HIS Karate-Do

Ok, I apologize for getting sidetracked on my last note by thoughts on bowling, of all topics, haha. Back to discussing the five aspects of kata (as seen through my eyes). So far we’ve covered sequence and posture. I’d like to speak to applications contained within, variously referred to as: bunkai, yakusoku, oyo, etc. One can perform and actually do very well in training and even in kata competition if one has truly outstanding posture (including power and speed) and knows the sequence by heart. However, without the ability to envision or understand any kind of meaning to the movements, one’s kata becomes what some would call “martial dancing”. I don’t use the term dance, to demean the activity, since professional dancers, those preserving cultural dance, etc; express much meaning in the movements they execute. I’m referring to doing movement purely as exercise, or for aesthetics, without any depth to what one is trying to portray to execute. The example I often cite is someone using a heavy pick to break ground in one’s yard or at work. Many of us have had to do some picking in the yard at some time…it can be hard, sweaty work, and requires [...]

One of the very popular pastimes I remember as a kid, growing up in the fifties was…bowling. Not sure what the trends are on the mainland, but in Hawaii, there used to be so many bowling alleys throughout Oahu. These were great gathering places for co-workers, friends, family, etc to spend several enjoyable hours together. Except for the really competitive ones, the score wasn’t so important, as having a good time spent in fellowship. Over the years, just like the once popular drive-in theaters, one by one, the bowling alleys have shut down, leaving a precious few. Boy, there was a whole regimen associated with the sport, including: bowling gloves, bowling shoes, powder, customized bowling ball and bag (unless you were willing to use a pink or orange marble alley ball) bowling rag, the neat-o automatic bowling ball cleaning machine, not to mention the usually great snack shop right there in the establishment. One of the not so great things was the opportunity to catch a lot of second-hand smoke. Hard to beat being immersed in the sights and sounds that only the bowling alley has. In Hawaii, one of the few bastions of bowling are the military installations, where [...]

When learning a kata, the first thing we have to get past is the sequence. As discussed earlier, there are different depths of learning sequence. You really know the sequence of a kata when you can do it without conscious thought. Or, I suppose, you’d really be good at it if you could do it in the opposite direction or in backwards order. The great benefit of knowing the sequence is that you can practice the kata anywhere, at any time, by yourself. The second aspect we being to work on are the proper postures for each movement. Facing the correct direction, head and back straight, strong stances, hips in the prescribed position, feet rooted to the ground, and on and on. However, when I refer to posture, it’s so much more than just trying to “look correct”, nor is it limited to just the static positions such as one sees in the instruction books. To me, proper posture is not really about looking good, but to have a total body alignment throughout the entire process…from initiating a movement, executing a speedy, efficient transition, and finishing with a powerful, full-body kime at the point of impact and completion of each [...]