The 5 Rules of Showa Karate Keiko

 Intro

                My Sensei in Karate had some very specific rules that he would lay out for training. He said that if you train in Karate you should be focusing on building up yourself, mentally and physically and pushing to be a better person. I strived to understand and repeat his lessons and it brought me to a realization about the type of Karate I was doing, not just JKA Style Shotokan but my approach to the study of Karate.

                I have always felt that the study of Karate should be a deep one and it should be focused on both mental and physical aspects of the art, but I flailed about trying to codify it and create a path for myself. I finally sat down a few years back and attempted to figure out what my legacy in Karate or my path was going to be, and I came upon a term that really hit home for me…..Showa!  Showa is the era in Japanese culture between the Taisho and Heisei Era or 1926-1989 during the time that period that Hirohito ruled Japan, and the old school Karate existed.

                I honed in on this term and started to work on the ideals of old school Karate and tried to merge it with the teachings of my Sensei to create a set of rules that would outline what good, traditional Karate is. Now its important to state that this is not MY Karate nor am I the arbitrator of what makes Karate good. I don’t particularly like Sport Karate and I think using Karate as a sport is a bit like trying to use a grizzly bear as a beast of burden, it does not match and you probably could do it…but its stupid. By Sport Karate I mean those that do not use the Shobu Ippon ideals for rules. I find that Shobu Ippon rules create a “if you really did this” kind of mentality as opposed to the Sport Karate ideal of “Tag you are it”.

                Here are the five rules that I use to define Showa Karate Keiko or traditional Karate training and traditional Karate in general.

 

Rule one: All Showa Karate must follow the ideals of Ikken Hissatsu

                The most important aspect of Showa Karate is that it follows the ideals of Ikken Hissatsu. Ikken Hissatsu, roughly translated is “to annihilate with one punch or a single blow”.  This concept is meant to focus your training on a powerful single blow ending a fight, but it does not mean we believe that we can hit a person once and end the fight, its an aspiration! Every single strike should be executed with the intent of ending a confrontation instantly, but we know it could take more than one of these to actually complete this task.

                The term comes from a samurai Maxim of “Ichi geki Hissatsu” or “one strike, certain death”. As an ideal the focus should be more on resolving a self defense situation as quickly as possible and training so that you can accommodate this. Completely incapacitating a opponent with a single blow or as few as possible and as quickly as you can.

                Yahara Sensei uses the term “ichigeki Hissatsu” or the single devastating strike  used to end any confrontation with a single, ultimate killing blow. He believes that if the Waza is not strong enough to actually kill, if no control was put in place, that it is not true Budo.

                That all good but what does it actually mean?  It means that you have to train your hardest to develop that single death dealing blow! It requires training and body mechanics and it is not about throwing wild, recless punches but it does mean acting like a sniper, picking your targets and then having the trained weapons to strike that target and end the fight. Frivolous and fancy techniques with low pay off but high difficulty are not part of the deal. Train hard to be effective, efficient and to have the best form you can with great power.

 

Rule Two: one must seek to grow as a person (Shoshin)

                One of the strangest phenomena that I have noted over the years is the “I don’t need to learn anymore” issue that some seniors in Karate get. Its important to note that Sensei Dingman would often got to seminars simply to learn and enjoy, he once told me that the most fun he has had is going and training under masters like Tanaka or Imura and just showing up and learning. He hated being called out or acknowledged in big groups so it was nice to just show up, throw on your Dogi and go and train. He knew what Shoshin actually meant.

                Shoshin is the concept of a “beginners Mind” from Zen Buddhism and it means coming into a learning situation with an attitude of openness and eagerness to learn. Advance practitioners need to apply this the same as juniors to really learn and benefit from study. One of the biggest issues over time is people forget that there is so much to learn, so much to hone and polish that you will never get to a point in which you don’t need to study or train, there is always more to do and more to learn.

                The practice of Shoshin is a counter to hubris and close mindedness, it attacks ego and it creates a mental state in which you are open to change and open to learning. It ensures you will never think yourself an expert who does not need to learn or grow any further. The “Expert Trap” is a real mental issue in which a practitioner feels that they are an expert and there is nothing they do not know about a subject. This close minded state of mind creates a horrible situation in which people are incapable of continued learning and with the Showa Karate focus you must be willing to think and learn continuously to grow and develop.

 

Rule Three: Kata must be as real as possible, Bunkai must be repeatable and realistic.

                In sport Karate the “art” of Kata has become an athletic performance with no spirit or soul.  Kata should have several key components for it to meet the Showa Karate Keiko requirements. First, it must be as real as possible, the applications should be repeatable and realistic not fantastical and fancy and totally unreliable in a real situation. The applications should be simple, useable by many different people and practical.

                I remember seeing Youtube videos of Empi/Enpi with Dingman Sensei and asking him if he felt the application of the Kata presented were……well he cut me off and said “Well that’s crap isn’t it”. The point was that the person doing the Kata was presenting the fanciest applications and trying to “Sell himself” as an expert, but the real expert was not fooled. While some would be stary eyed and looking at the fancy wrist work that he was doing the true expert said “it’s a punch…not a wrist lock” and that was it.

                The Kata should not be overly dramatic or used to impress based on the athletic ability of a student. Kata is not a demonstration or performance per see, it’s a learning tool for movement, functional application and dynamics. The Kata teaches strategy, Tactics and different aspects of self defense. They are also laid out in a very specific order.

                 You start off your Kata journey learning kata from the Shitei series of Kata or Takyoku to Tekki Shodan and then you learn the Senti Katas or Empi/Enpi, Jion, Kanku dai and Bassaid Dai. Each Kata builds on the lessons that they are teaching to help build and develop students/practitioners.  At the higher end the Jiyu Kata or free selection Kata will help drive your style and lessons based on your skills. What drives me nuts is when you see a Purple belt doing Unsu…but I digress.

                Kata should be as real as possible and the mentality of training in Kata is one of learning basics, understanding and working fundamentals and pushing to develop repeatable and realistic Bunkai to work with partners to help drill in self defense. This is the key to Showa Karate Keiko Kata training.

 

Rule Four: Training must be serious and intense.

                Its fine if during a class you have fun, its encouraged and it helps bridge training for some people, however the majority of your  training should be earnest and serious, intense and focused.  You can not run a Dojo nor can you train successfully if you are not doing so with proper intent and proper focus.  During a class you can and should joke around a bit and even socialize, but the bulk of your training should be done in a very strict intent and serious way.

                Sensei Dingman used to say that you can joke around during your class only as the instructor about 5% of the time, the rest of the time should be used to guide and direct students and to be as serious as possible. Preparation for classes should be set so that you know the focus of the class and can flow as you teach, making it personal with stories and fun anecdotes will keep the students attention but they should also be taught that they need to push themselves to be more serious and keep the intensity during class.

                One thing I see in more modern students is the difference in attitude that they have during drills or basics. The search for snap and power is missing. They don’t understand the 0-10-0 or relax-contract-relax response to training that they should see. The simple act of taking up a front stance and throwing reverse punches over and over looks loose and sloppy when it should be tight, mechanically perfect and filled with spirit. One thing to strive for as an instructor is the seriousness and spirit that you need in each class, from the most exciting Kumite training to the very basic Waza work that focuses on details. Self improvement comes from holding oneself to a higher personal standard each class.

 

Rule Five: Showa Karate Keiko is Shogai Keiko-Training for life.

                The most important rule that I formulated based on Dingman Sensei’s teaching is the idea that Karate is Shogai or for life. Shogai means a Lifetime Career and refers to ones duration of life. Dingman Sensei made Karate his life and he lived a simple life teaching Karate and trying to grow it in Manitoba. Im not saying that Karate should be your whole life, what I am saying however is you can practice it for your whole life.

                There is a bad trend in society right now in that Karate is being used as a baby sitting tool and or seen as a sport for youth and then once they are done with their “Competition years” they leave practice and don’t look back. The JKA is doing something amazing however, and not just them. Many of the big groups are trying to reverse this trend by creating the “Masters division” and pushing it hard in tournaments. Its essentially a way for older people to still compete. This is an okay outlet but also leaves people missing the point in a lot of ways.

                Competition should represent 10% or less of your training. Your training in Karate should be focused on health, wellness and longevity through smart, continued training. Shogai means that you will be able to start training young and train until you shake off your mortal coil.  Funakoshi trained for life; Nakayama trained for life and so on and so forth. Its only in the west that we tend to see Karate as a short-term sport and often for the young only. The reality is that Karate can help you through your life time from childhood help with physical and mental development to an older adult needing to maintain strength and Vigor.  Karate truly must be Shogai or it is not Budo Karate.

 

Simply put this is Showa Karate. Showa Karate is a Budo Karate concept that should meet and be formed based on these five principles or rules and while they are not exhaustive, they do illustrate my ideals for Showa Karate Keiko.

Shoshin no Keiko

 The other day I was sitting down after a workout and…I wont lie and say meditating, I was more sitting and drinking some water and contemplating training.  My training as of late has been kind of lack luster. I am in the middle of a very complex and confusing situation, trying to plan out my training and getting my ass back into shape.  Before COVID I was just bobbing up and own wondering when motivation would hit me. We just joined a fantastic organization and I was pushed a bit to get in shape and restart a lot of things I had been doing in the past to condition the body, but I was mostly just doing Karate four times a week. 

COVID hit and I started doing a lot…I mean a LOT of cardio, dropped a few pounds but as the year went on I kept doing the cardio but the diet became a see food diet….no you read that right. I also started drinking a tiny bit with the wife. We had our “Night caps” and the pounds rushed on. Then the lock down ended and we got back to regular training at the club…and I was in trouble.  I started to work on a training program and then got hit with my Sensei passing away and was yet again side tracked.

I don’t want to make excuses, I suffered from what a lot of people suffered from, emotional burn out! I mean the effects of paying to much attention to others opinions really weighed down on me. I took in what the right was saying and lapped up the lefts rhetoric, I watched CNN and Fox and was burned out totally after a year of being stuck in my basement trying to do the job I had been doing for 18 years in an office.  Office work was hard enough on my body but now my brain was fried.  I read and wrote so much that I was even burning out on Karate and other topics I love.

I mean it, I finished two books and hundreds of articles on Karate and read so many books, watched countless hours of TV and youtube and was hooked on junky foods and my only real outlet was zoom classes once a week with my students, having dropped from twice to once a week.  My conditioning and mental condition were terrible and to add to that you were being torn apart by different groups all trying to convince you the other was wrong. My training became shorter and shorter and my attention span for running and Karate was limited. I used the winter to justify the end to my cardio as well. Even though most of it was done on a treadmill to begin with. I was lost, board and worse…..discouraged from even trying to rekindle my fire.  ‘

Some events would put me into a bit of a training mood mind you. Tournaments came up and I rushed to try and get ready to officiate, so I worked MY STUDENTS really hard, but myself…well not so much. I had seminars with a great instructor from out of town, again I would push myself a bit but say “its for the students” and not really focus on my own training. Hip injuries, back problems all were used as crutches and excuses. Then I found a book by David Goggins that was supposed to motivate me, and while its given me a tone of little things I can use to push myself, it basically made me feel worse with each failed attempt to plan a training program, never mind actually training. My work outs were fairly limited to the odd gym “accidental work out” and Karate. I ended up in a quagmire of lost hope and boredom with the normal training, looking for new things and something to spark my interest.

I had lost track of something my instructor had told me years before….”Shoshin no Keiko” Train…like a beginner. I was sitting their after a lack luster work out lead by a good junior instructor after an online class and I just sat their wanting to know why I could not rekindle the spark I had years before…I had forgotten the true nature of Shoshin no Keiko…

Lots of instructors use this term online, man do they like to use fancy Japanese terms, but they miss the true feeling you need. They talk about stepping back to basics, to training in Junior Kata but it’s the feeling you have that you need to cultivate. Shoshin no Keiko is not about doing super basic techniques in high repetitions or they start doing three step sparring and try to “virtue signal” that they are doing Shoshin training.

Shoshin no Keiko is the insertion of the wonder factor, the ability to train in something and see new things, or experience new feelings while doing something. Its being open to the fact that you DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING EVER, and being okay with the knowledge that you can still experience something new or understand something new and others may have insights you don’t. it’s a missing feeling with higher ranking egos that really makes their training impossible to move into the Shoshin no Keiko arena.  No one knows everything in Karate…period.  Not saying “Do everything” Im saying “Know everything”. 

As instructors we can know a lot, we may not be physically able to do everything. Sensei Dingman once told me that he could feel himself losing a step as he was training and getting older. Now granted to me, I could not see this nor would I have but he said he could coach an athlete to be amazing, but he was never sure how much they KNEW.  It was far more fulfilling for him to see acknowledgement in a Karate students eyes than to see them perform at a tournament.

For me the focus of my training now is trying to get that feeling of awe and “Fresh eyes” on everything so that my feeling of wonder comes back and I begin to love and need to train.