Ojama Shimasu:

 

"Two senior teachers were in the corner of the dojo discussing in which order a bunkai kumite set was supposed to be taught. The discussion was respectful and guarded...on the polite edge of an argument, and rife with remembrances of dates and events...teachers and dojos...all toward an effort of keeping the set "right." As they talked and tried to convince one the other of their respective points, they became so ensconced in preserving their tradition "correctly" that they didn't see the stranger enter the dojo...looking around as if he had a point to prove. After five minutes the "visitor" grew tired of not being "waited on" he walked up to a 25 year old shodan--A woman who started studying Karate in her late teens, to get in shape and deal with the stress of University life. He grabbed her by her shoulders and said in a growl, "What did they teach you to do for this?"

It was no sooner than he finished his sentence, that he felt his arm being wrapped quickly and tightly at the elbow and was shocked by the violent and heavy numbing feeling he felt on the side of his head. Before he could shout an obscenity, he felt his vocal chords constrict and his throat tighten with the power that could not possibly be coming from the long slender, manicured hands of the girl that he grabbed. Could it? He felt his legs rush out from under him and saw the determined look in her eyes, just before he hit the floor. The Senior teachers were taken abruptly from their past remembrances and catapulted into this present moment by the sound of the young lady's blood curtling "kiai." They scurried across the floor and arrived at her feet...looking back and forth from her and her attacker. Amidst the comments of the class. trying enthusiastically to shout what they had seen her do, and explain how she had handled herself, one of them asked "what happened?" and the other more elder senior asked, while shaking his head, "What did you do?"

 

She gathered herself with a deep breath, and said, "I don't know...he just came up and grabbed me.

 

 

An old Okinawan man who often stopped in after closing his business on Fridays had been sitting in a chair...his usual chair, provided with four others for occasional and patient visitors. He rose up with a slight but telling smile..."Somewhere between the basics of a beginner and the many detail of a thousand formal techniques...lies the true spirit of the martial arts. What you say in brochure paper...'The honto damashi of budo,', desune? He bowed with a chuckle at the young lady and said, "Yoshi!" She was still a little stuck in the moment and just smiled, waved her hand like a little girl leaving her grandparents after a visit and said, "Thanks Oji-san! See you again soon!"

 

 

--Matt Henderson

I believe bunkai and oyo are absolutely necessary after a sound form and structure has been built and kihon are strong and solid...reflexive. And for me pieces of bunkai are very good for helping learn or teach a kata.

 

 But I think the first and foremost necessity after a strong foundation has been laid, is the repetition of kata done properly and with precision and power. I know that it is useful to know the bunkai and oyo and levels of response, etc...I know. Yes.

 

But the quality of Karate is also expressed in the automatic responses that can spring forth through forging a mind-body connection...Neuro-pathways that are first awkward, then do-able with thought, followed by becoming "second nature" and then evolving after years of correct keiko as your "true nature," Mirakian sensei is just one among many who spoke to me about the kata teaching your physiology a reaction pattern or better as time goes on a properly intuited action by simply doing them with spirit and intent.

Sumimasen, mina-san. Ojama shimashite, M.