When it was announced that Toyotaro
Miyazaki would permanently move back to Japan, we arranged to spend as much
time with him as possible. Most students
treat him with reverence; we seniors who know him for decades recognize his
dark sense of humor. For example: during
frequent after-class conversations on bunkai he’s been known to say that kata
moves may not have practical applications.
He has said that some katas may have even been designed incorrectly. Is he serious, or is he forcing you to think
and analyze for yourself? The only way
to tell is if he has a faint smile and slight twinkle in his eye. Those who aren’t aware to look for these
signs are stunned to hear negative talk about kata coming from one of the top
kata grand champions in four decades!
New students are taught the proper
way to turn around in stance (mawatte): look over the rear shoulder, step
across with the rear leg, and shift the weight as you face the new
direction. This is drilled into newbies
with constant repetition. Fine, now
let’s learn the first White Belt kata, Taikyoku Shodan. From yoi, turn left, step out with the left
foot into a left front stance/left down block.
Then step forward to a right front stance/right forward punch. Now turn around and block by looking over the
forward shoulder and stepping around with the front leg… Wait a minute! New students were
just taught to turn by the rear side and now their first kata breaks the
rule! What’s going on here? Maybe this is one of those
"incorrect" katas Master Miyazaki talks about. I showed my senior students a
"corrected" way to practice Taikyoku Shodan using turns (mawatte) done with the
rear leg just as new students are taught.
All blocks are on the left side to counter an opponent’s right-side
attack.
It should be noted that old Japanese culture didn’t recognize
left-handed people; everybody used their right hand, so your opponent would
most likely use a right-side attack. The
kata now ends by stepping forward to the starting point, rather than stepping
back for yame. Problem solved.
Am I serious about
"correcting" Taikyoku Shodan?
You didn’t see the slight twinkle in my eye? Of course not. Taikyoku Shodan is fine as is. Mawatte by turning the rear side is practiced
daily in kihon (basics). Taikyoku Shodan
practices ¼ turns, ½ turns, and ¾ turns; it lets you practice left and right
blocks and counterpunches from either side.
Kihon and kata together teach the student to turn either way. New students practice kata patterns to learn
movement and simple combinations.
Strategy is taught in kata, even though new students are not ready to
understand it. We block moving forward
in Shotokan, jamming your opponent, stopping his momentum, and gaining your
forward momentum to counterattack. The
top and bottom line of Taikyoku Shodan close in on the new opponent as you turn traveling four
shoulders length in the new direction.
Another posibility: after the right punch, you grab your opponent's gi and toss him with the momentum of your 180-degree turn. These basic strategies can be explained to new students when they’re ready
for kumite (sparring). Until then, the
turn in kata develops muscle memory as the body trains to turn either way with
either side.
Kenkojuku (our root organization)
began in 1942 as Kenkokai Karate-bu, a Karate research club. Influenced by Yoshitaka (Gigo) Funakoshi and
others, research had Okano-soke’s teachings a little different from
Nakayama-sensei and the Japan Karate Association (JKA), pre-dating it by seven
years (JKA founded in 1949). My dojo
holds monthly Black Belt classes where in addition to advanced practice, we
examine different ideas and research their values. I often tell students, “First you learn your
kata, and then you learn your kata.”
Confusing? Not really. You first learn the sequence of
movements. As your Karate abilities and
knowledge develop, you can re-examine kata movements, technique, combinations, theory, and
bunkai (meaning and application). The
Facebook video link below posted December 26th hopefully provides food for
thought sparking a greater understanding of our Karate strategy and theory. Osu!
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