Enhance your Karate training with the new and improved….or older and traditional….way of Karate

Everywhere I turn these days I am inundated by “new Ideas” or “old ways” of training that you need to be doing or you should be teaching. I have had people come to me about learning the “old ways” or reminding me that Karate changes and we need to keep up. Some are subtle like “hey did you see the way that this instructor is modifying the art to be more effective” or “this instructor teaches exactly the way that Funakoshi intended and taught”. Its hard as a student to understand the difference between innovation and traditional training and which is better!

The way I see it is that Karate is a lot like the phenomenon of Diets in north America! Every month you get the newest, best and most scientific way of eating that will change the way people live and exist. In Karate however its much more dramatic and often violent!  You hear of an instructor how made changes to the traditionally used curriculum and talking to his supporters its life altering and if you don’t follow suite then your Karate is somehow inferior to the “new Karate”.  As far as Diets go, when I started noticing that they were even a thing in the 90’s I saw the “HIGH CARB/LOW FAT” diet that swore that athletes should eat as much pasta, bread and veggies as they could consume....fast forwards to the “HIGH PROTEIN/LOW Carb”Diet that changed to the recent Keto focused diets of “Super high fat/super low Carb” style diets.

The reason I compare the Diet trends to the Karate trends is because of that word…..Trends! I have been in Karate long enough to know what is good and what is bad Karate. I can watch a Kata being performed and know if the person doing it is a traditional Karate person or a sport person, I can watch two people doing Kumite and point out the style they come from and if they are more modern or traditional.  Before I get started I want to be clear here. ALL Karate training has benefits and even the EVIL Sport Karate can and does have some redeeming qualities that you cannot ignore, and old style hard nosed Karate also has its benefits. What I am looking at are the extreme trends the fads that come into Karate training specifically and some people have sworn are the “future of Karate training” .  Here is a hint…they…are not!

Karate has change so much since the 80’s and 70’s when I started, not only are we not wearing bell bottoms to the Dojo but the actual training has changed. When I started my instructor was told “NO WEIGHTS” from his instructor and we never ever did weight training, we did more “Functional training” and lots of Karate training. Over time we began incorporating “modern” training like weights and running and the got into plyometrics and TABATA recently. Conditioning in the past was 10,000 kicks and punches done in a single class. We were macho and if you did not like the break neck training and harsh beatings you got in class….the door was that way!  We were a tad nuts but we were tough!  Now the students would all walk out if we did 500 front kicks or such each class…we need to entertain as much as we teach. But that’s not what I am talking about, I am talking about content and approach……

The latest things in training are all high tech, new age sport sciences and it’s a complete if not total abandonment of the old ways!  The new way is to go high tec! Gone are the old canvas style Gis, now people wear floppy white PJ’s made from silky materials and lord help you if you wear a heavy weight gi, they are lighter than your pajamas and have special venting, smooth but ribbed patterns to help with movement during kumite and look…..LIMP to me. I have seen the new Adidas Gi on several people. I was told it’s the latest tech in training hear…and to me…they hurt my soul!  The hand pads, Shin pads, chest protectors are also new to me and “newfangled” by definition. In the old days we used a mouth guard…when we needed to and a small set of hand pads. Now they may as well dip the students into foam so they are protected.  The outcome….people hit each other more often and harder thinking its okay. In the old days we never did this because we KNEW it hurt!

Training has changed in a lot of ways to. Some of the new fangled training includes using things like and agility ladder, medicine balls, Running parachutes, Rubber tubes, gym timers ext and so forth. ALL of these are great, but they tend to take away from things like Kihon and Kata training!  People who spend more than 10% of their training time on conditioning drills or foot work drills end up taking that away from their core training! You can see the new fangled instructors too, they call themselves “Coach” not “Sensei” and they refuse to bow or do anything Karate like. Some teach in running suits and refuse to put on a gi, hell some don’t even own a Gi! The other point is that style seems to be taking a back door to the training. Meaning people who train in Goju are teaching Shotokan students or Uechi athletes are working out with Wado coaches. Its crazy!

The other side of the coin is those that are avoiding the scientific breakthroughs all together and are adopting a “ANCIENT TRAINING” concept to all their classes. This normally includes some antiquated training equipment, going over Kata in a “More traditional” way than others and stating that their old “Hardnosed” training and abandoning any form of scientific advancements in training.  Those are the clubs you see in dingy and beat down locations with stone weights, makiwaras lining the walls and hard woods beaten till they were smooth with the weight and sweat of years of training. The whole place smells like a locker room and often harsh cleaning chemicals. The club’s members all have thick ankles, knuckles that are rounded and covered in calloused thick pads. The classes are 1 hour of Kata, drills for an hour and the most brutal kumite you can imagine. The instructors tend to be really gruff and traditional, they avoid anything new and they push for ONLY the old ways! Growth and development or adaptability is unheard of and in fact it is not just frowned upon but down right banned!

Some times you get the OLD training repackaged as NEW training as well. I once was told about this ancient training tool that you could buy online and have delivered to your home. It was a frame that was assembled and had two bars on it that you could drape bags filled with sand over. It was a modern makiwara.  Also, some people will call Katas by new names, or introduce old ideas as new. Its all repackaging tradition as new!

The other alternative is adding to the old ways….in a traditional and old way. What I mean by this is adding traditional looking Kata to the syllabus like Asai sensei did. Some new age groups will throw “Musical Kata” into the mix or they just simply make one up with acrobatics in it….this is not what I am talking about. Asai Sensei studied an art that was older than the Shotokan tradition he was taught, he then worked with the principles of both Shotokan and the older Crane art and crated the style he taught. Now this is fantastic from some points of view…HORRIFIC for others. Personally, I have always found them fascinating but only so much as they taught new ideas, not that I wanted to incorporate them into my training daily. Some of the New/Old Age groups will do this, even Kase Sensei’s students created new Kata out of some of the principles he taught and then incorporated them into their training. Honestly the addition of new kata leaves me dry. I have never ever said “I Know all 26 Shotokan Kata and don’t have to worry about being board”. I always find Kata to work on or things to build up and fix up. I don’t see value in adding 9-100 other Kata to my training when I have so much to work on with the original 26.

Then you have the WKF and the changes they make to traditional Karate. I am kinda sick of the old argument that the WKF is not changing Karate its just a sport rule set. Its also changing the style of Karate…or homogenizing it. You enter the WKF as a traditional (Add style her) and then start to train in the new system which first changes your kumite to be more Tae Kwon Do like. You start standing sideways and bouncing, then you keep your hands high up and throw fancy kicks that will put you off balance. You do 50% or more of your training on drills for speed and how to strike faster in ways that earn you more points, your defense changes from blocking and striking with precision to just slapping away at techniques. Then you find you are not throwing any kicks to waste level because….well its less points!  The Kumite changes start to add up and next thing you know your Gyaka zuki is replaced with a dash in Uraken and a long Oi zuki used only to feed your hook kick or round kick to the face. You don’t really focus on sweeps but you will do them if it can be followed by a technique that will garner points. Your movement set is fixed as a bounce with your legs almost straight and prsto changeo you look and move like TKD!  Oh, and the kata….

So you study and study and you get your purple belt, you only know up to Heian Godan actually and you then transition into “Sport training” or “High performance” training and your coach says “For you….Unsu…Cuz its fast and exciting and will garner points” and you set about studying the new DANCEMOVES because you will never understand the moves from your current point of view. You try your best to understand the Kata but you are basically put with a choreographer who teaches you how to look the part and you go for it. Your training is replaced with “Dance lessons” and you go through your competition years learning new routines but not learning the depth of the Katas.

The ranking also gets tossed as the rank belt is replaced with a Red and Blue belt that means basically what side of the ring you will be stationed at, hell your safety gear matches too!  But you come out of years of competition and someone hands you a Black belt and says “you did great, lots of medals, you get a black belt” yet you don’t understand anything outside of this new system of sport training and how to pass this on. You cant really defend yourself and you have never contemplated anything like the Dojo kun or learned the Kata Bunkai, and all your bouncy bouncy kumite is no good in real life on ice or uneven ground…but screw it that black belt is a beauty! The scary part is I know of at least two “Black belts” who earned their Dan ranking in KUMITE and don’t know a Kata at all! That’s new age!

Now, having said all that…There is NOTHING wrong with the way Karate is presented and trained in 99% of the clubs out there, this includes the WKF clubs. Its all in what you want out of Karate, having realistic goals and understandable focus. Each of us can decide what they want out of Karate. The fun thing about Karate is that it is for everyone! Training in Karate is varied, you have sports oriented clubs and members, traditionalists, weekend warriors, spiritualists, scientists, Leftists, conservatives, men and women, ditch diggers and doctors. Its for everyone and has some benefits for everyone. The only qualitative things that you need to understand are that Karate…..good Karate should have a syllabus that you stick to, be grounded in solid basics and needs to concern itself with the students, the individuals who are training and not be some kind of recruitment for a cult!

In the end Karate has changed, stayed the same, advanced, regressed and become something new and old again and again. It will continue to evolve, and devolve over time and those of us who train in it will continue to find things we like and even love in training.

Nintai Students results: The Dingman Cup

Nintai Dojo is run by myself and Jason White, We often brag to each other about how great our students are in class and I chat with him a great deal about how awesome they do in class. Jason teaches the Monday nights and I take up the Thursdays and Saturday classes. One of the secrets to our teaching is we DON’T share with each other what we are going to be teaching. To me this is the best way of teaching because it gives the students variety. I don’t like when you have a congruent teaching group that focuses on the day to day teaching and does the same thing every day! However, we did sort of work with each other to get our students ready for the “Dingman Cup Tournament” held this past June 1^st.

Our little Dojo has about 20 active members in the club and we made a concerted effort to get our students ready for the event and the students put the hard work in and did a bunch of conditioning on top of the regular focus on good technical training. We are a super traditional Dojo that focuses on improving our students Karate on a technical level, we don’t often do tournaments and we don’t teach sport Karate, the JKAMB prides itself on being traditional Karate and using Traditional Karate even in our tournaments.

Our members did extremely well and one of our students even took the Dingman Cup for best all around athlete of the event. Jennifer has been training with us for several years and has her 1^st Kyu brown belt and is preparing for her Shodan. She is a hardworking, funny kid that is faster than lightning. Her hard work earned her gold in both Kata and Kumite! While I bug her about her Kata her Kumite is so good she beat kids that were her rank and made them look like they were standing still!  She blew past several athletes from other clubs with so much ease that next year I will have to put her in the black belt division or it wont be fair.

Our other brown belt Emma is a 3^rd Kyu and came in 4^th in Kata to someone who has been a brown belt longer than Emma has been training and honestly, I thought she took that one. She also got her bronze in Kumite proving her length and timing was on point!  I can see great things for Emma and with a bit of training she will be beating seniors soon! When she first got her brown belt we noticed a huge jump in her skill level and I thought she would be a champion at Kata because she is super intelligent and has awesome attention to detail, she has however shocked me in that her Kumite is better than I expected! She proved to me and Jason that her skills in fighting are part of her being so smart as she plays chess with people when sparring and uses great strategy to win.

For fun we threw our Black belt Terry into the Adult female Kata division, this year she could not do Kumite as she had a broken finger, but she came down and did her Kata and garnered a silver medal. The ironic part is she just started learning Empi a few months back and has a way to go but her determination and practice earned her the medal this time out. She is normally the work horse that goes into Kumite and relishes it in class as much as she does at the tournament. She pushes herself harder than any of the younger Karateka in the club and earned my respect a long time ago. She fought members from other clubs and earned the silver she got!

Damon and his sister Rayna both did very well as well. Damon entered the Kata and Kumite and earned a bronze for his Kata, which is not normally his strong suit in class. He however earned a Silver in a deep division for kumite and I was very impressed with his form when sparring, he will be a force when he grows a bit and figures out his technical points. He is a natural athlete and has explosive strength when he wants to. His sister Rayna is what we would call a “thinker” and often an over thinker. She was in a smaller division and psyched herself out, but after a bit of a chat she went into the Kumite division and got a silver!  Rayna is one of the smartest kids I know, and she is probably the one that has the most medically to overcome, but she pushes when you get her in the right mood and shows some sparks of brilliance in Kata and her kumite, if pushed is on point as well. I really look forwards to what these two purple belts will do when they both grow into their bodies a bit and have time to mature in Karate.

Two of our Novice (white to Green) students did very well in a HUGE division. Patrick and CJ came in Gold and Bronze in Kumite respectively and Patrick really shocked me. He was one of the smaller kids in the division and stepped up big time. He is one of those kids that has great form, works hard and has fun. Patrick is one of those kids that 99% of the time you dream of having in your class and he listens to you 100% of the time. Young kid with a bright future in Karate!  CJ is our Tasmanian Devil. The kid is so much fun and he works really hard but he is a wild card. He shows up and you never know whats gonna happen. AND he is really good when he tries and pushes others to do well.  His kumite is great because he is one of the fearless kids. The ones that you know will go hard and not be scared of anything in Kumite. He does not mind getting hit a bit and he will drive in all the time. We need to work on his form but he is on point to be really good at Karate too.

Last but not least is Qetsu, one of our advanced (Brown) Cadets (teens) who is built like a tank! The kid is solid and hits like a mule! He is not the quickest, but he is super coachable. He was so nervous doing free against brown belts, but he earned his gold with hard nosed Karate. He chased a kid out of bounds three times and got him DQ’d and then beat two others with solid form and power. His in class Karate is normally typical teen, you don’t know if he is trying or just goofing off a bit and often it’s a bit of both, but he buckles down, and you see him when he is doing things he likes and the power he can generate is awesome. I will be working on speed and explosiveness with him, but this big rig of a kid is going to be something when he gets a bit more explosiveness into his Karate.

Jason and I could not be prouder of our members. They all did so good in their respective divisions and we know that it’s a growing time for us, we are focusing more and more on traditional tournament prep and training and we hope to help our members do even better in the future.  Our focus as always will be doing JKA Style Shotokan in the Dojo with the students and pushing them to be better, reach their potentials and enjoy Karate, but we also want to encourage them to push themselves out of their comfort zones, which is what tournaments are all about…fun and adding pressure to your training.

Our new group of students that did not compete also got an eyeful of the tournament and we have several who are interested in doing the next one as well as our regular membership. Tournaments in our organization are traditional and go hand in hand with Dojo training, they don’t shift to sport and change your style, they push you to build, be better and improve over all in Karate. It’s a physical training event and not what we normally focus on teaching, but it does help in teaching students how to be better sportsmen/women and how to train to be better in general.

We are so proud of those that competed, and we know that all our members will benefit going forwards from training for traditional tournaments. It’s the results we care about, not the medals but the leap in understanding and training we see in our students.

Tode Jukun: The 10 sales pitches of Anko Itosu

In 1908 Anko Itosu, the father of Modern Okinawan Karate wrote a letter to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of war in Japan trying to draw attention to Karate. His intent seems to meander from pushing Karate as a form of fighting to a pushing it as a way of developing health and the body. This to me shows two things; first that Itosu was writing this off the cuff without much planning or thought out intent and secondly that he obviously was not as elegant a writer as Funakoshi and even Sakukawa Sensei was.

The letter starts out:

“Karate did not develop from Buddhism or Confucianism. In the past the Shorin-ryu school and the Shorei-ryu school were brought to Okinawa from China. Both of these schools have strong points and I therefore list them below just as they are without embellishment.”

In the letter he writes about the stances of “Tang Te” or Chinese hand, which is a telling point about when it was written and the ideals at the time. The Ministry of War at this time would refer to the Japanese ministry of War and using the “Tang Te” name may have actually served to slow the progress of Karate as Japan was still not on good terms with China.

One point of interest right off the hop is that Itosu refers to Karate as not coming from either of the most common religions of Japan and China, however it does not say anything about Shinto. Also, Itosu comments that the two schools of Karate were brought to Okinawa from China…. not the three….and he refers to them as Shorin and Shorei not Shuri and Naha. 

Itosu then goes on to list his 10 “Precepts” or explanation points about Karate. Keeping in mind that he is presenting these to official Ministry officials and trying to help build his following and bridge the gap between the martial art thought of as a esoteric and elitist activity and bring it into the mainstream. Karate was not always the art that it is today, practiced at every community center and seen as a common activity in every community. It was once a art form that was practiced by the elite in Okinawa, created for the body guards and officials that were in charge of working with and protecting the Okinawan king.

Itosu and his peers (of which many did not fare as well as Itosu) now had to transition into other careers and support themselves and their families after the weak Okinawan emperor fell and abdicated his rule over the island nation to the Japanese.  He is using this letter with ten points to reach out to two very different groups, the military and the education ministry, to see if he can find an in with one of them to help teach his art and earn a living. In the end the education ministry showed interest and Itosu and his students flooded into the school system and started teaching Karate to school children, altering their approach to training to suit the children they were now presenting the system to.

This was a stroke of luck for all of us, the art form would have been very different if the Ministry of War (military) had picked up the art form for training their solders and the Ministry of Education had rejected this art form. I will present the twisting and turning, and somewhat desperate sounding, letters 10 points to you and add my own notes so you can see what Itosu had presented to the Ministries and what we should take from this letter.

It is very important to note that BOTH directions he was aiming for would still have created a great art form and the art form that Itosu was presenting was still functional and effective, he was however at a cross roads in his life, which is why the letter seems to be aiming in two directions at the same time.

At this point in time the Sino-Japanese war over and Japan had invaded Taiwan, Japan was about to force Korea into being a protectorate of Japan as they expanded their empire all over the Pacific region. Japan was ramping up to invade Manchuria in a few decades. The nation was growing, and its influence was being felt across the pacific. Itosu had lost his position and was desperately looking for a way to make ends meet.

It is with all of this in mind that he sent the following precepts to the Education and War Ministries to try and gain traction, grow his art of Karate and create a industry that would help him earn a living. Unlike the laws of Bushido and the Dojo Kun the 10 precepts of Itosu are more a sales pitch, the ideals that are presented are meant to introduce Karate to those that do not practice Karate and in such they create a very unusual chance to see what a well known practitioner thought of Karate as he presented it to the outside world.

The 10 Precepts of Itosu:

 1. Karate is not merely practiced for your own benefit; it can be used to protect one's family or master. It is not intended to be used against a single assailant but instead as a way of avoiding injury by using the hands and feet should one by any chance be confronted by a villain or ruffian.

               

                This is an interesting way to start the 10 points. Essentially Itosu is talking to both the Education and the Military Ministries with this starting point. He is also not very direct when you read it over and over. He says basically Karate will give you a strong body, but it also mentions being able to fight and have the courage to risk one’s life to support an effort of defense. This is obviously to attract the War Ministry directly.

                Duty and honor were very big in Japan at this time, they were in the middle of an expansionist era with a focus on nationalism. The idea of honor and duty of the general population would have appealed to the ruling class. Also, the focus on creating a system of teaching basic fighting skills to students and youth would have kickstarted the military careers of many of the youth that would be feeding the War machine that Japan had turned into at that point in its history and to have a disciplined fighting force that was prepared prior to military training would have been ideal to the War Ministry.

2. Karate’s primary purpose is to strengthen the human muscles, thus making the physique as strong as iron and as hard as stone. One may then use the hands and feet as weapons – such as the spear and halberd. In doing so, Karate training cultivates bravery and valor in children and should, therefore, be encouraged within our elementary schools. Do not forget what the Duke of Wellington said after having defeated Emperor Napoleon: “Today’s victory was first achieved from the discipline attained within the playgrounds of our elementary schools.”

It is obvious at this point that he was hoping the War Ministry would take notice of the built-in military like training that the students in Okinawa would be getting. Ironically the Okinawans were not seen as equal to the Japanese in the military and were instead often put into Boeitai units or “home guard” units made up of 20-40-year-old reservists in places like Okinawa, Korea and Formosa. Nearly 20,000 Okinawans served in Boeitai units on Okinawa during the battle for Okinawa. These Boeitai were seen as lower class than the imperial army counterparts however. It still seems ironic to me that Itosu is trying to sell that his art would create a perfect fighting force…when the fighting force would not be part of the IJA (Imperial Japanese Army) and many of the Okinawans still did not see themselves as being imperial subjects.

Proving however that training would create good soldiers was Itosu’s focus. As proof he was correct nearly 10,000 Boeitai soldiers, mostly armed with spears and hand grenades died fending off Americans for the Japanese at the war of Okinawa.

 3. Karate cannot be quickly learned. Like a slow-moving bull, it eventually travels a thousand leagues. If one trains diligently for one or two hours every day, then in three or four years one will see a change in physique. Those who train in this fashion will discover the deeper principles of karate.

                Now Itosu backs away from the War Ministry and aims at the Education Ministry. Also, this creates “real expectations” kind of feel to his pitch. The reality of training, as is laid out in this part of his sales pitch is that Karate takes time to learn and to be able to practice properly. You won’t see a miracle change in someone with in the first year of training, it takes up to three or so years of hard training for a student to have enough skill to defend themselves and allow for enough time for Karate to impact the body in such a way as they can use the skills they have learned.

 4. In karate, training of the hands and feet are important, so you should train thoroughly with a sheaf of straw (#). In order to do this, drop your shoulders, open your lungs, muster your strength, grip the floor with your feet, and concentrate your energy into your lower abdomen. Practice using each arm one to two hundred times each day.

                You may have to read this one several times to understand this statement. Itosu is suggesting that you have to work with a Makiwara (Sheaf of straw). He then explains how to it the Makiwara for maximum improvement in your Waza. Note that the striking is set at about 100-200 times a day. This would lead to the hardened fists that we are used to seeing on practitioners as well as the calluses that we see today on many hands of those that use the makiwara.

                This is his suggestion for Hojo undo or auxiliary practice, however you will note that he does not stipulate that this is the ONLY training you should do. Itosu was also not the definitive source for Karate training, his history suggests that he was not very high on the ladder when it came to knowledgeable masters.

 5. When you practice the stances of karate, be sure to keep your back straight, lower your shoulders, put strength in your legs, stand firmly, and drop your energy into your lower abdomen.

                I find it strange that in the middle of Itosu’s sales pitch to people who know nothing about Karate that he added this to the mix. The advice and explanation is dead on, it’s great to see that he is explaining the basic Karate stance…to someone that has no idea what he is talking about. This is not just out of place but also kinda weird.  We go from really a letter focused 90% on sales pitch to outside sources and then into the stance of Karate. Its like he transitioned from talking to people who were uninitiated to writing to his students…..and it continues…..

 6. Practice each of the techniques of karate repeatedly. Learn the explanations of every technique well and decide when and in what manner to apply them when needed. Enter, counter, withdraw is the rule for torite.

                So, Itosu himself is now suggesting that one should study the movements and techniques and come to a decision as to what manner to apply them and when these are needed. My interpretation is Itosu is suggesting that we need to train…Duh…and then interpret the movements in Kata for ourselves. This seems to identify the fact that even at Itosu’s level and generation there was NO SYSTEMIC IDIOLOTY REGARDING BUNKAI OR OYO.  So, all those modern day Bunkai guys that say the old Karate guys had a plan for each move of Kata…. yah, not so much!

                Its like I tell my students, train hard with an open mind and figure out applications for yourself, what I teach you are my interpretations for Kata movements, and Itosu seems to be backing me up here.

7. You must decide if karate is for your health or to aid your duty.

                Back to the sales pitch here! Itosu is now flipping a coin, he is presenting his approach to two groups that may have similar ideals for the people they would employ him to teach, but he is now saying it could be a health thing…or to aid your duty! By aid your duty he is inferring its for defending yourself and your country again.

                I honestly think that he is using this to infer that you can train for defense or you can train to be in good health, you can not do both, which is counter to all modern dogma and sales pitches.

 8. When you train, do so as if on the battlefield. Your eyes should glare, shoulders drop, and body harden. You should always train with intensity and spirit as if actually facing the enemy, and in this way, you will naturally be ready.

Um, so now he is telling people that their mindset during training will get them ready for combat against an enemy. Duh!  He is now back to telling the War Ministry that you can create warriors with Karate that will be good at fighting and defending themselves because they will have mentally prepared by training in Karate.

                I have no issue with this other than he seems to be mixing up his audience again. This is a letter to the two different Ministries and yet the line is written as if it meant for a student. Very confusing and I am thinking that he is confused a great deal at this point in his life. He knows that he has to create a opportunity to make money and live after having lost his job with the government of Okinawa, but he is writing this as if he is talking to actual students.

 9. If you use up your strength to excess in karate training, this will cause you to lose the energy in your lower abdomen and will be harmful to your body. Your face and eyes will turn red. Be careful to control your training.

So, Itosu is now suggesting that hard training or over training is not good for a student. Again, this is geared towards the students and suggests that one should not train to hard. I know that intensity training is a more modern construct and in the past one would think of health and train to keep moving, a light easy approach with some focus on harder training intermixed with lots of easy training. Also, the training was geared towards younger students who were in better shape than older practitioners.

It would seem that Itosu back peddles a bit on his assessments of hard training previous, he had pointed out that Makiwara training was needed, and he now suggests that lighter training done for a life time is better. I have no clue how this fits into the sales pitch that he is making to the Ministries but he threw it in their to remind people not to overdo it in training.  

 10. In the past, many masters of karate have enjoyed long lives. Karate aids in developing the bones and muscles. It helps the digestion as well as the circulation. If karate should be introduced, beginning in the elementary schools, then we will produce many men each capable of defeating ten assailants.

                Back to the duel sales pitch!  I agree that people who train in Karate often see great physical improvements (Flexibility, cardiovascular health, muscle tone ext) however the fact that a few of the masters lived longer than the average is the better sales pitch.  However, its also important to note that most of them died of very normal things that Karate did not affect really.

                His go to is to sell the ministries on starting kids in Karate so that they can help produce students that will grow into great warriors for the War ministry. Great approach if you are looking at creating a bunch of soldiers that will die for their country. Most modern instructors would not relish the thought of their members dying in wars or going to war in the first place, but Itosu had a living to make and if only a few of the young children he was teaching became military members to die for Japan then so be it.

If the students at teacher training college learn karate in accordance with the above precepts and then, after graduation, disseminate this to elementary schools in all regions, within 10 years karate will spread all over Okinawa and to mainland Japan. Karate will therefore make a great contribution to our military. I hope you will seriously consider what I have written here - Anko Itosu, October 1908

                Itosu ends the letter basically laying out that his system of fighting, this new aged (At the time) martial art could help the country build up many students into military warriors and it will spread quickly, in one decade those that were taught Karate from a young age would be ripe for military service. He brings around his sales pitch and drops it on the Ministries as a great way to help them.

                Pretty much anyone who reads my blogs knows I am not a fan of Itosu and I also think that Azato was Funakoshi’s primary instructor and he probably had little time with Itosu. This letter from Itosu to the ministry really makes me feel that he was a man of lesser character than Azato. Not only was he pandering to the Japanese Ministry, a government body in which most Okinawans did not have a lot of respect but he is basically is saying “let me train kids to go die for Japan”.

                I really started reading this sales pitch when I was researching a book on different “Kun” from Sakukawa and Funakoshi. I had included it in the book research at first hoping to include it in the book, but after really looking at the precepts and digging into them, reading what others had said and reviewing it I pulled it from the book because, to be honest, it has no place in a book dedicated to how to do Karate or how to behave while doing Karate.

Shibui : the proper complex simplicity in your Karate.

                I came across a word the other day that totally made sense in reference to the ideals of Karate. The word is Shibui and it means Simple, subtle and unobtrusive beauty. It infers quality with economy of form, line and effort. Another way of defining or translating it is Refined Simplicity.

                For something to show Shibui it must be modest, natural, every day, imperfect and silent or not boastful.  Most of the time this is applied to the concepts of art or aesthetics, but this should also define good Karate. Elegance/simplicity, Effortless/ effectiveness and beautiful imperfections. It’s a way of explaining how something so basic can be so beautiful.

                The term came into use during the Muromachi period (1663-1573) as Shibushi, a term used to refer to sour or astringent taste. By the beginning of the Edo period (1615-1868) the term gradually began to refer to a pleasing aesthetic and it became a term used for almost anything, from song to dance. The term is used to refer to anything that is beautiful in a direct and simple way with out being flashy.

                To be Shibui an object or thing must appear to be simple but have depth to them with subtle details and texture that is balanced simplicity with complexity. The balance of simplicity and complexity ensure that the item is never obsolete, and one can constantly find new meaning and beauty that causes the value to grow over the years. It is very complex and walks the line between rough and elegant as well as spontaneous and restrained.

                Shibui is also a feeling of evolving perfection. The thing that is being felt is the life or spirit behind the qualities of any experience. This can be in simple everyday events, like watching the sun set or observing the waves splash against a dock. It’s the simplicity and “matter of fact” existence of something that makes it Shibui.

                Martial artists should strive to practice and bring Shibui to the performance of their techniques. This brings life to the Karate and performance of the Waza.   With great practice the expertise gained from the training causes the performance or repetition of the forms and waza to be naturally beautiful and uncomplicated. This means no one part of the performance stands out from the rest creating a balance of beauty in the performance. The training must make the performance effortless in performance.

                When I think of Shibui I automatically think of Kata from Osaka Sensei or the Kumite of the greats like Tanaka Sensei. They train so hard to make the work effortless, they chip away at the excess movement and they create a natural feel to what they are doing that makes it look effortless and yet beautiful. This is what you should focus on when training, getting to the point that the incredible effort you have put in to learn, refine and perfect form and function seem to create a Waza so every day and effortless in its execution.

                The current trend in Karate is to add so much fluff and glitter to a Kata or to be super fancy in Kumite and it has gone against the idea of Shibui that comes from the Japanese culture. You can still see this in the way that the Japanese perform the martial arts and other art forms however. Watching a true master do a Kata is an act of simplicity unto itself. No added movements, no screeching, just the simple but powerful movements along with the proper attitude and executions. The result is a simple, elegant and straight forwards presentation that shows the true cultural understanding of Shibui.

                For some reason the modern Karate scene, influenced by the “bigger is better” attitude that is so dominant in the west, has affected the presentation of both Kata and kumite in tournaments and in the dojo. Students rush to learn the deadly hook kicks and fancy high kicks, they bounce around like kangaroos and they focus their sparring on movements that “Score more points”, something also influenced by the west. And Kata…. don’t get me started. Modern day Kata is often filled with ego and extra screaming, with adding moves or exaggerated and altered techniques. Kicking the hip level is replaced by head kicking, snap kicking has been replaced with over exaggerated super high kicking and the total lack or loss of rhythm is masked by more screaming and horrible, but impressive, form.

                We have lost our appreciation or understanding of simplicity as an aesthetic. To truly understand the beauty of simplicity you have to watch a master who has perfected simplicity and who has created the cleanest of waza. One should focus on training with the most simple and efficient of movements. It is much better to end a fight with one perfect Ippon style waza than to win a game of tag in which you score more points. My opinion is that people got lazy, they failed to find that perfect form and that beautiful waza so they shifted their prerogative and changed the game.

               

                If training with simplicity or Shibui is hard for you, then you should really focus more on it. As a Karate practitioner we should be focusing on what is hard, not altering the game to make it easier. We should be striving to remove the excess and create the most elegant and simple style that we can, not adding flash to cover up blemishes. Shibui, to some extent, is not just elegant simplicity, it accepting our flaws and moving past them. Using them as a strength and pushing our self to refine even our weak points till they are part of who we are as a martial artist and building up the strengths by making them as simple as possible.

Tai no Shinshuku – Compression and relaxation

                In Mechanical Physics compression is the application of balanced force inwards or Pushing forces to the center of material. This is the opposite of tension or traction, which is the application of balanced outward, or pulling forces. It is also different than shearing forces, which is the direction or displacement of material parallel in two different directions. The compression strength of material and structures is an important consideration in engineering as it defines part of the equation for strength of a specific material.

                For our purposes we will be looking at Compression as a unilateral compressive force, or compression of a material in a single direction as well as the spring effect of materials under a compressive force. My goal is to explain the reaction of the body as we use Tai no Shinshuku or compression and relaxation/extension of the body to generate power.

                When put under pressure any material will suffer some deformation, even if imperceptible, this causes the average relative position of the molecular structures of the item to change. In some cases, this deformation is permanent and in others it is temporary and when the compressive force is removed the reaction force that opposes the compressive force is normally equal and balanced to the initial force. This reaction is similar to the way a spring reacts to force.

                A spring is an elastic object that stores mechanical energy in the form of potential energy. Springs normally refer to a metallic substance that is coiled to crate the sprint, however there are many different kinds of springs. When a spring, with out stiffness variability, is compressed or stretched from its resting position, it exerts an opposing force approximately proportional to its change in length. It can load a great deal of potential energy over the range of the springs surface that can be stored and released as kinetic power.

                To make this more relevant to Karate we have to look at “Torsion springs”. A Torsion spring is a spring that works by twisting it, when it is twisted around its axis it produces a torque force proportional to the tension. This is loading potential energy that can be used to create torsion power around its access once it is released. Think of the twisting in the back leg as you extend your lead hand and prepare to execute a reverse punch, this is using the torsion spring effect as you release the tension in your back leg and straighten it. The turning of the hip and straightening of the back leg simulate this kind of loading and unloading of the leg to generate torsion power.

                Generally, contraction and relaxation or contraction and expansion of the body refers to the compression of a joint using the muscles of the Agonist muscles to create pressure and then using the antagonist muscles to release this compression. However, the muscles are only really able to do two mechanical things; contract and relax. So the contraction and relaxation principle is not about single muscles but more about the joints and muscle groups that work to affect movements in these joints.

                There is a symbiotic relationship between contraction and expansion in the body. If one only contracts the body or uses tension, then the amount of actual force that someone can execute and put towards and attacker will be limited, and the amount of energy used to maintain the tension will deplete the body of energy. In the symbiotic relationship it is often seen that Contraction is the act of storing the energy that the body can create, and expansion is the act of releasing the energy. For good Karate you must be able to use both of these forms of energy storage/expression to make power in your techniques.

               

                When you realize that muscles can basically only contract or expand you start to realize that the idea of a muscle storing energy is a tough sell. Instead you have to look at the muscles in their agonist/antagonist relationship and realize that the power is actually stored in the form of potential energy because of the muscle’s compression/contraction around specific joints. So, the “Potential energy” is in the joint not the muscles. However, the muscles must behave in a specific way to use the spring force or extension to generate greater power.        

                One more thing that has to be stated is that your body should never be sitting in 100% of either state. If you are totally relaxed in the center, then you are totally not ready to move. If you are to tense you limit your speed and the power, you generate will be limited greatly because you will lack the speed/acceleration component of movement. One should feel as if their body is much like a traditional mouse trap, the spring-loaded kind. Your center should always hold a bit of tension but the second that you are called to move you use a total contraction of the body to move to the point of strike, the agonist muscles contract completely and the antagonists relax to allow for complete movement, prior to this however the muscles are use in the opposite way. So, in your ready position the muscles that pull you away from the target are compressed/contract while the muscles that would propel you towards the target are relaxed, then instantaneously you reverse this and propel yourself towards the target with great speed and greater impact force.

                The goal of each Karate practitioner is to develop and improve “Explosive power” in their techniques. To do this you must master the art of relaxation and contraction or expansion and contraction. Dingman Sensei used to say that you should be at 20-30% tension in your torso at all times and the same in your limbs, then when it comes to the movement you should be zipping up to 80-90% tension for a split second then returning to the original tension levels. Keeping the agonist at 30% allows for control and creation of pressure or compression in the muscles. Then you will contract the opposing muscles that move your striking limb towards your opponent.

                 The almost complete “natural” Contraction and relaxation is required to build up speed and in crease the impact force of any technique. This is the nature of contraction and relaxation in Karate. 

Considering speed in power generation for Karate

The Karate body can make power in several different ways, actually its how to handle, redirect and focus your power. The truth is power is defined in physics as work/time so the more work you do in in a set time…. or the rate of work in a set amount of time. Power in the mechanical systems is the combination of forces and movement. So, power can be the product of a force on an object and the objects velocity or the product of torque on a shaft and the shafts angular velocity.

Speed kills

Whey is this even important?  Well both directly relate to how the body produces power. The first is how the body creates force by moving a limb causing Impactive force to an object. Impact is a high amount of force acting on a object over a short period of time. This is also called Shock impact. This kind of force generally has a greater effect on the target or object that it is being applied to than a lower amount of force over a greater period of time. The effect therefore depends greatly on the relative velocity of the two bodies to one and other.

Speed of movement is very important to effectiveness of a technique. Normally when an object (person in this case) is struck the resulting impact is absorbed or converted into heat and sound energy, a result is that the kinetic energy is transformed into different waves (Heat and sound waves) and dispersed across the surface of the object. However, the faster the impact is imparted the less efficiently the energy is converted into waves and thus the object behaves as though it is more brittle than it would otherwise, and the majority of the applied force goes directly into fracturing the material.

This also applies to objects that are not at a sufficient temperature to create mailability or pliability. Ergo, impact resistance decreases with a increase in the velocity of the striking force or a decrease in temperature of the item being struck. One way to illustrate impact force and its effect is to use a hammer and a nail. If you were to take the hammer and just push on the nail as hard as you can the nail would not move. Add velocity/impact power to the equation and each strike you will overcome the friction force between the nail and the object it is entering. Another example is a torque wrench. This tool is used to tighten and loosen bolts by applying impact via torque to the bolt. At normal speeds the force that is applied to a bolt would be dispersed via friction and the bolt would not move. However, with an impact wrench the force acting on the bolt is done with great speed and this forces the bolt to move as the force does not have time to disperse.

In a ballistic example, a bullet uses speed of impact to puncture surfaces that could otherwise resist the force that it imparts on the subject. A rubber sheet would flex and absorb the strike of an arrow/ as would leather and other woven materials. However, as the bullet is traveling at a greater speed the rubber fractures and does not have time to stretch and absorbed the impact by converting it to vibrations.

So speed and velocity impart damage to a target, how can that help us in Karate. Well first thing we need to realize is we have to train for speed but we also much use that speed properly. When striking we have several ways to increase speed, efficiency and also ways that we move that affect the power that we are transmitting to our targets. Power and speed together equal an increase in impact force, or rather increase the efficiency of the impact force which leads to impact damage. In Karate we aim for weaker, smaller targets, the point of the chin, a specific “soft spot” at the solar plexus and then we try and strike as fast as we can with as much power in the strike. The combination of power with speed is velocity and the resulting impact, if the technique is managed, is greater and thus the efficiency of movement is better….IE “one strike, one kill”.

The Asai Branch of Shotokan.....Diversity, Ego and issues....and some solid leadership!

               Early on Shotokan was made up of essentially two smaller groups set up in the university system and a small group of senior professional instructor. It would not stay this direct and small for long. The style BLEW up and dozens of off shoots were formed and continue to form little off shoots for years to come. Groups sloughed off of the main body as issues, personality clashes or just old fashioned money arguments started to pile up and people through the hands up in frustration or the larger groups would send them the “Dear John” letters alerting them to the fact that they were no longer welcome in the family.

               Some left for more freedom, some left to rule their own fiefdoms, some left because they did not get along and others left because they lacked patience or just plan were feeling like they deserved more. Right or wrong the splits began with little chunks of groups, single masters and clubs moving over and the once clean and clear organization became a sea of new organizations, practitioners getting more attention and then seeking to form their own groups.

                

               Essentially you have two main branches that form the Shotokan lineage or tree, the JKA and the ShotoKai. Again, I have spoken at length about the Shotokai and The main body of the JKA and I don’t want to rehash that here. The JKA branch however is very interesting as it intersects with a lot of sub branches and groups that can look back and say they were formed off the JKA branches.  

               The JKA wing or branches origin falls under Masatoshi Nakayama and Isao Obata Sensei’s as the leadership, creators or founders of the JKA. Yes Obata left and came back and then left again but his money helped make the JKA and he deserves recognition as one of the founding fathers of Shotokan Karate as a JKA entity.

From Masatoshi Nakayama Sensei however we see a vast degree of changes and separations that create a flowing branch with off shoots like crazy. At some point it’s important to note that Kanazawa was the first real senior or “Big name” star to leave the JKA and his departure was because of a change in his thinking, training and system he taught (well that’s part of it). He also wanted financial separation from the JKA so he could make a living and also he felt he was advanced enough to make his own way. Details of that are for another time however.

               Many small off shoots appeared and have split away from the JKA over the years, mostly ego, money and power issues caused the split, but the biggest split, one that formed  a huge separation was the split with the Asai group, made up of many JKA seniors. The initial split formed two sides, the JKA and Asai side, but what happened later is more interesting. Now I know I have gone over this split before, but its important to rehash a few details here to point out a interesting bit of info that I fell upon a while back and just decided to clarify recently.

               In 1987 the split occurred and both sides went to war, by 1999 the courts had finally and completely sided with the Nakahara run JKA and expelled all the Asai side members. The repercussions of this were far reaching, but I don’t want to actually look at the JKA at this point. I want to go and check out the Asai group.

               While the court battle was going on the Asai group was super close knit, they were strong and they taught a brutally traditional system of Karate, Asai holding close to the most detailed traditional system he could as he wanted to following Nakayamas path and then veer slightly when he could. The court ruling however allowed him to pull off his gloves and make changes to the training as he wanted to, he began showing his own ideas and creating an “Asai Karate” system that he had previously not demonstrated openly. He had researched Chinese styles and had implemented some Kata changes previously but it was when he realized he was not going to be the next JKA chief instructor that the changes started coming fast and furious.

               Abe and Yahara split to form their own groups shortly after the court battle saw them “no longer JKA”. Abe formed his JSKA to keep super traditional and honor his instructor and Yahara formed his KWF to also go back to a more Budo style art that he could put his own personal stamp on. However the whole point of this blog is to look at what Asai did after finding himself on a splinter group side and no longer the leader of a JKA group.

               When Asai Sensei lost the court battle he formed the JKS or Japan Karate Shotorenmei as well as the International Japan Karate do Association or IJKA. The JKS was a Japanese based group that began to teach the altered system of Asai Sensei and allowed him to experiment and develop his system. Asai went about creating many new Kata and introduced them to the students. The result was a style very unique and different than JKA style Karate with roots in the Japanese art but with a great deal of personal changes that he implemented after studying White Crane Kung fu.

The JKS became the Japan arm of Asai’s teaching and much of his mainstream changes began with this group. He began introducing different kata and movement drills to reflect changes he was making. His students who had trained with him in the JKA Matsuno faction mostly moved to this group when he lost in court. The changes in syllabus and curriculum soon put the JKS membership at odds with each other and members like Yahara, Abe and others left.  

               After Asai Sensei passed away the organization was headed by Kagawa Sensei, a man whom had a great tournament record and was perhaps more JKA than he was in line with the New Asai Karate. The JKS began to change and move away from the change that the former founder had put in place and move back towards solid traditional JKA style Karate but they do maintain some of the changes and the alterations that Asai Sensei had put into play, they just temper them a bit with more traditional Shotokan ideals and movement patterns. 

               Along with the JKS the IJKA was being run by Asai as his European branch. The main instructor was Kato Sensei, who unlike Kagawa moved a great deal like Asai did and the changes became second nature. The IJKA is probably the closest to the changes that Asai wanted to put into effect of the two groups. Flowing, relaxed and more Chinese than the JKS version of the changes the differences between the two are striking when you see seniors practice side by side. However watching their Kata demonstrations and Kato showing the proper form, you can still see a great deal of Nakayama Sensei’s Karate influence.

               My impressions of the different movement skills of Kagawa, Kato and seniors from these groups, the focus of the groups was similar, to spread the teachings that they were introduced to by Asai Sensei. The JKS was based in Japan and had a great deal of hype about being “The Asai” Sensei group. However the IJKA was heavily represented in Europe, with a headquarters in the UK.  The JKS has stretched out to some of the world, but the IJKA seems to have started in Europe after Asai passed away.

               Now all this back ground has taken me to this point in talking about Asai Sensei and his legacy. Other than the two “Official” or “Original” Groups of Asai style Karate (and the many little off shoots like WTKO and others) there are now two new groups set up to represent Asai Karate and they are very much different from each other.

               Upon Asai Sensei’s passing his wife was sort of out of the Karate world for a bit, she had never really had much to do with Karate or running the organization before this as well. The seniors did not really see her as having a place in the JKS or IJKA as she was not a Karate practitioner. However as the wife of their late master she still was afforded a great deal of respect, and a lot of students would contact her and stop by her home to pay respect to Asai at the little temple they had in the house. However she was not part of a board, she was not, obviously, part of a senior council and I think this began to cause her distress. She felt that she had inherited a right to the Karate system, or at least a piece of the political pie.

               The JKS was run by Kagawa and Kato ran the IJKA and did not need her being involved, which probably would have only lead to issues. However she did keep tabs on them and at some point she decided she needed to “Protect Asai Karate” and establish an organization to safeguard the memory of her late husband. At first she approached a few people to assist her in setting up the group, but shortly after it was established a few things became very clear and those who had helped her set up this group left. One of the first things that came to light was her assertions that Asai sensei “would have done it this way” and using her late husband’s name to make some very strange decisions.

               One of the decisions she made was to hijack the IJKA name that Kato had been running for years.  She had fought with Kata publicly and did not take well to his standing his ground to her. One of the people helping her to set up the organization had warned her that the use of the name could lead to issues, to which she ignored the suggestion and bullied forwards.

                The second and biggest issue that she created was that she put her brother in charge as the Nidaime Shuseki Shihan or second generation head of the style. Who cares if her brother never studied Asai Karate and was a kung fu student who had limited interaction with Asai Sensei and his Karate. Today the IJKA is an organization basically in Taiwan and has not grown much aside from a sprinkling of Dojos in Europe and other Asian areas.

               It became very obvious that Mrs. Asai would attack anyone she felt would hinder her progress, as extremely limited as it is. She posts on their web page the dirty laundry most would not post and she attacks people who had been loyal to Asai Sensei very publicly. A spat with one of Asai Senseis students was posted on the web site and a picture that is obviously of Andre Bertal appears where she says that the certificate he holds is not a real Asai certificate.

               Mrs. Asai also is prominent on the web page as she posts her ideas of Bushido and other things, which as she is a non-practitioner of Karate makes it all the more interesting.

               No other group I have seen does  the kinds of things that the IJKA out of Taiwan does, but that stands to reason as they are not really high level Karate people and don’t have the depth of training or knowledge most have. Its unheard of for groups to air dirty laundry like this….but damn if it aint entertaining.       

               The Mrs. Asai lead IJKA group created a conflict internally by not actually focusing on Asai Karate, letting to much drama run the show and this lead to several people leaving the group to form their own groups. One such separation created the ASAI or Asai Shotokan Association International. The group was formed by Yokota Kousaku, a former JKA member who worked with Okizaki Sensei of the ISKF and had moved to the JKS before being a founding member of Mrs. Asai’s IJKA.

The ASAI group teaches 26 of Asai Sensei’s additional Kata as well as a solid JKA based curriculum. The group was forged out of Yokota Sensei’s trying to help Mrs. Asai set up the organization that was supposed to be dedicated to continuing teaching her late spouses system of Karate. To say that did not work out very well is a understatement. One of Mrs. Asai’s personal attacks on her web site is dedicated to Mr. Yokota. Having read both her site and his sites rebuttal I can say that he puts forward a much better argument and is much more respectful than she is…..but go read both for yourself.

The very public spat that came about when he left did not look good for Mrs. Asai and ended up creating a new group she has zero control over. In the end Yokota’s Asai Karate organization has become much more prevalent and has a much better growth curve than the IJKA-Mrs. Asai group. And as part of the full disclosure of this blog, I have been in contact with Mr.Yokota about his group and he is super open and wants to share his organizations goals and how he is running it with an open door policy and no hidden agenda.

After Asai Sensei passed away he, much like his mentor Nakayama Sensei, did not really leave one single person to continue in his quest. Asai Sensei and his Karate are perpetuated by qualified instructors like Yokota, Kagawa and Kato Sensei and their many followers, while I remain JKA I respect the fact that Asai Sensei had some different ideas that may very well be worth looking into and these men openly teach and train in the system that he generated and perpetuated, unlike instructors like Chen Hontsung and his sister these men will honor Asai and his traditions and create an open door for people to continue training and growing in Karate.