The idea of kata being useful at night

 

 Yambaru forest on Okinawa at night

 

I continue to be amazed that the idea of a kata, namely kusanku, could be used in low light (possibly night) conditions demands skepticism..

 

 

Think back on the times of the origins of te/toudi surely at times training was done in a forest or a courtyard as light diminished from the skies. Then walking home after training was not done in well lighted streets. Rather light probably came from lanterns hanging in homes. Thus in dark, or near dark and the night dark was not a constant ever changing circumstances. It would be ludicrous to believe the instructor did not make comment how their art would function under those circumstances.

 

 

Of course today most training is conducted in rather clean well lit facilities having very little relationship to the past origin days.

 

 

Other karate system do concider kata having night uses. The clearest example came when I met George Donaue of the Kashiba Juku system (a descendent of Matsaybushi Ryu).

 

 

We were discussing just that topic and he explained that their studies worked using all of their kata are studied for applications in daylight, as for night (low level light) uses and for drunken applications. Not just restricted to the night in any case.

 

 

What I came to see was Kusanku could have night applications, which in no way detracted from its uses during daylight. Potential application study is just that potential applications study. Much deeper is the work required for any study to become Application Realization.

 

 

Yin and Yang – Light and Dark.

 

 

You are what you can do.  I worked to do as much as I possibly could.

 

 

https://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2019/06/kusanku-night-fighting-kata.html