JustLuke

I think that it is a mistake to try to rattle through a kata at "practical application speed". At the risk of sounding like an old hippy, a well performed kata displays intensity, artism and soul. To achieve these things, one needs to vary one's pace as appropriate, allowing enough time to strongly visualise what one is enacting with crispness, strength and correct form, breathing and flow. Don't push on as if caught up in a relentless current, take the time necessary to embody your kata, to really feel it. If you do this, your effort will come across clearly to those who are lucky enough to witness it.

Black belt - Shotokan. I decided to stop grading after getting my black belt because I caught myself focusing too much on rank attainment and too little on the many more important and worthwhile benefits of karate. It really is very liberating!

Good question. I'd say that my style has evolved over the last twenty years or so, but I can think of a handful of times when I've consciously decided to test, and later integrate, a major change - usually after exposure to a new martial art theory or technique that seemed to me to work well, or in reaction to something in my style that I perceived to not work as well as I believed it should. It initially developed by accident, but some time, after I realised how individualised it had become, I began to conciously develop it into something consistent and systematic. Now it is something of a hobby that I would like to share.

My background is in Shotokan mainly, but I have some knowledge of Shorin-ryu and American Kenpo Karate. My personal style is a hybrid style, drawing deeply on Okinawan/Japanese karate styles, but I have replaced the punches with a variety of palm strikes, blended a selection of simplified Kenpo techniques into the katas, more generally modified the katas that I practice for a variety of reasons, and removed almost all kicks. The few kicks that remain are thrown at waist height or below. I use the basic karate "blocks" exclusively as strikes, locks or throws and place a great emphasis on circular parries for defence. I have also done away with the idea of chambering the fist at the hip. Based on this brief overview, what do you think about the legitimacy of me teaching what I've developed as a new named style? I'm not interested in self-promoting myself to some bogus rank and getting people to call me "Grandmaster" or anything, I just think that others might enjoy learning what I have to offer, and I'd really like to preserve it, which I can't do if I keep it to myself. Any opinions?

A lot of what you say makes a great deal of sense but, regarding "Dim Mak" I have this to say: It's a load of borderline-magical nonsense. I firmly believe that anyone who teaches it is either deluded or seeking to delude, and I wouldn't want to train under someone who falls into either of these categories.

MMA aside, I think that a lot of the traditional new styles (for example, the many established flavours of Karate) arose from: 1) Personal styles. Martial artists who had learned an orthodox style adapted it to better fit their body-types, preferences, and individual interpretations, which they later taught to others. This taught style either given a new name by themselves or by their students and a new style was born. 2) "Feature creep". A martial art is passed down through the years by word of mouth and by means of teacher-to-student instruction, and over time subtle differences between the performance and abilities of the teachers and students are built upon and become compounded. After a few teaching generations, this results in a style that is markedly different from the original taught style - and someone or some group decides to preserve it as a new style altogether. As far as recently created new styles go, both of the above can be true here, too, but all too often, new styles are hashed together for other less worthwhile reasons - for example to create a money making "product" or to boost the ego of the "grandmaster fantasist" who patched his style together. My own personal style is influenced by two "orthodox" styles of karate, Shotokan and Shorin Ryu, along with American Kenpo Karate and to a lesser extent other martial arts that I have been exposed to, and features all new kata and modified versions of traditional kata to document the techniques and theories codified by them. The reasons why I practice/develop it (in addition to continuing on with my Shorin Ryu training) is because it best fits my body-type, is a rewarding intellectual as well as physical challenge, and is an attempt by me to create a structured series of kata with unambiguous bunkai interpretations for a wide variety of useful techniques. One day I will teach it to others, if only to my own children. Will it become established as a new style? Who knows. I think that anyone who "creates" a new style just for the sake of "becoming famous" has his/her priorities all wrong.

People who lie to cover the fact that they've not been practicing are ultimately cheating themselves, I think ... But here's some food for thought: We all have different focusses and responsibilities and sometimes our MA instructors demand an unreasonable commitment on our time. For many students, Karate is just one of many recreational activities that they engage in, and giving them a dressing down for training less than a committed Karateka would is both unfair and unreasonable. Implying that a lack of out-of-class practice is somehow evidence of character flaws or laziness is both disrespectful and patronising, but unfortunately some teachers seem to do this. It is all too easy to make a student feel inferior due to implied condemnation and by placing them under unfair, stressful pressure to conform to unreasonable expectations, and this often leads to lies being told. As a husband and father, I don't see why I should have to apologise for not practicing as much as my sensei would like me to. Sometimes, often, I have more important things to do. It's as simple as that. I should not be placed in a position where I have to "admit" to not training outside of the dojo, as if I were a naughty child who had been caught doing something wrong. I would not lie to cover my lack of training, of course. Rather, I would politely explain that I do not need to justify my out of class activities to my teacher. If the issue was raised again, I would emphasise how much I enjoy my classes and value my instructors skill and abilities, and then suggest that we avoid having the discussion again. Lying is disrespectful, but expecting a student to justify what they choose to do or not do in their free time is equally so. I am very committed to my Karate, it's a large part of my life, but there are times - sometimes long periods of time, in fact - when my responsibilities and circumstances prevent me from practicing as much as I might like; this does not make me a bad student or a bad person, it makes me a good husband and father. A teacher should understand and respect this.

Tricky one this. I think that it is blatantly fraudulent for a person to self-promote themselves to a high rank in an existing style. For example, I have a brown belt in Shotokan and it would be fraudulent for me to promote myself to black belt. I also think that it is fraudulent for a person to declare that they have a high rank in a "secret martial art", given to them by a "mysterious" and untraceable "master", when what they really have is little formal MA training and what they teach is an entirely invented MA It is acceptable to me for a person to wear a black belt in a style that he/she has established (for example, in a personal style that he/she might decide to teach to others) Having said this, it would be egotistical and classless for such a person to then loudly flaunt his/her credentials as a 10th Dan. There is of course only a thin line between this and the aforementioned fake "master" in a fake "secret martial art".

I don't train to kick above the waist/stomach and my flexibility is adequate for this. Having said that, I would like to improve my flexibility so I really should focus more on stretching. There's only so many hours in the day, unfortunately, and I struggle to find the time to squeeze karate training in alongside my other commitments. For me, more time stretching = less time learning actual karate.

When I studied Shotokan, we used Japanese terminology for everything. My Shorin-Ryu teacher, however, uses English terminology for many things and only uses Okinawan/Japanese terminology sparingly - primarily retaining the Kata names and titles such as Sensei. Using Okinawan/Japanese terminology certainly adds flavour to training, but is it useful? Does it provide a necessary link to the past? Could it actually be detrimental to learning Karate in some way? Is it just plain silly? Thoughts, opinions... All are welcome.

I often compare Kata with poetry. Both are a rich source of meaning and open to a wide variety of compelling interpretations. Both are examples of artistic expression that have lessons to teach about the self, the world and about others. It seems to me that the study of Kata is fundamental to the art. Without Kata, one loses much of the depth and substance of Karate. Abandoning dedicated Kihon practice, one loses nothing. This is because the performance of Kata achieves the same results. When one performs a kata, one works the basics. Abandoning rule-based sport-style kumite, one loses nothing. This is because kumite reinforces unhelpful behaviour and ignores 99% of the core techniques and applications found in bunkai. I've always argued that if you have the opportunity to bounce around on the balls of your feet and the space to move freely around your opponent then you can probably run away, which is usually a more effective self-defence strategy than going on the attack. In conclusion, then, it is my contention that karate begins and ends with Kata. Within Kata you can find everything you need to become a great Karateka and a better person. Opinions?

I've been thinking about this very issue quite a bit recently. I have a brown belt in Shotokan (2nd kyu) and I'm working on getting my 1st kyu in Shorin Ryu. I would like to teach in the future and when I do, the style that I teach will be my personal style, which is something of a cross between Shotokan and Shorin Ryu with a few "unique" elements. Will people consider me to be a fake? Will they consider the style that I will teach to be made up? I am sure that some people, perhaps many, will consider me to be a fraud who teaches a fake karate style but, like Sensei8, I think that if my future students consider what I teach to be worthwhile then it will be legitimate in the eyes of the people who matter.

Teaching is an art in and of itself; an instructor who teaches for selfish reasons but is good at what he does is better than an instructor who teaches for selfless, noble reasons but isn't capable of teaching well. I think that as long as the quality of the instruction is high, what motivates the teacher is immaterial. In other words, I'm going to respectfully disagree with Sensei8.

I think that bellowing like a lion that has stepped on a hornet is rather silly, to be honest, but each to their own. If someone is showing adequate spirit, commitment and intensity then whatever noise that they use to help focus their attention and strength is fine by me - be it a bellow, a soft cry, a hiss or whatever else suits them. I acknowledge the usefulness of a loud cry in certain situations, for example it can be used to prompt a flinch response in an opponent that can create useful openings for attack or escape , or it can help to draw attention to your situation, but many times it is used purely for show or out of unthinking conformity

I've always considered self-discipline to be one of the most valuable skills that one can learn from studying Karate. It seems to me that doing what one should do rather than what one wants to do is a sterling example of the fruitful use of self-discipline, which is why I have a hard time accepting the idea that one should put Karate ahead of one's other commitments. In this way, Karate can enhance day-to-day life rather than act as some sort of refuge from it.