Subtle Indictment

[AnonymousOne]

A young man walks into a Karate dojo for the first time and there on in, he is given systems of warm up exercises, basics, kata, kumite, methods of training, commands on ethics, history of Karate, methods of supplementary training etc. From start to finish he is told what to do, how to do it and how to think (in many if not most cases).

 

Funakoshi greatly altered traditional Okinawan Karate to “Make it easier for the Japanese people to learn”. He altered the Kata, some almost to the point of being unrecognisable. He gave them new names and made the comment In reference to his own actions he said, “The old and the new, this is only a matter of time”. In his autobiography “My Way of Life” he expressed his feeling that Karate will and should continue to grow and change. He even suggested that Kata may even be given new names. Rather interestingly, when expressing his concern over the development of Karate, he complained that, at that time, some people had invented new and unusual Kata. The context of what he was saying about this, seemed to me, to be a railing accusation and an expression of dismay. When some of his students decided to wear protective clothing to practise Kumite, he never darkened the door of that place again. He also made the statement “The way, who will pass it on straight and well”. There seems to be a contradiction of terms here.

 

This is not only true of Shotokan, but this attitude lives in the minds of many heads and leaders of schools all over the world. To alter Karate is an act of heresy. You may alter the supplementary training, you may alter the warm up exercises, everything but the actual techniques. Unless you have some kind of mountain training experience, then come back and win many tournaments, kill a few bulls or tigers, break unprecedented numbers of bricks or tiles or perform some other public demonstration of extraordinary feats, then you will never be accepted by the “Karate Community” if you are an innovator.

 

Whilst the rest of the athletic world is gaining leaps and bounds by continuing to push the envelope of human performance by innovating, researching and adding new techniques and training methods, the Karate World is clinging stead-fast to traditions.

 

Are we going to limit future generations by treating traditional Karate methods as “Holy Icons”?

 

Where is there room for the innovator?

 

Where is there room for the future Mozart’s, Picasso’s, Columbus’s, Wright Brother’s of the Karate World?

 

By clinging to traditions, are we not limiting the potential of Karate, even in the face of modern scientific analysis and evidence that demonstrates things unmistakably to the contrary?

 

Where is the research team, like in other athletic endeavours, that is analysing every possible movement and constantly looking for better ways? Where is the “wind tunnel testing” in Karate?

 

How can we say Karate is perfectly effective if we are not using all the highly effective and modern research tools that modern technology can provide? Other fields of endeavour have grown in leaps and bounds by modern analysis in all areas of sports performance, why is Karate not being put under the microscope? Is it just a lack of funding? Or is it a lack of will motivated by deftly clinging to age-old methods for the sake of keeping traditions traditional?

 

Is the “Karate World” so arrogant, that it has decided it cannot be improved? Is she (Karate) so omnipotent, that it sees into the future and can decide its past and current methods cannot be surpassed? Where does this thinking come from, who is the author of it, and what is the motivation for such a position?

 

In the 1950’s and 1960’s a man came to the world of competitive running, a man named Arthur Lydiard (a fellow country man of mine). He was a coach. After experimenting on himself, he bought new methods and turned running performances upside down. He was hated and criticised in his time and yet his athletes constantly broke world records and achieved multiple gold medals. He was laughed at and his success was explained away most amazingly. He was never really appreciated until late in his life and perhaps not even until after his death. His methods have become almost stock training systems for athletes today. He never really gained the respect and credit he so entirely deserved. Is Karate going to treat the thinkers and innovators in the same way?

 

It is said that Kata is the heart of Karate and it is. There are multiple reasons for this and I am not going to address them here. But I am going to question the stead fast methods of kata techniques, order, and application. Why is it that, say a Shotokan student can develop themselves to become a highly competent fighter using one type of kata series and yet a student from Gojuryu, using a completely different type of Kata series, can achieve the same end? The Kata they are using are completely different, in some cases radically different to each other. Seeing they are using different movements, different techniques, different order, different emphasis, and so on, how is it they can both develop competence in fighting and yet the tools are so different? Is it the fact that they are practising fighting technique rather than traditions that makes them competent? Does the tools make the man or the man makes the tools? Which came first?

 

I see organisations all over the world dedicated to the development of Karate. Some are even called “Karate Research” organisations. What really is pouring out of these organisations? Where are the advances? Where are the innovations? Where are the new techniques? Where are the new Kata? Where is the new training systems and methods? Where is the bio-mechanical, physiological, nutritional, technical analysis etc etc and result? What exactly is being researched and to what end?

 

How can Karate benefit and grow if we remain stagnant? Karate evolved and grew over many centuries and innovation was the need of the hour in the development stage, but its seems to have slowed down and even many cases stopped in the early part of the 20th Century. Why do we assume the development stage is over?

 

In the 19th and 20th Century man went from horse and cart to space travel. What leaps and bounds can be attributed to Karate?

 

I understand the need to honour our Karate forefathers and be grateful for their life’s work in passing on what they researched and found based on what analytical tools they had available to them … at that time. However, our whole world has radically changed. Our ability of analysis and empirical testing has put new light on a multitude of human endeavours in such profound ways, that the new levels of performance has attained levels that were once thought impossible. With this in mind, are we going to limit Karate?

 

Are we going to pass on something that could have been a lot better than it is only because we want to pass down tradition?

 

In financial accounting systems, book keeping books were highly effective for a very long time. For hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, these reliable systems were used. Is it better to pass these on to future generations or pass down more efficient and faster computer accounting software? Is tradition always valuable?

 

Isn’t it true that traditions were once actually new innovations? Why should we dampen the human spirit of innovation, creativity, forethought, inspiration, talent, imagination, or even genius?

 

If Karate does become more open minded and opens its doors to constructive criticism, modern analysis, modern bio-mechanical & physiological investigation etc with the goal of better performance, by what means will it be controlled to ensure the highest quality development and who will be qualified to accept and reject innovations?

[Ted T.]

A military instructor who was concerned that his students' lack of precision and lack of attention to detail would jeopardize their safety in battle, asked his platoon to follow him across a field, and to do only what he did. Half way across he told them that they were in the middle of a mine field and they had only two ways to get out - to follow their footprints back out exactly or to follow exactly in his footprints to get across. Needless to say, the platoon was very motivated to pay attention to the exact detail of where he placed his feet. This is not a new lesson of course, we have heard it in our training halls since the martial arts came to this country.

 

"If you have to cross a minefield, shouldn't you follow exactly 'in the footsteps of those who have been there and survived?"

 

This is what I call "flying a kite." A kite lifts and soars on the wind only until the string breaks or is let go, then it crashes sooner or later. It may cover many miles on its' way down but down it is coming. The string in our case is tradition, the use of past successes to survive and overcome new difficulties. Tradition really does have the value of keeping us centered and safe in many situations and frees us from having to repeat the mistakes of the past. If you break the connection with tradition, you are at the mercy of the wind and with no internal ability of your own, soon crash.

 

It is the pressure of the wind, new fads and ideas, held back by tradition, that allows the kite to soar.

 

Nevertheless, our scenario begs for a question to be asked, "But what if your enemy has come in the night and moved the mines in the minefield so as to create a trap for your platoon?" The answer to this question I call "flying like a bird." New situations demand creative answers. Everyone wants to be a bird, not a kite, because birds seem to be free to choose and we worship freedom today over heaven, as naturally as sparks fly upward. In fact, the freedom a bird has by not being, held back by the string of tradition is not just the freedom to explore but the freedom to make mistakes. If the mines have been moved then the person who is the best at a new method of mine detection is to be followed, not the old leader, but no one should follow too closely until he proves himself or they just may go up with him. Without traditions we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past endlessly, dying foolishly in the name of freedom.

 

We all know a wild adolescent, impetuous, fun, lively, crazy and willing to try anything. We also worry that they just may not survive the next wild thing they try. We try to guide them with our traditions but their world is a new place so we also try to allow them the freedom to create the best answer to their life's new problems. The martial arts can be seen to be in an adolescent stage in North America. Our penchant for freedom has created problems for the old masters who know the value of 'kite flying' but it has also brought a creative atmosphere to many systems. Growth means change, life means change. The Japanese Samurai are the epitome of the traditionalist spirit but in their last great effort to regain control of Japan called the Satsuma rebellion, their swords were defeated by a smaller number of peasants armed with guns. Did the guns win the war? Not at all, the win was attributed to the unthought of fact that the peasants displayed the fighting, spirit and tenacity of the best Samurai tradition! Tradition and flexibility; kite and bird.

 

No person acts only like a kite or a bird, sometimes we trust tradition and a conservative approach to see us through and sometimes we are creative and break free of tradition because the rules don't aply any more. So let us not scorn others of different traditions or new ideas. Let us also not rush into mine fields with no thought or study of the problems.

 

Some of the, mines in the field before us all are the current fads and changes happening in the martial arts scene as a whole: commercialism run rampant over honest value, Hollywood becoming the definition of the spirit of the martial arts, the proliferation of tough guy (little or no training needed) matches labeled as martial arts contests, the advertising of aerobic martial arts as a 'fighting skill,' and concerns about the proliferation of so-called masters without proper credentials. False masters were traditionally hurt too badly to continue but:creative thinking may have to be applied because this old traditional string has been broken and the field is open to charlatans of all nationalities.

[osuperu]

Very interesting and thought provoking posts!

[AnonymousOne]

Ted T thanks for your interesting response and I fully agree that Karate faces the problem of charlatans and con men.

 

Except for the government stepping in and licensing teachers, I do not know how to avoid this.

 

Never the less, I feel new development and new research should not be hindered because of that.

 

Sports performance has benefited dramatically in the last number of years through open minded research and innovation. I would love to see the same kind of honest effort applied to Karate and leaving no stone unturned.

 

I guess if Karate competition attracted multi-million dollar prize money like boxing, we would see a sudden injection of cash into research.

 

I guess all we can do at this stage is try and learn from the boxing research which is a bit limiting for Karate-ka, but never the less, close.

Edited March 19, 2005 by AnonymousOne

[Shorinryu Sensei]

Very interesting and thought provoking posts!

 

I agree...very interesting, thought provoking, and I can't argue with your logic.

 

But being the traditionalist that I am...all I have to say is....

 

If it ain't broke, why fix it?

 

Maybe there are better ways of making my muscles stronger or faster, my reflexes and senses better. Not everything new is better you know.

 

But if what I'm doing, and I have proved in numerous street fights started by the "other guy(s)" that what I have learned and trained in works for me, then I'm satisfied. Besides, I don't look good in spandex (bad visualization here right now) with a bunch of electrodes and wires dangling off my body. I'll leave that for you kids to experiement with. Good luck!

[AnonymousOne]

If it ain't broke, why fix it?

 

I'll leave that for you kids to experiement with. Good luck!

 

I am not saying things dont work, I am saying to constantly search for greater levels of performance.

 

We must remember that Karate was also at one time refined. Okinawans learnt Chinese forms and modified them. Why? Were those techniques broken?

 

Funakoshi modified them, were they broken?

 

Other masters modified them were they broken?

 

No they werent! They were searching for better ways to perform.

 

I think its probably true to say that every Master of days gone by, in one way or another modified Karate in one way or another.

 

I think its human nature to seek better more efficient ways in all areas of endeavour.

 

I just simply dont believe that Karate is perfect. I dont believe it ever will be perfect. However I sure feel its a good idea to seek perfection.

 

With the analytical tools we have available to us today, I feel we are in a better position now, than ever before, to research test and modify.

 

New levels of human endurance and capability are always being challenged and surpassed constantly. I just dont feel we should limit ourselves because some Master (all respect intended), from some past age says it should be done a certain way. My idea is to test everything empirically and if of course its even possible, to attempt to improve what we have. If something can be improved, then improve it. If it cant, then dont. But you dont know until you start researching and testing.

 

Thats how man was able to fly.

 

And thank you. Being 48 and being called a kid was lovely Haha

 

[Shorinryu Sensei]

And thank you. Being 48 and being called a kid was lovely Haha

 

 

I'm 52...you ARE a kid!

[AnonymousOne]

And thank you. Being 48 and being called a kid was lovely Haha

 

 

I'm 52...you ARE a kid!

 

Thanks Pops!! Haha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hey, what happened. I was a blue belt and now I am a green belt!!!

 

I have been demoted LOL

 

[Ted T.]

There are two goals in karate...

 

the first and foremost is "How to end the fight with one punch, now!"

 

The second is more of a corrollary, "What kind of martial arts system will help me deliver my one punch kill to the target the best?"

 

Other systems will practice how to deal with the one punch kill but karate deals with how to deliver it.

 

What has modern science of 'kinestheology' done to improve this?

[AnonymousOne]

There are two goals in karate...

 

the first and foremost is "How to end the fight with one punch, now!"

 

The second is more of a corrollary, "What kind of martial arts system will help me deliver my one punch kill to the target the best?"

 

Other systems will practice how to deal with the one punch kill but karate deals with how to deliver it.

 

What has modern science of 'kinestheology' done to improve this?

 

What modern science of 'kinestheology' research has been applied to it?