Kanku; To View the Universe

‘Kanku Dai’ Kata Notes

Introduction

There has been many stories and theories attached to Kanku dai that I have heard or read over the years; some mystical and some pseudo historical. The basis for most is pretty baseless! Often a story will creep up after an idea is introduced, with good intentioned hyperbole mixed in. The story becomes truth over time or at least accepted as truth by the students and is passed down through the students to their new students or juniors. The truth about Kanku dai is that it was named after a Chinese military emissary. However, The accepted "translation" for Kanku dai is " to view the sky" and the Kenji appears to have been changed sometime before coming to Japan or slightly thereafter to reflect this new translation.

I have been given many explanations for the name of this Kata over the years as well. One was that you are becoming one with the Universe. This seems to be more of a symbolic idea than a direct translation of the name or intent of the creator to go into the mystical side of training. The other, more plausible is that it refers to the first movement of the Kata. The direct translation of Kanku is "to gaze skywards"! This seems to be a perfect explanation of what you are doing in the Katas first movement. Regardless of the name or its etymology, I put a great deal of importance on this Kata. Not only is it the definitive Shotokan Kata for me, it also holds all the treasures of Shotokan. I don’t like to call the ideas, theories and techniques "secrets", this infers that only a select few will be "told" the secrets! Rather I like to think of them as "Hidden" in the Kata and we have to search for the answers through hard training. The "hidden" ideas that one can find in this Kata are limited to personal experience to date, personal preferences and training time. Once a student reaches Shodan they should start researching and practicing a Kata to improve and further their training. Kanku dai is a perfect selection as it has a vast arsenal of lessons that can be used to improve skill and knowledge. My favorite Kata is still Kanku Dai. When I first was awarded my Shodan I asked a Sempai, Tammy Dingman (now Heibert) what Kata I should work on. At that point I had already a fair knowledge of all 15 Kata. I was hoping that she would tell me to work on Sochin, or Nijushiho or even Chinte...but instead she told me that Kanku Dai would serve me the best. To this date I don’t think I have ever been told a truer thing in my Karate training. I researched this Kata for four years hard and found that it gave me the knowledge that I would get from studying all of the other 15 Kata by just working on the one. To "gaze heavenly" or "to view the sky" is truly one of the most important Katas for an intermediate student to study in Shotokan Karate.

History of Kanku Dai In 1756 a Chinese Military official was sent to Okinawa to serve his government. As a military person he was skilled in fighting and in fact was a Chinese Gung Fu master.

The Envoy Ko-Sokon (Okinawan pronunciation) or Kwang Shang Fu, Began working in Okinawa and soon began teaching a few of the local officals his style of fighting. He did not directly create or pass on a Kata called Kusanku, but rather his student "Tode" Sukagawa created a form from his teachings and passed it on to Soken Matsurmura who in turn taught his version to Itosu Sensei his students. As a student of Itosu Sensei Gichin Funikoshi trained in this Kata and altered the original Kosukon Kata to create Kanku Dai. Itosu Sensei also created Kanku Sho and passed this on to Funakoshi as well. A second lineage exists for a similar but unique Kata called Chatan Yara no Kusanku, which was developed by Chatan Yara after he finished his training with Kosanku.

This Kata often creates some confusion with Karate-ka when they are looking at the history and practice of Kanku or Kusanku Kata. The Kata often confuses historians and I know that I was looking at it as some kind of link before I was told it had a separate lineage that was only loosely connected to Kanku/ Kusankus lineage. Kwang Shang fu was a Fukiun White crane expert and the from created from his teachings had many Crane characteristics that have been distilled out of the kata in a lot of the styles in favour of what some would say are more practical techniques. Where and when the distillation occurred is up for debate. The original Kata is the corner stone of many styles that still exist today. Shotokans version is seen as the quintessential Shotokan Kata having all the aspects of orthodox Shotokan in its movements. While it is considered an advanced Kata, due to its length and intricacy, it is a very basic Kata for the most part, avoiding flashy techniques and focusing mostly on basic body movements and techniques. It was from Kanku Dai that Itosu Sensei began creating his "youth" Katas, the Heians. By extracting basic ideas and techniques from Jion, Bassai Dai and Kanku dai, Itosu Sensei set about making Katas for school children. When one has mastered these Kata the more advance parent Katas should feel somewhat familiar and not as foreign as when one started in Karate. The Heian’s were such a masterpiece that they became the opening Kata for all new students and not just the school kids. But, Kanku dai remains the flagship of the Shotokan style of Karate. Kanku Dai was Gichin Funakoshi favourite Kata and the one he selected to perform for the first public Karate demonstration outside of Okinawa. Funakoshi did so because he felt that Kanku Dai had all the essential aspects of Shotokan in its movements. Like Bassai Dai, Many forms and variations of this Kata exist, in Kanku dai’s variations their are two branches with variations on both sides. Today there are four main branches of Kata associated with Kanku Dai; Matsumrua no Kusanku, which lead to Shotokans Kanku dai, Chatan yara no Kusanku, which produced Matsubayashi ryus version of Kusanku, Chibana no Kusanku, which was produced by Chosin Chinbana and passed on threw his shorin ryu lineage, and Kunayoshi no Kushanku, perhaps seen as an original Te form taught to Chatan Yari by Kusanku himself.

The two Kusanku branches differ greatly as the teachings both received were very different. Chatan Yari had spent time learning Gung fu in the past as he was Chinese by birth on one of his parent’s side. He spent time in China learning different styles of Kung fu and Qi Gong (Energy training) and understood the internal aspect of Kung Fu as well as the external aspects. Sakugawa had been exposed to the external aspects of Gung fu on his travels and Kwang Shang Fu spent more time teaching him the External parts of his style and gave Chatan Yari and deeper look at the internal lessons of his style. This alteration in training lessons lead to Sakugawa being taught a far more physical version of Kwangs style which only touched on the more spiritual aspects of Gung fu. Kusanku/ Kwank Shang Fu died in China in 1790 after having retired from the service of the Ming Government and leaving his post as Emissary to the Ryu Kyu islands. He made a lasting impression on Okinawan Karate, but did not make much of a influence on Kung Fu in China. Itosu Sensei used the original Kata he learned from Matsurura to generate three Kata. kusaku dai, kusanku sho and the less known Shio-Kusanku. Shio- Kusanku seems to have fallen out of practice and has not been passed on to Funakoshis Karate. Normally this indicates that the Kata had large redundant parts and was not especially favoured by Itosu Sensei in general. Kanku Dai is a bold Kata, filled with the basic and powerful fundamentals of the Shuri Katas of Karate. Basic and advanced theories of movement and combat evasion and striking and also some very advanced ideas on battlefield grappling are all demonstrated in the Kata. The more linear movements of Kanku dai and the changes to the Kata are supposedly the work of the JKA and Nakayama, but most evidence suggests that this was already in the works when the JKA started to "tweak" Kata. Also the Kata had been passed on to the JKA by Funakoshi Sensei and was not one of the Kata that was picked up after the war when the JKA trained with Mabuni Sensei, a younger Karate-ka that had trained with Funakoshis instructor as well. Some suggest that a fair amount of the changes to Kanku Dai were the work of Gigo Funakoshi, the son of Master Funakoshi. This is a good possibility; however, from what I have read Gigo was much more interested in creating new Kata or dealing with the "Shotokanization" of the Kata that his juniors picked up while training with Mabuni. That and his focus on changing the very Kihon that made up Shotokan and his short life may have limited his ability to make changes to Kanku dai.

Notes on Kanku Dai

Kanku dai is the longest Kata in the Shotokan syllabus, having 65 movements and it is also one of the most complex and demanding Kata in Shotokan. Funakoshi sensei was said to favour this Kata as it did represent his style of Karate to a tee! Kanku Dai has remained fairly unchanged since Funakoshi sensei had put this Kata into the syllabus of his new style. Stance length and some minor changes have been put into place, but the Kata itself is basically the Kata that Funakoshi sensei introduced. Over the last 15 years some minor changes, such as raising a knee for a move or not, have been played. Still, like Bassai dai and other Kata, the regional requirements and accepted dojo Waza for the Kata may be slightly different, but a student in Europe doing Kanku Dai should do a rendition that a instructor in Canada can identity as Kanku dai with ease. Kanku dai is not a kata that should be taken lightly. It has many moves and a lot of advanced theory to process. A student that selects Kanku dai is looking at years of challenge and lessons that can be learned and enjoyed.

Bassai: To DESTROY your opponent!

'Bassai Dai' Kata Notes

Introduction to Bassai Dai

Bassai Dai literally means "to extract and block off" but this is taken to mean "to storm (penetrate) a fortress’s. Bassai dai is one of the variations of the Passai Kata that is practiced in Shotokan Karate, normally starting at 3rd Kyu. Shotokan houses two Bassai Kata, Dai and Sho. Dai means greater while Sho means lesser or minor. Bassai Sho is taught at the advanced level after mastery of Bassai dai. Bassai Dai is characterized by repeated changes in blocking to simulate the feeling of shifting from a situation of disadvantage to a position of advantage.

Bassai Dai is often mistranslated; The first part of the name (batsu) means to extract or remove, not to penetrate. The name to Penetrate a fortress seems to be more clearly descriptive of the attitude a student should have when practicing the Kata so for my money it is an adequate translation, if not correct 100%.

Bassai Dai is one of the more popular Shotokan Katas and also seen as being very important for students to learn. Many organizations require this Kata to be done for Shodan examinations. Along with Empi, Jion and Kanku Dai, Bassai Dai was thought to have been used to create the Heian series, which is used to introduce Karate to new students.

History of the Bassai Dai

Passai is a kata that is practiced in many different Karate styles. The Kata has a large number of variations among these styles as well. Variations such as Bassai Dai, Bassai Sho, Passai Dai, Passai Sho, Passai, Kyan Passai, Ishimine Passai, Tawada Passai, Ichingana Passai, Shimpaku Passai, Ishiro Passai, Teruya Passa, Anzato Passai, And Oshiro Passai., and many other versions all attached to specific instructors.

The origins of the Kata are obscure, however there are a few accepted ideas on the origins of this Kata. One researcher, Akio Kinjo, believes that the name of this Kata in Chinese means 'leopard-lion', and was pronounced as 'baoshi' in Manderine, 'Baasai' in the Fushou dialect and 'pausai' in Quan Shous dialect (kinjo 1999). Kinjo, a respected researcher, believes that the movements of the kata also resemble the leopard boxing of china. The Leopard style uses a lot of blocking and striking while standing in a cross leg stance, for instance. He also points out that the Lion boxing style is well represented, as it holds a great deal of openhanded techniques while using a stomping action.

Among the chinese origin theorist, some also say that this style represents the Wuxing Quan style of Kung fu, or the five element fist style, and others suggest that much like other mainstream kata, Passai was part of the Crane boxing that heavily influenced Okinawan Karate. This may seem to be a very logical conclusion as most of the Katas come from the Fukuen Crane style and are forms or adaptations of forms from this style. However the Fujian white crane style influenced many chinese styles as well as many Okinawan instructors.

It is however accepted that the Kata came back with Sokon Matsumrua and instructors of his generation. Matsumrua brought his style of Passai back from China while Oyadomari Kokan of Tomari Te style had his style taught to him by a Chinese living in the Tomari villiage at the time (possibly Anan). Matsurumra’s version was picked up in China when he studied with Ason and Iwah of Fuchou in China. Matsumura’s style of Passai was light and flowing with fast attacks and counters, but little power. It was circular and light. Oyadomairs version was more "okinawan-ized". It was slightly more linear and had more of an emphasis on muscle power over light speed and more direct force over whipping techniques.

To complicate matters, Itosu Anko was a student of Matsumura, and it would follow logic that the Passai he would learn and pass on would be Matsumura’s version, but he did not. Instead, Itosu followed the Okinawan tradition of learning from other masters when their instructor sends them. Itosu picked up the Passai version he used from Oyadomari. Itosu further altered this Kata to even more linear and more in line with his new ideas on Karate. Itosu also took the versions he learned from both masters and created his Passai Sho with some more specific ideas of his own.

There does exist a more relevant bridge between the Matsumura version and the Oyadomari version, it is called Ishimine Passai. This version was passed on by a contemporary and friend of Itosus, Bushi Ishimine (1835-1889). Ishimine was a fellow student of Matsumuras as well. The only relevance to the two men both training under Oyamadori and Matsumura is that it suggests a fairly unorthodox exchange between the two masters and illustrates a common misconception about training in Okinawa at the time.... most instructors had multiple masters that they trained under.

Most people felt that Itosu must have learned this Kata from his master Matsumura, but some further speculation as to it being Oyadomari was put forth. One source suggested that the fist salutation beginning of the kata was evidence that this Kata, the influence on Itosu at the least, came through the Tomari city, therefore Oyadomari. Other Katas that came out of this area also had this fist salute and influenced Itosu when creating his syllabus to teach, those like Jion, Jutte, Jiin and Empi. This gesture is common in China as well, but seen as being fairly specific to the Tomari villiage when it comes to Okinawan Kata.

After Itosu refined his version of the Kata and set out to teach Funakoshi Sensei this Kata he further refined it to match up the other Kata that he was teaching the young soon to be school teacher. Funakoshi brought this Kata with him when he travelled to Japan to begin spreading Karate to the masses on the mainland. Funakoshi and his son also put their stamp on the lineage of JKA's Bassai Dai. Elongating the stances and putting more emphasis on the use of power, Funakoshi Sensei created a uniquely Shotokan Kata and also adopted it as one of the "big four Kata" for his Shotokan Style.

From Funakoshi Senseis JKA style Karate other styles of Karate and martial arts took on this important Kata. Many of the Traditional Tae Kwon Do clubs that still practice the original, pre-sport style of Tae Kwon Do also incorporate this Kata from their roots, before splitting away.

End notes

To this day Bassai Dai remains one of the big four Katas of Shotokan and also a milestone for most students. Learning this Kata means that the student has passed from learning the basic Katas and has moved on to learning the intermediate Katas of the style. The practice of Bassai Dai is both daunting and rewarding and interestingly I have made note that this is the time that most students tend to leave the Dojo. Perhaps Bassai Dai represents the first bump in the road for most students as they progress into truly understanding Karate and its many difficult but wonderful techniques.

The Tekki Katas; Internal divided conflict

The Tekki Katas

Introduction The Tekki katas were originally known as Naihanchi or Naifanchi or "internal divided conflict". These older kata are very popular training kata in most Okinawan styles. Prior to Itosu Sensei introducing his Pinan kata to the Karate world, the Naihanchi kata were usually the first kata trained in when a student came to learn Karate. There are many stories of masters, especially Itosu, insisting that a student learn this kata and practice it many times till its lessons were mastered and the body had been conditioned. He often had students perform this kata for three years to prepare them mentally and physically for the next step of training. The Naihanchi kata was the primary kata for many styles, especially those with roots in Tomari and Shuri schools of Karate. This kata was very popular and was viewed as very important to the Karate-Ka of Okinawa. It was also used to represent Karate as an image placed on one of the official postal stamps of Okinawa in a series of Stamps depicting Okinawan Karate. For a full year a sketch of an Okinawan doing Naifanchi was used with a student doing Makiwara practice and other Karate practice on the official stamps of Okinawa.

While the original Naihanchi became the basis for the first Naihanchi kata, Naihanchi Shodan, Itosu is known to have created two other kata that go by the names Naihanchi Nidan and Naihanchi Sandan to create a second "series" of kata for his Karate, the Pinan katas being the first.

History

The original Naihanchi was a single kata almost exactly the same as the modern Tekki Shodan. The kata makes use of 'in fighting' or 'close combat' techniques and strategy, which is somewhat different to other Shotokan kata. It was passed on to Anko Itosu by Matsumura Sokan and Itosu generated the second and third versions to create the series. The Chinese origins of the Tekki/ Naifanchi kata are in the Fuzho area of China. It is thought that Matsumura picked up the kata or ideas to create the kata in his travels. To back up this idea, an acupuncturist named Daichi Kaneko travelled to Taiwan and studied a style of Kung fu called Dan Qiu Ban Bai He Quan in the 1960's. This style translates to "half hillock, half white crane boxing". Kaneko was from Okinawa and upon his return he taught the art to his fellow islanders. With this art was a kata called Neixi in mandarin or 'inside knees'. The form included similar techniques to the Tekki Katas, such as the name Gaehi. Neixi is pronounced Nohachi in Fuzhou dialect, which some say, indicates it may be a forefather of Naihanchi. It is important to point out that Taiwanese martial arts do borrow heavily from other styles from mainland China and many Okinawan masters did go to the Taiwanese shores and may have brought this kata with them along with other Chinese styles and forms. With time this cultural exchange was camouflaged and many of the kata and styles that were picked up were merged into local practice, with the true history and origins lost in stories and myth. It is more likely that Matsumura learned a form from a Chinese style that very much resembled the Taiwanese Kung fu system and he taught this kata to his students. One source I read stated that Itosu picked up the original kata from Matsumura and changed the kata slightly to meet his own ideas. The source stated that Matsumura had learned it from a Chinese gentleman and/or developed it from principles he had learned from this gentleman in the Tomari village. This begins to look a lot like the history of Empi and other katas, so I do not know if this is accurate or not. This is one of the issues with picking up "history" from seniors in a dojo setting. Often they are repeating stories that they were told. Stories that, while meaning well, do no justice to the actual history of the kata. Funakoshi Sensei renamed the kata when he brought it to Japan, as he did with many of the kata. He renamed the Naihanchi kata to the Tekki katas. Most of his "renaming" made sense or were direct translations of the original Okinawan names. But in this case he renamed the katas from 'Internal Struggle' to 'Iron Horse' or ' Iron Knight'. Over the years I have been told many reasons for the new name and many translations have been brought forth. Most of the suggestions were centered around the side stance that is used during the kata. Some renditions state that it is because you look like you are riding a horse and the leg strength you would get makes your legs like iron. Others get more colourful, but none come very close to being plausible. I had to find a source that would seem correct and maybe not think in the "normal" Shotokan box for this one...and this is what I found.... Funakoshi had learned the kata from Anko Azato, one of his primary Karate instructors and it has been suggested that it was from Azato that the name change came from. Azato Sensei was the son of a Tunchi or Okinawan Samurai and enjoyed horseback riding and performing Samurai arts like archery. He was regarded as one of the best horseback riders in Okinawa. It is thought that that term 'Iron Knight' was directed as a reference to this modern Okinawan Samurai Anko Azato! This may not be the "party line" but it seemed to answer a few questions without leaving others unanswered...and it is more fun to take this answer over some of the other traditional answers. Many instructors taught Naihanchi to their students and some felt that this kata was all that was needed for a student to learn Karate. Motobu Sensei, who is well known for his strength and fighting prowess, was one such instructor. His Naihanchi made use of higher stances but his practice of Karate relied a lot on this kata. Shotokan’s Tekki katas are a very important part of training in Shotokan and many other styles of Karate. They are perhaps one of the older training kata brought to Japan by Funakoshi to show the power and body control Okinawan Karate can develop.

Notes

Some research has suggested that the original kata was a 'tanren" or 'conditioning' kata designed with grappling in mind and could be used to counter grapple or as a two man set to learn these skills. Ancient Tode had Sumo-like grappling in its arsenal. This Sumo-like training would require a lot of body conditioning. It is abundantly obvious that Naihanchi would suit this goal perfectly. The Tekki Kata is often categorized as Shorei or harder styles of kata because it is often thought of as tanren or for conditioning and therefore is harder, slower and with focus on muscle conditioning. They are often seen as being better suited for stronger people, however it would seem that Tekki Nidan and Sandan may be suited for smaller people with faster bodies, due to the hand movements and the very nature of the defence drills that are built into the kata. The three kata represent different stages of training for close range fighting, with Tekki Shodan being a primer, Tekki Nidan being counter grappling and Tekki Sandan being counter-striking based. Each kata has a slightly different "flavor" to them that make them very unique while still meeting the "norms" for a Tekki Kata. When one wonders if we have been practicing that which the masters of old practiced all you have to do is watch Funakoshi Sensei doing Tekki Shodan and you will soon see that we are in fact doing the kata fairly unchanged from the times that Funakoshi and his students did this kata. The First Tekki is often used at brown belt to give a student a challenge while training the body in a new course or direction. It is nice to see that the kata that Funakoshi Sensei performed is the same kata, if not close to, that we train in today.

The Heian Katas

The Heian Katas

An introduction

The Heian Kata represent the first five Kata that most students are introduced to in Shotokan Karate. They are supposed to introduce the individuals to the basics of Karate that they will need to advance in Karate. But most students at that level do not learn about the history or origins of the Kata they are training in. Worse is that they often take inaccurate historical information as being truth then pass that on to others. This constant perpetuation of false ideas leads to some very confused individuals that will cling to the information they received from ‘sensei’ as if he was there and witness the creation of the style. Lets face it, most of our instructors are passing on information as a member of the fourth or even fifth generation of instructors since Funakoshi’s style was penned as Shotokan.

The name Pinan is translated as ‘Peaceful mind’ or ‘long Peace’ the name comes from an Okinawan saying Heiwa-antei or ‘peace and calmness’. The name therefore suggests that the student who has mastered these Kata can be confident in themselves and their skills. The Kata progresses from Easy practice to harder practice as you learn the Kata series and a lot of reworking has been done from many groups to influence the series over the years.

History

The Five Kata were created by Itosu Anko from older Kata. The Katas were designed to instill specific gross motor skills and a sense of body movement specific to his style of training for younger students trying to learn his style of Karate. The original Kata names were Pinan and the first and second Kata of the Heian series were reversed originally. When Funakoshi brought the Kata to the mainland he changed the names to be more Japanese for the new students and less Okinawan.

The Pinan Katas were not an ancient form of training; they were created in 1906 and were adopted by many different style of Karate after Itosu presented them to the world. You can find versions of this Kata series in Shorin ryu, Shorei ryu, Shotokan, Shito ryu, and Matsubayashi ryu to name a few.

When Funakoshi adopted these Kata he was already well past the point of being a beginner. Which leads us to another false dojo story of Funakoshi being forced to do thousands of Heian Kata over a three-year period before moving on to the next one. This may be an accurate depiction of him learning the Tekki Katas and other more advanced Kata, but not the Heian Katas. Funakoshi would have learned those Kata long after he was seen as a junior student and more when he was assisting in brining the art to the school system for Itosu.

When Funakoshi came to Japan he brought with him all of the Kata he had learned from his master and those he had taught to the school children for Itosu Sensei. When he was in Japan and formulating a style to introduce to the general public in Japan, he took the Okinawan Pinans and changed the name to Heian as well as swapping number one for number two. He wrote at that time that he felt this created a more gentle introduction and a more gradual increase in difficulties for learning. Along with the Pinan to Heian shift Funakoshi also worked on changes to names and movements of other Kata. After Funakoshi made his alterations and taught students for many years the JKA was formed. From this new organization came many changes in Kata as the students tried to pass on and research the Karate that master Funakoshi brought with him to Japan.

The Kata series has become so much more than just an introduction to the system for school children. Modern Shotokan Karateka feel that the Kata are embodiment of that which ‘Shotokan’. While remaining Basic they still instill the skills they were called upon to do. With their long and graceful stances, powerful hip movements and all of the basics of modern Shotokan wrapped up in the Katas, these Kata are often viewed as some of the most important Kata to master in the whole Shotokan syllabus.

Notes

Most of the Heian Kata follow the same Embussen or path. The path looks like an H turned on its side or a capital I with upturned ends at one end or the other. This Embussen is historically significant only because several other styles have mirrored this pattern, which allows for practice of turns and also dynamic straight movements in practice.

Each Heian Kata has specific skills and lessons that are introduced to create a smooth flowing lesson plan from the master in order to teach Karate and Kata from a very basic level up to the intermediate student. Keeping in mind that in Okinawa during the time that these Kata were being created, they did not use Rank at all nor did they use the now common Keiko-gi that we see with the color Obi to tell someone what level in your training you are at.

Energy healing arts

The next category of “healing arts”…and yes that sounds weird on purpose, is the “Energy healing and other weird Methods” category. This category are those that I have personally found to strange to try, have tried and found worthless…I did lose some weight though….from my wallet! This category is filled with methods that don’t sound real on paper or anywhere else for that matter and fall under the “you should have known better….or you are just as weird” category.

So often I hear people expounding the virtues of these methods, and seconds later I realize they are just as crazy as the provider…or worse yet have been brainwashed and the placebo effect is in full force. Or, as with most cases, I hear about how the method was completely useless in the long run or at all.

These types of “methods” grow like wild fire in popularity because of what they promise; normally that is the impossible or the improbable. Modern medicine can’t cure everything, we are not their yet! But we also know the limits of what we can and cannot do! In my mind most of the methods I am going to poke fun at….er describe can be very harmless and in the most positive of them it can help relax you and give you a sense that you are trying to better yourself, in the worst case however it can give false hope, strip you of your money and do great harm both physically and mentally.

I won’t say all of these are fake or frauds, but the majority are strange, don’t generally work and most are basically mental…I mean they help you because you think they will. There is NO science backing most of these, and in some cases all the “proof” offered has been shown to be lies, deceit or hucksterism! Some are real however, just real weird! I will leave you to read these and see my points, but don’t let me stop you, it’s an experience and it will tell you a lot about yourself and your ability to THINK for yourself.

Energy therapy and weird methods that scare me!

Chakra healing

Chakra therapy or healing refers to the concept of wheel like vortices w hich are believed to exist in the surface fo the theric double of man……???? Okay, what it means to us is that the Indian ancient religions felt that we, as man, have seven energy sites on the body that rule the body and soul of man and can be effected to heal or balance the body.

Much like the rest of energy healing it deals a lot with energy and flow of energy, but Chakra or Indian ideology has a twist, the Prana or energy has different characteristics. So, each Chakara possesses a specific kind of energy that deals with very specific effects on the body. Also Prana is a external to internal force, meaning that all this Prana is coming into us from outside, effecting us and then leaving us. Ki or Chi is an internal to external force, meaning that we are linked to the universe but the meridian system of flow means Ki can be kept inside of us.

So, what does all this mean? Well, not much. It’s the hockum that a huckster will sell you to get him to work on your Chakras…which other than a great pick up line in a bar…is pointless and baseless.

A chakra therapy session may see some massage, use of Aromoatherapy, sound, light, Crystals and gems and colors along with some “energy” work. What it boils down to is a hour of light, sound and smells that should make you feel better, lighter and more relaxed…if throwing your money away, getting a head ache from sage wood burning and leaving with less money than you came with and listening to some annoying psudo speaking guru is your thing….go for it.

Chelation Therapy:

On the surface, Chelation is a perfectly sound medical practice and it is often used by mainstream medical practitioners to remove heavy metals in the cases of heavy metal poisoning from the individual. Basically it is used to remove Lead, arsenic, mercury and other heavy metals using Dimercaptosuccinic acid Or DMSA and other alternatives chemicals and basically wash the body in this chemical and as they bind to the heavy metal they will leach them out of the body. The use of Chelation can be administered orally, Intravenously or intramuscularly, depending on the type of poisoning.

The problem with Chelation is that the binding agents also leach out other vital nutrients such as Vitamin C, E and other minerals. The use of actual Chelation should be seen as about the same as Chemo therapy in Cancer, it is used to deal with serious medical emergencies and will harm the person in other ways, but save their lives.

Alternative medical practitioners…and I use that term very losly, have grabbed on to Chelation to help with “non standard” treatments for some very real ailments, including heart disease, Kidney dysfunction, Eye disorders, autism and cancer. Problem is…they don’t help those issues at all. As these disorders are generally not related to heavy metal poisoning at all, the process just serves to leach the body of more valuable nutrients that may actually help the person suffering from some of these issues feel better.

Outside of the fact that there is no documented proof that this form of therapy can help any of the issues that the alternative medicine people are saying it can….and reams and reams of proof it is dangerous, the side effects can often be very bad as well. Aside from the burning at the site of the delivery, other side effects are Fever, Headache, Nausea, Stomach upset, Vomiting, convulsions, bone marrow depression, hypotension, cardiac Arrhythmias, Respiratory arrest, Hypocalcemia, Kidney failure and DEATH. So, if your kidneys are not working well…according to some strange test a alternative Quack has done….Do Chelation….Then they simply won’t work at all!

Pretty little machines

Anytime you can buy a strange looking machine and get a cure at home…think on it a bit and let me know what you come up with. I have seen the gambit of machines from weird to strange, from Strange to bizarre and from bizarre to mainstream!

Some machines are not included in this “Pretty little machines” because they work. Things like EMS machines, TENS machines and the like are all used by mainstream medicine. However, some machines are simply not effective and can be dangerous.

I have seen people making homemade Magnetic power generators to try and “energize” their bodies, I have seen Hydra machines sold as cures for “Cellular disease” and I have seen Lasers used to cure things like diabetic issues….well not…but you get the point. The laser actually burned the person, the Home made magnetic power generator killed a patient with a pacemaker, the Hydra machine or Testla machine is basically an electrostatic generator, and given enough “juice” it will electrocute you. A famous case was a man with prostate cancer who was sold one to “cure him” it sure did….he did not die from cancer… the electric shock that stopped his heart…then cooked him like a turkey made sure of that!

Reflexology

Reflexology or ZONE therapy is the physical act of applying pressure to specific areas of the feet, hands or ears to try and affect the rest of the body. Reflexologists claim that the body has Zones that are reflected in specific areas of the feet, hands or feet and by applying pressure to these areas they may treat the ailments and conditions affecting these areas.

That is about all I will say about what these quacks have to say…the truth is there is NO evidence that the claims of effects on the body actually exist in any way, and it is actually counter to actual physical science! The Reflexologist ( a far too fancy word for these people) claim to manipulate body energy to affect change in the condition of the body. Aside from a placebo effect that may be credited for someone feeling a bit better about the conditions they feel, this whole practices baseless and relies on ignorance and psudo scientific speak to dupe people.

Hey who does not like getting their feet rubbed? Fact is that the only effect it has is the same effect that Massage has on your body…nothing more…but a whole lot less!

Uropathy:

I am not kidding with this one. Urophathy has been around for centuries and a lot of people believe in it, especially athletes! It is said that using this method of rehabilitation and wellness can make you look young, feel healthy and live longer…..but you can KEEP IT! Uropathy is the use and application externally or internally (yes drinking it) of PEE!!!! Your own urin (strangely I hope its your own) is rubbed into the skin, drank and applied other wise to your body…….

Personally I would much rather not feel fantastic than feel great and smell like pee….after having downed a glass of my own “water”. The proponents of this say that your Pee is filled with tones of things your body needs…..yes, and tones of waste products and metabolites that your body is trying to get rid of! Your kidneys just did their best to toss that stuff out and now you are brining it back! Great work bub!

Just so you don’t think I am making this up, Lyoto Machida was interviewed one time and stated that his father does this and so does he (meaning drink his own pee). Now how would you like to be his wife kissing him in the morning after he just had his wake up pee pee?

Iridology

Some alternative proponents of this Pseudoscientific concept believe that patterns, colors and other characteristics of the iris can be examined and determine information about the patients systemic health. Now this is not a Curative method per see, but they do try and diagnose you by looking in your eyes.

Outside of this whole area of study being a big pale of pig poo it is not harmful till they start recommending things, or in one case telling a cancer patient in England that she was cured, she stopped taking the Clinically proven radiation and chemo and died three months later of the very cancer her doctor was treating!

Psychic surgery

Andi Kaufman, one talented guy, learned far to late that often modern science can not extend your life, and crack pots will simply take your money as you are on your way out the door! Psychic Surgery uses slight of hand to slip chicken blood onto your tummy as the surgeon applies pressure on your abdomen and pretends to dig around and pull out bits of chicken tissue and tell you its your cancer or whatever ails you. ITS HORRIBLE LIES PEOPLE!

I would more call this an illegal practice than a method of healing that relies on placebo effects. The other methods on this listing often think they are doing well or at the very least don’t have a tone of liars and sharks hocking their wares, but this one is all about taking REALLY sick people and completely scamming them and more often than not the person is DEAD within months of being ripped off. Not fair and any Pscyco healers should be tossed in jail!

Reiki, Therapeutic touch and Medical Qigong

Any manual therapy that does not require that you touch a person cannot be called Manual therapy….Smack forehead now if you like. TT and Reiki and Qi Gong all work on the premise that you are going to manipulate or infuse your Ki into a person without touching them.

After a very short “education” a person can call themselves a Reiki master. This means you can “manipulate” energy in a person’s body along meridians. Close to the use same principles of Qi gong and Shiatsu, this miss guided attempt at helping a person is based on hundred year old myths that have been disproven over and over again.

In martial arts a lot of this tom foolery has lead to the extreme silliness of no touch knock outs, pressure point KO’s and other BS.

Okay, for those that want to take up these kinds of therapy, remember that they are only as effective as your brain believes in them. This, to me, means that they don’t really work in the real world, but are methods based on placebo effects and at worst end up separating you from your money!

The trueth is that many people go to these practitioners and pay them lots of money, The amount of benefit that a person gets is arguable. Granted I am not rushing out to get my Chakras balanced or drink my own body waste, but if someone feels they need to do these things or attend to these people then far be it from me to say it’s a complete waste of time in most cases…..but having said that, I am sure you will think twice before buying a cup of lemon aide from a kids lemon aide stand if his name is Machida!!!!!

Healing up after an injury…or just rehabilitation after Training

I wanted to start this blog off with how to heal up, a lot of the things I am going to blog about are more….how to feel pain and get better at what you want to do. First off let me tell you that the “no pain no gain” mentality is old school…and I am old school. I hate seeing black belts and students training that have the mentality that they will run a bit, go to karate and put in their 45% effort and go home….If you are not trying to bust thru personal bests and get ready for the next big challenge…go home! Sit on your couch and chill out. For me, life is to short for that. But as I get older, even I must admit that the body does not heal as fast as it used to and now I have to heal up after doing things to myself that most think is nuts!

Many moons ago I was a practicing massage therapist with a back ground in prevention and care of athletic injuries. I graduated and was co-president of my class at a very prestigious massage institute, I also graduated from the U of W with a BA in prev. care of injuries and owned my own company, Bio-Dynamix. I ran it for many years and so many people came to me asking about different ways to rehabilitate injuries, improve sport performance and after all my studies and all the people that came to me over the years, I still get the same questions and asked what I think about different healing modalities (big word for something that someone does to you!).

So I am going to list off some of the more common things people do to get healed up, as well as some of the not so common things I have seen, offer my thoughts on them and let you decide!

Things that may help

Massage:

I am a bit biased here but I have to say that bang for your buck when you have sore muscles, lack of flexibility and a need to not feel the aches and pains of Karate or everyday life….get into a solid routine of seeing a Massage therapist. Having said that, the massage industry is about 90% solid workers who care about you, yah skill and interpersonal skills will vary a lot, and you may have to shop around to find a good one…but generally we are a good bunch that just want to help you out. The other 10% you will need to avoid, filled with quacks and energy healers acting like they are really doing you some good physically…snake oil salesmen and charlatans!

There are a lot of different kinds of massage as well. Swedish is the most common and the base for most great massage workers, but most will spread out and specialize in different areas. When I was practicing I did a lot of trigger point work, deep tissue and the basic stuff. If you look into massage you will find people that do Anma, Ayurvedic, Esalen, Lomi lomi, “Medical Massage”, Myofacial Release, Stone massage, Trager Approach, Visceral Manitpulation, Watsu and a dozen other kinds of massage. The most important part of these massages is the practitioner.

So is it worth the time and money, Yes. Even if you are still sore and the massage did not make you limp as a noodle and free of pain, it won’t damage you unless you have a specific pathology that is causing it to be dangerous, and a brief history will let the therapist know to avoid that. And like my grandmother said…its like Chicken soup…Even if it did not cure us of our colds, it did not hurt us any! At worst a massage should be relaxing and make you fall asleep, at best it should help you in the long run…but be careful, picky and go to a few therapists before you pick one as home base.

Acupuncture/Shiatsu:

Acupuncture, Acupressure and shiatsu all run that thin line between actual therapeutic modality and snake oil! I have seen great results from the use of these and I have seen pretty much NOTHING happen after someone gets these therapies. First off go see a good and reputable practitioner and only for the shiatsu should you see some kind manual therapy beyond being poked and prodded.

I don’t put this under massage because it is very different. Most of the times that I have gone and had Shiatsu I would say I got a Swedish massage in an asian theme room. The two times I got a “Real” Shiatsu massage done, it was nothing like what I would call massage. It did work on the muscles that I had issues with, but it was not the normal work that you associate with massage….more pokey and the pressure was….well deep!

The fact that Acupuncture works the “Same way” or at least uses the same ideology lets me keep it out of quackery and into “it might work for you but not me”. I once had acupuncture done on my shoulder….did nothing for me but make me remember why I hate needles, never mind the 14 I had poking out of me!

Thai Massage:

If ever I could name a KING of manual therapy I would have to say that Thai massage done right is probably the forerunner in that one. First off they don’t just push into the muscle and use hands and elbow to make the muscles relax. The therapist will lay on the floor with you and move you around and get the full range of motion out of you.

The time you spend with a Thai massage therapist will be relaxing and somewhat uncomfortable the first time. They will cause you to stretch, contort their own bodies and press into the flesh with their feet and arms. You will feel stretched out and relaxed when you leave however.

I have to say that I was rather uncomfortable laying on the floor with a guy dressed in Satin jammies and then having him manipulate my arms and legs like a minuete on strings. But after about two minutes I relaxed and set myself into his hands….remembering that he saw I was wearing my JKA tee shirt and I was not just wearing it because it was loose fitting, but as a warning. And I did not need it at all! The guy was amazing, I was in Vancouver and the therapist is long gone from my memory if you asked his name, but a hip injury that I had in the front of my leg was GONE when I was done with the therapy.

Chiropractic:

Chiro is good, bad and ugly. That’s what I call my three times I went to a chiro. One guy relaxed me, cracked me and made my back feel much better. One guy did virtually nothing for my lower back pain…and the other….well I could not walk for a week!

Chiropractic is a therapy that sets joints that are out of alignment….back into alignment. I have a few issues with Chiro and say that it should ALWAYS be accompanied by a good massage and exercises to make sure the muscles do not pull the bones back out of alignment. In fact I think every Massage therapist should have a chiro working for them!

Much like Massage, be careful and picky with the chrio you pick, Some are very good at what they do, and others….not so much!

Naturopath:

A naturopath deals with using minerals and vitamins to help balance the body and serves to “cure” different illnesses. I was tempted to throw this one in with the quacks…mainly because they talka bout using vitamins to release or increase “Vial energy” a source of healing that only vitamins and minerals have apparently. That and the American Cancer Society basically stated they were quacks!

However, I do think that they can be used, if you are careful and think unlike a sheep, to help your health and wellness levels through using good nutrition and balancing your vitamins ext. But be warned…tones of snake oil salesmen here!!

Hydro therapy:

Not just “go take a bath”! Use of water to heal up and relax has been used for hundreds of years. The most effective healing I have done for my sore muscles have been using Ice and hot water to flush the muscles. I first ice down the muscle then go sit in a hot tub, repeat this till I felt that the muscle was flushed out.

If you are looking to relax after a hard work out, don’t go sit in the hot tub to do this. Yes it increases blood flow ext, but it will also push the level of inflammation post work out thru the roof! Instead of that, chill out after a hard work out…and I mean that literally. Get some ice and ice the sore spots. After a day or so you can go to the hot tub or sauna and relax.

In my next blog I will hit those things that you should avoid. Personally I think it will be much more fun to write about those!

Welcome to Kensei's Shogyu

Kensei’s Shogyu When I was asked to start a blog about training I kind of thought that it would be a good idea to not just say what had done, but why and give some other ideas. First off let me say I am a traditionalist with a twist. My education is in the study of the human body, but my experience is in traditional Shotokan Karate. This blog is going to look into training ideas and practices as well as a healthy dose of actual Shotokan training. I want to make this blog a balance of what I am doing in my traditional Shotokan training as well as my auxiliary training and what I am doing in my work outs at home. I will also be putting together blogs about trends in training, nutrition and other training ideas that come up that may be helpful to your training, as well as expelling myths of training, trashing FAKE training ideas and psudo-Science that is simply not true! Hope it helps