When Okinawa
began to share karate with youth through school programs, much of what was
shared rested on new basic kata. Then when Okinawan’s in Japan began teaching 4
year elective programs on karate in the Universities, they based much of that
instruction on those same basic kata.
The point I am
trying to make is those programs were at best 4 year focused after school
programs. Unlikely daily in nature, and if the students used what they gained
they probably would enter traditional dojo programs to continue their studies.
Youth in school
were really not being shown karate for self defense as the primary need. In
fact part of the focus originally was to enable them to work in groups to
better withstand military training. Likewise in Japan those programs were based
on the reality that after 4 years the members would graduate, many of them into
their lifetime careers away from their University. Again the idea was they
would gain something from the discipline, from the physical development that
would carry on into their lives. But I
really doubt that they were driven solely from self defense.
Shift in time,
shift in place to today where you live. When I taught youth the areas I lived
were relatively safe (of course not totally safe), and then I was teaching the
young. Which means even with great training what they could accomplish against
an adult would then be limited.
I never divorced
the idea that karate could be a means for self defense, never hid anything from
them, but I did not make kata application study a focus of their training
either. In fact from the beginning, when I first taught someone to strike, I
also explained the non-striking hand moving to chamber could also become a rear
elbow strike at the same time. It just is that they were made to understand
every movement they learned could be employed many ways, but that was a study
they would begin after shodan.
The town in
which I lived had a 0 tolerance policy on the student employing violent methods
on each other. Meaning both the attacker and the defender were in the wrong.
I explained
clearly to the kids that meant they could not defend their self. But I knew in
such cases they individually would have to decide how to respond. I made sure
they had a selection of tools enabling them to make such a decision.
Before I go
further, in my 35 years teaching, I
never had a student misuse their karate knowledge.
For I
made them aware of several things. If ever they did misuse their karate, I
would hear about it sooner or later, and if I heard about it from anyone else,
they would be out of the program forever. I freely extend my trust one time,
but if it is abused I don’t extend it a second time. A Rule I lived by.
I also
made it clear is anything happens always tell an adult (a parent, a teacher, a
neighbor) and if they don’t believe you keep telling another adult until
someone does believe you. Of course I always included myself in that chain.
IMO, kyu
students, youth or adult, need their time on developing more technique, power,
focus and stronger stances. Not detailed study in the use of karate, and that
is how I taught.
But at the same
time I always recognized that the potential existed where the might use karate.
So I focused them on several small sets for blocking and striking, grab
defense, kick defense. Then as they got more advanced I introduced them to the
Sutrisno family aikido sets, where the primary focus was not on the aikido, and
associated karate, but how to enter the space an attack offers and then use
that space to work to conclude the attack.
My focus was
just to have high level performance on those sets by Sho-dan. At which time
things would change to another level of learning.
The
problem of course is how much knowledge is too much knowledge for the student,
And the other side of the problem is how much is too little knowledge for the student
There
is no simple answer for that. You have to read the threat level of your area
and decide how much or how little to teach.
In that karate
was never really designed to be a short term study, providing in the long run
they are guided to get the real McCoy, it likely doesn’t matter where they
begin.
Another past
post I made addressed just this topic.
No comments:
Post a Comment