Thoughts on the benefits of kata

Gichin Funakoshi wrote Karate Jutsu in the 1920's.  It was an early draft, and even Funakoshi considered it flawed apparently.

"In the old days all of this (training) was kept very secret, but around 1901-02 doctors who had been marveling at the fine muscular development of the primary school students and new military recruits they had been examining attributed their superior physical shape to karate.  Soon karate was incorporated into the physical education departments of normal and middle schools, and it finally made its public appearance in the world...Over a dozen years ago, when Shintaro Ogawa was still and 'Okinawan Prefectural School Superintendent, based on his investigation of the results of physical examinations of students and military conscripts, he concluded that the principal common denominator among those with superior physical builds was karate practice.  Moreover he discovered that this was true even among those who had practiced only a very short time..."

The primary method of training, according to Funakoshi, was kata.  Interestingly enough, even when the kata changed (for example when Heian became Pinan) the original forms were still retained and recorded for history.  The kata have continued to evolve, but the history is there.

As a physical exercise, kata had many of the advantages of dance.  Funakoshi actually talks about the Okinawan culture and history of dance and compares it favorably to karate practice.  It is a healthy and health promoting training method that does not always require a training partner or special equipment.

Kata are also a connection to history.  Shodokan's Goshin No Kata was apparently developed by Kenji Tomiki and one of his students, Hideo Ohba.  Goshin no Kata is an abridged form of Koryu Dai San, a kata that is one of six Koryu kata - and these six are not the whole system either.  

I met a teacher that did not teach suwariwaza.  It is included. 

Are weapons part of aikido?  Some will say no, but it's here. 

I was told (not by Sensei, but by multiple teachers) it was traditional that all techniques ended with a kneeling pin - and here is a time capsule that shows a wide variety of controls including leg locks, standing pins, and pins done from one knee. 

Some will say aikido does not contain strikes, but they are here. 

There are specific names for many movements that some teachers will say have "no names" or fall under "kokyunage."

In non-kata driven aikido, any of these topics can be controversial. 

The final Omote and Ura piece

I have made several changes to my original article on Omote and Ura, and broke it down by time period and usage.  I haven't written much about why I started going down this path.

I never started with the USAF.  I was a CAF student for about 15 years.  Sometimes Kawahara Sensei used Omote and Ura, and sometimes he just said, "another way," and sometimes he would say a technique was neither.  There was a large number of basics relatively speaking.

I moved to the USA for work, and met my wife who has always been a USAF student.  In 2010, the USAF published a new set of test requirements that added several new technique variations.  The local instructors claimed to not know what was what, and I wasn't sure either.    

I had vague ideas which ways were Omote and which were Ura.  Sometimes I could not understand Why a certain variation was considered Omote and another Ura.  Omote is about entering straight and in front, Ura is about turning and going behind.  Tenchinage is usually defined as entering behind but moving forward and belly to belly - elements of both ideas in one basic but clearly neither one.  Many techniques like Shihonage and Kotegaeshi do get distinguished in Omote and Ura now, but Nage is usually looking at Uke's back if the technique is done correctly.  Jujinage (Jujigarami) is always done looking at Uke's front, it is impossible to fold elbows across each other from anywhere other than the center line.  I learned by being told to do two ways or three ways of some movements and the variations were spelled out and clearly different but there was no overriding Heads or Tails principle that divided all types of movement.  We were specifically told some movements were neither.

For the brief period I spent with a Ki Society offshoot, I could see which was an Irimi and which was a Tenkan variation.  You can Irimi in front or behind, and Tenkan in front or behind - these are terms that describe the Nage's movement and not the relationship described by Omote or Ura.  The Tenchinage Tenkan had a Tenkan at the start.  For Tenkan or Irimi Tenchinage, the initial entries were different but the actual moment of the throw was identical.  More than rudimentary basics were very vaguely named, probably out of necessity.

Months ago, at my wife's instigation, I was surprised with an opportunity to ask my questions of a member of the technical committee.  He has over 50 years of training and teaching.  He is highly respected and highly skilled.  He is a solid innovator and a great teacher. 

I presented my questions to him:  that if Omote is in front and linear and Ura is behind and turning, then many techniques have elements of both and many techniques (Tenchinage for one) are not in either category. 

It speaks highly of this man's character that he heard me out and didn't wipe the floor with me.  He respected my confusion and didn't tell me, "because I said so."  He actually was humble enough to admit he had never been to Japan and didn't speak Japanese.

More than the language used, he told me the goal of the increase in requirements was to encourage students to do a technique in more than one way.  All of our techniques are all multifaceted with many variations.  Jodan, Chudan, and Gedan are different ways to neutralize an attack with the hands.  Irimi, Tenkan, and Tenshin are different basic ways to neutralize an attack with the feet; with body movement.  Uchi and Soto bring both together.  Timing explores our relationships temporally; use of Ma-ai and placement is an exploration of our physical anatomical relationships.

So, it's not about learning the right way or the right two ways.  It's about realizing there are many different right ways.