Someone once commented that I'm sporadic with log entries on this Sensei's Blog page, having posted five times in June and July and only two other 2016 posts in February. I am usually not one to chit-chat; I speak/write when something needs to be said. It reminds me of the old joke where the man puts food in his dog's bowl. The dog takes a few bites, spits it out and says, "This dinner is terrible." The man is stunned and says, "Wow! My dog can talk! But how come you never said anything before this?" The dog replied, "Well, up 'til now the food's been pretty good."
I used to run an evening Karate program on Mondays and Wednesdays, the same nights my sensei held classes. He would ask me to open the dojo for him, and would arrive in time to gi up and start the class. There would be about 20-25 minutes before I’d have to leave for my program; not enough time to take part of his class and then bow off, disrupting things.
I would sit on the bench and observe his class in progress. This turned out to be invaluable to my instructing ability. I got a chance to watch how different level students work their basics, and more importantly, what kind of difficulties were caused by pivoting wrong, looking late, leaning the wrong way, not using hips effectively, etc. I developed the ability to not only see when a student has a problem with a move, but could usually tell what was causing the problem. Of course the opposite was true, too; I could see cause and effect of students who did their techniques particularly well.
I strongly suggest, if at all possible, for a sensei to periodically turn their class over to a senior student and observe their class. The sensei will probably see many details that would normally escape them while leading class, trying to keep an eye on everyone, give individualized corrections, keep the class on agenda, watch the clock, all at the same time. If a student is injured or not feeling well I suggest they come in and observe class, too. While not as good as taking class, the student still gets lots of benefits from watching, while keeping the routine of showing up to class and learning something.
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Friday, July 15, 2016
Kihon – Kata – Kumite
The three-pronged approach to improving your Karate is: Kihon, Kata, and Kumite.
Kihon (basics) is the most important to develop first. Proper technique and stance is essential to all areas of Karate. Kata (form) is performing your basics in a particular sequence. Kumite (sparring) is applying your basics on another person. Develop proper kihon so you can concentrate on the form or your opponent without having to think about performing the basic correctly.
Kata (form) is often taught as a ‘dance’, without thought to practical application. An essential, and often overlooked, part of kata is bunkai (analysis; dissection; examining how the technique works). To be fair, many schools do teach bunkai, however, a personal peeve of mine is when they work bunkai incorrectly. Often, the martial artist will do an entire section of kata, then their bunkai shows how one move works, with follow-up techniques and takedowns that are not part of the kata. Did they demonstrate bunkai, or did they show how the kata alone is insufficient? Our students are taught bunkai for every move of their kata, with senior students usually knowing multiple meanings for each move.
Kumite is often used for sport. This is fine; sparring teaches the student combinations, strategy, being aware and reacting to your opponent’s moves, working safely with good control, etc. I teach our students to carefully observe the rules when sparring. In the dojo, you want to follow the rules for the safety of you and your fellow classmate. In tournament, you follow the rules for the same safety reasons and so you won’t get penalized. In the street, you want to know which moves are frowned upon in the dojo and tournament so you’re sure to use them on your opponent while protecting yourself.
Our classes always begin with kihon, often practicing basics in the form of 4-count and 5-count ten-no-kata. Beginners must develop good basics and learn new katas. Advanced students work on keeping their basics sharp and remembering the numerous katas they were taught.
Kihon (basics) is the most important to develop first. Proper technique and stance is essential to all areas of Karate. Kata (form) is performing your basics in a particular sequence. Kumite (sparring) is applying your basics on another person. Develop proper kihon so you can concentrate on the form or your opponent without having to think about performing the basic correctly.
Kata (form) is often taught as a ‘dance’, without thought to practical application. An essential, and often overlooked, part of kata is bunkai (analysis; dissection; examining how the technique works). To be fair, many schools do teach bunkai, however, a personal peeve of mine is when they work bunkai incorrectly. Often, the martial artist will do an entire section of kata, then their bunkai shows how one move works, with follow-up techniques and takedowns that are not part of the kata. Did they demonstrate bunkai, or did they show how the kata alone is insufficient? Our students are taught bunkai for every move of their kata, with senior students usually knowing multiple meanings for each move.
Kumite is often used for sport. This is fine; sparring teaches the student combinations, strategy, being aware and reacting to your opponent’s moves, working safely with good control, etc. I teach our students to carefully observe the rules when sparring. In the dojo, you want to follow the rules for the safety of you and your fellow classmate. In tournament, you follow the rules for the same safety reasons and so you won’t get penalized. In the street, you want to know which moves are frowned upon in the dojo and tournament so you’re sure to use them on your opponent while protecting yourself.
Our classes always begin with kihon, often practicing basics in the form of 4-count and 5-count ten-no-kata. Beginners must develop good basics and learn new katas. Advanced students work on keeping their basics sharp and remembering the numerous katas they were taught.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Reflections of a Sensei
This incident occurred many years ago. I was reminded of it recently in an email exchange with Shihan 'Grandfather' Wayne Wickizer. It's worth retelling here:
We’re fortunate to have mirrors lining almost an entire wall of our dojo. This is invaluable for students to see exactly what they’re doing. I like to keep students on their toes, so will often make unusual analogies to get a point across. History has shown that the more bizarre the analogy, the more likely the student will remember it. Students have recounted things I’ve told them years ago almost word for word. I was reminded of the time I stood a young student in front of the mirror to repeatedly work a kick. I said, “Do you know what this is called?” He of course said, “A mirror.” I told him, “No, it’s called Sensei.” The student was completely confused, so I said, “A sensei can’t do the kick for you; he can watch what you’re doing and give you feedback. The mirror works the same way; it reflects what you’re doing so you can see your progress and what still needs work.” The student smirked, then worked diligently with the mirror. At the end of the workout, the student said to the mirror, “Arigato gozai mashita, Sensei” and bowed. He then said to me, “Hey, just like a real sensei when I bowed to the mirror, the image bowed back to me!” I love it.
We’re fortunate to have mirrors lining almost an entire wall of our dojo. This is invaluable for students to see exactly what they’re doing. I like to keep students on their toes, so will often make unusual analogies to get a point across. History has shown that the more bizarre the analogy, the more likely the student will remember it. Students have recounted things I’ve told them years ago almost word for word. I was reminded of the time I stood a young student in front of the mirror to repeatedly work a kick. I said, “Do you know what this is called?” He of course said, “A mirror.” I told him, “No, it’s called Sensei.” The student was completely confused, so I said, “A sensei can’t do the kick for you; he can watch what you’re doing and give you feedback. The mirror works the same way; it reflects what you’re doing so you can see your progress and what still needs work.” The student smirked, then worked diligently with the mirror. At the end of the workout, the student said to the mirror, “Arigato gozai mashita, Sensei” and bowed. He then said to me, “Hey, just like a real sensei when I bowed to the mirror, the image bowed back to me!” I love it.
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