Interesting insight into Miyagi's teaching methods

[JR 137]

I just came across this article about Meitoku Yagi, who was the man Chojun Miyagi's family chose to take over Goju Ryu. I read it several times because it opened my eyes to a lot of things about the old days...

https://books.google.com/books?id=8M8DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&dq=the+sensei+who+received+miyagi's+black+belt&source=bl&ots=OaFjFWej1f&sig=VGaRGJsNm55EadrCJjQqz5LKreA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAWoVChMIuNrgnYCMxwIVxI0NCh0argqu#v=onepage&q=the%20sensei%20who%20received%20miyagi's%20black%20belt&f=false

The biggest eye opener for me was the first hand account of kata training. Miyagi didn't teach kata until 3-5 years after a student started, then taught only Sanchin for 2-3 years before teaching another kata. It goes against the people I've come across who say the old teachers taught kata from day one, and made students practice it countless times. I'm quite sure his students practiced it over and over, but it doesn't seem like it was the be all, end all of training that people assume.

I also really like how Yagi said that kata were often changed according to the student's strengths/weaknesses and their rank. I guess it goes against the people who think kata is a sacred thing that should never be altered. My feeling is that if the change makes sense, and the student and teacher truly understand why it should be made, then alter it.

What do you take from the article?

[sensei8]

What do you take from the article?

Thanks for sharing the article!!

That, while Kata was important, just as important as Kihon and Kumite is, Kihon was trained in great depth; understand the Kihon before training in Kata and Kumite; there will be time for those after Kihon has be absorbed...and not before than.

After all, the three K's is, in this order:

Kihon

Kata

Kumite

If they're placed in this order whenever listed, then it's sensible to train in them in that order, and not to train in the next one listed until the time is more appropriate for that.

One would train first in Kihon, and nothing else until the Sensei said so. Then, Kata, while continuing perfecting Kihon through the Kata. Then, Kumite, while continuing Kihon and Kata; each compliments the other!!

[JR 137]

Oddly, there's no mention of kumite in the article. There's similar articles; there's an interview of him by I believe the U.S. branch chief, where it seems this article and a few like it came from. In the interview, there's no mention of it either.

I wonder if they actually practiced kumite. My gut tells me yes, and pretty much everything else was discussed.

[sensei8]

Oddly, there's no mention of kumite in the article. There's similar articles; there's an interview of him by I believe the U.S. branch chief, where it seems this article and a few like it came from. In the interview, there's no mention of it either.

I wonder if they actually practiced kumite. My gut tells me yes, and pretty much everything else was discussed.

No, there's no mention of Kumite, but I was just mentioning it in my post what I consider a natural progression from one, Kihon to Kata, to another. This is what I was thinking while I read it.