The individuality of each student

 

By Kenei Mabuni

 

By mabuni kenei
(translation of the introduction of the last book of mabuni kenei,

empty hand - the essence of budō karate)

 

For my father it was very important to respect and develop the individuality of every student when he taught karate. The essence of karate training is the kata. The long kata contain about 70 techniques of attack and defense, and the shorts about 20. Each of these individual movements must be executed accurately.

Depends on the student's goals there are different ways to acquire the kata. They can be used to improve health. Studied Analytically by applying their analysis (Bunkai) become an arsenal to be equipped in a real fight. Regardless of how karate is practiced, the kata contain all the necessary techniques and ideas. My Father used to say "Karate starts and ends with the kata".

However, there are many subtlest of karate shitō. One could ask if those who founded the different subtlest learned kata from the same master. But Kata is something individual. This probably depends on the fact that these teachers learned kata from my father in different stages of his life, and another reason is that education was focused on the individuality of his students.

In the past, watching the execution of a kata could be said at first sight that master had guided practice. In recent years books and videos are increasingly used to teach karate. This is why the kata has become uniform in all details and has lost individuality. Even in the great kata competitions, executions show excellent results of training, but not individuality; the kata always seems the same.

Two or three years ago a young man joined my dojo. I had already practiced karate shitō with another teacher for a while. But when he came to my dress a white belt to show me his predisposition to learn. After a few months he said to me " Master, you have corrected the exercises in every lesson just once. However, I feel that I have progressed in these few hours more than I had done in 10 years ". well, maybe it was true. In any case, it's true that I think a lot about the best ways to teach karate.

 

Me - What it was felt like facing the green belts when I was a beginner.