Do I need to know Japanese to know Karate

The other day I was guest teaching at a club and listened to everyone doing the Dojo Kun in Japanese…or trying. It was kind of hard to tell what they were doing as they were all trying to do their best, but the class was not doing very well. I felt bad and told the senior to just do it in English. My thought was that while it is part of training, I think it is much more important to know what you are saying than say it well. The message of the Dojo kun is far to important to be lost because we simply don’t speak a language that is foreign to us.

But it got me thinking, Do we need to know Japanese to know karate very well….I mean we use English and Japanese during testing, and mainly we teach in English with some Japanese when we teach a class! So, do we need to know Japanese to know Karate…..Obviously not! Karate is mostly a physical art that takes practice physically, does it actually matter if you say Mawashi Geri Jodan or round house kick to the head?

So why do we use so much Japanese in our training. Well the use of Japanese is not just to connect us to the tradition. It has two real purposes that I can think of. First off it reminds us of the tradition and honor that we should be attaching to our training. It is not just simply kick boxing or fighting. It is a process of discovery of ourselves. Far to many instructors forget this or discount the need for the use of Japanese. They try and distance themselves from the tradition and honor associated with the training. It shows, in my opinion, a lack of character when one throws away the traditions and ritual that is associated with a character building endeavor. To focus so much on just learning basics to harm someone else is indeed telling!

The other reason we use Karate is the Gutteral language (meaning sub glottis) is used to train the core. When we count, use Japanese terms and move we are “turning on” or setting up our core to make good techniques. The use of this dynamic speech pattern or guttural language helps train our body to dynamically tense the core and relax after. Count in English from one to ten the way that you would normally, the tension is all in the neck and throat, do the same in Japanese the way we do in class and the tension is now in the lower abdomen. Japanese ability to train the Hara, or belly is fantastic, its like teaching the body to be ready at a moments notice. The 60% tension you should get (and that is a guess) is the right tension for a “ready” feeling.

A strange fact about Karate and Japanese came to light for me about 9 years ago when I was in college. I had “borrowed” a book from Sensei that was in Japanese only. The book was by Tanaka Sensei and at the time was only available in Japanese. Now the pictures spoke a million words, but we wanted to know what he was saying about his techniques. And trust me it is a great book, it finally came out in English and the book is fantastic. Now a funny thing happened, one of the other students was from Japan and offered to help me translate it with the help of her husband.

The ladies English was not bad and her husband spoke Japanese, but did not read Japanese…the task itself was very funny, she would read it in Japanse out loud and he would translate it with her help into English and I would write it down….but we ran into a very strange problem….Japanese terms for Karate are not exactly commonly used terms. I thought that if you spoke Japanse and read Japanese that you surely must be able to understand what the Karate people are saying…..No so much.

As it turns out our Japanese terms that we use every day are “Technical terms” and much like most of my medical terminology would for lay people….it means little to nothing to the Japanese lay person. They did not understand terms like Mawashi geri, Yori Ashi and the like. They said that some they could make out, but had to guess at…the translation process took a month to get thru the first chapter as I got things like “Kicking backwards” for “Back kick” and “snappy snap kick frontward” for “Kizami Mae geri…or snap front kick from front leg”. It was very entertaining to see what was next…..after the month and only one chapter…..we gave up! Which was fine, I found out someone had done all that work for us and I bought him the book in English!

I mentioned the terms guttural and glottal when referring to speech. I want to be clear that referring to Japanese as “guttural” means speaking from the gut or stomach area, what Japanese say is Hara-speak. NOT an insult to the language in any way. Okay, that out of the way, Guttural speaking is a more dynamic and fatiguing way of speaking, it involves training the body to tighten up the abdomen when pushing air out, not something that we are used to doing in the west. We tend to force air across the vocal cords from high up in the chest and throat, or the glottal area. Strangely, opera singers are known as guttural breathers, and this gives them the ability to speak and sing at a far greater level than glottal speaking can.

Speaking Japanese should be seen as a form of training. Those that learn to do the Dojo Kun in Japanese are learning a new way of training, kind of like learning a new way to do pushups. It’s a conditioning exercises as well has a form of homage to the traditions that we are training in.

So, how much Japanese should a student or instructor actually know? I think that as you progress from a beginner to a senior you should pick up the basic names of the techniques that you need to practice, the advanced techniques and theory are probably best learned in English however. I think that counting, the Dojo Kun and the basic movements should be known by yellow or orange belt just thru listening in class. If you get to green belt and cannot count to ten in Japanese you obviously are not listening well enough in class. However, I don’t think that unless you are interested in learning Japanese for yourself you do not need to learn conversational Japanese.

Very few instructors that I know can converse in Japanese. Perhaps one or two that have trained with that were not native to Japan could carry on a conversation with a native speaking Japanese, but even they say their Japanese is not very good. It’s to darn different a language and you have a better change of learning a language that has something in common with English, like French or Spanish!

Don’t stress over not knowing Japanese or having a poor grasp of the language. If your Japanese sounds like grunting and you cannot make out the words, again don’t stress, as long as you get down the basics and work at it you will get the physical benefits and you will be understood enough to cover what you are training in or teaching.

Having said all that I can tell you that after MANY years of training under Japanese instructors I have learned and often suffer from a common habit…speaking in broken English. Its silly and when I catch myself I often turn bright red…but since I have trained with some of the best Japanese instructors…who do speak in Broken English, I have picked up the bad and embarrassing habit of often speaking in a broken English when teaching. Its horrible and I don’t mean to do it. There is a discovered purpose from all this however. See, years ago when teaching a very senior CANADIAN born and raised instructor began teaching a class with us and he had a funny accent and spoke with broken English. I was younger and asked him why he spoke funny when teaching, he told me that the less he actually spoke the more we listened. And it rang true, by cutting out words and speaking in broken English I get students to listen more often…..at least that’s what I tell myself.

But what about instructors with perfect Japanese? Well outside of the odd Non-Japanese and the actual Japanese instructors I have trained under two people that had perfect Japanese and were not native speaking Japanese…and I can tell you that just because their Japanese was very very good…did not translate into their Karate being very good.

While your Skills in Karate are not dependent upon your learning Japanese, anymore than you need to know French to learn fencing, it is a tool. It can be used to develop your body in a unique way and….lets face it…its cool!

Sport Karate Vs Shiai Karate

I think I often confuse people because I am such a staunch supporter of Real Budo Karate and I am so opposed to Sport Karate…but I support Shiai Karate practices or tournament Karate. I have been told that my views are hypocritical by a few people on the boards that I write on and even by a few instructors…but its not that I support opposing views, its that they don’t understand my definitions of Shiai Karate and Budo Karate!

I think that its important for me to be clear here…Shiai Karate is NOT sport Karate! Sport Karate has no spirit to it. The main purpose of Sport Karate is fancy techniques that will score a point and gain you a medal at the end of the day. The Katas are fancy, use a tone of yelling for no real reason and can only be described as performance art! The practitioners of sport Karate often will create Kata or add to a Kata to make it more interesting. I think we have all seen them yelling and wearing their tangerine gis with patches all up the legs and arms…and often a promotional patch on the back for some auto-body place.

The value of sport Karate is pretty much skin deep only. You can be a fantastic athlete and get seven foot high trophies and know very little about Karate. I have seen people who have fourth Dans in styles of sport Karate who did know know who Itosu was, did not understand basic Japanese commands that our white belts know and did not know what a Dojo Kun were. They also had self created rituals that they thought were 100% traditional....like yelling at judges what Kata they are going to do after marching within a foot of the instructor…yelping for Kiais and did thinking that they had to make a Shaolin fist movement every time they bowed because Karate apparently comes from “Shaolin…a town in china….” Really…I am not kidding!

Shiai Karate is an expression of Budo Karate or “real purpose Karate”. The tournament standards are much higher, the proper use of Kata with realistic looking bunkai is put into play and the whole purpose of Kata participation is to show your understanding of Karate…not to dance and make up moves while you screech! Shiai Kata competition is about perfect form and application or intent of application. You can see that the person doing the Kata is applying it in a fight!

Shiai Kumite competitions are not based on who can tap the other guy the fastest and then run away, its whose techniques…if not bridled and controlled…could end a fight. They are often not pretty and the kumite often shows a lot more scary moments than in a sport Karate event, and we don’t wear 10 pounds of latex foam rubber for protection. Often a solid punch is landed and unlike the sport version, we don’t stop the fight! We get up, spit out a few teeth and get right back to it.

Sport Karate Can not be Budo Karate! Not only does it lack the true spirit and intent, but the focus is all wrong as well. Funakoshi said that you should not look to winning, but look to not losing! Or in other words, medals and trophies mean NOTHING if your whole focuses is on prizes and accolades about tournaments. Karate is a self defense first and foremost and not a performance art or event of high impact tag! Budo Karate is a serious form of combat training were you may get hurt a little in the learning process. When one is so concerned about form and not enough about application, the standards for a persons ability to perform self defense tend to go down drastically. I have seen a lot more Tae Kwon Do, which is a form of sport Karate, guys get dropped in street fights than I care to mention.

The mentality is all wrong as well. They get built up egos when they excel at this performance art and they think they can beat an attacker in the street. Even the more real combat sports like Judo and wrestling lack real life qualities when done wrong and they tend to get the wrong mental out look when they excel at their one sided sport. Budo Karate teaches us to honestly respect the person you are facing as an opponent because of the unknown factors that can effect a real life fight.

Real Shiai Karate, were a real strike can cause damage if not guarded and held back, teaches that even if you are the faster, and have “better Karate” the “underdog” can lay you out. Shiai Karate can be a good tool to teach Budo Karate in a different way. We can implement some changes that will make these more a learning tool and less a way to show off and build ego in the wrong people. We can implement a Embu competition that will show real life Karate self defense to kids and adults. The non-back and forth point tournament stuff that is effecting our art. We can also put back in Bunkai challenges to the younger kids that will allow them to explore the use of Kata waza in self defense. Shiai Karate can be a good solid component in teaching Budo Karate.

Dojo sparring should also be much different than Shiai and tournament Karate. First off it’s a game of give and take, no one is looking to hurt the other, Techniques are properly thrown, but the intent is not to damage or score points. It’s a tool in teaching Budo Karate. Both sides should win and ego needs to be tossed out the door. A senior sparring with a junior is not going to look like he is playing with the junior, he should take him seriously and treat him with respect. I recall two good stories about Dojo sparring to illustrate what Dojo Kumite should be. …

Years ago I went to Kangeiko (early morning training in the winter) and after our fourth hour long morning class I stayed back with a senior of mine who wanted to train. I was waiting for school to start at the U of W so I stuck around. We engaged in a 45 minute Dojo sparring session that was incredible. We were very tired after we were done, but the control we both had and the respect for each other lead to a great work out. He scored points on me and I scored points on him. After we were done I was not just tired, I had to peal my Gi off and after sitting thru class took a nap back at the club to recharge.

The next story…not so nice. I was sparring with one senior who always had to win. He had to show that his ability to score fancy techniques was better than my ability. It became sad when he would get visibly frustrated over a simple reverse punch landing. We were to keep a specific pace agreed upon and as my points landed he began to increase speed….the result was I was injured with a back kick very quickly into the third minute of sparring. It was not pleasant and I was very sure that the kick was no accident as I had landed a side kick to his mid section seconds before he spun around and hit me with his full weight. No one enjoyed the training or learned from this exercise….well I learned what a tool someone can be…but that does not count.

Dojo Sparring is one of the most important exercises that can be undertaken by intermediate and advanced level students. It can also be a devastating event in a students learning if they train with the wrong person. The idea is not to “Score a point” but to set up and execute a technique or to learn how that person is going to attack you and learn to counter. If you don’t land the technique or the block and counter is not their…learn how to correct it. If you think you ALWAYS MUST SCORE and have a bad attitude about it…take up knitting or something because Budo Karate is not for you!

Sport Karate has a few flaws outside of attitude and intent that limits its use and will ensure it is never Budo Karate. It wont be Budo not just because it feeds unstable egos and often builds them were they were not present before, but equally important…it just is not ever going to translate into real self defense. Or Jiei Budo Karate do. Jumping around and leaping in to tag a target then jumping and turning to run while screaming…well it would get you killed in the street. Go to YouTube and watch some sparring at these sport events….especially go and watch the Kata….its a bit of a JOKE and anyone that has seen the JKA videos will know what I mean.

One of the major flaws that Sport Karate has is the tip tap – tag you are it style of Karate. They move straight back and forth and then the guy that rushes in first normally wins. They don’t move to the side and they don’t learn angles. The judges and ref score the fighting based not on technique but only on who tagged the other guy first or who had the flashy techniques. I actually saw a perfectly timed Gyaku zuki get turned down for a point because a flashy hook kick that did not even land properly scored a second before. In the real world that hook kick would not have ended the fight, but the Gyaku zuki would have.

Also their Kata is to much performance art and not enough combat demonstration. Watch some of the international open style tournaments and you can see some of the more “modern” sport Kata beating traditional forms. The traditional form is clean, has good lines, the Kiai is a true controlled spirit shout and the form looks solid….the sport guy is yelling like an idiot, techniques are flashy and often mean nothing….yet they win! Why…because they are fancy and crowd pleasing forms.

As you can see I am not against tournaments, as long as they are presented a particular way and Budo is still not just at the root…but the heart of the tournaments. I don’t say you should not reward people for good competition, but make sure the standards and scoring is clear on why we are giving points and we are really trying to present Budo in tournaments, not just get flashy and look good. Ego needs to be left at the door as well. Sport Karate is a waste of real Karate students time….Budo shiai tournaments however can be a great tool for improving a student…and instructors Karate

Basic Physics for Karate

I have been asked, mostly by young adults who are now in high school, what sciences can help them understand Karate the most. Well outside of all of them, I have to point at physics. I know, I am a biology guy and yet I am saying Physics! But the truth is that no matter how much I can tell you about muscle insertions, biochemical and neural reactions in the body that allow for muscle contractions, Physics…that damn hard subject in class that seems to start off with all that math…is still the king when it comes to interpreting and understanding human movement.

To be more precise I would work in physics and biology to get to a science called biomechanics, or the science of mechanics in respect to movement! In order to properly understand how and why Karate techniques work so well in combat and self defense we need to look at basic physics first.

Early physicist and Mathematician, Sir Issac Newton began studying physics and finding ways to describe movement in a real and mathematically measurable way. He studied all the greats like Kepler and other early theory based physicists. His methods and study lead to three rules of motion that can help us understand why Karate works in a broad sense only.

His first rule or law was “every object remains at rest or in a state of uniform straight line motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force”. Unbalanced meaning not equal to the force being created by the object or in a direction other than the current trajectory of the object. In other words if a rock is hurtling thru outer space, were there is not friction, and it hits a rock that is staying perfectly still, the result will be that the “perfectly still Rock” will move! So, how does this help Karate? Well, a person’s Jaw sill stay perfectly still and will not move or have any reason to stop moving in its current state…until your fist smashes it and redirects the force or movement of its current state. Not to deep for us but its only his first law people!

His second law is much more interesting for us! “the rate of change of momentum is equal to the force applied or the force acting on the body is directly proportional to the product of its mass and acceleration produced by the force of the body”…..think that’s confusing…read it in Latin! Okay, to make it more real for us…If you hit a guy with a hard punch that is fast his change in momentum will be equal to the force (speed and power/mass) that you use….a light punch will result in a small amount of displacement, a light kick however, same speed…may result in more displacement because the punch may only be the arm…the leg is much bigger. This is why a well placed front kick will always do more damage than a well placed Jab done only with the arm!

His third law suggests the reaction more than the action. “to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”. Normally that is where people stop reading….the rest is “the action and the reaction act on two different bodies simultaneously”. How does this help us in Karate? One has to remember that while they are punching a person in the face, the actual force of impact is only measured in millimeters; the reaction site is the persons face, neck and spine, along with the body to some degree….as well as the strikers hand, elbow, tissues, shoulder, spine and their body as well. This is why we must condition the body to be a mechanically correct and technically efficient machine! If the shoulder is weak we will end up with a damaged shoulder.

I am going to break down a few terms that may help you analyse your movements and If you train with me in class or just want further info on how to apply this to your Karate, don’t hesitate to ask. The terms I am going to share are commonly MIS-Used by instructors and student and they could be a great way to analyse movement for efficiency and effectiveness, but are not used or are not used correctly!

Acceleration Acceleration is the change in Velocity/speed of an object. This can be cause by increasing the rate of movement of an object or the direction of an object. So, for Karate the speed you move a punch at from rest to maximum speed is acceleration. The first phase of a punch is going to be acceleration, the last phase at impact is Deceleration.

Axis The imaginary line about which a planet or other object rotates. Also the imaginary line from the top of your head to the floor that your body rotates around when turning for a reverse punch, or the line thru the left to right hip that your pelvis moves around when vibrating a front kick, Front to back thru the pelvis when making a side snap kick…ext.

Centrifugal force An apparent outward force on an object following a circular path that. This force is a consequence of the third law of motion, the way a spinning back fist gains power from the center of the body upon the spin.

Centripetal force The force required to pull an object out of its natural straight-line path and into a circular path; centripetal means. When throwing a person the act of pulling them off balance towards the center of your movement is Centripetal. Often this is misused by instructors who think that the act of spinning is going to create a natural inward force, Spinning does not create an inward force, this is a counter natural movement!

Crest The point of maximum positive displacement on a transverse line is called a crest. So the point at which force/power has reached its maximum amount is a crest. If you hit someone the point of impact when the power is at its kinetic most is called a crest. Not very important because it is a split second in time. But the more technically complete your movement and the more Kime you use to reinforce it the higher the crest will be.

De-acceleration the point at which acceleration begins to decline, be it because of friction, a lack of power or a rapid deceleration due to impact with another object. The last phase of a technique as it ends in the air or after impact.

Displacement The change in the position of an object in a particular direction is called displacement. Displacement may also be defined as the shortest distance between the initial and final position of a moving body. This is important when you want to gage what kind of force you are needing and what kind of results you got from a impact on a object. If you want to know the results of a technique on a object this vector measurement is a good indicator of the effectiveness of your technique, however you may have used less acceleration and more force, resulting in less effective damage to an attacker.

Distance The actual length of the path traveled by a body irrespective of the direction is called the distance traveled. The other thing to keep in mind is that some Karate techniques have a limited distance that they travel, a optimum required distance and a required distance for optimum effect. If you start a front kick and the leg has to travel a longer distance than is optimum you start to lose power, a punch can only travel so far before the body must move with it, thus being less effective, and if a target is to close, then the distance needed to create enough impact effective power is limited, thus the punch is weaker.

Lines of force time to fess up, I stole this term from Electricity and electric current and use it in my explanation of Momentum and directionary physics. My use of this term is to describe the path of force and acceleration. This allows us to understand when a line of force is broken, how the energy that is imparted to a target is less because the line of force is not straight. IE if you break at the hip when doing a technique with the arms the connection to the floor is broken and the line of force is then broken…the techniques are then purely upper body and you are losing the efficiency of the technique.

So, now you have just a few basic terms to play within your Karate class or at home….so what. Well, if you understand the way that physics is appropriately applied to techniques you will understand how to make them more efficient. Take out the extra movements for a reverse punch, keep your arms in line when moving and don’t break at the hip…all good starts. If you give me a sturdy stick as a leaver and a hearty fulcrum point I can move the world! Or, if you let me understand efficiency in training and movement I can cause enough force to your rib cage to snap bones like twigs upon impact of my Projectile (foot) along the line of force (from floor to impact site) and using the knee and hip as an axes point for my kinetic energy….or in English, I am gonna kick you hard in the ribs and break em!

A few things that you can use to qualitatively analyze a technique without getting into quantity and actual striking power would be Proper rotation of the hips, Lines of force, Excessive movement and drive into the ground. What does this look like….okay…..some examples of this would be…..

For a reverse punch

· Does the person push into the floor with their back leg

· Does the person rotate the rear hip to the front, the more to the front the better

· Does the person continue to bend the front knee to ensure that the hips don’t move backwards while rotating.

· Does the person limit the bend in the torso to just a slight forwards bent, more a rotation of the shoulder with proper spine bend.

· Has the person allowed for a slight bend in the elbow to absorb shock

· Is their head straight to target

For a front kick

· Does the person use the floor to support and push off of. Heal down!

· Does the person use the pelvis to rotate slightly for a vibration to the target?

· Is the person properly brining the knee up and using it as a rotation point.

· Is the impact site the top ball of the foot

· Is the person leaning into the technique and brining their center to the target.

The point is that, while it may seem a bit scary, we can use physics to explain and learn more about our Karate. Instructors, especially new ones, should be looking at pictures and explaining lines of force, proper form ext to their students as a way of learning to analyse good form and good techniques.

Physics can be a great tool for Karate people to learn more about getting effective and efficient skills out of their training, and it can help point out and correct issues in form and use of techniques.

Karate Kata training: Picking your Tripod!

Okay, so you passed your Shodan and you are looking forward to all the stuff you need to learn now…and trust me…Shodan is just the beginning. When I passed my Shodan my instructor sat with me at the camp and asked me what Kata I wanted to study now. I HAD NO IDEA! I knew most of the 26 and really liked a few of them, and not so much for some. But I really did not think about it.

Dingman Sensei sat with me and said you need to have three Kata you practice. By his estimation, you should pick three and go over them for life. Not just any three Kata or three you liked but three specific Kata. He also told me it could take a long time to find them….and possibly a life time.

Sensei told me that you need to select your three Kata with specific things in mind. The first Kata you select should play to your strengths. If you are a light fast fighter then you need a Kata that is light and fast like Empi or Gankaku. You should seek out a Kata that will reinforce your strengths and train in it till it becomes natural. This Kata is the easiest to find and stick with. You will probably only suffer from having to many that you feel meet your ability and you will have to narrow it down. Take a year or so and go thru the Katas selecting one from the first 15 Katas that Funakoshi Sensei brought with him to form Shotokan.

Next up is a harder one, work on finding a Kata that represents some aspect of Training that you need help with. For instance, if you are a light and fast Karate person, then you will pick a hard and heavy Kata like Hangetsu or Jion….or if you are a big powerful karate student then you may pick Empi or Gankaku to work on being lighter and fasters. This Kata is a personal work Kata. It will help strengthen your weaknesses and build your body into a more flexible weapon, able to be light when you need to be and able to express power when required. Again, I recommend the first 15 Katas for this selection.

The last Kata that you select is your personal Kata, this is the one that you will do for testing’s, and demonstrations and will work the most on. Go to all the 26 Kata and find one that interests you, that you feel a connection with and one that will showcase your ability as well as help you to develop. It will be the road map for your advanced training. This Kata is one that you will need to study the most and one that you need to have the most time spent doing.

By way of demonstrating what Dingman Sensei told me and the journey of discovery that he sent me on. I took two years to find my first two Katas. I studied all 15 Kata and came up with two Kata that I liked and fit my needs. I was actually very lucky in that one of my Sempai suggested the first Kata for me. She told me that I should learn Kanku Dai and study it as it occurred to her that it would be a good match for me. She suggested it because it is very detailed and built for people of both smaller and larger sizes but with good hip rotation. I like Kanku dai because it does place a large amount of the focus on hip rotation and counter-rotation.

My next Kata was the opposite of Kanku Dai, it was very basic and simple. Its movements were more based on simple movements and power generated in a fundamental way, not many hidden movements or fancy skills being demonstrated. I picked Jion because it was so very basic and did not require the technical concentration and details were very simple. Unlike the powerful vs speedy Katas I picked the cerebral vs the instinctual as my opposing theories in training my two work Kata.

Now Jion has its own difficult techniques so it is not like I stepped back to Heian Shodan, but the fact is comparing the two Kata it is obvious which of the two is more about pure brute strength and which is about technique and finesse.

For my last Kata I actually turned to my instructor and watched him. If felt that I needed a Kata that would represent the Karate that I was learning. He had been doing Empi and Nijushiho. I watched both and right away felt a draw to Nijushiho. I started to study it and found that it was perfect for me. It served the same purposes as Kanku dai with a lot of body work and rotations and use of the hip, but it also had some points that Dingman Sensei was always trying to impart to me when we trained.

Now, you have three Kata that you work…how do you balance them. Well I always say that you should do them 30/30/40 %. So you are still working your personal Kata the most but you need to work the other two to get a well rounded approach. For me that means working Kanku Dai at home the most with Jion and then Nijushiho at the club and home.

More important than selecting three Kata and making them fit into specific cubby holes, you need to work on making Kata your own. You need to focus on not just dancing thru the Kata but learning them as if you are in a fight and taking them apart, dissecting them and pushing yourself to know the kata from different angles with different applications.

Kata can be a treasure of knowelege and training but only if you approach them as challenges and pleasure at the same time and you take them seriously. Enjoy them and the lessons they have to teach!