Breaking the Mold.

New information should always be embraced as it is presented, but thoroughly vetted, tested, and he findings implemented with the rest cast off for more testing.
Science and art go hand-in-hand in this regard.

When learning something new we start off repeating and practicing, but after a time we must break the mold and start thinking for ourselves.
This is the problem with Education today, it is no longer Education, it is Indoctrination, whether it be in School, at work, or in something like Martial Arts... The Art and Science of thinking for ourselves is no longer the sole aim. Rote memorization and repetition in preparation for testing is the sole aim... With this comes the promise of status in the form of a degree or rank certificate.

We delude ourselves into believing what we have gained is going to serve us, in some instances it might, in others, certainly not, especially when it comes to Martial Arts.
The effectiveness of an Art is touted, but seldom achieved in most cases; endless repetitions of Kata and Punching/kicking Air, light point style sparring that has no relation to the Kihon or Kata aspects of Training, zero scenarios, zero self defense, endless two inch adjustments with the only explanation being 'this is just how we do it' as opposed to how 'they' do it.
Automatically viewing others as incorrect because of trivial differences in stance, arm/hand/foot position, posture, ect.

Ask a Karateka about footwork and positioning in relation to an assailant and few will be able to answer with any coherence or logic.
Ask about recovering from a surprise attack or remaining aware of surroundings and using the environment as a tool to aid positioning, footwork, and other tactics, the majority are equally clueless.

Once they do start to break the mold by applying principles of analysis (Bunkai) then they become stuck, still, on Kata... If it does not look almost exactly like Kata then it is incorrect or Kata becomes viewed as useless and pointless.
The first conclusion is flawed and the second conclusion is only slightly correct.
If something works then it works, but the main point is to internalize the underlying principles that make it work, without this understanding it is incomplete... Kata IS useless and pointless if it is not utilized as a tool to come to a complete understanding of something.
This is the proper context, not rote memorization of specific patterns and drills that look a specific way. In my own understanding of this Karate, if it were to remain effective, was never meant to impart specific Kata and was not meant to have more than one or two set Kara at all... Kata are not even the starting point, nor are stances, blocks, punches, kicks, or any other specific technique.

The Application of Principles and Strategic Thinking are the beginning and end of Karate.
Techniques, Stances, these things are specific points along a line that only serve to teach and do not truly exist in their own right... There is no such thing as a Technique AND no such thing as a Kata... A lesson I learn over and over from a very wise Dane with much deeper knowledge than most anyone from whom I have had the pleasure of learning.
This is not meant to take away from any other Teacher, most things are revealed in stages and life has a way of providing what is necessary to move to the next stage when a person is ready... Whether or not I am, life seems to have felt it so.

Most of what we learn is just the beginning, but most never move beyond the beginning, thus we see high ranking Black Belts performing very nice 'advanced' Kata, but no real differentiation between how they perform it and how a 6th Kyu performs their Kata.
We like words like 'advanced' and 'High Level' r 'Black Belt Level' but never stop and question what this actually means... If we did then we would certainly find ourselves disappointed wondering why we are just doing the same stuff over and over with no real understanding of why or how to even apply what we have gained to any real degree of success.

I recently read a book by a good friend and Teacher titled 'Sh!t Sun Tzu Said' and it really took me back to the first time I had read The Art of War forcing me to see it on new terms... Same light, but new terms.
Sun Tzu did not mince words, his only concern was the path to a successful Military Campaign, all the various ways to get there as well as the various pitfalls a good General should avoid along the way.
What to look for, how to exploit opportunities and utilizes weaknesses as a strength, things that are paid lip service in many Traditional Schools, but seldom successfully imparted or understood to any degree.

I also watched a video recently by Ramsey Dewey, a Mixed Martial Arts Coach living in Shanghai China with focus on Sanda, Combat Tai Chi, Jujitsu, and experience in Tae Kwon Do.
He was relating an account of one of his students who had been an Aikidoka having successfully pulled off an Aikido tactic in an MMA Sparring Session... When Ramsey asked him about this the student explained that Aikido works for those who already understand how to fight and that was why he was there, to understand combat.
Through understanding chaos one comes to work through a strategic mindset that brings momentum towards a goal, thus bringing order.

When we start from a place that is NOT rooted here and are told to do things in certain ways with no relatable context and no way of finding one because we are expected to memorize and repeat ad infinitum then we are not being educated, we are being indoctrinated, and we are also not practicing in a way conducive to a successful campaign... We are mindless automatons in something akin to a personality cult.
This is not a good place to be in, not a good thing to perpetuate.

True Education will show a person HOW to think, not WHAT to think.
If something is shown as a building block then it only serves a purpose to a point and that purpose should always be towards getting beyond itself in order to move a student to a place of creative and free thinking that utilizes thinking in effective ways that are easily adaptable to various situations.
one gets this from approaches utilized in Arts such as Jujitsu, Judo, Boxing, some schools of Karate, MMA, Kickboxing, Wrestling, Fencing, Okinawan Ti, but seldom from arts that are stuck on 'Tradition' and misguided notions of 'Purity.'

There is no such thing as purity, at least insofar as the above things are concerned... True purity is found when one lets go of any notion of purity, even when they practice an art for the sake of the art itself... If they are repeating set Kata and Drills they are NOT an Artist because they have created nothing of their own.

A good Soldier wil l certainly follow orders conducive to achieving a specific goal, but a good Soldier is also capable of thinking on their toes, adapting on the spot, acting towards the specified ends without a need for directions should those lines of communication be severed.
They are not stuck on a specific form or way of doing things to the point that adaptation is impossible. At least they should not be, according to Master Sun.

Miyamoto Musashi was only successful due to his self taught unorthodox style that had been refined through direct experience in combat itself.
Primarily strategic in nature, strategy defined the tactics for each situation and these went beyond mere sword strokes. These included Psychological Tactics, such as perceived insults to anger the opponent and make them act wrecklessly, utilizing the schedule of a duel to scout an area AND to inferiate by showing up late, or to surprise by showing up early.
There was also the utilization of the environment itself as a weapon.

We like to think that we could hold our own in the ring AND on the street, but we fail to take any of the above into account, even deluding ourselves into believing that there is no difference between the ring and the street... There is a HUGE difference and there are even differences in various things one will encounter on the street, far more than what would be encountered in the ring, plus, what works in one will often not carry over to the other... It goes back to Master Sun and the example of Musashi.

Most Karateka are not strategists, they take none of this into account.
They live in a world far removed from reality, even when it comes to the very roots of their own art that have made it successful and highly effective in the past.
They look at their system founders almost as demi-Gods and wonder how they were so effective in their application and do not even stop to think that what they are doing may not even be the same as what their supposed Founders were doing or teaching.
They perpetuate myths and legends as factual history with the same fervor as a true believer, yet if they stop to question the obvious inconsistencies they might just see the Bullshit for what it is... Bullshit... Then the real training would begin.

why do some schools practice twelve Kata and other schools twenty? Why are specific Kata assigned to specific rank as a requirement for testing? Especially in light of the fact that most Okinawan Karateka did not practice more than one or two Kata and it was from these that their entire curriculum was derived and defined by strategy?
What about those ranks? Especially since Founders seldom awarded any rank at all and most of the seniors, from whom our modern systems are derived, promoted themselves to Yudansha Grade?

Going back to strategic training, there are even some schools that do not practice Irikumi or Kumite and tout pre-arranged two person patterns as the 'one true way to train for real fighting' believing they will be able to successfully meet the chaos of violence when it rears its' ugly head... With nothing more than choreographed partner drills and Kata.
There is a group that is, sadly, connected to my Goju Ryu lineage that believes this wholeheartedly, a dangerous mindset for obvious reasons, and they treat their Teacher, whom they call Dai Sensei, as a God... The man does nothing but trash talk everyone else and holds himself in highest esteem due to his Chinese heritage.

There are MANY groups like this out there... Unquestioning cultists that will hurt themselves if they do not break this mold and start actually questioning things.

that is the main point and take away here... Think for yourself. The best way to show respect is to be better than those who came before and not get hung up on things that serve no one.