| Japanese
And Western Dojo(s) |
| Observations
Made By A Westerner Who Lived In Japan With A Master |
| What is
it like to test for a belt in Japan as a Westerner? Or to live with a Master?
This article will try to provide brief insights by reflecting on my time
in Japan between 1995 and 2002. I will also reflect on short-term visits
to Japan made by my Californian students to test for Dan ranks. I was fortunate
enough to have spent part of my time in and around Japan as an “uchi-deshi”
– a live in student of a master. On arriving in Japan my comparisons of
East vs. West martial arts came from a somewhat experienced viewpoint since
I had already been training in Japanese martial arts for more than 10 years,
competed at an international level, and had my own dojo operating in California.
Karate in
Japan takes all sorts of forms: some are sport oriented, and some are
very traditional, some are very hard, while others very soft. |
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By comparison
to the West (with the USA and Australia being 2 other places I have had
significant karate exposure) karate intensity is often similar, however,
the style in which it is taught is more varied both from a traditional/philosophical
viewpoint and technical approach.
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In particular
I have found that the emphasis on sport Karate in Australia is very high,
leaving the art, and the practical application to the side (I have recently
opened two dojo(s) in Australia). |
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| I don’t feel
sport karate is bad, but to simply state that it is a different path compared
to the art of karate.Given Australia’s recent performance of fourth in
the Olympics, even given a very small population, one could expect such
a sporting oriented nation to predominantly follow a sporting oriented
approach to karate (not to say all Australian Karate is sport as there
are obviously also a proportion of traditional dojo). From my involvement
in the US karate scene I feel that, compared to Australia, it has a larger
proportion of dojo(s) continuing to pursue traditional Japanese karate.
As an example of this measure I often look at the content of Ippon Kumite,
Kata Bunkai and Ippon Shobu (a single point sparring match) practiced in
a dojo. In Japan these things are not only seen as a regular part of classes,
but appear as the primary content (especially Ippon Kumite). Approaches
such as Ippon Kumite and Ippon Shobu for matches (instead of six or eight
point matches) reinforce the precept behind Japanese Karate of “one hit
one kill” (Ikken Isatsu in Japanese). |
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| The underlying
theme of these one point bouts is the concept that in the kumite bout,
like in life, you only get one chance. I once asked the Master I lived
with in Japan (Uetake Sensei) with why he considered Kobudo (weaponry)
an important extension of his Karate as it dilutes the time one can spend
mastering the Way of empty handed fighting. He replied that it reinforced
his mindset that one hit is one kill. So if traveling to Japan expect Ippon
Kumite to often be large part of each night’s training with the key point
being mind state re-enforcement.
Fudoshin (immovable
mind), is a “Zen” principle related to the above point of absolute
technique, and I would like to give an example of another way in which
it is reinforced in Japanese training. Most of my training was in Japan
was at a honbu dojo where, on a given night, there would be two 8th dans,
three 7th dans, and just a few other instructors in rank range of sandan
through godan.
In these sessions
there was a surprising element to the content we practiced given the ranks
in the room – it was almost entirely kihon and ippon kumite, with kihon
being 50% of training. |
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| After a few
years of banging out full power basic technique with a group of masters
you realize that the perfection of physical technique is not the only reason
for the high repetition: the point was the continual reinforcement of the
mindset that each technique, if a block, will break their opponents arm,
and if a strike will kill the opponent – not the physical strength of the
technique. One often hears this in Western dojo(s) but it is not implemented
to same degree, nor is “Fudoshin” the true focus of high repetition based
training (it is quite likely that most Western students would leave
through “boredom” because of a lack physical technique variety in training).
The very fact that when these most advanced ranks (karate-ka who have training
for 50 years) got together and chose to work single count basic drills
rather than advanced forms, or technique, says something very important.
In this article we can only touch on some aspects of Japan vs. West training. |
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| An issue to
raise is that of attitude and approach in the dojo. When a Westerner walks
into a karate Dojo for the first time their mindset is not quite the same
as an Asian student who reads the Kanji (Chinese characters) on
the door and understands that Do & Jo combine to mean – a place of
studying the Way. In the West students come to understand this over time.
I feel that the Japanese culture is much better at mimicking a taught action
than Westerners, and therefore, there is less tendency in Japan for students
to look, question, re-interpret, and then perform their version of what
they saw. The above issues tend to combine to make the standard of Kyu
ranks in the Japanese dojo(s) better. However, I do not notice such a large
difference in ability of black belt ranks when comparing Japan to the West.
It seems that once the effect of time has allowed them perfect technique
through repetition, and gain an understanding they are studying an art
of Do, the same endpoint in ability is reached regardless of cultural differences.
Interestingly, I find European students faster learners than my Australian
or USA students. One of my University clubs is at a school with a very
strong international exchange program, and therefore, has a make-up of
approximately 1/3 of each European, Australian and American students. The
Europeans appear to learn at a faster rate not so much due to a “mimicry”
mindset (like the Japanese) but rather an openness to new ways.
“Zen”
in the martial arts is not even mentioned in some karate organizations
in the West and in others it is. In Japan I found it is often not mentioned,
or talked about, but innately exists (as was eluded to in a couple of examples
above). I did have many insightful discussions on “Zen” over post training
drinks in Japan – the place where both in business and the martial arts
world, the heart of matters are really opened up. More on Zen, Japan and
Karate is outlined in our video series.
It is not uncommon
for black belts to sometimes travel to Japan and test for a higher Dan
rank. However, testing for black belt is a stressful event even if you
do it in your home town. Imagine if you elected to do all your training
in the West and then travel to Japan for the big day with no real knowledge
of the sensei testing you, the students you will fight, or the Japanese
culture. That is exactly what a number of my brown belts have done over
the years. It was a real testament to their courage to join me in Japan
and 2 days later, still with jetlag, perform their Shodan Shinsa (black
belt test).
All were nervous,
however, all rose to the occasion and learning occurred from both the involved
Japanese and Western students. In 1997 my first student to perform this
task (Dave Cohrs) obviously had the largest factor of the “unknown” as
to our knowledge, he was the first Westerner to try it. As is usually the
case Dan rank tests are more about Kata and Kihon than fighting. Within
Japan, especially in the case of Westerners, these are the things under
the most scrutiny.
The experiences
briefly outlined in this article are now covered in a documentary series
on living, and training in Japan, recently published on the web in the
form of downloadable videos (www.AppliedZen.com).
To contact
Jason Click Here
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