Japan still not with it

[Makoto]

This is an article about a Junior High School Baseball club in Japan. Japan is changing, and allowing water breaks, and allowing people to go at their own pace is acceptable here in Japan. It is only in extreme cases where a dojo does not allow water breaks.

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20051007p2a00m0na012000c.html

If there are any instructors out there that still do not give water breaks and what not, because they think it is traditional karate to do so, I hope they learn from this article from MDN Japan.

[Meguro]

Pity the poor kid who dies in baseball practice, and his parents who lose a son to a game. The manager should be hung from a tree.

[lgm]

This is an article about a Junior High School Baseball club in Japan. Japan is changing, and allowing water breaks, and allowing people to go at their own pace is acceptable here in Japan. It is only in extreme cases where a dojo does not allow water breaks.

So, I take it that modern Japanese karate training has become less stringent and harsh as shown by "allowing water breaks and people to go to their own pace". This, of course, implies that previously or in the past, this was not traditional practice.

Have the quality of their karate also changed with this apparent trend towards less spartan-type of training that many expats in the past who trained in the JKA Honbu and other traditional karate dojos there used to boast about, which according to them separated them from those who trained outside of Japan? What do you and others say?

[Willannem]

Water makes you weak! At least that's what my high school football coach used to say. We would do 2-a-days in the mid summer heat in Georgia, US without any water breaks. It was pure torture. This went on for about 2 months until one of us passed out. The next day, we were forced to take water breaks by the same man that told us water made us weak.

It’s unfortunate this kid died due to the stupidity of one man. I think the punishment should be decided upon and dealt out by the parents.

Let this unfortunate incident be a lesson to those of us who fail to properly hydrate our bodies or supervise others where they are relying on you to ensure their safety in training. I’ve gotten maybe one or two water breaks during martial arts training. Our training was strenuous from start to finish which was from 1 ½ hours on up to a little over 2 hours. There were no established water breaks but if anyone remotely showed signs of heat exhaustion or severe dehydration, they were given breaks. Personally, I drank plenty of water before and immediately after training. Staying hydrated is relatively easy and the only side effects are good health and a little extra peeing.

[Makoto]

Have the quality of their karate also changed with this apparent trend towards less spartan-type of training that many expats in the past who trained in the JKA Honbu and other traditional karate dojos there used to boast about, which according to them separated them from those who trained outside of Japan? What do you and others say?

Gene I can not speak of the instructors course at the JKA honbu, but I do know that general classes at the honbu are only 1 hour long. With 10 minutes in between classes. I also know that the honbu dojo has air conditioning and heating, while other regular dojos in Japan do not.

It has been my experience here in Japan that water breaks are given and once you reached you limit you can take a break. No one scoulds you for doing so.

In the past this was different, I think.

How has this affected the level of karate? I can not say for sure, my guess is that people are less willing to stoic things out, but on the other hand their technique might be better than in the past. In the end I am guessing it is a mentality thing, and level of technique is not a problem.

The ideas of the past of putting up with extreme heat and very cold weather while one studied at school are slowly fading away. They are not fading away at a very fast pace, but they are decreasing nonetheless. When it comes to sports, they are being more careful. However many people who coach sports at various schools have no training as coaches. They are ex-players and that is it. Many have never taken a coaching course, first aid course, or anything to promote saftey in sports. This goes for many karate teachers here as well. Yet, when it is very hot, it seems to me many dojos will allow water breaks.