit of a task master.

                Matsumura served under King Sho Ko and eventually married Yonamine Chiru, a martial arts master in her own right. Matsumura became the chief instructor in martial arts and governance to the royal guard and served under kings Sho Iku and finally Sho Tai. He traveled a great deal to both china and Japan on behalf of the Okinawan Royal family and studied Chun Fa in China and sword fighting and jujitsu in Japan.

                Matsumura was described as both blindingly fast and a “terrifying presence” by his students. For our purposes he is credited as learning and helping to develop early Shuri ryu. Matsumura never trained in Naha te that we know of and was seen as a bit of a purist and militant purist in his training. He was harsh and did not really give way to new ideas easily.

 

                Before we move on let me explain or describe the two styles that are often attributed….wrongly…..to Funakoshi…first Shorin ryu.

 

                Shorin ryu is the style that was developed by Choshin Chibana, which he learned from Anko Itosu. Chibana was the last of the pre-WW2 students and the first student to establish a Japanese Ryu name for an Okinawan style. He called Itosus style Shornin Ryu or “Small forest style” in 1928, six years after Funakoshi was teaching in Japan.

                The system was based on what Itosu was teaching at the time, and as we know Itosu was a minor instructor in Funakoshis’ training life. His system was Shuri Te and from all accounts a poor version that he had to change back to Matsumuras system later in life….So the Shorin ryu style is NOT what Funakoshi Sensei used to merge to create his system…I get it, but it was Shuri Te…semantics at this point. But if you are going for accuracy…then its Shuri Te.

 

                What about Shorei Ryu then. Well that is a term used to refer to Naha te style. It’s rare and it name means “the style of inspiration”.  Shorei ryu was greatly influenced by Shuri te it is said…wait, what. So the HARD/SOFT training precursor was greatly influenced by the Shuri system…that’s like saying Shotokan greatly influenced Goju ryu…it didn’t…but that’s the equation you can make. But there is a logic in it….sort of…and I will break it down and apart in a second……

                So, Higashionna originally trained in Shuri te with Matsumura Sokon and then traveled to China and studied with  Xie Zhongxiang and Wai Xinxian…..however you will be hard pressed to find an awful lot of info on his training under Matsumura. From what I can gather from information readily available to me Higashionna trained in Okinawa with Arakaki Seisho who also studied with Wai Xinxian also known as Ryu Ryu Ko or Xie Ru Ru…so IF Higashionna studied Shuri te…it was short lived, not very important and not all that influential on his life in Karate as he taught almost exclusively what Ryu Ryu Ko taught him in China when he came back to Okinawa.

               

                Now unlike today, it was very normal for masters to share around students and get them to go train with other masters at that time. It is entirely possible that Funakoshi trained with other masters and actually it is suggested in many places that he did.  But the reality is that his main instructor was Azato and it is much more likely that he took his training under this master and this master was his greatest influence. He learned a few Kata and such from others but really the focus of the training was Shuri Te style training.

                It is also important to note that the masters before Funakoshi all trained with other masters and learned Kata from others. My suggestion is that Funakoshi taught Karate that Azato taught…period. No merging or mixing of styles just Azato style Karate. It explains why he teaches some “shorin” and some “Shorei” ryu style Kata as that is what Azato taught him. The merger was done a generation or more  before Funakoshi brought Karate to the mainland.

                Unlike some of his contemporaries he trained almost exclusively with Azato, who had no other students really. His interactions with Itosu appear to be limited and only after his master died did he move his training, in a limited way, to his new instructor…who for the most part is adiment that his training changed greatly from working with his primary master but came back around to Matsumura later on.  My suggestion is that the Merger idea is just rhetoric that is used to make it more interesting or to explain the holes in history.