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| The Author, David Gomez |
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| Dalke Sensei |
After studying Shotokan Karate for the last 24 years and teaching karate for the last 15 years (which in the Shotokan world is not very long), I've seen a wide cross section of people who have taken an interest in karate. Some as young as 4 years old and others well into their late 50's or early 60's. Boys, girls, men and women, we live in an era where karate presently attracts everyone. Gone are the early days where, at least in the western hemisphere (specifically the United States), only young men were interested in the “deadly” art of karate.
In the last 40 plus years, what happened in the mind of the masses, specifically in women, that changed the perception that the “deadly” art of karate was not only for men? Why is karate presently appealing to a larger populous when at one time it did not? Why is the image of karate, in the western hemisphere, so very different today than during the pioneer days of karate? Does this new image present karate as nothing more than a sport? Is it art? Is it martial? Is it a martial art? More importantly, is karate really for everybody?
I want to first address women. Is karate really for women? During the 1970's when I trained with Butta Sensei, the dojo was a male dominated environment. During that time I can only recall training with two women. The dojo was lined with men, but women were very scarce. I remember thinking that these women must be, in some way, less feminine. I admit my thinking was extremely narrow and naive, but I'd venture to say, at least during that time, all the men in our dojo felt this way. The unspoken rule was `no children, no women.' How wrong we (I) were (was)!
In the dojo, we treated the women just like the men. We made no exceptions for them when it came to training, kata practice or sparring! As these women became better skilled, and other women joined the ranks, we, the men, learned how narrow and naive our thinking had been. Some of the women moved on to achieve greatness and have become leaders in today's karate community.
I mention my (our) misplaced perception of women in the dojo only to say this . . . we saw karate as a means of studying the moment between defending ourselves or giving up. A training experience for a time you hope never comes, fight or die. This was the mind-set we had in those days, if you can't run, train to fight so you don't die. How silly to think this mind set was only for men, it's for everyone! In Butta Sensei's dojo, karate was about the here and now, life and death. It didn't matter if you were a man or a women, the training was the same.
However, since that time, sports science has taught us better ways to eat and train for optimum mental and physical performance. And yes, for those of you who haven't noticed, there are differences between men and women that need to be addressed from a stand point of body dynamics related to training. These facts, coupled with the increase of highly skilled women in karate, has given both sexes an even participation factor in the world of karate. If in fact scientific improvements don't redirect the dojo's intent, namely training to deal with the here and now, life and death, then these additions to instruction among the sexes are invaluable.
Unfortunately, to some extent, these great gains have also had a negative effect to the karate world at large. More and more clubs have watered down the training because of the increase of women at the dojo. How wrong this is. I agree that modern science should be incorporated into the proven methods that have worked in the dojo for years, but not at the cost of presenting a less than maximum result in training. The here and now, life and death, plays no favorites.
So, is karate really for women, of course it is. But not at the expense of some of the watered down training regiments we presently see in some clubs and organizations. A false sense of security is no security at all.
I can't rent or go to a movie, watch one of the newer television cartoons, without seeing some type of martial art influencing the story line (and I won't even attempt reviewing the popularity of martial arts in video or computer games). Inevitably, the hero or villain are karate experts that have some type of mystical powers, can scale walls or avoid bullets by jumping at trampoline heights (I don't know anyone that has mystical powers, can avoid bullets or scale a wall like a spider due to a study in any martial art). But, with all that said, the influence of various visual media to the general populous has, without a doubt, presented karate as an appealing activity to engage in.
It doesn't take a government granted study to see how much exposure, albeit presented in such a misinformed fashion, karate in movies, television, cartoons and games, has on the general populous today (even on a global level). All these things considered, it's easy to see why, presently, there is such a great interest and appeal in karate to people of all ages. Was it always this way? . . . no!
The images of karate in the pre-movie, pre-television and pre-video game era did not, and probably still won't, generally speaking, appeal to the masses. I remember Dalke Sensei once telling me,
“David, after an evening of sparring, occasionally there would be blood on my gi. I couldn't begin to tell you who it belong to. We all had spots of blood on our gi's with cuts and bruises on our bodies by the end of the night”.
Another recollection passed down to me from Butta Sensei also paints a less than appealing picture,
“David, before I started karate, I had already studied Judo for quite some time. In those days we just paired up and had a go at trying to throw or restrain each other. There was a lot less instruction and a lot more of the “learn as you go” principle practiced on the Judo mat. Yeah, they (his Judo instructors) taught us how to fall and they showed us a few basic take downs, but for the most part, we learned by taking a chance at dumping, rather than getting slam dunked, by someone more senior.
One night I squared off with the clubs senior student. Before I could grab his lapel, he reversed punched me. I doubled over, then he used his Judo to slam dunk me to the floor. There was a lot more liberty to try new things on the mat in those days. No one in the club had ever seen a punch done this way. Most of us didn't even know what karate actually was. We'd never 'really' seen it.
After the training session I found out that this thing called “karate” was being taught “unofficially” at the university by a man named O'hara (a student of Funakoshi but not the same O'hara from the Shotokai and he was never sent abroad as an instructor). I decided I didn't want to get hit by a punch again, and if karate worked for my senior, it would work for me. I have studied karate since that day.”
So yes, karate (and judo) was different “back in the day”. But I don't want to be misunderstood. The question of image is being addressed, not quality of study. I do, however, think we do karate better, faster, smarter and with greater results in less time now than “back then”. But that's a subject I'll leave for another time.
Would most let little Joey or Mable join the karate clubs of yesteryear? Some would, but for the most part, no, they wouldn't. So, in reference to the subject matter at hand, is karate really for everybody, and in this case children - is this type of training environment appropriate for children? Again, I say no.
The high contact factor (which in some cases drew blood during training), and yes I am talking about traditional JKA style karate clubs of the early western hemisphere days, did not appeal to most men, women, or children. There was a fraction of the population that enjoyed contact sparring, but just a fraction. In an effort to get more interest in karate, the 'non-contact' dojo came into being. As a result of all this, the outgrowth of the 'non-contact' dojo developed what I believe, to this day, generates mixed emotions due, in part, at the attempt to make karate safe for everyone . . . sport karate.
What is a sport? According to Webster's New World Dictionary, sport means:
Sport: a game, competition, requiring bodily exertion (sorry anglers, fishing doesn't sound like much of a sport - and golfing is also on my endangered list - this emphasis added by me, David Gomez, not Webster's), fun, play, a thing joked about. {Colloq. - sporting chance: a fair or even chance}
Children are great resources when it comes to making fun, a game or sport out of any activity. This being the case, I asked the 7-12 years old at the Georgia Karate Academy, “Is getting hit in the nose fun?” They said no. “How about getting kicked between the legs, getting a black eye, having a finger, wrist or knee broken?” They said no. If I were to ask adults these same questions I believe the answer to each of these questions would still be no!
Karate, before the introduction of competition, was thought to be deadly if truly used. The idea of making sport out of something designed to be terminating was a foreign concept to karate prior to the early to mid 1940's. The rules for competition were designed to make karate safe. Karate was never intended to be used as a game or as an opportunity to give an opponent a sporting, fair or even chance. On the contrary, the objective was for defending life and limb by looking for an opening or weakness and capitalizing on it by terminating your adversary. It's this type of karate which gave credence to the saying 'one blow one kill' - this is what I consider an “ippon”.
Presently, in the world of competition karate, it seems that competitors are more concerned with catching/getting a point instead of delivering an ippon. While the word ippon does translate into English as “one point”, sadly, the term ippon in competition has become synonymous with meaning only “one point” instead of the deeper intent, one blow one kill.
For the most part, the type of techniques employed in competition today would probably not prove effective under the pressure of real combat. The human body is a remarkable entity. It can absorb and endure under the punishment of a severe beating. A boxing match that goes 10 rounds proves that (by the way, boxers don't train to terminate the opponent, just knock them out - karateka should be training for a terminating “ippon”- very different than boxing).
A well placed technique (an ippon) should drop an opponent permanently. Does this sound like sport? I don't think so, however . . . competition karate, sport karate, does have a place in the world of sporting events. We can make 'sport' of karate, but there is nothing actually 'sporting' about real karate (self defense).
Over the years I've seen a watering down of what the principle of “ippon” means in a karate competition. It use to be that opponents almost always starred at each other for what seemed like an eternity (but was only really for a few seconds), and with the twitch of a muscle, both competitors were lancing at each other with all they had in one technique. It was taking the delivery of a karate technique to the edge of reality without actually terminating an opponent. This mode of competition seems to foster the principle of “ippon” in a much purer way. I will agree these engagements were not as smooth and pretty to watch as some of the sports karate competitions of today. But if you got hit with a kick or punch, you got hit with tremendous impact yet with control. This seems much more true to the concept of “ippon”.
With all this said, we can make “sport” of karate and indeed karate does have a sporty new image. But in it's purest form, karate is not a sport at all.
Creativity, skill or its application, any craft or its principles, sometimes having form or beauty, in a specialize branch of learning, can be classified/defined as art (as Webster's dictionary will attest to). It's simple to understand these ideals, this definition of art, when we speak of painting or sculpture. But is karate art? Let's put karate to the test.
Way back in time (how far back no one can say with any certainty but I'd venture to say since the beginning of time) it became apparent that bad things (can) happen to good people. This truth gave birth to self defense in a variety of methods (lumped together we now call this variety 'martial arts'). The martial arts were (and are) a practical and creative solution to unarmed and armed self defense. At some point someone had to figure out how to creatively set up a method of transferring this self defense information. It seems that this specialized branch of learning, the martial arts (and more specifically in a modern sense, traditional karate), required principles, skills, craft and application to move forward.
While skill level from person to person always varies and beauty is always in the eye of the beholder (some famous painting look like children's finger painting to me and I've seen kata by karate 'masters' that look no better than some of my beginning students), it seems that karate fits the definition and classification as an art. It is a creative, skill based specialized craft with specific principles of body dynamics that has form and application. By definition, karate is a form of art. But can an art be martial in nature?
By definition, martial is: “of or related to war, warlike”. If our goal is not competition, or catching/getting a point, then the premise remains, karate is first and foremost for self preservation and has a martial nature. Some of the secondary benefits may include aerobic and/or anaerobic work for the heart, stress relief, muscle toning, muscle limbering and overall well being from a steady training regimen (exercise). However, what sets it apart from other forms of exercise, or sports, is that karate has a martial intent.
Football and boxing are activities with lots of intense contact. Anyone can be severely injured if they're not properly conditioned to sustain the impact related with these activities. Yet at no time is the intent in these activities to deliver a terminating blow.
The warlike (martial) intent, karate stresses is unique. We train to battle as if every fight could be the difference between life and death. Much like the armed forces of the United States, we train in times of peace for future periods of war (which we hopes never comes).
So yes, karate as defined thus far is very martial.
This topic, by far, is the simplest to bridge. Why say in many words what can be said in just a few. It seems that this specialized branch of learning, traditional karate, requires working principles, skills, craft and application. This branch of learning also has a martial intent. By definition, karate is a martial art and a karateka is an artist, a martial artist.
In my youth it became quickly apparent that I had an affinity for fine art, life drawing to be exact. I saw the world in terms of shapes, colors, patterns, and grayscale tones. I always found myself framing all types of subject matter in my head to draw. I'd attempt to put it all down on paper with a conté crayon (a conté crayon is kind of a cross between a pencil and a crayon) or a soft lead number 4 or 6 pencil. Most children enjoy art as recreation, but for me it was serious business.
I pursued studies in arts through university level. As a student of the fine arts, I learned that anyone could learn a drawing technique, such as defining shades of gray to define the 'plains' (the surface area of any given object) instead of using a line to define where one surface ended and another started. This technique is simple and anyone can learn how to do it. But just doing it compared to doing it well are two different things altogether. I would say this difference separates art enthusiast from those who have the potential of making beautiful pieces of art or making a profession out of their art skill.
What does any of this have to do with 'is karate really for everybody?' Let me tie it together . . . anyone can learn how to deliver a correct karate technique (punch, block or kick). Not everyone has the natural ability to do it well. More so, not everyone has the general make up that allows for a martial mind set.
While in the United States Army, I saw a number of trainees who didn't make it past the first week in basic training. The shortcoming of each of these trainees had nothing to do with physical inability's. The pressure of a martial environment was more than they could mentally handle. To place a person with this inability in a life or death situation would be much more than they could handle. It would also endanger anyone they might be with and possibly jeopardize the outcome of a military mission. This trainee, for whatever reason, cannot be martial, warlike. I have also seen this mental inability in the dojo setting. Some people can't adjust to a martial (warlike) mind set and never get to the edge of reality when it comes to sparring. I wonder how this individual would react if his or her life were threatened in the K-Mart parking lot?
At some point, sparring must enter the training experience of a karate student. The beginning student in a traditional karate dojo is generally prevented from sparring for the most obvious reason, lack of technical skill. What new students usually fail to understand is that not only is the technical aspect of their ability preventing them from sparring, but the development of a martial intent is also missing. This is one of the reasons way the dojo has a system of conduct, etiquette, that is systematic and martial in nature.
I understand that not everyone wants to be a modern day warrior. Some people want to do karate for fun, exercise, recreation, and yes, even for sport. However, examining karate, as I have been to this point, in a pure sense, the martial intent is a necessary layer in your training if a life and death premise is to be maintained.
Is there a place for everybody in karate, yes . . . but karate is not for everybody. Some will train for sport, others for exercise and health, but for those who train for the sake of life and limb, no, karate is definitely not for everybody.
David Gomez (Email: gka.ajka@i.am)
Georgia Karate Academy/American JKA Karate Association
(http://www.gka.ajka.i.am)
P.O. Box 1545
Watkinsville, GA 30677
706.769.3730
Perfect Form, Inc. (Email: artdept@essential-shotokan.com)
(http://www.essential-shotokan.com)
P.O. Box 997
Watkinsville, GA 30677
706.769.4670
866.769.4670
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