Gabriel Suarez
03-23-2018, 07:42 AM
So Barnetmill asked about this on the other thread. The concept of Kata is universal. You see it in many martial disciplines (I hate the word "art"). Here is the concept applied in a very simple and basic manner...by US Soldiers...
https://youtu.be/tHi0fk4-zHY
Its a way to codify, memorize, and repeat movement patterns extensively in a memorable and dynamic manner. Doing five cuts in a kata has more application and is more interesting than simply standing there and doing five cuts. Moving on.
As I said in the video...just as dry practice is not an end to itself and is training for live fire, kata are for fighting. The modern understanding of kata by the martial clowns and gymnasts is that kata is an end onto itself and exists as a gymnastic demonstration. Nope...wrong.
Modern kata all originated in Okinawa. Anything originally taught in Okinawa, then to Japan, and then to Korea, has roots in Chinese fighting systems. I studied Kyokushin Karate, and then a couple of other systems...then a non-Taekwondo Korean system...and with minor variations and names...all the kata were pretty much the same. That is no accident...it shows lineage. To really get to the bottom of this you need to leave nationalism behind and Asians are terrible about this. Koreans hate Japanese and both hate the Chinese and as far as the Okinawans...all of them look down on the Okinawans. Do a Korean version of Kushanku and its called Kong Chiang Chin...at it looks...the same as the Japanese Kanku Dai. So there.
Incidentally - there were three major schools or groups of schools on Okinawa. These were the Shuri, Naha, and Tomari. The Bassai (alternatively known as Passai, Bassai Dai, and Patsai) is Shuri and Tomari-based. I practice kata from all three schools as they each have attributes worthy of having. If there is interest, perhaps Brent and i will do a few here.
The original Kata as taught in Okinawa and in fight-centric schools outside Okinawa (Goju-Ryu as one example, and the Kyokushin that developed from it) featured lots of strong hand techniques, tight tall stances to allow for movement changes, and low kicking. It was, as i said...preparatory for hand to hand combat.
When Itosu (Okinawa) and Funakoshi (Japan) introduced Karate into the respective school systems of each location, they did so largely as a physical fitness matter, not a fighting matter. And the forced transition from Jutsu to Do by the Japanese government focused the combat system into areas of sport, self-perfection, etc. The low stances, the high kicks, the military organization, were all added at this point and absent in original karate. Also added at this point were the training uniform (Gi- Do Gi, Doebok, or whathaveyou) and belt rankings...AND...the inevitable competitions.
Original Okinawan karate was taught informally in street clothes, no belts were given, and competition was non-existent. Here is a short clip of Yamaguchi, one of the founders and originator of Goju-Ryu. Yamaguchi, incidentally was no theoretical guy as he did well in real fights. Hardly the "flash and spectacle" of a "modern hollywood karateka'.
https://youtu.be/hKt3RGavWUw
And here is Oyama doing the same
https://youtu.be/bqQ8Bqq9UAs
To present an analogy closer to home, imagine what we do...gunfighting.
It is a good name - GUNFIGHTING. It is for killing other men in fights involving firearms primarily, but covers other forms of attack as well. Our discipline (Suarez-Ryu) encompasses proactive and reactive, at various distance intervals and includes a hand to hand segment intended to regain the initiative and access the pistol. Primarily a pistol system, we also use rifles and shotguns and PDW/SMGs in a similar framework. We have segments teaching fitness and tactics and mental/spiritual aspects dealing with mind set, attitude, warrior ethos, verbal articulation, and other similar matters. Rather than Buddhist or Taoist, our underlying core principles are Christian (although perhaps not the sort of christian most picture when they picture an american christian). That in a nutshell is our system.
Now imagine you tasked with using that to teach liberal-snowflake middle schoolers to concentrate better, to become agile and fit, and to learn hand eye coordination. Would you include all of the above? Unlikely. That is what Funakoshi and itosu did. And much of Real karate was lost as a result.
Korean "Karate" is the same. Modern competitive Tae Kwon Do has as much in common with street combat as foil fencing has with knife fighting...but the roots are basically Okinawan with hallmark kicks added.
As a student of combat, it is incumbent on you to know the roots of what you study. By knowing where it all came from, and why something was taught a certain way, the all-importnat "WHY" becomes evident and not only do you gain a greater understanding of things, but you become a better warrior as a result.
https://youtu.be/tHi0fk4-zHY
Its a way to codify, memorize, and repeat movement patterns extensively in a memorable and dynamic manner. Doing five cuts in a kata has more application and is more interesting than simply standing there and doing five cuts. Moving on.
As I said in the video...just as dry practice is not an end to itself and is training for live fire, kata are for fighting. The modern understanding of kata by the martial clowns and gymnasts is that kata is an end onto itself and exists as a gymnastic demonstration. Nope...wrong.
Modern kata all originated in Okinawa. Anything originally taught in Okinawa, then to Japan, and then to Korea, has roots in Chinese fighting systems. I studied Kyokushin Karate, and then a couple of other systems...then a non-Taekwondo Korean system...and with minor variations and names...all the kata were pretty much the same. That is no accident...it shows lineage. To really get to the bottom of this you need to leave nationalism behind and Asians are terrible about this. Koreans hate Japanese and both hate the Chinese and as far as the Okinawans...all of them look down on the Okinawans. Do a Korean version of Kushanku and its called Kong Chiang Chin...at it looks...the same as the Japanese Kanku Dai. So there.
Incidentally - there were three major schools or groups of schools on Okinawa. These were the Shuri, Naha, and Tomari. The Bassai (alternatively known as Passai, Bassai Dai, and Patsai) is Shuri and Tomari-based. I practice kata from all three schools as they each have attributes worthy of having. If there is interest, perhaps Brent and i will do a few here.
The original Kata as taught in Okinawa and in fight-centric schools outside Okinawa (Goju-Ryu as one example, and the Kyokushin that developed from it) featured lots of strong hand techniques, tight tall stances to allow for movement changes, and low kicking. It was, as i said...preparatory for hand to hand combat.
When Itosu (Okinawa) and Funakoshi (Japan) introduced Karate into the respective school systems of each location, they did so largely as a physical fitness matter, not a fighting matter. And the forced transition from Jutsu to Do by the Japanese government focused the combat system into areas of sport, self-perfection, etc. The low stances, the high kicks, the military organization, were all added at this point and absent in original karate. Also added at this point were the training uniform (Gi- Do Gi, Doebok, or whathaveyou) and belt rankings...AND...the inevitable competitions.
Original Okinawan karate was taught informally in street clothes, no belts were given, and competition was non-existent. Here is a short clip of Yamaguchi, one of the founders and originator of Goju-Ryu. Yamaguchi, incidentally was no theoretical guy as he did well in real fights. Hardly the "flash and spectacle" of a "modern hollywood karateka'.
https://youtu.be/hKt3RGavWUw
And here is Oyama doing the same
https://youtu.be/bqQ8Bqq9UAs
To present an analogy closer to home, imagine what we do...gunfighting.
It is a good name - GUNFIGHTING. It is for killing other men in fights involving firearms primarily, but covers other forms of attack as well. Our discipline (Suarez-Ryu) encompasses proactive and reactive, at various distance intervals and includes a hand to hand segment intended to regain the initiative and access the pistol. Primarily a pistol system, we also use rifles and shotguns and PDW/SMGs in a similar framework. We have segments teaching fitness and tactics and mental/spiritual aspects dealing with mind set, attitude, warrior ethos, verbal articulation, and other similar matters. Rather than Buddhist or Taoist, our underlying core principles are Christian (although perhaps not the sort of christian most picture when they picture an american christian). That in a nutshell is our system.
Now imagine you tasked with using that to teach liberal-snowflake middle schoolers to concentrate better, to become agile and fit, and to learn hand eye coordination. Would you include all of the above? Unlikely. That is what Funakoshi and itosu did. And much of Real karate was lost as a result.
Korean "Karate" is the same. Modern competitive Tae Kwon Do has as much in common with street combat as foil fencing has with knife fighting...but the roots are basically Okinawan with hallmark kicks added.
As a student of combat, it is incumbent on you to know the roots of what you study. By knowing where it all came from, and why something was taught a certain way, the all-importnat "WHY" becomes evident and not only do you gain a greater understanding of things, but you become a better warrior as a result.