Continuing Steps in Karate

This is a follow-up to my earlier post: What was the original kata? We know that kata have changed - even a cursory glance at youtube will show you the huge variety of ways that any given kata can be performed.  This appears to not be just a modern development, as even by looking at books from the 1920s, 1930s, 1950s etc... we can see that there have been changes to kata since then, and even at the time (compare, for instance, the earlier publications of Funkoshi such as Tote-Jitsu (1922) with his later publication, the Karate-do Kyohan (1931) and then with its re-working in the 1950s; or compare the two earlier works and their rendition of naihanchi kata with Motobu's Karate - My Art (1932)).  Even within the students of the same teacher, we can see variance that cannot all have been contained within what was originally taught (see the different schools of the students of Choshin Chibana, for instance - the differences in kata between Kyudokan and Matsubayashi-ryu are a good ...

I have spent entirely too much time on the internet over the last 20-odd years, and entirely too much of that time on martial arts discussion boards.  Starting with e-budo.com back in the late 90s, I must have been either a member or regular lurker of all of the major forums and some of the not-so-major ones too.  Now, I still check out a couple of forums regularly (mostly Martialartsplanet.com), but most of my online martial arts fix comes from facebook where I'm a member of 8 different, active groups.  Funnily enough, some topics just keep coming up again and again and again and again.  Probably because one of the not-so-great things about the internet is that many people like to talk and don't actually listen to the other side; spouting off is more important (my view on that is that if you want to pontificate, don't do it in a forum, create your own blog to do it in! Forums should  be for exchanging ideas and holding conversations - not that they ever have be...

The purpose of the belt And I don’t want to rehash the old, old, old ‘joke’ about it holding up your pants (karate belts hold the top closed in any case). Why award a belt in the first place? What purpose does it have within the eyes of the awardee, their sensei, their dojo, their organisation, and outside their organisation? The individual The purpose of a black belt, in the eyes of the person awarded it, is the hardest question to answer. Each person will likely have their own take on it, depending on how they view the continuum of ranking in the martial arts, what preconceptions they brought into their training prior to beginning karate, and environment and the attitudes of their dojo and peers. So, I’m not going to discuss this aspect, as I will probably only project my own values onto others if I do. But it is an aspect that I think each person who is aiming for, or has achieved a certain level within karate needs to reflect on. For me, my personal opinion is the real arbite...

Or, why it's not a bad thing if you don't get it right all at once. Two years ago, I learned my first bo kata, shuji-no-kon.   I learned it in a weekend and took notes and videos and have practised it regularly ever since.   These last couple of weeks, we have revisited this kata and in just two run-throughs with my sensei, I picked up two major, fundamental flaws in how I was moving and half a dozen smaller things to work on as well.   My initial thoughts were along the lines of - "I wish I had known/realised this ages ago", but my second (and subsequent) thoughts were - "I probably wouldn't have understood beforehand anyway". I'm seeing this in my empty-hand work too.   Improvement seems to happen piecemeal or in sudden jumps, when something that I have seen many times before just suddenly stands up, slaps me on the face and shouts "THIS is how you should be doing it!"   And the reason why, I think, is that the brain and body can only...

When I started karate I thought after orange belt that I knew a bit and was pretty good. Then, a couple of years later I got my brown belt and knew everything my school taught.  And I thought I knew a lot and was pretty good - especially compared to the me of a few years ago. Then, I also did some other martial arts and after a while in those I felt like I knew a bit more and was pretty good - much better than a brown belt who only did karate; what had I been thinking? After doing these other martial arts some more I felt that even though I knew more, I actually knew less than before. Then, after a break I came back to karate; a different school, a different style, a different teacher.  And I felt that I knew a bit and would be pretty good.  And I was - for an orange belt. After a while, I got my black belt and I felt that I knew a little bit, but didn't feel that I was pretty good. Now, almost a year and a half since then, I feel like I know a bit more, ...

Why do we need another blog on karate on the internet?  There are many people with decades more of experience than me, who have trained with famous people or who have had more frequent encounters with "the real world" of violence.  So why bother? There are a few reasons, I suppose.  Firstly, I think my thoughts and experiences have merit, at least enough to put out there to the rest of the world.  Secondly, I have stopped formal training for around 6 months, with the birth of our second daughter.  I need an outlet for my addiction! I am also the consummate lurker on martial arts blogs and fora; I regularly scan and follow about a dozen at any one time.  I guess this blog is a way of me giving back.  It can be a daunting process joining in on a discussion topic on a forum; this blog is a more accommodating way for me to contribute. Finally, I am at a stage where I am trying to work out and organise my own understanding of my karate; what it is, wh...