Saturday, July 2, 2022

Bushi No Te Isshinryu Karate Do

 




Each art has a standard of what makes superior training for our students.

 

Karate developed from Te taught to certain Okinawan families, which was a long story in its own right. Certainly because of the families responsibility intense training was a necessity.

 

Then as things developed changes took place in what karate training was or should be.

 

The karate that went to Japan was structures to be taught in the Universities. The training was intense, but for most students they trained for 4 years and then moved on in their lives. There was intense training for life for those who selected to do so,

 

Did that training differ from what was being done on Okinawa, it would be difficult to say. For one thing there were so many different types of karate and many different methods to train under.

 

Then WWII intervened and Karate training was made available to US military members. And over time what existed changed too.

 

IMO the way training existed on Okinawa, was as intense or less than the student wanted it to be. Then when those students returned to their homes likely more that a bit of military pt was included in what they taught.

 

What occurred likely varied from school to school.

 

Again most students trained only for a few years, not for life.

 

I am not suggesting any of that training was not worthy, just varied from school to school.

 

Having trained with many people in many arts, though ways differed, most followed a similar template as to how hard the students trained. But how that was done varied from instructor to instructor.

 

One of the best individuals I had trained with began training with his father at 4 years of age. He developed literal cat like reflexes, beyond most I have seen.

 

The interesting thing was the decade I trained with him, alongside his students, I never saw one minute of pushups, stretching exercises or the other things most schools do.

 

His karate was explosive, and his students were good, but not through the programs other schools used.

 

I was originally trained with every class beginning strong calisthenics and basics. And when I began to teach youth kept to that standard.

 

But as the years passed, continuing to learn more I began to see training a different way.

 

When I began my small very personal adult program, I began to take the lead from my friends program.

 

The adults who trained with me,  led normal complex adult lives, most were unable to attend all classes, yet they did attend as their lives permitted, and that went on for decades.

 

Their classes were about an hour at a time, and they were not doing it for intense calisthenics, nor was  that my interest.

 

I realized that their time was better spent on karate, and that became the focus of our time together . When the began I would explain that stretching was for their benefit. For example I would demonstrate a variety of stretching exercises. But then I explained that is was their responsibility to prepare themselves to get the best from their classes, and their responsibility alone.

 

For class I would just jump into what was being covered that class. I expected them to begin slow allowing the motions to gradually warm them up as training progressed.

 

Then following my personal understanding and use of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle did my best so that no class was ever structured like any other class. This forced them to keep aware of what was being shown.

 

There was a structure to my lessons, but that structure was 6 to 8 months long. At which time a different structure was introduced in to the classes that followed, and that kept changing.

 

Skill grew over time, correct alignment was stressed, everything they studied or learnt came together in their development.

 

The average adult reaching shodan continued training over +17 years after shodan. The seniors continued training +35 years, not just showing up but training. And there were those who trained for years between the average times for dans and that of the seniors.

 

My students were not being trained for military service, police service of other dangerous professions. They were not training to increase physical fitness.

 

Their interest was just in learning to perform their karate better and better.

 

Their training focused on Isshinryu kata,.

 

Subsidiary kata (from Shorin ryu, Goju ryu,l Pai Lum, ShotokanO both to gain understanding of what others do, and to have skilled attacks from outside our system to work against.

 

Kobudo (Bo, Sai, Tonfa, Bando stick and staff,  Sutrisno Kama and Knife studies).

 

Working to how any one technique can defeat any attack.

 

Working to understand the many uses Isshinryu kata technique could be used to defeat any attack.

 

Understanding how to move beyond kata technique possibilities and what it took to work and reach true kata technique application realization.

 

Working to develop subsidiary skills to make what we use more effective (ie. Multiple striking, energy point alignment,etc.)

 

Always remembering that the use of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle in training led towards Seikichis’ understanding.

 

Uehara Seijichi stated “ My master used to say, "If your opponent knows your martial arts techniques, your life is immediately in danger. Never use the same technique twice in a row."

 

It is my understanding that this was from the pre-karate arts.

 

Autobiography of Uehara Seikichi 9

2022-07-01 1

Translated by Motobu Naoki

 

From Bu no Mai  (Martial dance)by Uehara Seikichi (1992)

Autobiography of Uehara Seikichi 8



 




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