Training at Karate as a Martial Art

Chibana Chosin (1885-1969) was a true Okinawan karate master. Sadly, "karate master" is now such a trite phrase that it can never fully carry the same impact in a reader's mind that it should. Widely respected across Okinawa for his martial skills, he was considered among the last (some say the last) of the "old Okinawan masters" generation. I bring him up because I always have his quote pasted somewhere on my site, which goes as follows:

"In the old days we trained at karate as a martial art, but now they train at karate as a gymnastic sport. I think we must avoid treating karate as a sport - it must be a martial art at all times!"

His words still remain true to this day. They also highlight first and foremost the traditional goal of karate: fighting. That means not sport, or even a specific vehicle for character development(for more on this subject, see my article here). Lest there be any doubt, the quote continues:

"Your fingers and the tips of your toes must be like arrows, your arms must be like iron. You have to think that if you kick, you try to kick the enemy dead. If you punch, you must thrust to kill. If you strike, then you strike to kill the enemy. This is the spirit you need in training."

But what does it mean? What does it mean for it to be a martial art? The answer is simple enough. Don't let the "art" at the end fool you. It is a study of that which is oriented towards bettering one's ability in combat. Yet many people fall short of Chibana's ideal, even though they practice styles or methods of training that still retain a central focus on practical combat. And here is why: "training at karate as a martial art" is a much deeper phrase than an initial read might suggest. However you choose to cut it, karate is a combative skill. And when it comes to skills, as one of my coaches back in high school always used to say, "You're either getting better or getting worse. There is no staying the same." Doug Perry, the North American Director for the Shorin Ryu Shorinkan, has many, many sayings. One of them is "there's no substitute for training". He certainly wasn't the first to say this and definitely will not be the last. Put these two sayings together and you can only come to one conclusion: The only way to keep from getting worse is getting better through continual training.

Believe it or not, I did not just engage in some meaningless tangent to the discussion at hand, nor am I about to do so now.

Many martial artists have stated their reasons for studying the martial arts: social atmosphere, exercise, health, self-defense, tradition, discipline, character development, looking cool, etc. Realistically, it is a mixture of some or all of those aspects. Underlying most of these reasons is another: "because it is fun". However, there are many people for whom enjoyment (for any number of reasons as stated above) is a deciding factor for when and how they train. Even if a person states above all else their purpose is to become a better fighter, they may often "not have their heart (or head) in it today" or "just don't feel like it". In these cases, they usually do not train and prefer to do something else. In other cases, people's lives are very busy and there is not that much time to train, or if there is, they would much rather spend it doing something else. To put it in economic terms, they do not gain much utility out of training and therefore perform some other act that gives them utility.

Bear with me, I am almost there.

What kind of person "gains utility" from training no matter what their mood? A warrior. One warrior, Gurney Halleck from the novel Dune, admonishes the main character Paul Atreides with these words after the latter states he is not in the mood for training: "Mood's a thing for cattle or making love or playing the baliset. It's not for fighting." Chibana Chosin was a real-life warrior. He was known for doing things such as never entering a room before scanning it for potential enemies, even in his own home. If he had such intensity outside of his training, how much more he must have had during it!

Herein lies the difference between those who train for fun and those who train for skills. Too many people focus on how much fun they get out of training while they do it instead of how much they value the combative skill acquired. Don't get me wrong, having fun during training is acceptable and certainly helps the effort required for continuous training over multiple decades. I certainly do and recommend it. Yet whenever you feel yourself not in the mood to train, remember what it is you are training for: fighting skills. This is more than simply having "discipline", although it has much to do with it. It is continually making the decision to either be someone who practices karate or a warrior who trains at karate as a martial art.

Technorati: martial arts Karate personal combat self defense chibana chosin warrior

Shorinkan Lone Star State Karate & Kobudo Seminar (and random thoughts)

This will be long, so bear with me (all the handful of you who even read this). It is partially a summary of a camp I attended this weekend and partially a collection of various thoughts I have about karate at this point in my life.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Lone Star State Karate & Kobudo seminar held by Renshi Charlie Dean, who did a great job in assembling a great amount of talent to attend the first seminar like this he has organized. The guest instructors who attended were Kyoshi Doug Perry , Kyoshi Chris Estes, Kyoshi Pat Haley , Kyoshi Eddie Bethea , Kyoshi Sean Riley, Kyoshi Noel Smith (all from Shorin Ryu Shorinkan) Hanshi Ron Lindsey (of Matsumura Seito...and where the heck is his website?), and Kyoshi Mike Arnold (the first teacher of a good many great karateka such as Chris Estes and Sean Riley). As is typical of camps of this nature, the amount of skill assembled was truly amazing. Many karate camps bring guest instructors and high-ranking people from various places, but it is truly rare for them to have this much talent in old school, combat effective arts like this. Like the Matrix, one has to experience it to understand what it is. Unlike the Matrix, the people assembled are more than just for show and have a deep understanding of fighting. I constantly get this impression, but the vast amount of people doing martial arts have no concept of the gradations of skill present among high-level practitioners. I have talked to so many people who believe their instructor is "the best" or "one of the best", but they have never met more than a handful of instructors to which to compare them to. I have had the unique opportunity to see a wide smattering of instructors (those I have trained with and those I have merely met or watched) and the difference between is striking, even between those who are "good" and those who are "great". Most people just can't comprehend it. But I digress...

I have said it before and I will say it again. One of the advantages of a large organization (there are certainly disadvantages in some respects) is the ability to have camps like this and to meet various people in and out of our system. Out of the fifty or so people which attended, there were a good many visitors from other systems which only added to the mix. But it really does help to maintain quality control. Our North American director, Doug Perry, makes a point to visit a good number of these Shorinkan camps every year and that really allows him to keep a handle on how good (or bad, like me) people are in his organization. But apart from skill levels alone, it really is a great social networking device to create relationships that will lasts over the many miles and years that everyone's karate career will take them. It is always nice to be in the presence of those who bring a smile to your face simply by seeing them. Having them be extremely deadly martial artists (no matter how cheesy that sounds) is a plus. As always, it was great seeing Kyoshi Doug Perry again, who truly opened my eyes at how deep the rabbit hole goes (I'm just full of Matrix analogies today...or is it Alice in Wonderland...) in karate. And all the other North Carolina crew, such as Kyoshi Chris Estes and Richard Church. But I'm going to end up naming everyone I've met in Shorinkan over the years...so I'll stop. I would be totally amiss if I didn't mention that I got to see Kyoshi Sean Riley again. He was the instructor I met up in Colorado. Much to my eternal regret, we never knew he was outside of Denver until December of my senior year, so my time with him was quite limited. All the same, it really did change the whole direction of my martial arts career, and that isn't just something said for dramatic effect. He was the one who arranged my first trip out to North Carolina to train with Kyoshi Doug Perry (which was all free, including my hotel for the stay...of course I had to pay for my transportation out there, but Doug Perry refused to accept any money for tuition and bought me and Terry, who went there with me, a great many meals). That trip expanded further my awareness of the depth truly existent in karate and the ability to maintain cross-country karate relationships and development if I were so inclined (which I am). Much like I am greatly indebted to my first karate instructor Mark Staal, I am deeply indebted to Sean Riley. Bottom line: a great many friends and teachers there.

And now my thoughts on Hanshi Ron Lindsey. Like Kyoshi Perry, you can tell this man lives and breathes martial arts. There is a huge difference between those who have simply spent many long years practicing karate and those who have spent many long years learning and improving their karate. He is without a doubt one of the latter. I was greatly impressed with his skill and knowledge and his reputation as one of the best traditional Okinawan karateka and preserver of the "old ways". We were very fortunate to have him attend our seminar and he added a lot. Like a student of his I got to meet last August at the Shorinkan Camp in North Carolina (Phil Koeppel), he was excellent in efficiency and deadly tactics which are simple to do and hard to master. I only hope to get the opportunity to learn from him again in the future. He puts on a great many seminars which I wish to attend.

Like most all Okinawan karate instructors worth their salt have stated, he really emphasized the sad fact that the "old ways" are disappearing even on Okinawa although there is a small but hopefully growing presence of the "old ways" in America. He also stated (and I have heard this elsewhere) that one day Okinawans will have to come to America to learn the old ways. Nor did he hesitate to state that the vast majority of what is marketed and mass produced as karate did not work. Confirming again what I have heard from so many in the early generation of karate in America, he remarked that the youngsters of today (I still consider myself one) have such a unique opportunity in learning much of the old ways of Okinawa. We have the chance to learn them from people speaking the same language and who often had to learn the vast majority of their understanding themselves. As my instructor Sam Ahtye always says, people like me are so fortunate to be exposed to concepts they only were able to pick up after so many years of experience. I, for one, feel this unique opportunity is also a heavy responsibility. Many of these older karateka will not be here forever. Hanshi Lindsey joked that he was going to live forever or die trying, but the sad fact is, when they pass on the world of karate will not only be losing great people in the personal sense, but also in the terms of aggregate skill and knowledge. Paul Weed, who I've had the pleasure of meeting last summer during a Karateforums get together (ironically attended by myself, him and another individual who barely have a presence there anymore), likes to cite the death poem of karate master Hohan Soken: "I have taught you all I know.There is no more I can teach you.I am a candle whose light has traveled far.You are my candles to whom I have passed on my light.It is you who will light the path for others.Today I see around me the lights of Shaolin.The flame of tomorrow,My task is done, soon my flame will end.Teach the true spirit of karate-do and one day you may enter the Temple of Shaolin". Like any tradition, it runs the risk of dying out. And however lame this sounds, I want to ensure my life serves to stoke the flame of old karate rather than simply being a cheap candle bulb you can buy at Wal-Mart. These candle bulbs have the form of a candle just like modern karate and what goes around calling itself traditional karate has the form of old Okinawan karate, but they are never the same.

Finally getting to the seminar, I attended the seminar on fighting techniques given by Ron Lindsey, the various kata applications and fighting concepts seminars given by all the kyoshi (they rotated around), a seminar on a tekko kata (Onimitsu2004 would get on to me and say correctly they are tecchu being used in a tekko kata) and tanbo kata given by Doug Perry, the Yakusoku kumite class and a bo application class given by Pat Haley (who is great with weapons and their applications). There were a few other classes held but they ran at the same time others did. Despite this being the suppposed meat of this entry, I've not much to say other than I learned a lot...maybe I'll touch up on some actual tactics and concepts later. This post is way too long already.

Demonstration night was nice. Various kyoshi did various kata. I was actually voluntold to do a demonstration, so I ended up doing Hamahiga no Tonfa. I only messed up two or three times, but that was more the sequence of the kata rather than anything blatant like dropping the tonfa. Since most people didn't even know the kata, I guess I was somewhat safe...of course all the really good people were able to critique me on the basis of either knowledge of the kata or just knowledge in general, but I think I did "okay". Kyoshi Perry called me up to do it first (he was just calling off names from the list). He asked me if I was doing something, and then told me to be the first one (about one minute before the demonstrations started). I wasn't nervous or anything since I was doing what I do many times a week anyway, but I wish I had something greater to contribute. Anyway, that was obviously not the highlight of the demonstrations. Sean Riley did the Chinto kata in a mirror image (in other words, right and left directions and techniques were all reversed) and then did it completely backwards (as if someone pressed the rewind button after completion). Yeah, he's good. Chris Estes did the Takemyoshi no nuntebo dai ichi and Kyoshi Perry did Rokkishu after the audience pressured him to do something. Even people who visited from other styles who probably had no inkling they would be doing a demonstration (like me) did kata, so that was nice.

Another thing I gained from the camp was being introduced to the Shorinkan group in Austin (200 miles away) so I'll probably make a trip out there once a month or so. It'll be good to keep my kata in standard and prevent bad habits (different from personal interpretation) from creeping in. Having spent the last year driving twice a week to Sam Ahtye's dojo which was 114 miles away from me, I'll probably do more of the same albeit with much less frequency.

Well, this entry is certainly ending with a whimper rather than a bang. I suggest martial arts minded people check out Onimitsu2004's latest entry as he has apparently reached a great milestone in his growth in karate. I am envious and my blood burns to fight him once again when I think about how much training and development he has experienced. I guess that's just the Rohirrim in me.


Technorati: martial arts Karate

Random Update

Karate-wise, I've made the decision to drop Matsumura Wansu, Ananku and Seisan. I've been doing them, but I've not spent enough time on them to make them worthwhile. I'll keep Matsumura Hakutsuru Sho, though. That feels more like a "gift kata" to me from my Matsumura Shorin Ryu instructor, so I want to maintain it. I figure I know way too many kata as it is, and I need to focus my efforts better...(I still have my opinion about the old masters only knowing "a few kata" though...see my article linked in the sidebar if you haven't read it yet).

Brief exposition on karate and character development

People always talk about how the martial arts improves character. I think it CAN, and often does. However, there are some things to keep in mind historically. And read the whole thing before you get offended...or don't...I don't mind.

People always tend to quote Funakoshi as one who exemplified high character and great karate. They point to his statement here: "The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat but in the perfection of the character of its participants."
I think that statement does at least two things which are not beneficial in my mind. First of all, it divorces karate from what it actually is: the technical science of personal combat. Secondly, it degrades one's quality of martial arts by ignoring the technical aspect and focusing on how one "feels" or how their character is.

I think the second is most tellingly told in the technical aspect of Funakoshi's karate. He did an excellent job of promoting karate to the Japanese mainland and was responsible for ensuring its viability throughout the world. But he wasn't that great of a fighter and most people on Okinawan had a very low opinion of his fighting ability. Furthermore, much of the technical aspects were lost in their transmission to the mainland. But does it have to be that way? Do you have to be only an "okay-at-best" fighter if you want to have high character? I don't think so. But to understand why, we have to understand the differences between Funakoshi's approach to character development in karate and the way it was approached before him.

Funakoshi's emphasis was something like this: Through your study of karate, you will perfect your character. The zen-hungry Japanese ate it up like takoyaki at a downtown stall in Osaka. The emphasis was shifted upon countless repetition of very basic techniques. Stances were changed to be more physically demanding and aesthetically pleasing-but a lot less practical in fighting. These changes were to impose difficulty on the practitioner and thus character development through overcoming struggle, hardship, and if you want to put zen into the equation (you must), the Self that is, but isn't. But is (As I've had several professors put it that way). This context has been totally lost on many practitioners, to the detriment of their karate.

Before, it was something like this: Karate is a venue to pursue character perfection, but it isn't always the outcome. You should focus more upon the perfection of character in all things, rather than making karate your vehicle. Unless you have character, everything is useless, whether it be your karate or your knowledge.

This is exemplified in the poem that went:

No matter how you may excel in the art of te and in your scholastic endeavors, nothing is more important than your behavior and your humanity as observed in daily life. (Teijunsoku Nago Oyakata 1663)

Therefore, it wasn't "from karate I improve myself", it was "from myself, I improve my karate".

It is a difference of approach and implementation. Those who say "I want to make karate my way of life, not just a martial art" are doing it "backwards", so to speak (not in the sense of value assignation). Those who say "I will perfect my character, and it will show through my martial arts" are doing it "forwards".

For those in traditions where it was the other way around, I know you might be offended. But that is an important historical context of your style and has to be addressed. Even if you don't make karate your vehicle of character development with these detriments to martial effectiveness, those before you have, and it shows in the teaching.

Doing it forwards means you can express your character development through your karate, but doesn't mean you have to do all those other things that will impair your karate. By choosing to express it or nurture it rather than solely develop it through karate, which is what one does when you make "karate your life", you can still gain improvements in character will maintaining your active improvement in combative ability. A semantic difference but an important one, as nurturing development means it is something that aids development yet the development would already be there.

Aristotle often said that excellent was a habit rather than an act. And he was right. Both of these approaches are in line with Aristotle's argument. It is all too easy with the first approach to do actions which only improve your character rather than both your character and your martial ability. Am I saying you can't improve the technical aspects of your karate using the first framework? Of course not. I think the benefit will only be less.

I suppose in the end neither approach is "wrong." If you achieve character development, that is a good thing. But I think it is useful to understand how history and context shapes this whole belief, and how that shift has changed karate (not only "spiritually" but "technically").

Yes, too many kata, but...

This is something I've been thinking about for a while. This post was prompted by a conversation I have been having with someone via pm from e-budo.com.

We all recognize that we tend to learn a whole lot of kata, much more than the "old masters" did. At the same time, I can't help but feel a logical disconnect by the statement that the "old masters" really only knew very few kata.

I will use an example, Bushi Matsumura. Yes, perhaps I am padding my case by adding the genius founder of Shorin Ryu karate, but I can't feel that he is the only one to have learned so many kata.

1. He is known to have taught many kata.

2. On empty hand alone, he taught Seisan, Chinto, Kusanku, Passai, Gojushiho, Naihanchi shodan, Naihanchi Nidan, the various Channan kata (which Itosu modified into Pinan kata), male and female Hakutsuru, and Chinshu. That's at least 12 kata. This doesn't include kata he either did not teach (ones he made or learned in China or from local te traditions) or did not gain mass popularity. Nor does it include variations of those kata he himself knew or taught to his students or the various drills and exercises not included as "formal kata". That is still a sizeable number.

3. As far as weapons go, it is more difficult to ascertain which weapons kata he knew. It is known that he personally devised at least a sai, bo, and eku kata which bear his name. This implies he knew at least one kata for each of these weapons from other sources. A student of Sakugawa (or lineage, as there is debate over that), he had to have known at least Sakugawa no Kun. As a royal bodyguard he was skilled in the jo, the fan, and as many sources point to, Jigen Ryu swordsmanship. This means at the barest minimum, he knew 9 weapons kata. Because the bo, sai and sword are recognized as entire systems in and of themselves, I strongly believe he knew multiple kata for each of these, which pushes the number 9 to a much higher amount. In addition, the use of nunchaku was also known among Bushi of the period (albeit in a different form than we see common nowadays). But if we accept the number 9, which I think logic strongly argues against, we still have a sizeable amount of kata.

4. So we have by the strictest definitions of logic, Bushi Matsumura knew 21 kata, although common sense leads to the hypothesis he knew far, far more.

5. Yes, some styles like Uechi Ryu started with a very small number (3). Most of these are "younger" styles in the sense that while they come from a rich tradition in China, their current form is a relatively new one, hence there is little of the evolutionary build-up of kata. Even now there are 8 official empty hand kata in Uechi Ryu. This isn't to bash Uechi Ryu or styles with a small amount of kata, certainly not. I recognize the existence of those greats such as Motobu Choki who knew a limited number of kata yet were excellent fighters.

6. The establishment of standard curriculum kata is more of a modern concept of karate, as is the style system. Ironically, it was meant to preserve the older ways against encroachment by sport karate or other watering down effects. However, this requires people to learn a specific number of kata and any optional learning (which was freely done in the old days) is frowned upon by some as it takes attention away from the established set.

7. My thoughts are still mixed on this. On one hand, keeping a core set of kata and principles ensures the original framework is there (balanced by the fact that every generation reinterprets the kata to varying degrees with varying degrees of modification). On the other hand, there is a loss of personal modification of the kata which is the reason why we have so many version of the same old kata to begin with. Certainly every good karateka worth his or her salt has their version of the kata and the standard curriculum version. But it is often only the standard curriculum version that is passed down. Therefore an important burden is placed upon each instructor to maintain the difference in instruction and determining the delicate balance between doctrine and innovation. It is helpful to discuss these differences candidly with students who have matured in their martial arts to understand them (I think my current and past instructors have always done a great job in this). In the end, all karate is individual and nothing can change that.

8. In the end it all boils down to principles rather than techniques, anyway. A variety of kata is great for introducing awareness of different techniques which enhance improvisation and adaptibility to a broad range of circumstances. But the most important thing is the principles underlying those techniques so even if you know a lot of kata, you can avoid being bogged down by having too much techniques to study by focusing on the principles instead.

And by the way, if any of you know for certain there are kata Bushi Matsumura knew that I did not include (I didn't feel like doing too much intensive research on this and tried to err on the side of confirmation rather than conjecture), if you would be so kind, please leave me a comment informing me which kata it is. Or if you feel I'm totally off the mark, let me know too (I say as if there are a lot of people that read this).

Kyoshi Perry's Shorinkan Summer Camp 2005

This past weekend I had the opportunity to make it to Kyoshi Doug Perry's summer camp for the first time. It was simply amazing for various reasons. I really enjoyed myself, getting to see people I've met before and meeting others for the first time. I was very impressed by the vast majority of teachers. There were also some I was not impressed with (who will go unnamed as this is a public site...don't want to hurt anyone's feelings/offend people for various reasons) but they were the vast minority. The instructors ranged from within our system (like Kyoshi Perry, Kyoshi Haley, Kyoshi Roberts, Kyoshi Estes, etc.) to gues instructors from other systems such as Hanshi Logue, the designated head of Taika Oyata's system. Sadly I was unable to meet up with my first karate instructor Mark Staal who is currently deployed. He originally planned to come, but Uncle Sam had other plans. His instructor, Kyoshi Gravelin did show up and I chatted with him for a while. I met Major Jason Perry, USMC (Kyoshi Perry's son) and he was quite impressive as a karateka. He is also working very actively on the US side on the issue of ballistic and theater missile defense in the Pentagon, which just so happens to be the topic of my thesis (Japanese theater missile defense). I wish I knew that about a year ago...oh well. I also picked myself up a nunte bo, which was pretty nice. Now I can do the kata without having to use just a bo as my proxy.

Just as general info, it was held at Camp Pinnacle. Humorously enough, it was the place where most of the footage for the movie Heavyweights (basically one about fat camp if I recall correctly) was shot. The weather was pretty nice some of the time while raining at others.

So, what did I do? I only went to a few seminars on learning kata. I went to a nunte bo seminar just to ensure I had it down from when I last came to North Carolina to see Kyoshi Perry a couple of months ago. I also went to the Rokishu class taught by Kyoshi Perry because he's just the man and it is always great seeing him doing it. I then attended 3 of the Tai Chi classes so I could start learning the Yang Style Long Form. I think it will help me loosen up even more. The rest of the classes I went to were more "concepts and principles" classes. I figure I can always learn kata from my instructor. Gaining concepts and principles from other instructors is something I can't just do everyday.

So, just as a brief rundown, I will simply list the things I went to. Note that for each hour, there were 6 different classes being held. These are just the ones I went to.

Thursday

1200-1300: Kyoshi Pat Haley and Kyoshi Eddie Bethea gave a class about principles and concepts in Passai and Gojushiho kata. In this one, he remarked on the lack of people "locking down their stances" and was demonstrating a few commonly misperformed stances. For Terry, I think is most likely what you were mentioning earlier...

1315-1415: Kyoshi Chris Estes held a Takemyoshi no Nunte Bo class.

1430-1530: Kyoshi John Carria (Uechi Ryu) held a Uechi Ryu concepts and principles class. Pretty interesting. Liked to emphasize the simplicity of the system. He would liken it to simply pulling a gun out of its holster, shooting, and putting it back in. A pretty neat guy.

1800-1900: Hanshi Jim Logue gave a principles and concepts of application class.

1915-2015: Charles Dean gave a Tai Chi class introducing the Yang Style Long Form.

0630 -0730 Friday and Saturday Morning: Kyoshi Kimo Wall (Goju Ryu) gave a quick class on Hakutsuru, Sanchin, Tensho and kung li (I think that is what it was...). Like many of the instructors, an ex-Marine (he used to be Kyoshi Perry's spotter when Kyoshi Perry was a sniper...the saving of life went both ways many times I hear).

Friday
0845 - 0945: Kyoshi Kimo Wall gave a Thai massage class. Pretty interesting. Humorously dubbed as "Kimo Therapy" later on in the camp.

1000 - 1100: Kyoshi Phillip Koeppel gave a seminar on principles and concepts in Matsumura Shorin Ryu. I'm glad I went to it. Due to a typo on the schedule, it said "Matsubayashi Shorin Ryu", but he was actually a Matsumura guy who studied under Yuichi Kuda. Quite an impressive guy. True to Matsumura Shorin Ryu, he heavily emphasized tai sabaki (body change) and multiple blocks/strikes at once.

1115 - 1215: Class on Rokishu conducted by Kyoshi Perry. As usual, he is lightyears beyond any of us yet drops us little pearls of knowledge here and there.

1345 - 1445: Okinawa Kenpo Principles and Concepts by Hanshi Larry Isaac.

1600-1700: Charles Dean gave a Tai Chi Class. This one me, Mike and Gawain learned the first 16 of the 108 steps. Each step has different postures, so it was enough to keep us busy.

1830-1930: Me, Gawain and Mike sat out of the classes and brushed up our Tai Chi form. I was not particularly interested in going to the other classes as they were primarily learning new weapons kata and I didn't want to overload the brain.

1945-2045: Kyoshi Chris Estes and Kyoshi Jerry Taylor gave a karate principles and concepts class for the shodan - sandan level. It mostly focused upon tai sabaki while doing various responses to varying attacks. Quite interesting.

Saturday
0845 - 0945: Charles Dean gave his last Tai Chi class. Disappointingly, most all of the attendees didn't go to his other classes, so we essentially started over from square one. On the other hand, it helped solidify the things we already went over.

1000 - 1100: Kyoshi Pat Haley gave a kobudo kumite principles class. He gave very, very practical applications and drills for the sai and kama against the bo and nunchaku against empty hand. He essentially did this at the behest of my instructor, Sam Ahtye (I remember him saying he asked Kyoshi Haley to give a seminar on it for the camp earlier).

1115 - 1215: I wanted to go to the Kikou level (Martial arts breathing level) seminar for Rokishu conducted by Kyoshi Perry, but he was adamant about it being only for those 35 and up. I keep forgetting Mike's age (I always think he's about 10 years younger than he really is) so he was able to go. Me and Gawain went over the Tai Chi set.

1345 - 1445: Kyoshi Haley and Kyoshi Luzzi gave a seminar for yudansha level concepts. Kyoshi Pat Haley took over the seminar, but since he is one of the best Kyoshi in our organization, that wasn't a bad thing. Lots of Gojushiho applications.

1615 - 1715: Kyoshi Perry gave a seminar on Sueishi no Kon. Quite a beautiful and advanced bo kata. This block was reserved only for "fun" and all the classes offered were on weapons kata not widely taught at all in our system. As it was Kyoshi Perry, quite interesting, as usual.

1845 - 1945: Kyoshi Luzzi and Kyoshi Williamson gave a class on Shodan-Sandan principles and concepts.

2000 - 2130ish: Demonstrations. There were quite a few demonstrations during this time period. The most memorable was Kyoshi Perry dancing the cha-cha and the shag with his wife Joy. He told us before that he would have "Something special. Not good, but special." He refused to tell us what it was, so when he changed out of his gi and into his shag dancing clothes, we were all greatly surprised. For those of you not in the know, he was a national shag dancing champion back in the day. It was quite a treat as he has never danced in front of us karate people like that before (only perhaps maybe a few steps at a time to demonstrate a linkage between dancing and karate). People literally pay him thousands of dollars to perform. He's pretty good...and at 68, he moves like he was 18 still. Other ones which stood out were things like Myles Luckert (age 14...) doing passai dai backwards. I don't mean mirror image, but he did it all the way forwards, then at the very end he went through it backwards. It looked like someone pressed the rewind button. Sensei Gordon Shell (current owner of Murasaki kobudo) did a self-created version of Naihanchi Sandan to the front with open hands. Obviously a tribute to Kyoshi Perry's creation of Naihanchi Shodan to the front. It looked very Kyoshi Perryesque. I was impressed. Kyoshi Kevin Roberts and Sensei Jason Perry did the yakusoku kumite. It was more like an "old times" presentation because they used to do it all the time when Jason Perry was growing up. There were a few other presentations. Last (and right after Kyoshi Doug Perry's demonstration), Kyoshi Chris Estes did his version of Hakutsuru. He had quite an act to follow, but did it very well. At the end, Kyoshi had all the war veterans and the past-and-present active duty military members come down to the floor for applause. It was a nice touch.

Friday and Saturday nights me and Joe Stitz (he was also there at Kyoshi Perry's when me and Terry visited his dojo last summer) went out with a lot of the "Hendersonville crowd" to a local Irish bar (Hana O'Flanegan's or something like that). It cut a lot into my sleeping time...I did talk a lot with Kyoshi Bethea on his views of fighting and tournaments and all that. Pretty interesting. He was of the mind that fighting (sparring, preferrably) was essential to creating a good fighter.

All in all, a great experience. I've no regrets whatsoever in going, no matter how busy I am now (why the heck am I spending time to write this?).

As Onimitsu2004 said, there is always the danger of being a kata collector. Here's my kata catalogue (not including things like yakusoku, kihons, fukyu kata, ones I've forgotten, etc):

Empty Hand
Pinan Shodan, Pinan Nidan, Pinan Sandan, Pinan Yondan, Pinan Godan
Naihanchi Shodan, Naihanchi Nidan, Naihanchi Sandan
Passai Sho, Passai Dai
Chinto
Kusanku Sho, Dai
Gojushiho
Hakutsuru So, Hakutsuru Tan, Hakutsuru Tan he (White Crane training drills, Matsumura Shorin Ryu)
Hakutsuru Sho (Matsumura Shorin Ryu)
Wansu (Matsumura Shorin Ryu)
Ananku (Matsumura Shorin Ryu)
Seisan (Matsumura Shorin Ryu)
Hakutsuru (Kyoshi Perry's version, I believe it is the Takemyoshi family style)
Rokishu (Kyoshi Perry's version, unsure where he got it from)
Yang Style Tai Chi Long Form (aptly named...I'm still learning it)
Another one I'll say if I get the "okay" to make it public (No, it's not some super secret society thing...)

Weapons
Shushi no Kun (Yamanni Ryu - Shorinkan)
Sakugawa no Kun (Yamanni Ryu - Shorinkan)
Kubo no Kun (Yamanni Ryu - Shorinkan)
Sakugawa no Kun Dai Ni (Shugoro no Sakugawa no Kun)
Nakaima no Kama (Shorinkan no Kama Dai Ichi)
Shugoro no Kama (Shorinkan no Kama Dai Ni)
Shugoro no Tonfa (Shorinkan no Tonfa)
Hamahiga no Tonfa
Shorinkan no Nunchaku Dai Ichi
Tonaki no Nunchaku (Shorinkan no Nunchaku Dai Ni)
Nakaima Kenkou no Sai Dai Ichi (Shorinkan no Sai Dai Ichi)
Nakaima Kenkou no Sai Dai Ni (Shorinkan no Sai Dai Ni)
Shugoro no Sai (Shorinkan no Sai Dai San)
Shugoro no Eku (Shorinkan no Eku)
Miyazato no Tekko (Yeah, yeah, the correct way is Maezato)
Takemyoshi no Nuntebo Dai Ichi

Yeesh. Too many kata...now you know why I wasn't interested in learning any more kata at the camp apart from the Tai Chi form?

Sensei Richard Church asked me this weekend if I was going to do an entry on the pullout from the Gaza strip. I should. I've just been so late to the game I can't say anything that hasn't been said far better than I ever could...maybe in a few days I'll put a belated entry together...

A Few Days in North Carolina with Kyoshi Perry: Training with the Best

Hello all. It's been a while since I last wrote. As I mentioned in my last entry, I went out to North Carolina to train with Kyoshi Doug Perry, North American Director of my system and then to Montana for a karateforums.com gathering. This will be about my time spent with Kyoshi Perry.

Just like the time I went out to North Carolina with Onimitsu2004 last year, every day was extremely long, ranging from 10-14 hours in the dojo (around 8-12 hours of actual training). And just like last time, I had a lot of quality time with Kyoshi Perry and some of his senior students. Kyoshi Perry was much busier than the last time I saw him, especially as he was recovering from surgery (he didn't get Purple Hearts for nothing). All the same, he took a lot of time going over things with me and Myles, another visitor to the dojo. Myles lives in North Carolina so he's been visiting with much frequency the past nine months.

It would be a rather exhaustive and unentertaining post to simply list all the things I did...so I won't. I did manage to pick up three kata: Miyazato no Tekko, Rokushu and Takemyoshi no Nunte Bo Dai Ichi. The latter thanks largely to the efforts of Sensei Sharon who introduced me to it, Sensei Mary who let me tape her and Kyoshi Perry who had the patience to continually watch us fumble through it until I memorized the gross (emphasis on gross) pattern. I did it several times during my previous visit, but Onimitsu2004 and I were certainly already laden with the other 4 weapons kata we were learning while there. Now...all I need to do is wait for Murasaki Kobudo to get more nunte bo in stock and I'll be all set. Meanwhile, I'll have to use my bo to practice it. I don't need anything to visualize the "tip" of it, but I do need a nunte bo so I can see where each of the tines are facing. For those of you not in the know, a nunte bo is a bo with a manji sai on the end. For those of you really not in the know, a manji sai is a sai with one tine facing up, the other tine facing down.

I made sure to jot down any corrections I could remember in my little note pad to add to my martial arts notebook. I suggest to any of you out there who are serious about your training to start your own if you haven't already. Needless to say, the corrections were many. Kyoshi Perry also introduced or further explained several subtleties which should be present in our kata. Everyone says their styles incorporate "natural movement". It's almost like a buzzword that has lost its value. However, natural movement was perhaps one of the biggest things he emphasized, along with various "Perry-isms" usually involving continuous movements and extremely tight (meaning small) circles. With Kyoshi Perry, it was definitely not the case of a simple buzzword. Interestingly enough, I found the nunte bo kata to be one of the most natural weapons kata I've done as the moves practically fell into place whenever I didn't think about them too hard, even during the first few times I did it.

In his book Martial Musings, Robert Smith wrote "Doug Perry, exceptional karateka and dancer, obviously resonates with music." I knew Kyoshi Perry was in the shag dancing Hall of Fame and a national champion, but I never quite grasped the meaning of that line until Tuesday of last week. Myles had just got his promotion to shodan in the Shorinkan system that night (he was already a shodan in another style but switched a while back). I was told it was tradition to do some interesting things in the yudansha (black belt) class after someone gets their shodan. And that they did. Kyoshi Perry brought out a cd with a song lacking a beat. "Light of the Spirit" by Kitaro, to be exact. He then told us all to do Rokushu (which me and Myles only learned the day before...an exquisite extra-curricular kata not in our system) to the music. He told us not to do a "musical kata" but instead to do "kata to music". It sounds very esoteric and flaky at first, I'm sure. So we divided into groups and then proceeded to attempt with varying levels of ridiculousness to do so. Every once in a while, Kyoshi Perry would start doing segments of kata to the music here and there. After we had all been effectively out of our comfort zones, he then demonstrated what he meant and the only word for it I can use was beautiful. He then told us doing kata to music with a beat binds us because we wait for the beat to move. He said songs without a beat (think classical Asian music, although Kitaro is lumped together with "New Age", much to his annoyance) force you to become the rhythm and "kata without emotion is body motion". He then had us do Chinto to the same song which was a little easier, but I still was woefully far off from what we were just shown. Later on, I asked him about the music he used and he then took me to his office and had me listen to another Kitaro song, "Flight", which had quite a different "feel" to it. Watching him both on the dojo floor and later doing motions to the music as we sat in chairs in his office was a pretty moving experience. I'm usually someone who likes to really emphasize the scientific and biomechanical aspect of kata, but I must admit I almost felt something....spiritual. There, I said it. Of course, he was quick to remind us on the dojo floor and me in his office that he was a man who spent many, many years of his life in war and that this wasn't merely some flaky nonsense. I assured him that was the farthest thing from my mind. In fact, watching him do the kata to music even made some of the bunkai (application) more readily apparent to me, at least. But that wasn't the most important part of it. Kyoshi Perry always says he teaches kata on five different levels. I think I got to glimpse one of those rarer levels back then.

Anybody who knows me personally knows I like to eat extremely healthy. So, another thing I discussed with Kyoshi Perry, or rather, questioned and then listened to, was dietary supplements and vitamins. Kyoshi Perry, amongst all his other achievements, is something of a medical marvel internally. At age 68, he's still gaining muscle mass and bone density where most people his age lose it dramatically. The doctors say he's got the insides of an 18-year-old (give or take things like a gall bladder due to a particularly bad case of stomach influenza he picked up in Vietnam...of the only 7 cases of this occuring amongst U.S. troops, he had two of them...). He's also been told his heart and chest cavity are so strong they look like they belong to someone about 50 or 60 pounds larger. He attributes it to the fact he started taking dietary supplements and vitamins long, long before all the recent buzz about them. In fact, stuff like fish oil were the result of the regimen his boxing coach made him do (Kyoshi Perry started boxing at age 9). I then asked him what he recommended a guy like me take, and he pointed me towards Pharmanex and their Life Pak, Optimum Omega, Cordy Max and Overdrive as things I should take daily. All of the above are various things to promote health and strength. The Overdrive is an interesting thing. It is made of completely natural ingredients and you are supposed to take it an hour before working out. It makes you feel energetic and ready to go and when it wears off, you don't experience a "low" like you would from a sugar rush. Well, after he gave me a free bottle of Cordy Max and Overdrive I tried them and a mere twenty minutes later (I was not expecting it to kick in until an hour later so it caught me totally by surprise) I started to feel very energetic and all tiredness drained from my body. To put this in perspective, this was my last of the four days of training I spent there. By that time, I was almost hobbling around and quite exhausted, yet that went away after I took it. I have taken it several times, all to the same effect. It is definitely not a placebo effect. At any rate, I have to call up pharmanex tomorrow and set up my account. I plan to be on this earth a very long time, so while I do I may as well be healthy. I continually seek out the advice of those like Kyoshi Perry in doing so.

I must say my experience was extremely motivating. I currently plan to attend the Summer Camp in North Carolina come this August and anxiously look forward to meeting everyone again. In the meantime, I am going to redouble my efforts to be the best karateka I can as my only way to offer payment back to Kyoshi Perry and all those who helped me out. Yes, it sounds sappy, doesn't it? (Sensei Church, don't laugh please) But I will cut out some things which have been taking a lot of my extra time and focus on my martial arts and actually trying to be fluent in Japanese rather than merely being "okay" at speaking and reading (for future use when interacting with Okinawans...I should pick up the Okinawan dialect as well). As a motivator, I think I'll be translating these books I have on Okinawan karate into English.