The House of Nakayama

中山正敏館?

“Shotokan” literally translated means “house of Shoto” (Shoto being the pen-name of Gichin Funakoshi). Karate practiced by followers of Gichin Funakoshi is very much the way of life Master Funakoshi was hoping for, with little emphasis placed on competition as he did not feel it was in the spirit of karate, but later allowed some minimal amount of competition to avoid inter-dojo fights and to open Shotokan karate to a larger audience. Instead, more time is spent on being good human beings who push their own personal limits. This is justification for why the passing criteria for a belt level is flexible to some degree, as individual growth is variable and so cannot be pigeon-holed into a rigid predefined box of grading criteria.

Karate in the Olympic Games Part 3

Based on a recent interview with Okazaki Sensei published by “The Shotokan Way” (see here), it seems unlikely that karate will ever be in the Olympics under the governance of the ISKF. This should not come as a surprise to many, however, given that the WKF has already been identified by the IOC as the “governing body” of karate. Not that karate will be in the Olympics in the near future .

Okazaki Sensei’s comments re: Judo bring to light an issue that has been swirling in my head since talk of Karate in the Olympics first came onto my radar. Does sport competition really turn the martial arts into less of a martial art? On the flip side, does increased competition make things better?

Sensei Yaguchi’s new book “Mind and Body: Like Bullett” expands on this concept at one point, explaining that free sparring was set up to last for only 1 point because any more and competitors would lose the “life or death” feel that is integral to martial arts. I think this is the key component to whether sport competition detracts from the “martial art” aspect of any of of our martial arts; the mindset that you as the competitor have towards the tournament and/or training.

I both agree and disagree with the aforementioned masters, I think that sport competition has the potential to cause the arts to become more of a sport and less of a martial art, but only if we let it. Only if we as the competitors go into competition with the mindset that it is just a game will it turn the arts into something else. Indeed multi-point rounds, such as those used by the WKF, do not have to cause you to lose site of the “life or death” mentality, though I can see how this would happen for many people. By always having a second chance the severity of being scored on does not sink in.

Perhaps the point that the aforementioned masters are trying to make is that there are no second chances in real life.

Looking Forward to ISKF Canada Nationals 2010, Winnipeg

Many are just returning from the 29th ISKF Canadian National Karate Championships in Calgary and I think all would agree that it was a great success. From an attendee’s perspective, the organization of the event was flawless. From a competitor’s perspective, the quality of competition was fierce.

Karate Survey: How do you like your Karate Tournament?

Medium? Rare? Well-done?

Wondering what people thought about the most recent ISKF Canadian National Karate Championships in Calgary, I thought I’d put together a brief survey to get your feedback. Prefer hotel tournaments over a gymnasium? Tatami mats vs. hardwood floors? Let us know.

Karate will not be in the Olympics in the near Future

I held out hope that maybe the IOC would find a place in their hearts for karate and vote it in for the 2016 Olympic games. No such luck. Once again, it has been outpaced by the likes of rugby and golf. Now we just hold out to see if it will be put back on the agenda for the IOC Session meetings in 2013 to be possibly considered again for the 2020 Olympics.

Perhaps with Brazil winning the 2016 bid, they’ll consider MMA in the Olympics! Let’s not hold our breaths. MMA competition at the level of UFC is not nearly wide spread enough, with only a half dozen countries seriously involved at present.

An Interview with Teruyuki Okazaki Pt 2

Interesting article that was circulated around our club, worth a read through.

http://www.theshotokanway.com/aninterviewwithteruyukiokazakipart209.html

Canadian Nationals ‘09 Training Progress

Nationals are just 6 days away and I haven’t blogged about my progress as much as I would have liked, but here goes nothing.

ISKF Calgary 2009 Canadian National Karate Championships Logo

Yoga

Yoga has been a blessing. I’ve taken about 15 minutes every morning for the last two months to do yoga in the morning. There are a few types of yoga and I’m no expert on either but what I’ve been doing is a form of hatha yoga. The routine has been:

Tokui kata: How Do I Choose the Right Kata for Me?

While practicing all my kata are important, I’ve had to choose a couple for extra practice at the 2009 Canadian National Karate Championships in Calgary in October. The questions I’ve been tossing around are:

• should I determine my body type and choose two kata from that type? or,
• choose a kata from the two main types of kata: sho-rin and sho-rei?

Let’s see…

Black Belt – Rank or Degree?

To earn the right to call ourselves a black belt we generally spend a few years training at least a couple days a week, and in the case of many karateka even a few hours a day both inside and outside the dojo. How different is this to the amount of effort put into earning a university degree? I would argue that it is not at all different.

Lyota Machida and Shotokan Karate

Whenever UFC and karate come up in the same discussion, its also certain that someone will mention how “very Shotokan” Lyoto Machida is. I’ll start by saying that Machida is one of my favourite UFC competitors, but a pure Shotokan fighter, he is not.

The only thing “Shotokan” about Machida (and please keep in mind that even he calls it Machida Karate) is his strategy in avoiding attacks from his opponents. His punches, kicks, blocks (or lack thereof) are the same as many others in UFC and other MMA leagues. Freeze-frame a few techniques and you’ll see that they aren’t “pure” Shotokan at all. In fact, if you didn’t know he was a Shotokan practitioner, you wouldn’t say most techniques were characteristically Shotokan.

Shotokan instructor: his shoulder, hips, and leg are out of alignment / LOLcat: pour form? He haz it!

His strategy of shifting away from an attack, something he does better than anyone else in UFC (NSFW), is about the only trace of “pure” Shotokan that exists in his fights.

So why do so many Shotokan folks hail Machida as the primary evidence of Shotokan Karate’s effectiveness? People rally behind him and say “SEE? This is why Shotokan works!” or “You can defend yourself too! Just look at Lyoto Machida”. Try to compare yourself to him. Lyoto Machida:

1. studies several types of martial arts,
2. spends several hours a day, 5-6 days a week training,
3. engages in weight lifting and plyometric training,
4. has several personal coachs,
5. operates and trains in a club, and
6. fights against some of the best UFC fighters available on a regular basis

… among other activities (probably eats right). If you, or anyone you know, do 3 or more of these things then you might stand a chance to be as proficient as he is. Otherwise, venerating a false god could be dangerous. Just go back to your semi-weekly classes and unquestioning faith in what is taught and you’ll be better off.