Methodology Madness.

The paradigm shifted a long time ago... Those who achieve the highest of heights are those that tend to step outside the box, outside their comfort zone, risk criticism, risk ridicule, being the outcast for asking the tough questions and really looking at what they were doing.
You know what they found? Most of it was a joke. A huge joke. It is when we stop taking things so seriously or personally that we can actually get the work done and start enjoying what we are doing a bit more.

A quote I just heard on a show my children watch went something like this...

'How are we going to get out of this one alive?' One character asked another as they are being chased by a giant Dragon, chained and mistreated, the other character was laughing the whole time and responded, 'When you realize that we don't, then you can start having more fun!'

A pretty deep quote for a kids show, I laughed my ass off for a while over that one because the character was funny, but also because it made sense to me.

The point, here, is this... We spend all of our time worrying about who to please, what to do to get that next promotion, keeping our job so we can pay the bills, maintaining self images even in our home lives, doing what is expected... Saying and thinking what is expected... Expected of us by our bosses, our peer groups, our political affiliations, even our Martial Arts Organizations (or other hobbies).
Recognition or a place in the hierarchy is held over our heads to keep us in check, keep us on the path that has been determined for us... At the end of the day it is not something of our choosing, our words, our actions, our very thoughts and feelings tend not to be our own.

What do we do this for? A bit more money? A little time at the top before we die? A plaque or piece of paper with a title that is only good for as long as there are still people alive who remember you when you're gone? Yes. You can't escape death, so all the people pleasing in the world might get you a comfortable tomb at the end of the road, but what good is comfort to those too cold and brain dead to enjoy it? Then you die.

The previous post was regarding Methodologies... I do not propose anything new. What I propose is a return to the Classical way of doing things, the real way.
Cast off the shackles that tell you what you should do and do what you MUST do! Get into it. Make it your own, take back that passion, put your heart into it, go deep, get uncomfortable, come out the other side so much better, stronger, and wiser... Others will follow suit, many will not. Those that don't WILL put you down in so many vicious ways; and THAT is how you KNOW you're on the RIGHT TRACK.

In the beginning keep it on basics, if you are teaching, because you want to instill a solid foundation in your students.
What constitutes basics, though? That is not quite an easy question because you have to ask if it means walking up and down the floow endlessly, memorizing stances, specific ways to step, specific ways to turn.
Ultimately each of these has principles they are meant to impart, the mechanics are there, but the way they are trained does not illuminate what is actually going on, nor proper use of those mechanics, nor even explain the mechanics whatsoever.
It is often an endless line of 'just do this because this is how we do it.' That is a feature of Organizations, of group think, which is something outlined above... People pleasing. WHY are we doing these things? What PURPOSE do they serve? At what point do we drop these and start looking at flows rather than specific points along the line of the flow?
There is no such things as a stance or a technique anywhere in Karate, this is all beginner stuff, like training wheels on a bike, to be used in order to help the learner on their way, then tossed aside in favor of just riding... Although beyond this point it goes without saying the learning does not cease, but you get the point.

Karate is a modern art, having taken root in Okinawa as a combination of their indigenous fighting arts and Chinese Quan Fa (Kung Fu).
As a modern art it has barely even gained traction on its' own two feet, at least in its' modern form, and can barely lay claim to what came before it.
The stories we hear about the effective technical prowess of the old Masters, these were not referring to Masters of Karate... No... THOSE 'Masters' came after the fact, during the period when Okinawa was trying to seem more Japanese.
As previously stated, the forms, or Kata, are to be understood according to certain principles known as Kaisai, yes, but they are further understood in the context of Chinese Calligraphy. As a flow, not as specific lines. The WHOLE is greater than the some of the artificially created parts... Parts that were created to fit specifically within a certain mindset that breaks things down and labels them.

Takuan Soho said that the Mind should not 'stop at specific points,' it should not stop anywhere. The mind that is ever moving is the mind that is immovable, it cannot be trapped, it is unbeatable.
The mind that fixes on the cutting sword of the opponent has been defeated by the cutting sword, but the mind that ceases on nothing has defeated the opponent with their own sword.
Here you have a Japanese Monk pointing out the exact same thing in the prevalence of mindsets in his day and illustrating how a few great swordsmen remained unbeatable for so long, one that I know of even undefeated for his entire life until death finally took him from old age.
These were a rare breed, but this is exactly the same type of thing within Okinawan Arts that made their Masters so great, something that has been lost in Modern Karate, something that seems to have never truly carried over, save for a few individuals, and even then, they likely were training something far older.

The goal is to stop at points and study, then to forget points altogether, but when do we do this? Again, that is something to think about as a Teacher.
Do you want to instill some effective skill from the start? Or do you want your students to take the long road? It certainly IS possible... The way is in how things are done.

Start with instilling principles first, and NOT in endless line drills either. Work some partner drills, maybe do what the old ones used to do and start with some posture training in order to set up a good power transfer system through the body.
Study what muscles are naturally activated in each instance and what muscles are more relaxed. Where each instance seems to be flowing; forward? Backward? Up? Down? Sideways? Twisting? Twisting and Rising? Twisting and Sinking?
Chudan Uke is a prime example for this. There is a HUGE difference between Open Hand with palm facing away and Closed Fist with palm facing towards you. First, one utilizes a different part of the forearm than the other, one is more of a backward/sideways flow, the other is more of a forward/sideways flow.
Different muscles groups are activated in one as opposed to the other... All of this comes together to show that they are two entirely different sets of mechanical principles that imply two entirely different things, even though they look the same.
This is exactly what breaking things down to specific points is for, study, then forgetting.

An entire class COULD be focused on this, taking various portions of Kata and looking at them from this type of perspective in an effort to understand what is going on... I have done so myself and continue to do so (because I enjoy it).
Every class based on this, however, is a waste of time... One needs to be able to break away from this and start thinking about strategic flows and how to apply what they have learned. Even when breaking things down in a class focused on understanding these things it is going to be more useful to do so from a partner work and drill standpoint than it is from a specifically solo based Kata-centric approach.

Working conditioning is another way to spend some class time, some Daruma Taiso, some Hojo Undo (done properly), and some Makiwara work.
Incorporate some more modern things like heavy bags, make this stuff, along with partner work, a mainstay of the time in the Dojo. Punching air and listening to someone talk does NOT yield skill. Giving a lecture is fine every once in a while in order to get specific points across, but should be avoided for the majority of the time because this type of work is physical work, it needs to be felt and experienced... You can't talk an assailant to death... Well, maybe you can, but chances are very low that THEY will die before YOU.

Okinawan Arts were originally void of Kata. Kata are NOT to be viewed as the be all, end all, or even the primary source of anything.
THEY ARE A TEACHING TOOL LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE! Kata should be taught a bit at a time, it should be shown to a student how they can break things down and focus on specific principles utilizing movements from Kata for solo training outside the Dojo, in between classes, at the ending of class, and before class starts.
This will actually be done in the process of teaching Kata bit by bit, but later a Student should be shown how to string things together in different patterns and NOT conform ONLY to the basic pattern which they have been given to start with.
Principles of Kaisai should be given during every session and reinforced with every session, these are the primary principles from which we draw. Not necessarily Kata.

It is said, also, that each Kata is a complete fighting system unto itself, while others state that each Kata teach different strategies unique to that specific Kata.
Then there is the body type theory. I find all of this to be complete non-sense. No fighting system is complete unto itself, there is always something missing that can benefit from more training in another area unrelated to the first.
That being said, I also do not believe that each Kata teaches different strategies... They might teach different tactics, but the strategy remains the same. Most don't even teach different tactics, however, most are the same tactics repeated in different ways, sometimes even the same ways.
Each Kata contains the other, there are NO advanced Kata and NO secrets under the sun that one Kata is lacking which another might possess. These, again, are not the be all, end all, they are merely training devices.
That being said, one really does ONLY NEED ONE OR TWO because it is pointless, absolutely pointless to know twenty or thirty different Kata, unless that is something one enjoys doing, collecting Kata, or collecting Kata in order to collect Rank Certificates rather than actual skill... More people pleasing and ego stroking.

Finally, break away from the 'sparring' mindset. Point Sparring is a sport. So is fighting in a cage, albeit the cage has a lot more risk and realism than point sparring... Karate has done well in the cage by the way...
The idea is that this is NOT a sport, it is NOT about mutual combat. Utilize some drills that do work timing, distancing, fighting at various ranges, yes, but also work in some blitzkrieg stuff, where a person takes the initiative and trains to KEEP it in order to end the confrontation with a goal of getting the hell out of there.
Work in some situational stuff, some scenario training that might take you outside the Dojo for something that feels a bit more real world with varying terrain and environments. Work in utilizing the environment itself as a make-shift weapon to get the job done.
Work in some mindset training, switching from no-go to go, some focus drills, etc., along with situations where a student might start at a disadvantage... Like getting sucker punched from behind. Work on how to recover and TAKE the initiative, if possible.
Build the spirit from the start, the indomitable will. This is NOT a sport and it is NOT fighting. Fighting is a mutual thing between two people that ends up messy.

Break out of that shell, throw off those chains. It is NOT about loyalty to one specific Organization over another in an effort to preserve an Art (considering the Art has been changed, subtracted from, added to, over and over again in such a short period of time with no real explanation as to why), it is about passing on something valuable that might help others, and yourselves, when things go wrong.
It is also about enjoying what you do, which is not something that can be done if one is cow-towing and vying for a place in some imaginary hierarchy.  

In the end, once those chains are broken and one becomes free they are ultimately in a better position to TRULY honor their Teachers and those who came before by actually breathing life back into what they are doing.
Ultimately another side effect is that one stops taking themselves so seriously and really starts to enjoy... That is when the real insights happen, then it is up to you, as a Teacher, to figure out how to impart that stuff, which is all sorts of fun unto itself.