Over the years I have seen some interesting interpretations from instructors of both Japanese terms, Concepts and theories that are put into practice in the Dojo…in theory. Recently I had a conversation with a “high ranking” instructor who totally showed me in three paragraphs the issues that we are dealing with as instructors in Karate. The education outside of the physical is so lacking that we end up passing on tripe and drival to students when they deserve way more! Here is my top ten of misconceptions and misquoted Comcepts that often make it into modern Dojo Dogma!
1. the philosophy of the Dojo Kun:
Misunderstanding of Philosophy: Were to start? I have read that you can only read it in order, that it is a guide post only for Juniors and children and that it is just like the “boy scout Oath”.
Corrections: The Dojo Kun can be read in ANY order, the start of each line is “ONE” or “Hitotus” and the end of “KOTO” is like a punctuation mark of importance. This basically means that they all are equally important and this also allows us to put them in any order we want to. The importance of Dojo Kun is more important as we go up in rank and our physical skills are improved upon. It is also equally important for a Jukyu as it is for a Rokudan! While I don’t want to diminish the importance of the Boy Scout oath or pledge, I put far more importance on a oath to not harm anyone with a physical skill that is being trained into the person than it is to always be prepared to help a little old lady across the street!
Why it matters: The Dojo Kun is a set of rules that was established by the founders of Karate, all styles have one! The Kun is a way of training in Karate to use the skills properly and is a guide post for being a better person through the use of Karate! In Shotokan we have the older Dojo Kun which is more a set of tenents on how to present yourself in public life as well as a way of guiding you “spiritually”, and we have the Niju Kun, more a way of practicing Karate written by Funakoshi Sensei to his students. Both of these should be seen as equally important in your Karate training!
2. the Term Dojo:
Misunderstood Term: academy, school or studio
Actual meaning: “ Place of the way” more like a “church for Karate training”. It has a deeper spiritual meaning than school or Academy. It’s a place to forge your spirit!
Why it matters: To many people treat Karate clubs as “Clubs” or “Schools” and forget that the actual training they are engaging in should transcend just punching and kicking in white pajamas. We are losing far to much of the spiritual forging for the physical aspects of Karate. Instructors changed their focus from creating better people, both physically and character wise, to just getting a good work out or worse…getting medals and trophies. It’s a place where you learn a tradition and gain a new perspective when training. It’s a place you go to in order to forge a stronger spirit and personal perspective and a place that you go to push yourself and learn.
3. The concepts of Dojo Shogyu:
Misunderstood Concept: Two classes a week at the Dojo is more than enough to get good at Karate!
Actual Truth: The Dojo is not for “training” its for learning and getting corrected. Yes you should get a good work out but the truth is most of your training is done at home as homework and will really determine how good you get!
Why it matters: Once upon a time we had a club that was open Monday to Saturday and had multiple classes a day. Now we are down to two classes a week in most clubs and the level of technical skill and ability has fallen. We used to see people in the club using club time as their only training time, we now need to work at home a few times a week to push ourselves for conditioning and working on technical skill. Its important to remember that three work outs a week at home for a half hour will make a huge impact on your skills and ability, two classes at the club alone, and missing the odd one for other responsibilities will only help you maintain a lower level of skill and understanding.
4. the Title Sensei:
Misunderstood meaning:: teacher
Actual meaning: “one who came before” a type of guide in Karate
Why it matters: The term “Sensei” has a specific connotation to it that has been over played and venerated over the years. We bow deeper when we see a “Sensei” we are forced to feel like we need to use the term 24/7 and when we say it some say it like “YOUR HIGHNESS” and often we see some instructors who treat it as such and get a swollen Ego out of the deal!
The truth is that “Sensei” means “one who came before in life” and basically means that the understanding is that they were at one point in time exactly where you are now….and just stuck it out long enough to learn a bit more and get a bit better. The truth is that many instructors are called “Sensei” out of Habit. And we have a plethora of “Sensei and bow…..Sensei and bow” in a class. It’s a lot more complex than just calling a Black belt Sensei every time you see one or because someone is leading a class calling them that….and its also a lot more complex than not doing that as well….that is for a different article all together. Suffice it to say, the term Sensei…its not all its cracked up to be and its also more than its presented as!
5. the term Ous/Oos/ Osa:
Misunderstood meaning: Taken as “Yes “ or “I understand”
Actual meaning : the term comes from two Japanese words, “Oshi” and “Shinobu”. “Oshi” means pressure and “Shinobu” means to preserve or endure. Ergo the word actually means I will endure under pressure! It can also mean “I will be Patient” or “ I will be determined…I have appreciation or I will preserver”.
Why it matters: The term has come to mean, YES in a dojo and its not what it means. Many people use this word freely thinking they are using it correctly, it is much better to know what you are saying! Also the word has a far deeper meaning and is much better understood when the true meaning is conveyed to students.
6. The Concept and term Bunkai:
Misunderstood meaning: Application
Actual meaning : analysis or study
Why it matters: I see so many instructors shoveling out the horrible and generic applications for Kata and not realizing that they are supposed to break it down and analys it for themselves. They instead take it as a certainty that the application is what they were told and move on, giving little thought to what applications could exist in a Kata outside of what they were taught. It’s a situation I see in most clubs I have visited that the instructors and seniors simply “Dance” violently through a Kata and don’t think about what they are doing!
Bunkai also has a few different “kinds” of Bunkai…There is Kihon Bunkai (a direct analysis of the basic movements and basic meanings behind moves), this is the first phase of Bunkai and one that 99.9% of instructors and students don’t make it past this level. The second level is Oyo Bunkai and refers to using different movements to suit your own ability, size, skills, personality. Far to often we see instructors try and build a cookie cutter student with the same skills and inclinations as they do with Karate. This discourages true growth and experimentation in training, and they will never develop their own style! I was very lucky in that my instructor taught us to think for ourselves and asked questions about how or what I would do with a move, that and I have trained in Judo and several other arts to help flavor my Karate!
The Third level is one even I have a hard time with. Renzoku Bunkai is the free and continuous application of movements based on Kata. Renzoku Bunkai has almost a Kumite feeling to the movements, and the student has freedom to use the applications according to his interpretations of the Kata movements but the movements must match the Kata!
One good reason that Bunaki, true Bunkai is important is it shows understanding and breeds knowledge. This is very important in Karate to show that training in Kata has value to a person, without understanding and increased knowledge….its just violent dancing!
7. the titles and concepts Sempai / Kohai:
Misunderstood meaning: All seniors are Sempai and all juniors are Kohai
Actual meaning : this is the “descriptive” of a relationship that two people have in a martial art, business or school. It is not a causal relationship but a special one on one relationship that two people share. One’s Senior is not just in rank but has a responsibility to teach the Kohai and help them while the Kohais only responsibility is to work hard and learn!
Why it matters: It has become more and more prevalent for All brown and black belts to be called “Sempai” in clubs, and that is fine as long as people know its not the true and proper use of the term. A “Sempai” is someone who may be senior to you in rank, but more than likely has just been around longer than you have and has the responsibility to teach you things like Etiquette, behavior, and help you adapt to the Dojo Culture. They also will try and assist you around testing times to get ready for ranking and in Japan…that may even be a person who is junior to you in rank. I recall being told a story from a Japanese instructor of how his Sempai stopped testing at Sandan, and he kept training. The Instructor continued to test and for his Rokudan (6th Dan) his Sempai….a 3rd dan helped fix his form in Kata and help assist him in training! This seems very strange to us in the west where we assume that because of a higher rank the person must know more and be better!
The other issue we have in the west is a role reversal. The Sempai always feels that the Kohai must serve them and that because they have been around longer the junior must have more responsibility serving them than the other way around. This is the opposite of the traditional use of the relationship. While a Junior must show respect, their ONLY responsibility is to show respect to the senior by training hard, behaving properly and excelling with the help of the senior. The Senior also can play a role in the outside life of the junior, assisting in Job hunts, Helping them in relationships and I have even been told that a few Sempai have found their Kohoi their wives!
8.The Concept one martial arts style will make you better than another:
Misunderstood idea: My Martial arts style is the best and it can beat your style!
Actual Truth: Martial arts styles do not make you great at fighting, Nor should that be the focus of the style. As Dingman Sensei has said “its not the Dog in the fight, it’s the fight in the dog”! It does not matter if you train in Judo, Karate, Aikido or Kung Fu…if you are a good fighter you will win fights over people in other styles.
Why it matters: Because it’s the most misleading marketing ploy out their! I can not count how often you see or read that an instructor insists that training in their martial art will make you a killer and unbeatable in a street fight, sports event or you will be a master of martial arts under them….key being under them…IE you will never beat them! Its silly and ridiculous. One of the more modern example of this was the early days of the UFC and how they said that Jiu Jitsu would revolutionize fighting as we know it and it is the best style ever! Prior to that Boxing and striking arts were seen as the best. Royce Gracie, the smallest of the Gracie Clan got into a ring…so no one could run away…and fought against guys that were twice as big as him and beat them. They told the world that most of them were “world champions” in one style or another…but if you really look close…none of them were well trained at all…..it was a scam! Next we saw that wrestlers were shutting down Jiu Jitsu fighters and taking wins in the world of MMA. They would rip strikers to the ground and pound on them or take down a Jitsu guy and tire them out by holding them down and stopping a lot of their attacks. They were the new GODS of MMA or as they said…REAL MARTIAL ARTS! Then the strikers figured out how to avoid being taken down and guys like Mark Coleman, once seen as WRESTLING GODS and MMA SUPER STARS were KO’d by strikers again….the circle seemed complete!
The truth however is much more simple than this “evolution” of MMA and thus martial arts theory. The fact is that you can take ten people and put them in ten different martial arts…then have them all demonstrate the physical ability in a tournament….the end result is that the most physically gifted and natural fighters will win in Kumite and the most graceful and skilled at form will win in Kata…regardless of the style they train in….its not the style, it’s the person!
I also recall seeing a Tai Chi instructor who was VERY good take out a Tae Kwon Do fighter in an open tournament, Tai Chi not being known as an overly aggressive style it was interesting to see the man fighting take out a man half his age!
9. the idea that Chinte is a girls Kata:
Misunderstood idea: I can not count the number of times some instructor has said “oh, Chinte…the girls Kata”. And they are serious.
Actual use of Kata : Chinte is not a ladies Kata, it means unusual hands and is a Kata that teaches close quarters combat, and in a particularly Evil way. The Kata was created to teach brutal self defense and is the only Kata with the plethora of unique and painful hand techniques. No other Kata has naka-daka-ken and nihon-nukite. While it would be a great Kata for ladies to learn…its not reserved to that gende!
Why it matters: Because limiting your knowledge becaue of a misplaced ideal is sad. The strange thing is that this Kata and Hangetsu are both viewed with equal contempt by young students that love exciting Kata. However, most of them turning to Sochin for that power and excitement would be mortified to see that Chinte has more in common with Sochin…than with Hangetsu. Not only does it have a lot of Fudo-Dachi…some say that some of sochin’s stance ideology comes from the same source as chinte!
10. the idea that only Karate has Kata in it:
Misunderstood idea: A lot of students and instructors think that only Karate has Kata!
Actual reality: I have news for you, everything in Japanese culture tends to have a pattern or Kata that they follow. Flower arraigning, sword making, Tea making, even gardening has a specific traditional flow to the techniques that are Kata. If you sit and watch a tea maker making Japanese tea, the whole process has a precise Kata to it! I have been told that the mixing of cement in Japanese culture even has its own form that the Japanese people have created. Also, Kendo and Judo have Kata that they learn, a bit different than our individual movement Katas but for the same reasons.
Why it matters: The reason I bring this up is to understand that Karate is not SO different in Japanese culture and also to realize that it is different at the same time from ours. We are studying a very different culture and we need to respect that. We may bring it into our lives, we may even adapt it to our own skills and personality, but it is a borrowed activity and we need to respect it.
No comments:
Post a Comment