For many people, the status of their martial art is something of great importance. For others, it’s not important at all. Is your art sport, or does it have a deeper meaning for you?
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Having success in an arena or being able to break boards, ice, bricks etc., or to fight in a controlled environment, which ALL competition is…… that’s NOT reality.
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Sparring in a dojo with your hands held in a high guard, at a safe distance between you and your opponent, covered from head to toe in protective equipment…. even if you fight full-contact….. is NOT reality.
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A determined violent attacker won’t strike in a one-on-one, karate-vs-karate approach. Instead, the distance you are accustomed to will vanish instantly and you will find yourself in unfamiliar territory. Then what?
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When you are sparring or fighting in the dojo, you face each other from outside a striking range, possibly ‘bow’, take up a fighting stance, then start inching towards each other until you are ready to exchange punches and kicks.
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What most of these practitioners seem to disregard, and do not train for, is a guy being right in your face….. You can feel his breath, shouting, swearing, spitting, grabbing, biting, head-butting, or rapidly stabbing or slashing with a knife. This is the reality of a real-life confrontation. A brutal attack.
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The majority of karate that we see today contains a high degree of competition elements. The kata, which I believe is the central component of karate, has a lower priority, has become a performance art, and is less about combative training, and more about a way to pass the next grade. Many karate practitioners ignore the combative applications that the kata contain.
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When these practitioners choose not to study kata in any depth, they often do so in the name of ‘realism’. But what they fail to realize, is that by abandoning kata, they have effectively abandoned the very syllabus of the original fighting system. Without kata, all that remains of karate is a ‘shell’ of the original art (punching and kicking).
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Kata is not an alternative or substitute for two-man training; it is the syllabus that tells us what to do, in that two-man training.
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Instructors, who wish to teach karate as an effective physical response to the problem of civilian violence, should always teach the meaning of kata. Not just give it lip service, or give the odd ineffective example. After-all, the two-man drills (applications) within the kata, actually came first, the solo representation second as a mnemonic reminder.
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Kata has great value when correctly approached. And if approached in the way it was originally created, then karate is functional, holistic, and a pragmatic martial system.
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This is why you need to ensure you are training with the correct mindset. The goal determines the strategy, determines the tactics, determines the selection of techniques and principles. Is it sport, dojo sparring, competition, self-defense? It’s all okay.….. But you MUST understand the difference. (I seem to be repeating myself)
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 Picture Credit: John Johnson. With thanks to Iain Abernethy.
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