Dan Smith Letters
Sente no kata.
The context IMHO that Funakoshi was using
the term "sente no kata" means that there is no first attack
in the kata. Kata is ubiquitous for karate, the term we
all know that has become synonymous with Uchinandi. Can
you or should you use the intermediary movements of "karate"
to stop a potential attack at the moment you anticipate
it ? IMHO that is up to the person. Is there a moral question
as to whether you should attack the potential attacker first
? Again it is up to the individual and the circumstance.
Unless you are a mind reader how can you know someone will
really attack you?
Sente no kata again IMHO is the fighting strategy
of Uchinandi. In Okinawa there is two basic scenarios that
a fight will take. One, a surprise attack, and two, a situation
that escalates into a physical encounter. The kata fighting
postures (kamae) and intermediary movements are designed
for these two scenarios. These two scenarios are driven
by the fact that Uchinandi is a self-defense based solution
and works best when the opponent makes the first movement
of attack and Uchinandi can be used in a counter movement.
In the escalation scenario the kata and two man drills are
used to prepare you to defend yourself. Again the defense
is seen as the best way to take advantage of the opponent.
In Japan, for reasons that have been well
documented by others, the Butokai required that there be
a measurement of skill of the new martial art, "karate",
so therefore the ippon shobo kumite was devised. With this
innovation karate introduced a new scenario to a potential
fighting situation, mutual agreed upon combat. With the
addition of the mutually agreed upon combat scenario the
techniques of the kata did not produce the skills needed
and the kata began to change along with the kihon of "karate".
Mutually agreed upon combat is not consistent with the dojo
kun or the philosophy of Uchinandi so the process of change
began in the kata and techniques of karate. The purpose
of the kata was changed. This change has brought on a vast
misunderstanding of Uchinandi that is evidenced by numerous
articles and opinions in karate magazines and internet discussions
venues that discuss the relative ineffectiveness of the
old ways vs. the new modern ways. In a recent article in
Black Belt Magazine a prominent personality in the world
of "karate" was featured showing how the old techniques
of Tang So Do do not work in the ring. Well I guess they
should not work since they were not designed for mutually
agreed upon combat and scoring points. Also in the same
issue of the magazine was a gentlemen that was showing the
differences of the old blocks of karate and how they had
been misrepresented and now he was showing how they really
should be used. All of his demonstrations were designed
against an opponent that was not attacking by surprise or
and escalation of a physical situation. I might add this
article was written by someone representing themselves as
an Okinawan stylist). IMHO the above has led the gross population
of people practicing "karate" to misunderstand the techniques
and therefore not have confidence in them. This loss of
confidence has led people to change the techniques for what
they think will serve them best. The Japanese did it and
the rest of the world has followed.
Sente No kata is a descriptive term of Uchinandi.
It is a key that leads to the understanding of the kata.
The terms that were mentioned in some post;
sen no sen, go no sen, and sen sen no sen are as most of
you know from Kendo. The origin of these terms are from
the strategy of fighting with a sword. Combat in Japan took
the form of all three scenarios and therefore these strategies
work and work well but they are not from an Okinawan perspective
part of Uchinandi. All three concepts violate Uchinandi
except for go no sen, which is the moment after the initiative.
Please remember the word kata was Japanese
and was introduced into Okinawan karate by the Japanese.
Prior to the word kata being used the Okinawans simply applied
the term "di" after the name; for example "Seisan di". Just
my opinion because there are no facts.
Gumbatte
Dan Smith
About Tegumi.
I think that many people are off on a tangent
concerning grappling, Te Gumi, Toide, etc., etc. etc. when
analyzing Okinawa karate. I understand the need some people
have when they consider having to grapple with someone and
the Okinawan kata takes provides for this but not in the
way that is being represented. Okinawan karate focuses on
the basic understanding of: 1) get out of the way of an
attack. Even if you are grasped you use movement to escape
not grappling. 2) Parry the attack as you move to give yourself
the added protection from the attack and to create an opening
to counter attack. 3) Attack the vulnerable points on the
body as the openings are created through movement.
Yes, there are a few techniques in Okinawa
kata that teach you how to block and grab as you apply a
strike to the opponent. There are techniques in the kata
that teach you how to react if your attack has been blocked
and grabbed and techniques that teach you how to react when
seized by the opponent but these are minimal when considering
the vast number of techniques that are describe in 1 to
3 above.
My teacher on Okinawa taught four techniques
against being grabbed. He stated that he only thought he
would be grabbed in four ways. I thought about the many
ways someone could grab you but the teacher said he only
needed four because he believed that he would prepare himself
to be only grabbed in the four methods that he could not
guard against. Go through the kata and list how many ways
someone can seize you. It is not many than four. You only
have an arm, upper front body, upper back body and shoulders
to defend. If someone tries an tackle you the kata of Okinawa
gives you two choices or three if you count the one move
in Uechi Ryu out of Seisan.
My point is that much is being made about
a small number of techniques. It is true what someone said
on the CD, if you are someone who practices atemi waza then
kensetsu waza is something special and if you practice grappling
then atemi waza is special.
IMHO the Okinawans specialized on 1 to 3 above.
And while I am espousing stuff that probably causes concern.
Ikken haitsu is not an Okinawan concept. It comes straight
from kenjutsu. The Okinawans simply say fight until there
is no fight.
Gumbatte
Dan Smith
About kata practice.
It is hard to disagree with most of what has
been written about this subject but I have a few comments
that I hope will be helpful.
I agree with Shogiki's comment about having
"faith" in practicing the kata. Faith is defined as hope
in what is not seen. All of us that practice the kata without
knowing the complete meaning of kata are practicing faithfully
with the hope that what we are practicing will produce the
results that we have predisposed in our mind. I think that
this will satisfy as a definition of kata.
There are so many levels of understanding
kata that you cannot limit yourself to one meaning or one
by product of your effort. Again that faith word is important.
All of us who have trained for some time without having
to actually use some of the movements that we envision that
will work are going forward on faith that the techniques
will be there to provide us safety, health and well being
not only form physical attack but from ourselves. Perhaps
this is what kata was designed to do.
The concept of kata is an enigma as to it's
origin and original purpose. Many followers of the practice
of kata have continually preached it's importance but only
have faith that the kata practice produces what we are looking
for. So why was kata created ? The preservation of techniques,
a method of teaching techniques in an orderly fashion, a
method to develop the body equally or a method of teaching
the body to move instinctively ? I think it is all of these
but the latter is the end result.
Based on 39 years of kata training, which
over half of that was on faith alone , I have found that
the purpose for me is training the body to move instinctively.
To achieve this instinctive movement does not necessarily
require that you have the understanding of the bunkai or
principles of movement but the more you mentally become
aware of the purpose and methods the more effective the
results are.
Does a beginner need to know the bunkai and
principles of movement ? I have taught both ways. At first
when I returned from Okinawa in 1971, I was so full of all
the bunkai knowledge that is all I wanted to share with
my students due to when I trained before going to Okinawa
I had no clue of what bunkai was. After some months of trying
to insure that "the" bunkai was taught as the kata was learned
I found that the students would alter the movements of the
kata to cause the effect of the bunkai and that is when
I remembered my teacher stressing that there were many bunkai
and not to change the kata movement to accommodate the bunkai
movement.
Each kata movement has a purpose outside of
the obvious and these movements are what teach the instinctive
ness. If you have one bunkai in mind and do not concentrate
on the perfection of movement then you will not develop
the instinctive mind.
The focus should be on the perfection of the
movement and the applications flow from the movement and
creativity of the mind or the spontaneity of the situation.
"Faith without works is dead".
Gumbatte
Kudasai Dan
About Hakutsuru kata.
Michael, you are right about Matayoshi teaching
a Hakutsuru kata. The name is Kakuken. Even though he reserved
the kata for some of his senior kobudo students in that
he did not teach karate at all in his dojo. His comments
still stand, " the crane is for your health and not for
killing like Okinawan karate ". Whenever you and Rand come
down to Atlanta for a visit I will get the taped interview
out and show it to you and let you make your own interpretations
as to what he is meaning. Since I have known Matayoshi for
many years I think I know when he is serious and joking.
He was not joking.
Second, the reason for my question to him
about the Kakuken was that I knew that he had not taught
it to many people and that the popularity of the "crane"
was growing in the USA. I asked him why so many people were
now coming out with crane kata. He said " everyone trying
to be somebody. If crane was so good for fighting then Okinawans
would have kept. Not made Uchinandi." He then proceeded
to demonstrate on the tape the crane movements and the bunkai
that I asked him about.
Third, I did not learn the Kakuken from Matayoshi
sensei. I learned this kata in 1969 from a gentleman by
the name of Tomagusku. He had no students and practiced
on his own. He lived in the same village that I did and
knew that I was a serious karate person. He knew my teacher
and respected him. After watching me for sometime without
my knowledge while I practiced at home on my makiwara he
volunteered to teach me his kata. He informed me that the
kata came from Go Ken Ki and that he had studied it before
the war. I learned the kata and kept it all these years.
I left Okinawa in 1971 and returned in 1975 and could not
find Tomagusku or his niece who had been our maid. They
had moved from the area and with my limited language skills
at the time I could not find them. Over the ensuing years
I have demonstrated this kata to many Okinawans and have
gotten no response from them as to it's authenticity until
I demonstrated to Matayoshi sensei. He proclaimed to me
that the kata came from Go Ken Ki. Until many years after
I learned the kata I had no idea who Go Ken Ki was. After
Matayoshi sensei verified that the kata was bonafied I then
began in earnest to research the history. I found that Go
Ken Ki only had one kata. I also found out that if Matsumura
had a white crane kata it would have been similar to the
one Go Ken Ki had. I also found that Go Ken Ki taught at
the Okinawan Kenkyu and that he did not teach the entire
kata but the concepts of the kata. Many Okinawans that trained
at that time on a limited basis picked up bits and pieces
and apparently have created many forms with a crane flavor.
Yes, some of the Shorin Ryu kata have a crane
flavor to them such as; Passai, Gojushiho and Kusanku but
they do not have the crane power. The Okinawans developed
their own power for these kata. Personally I find the crane
power contradictory to the Okinawans method of making power.
I find just as Matayoshi sensei said, "crane is for health
and Okinawan karate is for killing."
Sorry for the long winded response. I never
thought thirty years ago that any of this would have any
value. I kept the kata because it makes me feel good and
is good to warm up with. I am amazed at the interest in
something that the Okinawans do not consider important.
Maybe we have missed something. I am glad I kept the kata.
Dan
Are there blocks in Okinawan kata?
I remember when this no block question in
karate began in the mid 1980's. As I recall it came about
when people started being exposed to the Okinawan kata bunkai
and finding out that not all blocks were for just blocking.
It is my belief that this line of thinking got completely
out of control as people started trying to understand each
movement of the kata and making it some exotic explanation
to further their position in the world of how much they
knew about the kata. Many of these people following this
line of thinking were those that stated that the Okinawans
were hiding all the deadly techniques from westerners and
even the Japanese. Some even went as far as saying that
the Okinawan senior teachers got together after World War
Two and decided not to teach the deadly art of Uchinandi
again.
Are there blocks in Okinawan karate kata ?
Certainly and the number of blocking techniques that are
used for protecting you against attack are far greater than
those that are used for release from a grab.
The basic teaching of all Okinawa kata is
the same regardless of style. The following three principles
are taught in the same order by each teacher and is developed
through the understanding of the kata. The words that I
use to describe these three principles may not be the same
but the actions are.
1. Get out of the way - tai sabaki. This is
accomplished in varying ways depending on the teacher but
it is all the same. If someone attacks you the first thing
you want to do is get out of the way. (This helps disrupt
the kuzushi of the opponent)
2. Protect your vital areas as you move out
of the way of the attack. You do this with blocking. You
may not actually block (whatever that is) the attack but
you certainly want to protect your vital areas while you
are getting out of the way. Addtionally by making contact
with the opponents attack with a block (no matter what type
of block it is) you give the opponent the feedback that
they are looking for. They have made contact. (This helps
disrupt the kuzushi of the opponent)
3. Attack the opponents vital areas that have
been exposed by their attack, your evasion and blocking.
The Okinawan concept is to do this as one movement if possible
(ikkyo). If you use these three principles in concert you
should accomplish ikken haistsu.
The Okinawans spend many hours developing
the blocking movements so that they can apply them as I
have outlined above. It is just as important to learn how
to move and block as it does to attack and is more vital
to your safety. What happens when the scenario above does
not work is where in the kata the techniques of escaping
a grasp or your own counter attack being blocked is where
the confusion can come from understanding whether a technique
was a block as described above or not.
In my opinion I have answered several questions
posed on the CD over the last few days. What is kuzushi
? How is Kuzushi applied from the kata ? Are their blocks
in Okinawan kata ? Is there just bunkai from Okinawa that
has only block/punch applications ? Is there use of blocking
and striking simultaneous in Okinawa karate ?
IMHO all of these questions are answered in
the three principles. Of course there is much more to be
found in the section of what techniques are used when these
three principles cannot be applied. I believe that most
people want to find this answer before understanding the
first three principles. Once you can apply the above principles
it makes understanding the ti techniques that are woven
into the kata. I hope that this was helpful to those that
are asking the questions and I hope it will interject thinking
about the kata from a different perspective. Everything
starts with the footwork.
Gumbatte
Dan Smith
Kata & bunkai
I certainly did not mean in my post to give
the indication that all Okinawan schools did not continue
to practice bunkai as an integral part of their training.
I wrote that there are schools in Okinawa just as any other
place in the world that do not have the full curriculum
that other schools have. I certainly would not mention those
that I think do or don't. I know Iha sensei's background
as well as his teachers are and were well grounded on bunkai
of the kata. My comment was one of a general nature only
depicting that there are bogus people all over the world.
No one country or race has a monopoly on ignorance or charlatism.
It just appears that the USA has more than our fair share.
Concerning the Japanese not understanding the bunkai from
the Okinawans. I think I can fairly state that bunkai from
the Okinawans perception was not part of their curriculum.
They took the parts of the Okinawan karate that they wanted
for their purposes and developed that part to a high degree.
You cannot deny that the gymnastic, athletic movements of
the Japanese styles is not better developed than the Okinawans.
Someone mentioned in a post yesterday that the way the Japanese
had changed karate or taken the Okinawans "school" karate
and spread it world wide and would we rather have karate
spread out for everyone to enjoy or have kept it like the
Okinawans developed it. My response is that I would rather
have the "school" karate spread through out the world if
that is what it takes to build the karate-do spirit and
body for so many people to have gotten benefit from. Perhaps
Itosu sensei knew that the real Okinawan karate was just
for the few and school karate was for the populace. I am
teaching school karate to the all of the young people that
come into my schools with hopes that they will develop the
body they need to grow to an adult and then began learning
karate. I hopefully will retire from my business career
in a couple of more years and then I would like to teach
in the middle and high schools along with the colleges in
my area. I have been thinking for sometime what I would
teach given the opportunity to teach hundreds of people
in that environment. I keep coming up with the same concept
that Itosu used. Modern karate as developed by the Japanese
with a kick start from Itosu and Funakoshi is for the masses
and there has been and continues to be a great benefit from
this training. The traditional Okinawan karate is not for
the masses and it was never intended to be that way. I had
the opportunity when I lived on Okinawa to train in both
methods at the same time and in the same school. I trained
in the morning with Zenryo Shimabukuro sensei and at night
with Zenpo Shimabukuro sensei. The morning class was dramatically
different. Zenryo sensei never had us line up to begin a
class. The people who attended this morning class came at
various times. Began training on their own in whatever part
of the dojo they could find to practice by themselves. Zenryo
sensei would observe us practicing kata, give corrections,
instructions on how to perform the movements and demonstrate
to us individually what the kata movements where. The night
time training was heavily geared toward kihon practice,
kata and sparring. We did weight training and ippon kumites,
which were extracted bunkai movements from the kata, and
we ran. The training was geared to developing the body and
the tools of karate. After training at night many seniors
would stay late and practice the kata bunkai that Zenryo
sensei was teaching in the morning. I share the above with
you about my own training to show you how someone could
have come only to the night training and developed only
the kihon because they were training in large group classes.
They did not make themselves available for the in depth
training. This happens in our classes today all over the
world. Just as I mentioned yesterday tha people get what
they want from the training. The teacher may have much more
to give but the student is satisfied with less. Sometimes
because that is all they want or do not realize their is
more. I hope that this clarifies that on Okinawa there is
much to learn and you have to put the time in to enable
the learning process. Many Japanese and Americans stopped
short due to time constraints and being satisfied with what
they had so they did not learn the in depth meanings of
the kata.
Gumbatte
Dan Smith
Kata & bunkai
In response to some of the post on bogus bunkai
and some Okinawan instructors and dojo not having bunkai
that seem to be anything but block/punch. I would agree
that there are dojo on Okinawa that fall into the above
category. Please remember that we are discussing human beings
and the frailties and shortcomings are the same whether
you live in Okinawa, Japan or the USA. I believe that Goshiki
(sp) is right in relating other's observations to him that
their is a lack of bunkai understanding in Okinawa. But
there is some very good reasons behind the lack of the focus
on bunkai training. I believe the most important factor
was the dissemination of karate to Japan. The entire method
of training was changed to cater to the teaching karate
as physical exercise in the public schools. The next factor
was the rapid development of karate styles in Japan. It
is hard to imagine that from 1922 to 1937 there was no less
than a dozen different styles developed by Japanese on the
mainland. So, in 15 years you had this many people move
up to the position of leading their own school. Why there
are countless of us in the USA and Okinawa that have been
with the same teachers for thirty years and if we started
our own group we would be soundly criticized. How did this
effect the bunkai of the kata ? They did not stay with the
Okinawans long enough to learn and the karate that was taught
in the beginning was kihon only. The Japanese had a strong
desire to use what they were learning and they developed
the jiyu kumite as a supplement for not knowing the bunkai.
The sparring matches became their method of measuring their
karate skills whereas the Okinawans had only used the measurement
of being able to defend themselves and live long lives.
The Okinawans became victim to this same thought process
after the war. Why ? Because only a handful of the older
teachers were left and many of the teachers who began teaching
after the war were trained in school karate where the emphasis
was on body and spirit development. The method of training
on Okinawa followed the Japanese for many years with the
emphasis on bogu jiyu kumite. The training methods were
changed or adapted in many dojo to improve the ability to
free spar vs. actual combat. I am not saying that all Okinawan
schools followed this way but many of them did. I believe
most of all the senior teachers had the knowledge of what
karate had been but due to the changing times they designed
their instruction to meet the perceived needs of the day.
I have observed over the last nine years in Okinawa a resurgence
of traditional Okinawan karate. A symposium was held in
August of 1990 after the Uchinanchu demonstrations to establish
the direction of Okinawan karate. I was fortunate to attend
this symposium and witnessed the senior teachers calling
for a return to traditional Okinawan karate and kobudo.
Since that time much effort and expense has been expended
to but the emphasis on re-establishing Okinawan karate as
it should be. I have been to Okinawa 14 times in the last
nine years and have seen a dramatic change on the emphasis
being placed on training methods. In the late 60's when
I lived on Okinawa more emphasis was put on kihon, kata
and jiyu kumite. One of the reasons was that is what Americans
liked and enjoyed. Many of the Okinawan teachers made their
livings teaching servicemen. Most of these men were only
on Okinawa for 18 months so the training was geared to having
them experience the Okinawan karate and enjoy their time
on Okinawa. Yes, I know that most of the servicemen who
were there on Okinawa during this time will say that they
learned more than just kihon, kata and jiyu kumite and perhaps
some did but those that will be honest with themselves should
answer just as the Japanese should have from what they learned
from the Okinawans and that is they did not even hear the
word bunkai from the Okinawans. The word bunkai is not even
Unchinanguchi. The Okinawans that I trained with used the
term ti chi ki, which I was told meant showing what the
hand is doing. I have rambled on enough about all of this
so please forgive me. The point is that the Okinawans knew
and still know the bunkai of the kata. They were just emphasizing
something different. I have an acquaintenance that I have
known for about thirty years. He is an 8th dan now and several
years ago I had the opportunity to train in his dojo frequently
over a period of a year while on business trips. He would
ask me questions concerning bunkai of kata and I would give
him answers thinking all along that he was just pulling
my leg when he would say he had never seen the explanations
of the kata like that. He asked me how did I get this information.
I told him that my teacher's father would show me during
our morning classes. After a couple of months had gone by
he said he thought that I must be making these applications
up. He said they made sense but he knew that if his sensei
(different than mine and very highly thought of on Okinawa)
knew these applications he would have taught him. Sometime
after this he and I went to Okinawa together and he asked
his teacher in front of me some kata bunkai questions. His
teacher readily gave him similar answers that I had provided
even though we are from a different school. He said why
haven't you taught me this before ? The reply was that you
never asked me and I thought you were satisfied with what
you were getting. I believe the point to this story is that
the Okinawans were giving the Japanese and Americans what
they thought they wanted. Surely this must have been easy
to think because neither the Japanese or Americans ever
went back to Okinawa for much training after their initial
introduction to Okinawan karate. How many Japanese that
created these various schools ever went to Okinawa and trained
for any length of time ? What do most of the students who
come into your dojo want ? What are you giving them ? How
many times as we as teacher wanted our students to want
more and we were willing to give it to them but they demonstrated
by their actions that they were satisfied with kick/punch.
I will close for now and hope that I have not dragged this
out to much. One thing I did not discuss was the thought
put forth by some that there are no blocks in karate bunkai.
I would like to discuss this at a later date if anyone has
an interest. Thanks for reading all of this if you did and
I apologize if I took to much bandwidth. Oh, a question
for the members who attended the Okinawan Rengokai seminars.
Did you see any bunkai applications of the kata ?
Gumbatte
Dan Smith
