Walking Karate

When I thing about Karate's past, the pre-1900 era of training, there is so much that shaped those days we cannot recreate.

1. You lived within walking distance of your instructor. Even with my very small group nobody nobody lives in walking distance. Some of my students drive up to an hour to train. Driving shapes a different entry into training than the Okinawan's experienced.

2. Walking at night to train, there were no electric lights and unless you carried a lantern or other light source, only the light from houses you past. You had to be more aware of your environment, what you were walking over, conscious of threats, a chance to focus on some of the training tales your instrutor shared.

3. You didn't go to a dojo, rather your instructors house or another traning area, and likely frequently outside. Over the years, during the summers I've used this with my back yard for the adult group. There's something unique working on techniques when the evening bats first begin their flight overhead. The onset of low light environment training pushes your senses in ways no dojo can approximate.

4. In that past there was no training uniform, and if the weather was warmer you removed your clothes to preserve them and practiced in your scivies.

5. You sought out your instructor (or your family did), and frequently you had to prove your interest and focus before training began. There were no walk in students. Because of your choice your instructor was the single source of your training. If you made significent strides in training when time passed, perhaps your instrutor would seek out others to train you, or not.

The only traditions were what your instructor taught you. There were no books, no on-line chat groups, and only rarely friends who were undergoing other training to share or not.

Karate was not about trying to re-create the original kata.

Karate was just the practice of karate your instructor directed.

Think about that the next time you walk to train.