Holding Back Information

There are some in martial arts who will not teach you everything they know and not just because you're not good enough to understand or because you can't be trusted not to misuse the knowledge, but rather to keep knowledge to themselves. This would have been common practice in the days of Samurai or early competitive dojos, when trade secrets had to be guarded. But knowledge is still power. Again, the same reason is probably behind it - fear of loosing competitive advantage. The fact that karate is made up of many slightly different factions who split apart to form more groups, each holding tightly to their particular variations, does not help. It was refreshing to hear Jonathan Mottram saying that he would teach anyone everything he knew, but didn't fear this because he would still practice harder than them and be better! More like Jonathan please.

Martial Arts - Frozen In Time

At some point in the future, I would like to visit Japan. Firstly because it would be fascinating and I hope, fun, but also because I want to see for myself how karate is really done by Japanese in Japan. Why? Simply because karate is a Japanese invention and includes practices based on Japanese culture and tradition. Unfortunately, not all teachers do this. As in any other subject, in addition to being an expert in their subject, a good teacher should be a nice human being with a certain standard of moral behavior and awareness of current practice.   To find a teacher will all 3 things - talent, personality and up to date skills is rare. Talent and personality are very much down to the individuals hard work and nature, however keeping up to date can be done by anyone. Many believe that regular travel to Japan is essential for anyone serious about karate. This is not just to get close to the original teachings, but rather to be aware of the directions it is taking and the way it is currently practiced in a day to day manner. If a person visits in the distant past, then their practice is essentially frozen in that time. An analogy would be British Colonies behaving in a more British was than the Brits - except they are not practicing current British behavior, but rather that of a previous era. Well it can be like that in karate, with poorer instructors adhering rigidly to disciplines that have long died out in Japan or practicing them without ever really understanding the real purpose. To overcome this it is better to visit Japan regularly and develop contacts there and not to rely on second-hand, outdated information.