at Amazon.com
|
|
| Schmeisser Sensei |
|
|
|
Buy this book at Amazon.com |
Groenewold, Mark. Karate, The Japanese Way. Usagi Press, Ishikawa, Japan. ISBN 155369845-2
Mark Groenewold has produced a volume that a karate veteran might wish they had when they were just beginning their trip into this martial art. Many a beginner has wondered while standing in stance during class: What was the instructor telling those lordly folk with colored or even (gasp) black belts around their uniforms? What was the content of this one-on-one verbal instruction? Well, here is a work with many of these “kuden” (verbal secrets) revealed. There are a slew of books written that catalog all the varieties of physical technique in karate. The fault with most of these is that while they are extensive, covering almost everything that a karate trainee can be expected to do up to their attainment of the coveted black belt status, they leave out much of the essential detail that underlies and makes possible the actual execution of these techniques. Of course, in many cases, it will take hands-on instruction to actually show the body what is required of it. But it does help if one has some idea ahead of time of what these adjustments entail. That this book provides.
One might complain that the book does not cover anywhere near the number of technical details in the depth that it could, nor explore the complete span of karate. However, it does not claim to. Rather, this book covers what the first year student really needs to know: the hints on how to perform the basic techniques correctly, the basic what and wherefore of kata performance, and how to handle the initial introduction to sparring practice and rank test taking. The book is written from a deeply individual point of view, interleaving didactic statements with personal experience and anecdotes from the author's own journey through these times. Uniquely, it provides a comprehensible Japanese perspective on karate as a way of training, which differs, occasionally quite profoundly, from the Western, often competition results oriented way. Another of the more obvious differences is that the current Western interest in kata analysis, i.e. discovering self-defense scenarios and defensive or counter-attack methods encoded within kata movements and patterns, is completely ignored. Kata, to the Japanese and as portrayed in this book, are simply weird fundamentals in funny patterns, and are to be practiced as such. With this myopic emphasis on fundamentals, it is doubtful whether there can be any information flow back to Japan to illuminate their practice of kata. Even though beginners may not need to practice such things, at the very least they should know that it exists so as to gain perspective of the why of kata, as well as the how and what.
If the book does have a deeper shortcoming, it is that information available to the author, who lives in Japan, and which forms much of the content of after-training questioning in the West, is not covered to the extent it could be. A stellar example of where it succeeds is in the section on the “dojo kun” in which the original Japanese statements are dissected in their social context and explained. Sadly, this discussion highlights some of the failings in the Western translations and cult-like usages of the mottos, but to this reviewer, that is all to the good. It is high time that those who know better correct some of the pathological exaggerations of pseudo-Japanese mythology that have been passed on as fact outside of Japan. Where the book falls short is in an equivalent explanation of why the techniques have the names they do. Why is “kokutsu dachi” called “ko” (small, or lesser) but is translated as back stance, while “zenkutsu dachi” uses “zen” (correct, or forthright), but is translated long stance by the author and front stance elsewhere in the world? What the heck is a “kutsu” anyway? What are the philosophical underpinnings of “ukeru” (to receive, baldly translated as block as in “age-uke”)? Why can “uchi-uke” be translated inside block, but also striking reception and what are the implications of this in kata application? What is more disappointing is that these things are among the author's personal interest as well as this reviewer's and it would have been an excellent expansion of the content of this book, without stressing its page count or losing the focus of the exposition.
Finally, the author strays into a potentially dangerous area: religion. In today's social climate, there are the contradictory drives of on one hand being expected to “respect” any and all religious statements and positions, no matter how outrageous, discourteous or improbable, and on the other hand, distrusting any individual who claims an infallible truth that governs all others but (as demonstrated across all of recorded history as well as all too recently) leads only to death and destruction. Karate's Japanese courtesies, and in specific the kneeling bow and the formalization of the front of the dojo as a “high place,” have lead to conflicts between non-Oriental religious convictions and historically correct, if perhaps quaint, behaviors. That the author addresses it speaks of his courage; that it even needs to be addressed speaks only of the smallness of some human minds.
In summary, I recommend this book as a useful companion for the beginning student in karate. It fills in much of the human context and personal touch that is missing from most, if not all, other karate books aimed at this level of student. Even the karate students with some years of training can profit, in that their own experiences can be validated and placed in a larger context. Instructors as well can enjoy the book, and take the hints provided to enrich their own teaching style. I look forward to a philosophically deeper volume 2, aimed at the intermediate student, in the near future.
Elmar T. Schmeisser, Ph.D., Renshi-Rokudan (ISOK), Shotokan Karate-Do.
This review is Copyright ©2003 by its author.
This page is Copyright ©2003 Mark Groenewold
| Site Home | Book Reviews Home |