HIS Karate-Do

Sometimes, going to training week after week, through season’s change, from year to year, even though we faithfully come to train, we can become so comfortable in our regimen that we begin to take the practice, sharing and learning of karate-do as a pretty mundane activity. Sure, other folks might exclaim with some excitement and interest, “Oh, you practice (or teach) karate!?” To which you explain that it’s just a ministry activity you do in your spare time. Strangely enough, the students of the small classes I teach at Wheeler Air Field don’t look at their karate training from such a mundane perspective. A couple are veteran engineers, one’s a biologist and division chief, another is a fish/wildlife program manager, while one oversees broad-reaching natural resources programs. A fairly diverse group of professionals in their respective fields, ranging in age from their early thirties to mid-fifties… yet united in a fresh and continuing appreciation for the gift of karate-do in their lives. Each works long days immersed in meetings, reviewing technical diagrams/papers, overseeing budgets, contractors, and a myriad of issues. Despite their busy schedules each looks forward to those times (at most, once a week) that they can don their [...]

My dad’s due to be discharged from the Rehab Center of the Pacific in a couple of days. He’s doing pretty good, fiesty as ever at 83 and over the past 10 years, has suffered two strokes, a heart attack and most recently, a blackout and fall that left him very weak in the legs. So, he’s been through this routine before… therapy is not really a fun/recreational activity. One enters the center with a goal: to work hard at improving one’s physical strength, balance, train the brain and muscle to do things in new/efficient ways. The therapists work you hard and on a daily basis. Your main enemies are frustration or apathy; the professionals are there to help you, but most of the effort, and therefore, most of the victory, belongs to you. If a person does not demonstrate continuing improvement, his/her time in the in-demand patient slot may be ending. The therapy team of professionals must make their evaluation as to whether your time there is worthwhile or whether you’re taking up valuable time/space. The team has your best interests in mind, but you are the key to success or to a lower quality of life than you [...]

Well, it occurred to me that a couple of months ago, I said that I was going to write something about kiai, commonly known as the “karate yell”. It is a very important aspect of our training and I am remiss in not discussing it earlier, so here goes. I usually teach only a few things on the first day someone starts, these are: dojo etiquette, tsuki, age-uke, soto-ude-uke, gedan barai, zenkutsu-dachi…and kiai. I always explain that it is differentiated from regular yelling since one must learn to bypass the lips, tongue/teeth, and throat altogether to get it right. The usual sound of a good kiai, therefore, are vowel sounds: A, E, I, O or the soft U (my personal favorite is the A). Interestingly, when I started, I copied some of my sempais and used the “Toh!” or Soh!” sound. A good kiai starts with a powerful/quick contraction of the stomach muscles. This horizontal movement inward, coincides with the forceful upward move of the diafragm, which in turn, releases a short but loud and clear kiai that is projected with much vigor and strength. Again, the kiai bypasses the lips, tongue and especially the throat. Most commonly, beginners tighten [...]