A Heian Shodan exercise

Here's a kata/combination exercise I sometimes do at our club. First of all, do Heian Shodan. Next, do it again, but this time, before every oi-zuki, put in a mae-geri with the step (eg. gedan-barai, mae-geri, oi-zuki). On the third run-through, as well as the mae-geri, add a gyaku-zuki after each age-uke. Do it again, with all the previous additions, but now turn each oi-zuki into sanbon-zuki. Finally, after each shuto-uke, add a kizami mawashi-geri. It's a great warm-up exercise, and good kihon combination practice.

Kata: perception and experience

At a training session a couple of weeks ago sensei asked some of the black belts to critique her Hangetsu kata. One of my fellow yudansha suggested that the first set of moves did not come across as strong enough, perhaps lacking the dynamic tension that usually accompanies the techniques. Sensei took the point but said that she was engaging the tension and felt it, and this brings up an aspect of kata that I feel quite strongly about - the experience of doing a kata for yourself against the perception of an outsider who can mostly only view the kata as a performance.

My belief is that kata is not a performance for others, which is why I'm not interested in competition karate (and I'm not saying there is no skill in competition kata - of course there is). I'm not fanatical about ending on exactly the same spot on which I started the kata, and I don't consider my kata a failure if I put in an extra shuffle into an attacking technique, or if I occasionally target a nukite at the throat rather than the solar plexus.

What matters is how it feels to me as I fight along the embusen. I use the word 'fight' here quite deliberately. When I do a kata, it is a fight. I am delivering fighting techniques in order to practice them in movement, but I also take on a serious martial attitude and try to put 100% into every technique. I 'see' the enemy, I imagine the move against an invisible force. The fight is internal.

I said that I don't necessarily do every technique perfectly, but I do attempt to. That is also part of the fight - overcoming my physical failings to try and execute the moves with precision as best as I can. Technical perfection is not the be-all and end-all of kata, but you shouldn't use that as an excuse for bad technique. You know when you've missed the mark, or when you've 'phoned it in', and when you do, the only loser is yourself.

In relation to that, this is not a defence against criticism or constructive comments, which are helpful - and a good teacher or fellow student can always point out areas of improvment. If I felt that a mae geri I did within a kata felt particularly strong, but someone later pointed out that my heel was off the ground, I would note that and next time try to combine the strong front kick with better stability - the fight goes on. Similarly, if sensei felt she was putting in good dynamic tension, but her sempai suggested it could be better, that will make her question her technique and focus on it next time.

Still, we've all seen those YouTube comments where the writer criticises the performance (and it becomes a performance as soon as it is for the benefit of a viewer, even if unintended) because a fist is an inch too high, or the move appears to lack kime, and I think the majority of those comments show a lack of understanding of what kata is really about. They are interested only in show, and kata is not show.

Many of these comments are from students of one style criticising another style that they don't understand, or are totally ignorant about. Just look at the comments under almost any Shotokai kata ...

"... it's like a poor japanese imitation of tai chi, except tai chi would whup your ass... go learn a real style"
"umm but wheres the impact?"
"His limbs are a bit flimsy, more hard work on overall basics, speed and Kimi, and it will be there."
"Is this a joke?..."
"... no kime! this is a power kata not a dance?"
"looks like shotokan ... but with no effort, my 9 year old does it like that"

All these commenters are showing, in my opinion, is their ignorance of another style and, probably, a bit of self-delusion about their own ability too!

Another aspect is the physical limitations of the person doing the kata. A person who can only kick knee-high is doing no less of a kata than someone who shows off by doing all their yoko-geri a foot above their own head level. No two people have the same physical ability, no two people do a kata the same way.

I am always pleased when I finish a kata and felt my techniques were nearly faultless, when every punch snapped and my kicks felt as though they could take someone's head off; when I jumped and spun and landed like a cat, and when my kime caused a glance or two. Rare, but nice. I have also had a kata recorded on video that felt as though it was a real battle, where I lived every technique, and then viewed it later to see it looked about as vibrant as a wet fish (that's another thing about video, of course, it automatically strips off a layer or two of vibrancy no matter how good the kata).

There's always room for improvement, but kata aren't for collecting on video to impress - what matters is the sweat and intention and what it adds to me as a karateka, how it improves me, not how it entertains or impresses others.

It's nice to see a showy kata, but it's a diversion. Kata is all about making yourself better.

There are two different things going on here.

Books

From my karate library (which consists of 74 books - I just counted) I have only three which show Kanku-sho. Two of these are by the same author, Hirokazu Kanazawa, and the other is volume 9 of Masatoshi Nakayama's Best Karate series. I have a real affection for the older JKA manuals and videos, but at the same time it was Kanazawa (who used to be JKA, of course) who first impressed me as an individual. At our club we tend to go to Kanazawa for reference when needed.

Best Karate vol. 9 was published in 1985 (by Kodansha International), and is a departure from previous manuals in the series in that the photographs are not cut-outs, but complete with backgrounds. It's much nicer, I think, than the cut-outs - though those are perfectly adequate, if a little wonky at times! Mikio Yahara demonstrates Kanku-sho in this book, with the other kata contained in that volume being Bassai-sho and Chinte.

The older Kanazawa book is one I owned a long time ago, got rid of in a book-purge, and then re-purchased a few years ago because I missed it - it is Shotokan Karate International Kata vol 2 (published in 1982). The other is Sensei Kanazawa's more recent tome, Karate The Complete Kata (Kodansha International, 2009). This is a wonderful book, largely thanks to having the entire syllabus under one cover, but also because of the useful descriptions accompanying each technique. The only downside is that the photos are tiny, which is where the earlier manual comes into its own with much larger and clearer photographs.

All three include a few basic bunkai at the end of each section, some of it not so good ... for instance, in Best Karate, Yahara demonstrates both the manji-kamae and the kasui-ken as being blocks against two simultaneous attackers. There's also some Hong-Kong-Phooey jumping over a staff. It's all fine for a bit of fun. These are made up for with some fine points of the kata demonstrated by Sensei Nakayama.

In both his books Kanazawa just shows the same two very simple applications (one technique and one sequence), only in the second one he's 27 years older (but still looking pretty sharp!). He has one of his sempai photographed for the actual kata in the 2009 publication (I couldn't find a name).

There are few minor but notable differences between Kanazawa and the 1980s JKA. Kanazawa includes an osae-uke in the main sequence, whereas Nakayama keeps the open hand out high, purely as a counter-movement to the uraken. In the morote-zuki (kiba dachi), Kanazawa has introduced a middle-level forearm block (ude-uke) in preparation of the side double-punch; Yahara shows just a wind-up for the strike. Kanazawa is more elegant and has standardised what probably otherwise has a lot of variation, though Nakayama could be said to be more pragmatic and direct. The haishu-uke is shown as a jodan technique by Kanazawa whereas the JKA instruct it should be to shoulder level - still technically jodan, but not as high.

If you're after Shotokan manuals for kata, these are certainly among the very best available, and you can see both Kanazawa and Yahara demonstrate Kanku-sho with the aid of YouTube.

My view on jumps

Shotokan has a number of jumps that appear within its kata. The first the student will come across is in Heian Godan, where you turn, jump, and land in a gedan juji-uke and kosa dachi. It can be quite a challenge, especially to land in position without overbalancing.

The first application I was told for this was that you were jumping over a sword, or a staff, and the juji uke was to then disarm the weapon. At the time, as a 16-year old in the mid 1980s, I accepted this explanation, but it's fairly blatantly ridiculous now (though there's no harm, every now and then, in doing a kata and pretending you're in a Kung Fu film, jumping over swords etc. - have some fun!). These days it's generally accepted that a turning jump indicates a throw (there are other hidden throws in kata with no jump, of course - the first appearing in Heian Shodan).

So why keep the jump? Surely it's silly to keep it in, and has only been put there to look good in competitions. While I think it's important to know the real meaning of the turn and jump in a Shotokan kata, I also think jumping serves a purpose beyond providing an opportunity for the more talented karateka to show off - it develops coordination, balance and athleticism, all good stuff in addition to the practical fighting aspect. It's also a great physical challenge, one - no matter what your personal physical ability - you can always strive to keep working at and improve.

Training

Karate training last night was given over to kata and, slightly different from usual, we split off into pairs to work on various things.

Firstly I went with K, whose kata is Ji'in, and who I am partnering for his bunkai. We went through Ji'in a few times and I firmed up the moves a little better than I previously had them. Then we chose the three sections K will be demonstrating for bunkai. K came up with a good sequence for two of the combinations but is going to go away and think a little more on the remaining one as nothing good came up right away. I like Ji'in. It's not one of the 'fifteen' and I believe the JKA have dropped it from their syllabus, but I'm glad to have it in my repertoire.

Next I partnered sensei for her kata - Hangetsu. As I had done this kata for my 1st dan test (back in 1989) I watched it and gave a few notes - only a few minor things (I haven't done it much myself recently). Then we tried out her bunkai.

My Kanku-sho was next. It was better than last time but I still didn't 'feel it'. The first three moves are deceptively hard and I think it can affect the rest of the kata if you don't start well. My bunkai sequences are: i) the main sequence of soete kaki-dori, mae geri, osae uke, uraken, uchi uke, and nihon zuki (not sure yet whether to include the turn and kasui-ken); ii) the morote jo-uke and jo-zukami tsuki otoshi; and iii) the haishu uke, mikazuki geri and tobi ushiro geri.

That last one I did with the haishu blocking and grabbing a punch that comes from behind, as I turn into the mikazuki geri I turn my assailant's wrist and when the mikazuki geri connects it is against the locked arm - a bit of an arm breaker. I then continue with the momentum round into an ushiro geri - not jumping, though I may attempt that with practice. This is keeping it fairly simple rather than coming up with a fancy explanation for the jump.

The jo-uke sequence was also fairly successful with the front arm being a taisho block to the assailant's elbow joint and the back hand grabbing the wrist simultaneously (against a punch). The next move then twists their arm and pushes them down. The jump and turn into shuto uke becomes a turn and throw (no jump) - it works quite well. I know this is traditionally said to be against a bo or jo, but I'm not to keen on the idea of catching a wooden staff (or metal baseball bat) that is being used to attack me!

As for the main sequence, I tried out the obvious bunkai but it didn't feel very satisfactory, so like K with Ji'in, I'm going to go and away and think about that some more, but I probably won't stray too far from it.

For the rest of the session we did more kata - all the Heians, Bassai-dai and Gankaku. I feel quite confident with these kata and I enjoyed doing them, they felt strong. My yoko-geri were particularly pleasing - my hips have been a little inflexible recently but they felt back in form, for that evening anyway!

It's about time this blog had a picture, so here's a nice one of Sensei Kanazawa doing the Kasui-ken (fire and water fist) from Kanku-sho.

Introduction

The focus of my karate training is kata. I have not been one to accumulate as many as I can - I prefer to add them to my repertoire only when I feel I'm ready for a new one, which is rarely! At my first club we only learnt the kata that was required for our next grading, so each became a well practised form with little distraction.

Up until about 2 years ago (25 years of karate, with a couple of gaps in training) I knew only the Heians (1-5), Tekki Shodan, Bassai-dai, Kanku-dai, Jion, Empi, and Hangetsu (which I did for my 1st dan test). When I was awarded my 2nd dan I decided to add two more kata and taught myself Tekki Nidan and Gankaku. I had intended to keep to just these for the moment, but through weekly club training I had Bassai-sho, Wankan and Ji'in added, though I didn't delve in too deeply, I must admit.

A few months ago it was suggested that each of the black belts at our club should choose an advanced kata and study it in more depth. At first I couldn't decide between Empi (one of my favourites) and Gankaku (which is the kata I felt I was currently studying). Both of these were made off-limits when a fellow student chose Gankaku before me (we all had to have a different kata) and it was thought I should learn something new rather an old favourite (Empi). Some of the other black belts vaguely knew Kanku-sho, and I had tagged along with it on occasion, so I decided to dive in more fully and Kanku-sho became my choice.

So this blog is here to act as a kind of notebook to aid my study of the kata. I will look at the kata's history and origins as well as its application and technical details. We have to present our kata on April 18th 2012, performing it slowly and technically once through, and at normal speed twice, as well as demonstrate three extracts in application and talk about the kata (origins, meaning and character of the form).

Furthermore, this blog will reflect my own philosophy of karate, which is somewhat on the budo side of things. I am interested in pragmatism too, but it is not my sole focus - I'm into self-development rather than feeling the need to be able to fight on the street! I would be happy to welcome comments if anyone happens across this blog and has something to say, but any comments that are prejudicial (against karate as a martial art, or Shotokan as a style) will be deleted at my discretion. My view is that there is no art, style or outlook that is better than another, it is all about the individual and what they want from their art.

One last thing - not every entry will necessarily be about Kanku-sho specifically and I may, from time to time, write about other karate related topics.

Update: Having decided to continue the blog beyond my Kanku-sho research, I have changed the name to Karate Kagami, You can see my Kanku-sho research codified into an article here.