Karate has
changed a great deal to me over the years.
Originally it followed
a very different, good paradigm, Among things, hard body conditioning, lots of
kata study, lots of kumite, and lot’s of open tournaments in those days.
As a new black
belt I often was called to judge forms I had not studies at open tournaments,
It did get confusing. As a corollary seeking places to train and work out, I
trained in many schools, Kung Fu, Shotokan, Shorin Ryu, Goju Ryu, Washin Ryu
and many others, learning lots of forms during those training sessions, and
remembering them as I was taught being a black belt means you don’t say I can’t.
In time, I often
had knowledge of what I was judging.
At that time as
much as I did not know there was a difference between Okinawan karate, and
Japanese Karate, I also was unaware at how many subdivisions there were in
Shotokan, Goju Ryu, Shorin Ryu and others. But I was somewhat informed.
Among things I found many judges would give higher scores to poor kung fu performances, probably on the belief not spoken but felt, that kung fu must be stronger than karate, and scores should be given accordingly. Not so much in black belt divisions where there was a different dynamic among those few giving scores. But that is a whole other story.
What threw me
most was how to judge those custom built forms showcasing individual strengths?
I am sure I gave many improper scores.
Then late one
night my Tai Chi/Kung Fu instructor gave
me private instruction, totally tearing my tai chi form down after 15 years of
practice and work Literally hundreds of corrections. Then he explained what I
was doing wrong, just with a slight touch again and again that left me
floundering each time. He then showed me what I was doing wrong and how to
correct it, and a tool to use to do so, that slight touch. It was using correct
energy point alignment.
Without going
into the details at this time, later I quickly discovered the same thing worked
with my students karate (and my own), where if they were incorrect the slightest
touch would make them fall.
It caused a lot
of cleaning up to take place, and a superior tool for class. And the thing was,
it wasn’t magic, just doing the kata properly as originally shown (for the
school involved).
But at that time
I also discovered that energy point misalignment was a perfect place to attack,
a weakness to be exploited.
By extension a
way to judge anything, even when the system is unknown.
Every stance,
form, etc. has a stronger alignment, where that touch will not destabilize the
performer.
The better form
a performer does, the higher their score should be, as they are making fewer
possibly fatal mistakes.
The more flaws
in their alignment, the lower their score should be, at they are making more
possibly fatal mistakes.
I had
discontinued tournament attendance and judging, but went a few times to watch
and I stand by this opinion. Those custom built forms showing the performers
strengths, most often also had dead moments where poor alignment was present.
Where a simple touch could down them, I now had a method to know what I was
awarding.
However, I was
no longer interesting in judging anybody, just developing my karate and my
students further.
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