Ryukenkan Dojo - Tauranga New Zealand
"Karate in Paradise" - It's a rough task, but someone has to do it!
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Ryukenkan Dojo - Tauranga New Zealand "Karate in Paradise" - It's a rough task, but someone has to do it!
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Guiding Principle 8 "In the past a single kata was studied for three years. A long time ago, a particular Master studied a kata for over ten years. Do not think you have mastered a kata and become proud of your success. Pride will lead to hurt your achievements in virtue and technique, thus pride can be like a poison to the world." While we learn new kata at each belt level, it takes at least 3 years to be able to perform the kata with a degree of skill and finesse. It also takes time to understand the "feel" of the motions, to capture a glimpse of the spirit of the kata as its creator intended and to begin to truly own the motion. Kata takes time to understand and to perform correctly. There is no short-cut, there is no easy way. "A long time ago, a particular Master studied a kata for over ten years." Now that's commitment! In the United Ryukyu Kempo Alliance, as Yudansha (Black Belts) develop, they take a Tokucho, or speciality kata. They study this kata in depth and become familiar with its intricacies in far more detail than other kata they know. Yudansha are able to apply their understanding of their Tokucho Kata to other kata and express their understanding of the principles and concepts through their Tokucho Kata. "Do not think you have mastered a kata and become proud of your success" This goes hand-in-hand with Guiding Principle Two - to develop humbleness. There's nothing wrong with a pat on the back when you get something right, but do not let yourself become complacent and believe you've seen it all. Just when you think there's no more, another concept or principle will show itself. Studying kata is like painting by numbers. Each time you practice you add a little more paint to the picture and eventually you begin to see the image develop. When the picture seems complete, you'll think you have it down pat, then you'll learn something in another kata which makes you realise that the same rule applies to the kata you've "mastered" and voila, more paint to add and the picture becomes even clearer again. "Pride will lead to hurt your achievements in virtue and technique, thus pride can be like a poison to the world." As before, there's nothing wrong with a pat on the back when things go well, but pride can lead to complacency and when you drop your guard, all your efforts and abilities go out the window as you slip backwards. Just like climbing a mountain, if you don't take care with your footing or the placement of your safety lines, you may fall.
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