An Inspirational Sensei - The Art of Kata

Next week it will be six months since I took up karate. Prior to this my activity level had been close to zero - myself and exercise were like magnets that repelled, but no more. Six months ago I was 10st (too heavy at 5ft 1in), a tight size 12 and a 34DD cup. Now I'm 9st despite gaining muscle and size 10, a 32F cup and very pleased. The bust effect can only be explained by developing pectoralis major, since even karate cannot make your boobs bigger however visually, the effect is the same. Additionally, I feel happier and get to eat more - much more - presumably because my basal metabolic rate has increased from greater muscle mass and the additional calories burned through exercise. I also consume less alcohol which is good for me and assuming I don't get unlucky, I should live longer since all the exercise will lower my risk of death from cardiovascular disease and some cancers. Win, win, win.

I am eternally grateful to my Sensei who is wonderfully dedicated to the sport and to his club and without even knowing it has bestowed upon me F-cup tits. I watch him give children confidence and see the improvement in their behavior. He is also very tolerant of those who will never be good, or even moderately good. His area of expertise is kata. Sometimes watching him can be jaw-dropping. Kata done well is amazing to watch, it's not just the accuracy of the movements, it's the power. Replicating this is easier said than done. I've not written for a month and the reason is there's been nothing to tell, I'm stuck. I know the moves to six katas, but I lack what my Sensei calls 'technique'. By this he means power from the hip and probably a lot more besides. Essentially, the thing that makes kata different from dance. Without power there is no point. So this is the next challenge, because until I start to get this, I will not progress, but if anyone can teach me, he can.

Protection

I really like karate for all the reasons listed below.

• The fact that there is quite a lot of theory to learn, makes it interesting. 
• The need to practice to control your body, makes it challenging. 
• Focusing your mind and performing under pressure improves you strength of mind.
• You can practice anywhere and don't need special kit, so it is both convenient and suited to the self-conscious.
• Lastly, it makes you fit with all the benefits that come from being healthier and looking better.

These are all good things. There are for me however, two things I don't like:

• The threat of injury.
• Sparring.

I say "threat of injury", because I've never really been injured, neither has anyone else in the class, excluding bruises and a mildly sprained finger (you soon learn to tuck them away!), but I fear injury. This isn't entirely rational since as previously discussed, sparring is not fighting and in our class the body is the only target. No heads strikes permitted. You should make contact, but not hard enough to cause injury or discomfort. So the only real risk comes from error or loss of control. Unfortunately, I make errors and don't yet have much control. So here's the problem - it's the most junior people who are the most likely to get injured. I also tend to get paired with one of the other two females in the class who are like me - junior, not very good, lacking much control and not very keen on the whole sparring idea. Infrequently, I get to spar with one of the blokes. This is great for me and totally crap for him! I get lots of instruction and he gets - to be really careful. Also once you feel you're bad at something, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now when it's find-a-partner time, the unpaired female in the class is left like the unpopular kid during games who never gets picked for the team.

One thing that has helped is a chest guard. The blokes never mentioned these - hand and shin guards yes, boob protectors, no. We (the three women) discovered them after one of us received a blow to the boobs. Each of us now uses a different one. Mine is shown below.

The Cimax Econoguard, £25 approx. Particularly good since it has straps like a bra and fits really well. At least now I have no concerns regarding injury to the body and interestingly the blokes are a lot more relaxed, since the last thing they want to do is hurt anyone and boobs do take up most of the target zone on the front of the body. Now we can all relax.

You Are Your Only Opponent

Although a lot of thought is given over to potential opponents in martial arts - either in the form of sparring classmates or that would-be attacker - it seems more and more to me that karate is all about the person doing it and less about other people.

I have recently begun to think less about others - how I am doing vs. how they are doing - and more about what I am doing.  Sparring I now realize, is not fighting. It's about me making contact with my opponents body without causing injury or pain and not letting them do the same to me. If it were a fight, it would be a free for all, anything goes business. It is not. Similarly, training is only about me and what I do, or don't do. Carrying on in class even when my master thinks that 600 kicks followed by thirty minutes in horse stance is a normal warm up, is down to my mind over my body. Also, once shown a kata, is down to me to cement it into my mind, develop my understanding and then, test of tests, perform it under pressure. Mind and body working together. I am the only one who can fail.

What I had thought of until now as a sport practiced in order to be used against others, now seems to be a challenge for me alone. I'm not sure if this is a common feeling, but it feels quite lonely doing karate. I would add to that frustrating, but rather amazingly, I can do things now that I could not have done only four months ago. That in itself is incredible since I am not especially talented. I also look completely different then I did four months ago. I am thinner and more toned. I've dropped a dress size and feel better physically and mentally. For that I thank my master. Karate may be hard and it seems to me now lonely, but it is worth it!

Karate and Back Pain - Update

It's been about two months since I started to get lower back pain. I had hoped, in the absence of an injury, that it was caused by general strain from using new muscles and making new movements. I did three things:

1. Ensured I was in the correct stance without over arching my back
2. Did some yoga with focus on exercises for the lower back. I try to do 15 minutes most nights
3. Carried on with karate as usual

I'm relieved to find that a combination of these has worked. I now get the occasional ache after a hard session, but I'm better. So it probably was all due to being previously unfit and not having enough muscular support. From now on, I hope that being stronger and fitter along with the symmetrical focus on strengthening the core that goes with karate, will actually protect me from lower back problems in the future.

Moves Hidden Within Kata

Traditionally kata was a way of passing down sequences of moves. It is a form of combat done by one person against a series of unseen opponents with the aim of practicing fighting sequences. Each move has a meaning - it is a block or stroke against your opponents move. I'm not sure why this started, perhaps seeing and doing is more effective than text. Alternatively, it may have come about when martial arts such as karate were illegal and hence practiced in secret and could not be written down. However, over the years two things have happened; firstly, some of the meaning has been forgotten, or rather not passed on, and therefore you just have to make an educated guess as to what it was actually meant to mean. Secondly, many katas are simplified to the point that some moves are partial or only implied. Sometimes this was done to avoid exposing children to potentially killing strikes such as in the Pinan Katas which were specifically designed for children. For example a spear hand to the windpipe becomes one to the solar plexus instead. Fair enough.  However, some of the moves hidden within kata can be surprising. For example in Pinan Godan the final moves essentially comprise grabbing your opponents testicles and pulling them upwards to shoulder height rapidly whilst simultaneously thrusting your other hand down to strike his groin region, assuming the departure of his testicles was not a sufficient insult to stop his attack.

YouTube footage of Pinan Godan in a style similar to the way I have learned - the move described is at the end and repeated in mirror image - the 'pulling' hand moves very fast and is hard to see

This would be best performed with your opponent being male, naked and in horse stance for maximum ease. It does raise ethical issues regarding the appropriateness of attacking a man so described since he may not have full mental capacity. Alternatively, assuming a more typical, clothed opponent, it is likely you would pull both the clothing and groin upwards, tipping him off balance and perhaps the downwards strike is in fact to the head of your now falling opponent. That's the challenge of making up Bunkai! Either way, it is not always clear what the moves mean, but I find that if I invent an explanation, even an incorrect one, it makes the kata much easier to remember and to do well.

A Plug For Terry Pottage

I recently came across Terry Pottage - a 7th Dan Shito-Ryu - who has made a very helpful series of DVDs.

Amazon link to volume 1 - Pinan Katas

So far I've only invested in volume one - Pinan Katas. He goes through each kata at speed so that you get a feel for the timing, then slowly to give you a chance to visualize the technique and then explores some of the bunkai. Not too complex and it really helped me to understand what I was doing. He also comes across as a nice bloke.

Horse Stance, Cat Stance and Other Stances

Today I learned that horse stance is to me as stairs are to Kung Foo Panda. 

I am really only comfortable with three stances - standard, cat and horse. Cat stance, which has the wonderfully rhythmic Japanese name of neko-ashi-dachi, is hard and needs to be practiced again and again. Up and down to get the weight distribution correct (80% on the back leg, so that the front foot can be lifted off the ground without loosing balance) and the synchronous arm and foot movements. Cat stance looks obviously wrong when not done correctly. Standard stance and horse stance are much easier to adopt, but not necessarily easier to do correctly - it's just harder to spot mistakes.

This Wikipedia link illustrates how complicated my world of stances is going to become.

Stances illustrated with footprints

Stances are absolutely key in karate and probably other martial arts and fighting in general. Since legs in the wrong place inherently predisposes to instability, nothing else you do will work effectively from a bad stance. So I really need to work on these. The thing is they are knackering! Standard stance (zenkutsu dachi) can just be adopted and looks fine, but actually you should push outwards with your legs so that they are under constant tension, not arch your back, tense your abdomen yet keep your shoulders relaxed. Horse stance (shiko dachi) is a cripplingly low stance that requires your feet wide apart, knees vertically above your ankles (shin bone vertical), knees pushed backwards, bum tucked in (generally don't stick your bum out. It means your core isn't tense and increases the curvature of your spine which is bad for your back as well as appearing comic). Not too hard until asked to hold it for minutes at a time - seriously hard. However, I must be getting stronger / fitter because this sort of carry on used to result in knee pain, but now it just hurts my thighs. This is progress. Like Kung Foo Panda I have found out there is no secret, just hard work

Those not distracted will notice that this stance is too high. She still looks significantly better than me, so credit where credits due.