Random Thoughts on "Tradition"

Just some thoughts I had while replying to someone about the traditional (sic) nature of the karate gi on karateforums.com.

Someone said:
"Please explain to me how the gi "is a relatively new innovation in karate"?a version of the gi and obi used to be the traditional underwear for Okinawans and Japanese, and thats what they originally trained in. The gi has almost been around as long as the birth of traditional karate in Okinawa"


And my response:


Sure. "The gi is a relatively new innovation in karate." But, I suppose that isn't sufficient...


So...what date do you cite as the birth of "traditional karate"? And what do you mean by "traditional"? The term itself despite being thrown around even by everyone including myself has very little actual historical meaning.

The use of the gi in karate is essentially what Funakoshi borrowed from judo in the early 1900s, only in a lighter form.Kano Jigoro himself didn't create the standard judogi we see nowadays until 1907. Funakoshi's decision was partly based on his efforts to successfully market karate as a "budo" similar to judo and kendo and as such he adopted some of the formalities required to be accepted by the Butokukai. Another reason was it simply got rid of any class distinctions that may have been evident by what kind of clothes you wore when you trained with others. In those days, class distinction, though long abolished was still a very real part of people's attitudes and perceptions. For example, Motobu Choki always went out of his way to bully and badger Funakoshi (who he considered inferior to him in class and skill) partly because he was offended someone of his class (and skill) was chosen to represent karate's mainstream introduction to Japan.

At any rate, the sharing of martial principles and techniques on Okinawa between masters and other students was common even before what now is known as "karate" was fully introduced to the public. Any sort of particular tradition regarding uniformity of dress, particular training locations or customs and courtesies were more the personal preferences of individual teachers if they existed at all.

Before Funakoshi's decision and even after, many karate practitioners wore whatever...be it shorts, pants or work clothes. Yes, I would imagine sometimes before the formal karate gi was introduced some of them maybe wore something vaguely resembling the gi you see nowadays, but it wasn't very common. In some cases, teachers preferred students to not wear tops just so they can see the structure of the student's body easier.

Yes, the general pattern of what a gi is has been around for a long time. I never claimed it wasn't. However, saying its use in karate is a traditional aspect (there really isn't much that can be called traditional other than kata) is a bit mistaken. I'm saying they didn't care at all what you wore while you trained until recently. There was never any sort of mystique, reverence, tradition or any other sentiment attached to what they wore other than perhaps the lingering stench if it wasn't washed in recent times. In fact, much attention must always be made not only to the similarities to and influences from Japan that Okinawan martial arts and culture has in general, but also its differences.

But who knows. Maybe in twenty or thirty years everyone in MMA will soon regard their shorts and t-shirts as a hallowed part of their tradition. They may even come up with the story that everyone started with a white t-shirt but over time they turned black with sweat, blood and dirt, signifying that they truly became a master. At such a time, I can only hope someone remains historically objective enough to point out how things actually were. Sadly, it isn't the majority of cases when it comes to the same things regarding karate and "traditional karate".

Monday, June 06, 2005

I've just been writing final papers for my classes in school and working out. Other than that, not too much new. Currently, I'm finishing up a paper about the colonial origins of the opium trade in Southeast Asia. It is interesting, as it goes into much more depth than the usual "British sell opium to China from India" line we all got in high school/college.

I started taking up an escrima/knife fighting class two Saturdays ago. Because of the seminar with Shiroma Sensei, I am very much interested in knife and gun self-defense. I'm not sure exactly what all styles it comprises. The teacher goes through various cycles of knife, empty hand and weapons. The teacher strikes me as pretty talented and certainly knows his way around a knife, which is my primary consideration.

My first class with him last Saturday was nice. We ended up doing some knife flow drill (possibly Silat?) where the person with the knife does about a dozen attacks and the defender...defends. I like this one because it is open-ended at the final move, meaning the attacker or defender can "win" depending on how well they respond. The focus was on body rotation without giving up any ground and blocks were performed softly with both bones of the forearm. From technique to technique, the defender was supposed to "ride out" techniques by matching the opponent's energy and subtly guiding his knife away from you. The drill was obviously more for flow than pure practicality, as all the attacker needed to do would disengage his hand and withdraw quickly and the defender would be left with a cut arm. Some of it was annoying, as I would push or pull to "feel out" one of my partners who then got up on a soapbox about the utterly passive nature of the defender in this aspect. He stated that when I was tense, he could use that to his advantage and cut me, yet when he tried, he could not. What he didn't realize is that I was the one actually manipulating him (crudely, I admit, I'm not some expert) by forcing a change in his energy, but whatever. Something about him just rubbed me the wrong way. He seems nice enough, but a bit to eager to "teach" when he isn't the best model to follow. I of course am perhaps guilty of the same thing, but I try to do it a bit more diplomatically. The instructor later on of course fell into the whole condenscending "Oh, you come from a very hard karate style so I'm sure you will have some trouble adjusting" line...which was a bit annoying considering the dual hard and soft nature of Shorin Ryu in all actuality. Regardless of how hard or soft I am (I consider myself aware of if not somewhat attuned to the soft nature of it all), he's got his facts a bit wrong. But I'm just there to be a sponge and soak up as much as I can, so I won't let any of that bother me. It will be interesting to see how things play out when it comes to empty hand...As some of them do (and the instructor teaches elements of) Wing Chun, I think they fall into the trap of putting it on some pedestal because Bruce Lee was supposedly good at it. But I digress. It is at least fun to have some focused knife training and a lot of my karate principles come in handy (as expected).

As for the future, pretty much all my papers and final exams will be done in a week from Wednesday. A few days after that, I will get to go to Kyoshi Perry's dojo and train there, which is something I look forward to. After that, I'll go to Glacier Park in Montana for the Karateforums.com gathering. Unfortunately, it seems a bunch of the people backed out and now I'm the only one going except for the host...(I bought tickets and all, so I'm still going). Either way, I'm sure it will be an interesting time and a chance to learn from one of the guys who really has his head on straight.

The Chambered Fist

EDIT: I've changed my views on some of the things in this article... I'll probably write an update at some point in the future... and by that, I mean a long time from now.

I am writing this entry in response to a discussion currently going on at KarateForums.Com.

We've all seen the classic karate punch, where the person brings one hand "chambered" to their side while the other hand punches. Or we've seen those ridiculous kung fu movies where the bad guy waves his hands around in the air while screaming, blocking air several times, chambers his fist and then attacks. So that's going to be the subject of today's discussion.

I've often asked instructors in other styles what the purpose of this was. They would tell me "This symbolizes your empty hand and you chamber it to the side because you are signalling your intention that you do not wish to fight but are prepared to if necessary." That, or simply "It is a chamber position" or "more power" without any deeper mechanical explanation. Even if I press them harder for information, those are the most common explanations. Of course I am very polite and thank them for their answers. On the inside, I tell myself "What a load of BS." Here's a hint for all you practitioners out there. If a teacher can not give you a convincing explanation for why it is they "chamber" a technique or even what the "yoi" or starting position is for in a kata (form), the odds are they honestly don't know. That, or they buy into simple schoolchildren explanations for their karate. There's way too much pseudo-philosophy floating out there that gets in the way of combative effectiveness.

The "chambering" was basically what they told everyone it was for. Keep in mind that traditional Okinawan (and Japanese) culture was very much centered on "in group" and "out group" relations. When karate was starting to be taught to the mainstream (in the early 1900s on Okinawa), there was a fundamental shift because karate used to be taught in very small groups of well-acquainted people or recommended students, not en masse. This then became the origin of large karate classes taught in military discipline fashion...They weren't exactly going to tell everyone all the in-depth meanings of everything, especially American GI's a half-century later who just got done devestating the island of Okinawa. They didn't even tell every Japanese or Okinawan the "good stuff" either. The mass production of karate meant less individual training time and less personal trust between teacher and student. Karate was always first and foremost a combative discipline. The deeper knowledge of which was not simply handed out to whoever showed up and trained. There are exceptions to this, but suffice it to say they were not always as open as many American instructors definitely are or as some Okinawan teachers are today.

Back to the chambering part...I do not see that as the true intent of the technique. It really does depend on the situation. In many of our kata, there are places where the hands do not automatically go back into "chamber" before performing the next technique. What's more, you have to keep in mind that with all techniques, they are set up a certain way but will be performed as the situation requires.

On to the explanation...I for one believe it is meant primarily to be a grab with the retracting hand and punch with the leading hand. It is basically a grab/parry that is performed simultaneously with a strike, which I believe technically what most of us are aiming for (simultaneous techniques along the vein of more Chinese styles).

This concept is also present on many of our "blocks" where the retracting hand/arm/wrist crosses over the blocking hand/arm/wrist. This is because the real intent is to grab the opponent's attack with the retracting hand while striking either the opponent's body (i.e. face), breaking whatever he attacked with (i.e. arm) or performing a throw (i.e. arm bar) with the "blocking" arm. There are those who say the retracting hand is there to let the person "be aware" that you can pull a person while punching if you want to. I disagree. The retracting hand is there because it is saying you SHOULD pull a person like that. It forms the heart and principle of many of the techniques of good Okinawan karate.

With this in mind, bringing the retracting hand to your waist is useful because it hyperextends the opponent's appendage, causes the opponent to lose their balance, and places it in a position where it is biomechanically strong for you to hold the opponent. It also allows more momentum into the system by making your opponent move towards you as you strike into him. At the most basic level, it also forms an easier connection between the hand and waist for most beginners, although that is probably the weakest argument for the fist chambering.

This also reflects a difference in the mindset of the practitioners. The most common detraction against the chambered fist says it leaves your face open, etc. In the more traditional schools, by which I mean traditional focus, mindset and training...NOT gi, hardwood floors, military discipline, etc., these techniques were meant to end the fight quickly. Therefore, pulling the hand back was because you were pulling the opponent into you and from that position you were simultaneously striking him/breaking something and most likely taking him down instantly to end the fight. It is my opinion that traditional karate is centered around getting in close and going for the takedown. Therefore a retraction hand technique was a set up for finishing the fight, rather than having an exchange of blows. You can see this in pictures of how most of the old Okinawan masters had their regular fighting stances, which were not one hand chambered to the side.

If you blindly chamber your fist to the side without having any idea what it is for then I will agree with those detractors who say it is useless. For them, it is.

A day with Shiroma Jiro Sensei

Surprise! This'll be an all martial arts entry, just like the good ol' days. Writing about politics is fun and all but I could write multiple entries everday on the goings on if I had the motivation; it just gets exhausting after a while.

Yesterday I got up early and drove to San Francisco to meet Jeff, a fellow student under Ahtye Sensei. From there, we drove to Vallejo to meet up with Charlie, a senior student of Ahtye Sensei and then we drove to Elk Grove. There, Shihan Tim Evans was hosting Shiroma Jiro, 8th Dan in Okinawan Shorin Ryu. Let me give you a little background on Shiroma-Sensei...

Shiroma-Sensei's early training began at age 13 in Shuri-Te and Kendo at age 15. At age 20, at the death of his first master, he began to train under Hanshi Shugoro Nakazato, the head of the system I take. In the late 60s he also opened up a Thai boxing gym and a karate gym and basically he trained with an incredibly large number of people. As an interesting sidenote, the then-white belt Doug Perry (now Kyoshi Perry the North American director of Shorinkan Shorin Ryu) trained under Shiroma Sensei and was knocking out all his top students...At any rate, Shiroma-Sensei moved to the United States in the late 70s and has been teaching his "style" of Seishindo. His school is in Phoenix, Arizona but he travels around the US for seminars quite often.

When we arrived at Shihan Tim Evans' dojo, we got changed and introduced ourselves to Shiroma Sensei. He instantly showed himself to be a very friendly and very jovial man and he went on a humorous discourse about his iron cup he always wears after he discovered some of us (me included...) forgot to bring cups. When class began, he had us do a thousand punches and then started fielding questions about various things. Someone asked him to demonstrate applications for the kata and while he said he "was not an application man", he went through and showed numerous bunkai for various moves. He seemed to favor the short and quick moves rather than really elaborate techniques.

Watching him move was a treat. He moved and punched very similar to a boxer in many respects and had excellent grappling technique, yet I could still call most all of what he did as "karate". He then proceeded to demonstrate a lot of self-defense techniques against knives and guns which were very well-structured and believable. When demonstrating the use of the knife, his speed and accuracy practically screamed of beautiful, expert lethality and actually makes me want to take up some knifework. I was able to catch on very quickly to his knife and gun self-defense techniques because they were simple, yet effective if you did them properly and applied the necessary martial arts principles. I also liked them because the techniques they were to defend against were practical, common and deadly attacks, not the contrived downard strike you see in so many places (or In Living Color skits...). He has done much work with law enforcement and studied many cases of such attacks, and from what he says and hints at, has been in quite a few situations like that himself...

His other big thing was women's self-defense. I am usually a harsh critic of "women's self-defense" because most places that do them are not really good. However, I was quite taken aback as his techniques and explanations revealed his actual knowledge of such situations and were all very practical. He really has done his homework...One thing he really sought to emphasize was the difference between rigidly adhering to specific technique and the improvisation necessary in a real fight situation. As I think most experienced karateka agree with him, so his message was probably oriented more towards the lesser experienced folk (or those black belts who don't seriously think about these sorts of things).

The seminar was great and all, but the real fun was the dinner. Me, Sensei Ahtye, Charlie, Tim Evans, and his wife and son got to sit on a small round table at a Chinese restaurant with Shiroma Sensei. In case any of you people ever wonder where all these authors on karate history and stories and such get their info, it's usually in settings like these or when they go drinking at their homes, restaurants or elsewhere. We talked for a few hours as we ate and Shiroma Sensei would often pause and start to shadow box or demonstrate a technique in response to a question--all while sitting at the dinner table. He seemed to enjoy the fact that Tim Evans' son and I could both speak Japanese. He told us all many stories about his run-ins with gangs, how he dated the sister of a famous gangster, the vengeance of rats on Okinawa, experiences with Hanshi Nakazato and other things. Rather recurring in his conversation was his continual insistence that one should learn from as many teachers as possible and the individual nature of karate. He kept going back to the importance of an open mind and not closing yourself off to any learning experiences. He had a point, but I think all of us at the table kind of already shared that point of view before even meeting him. He tended to over-emphasize the rigidness of karate in comparison to other ways of fighting, but I think he was doing it more to make a point. While he claims kata is still more "meditation" for him, he never failed to quickly respond to any questions of bunkai. He was critical of practicing too many kata because you wouldn't be able to focus enough on them. All in all, it was a very enjoyable experience with a true master. Those are trite words very often used in these types of stories, but I found them very appropriate.

We split up around 9 pm. I would've loved to stay longer (Shiroma Sensei said he wanted to stay up all night and talk), but I had to get back (a supposedly 3 1/2 hour drive and I was someone's ride to San Francisco) so we drove back. Charlie and I mused about the seminar and the dinner and then dropped us off in Vallejo. It was still nice to talk to him as he's going to Japan for a month this summer in conjunction with his college to study Japanese. I of course recommended James Heisig's "Remembering the Kanji" book as it is the best book to learn the Chinese characters used in Japanese for a Westerner. Period. So I thought it would smooth sailing after that, but the 4 lane highway had 3 lanes closed so I had to take a detour (luckily I knew other ways), but it took forever for all 4 lanes of cars to merge into one...I got back around 1:30 am. Despite all that hassle, it was well worth it. Should any of you ever get a chance to train with Shiroma Sensei, I highly recommend it. He is definitely the real deal.

Update: Greg asked me to put up Shiroma Sensei's website, so here it is: www.azmartial.com

I'M FINALLY DONE!!!!!!

I finished the last of my papers Sunday. Unfortunately, the next quarter has already started yesterday. This still leaves me with much more time for other things though, like martial arts. I'm getting to learn the Hakutsuru kata (White Crane) that my instructor learned from Kyoshi Perry, which is very nice. It is a lot more "obvious" (at least to an experienced eye) in showing the open-handed grappling and lethal manuevers present in truly traditional karate. Much more Chinese in orientation.

RANDOM MARTIAL ARTS OBSERVATION TIME

Something I noticed as usually a stylistic difference between many martial arts styles is whether they turn on the heel of the foot or the ball of the foot. Last year I trained in Matsumura Shorin Ryu, and they avoided the heel of the foot like it was the plague. In Shorinkan, there is a tendency to turn on the heel (or the heel of one foot and the ball of the other). I believe they both serve useful purposes depending on the situation. Turning on the ball of the foot allows for very quick, agile movement more appropriate for evading at various distances. This can also be done by rotating on the ball of one foot while keeping the other foot more or less stationary. But when you turn in kata, you are most likely throwing, breaking or doing some other similar type of close-in fighting manuever, not just simply changing the direction you face. When throwing with a double ball of the foot turn, it puts a lot of stress on the knee. Therefore, turning on the heel is better for throwing or grappling purposes because it allows you to be rooted without stressing the knee. There is a criticism of turning on the heel that states you will be off-balance, but I think that is only if you do it incorrectly. By keeping your center-of-gravity centered (or in other places, depending on what you want to do), you avoid compromising your chuusen (center line) and the tendency to tilt backwards. Both methods of turning or rotation on the foot are useful in different circumstances. Try and think about what you do when you turn and why. Experimentation with both methods is always a bonus.

Keep training hard.

Note: Humorously enough, Xanga crashed the first time I tried to write this, so I had to write it again...that was annoying

Obligatory Update

Time for the obligatory update.

I'm currently awash in writing papers at the moment. I've realized that the quarter system is way too short after having done the semester system back in college.

I've also dumped $2,000 and started my Roth-IRA (after months of saying I was going to do it). Time to think of the future, I guess. Since I'll be maxing out my contributions, that'll take a nice chunk out of my paycheck each month. Less random buying for me now (I swear, I was just helping out the economy by increasing consumption, that's all).

No real time to give any semi-profound observations on the martial arts, other than I've started to go through and mirror a lot of my kata (doing everything on the exact opposite side throughout the entire form). It really does let me see which moves I have a clear and distinct application for (other than just basic punch, block, throw stuff) and which ones I've merely been going through the motions for. I recommend all you people in my readership (meaning Onimitsu2004, I suppose) to try it out every once in a while. From what I hear, at a Shorinkan camp last month, Kyoshi Sean Riley wowed everyone by not only doing the Passai and Kusanku kata and then doing the mirror of them, but also doing them completely in reverse (as if someone was pressing the "rewind" button). That takes skill, concentration and effort. I suppose it is things like that which make the difference between a really good karate practitioner and a "kyoshi". Since it is him, he definitely has applications for all the moves...

And, back to the grind. I've got way too many papers to do (most of them being due on Monday, which also happens to be the same day I have two finals).

Update: My computer crashed and I lost some pages...there goes my motivation for the rest of the evening...

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Geez. I knew it would turn out like this. I'd get a blog and never write in it.

What's happened since my last entry? I've written some papers, had a economics mid-term (much easier than Onimitsu2004's economics mid-term), went to practice. My karate instructor is currently training in Okinawa and will be there for a few weeks. I look forward to hearing some stories and learning what he cares to pass on to the rest of us students.

I've set up a training trip this next summer to go to Kyoshi Doug Perry's Dojo next June for about 5 days. I got to do that last summer with my friend Terry (Onimitsu2004) and it was a blast. We trained literally all day in the dojo (between 9-12 hours a day) and learned a lot (mostly about how much improvement we needed...but isn't that always the case?). Kyoshi Perry was also very generous with his time (and money...he bought our hotel room for the week, not to mention dinner on a few occassions) and also had some of his students train with us outside of class, who were simply impressive. I can't wait till I do it again. Terry may not be able to make it. He has some weak, lame excuse about having to do an internship or something. (Yeah, that pesky "Real World" interfering with training, as usual) Hopefully he can train with Kyoshi Perry some other time.

After that trip is over, I'll be going to small gathering of people from karateforums.com held in Montana, which looks to be a great time. As big a talker as I am on those forums, it'll be interesting to see some of these people in person. Hopefully people don't expect too much from me...I just like to talk like I know a lot...All in all, another great experience to look forward to, I'm sure.

I've been doing some more work on the Naihanchi Shodan kata performed forwards and backwards, as opposed to side-to-side (another one of Kyoshi Perry's interesting contributions). It really gives the practitioner a great way to really visualize Naihanchi in application. The expansion of movement in all directions as well as how it mirrors itself completely is just a great training tool. Since our instructor is in Okinawa, us students have been turned loose to train on our own, and last week we hashed through that kata and focused a lot on the bunkai (application). I really do enjoy working with the other students in that dojo. Their inquisitive nature, experience, and skill level is really conducive to a critical analysis of karate, which is essential in getting better (as opposed to simply training and practicing). A refreshing change from other places I've seen. Fortunately, I've always been lucky enough to have these sorts of people around me after I started taking Okinawan karate.