Karate seems at times to be quite paradoxical. You need to be relaxed, yet strong and flexible, yet decisive. These are words that come out of my teachers mouth and until recently I didn't get it. Now I get it, but I can't do it - that's going to take ages, years possibly. For example, if you are relaxed when you punch or move, you are much faster (don't forget to tense the fist when it actually meets its target). Also, since you don't have your own muscular tension holding you back, so you are not just faster, but stronger too. This is demonstrated really well by Inoue Yoshimi, an amazing Japanese man with a great smile, who looks deceptively harmless, in the links below.
Inoue Yoshimi demonstrates the power of relaxation
Additionally, while kata is fixed - there is only one correct move down to the angle of the wrist, ultimately it is a demonstration of combat and combat is not predictable. Here Inoue demonstrates the first three moves of pinan shodan and how they can be adapted in a combat situation. Remember, 'I was adapting it for a combat situation' will not do in the dojo, it still has to be perfect!
Pinan Shodan - flexible in the hands of a master
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