|
What is it like to test for a belt in Japan as a Westerner? Or to live with a
Master? This article will try to provide brief insights by reflecting on my time
Japan between 1995 and 2002. I will also reflect on short-term visits to Japan
made by my Californian students to test for a Dan ranks. I was fortunate enough
to have spent part of my time in and around Japan as an “uchi-deshi” – a live in
student of a master. On arriving in Japan my comparisons of East vs. West
martial arts came from a somewhat experienced viewpoint since I had already been
training in Japanese martial arts for more than 10 years, competed at an
international level, and had my own dojo operating in California.
Karate in Japan takes all sorts of forms: some are sport oriented, and some
are very traditional, some are very hard, while others very soft. By comparison
to the West (with the USA and Australia being 2 other places I have had
significant karate exposure) karate intensity is often similar, however, the
style in which it is taught is more varied both from a traditional/philosophical
viewpoint and technical approach. In particular I have found that the emphasis
on sport Karate in Australia is very high, leaving the art, and the practical
application to the side (I have recently opened two dojo(s) in Australia). I
don’t feel sport karate is bad, but to simply state that it is a different path
compared to the art of karate. Given Australia’s recent performance of fourth in
the Olympics, even given a very small population, one could expect such a
sporting oriented nation to predominantly follow a sporting oriented approach to
karate (not to say all Australian Karate is sport as there are obviously also a
proportion of traditional dojo). From my involvement in the US karate scene I
feel that, compared to Australia, it has a larger proportion of dojo(s)
continuing to pursue traditional Japanese karate. As an example of this measure
I often look at the content of Ippon Kumite, Kata Bunkai and Ippon Shobu (a
single point sparring match) practiced in a dojo. In Japan these things are not
only seen as a regular part of classes, but appear as the primary content
(especially Ippon Kumite). Approaches such as Ippon Kumite and Ippon Shobu for
matches (instead of six or eight point matches) reinforce the precept behind
Japanese Karate of “one hit one kill” (Ikken Isatsu in Japanese). The underlying
theme of these one point bouts is the concept that in the kumite bout, like in
life, you only get one chance. I once asked the Master I lived with in Japan (Uetake
Sensei) with why he considered Kobudo (weaponry) an important extension of his
Karate as it dilutes the time one can spend mastering the Way of empty handed
fighting. He replied that it reinforced his mindset that one hit is one kill. So
if traveling to Japan expect Ippon Kumite to often be large part of each night’s
training with the key point being mind state re-enforcement.
Fudoshin (immovable mind), is a “Zen” principle related to the above point of
absolute technique, and I would like to give an example of another way in which
it is reinforced in Japanese training. Most of my training was in Japan was at a
honbu dojo where, on a given night, there would be two 8th dans, three 7th dans,
and just a few other instructors in rank range of sandan through godan. In these
sessions there was a surprising element to the content we practiced given the
ranks in the room – it was almost entirely kihon and Ippon kumite, with kihon
being 50% of training. After a few years of banging out full power basic
technique with a group of masters you realize that the perfection of physical
technique is not the only reason for the high repetition: the point was the
continual reinforcement of the mindset that each technique, if a block, will
break their opponents arm, and if a strike will kill the opponent – not the
physical strength of the technique. One often hears this in Western dojo(s) but
it is not implemented to same degree, nor is “Fudoshin” the true focus of high
repetition based training (it is quite likely that most Western students would
leave through “boredom” because of a lack physical technique variety in
training). The very fact that when these most advanced ranks (karate-ka who have
training for 50 years) got together and chose to work single count basic drills
rather than advanced forms, or technique, says something very important. (continued
on page 2)
|
|
About the author: Dr. Jason Armstrong, 5th Dan Sensei Jason Armstrong has a
5th degree black and has been training for more than 20 years. His training
began in Australia, and then moved to the USA in 1991. In 1995 he began regular
travel to Japan and spent time living in Japan for karate. While in Japan he
worked in the corporate environment and ultimately became the CEO of a company
in Tokyo. He holds a Ph.D. in human physiology. Today he has founded Applied Zen
which operates in the USA, and, Australia passing on Japanese karate through
dojos, and through a video e-learning site (www.DownloadKarate.com).
Additionally, his organization (www.AppliedZen.com) provides corporate seminars
on the integration of the “Art of War”, and Zen into corporate team development,
and business.
Picture: Sotokawa Sensei and Jason Armstrong in 1997. Sotokawa sensei is a 8th Dan
in Shito-Ryu and received his 3rd Dan accreditation under Mabuni sensei the
founder of Shito-ryu.
|
