Many students generally assume that the Karate Shotokan Kata, we are referring to forms pinan shodan through pinan five, contain the true karate. Interestingly, while one can find much art in the shotokan forms, there have also been some variations from the true art. Let me go over a couple of points, and offer a specific technique to backup my theory.
The pinans, or heians, as they are called in the Japanese, are commonly thought to be create by Ankoh Itosu. There may be some other contributors, but Sensei Itosu is thought of as the father of modern karate. You will find his forms in shito ryu kata, isshin ryu kata, and spread throughout the martial arts world.
The problem with the japanese interpretation is that the japanese students altered the kata more for power, and left out certain subtle distinctions. These distinctions provide inroads into all sorts of ways of developing the power of the karate art. Indeed, if one could trace the development of karate one would be led back to kung fu.
Returning to gung fu might be good and it might be bad, depending on where you want your art to take you. But, that said, the concept that there is only straight power, that the forms must be done only for power, is rather short sighted. One does not normally make a masterpiece by using only black and white.
To look at one technique that will illustrate what I am saying here, let's take a move from pinan 5. The move is midway through the form, and you assume a horse stance, swing the right hand across the body to block the left side, then shoot a left fist out to the left side. This is a very combat practical karate technique, and filled with power.
The intent, in shotokan, is to explode form the tan tien, always explode from the tan tien, and just power through your opponent. When you do the older versions of the form, however, you will find that the moving of the right hand across the body sets up a 'swirl of energy' in the body. Thus, you swirl the energy around, and then shoot it out your arm.
When doing this move one is going to get the pivot of the hips, the weight drop, the stability of stance, and all the other things which make for truly effective karate. But, one will also, by swirling the energy inside the body, find all sorts of energetical feelings that are not available in a more simplistic, version of the art. Indeed, I am sure that a ten year study of the art would teach a student this, and I am sure that this is the kind of thing that sensei Funakoshi had in mind when he recommended doing a single kata for ten years.
Now, I am sure many karateka have come across the type of energy manifestation that I have written of here, and I have chosen it for my example because it is easy to see. The point, however, is that there are countless techniques in the classic forms, pre-shotokan, which create and develop this kind of karate energy flux. The question, therefore, becomes...can you relax your stringent upbringing in the art and develop such a flux in every technique in kata pinan five, and in every other move in all your forms?
The pinans, or heians, as they are called in the Japanese, are commonly thought to be create by Ankoh Itosu. There may be some other contributors, but Sensei Itosu is thought of as the father of modern karate. You will find his forms in shito ryu kata, isshin ryu kata, and spread throughout the martial arts world.
The problem with the japanese interpretation is that the japanese students altered the kata more for power, and left out certain subtle distinctions. These distinctions provide inroads into all sorts of ways of developing the power of the karate art. Indeed, if one could trace the development of karate one would be led back to kung fu.
Returning to gung fu might be good and it might be bad, depending on where you want your art to take you. But, that said, the concept that there is only straight power, that the forms must be done only for power, is rather short sighted. One does not normally make a masterpiece by using only black and white.
To look at one technique that will illustrate what I am saying here, let's take a move from pinan 5. The move is midway through the form, and you assume a horse stance, swing the right hand across the body to block the left side, then shoot a left fist out to the left side. This is a very combat practical karate technique, and filled with power.
The intent, in shotokan, is to explode form the tan tien, always explode from the tan tien, and just power through your opponent. When you do the older versions of the form, however, you will find that the moving of the right hand across the body sets up a 'swirl of energy' in the body. Thus, you swirl the energy around, and then shoot it out your arm.
When doing this move one is going to get the pivot of the hips, the weight drop, the stability of stance, and all the other things which make for truly effective karate. But, one will also, by swirling the energy inside the body, find all sorts of energetical feelings that are not available in a more simplistic, version of the art. Indeed, I am sure that a ten year study of the art would teach a student this, and I am sure that this is the kind of thing that sensei Funakoshi had in mind when he recommended doing a single kata for ten years.
Now, I am sure many karateka have come across the type of energy manifestation that I have written of here, and I have chosen it for my example because it is easy to see. The point, however, is that there are countless techniques in the classic forms, pre-shotokan, which create and develop this kind of karate energy flux. The question, therefore, becomes...can you relax your stringent upbringing in the art and develop such a flux in every technique in kata pinan five, and in every other move in all your forms?