A Typical/Not-So-Typical Karate Class - Sanwa Kan style.

 The ground was a bit cold on the feet, but the minds were so engrossed they barely noticed. Hands clashed, slapping kicks aside, punches, moving in to take the center. One would yield ground, no real rhythm, no mind to timing, no strategy what so ever. 

Stop! Where are you going with that? Slow down! Do it again. Feel for the openings, feel the timing, the rhythm of the movement, then break it.

Again, hands and feet clashed, tangled up, attempts to lock failed, one giving ground again, no mind to strategy, no real rhythm or timing, nothing.

Time to move to something else and refine a bit. Work the first three movements of Kata. Musubi Dachi, Heiko Dachi, step out, line to line, feel the rotation around the centerline, coil up, spring out, coil up, spring out. 

Get your hips in line, don't break posture, keep the movements close, in tight, coil up, spring out. Again! No. That is an extra step. Do it again, remove that step, stay within the Kata and feel the movement. By the count. Stop! Move this here, keep that there, don't break the posture, stay within the Kata.

Over and over, only three movements, the flow is important, each movement has something to tell you, each sequence a lesson to teach, but keep it unbroken. Take it slow, don't go too fast, don't be in a rush, and pay attention. 

Several dozen more repetitions. Are they ready to move to the next sequence? No. We will spend more time on just these three, months if we have to. 

Back to it. Karate begins and ends with respect, so bow to your partner. Back into the fray of Iri Kumi. Hands and feet clash, but none give any real ground this time. Rhythm and timing are falling into place, at least insofar as they can feel it, seek it out, but neither seek to break it just yet. 

Movements are a bit more refined, they are seeking out strategy a little bit, setting up by going low, moving high, keeping movements close, tight, coiling up, springing out, actually allowing movements from Kata to speak. 

Good. 

Introduction to Kakie, meet at the wrists, do not let the wrists come apart, where their wrist goes, your wrist goes, where your wrist goes, their wrist goes. Not so fast, not so rough, slow it down, be patient, feel. When you feel, pull, or push, don't go for locks, don't go for attacks, just pull, or push. 

They're getting it. Now back to Kata. More and more with the first sequence, no breathing yet, just focusing on posture, alignment, coiling, springing out, and again. 

Several dozen more times. 

Back to Kakie. Now two-handed free-form Kakie. There are three gates, control one, they only have the use of two, move your way up to cut off the gates. Allow the movements to flow, move around, use your footwork, use your feet. Muchimidi is about sticking like heavy sticky mud, keep it going, feel, now go for openings and allow the flow to show you what to do. 

Back to Kata. Several dozen more times. Each movement has something to tell you, several layers, layers upon layers, don't think, flow. 

Complete with push-ups to reset and ingrain. Followed up with Frog Sprints several times back and forth across the grass. 

Karate ends with respect.

***

It took a bit to get them to focus, but moving in circles, circling back to Kata and drawing from the lessons of Kata each time really informed the practice. Utilizing this to inform the practice engaged the Students in a much deeper level of training when hands began to cross. 

My training is circular, it is unlikely these will be exactly the same as that in a normal Dojo, and that is fine with me so long as they continue to get something out of it, something to take with them to other areas of life and inform those as well. 

The Spiral Nature of Ti.

 It has been a confusing, yet rewarding journey as of late.

Something is in the air, perhaps a resurgence of something lost, but a guiding principle seems apparent.

Ti came to me, I did not actively seek it out, it appeared in the form of an old friend and Dojo Brother who opened the flood gates to a deeper realm I always felt was there, but could not quite put into accurate wording.

Karate contains SOME Ti, but Ti does not contain ANY Karate at all. As it has been passed down, it is an entirely different beast, yet seemingly familiar.

I had stated previously that Karate was originally without Kata, yet this is not entirely accurate as Karate is a modern Okinawan Martial Art, it is not Ti.

Ti, itself, was originally without Kata; what drills that did exist meant to convey principles and did not take a central role, the point was to impart is formula for effective combat that went into chaos and could take any form that was necessary to get the job done.

Like learning to effectively strike in Boxing, or learning to effectively throw in Judo, these are principles that start at a specific point in the education process, the. Move outward from there into expression according to principles learned... From mechanics to strategy.

The basic mode of imparting these principles in the present form of Ti is Naifuanchin Kata.

Yes, a Kata, but not in the manner of any Kata presently practiced in Karate, even Naihanchi Shodan, Nisan, etc.

Ti was hidden there, as it has been hidden through the majority of recent history, and lost on the majority.

Things like stances, blocks, various strikes, they do not really exist unto themselves and these are not really what Ti teaches.

Proper mechanics, positioning, power generation, and flowing, allowing the lines to manifest.

One starts with the root form for training basic principles, slowly, gradually, one moves out from here into greater and greater circles exploring these principles in a wider range of training, Naifuanchin transforms into something else. There is no longer Kata, there is only flow.

Memorization is not rote, the main focus remains on proper mechanics, until memorization is no longer necessary.

Certainly one could say this about Karate, but is this really the case?

If we perform a Karate Kata it is the same general pattern over and over again, no growth beyond the basic form, explanations given tend to be sub par, often pieces together by studying other arts in order to make sense of what had not been initially explained.

Each ‘level’ is based on how much one can memorize and retain, from drills to Kata, with analysis taking place as an aside in order to make sense of things.

Sense... This should be the first thing on the menu for any art that claims to be even remotely ‘Martial’ with refinement of skills already applicable being the goal.

Kata is secondary to the actual principles and only a small part of the methodology, just one aspect.

Ti, originally, had no Kata, and Ti influenced Tode, it is not a Chinese Art, nor did it have much Chinese Influence, that is all Karate.

It would seem, Karate, is more about showmanship than anything, so the notion that it is performance art makes a lot of sense... And it makes a lot of sense why Japanese Occupiers of Okinawa would allow the practice of Karate whilst Ti went underground.

Jan Dam, the head of Genten Kai, a Teacher of Ti, often says ‘nothing exists in Ti’ which implies that everything exists.

Stressing certain principles, especially unbroken lines and endless flow, yet starting at the bottom, building up to that flow in a curriculum that seems to work in a spiral outward (as is the case with most things in Ti, I have found).

Karate, on the other hand, does not do this... It breaks, it is choppy, stopping points are a primary focus for purposes of ‘timing,’ ‘rhythm,’ and ‘emphasis.’ All of which are, indeed, good points, and that is the point... That Karate focuses on points while Ti is a line, a shape, many shapes, a flow, unbroken.

One could literally spend hours exploring where a line goes, taking it out of Naifuanchin, putting it into a free form flow, the possibilities are endless.

Patterns are only important insofar as they impart proper body mechanics so as to avoid harming oneself through ineffective movement.

Points are necessary in order to learn these things, then they must be shed, like a snake shedding old skin.

Kata, as a practice, is the same. Ti can be learned utilizing Karate Kata as a starting point, moving outward from there, eventually the Kata itself is shed like an old skin.

Karate, as an art, is merely the beginning. The starting point, where basics are to be learned (although what passes for basics in Karate leaves something to be desired).

What is more ‘advanced’ in Karate is never quite advanced, simply a thrashing of ‘points’ in different patterns that need to be memorized in order to qualify for any recognized rank in an artificial system set up at nearly the mid point of last century.

A Teacher needs to know these things in order to Teach, but a Teacher must have moved beyond these things on a recognizable path in order to effectively guide a student.

Not every student will ‘get it,’ but that is not the point. The steps are necessary in order to learn how to walk and we all have to begin somewhere.