The practice of Karate-Do is pretty much limited to one appropriate time and place – at the Dojo. I’ve always joked that if you ever performed kihon on a busy street, people would probably stare and then make a big detour around you, haha. Personally, I rarely ever show my techniques, though I’m known to unconsciously move my free hand in and out of a tate-shuto-uke while on the phone or my hips may sometimes start rotating or tilting while I’m standing and waiting somewhere. This is a bad habit, like your uncle or grandpa, practicing with an imaginary putter and golf ball while in the living room. I do try to control this, as we all know that the practice of the art has its appropriate time and place. Over the years, however, I can recall four times where I witnessed someone performing karate movements (Shotokan, no less) in the most unexpected places.
The first time was shortly after I joined the KAH some 45 years ago. Early one morning, I was taking the long walk to class from the UH Quarry parking lot. Suddenly, The corner of my eye detected some vague distant movement, which caught my attention. I saw someone about a hundred yards away, in the middle of the UH football field, performing a recognizable Heian kata, all by himself. He appeared to be in his fifties and was quietly focused upon executing his kata. What stood out to me, was the fact that he was doing the entire kata in very slow-motion, like a Tai Chi set. His movements were well-balanced and precise. Till this day, I always wonder if he was an instructor or someone I subsequently met and got to know.
The second time was also at the university, several years later, at the entrance to UH’s Sinclair Library, of all places. Yes, at this busy pedestrian walkway, there was some strange young guy, right next to where the bicycle rack was located, going through the entire warm-up regimen for karate class. Dozens of students were passing by, wondering what the heck this guy was doing in such a public place. Of course, I knew exactly what he was doing, but couldn’t figure out why, and really had no interest in finding out, haha.
The third time was at an orientation for visiting Japanese high school students at Pearl City High School. We were among the many families hosting the 400 visiting students as part of an annual goodwill and fund-raising effort for the PCHS marching band. To welcome the visitors, some of the local students performed hula. In exchange, several of the visitors performed something that the Hawaiian students wouldn’t be familiar with…karate. Sensei Trish and I glanced and smiled at each other, as we recognized them doing a fair job of Empi and Kanku-Dai. Except…they looped the two kata together, to create an extra long kata; since we locals wouldn’t know the difference anyway, haha.
Perhaps the strangest place I ever saw Karate-Do being practiced was while arriving in a rubber raft, onto the very isolated beach at Kalalau Beach on the island of Kauai. This is one of the most beautiful places in the world – try Googling Kalalau Beach Pics, and you’ll get an idea of what a wonderful place it is. The King Kong movie from 1976 was also filmed there. One can only camp there by permit (was limited to 50 persons at any time) and my friends and I used to catch a rubber pontoon into there, camp for a few days and then take the 13 mile hike out. On that morning, as we approached the beach from the sea, I could make out long figure, standing on the shore, facing the ocean. Slowly, he raised his outstretched arms and open hands, touching at the index fingers and thumbs, in the unmistakable opening movement of Kanku-Dai! We then got very busy with gathering our backpacks and doing the tricky business of disembarking. By the time I looked again, he was gone. I wondered who this Kalalau Kanku-Dai man was, and what he was doing there. Later, we actually witnessed a small wedding on the beach. Needless to say, it was an interesting trip.
A few years later, I was invited to a wedding reception at the old Masa’s Cafe in Mapunapuna, celebrating the marriage of a friend, Sensei Joel Chinen. Seated next to me at the reception table was a geophysicist and his wife, and we engaged in a nice chat. I vaguely remembered him as a brown belt from the Mililani Dojo some years earlier and I enjoyed the conversation, especially as I always had some interest in geology and physics. While talking story, he casually mentioned that for his wedding, he and his wife had actually exchanged their vows on the beach at…Kalalau. Half jokingly, I asked, “Hey, you didn’t happen to perform Kanku-Dai on the beach while you were there, did you?” He stared at me, hesitated, and then confirmed that one morning, he had indeed done so. It was such a beautiful morning for the groom-to-be, that he was moved to welcome the day and his new phase in life by doing his favorite kata at his favorite place in the world….and he couldn’t figure out how I knew about that private moment in one of the most isolated places in the world. I told him, and we shared a good laugh. I had finally solved the mystery of the Kalalau Kanku-Dai man!
So I guess the lesson is, wherever and whenever you perform your karate movement, always do so, to the best of your abilities – you never know who is witnessing it (try to avoid doing it in front of a busy library 🙂