Wa-No-Michi

Ahh but thats where you are wrong. To fully understand the process takes life experience. Technical ability - not so Mental ability - Maybe Undertanding of the "ura" or underlying purpose for training - Takes a few more years I am affraid. WNM

Hmmm dont get me started on shogo!! And btw "hoshi" is a title usually reserved for a monk!!!

And it would appear, the view point of many other martial artists in this forum who maybe... have had the benefit of a few more years of existence on this mortal coil. WNM

Good, then perhaps you understand the difference between some one who teaches lessons and someone who is a master?

Quite a few on here have suggested that what was behind these events / actions was because the school was “traditional”. In my experience of Japanese martial arts “strictness” is not the defining part what makes an art form or school “traditional”, but is part of the same misunderstanding that has led to the true meaning of Budo becoming a very rare commodity… and the problem is not confined to us here in the west. In Nishioka Tsuneo’s book “Budo way of thinking: Shu,Ha,Ri” he writes: “The heart of bujutsu is rei. The responsibility of a teacher is to communicate this to students. If this communication fails, students can develop incorrect attitudes and the true meaning of training is lost. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of abuse of power in Japanese budo today. In my opinion few teachers are teaching the principles of budo correctly. Rei in budo has become very artificial, resembling the old-style Japanese military hierarchy. The true meaning of rei is no longer expressed. We seem to be preserving only the worst parts of Japanese traditions and culture, and we need to consider ways to change this situation. Bujutsu leads to rei. The instructor ideally behaves as an exemplar to lead students toward something higher. Rei is an expression of humility towards that higher existence. But some people, as they develop their skills and achieve higher rank, dismiss what they ought to have learned about rei. Those who fail to work as diligently to improve the spirit as they do to improve their techniques are likely to forget the proper humility of true rei. They are apt to become overconfident, proud, and patronizing. Spiritual development and technical development are entirely different things and there is not necessarily any relationship between them.” WNM

Almost a decade... blimey that's such a long time Seriously though, it's not... you are just scratching the surface. This man may have given you a good basic grounding in ma, but sometime instructors use intimidation tactics to keep their students. Even to the point where students feel "privileged" to be beaten up by them. Not saying that your instructor is doing this to you, but there are several ways to bully / coerce people into staying loyal. Don't get pulled in. WNM

Oh dear! I know what I would do if I were in your shoes, and that would be to look for another sensei. To me, my belt is a functional piece of clothing (not something to be worshiped), and just like any other article of clothing, i am not in the habit of "deliberately" dragging it on the floor. But if it were an accident like you say, It sounds like he completely over reacted - and from where I stand what he did to you as a result was assault. I have heard many stories about how Japanese sensei would "bring up short" any students that disrespected them by having one of the seniors give them a "good going over" in kumite (whilst they turned a convenient blind eye) but in the most part, it was because they felt the student was "getting above their station"... a lesson in humility maybe. But as far as the belt touching the floor, it is not a major issue - unless you make it so. WNM

Do itashi mashite = You are welcome WNM

Now you just have to fit in the classic "breaking" line somewhere... and of course own it: "Daniel: You think you could break a log like that? Miyagi: Don't know. Never been attacked by tree." WNM

Me=Eye So Kime means to energy/eye or to focus energy into a given point perhaps. Some would liken it to the "snap" or "tension point" at the end of a technique. "Focus" in a nutshell and not quite the same as Kiai but equally part of the same process. WNM

As far as I understand it "Kiai" is not so much the shout - that’s more the by-product maybe. Kiai is of course a compound of two words Ki-Energy Ai- Harmony/harmonise So it means summons your energy at specific point. This can be underlined with a shout, but you can also perform Kiai without a shout. WNM

How do you define normal kata as opposed to shitei kata?

Of course you will see a slight variation, just in the same way that you will never do the same kata twice, but in terms of teaching kata...... how much lower do you drop that hand in question, before you change the purpose of the technique into something else? Correct form is correct form after all. Actually, kata (by definition) needs very little variation (outside su-ha-ri of course), so if two schools, within the same group, are doing it differently, chances are one of those schools is doing something wrong.

Well they shouldn't do really. We are all built differently, and some days you can do a great Heian Nidan and another time it will suck, but within the same school the goals should be the same. WNM

I do understand (I think), the reason for utilising animal movement and characteristics in your ma training, or at least the desired function within a school's pedagogy. I have spent the last 25 years of my MA training studying the movement and characteristics of a more pertinent animal perhaps.... the common-all-garden "homo sapien". The understanding of movement and application of mindset is key to any ma, and of course there are many different ways to approach this. WNM

Jiyu Kumite is free fighting. At its purest level it literally means no holds barred. Do not confuse Jiyu Kumite with Shiai Kumite, which is competition fighting bound by rules. The Kumite that you should be aspiring to is more about freeing the mind and therefore body movement. Being able to act and react instinctively to any given scenario. Stepping out of Kata isn't easy, as it takes you out of your comfort zone, but there comes a point where you have to do it if you want your karate to work for you. WNM

I'm a bit confused by what you are saying here, WNM. I don't quite understand what you are getting at; could you elaborate a bit more for me, please? 1. Kihon (moving basics/line work) = Kata 2. Solo Kata ie Pinan Nidan etc = Kata 3. Yakusoku Kumite (pre-arranged sparing/pair work) = Kata If, by the utilising the process Bunkai, you break out techniques from the kata, develop them into fighting techniques that you then drill with a partner, what you are in fact doing is creating another type 3 Kata. 4. Jiyu Kumite (free fighting) - is NOT kata. To transit between 1,2,3 and then onto 4 you must "step out of the kata". I have to go teach now, but I will try to write some more later when I get back, because it is a very important subject to me - and not one that is easy to grasp. WNM

yep, after quite a few washes. WNM

That blue tint is an anti fungal treatment that the material is dipped in to prevent it from getting moldy etc during storage. WNM

I think you misunderstand me. Creating another kata from the practice of Kata bunkai has nothing to do with style.

Whats do you mean by style tournaments?

The danger of training in Kata Bunkai is that if you are not careful, all you create is another kata - albeit a paired kata. That not a bad thing necessarily, but it is not stepping out of the kata (as a mind set) either. And to realise the potential of kata you must train to do this. You can not understand how to do it from a book.

Kata is Kata and Kumite is Kumite. They are not the same, in order to progress towards Kumite you have to "step out of Kata". As it has been excellently put just recently on another forum that I participate in. This is a problem that many in the west have imo (including me if I am being honest), because we don't perhaps truly understand where kata fits in to our training structure and how it is best utilised balancing it with Kumite . To say it is simply a repository of Karate "data" limits their purpose somewhat imo. Understanding how to bridge the gap between Kata and Kumite is I guess an "epiphanal" part of your Karate career but equally is not easy to do - and not a quick thing to do either - many hours of hard training culminating in slugging out with your mates in the dojo me thinks. But... by the sound of it you have a good instructor to guide you through this transition - more thsn many have, so count yourself lucky. WNM

Maybe to understand the purpose of kata, you have to understand what Kata is in the first place? As far as I can fathom out; the word "kata" crops up quite frequently as part of the Japanese pedagogy for training in many art forms. It is in no way exclusive to Karate or martial arts for that matter - The Famous Japanese tea ceremony for example is known to use the process of Kata. Ask two different (western) martial artists the same question and you are likely to get different answer, maybe because the word doesn't translate literally too well. "Form", "Set" get close but they lack something imo. Also Traditional Karate training is all things to all people - what you get out of your Kata training now may be different in twenty years time. That’s the beauty of training in Kata maybe WNM

I think he means the film Taken (with Liam Neeson) rather than the 90's video game Tekken maybe? But I could be wrong. WNM