Welcome to the Letters section of Karate the Japanese Way.

There is no way that Karate the Japanese Way can be the final word about what karate is all about. There is much more than what any single person can say. This is where you can contribute. I am very interested to hear from other students and instructors about their experiences and insights in karate. Also, by discussing some of the more gray areas of karate we can hopefully flesh out more of the larger picture in which we all participate.

Feel free to send my your letters and notes. Ask your questions and argue your position. I will post your letters, along with my responses here. I am not afraid of controversy so that is alright too. In most cases, I will try to consult with you before I post your letter but there may be times when that is neither possible or desirable. You will have to trust me to use my best judgement.

Note: Earlier letters have been moved. The links are at the bottom of this page.

Ok, let's get on to the letters.

### Open Letter Number 5: 24 fighting nuggets

Hello again. Thanks for coming by the site. I am really appreciative of those of you who come by often to see what is cooking here. I get some very fun email, short messages, and encouraging things said to me about the site and how it is helping people in karate. And some of the mail comes from some of the most unusual places.

I did not know it, but Tuvalu, formally called Ellice Islands, comprised of nine islands, has been an independent nation since 1978. Formerly a British protectorate, Tuvalu is located near the intersection of the Equator and the International date line. Its products include fish products and postage stamps. Also, there are people who do karate living there. People from the state of Tuvalu have been checking out this site. I think that is really cool. Welcome one and all to our Tuvaluvian (sp?) visitors! I didn't even know where you lived until recently.

On a more serious note, there is an issue surrounding the creation of this site that I want to address directly with you. Over the past several months I have received several emails that ask these question: ``Isn't your site just like Rob Redmond's 24fightingchickens" and "What are you really doing that Rob Redmond has not done already?" and "What kind of contact have you had (as someone who has done karate in Japan too) with Rob Redmond?''

These are excellent questions, and I certainly see where there are perceived similarities between the huge project that Rob Redmond has put together on Shotokan Planet, and this site (although still in the earlier stages of primordial evolution). I will try to give some account of myself, and this project in this regard to the degree that I am able.

First of all, I should mention that in the past I have had very cordial email correspondence with Rob. I sent him an initial note a few years ago asking about dojo management and what he has done for himself about that since returning to America after being in Japan. His response at that time was not particularly cordial and I dropped the subject. Later on, as his site had a major revamp, I wrote him again with some comments about his work on the Dojo Kun (a particular area of interest for me) and he included my comments on his site. That was very nice of him. After that, I chatted with Rob a few times about living in Japan and after hearing of his dismal experiences with homelessness, looking for work, and some stresses of living here. I also invited him, should he ever come back to Japan, to come and stay at my place. As far as I am concerned, Rob, and the whole Redmond family, are more than welcome.

When Rob ran his first forum I was glad to participate in that and found it interesting, albeit at times harsh on some of the members. Since those forums had shut down I have been busy with my own karate projects and not yet interested in participating in the new and improved forums. But, as far as I know, Rob Redmond and I have no issues, bones to pick, or problems. Naturally, there are things that we may disagree about. Naturally, there are differences in tone and in personal expression. Naturally, there are things that each of us may claim knowledge of, although expressing that knowledge through our own unique and individual ways. We are different men, and have had different experiences (and similarities too!) in living and training in karate in Japan.

A new friend I have made this year, David Taylor, a man who has been training in Japan over the past several years in Kagoshima-ken, and I were talking about these differences. It is very much like different people witnessing the same car accident. David may say that a car ran down a clustered group of salary men who were urinating publicly. I might have seen the same incident and say that it was not that at all, but rather a red truck adorned in Hello Kitty paraphernalia that mowed down a Buddhist priest on his moped. Rob might say that there was no accident, and that the whole thing was a carefully constructed government plot. The point is, is that we are all different people with different ideas about what it is like to live in Japan and train here.

If there is an issue about perceptions of Japan, it should also be one related to the length of time and exposure to the culture. There too, we have some differences that we should keep in mind. Karate men like Jon Keeling and Dave Hooper have spent considerable time in Tokyo, and know that karate scene well. David Taylor is in Kagoshima-ken. Rob Redmond was in Nagoya. I live in Ishikawa-ken. Jon and Dave have experiences in the massive metropolis of Tokyo. David Taylor and I live in more rural settings. Dave Hooper has been in Japan forever. Rob Redmond for two years. Joe Swift has been in both Kanazawa and now in Tokyo. I have been here for over seven years. David Taylor's wife is Japanese and they raise their family here in a totally Japanese environment. Rob Redmond and I have spouses from our countries of origin, so our ``home-culture'' is different than the surrounding world. These are all different circumstances that color and shade our perceptions. One man's truth can easily become another man's fiction.

I have asserted elsewhere on this site that I don't think that two years is very long to live and really understand Japan. I still think that. I think about what I knew myself about Japan after my first two years here, and even though I think I learned a lot, I feel like my knowledge has grown exponentially over the past few years too. I also spent a single year in China as a university lecturer from 1990-1991. I am still trying to figure that one out. It was a life-altering and extremely complex experience, and I have little to say about it even now. Living in another country can be a wrenching experience and it needs time to see things for what they really are.

Although I think that Rob Redmond's experiences are valuable, particularly to him, they are best held against the experiences of many other ex-patriots who have come to "live, thrive and survive" in groovy Nippon. Just as in all things, and maybe things like car accidents too, it is best to canvas all the witnesses to see what is really going on.

I want to state for the record that I like many parts of Rob Redmond's site. He also asks some very important questions. I like the work on kata, many of the issues in the Heresy section, the database work, some of the reviews, and many of his insights on how the body works mechanically (rather than how the body works metaphysically!). I appreciate the candor and the directness. Rob has said that he is a consumer advocate on many occasions, and can only take him at his word on that.

Where I do not agree is with one of the primary premises of his project (and this may have been a premise which has evolved over time and consideration), and that is that Shotokan karate is of little value in the final analysis.

I don't buy that, and I never will. I think that Shotokan karate has tremendous value for people who do it, who invest their time and their energy in it, and who become stronger, faster, and more confident in what they do through their hard training. It is at this premise where we seem to have profound differences.

But I do not see difference (in itself) as something that is problematic. Thank God we do not all think alike. There would be no point in having a discussion, debating, and contributing to one another. I realize that Rob Redmond's Shotokan Planet has made contributions to a lot of people. It is chock full of information, and the investment of time by the web master into the task is mind boggling. It is the big kahoona of Shotokan websites but I disagree with some of the basic premises. I disagree in a way that is not meant to be oppositional or confrontational. To me, there is not a singular correct answer in many cases, nor would I want there to be one. I think that there is a great diversity in people and temperament in nature that demands diversity. Someone who is a great teacher for one person, is terrible for another. What is of great value to one person, is trash to another.

Where I disagree with the Shotokan Planet is not to be a source of material for my own website. There are things that I don't see eye-to-eye with Rob Redmond. There are also things that I don't see eye-to- eye with when I talk to my brothers or my wonderful friends. That's life. That's what happens when we form our own individual ideas about how things should be.

Karate The Japanese Way is a project that is not designed to ``be right'' about all things Shotokan. This is not Shotokan Planet Part II. This site is about providing information and support to students of Shotokan karate. It is a site that assures people that they have made an excellent choice in choosing karate as something that they would like to do. It outlines the virtues and benefits of karate. It also cautions against its vices. I appreciate Rob Redmond's work in cautioning karate ``consumers''. I would like to see that pushed to the next level whereas rather than telling people to give it up altogether, take the good, dump the bad, and transform karate (and its organizations) into the next stage.

Karate The Japanese Way is a source where other sources of information can be found. I am delighted to have been able to work collaboratively with some very interesting people in the greater Shotokan karate world, particularly men who feel that what we are doing is of some profound value to students. I am thrilled beyond belief to be doing karate today. Now is a good time to do karate. Now is a good time to work with others to take karate, its applications, organizational elements and research, into its next evolutionary step.

Karate students and teachers must reach their own decisions about these issues. They need to get their own information, take time to reflect on different reports and accounts, and form their own conclusions. This website does not have the answers to all your questions. Neither does Shotokan Planet, or any single source of information. I encourage you to read widely, do your own research, be slow to form conclusions, and discuss your ideas with others. There can be no other way for people who wish to have well-informed and balanced perspectives.

I am certain that at some time in the future, when I am not so distracted with my own work and projects in karate, that Rob Redmond and I may renew our last discussion and have more common ground on which to have a dialogue. In the meantime, I wish him well in his own work.

As for me, I have some work of my own to get to.

Best regards to all,

Mark Groenewold

### Date: March 22, 2002

Hello again, and welcome back to the letters page. This time around I picked out the two letters I wanted to respond to here on the site. I get several letters a week, and am glad to receive them, but I only put the ones here that I think might be of interest to a larger audience. I apologize to those kind folk who have sent me a note and didn't get a quick response. I had returned to Canada for a short trip (10 days) and had horrible jet-lag on both ends of the trip. I am finally getting my act together again and taking this web site in hand. For such a tough karate guy I guess you never knew I was such a pansy!

Ok, on to the letters!

Hi Mark

Just discovered your site and its fantastic! Really well-designed and informative. Comes along at a good time for me since I am trying to determine where to train. I have trained a bit previously but am more or less a 40 year old beginner. I have found two good Shotokan clubs in my area; one is an ISKF club and the other belongs to the Japan Shotokan Karate Association. From your site I have been able to establish who the ISKF are but wonder if you know anything about the latter group. It appears they are led by a former JKA instructor by the name of Abe. Any information or recommendations you could provide me with would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Tim

Tim,

Thanks for the nice note. The informative stuff comes from yours truly, but the design is thanks to the very modest and understated, Mr. Chris Spackman. Without him there is no Karate The Japanese Way to be seen online. Chris is a great guy and a computer whiz. He is also a Linux fiend, so if that is something that you are into, you should chat with the man.

As for what kind of recommendations I can give you about what kind of club or association you should get involved with, I have very little I can say about that. Associations, on a larger scale, have very little to do with your day-to-day training and enjoyment of karate. The only thing that you really need to find is a good, competent, and qualified instructor. The Shotokan world has so many different groups that they keep changing, splitting, re-aligning, re-associate, and grow into something else. If you find a good, honest, and hard-working instructor you are light years ahead of anyone who simply goes to a club because it has the right acronym on its association letter-head.

To answer your question about Abe-Sensei, he is still a very famous, and deeply respected karate teacher here in Japan. He, like Kanazawa-Sensei and Yahara-Sensei, have formed their own Shotokan karate organizations. There may be variations between these different leaderships and training methods, but all still draw on the huge common well of what is considered to be Shotokan karate.

To make a potentially long letter short, find a good teacher that you like and can see yourself training regularly with. It doesn't matter if the association is famous if the local instructor is someone that you do not want to be around. A good instructor is key for your karate and for your own personal development in the martial arts. What association a karate group belongs to is, at best, a minor detail.

Thanks again for your note.

Mark

Dear Mr. Groenewold:

I have a question about karate that has really been bugging me for quite some time. I have been doing karate (Shotokan) for 6 1/2 years now and I really enjoy it. The question is: to train while you are sick or injured. It seems to me that I am under the impression that you must train no matter what. I believe that you should listen to your body, get well and then go back to training. I believe that everything in life has to be balanced - whether that is home life, work, family life, hobbies and of course, karate training. My rank is shodan, so I have been training long to get here. Though, if I am sick or injured, there's this underlining feeling of guilt - bad, bad, karateka for not training! Maybe it's my own feelings (I don't like to miss too many classes!). I don't know if this attitude has been in any dojos that you have trained in - please give me your thoughts about this. I enjoy karate and I also enjoy other things in my life too - I just don't feel one thing has to be more important than all the others (Balance!)

Thank you!
Anne Mihalcheon

Hi Anne,

You can call me Mark. Tim did, and I like that.

Training while sick or injured is a serious question. You have to balance this one for yourself. I cannot give you any advice myself, but I can tell you what Taniguchi-Sensei has said to his students in countless classes.

He always says, ``You know your own body. If you feel awful, don't train. Don't overwork yourself.'' He then always continues with, ``As for me, I am just going to go along, so I don't think too much about what you are doing. If you can keep along and if it is safe for you to do so, great. If not, if you are hurt in your joints or back, just take it slow or rest. But if you are just tired, please try to keep up as best as you can.''

I don't think that it is a good idea to train ``no matter what''. In fact, I think that it is kind of stupid. If you have injured your knees or lower back and continue to injure it through continued stressing of such joints, you may irreparably damage yourself. Protect the body against harm and damage. Don't let people punch you ``for your own good''. Don't train when you have hurt your knees. Don't put excessive duress on the human body. Know your limitations.

After 6 and a half years I am sure that you have figured out what that is, but it is difficult for people new to karate to know that clearly. This is where instructors must be very clear with their students, and proceed cautiously when trying to help students expand and develop themselves mentally and physically for the rigors of karate training.

For me, I have trained when I have had the flu or colds and it helped me feel better. I have trained when I was sick to my stomach. I have trained when injured, but I take it slower. I go at my own pace. If your instructor demands on having a single pace to his class, and is heedless of individual needs when it comes to injury or illness, you may be with the wrong instructor. There ought not be any guilt in terms of whether you train or not, whether you can go "all-out" or not, or whether you can do everything that someone else can do or not.

I think that you have, for the most part, answered your own question. Balance is key. But then again, sometimes it is good to hang from the rafters, howl at the moon, and push yourself in places where you are not so comfortable. Just don't wreck your knees while doing so.

Sorry that this is getting a little ambiguous, but you know your own body best. And we should all listen to ourselves carefully to know when to push and when to preserve ourselves.

Good luck and thanks for the letter.

Mark

And now, from the last batch of letters, here are the best two:

Dear Mark,

Just a few lines to say how impressed I am with your site and your insights into training. I am going for my Shodan in March and to say I'm apprehensive would be an understatement, although I'm sure it won't be as hard as yours. I originally come from England and have trained with some of the senseis mentioned in your video reviews like, Ronnie Christopher, Sean Roberts and from Goju ryu, Shihan Paul Cole and from Shito Ryu, Akio Minakami. I wish I had stuck at it when I first started karate at age 22 but now nearing my 45th birthday I find myself wanting to do things that a younger man would have very little trouble doing, i.e. Ushiro Mawashi Geri for one thing! and the stretching, although looking at some of the younger students I train with I can get down further than most of them without all the puffing and blowing they do. I found since moving to the US that a lot of karate schools are very money orientated and almost hand out shodans for the right incentive, I earned my belts and want to earn my Shodan too. If it would be OK with you, I'm doing a website for my new club in Pawnee, Illinois and when it's up and running would like to link to you.

regards
Steve Harvey

Hello Steve,

Thanks for your very nice complimentary note. I was going to say that I wish that all the people who send notes my way would say the same thing, but the thing is, most of them do! It makes me worry that I am not aggravating enough people out there in the karate world, that I am not doing my fair share of angering and alienating people. Maybe I will save that for some other project. LOL!

Congratulations on sticking to your training. 45 years old is a little late in the game to be a kumite champion, but I hardly think that that is the point of our training anyway. As I am no longer a 20- something pup, getting flabby and flatulent, I find that it is largely pointless to compare myself to the university guys blazing up the ranks looking to get into a scrap. The truth of the matter is that as we age, get used to fighting and sparring, leverage our experience taking bumps in things outside karate, we use what we have to maximum ability when faced with challenges.

So, for example, the 21 year old guys might be able to score points on you in a kumite match, or give you a bloody nose. But as someone who has been around a little, you would never let a little tap on the noggin' stop you from walking over, and while digging into your resolve to fight to the bitter end, maybe even get the better of your opponent. It's the guys ``who just won't stay down'' who can be the scariest. And getting to that point usually takes some experience, and a lack of fear that comes through growing up.

In our dojo we have a younger guy who is coming up the ranks and is now a brown belt. He does well in all things, except kumite, where he is tentative and lacking some killer instinct. The problem is not that he is physically incapable. Not at all. In fact, he is a tall man, lean, and in excellent condition. He just needs time to get to the core of his fighting ability and he needs time to have it pulled out of him. This means some hard training, and sometimes getting chased around the dojo by some of the older men in the dojo. In fact, last week he got whacked pretty hard on the nose by an overzealous fellow brown belt, and learned quickly that the world did not end and he would live to fight another day.

More and more I am thinking that karate is all about process. The journey. This groovy trip.

Good luck on your shodan grading this month Steve! I will be cheering from across the ocean for your success!

Best regards,
Mark

On another completely related note:

Hi Mark,

I have had a look at your site recently and noticed letters from one or two karateka who have started training at around their late 30's and 40's. I'm sure they are keen and don't need any further encouragement, so with out trying to sound too patronizing I would just like to point out that starting karate after the ``flush of youth'' has gone is a good thing not only from their point of view but I believe for the karate world at large. It is vital that we attract people who are beyond their 20's and early 30's and make karate available and attractive to those who are looking for more than just a cool sounding hobby.

Karate should be a lifetime pursuit and if we choose to do it until our dying breath then even if we start training in our 40's we still have around 30 (based on average life expectancy) to enjoy and benefit from karate. While some younger people get disheartened at the prospect of karate being a long term activity with often long term goals, many middle aged trainees find the lack of urgency a comfortable, reassuring aspect of the art. It does necessarily mean they want to take it easy. Often, despite whatever else in their life may be ``instant and de-caff'' traditional karate has a depth and purity which attracts and holds them.

With youth comes energy and vitality but these are not the only attributes a martial artist needs. By the time we reach our thirties and forties our mind should be at it's sharpest and most focussed , we should also know where we are going in life. These are valuable mental faculties with which to begin martial arts training. Many older people do not want to do karate only for competitions or a new coloured belt every few months , they want to get to the guts of karate by learning kata applications and effective ``real kumite''. They are very often more determined and have a motivation and focus beyond the capability of many younger trainees.

A good instructor should be able to teach the ``whole'' art and be able to offer what is appropriate for different people without changing the fundamental spirit and practice of karate. It is good for younger karateka to see that karate goes much deeper than excellence in technique and the competition arena. They need to see examples of what karate is in a wider context.

A dojo is a micro-society with young and old, male and female alike having the same opportunity to train. There is something there for everyone and we all have something to give the dojo in terms or our attitude, life experience and spirit. I'm suspicious of dojos who advertise themselves purely on competition results alone. Competition is an off-shout or bi-product of correct training. It should not be the reason for training. With that in mind then there should be no reason not to start in our 30's, 40's or even 50's.

Let's face it we're all gonna be old farts one day! And no youngster is going to push me out of the Post Office queue when I pick up my pension!

Best Wishes
Martin

Martin,

You said it better than I ever could. Thanks a million.

Mark

### One Fatal Punch

Hello Mark,

I just finished reading Karate-do My Way of Life, authored by the founder of Shotokan Karate, Gichin Funakoshi. I was very moved by some of the passages in this book. One part of the book that Gichin Funakoshi wrote about is the one fatal punch. I have believed in the fact that Karate-ka are capable of inflicting the one fatal punch. But, I also have read in this months (February 2002) Black Belt magazine an article ``The Truth Is Out There'' by Bill Wallace. This article is about myth's in Martial Arts, and one that he speaks about is the one fatal punch. It is Mr. Wallace's contention that ``Hundred of years ago, a punch to the ribs might have led to severe injuries, but these days people are physically stronger and more resilient.''

From reading Karate-do My Way of Life, I can see that they lived a very harsh life. Having to train in secrecy late at night, and having to travel great distances, avoiding gangs of thugs along their way. I feel that saying that we are more resilient and stronger is not knowing nor understanding the training that goes into being a true Karate-ka. Someone that can inflict the one fatal punch.

Mark, your thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

David Davis
Clovis, California, USA

Dear David,

Thank you very much for your thoughtful letter. The question of the ``one fatal punch'' is one that is kicked around quite a bit, and as a result we have different ideas about karate, different training styles, and different methods and techniques. I must say, that after seeing how truly hard good karate-ka can hit, I am convinced in the fact that fatal punches are not mythology at all. Fatal punches are very real.

Mr. Wallace's contention that we are tougher and can take more of a beating is not entirely without merit. The Japanese, a hundred years ago, and also to this day, are not the greatest consumers of dairy products. It has only been in the last decade or so that people are giving their children a lot more milk to drink. As a result, my university students are much larger in their late teens and early 20's than their parents ever were. When visiting my office to discuss incomplete assignments, there are several of them that can look me directly in the eye (I am 6'3) while I can hear the suffocated cries of their parents who are stuffed in their backpacks.

Even so, these strong dairy-fed youths are not strong enough to withstand an all-out focussed attack from an accomplished karkate-ka. The body simply has too many weak spots on it that are susceptible to attack. Reading Pat McCarthy's Bubishi gives you a little bit of an idea of all the places on the body that when attacked with surgical precision, are indeed fatal.

This fact, that karate women and men can develop fatal unarmed attacks on others, is one that must be realized as something that also comes with a serious responsibility. The fifth line in the dojo kun, ``Kekki no yu o imashimuru koto'' is one that needs to be carefully examined. In our bravado and quick temperedness, we are able to really hurt someone.

I find that is the same thing for myself as well. When dealing with nasty and unsavory people like my last landlord here in Japan (also affectionately known as ``Lucifer's sock puppet'') I have to remember not to reach out and kill him where he stands for lying and cheating me out of $3,000.00 of damage deposit money. If we lived in a different culture and a different time I might be quite justified in bashing his brains in, but here in this world I am forbidden to do such things. Maybe that is not such a bad thing either. I am not sure I would want to deal with the consequences of really hurting, and maybe killing, someone else.

This is not to say that training in karate will equip everyone with the ability to attack with lethal force. On the contrary, it is often the exception than the rule. Although the body has all kinds of weak points that can be attacked, it takes an enormous amount of training to focus on them. Another thing to consider is that size, weight, and muscle mass are all variables as well. We have all heard of cases where two guys get into a brawl, and after one guy lashes out and punches the other, the guy on the receiving end is dead in no time.

So regardless of whether or not you are able to smash through your coffee table with a single punch or can stop a charging rhino with your bare hands, punching anyone else is serious business. Avoid where you can. Run away if you can. Call for help. Negotiate. Lie. Cheat. And do everything else you can to avoid taking things to an escalated level of violence. Once you cross that line, it is very difficult to undo a physical attack.

Thanks for your excellent letter David!

Best regards,
Mark

### Open Letter 4: Mark's New Year's Nonsense

HAPPY NEW YEAR: 2002

Welcome back to Karate The Japanese Way. This is the first update of the site for 2002. I hope that during the winter break you had a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and are having a wonderful beginning to a New Year.

The new year is full of promise, and possibility. I hope that you, like me, are making plans for this next year, hammering out personal goals, and daydreaming frequently.

I apologize for not having much to update in December of 2001. It is not that there was not much to say or write, it is just that my wife, the glorious Katie, and I were in the midst of moving our household from a large spacious, yet draughty and dusty, traditional Japanese house to a smaller, yet gloriously bright, warm, and modern 5th floor apartment. That, along with the general insanity of Yuletide festivities, gave me little time to do much in the way of updates for the site.

2002 is looking to be a banner year for KTJW. We are slated to have the text that accompanies (actually eclipses) this site ready for print this spring. A final print date will be set soon and I will be sure to let you know as soon as we know. The artists have designed some great possible covers for the book and we are narrowing the choices down to the last few. Look for KTJW to come out this April or May.

Despite having little to add to the site in December, the web stats that we have looked at have gone totally bonkers. December has been the busiest month yet, and we have visitors from far and wide coming to see what we have been cooking up. Welcome to new folks coming from Hong Kong, Iceland, the Philippines, Ecuador, Hungary, Yugoslavia Slovakia, Bolivia, Zimbabwe, Lithuania, Tonga, Colombia, Norfolk Island, Panama, Dominican Republic, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Trinidad and Tobago, and Luxembourg. To date, people from at least 74 different countries around the world have come to visit Karate The Japanese Way. My brain is still bursting when I think about it. Thanks so much for coming, and please come and visit again.

Another thing that was really cool that happened to KTJW was this:

This is to inform you that the website
http://karatethejapaneseway.com
has been designated a Cool Site in the Netscape Open Directory
Sports/Martial_Arts/Karate/Shotokan

Hello Mark,

I thought I would drop you a line to let you know that your site ``Karate The Japanese Way'' has been `Cooled' (given a special award.) By myself, the editor of the Open Directory Project's Shotokan category.

You can view your listing here:
http://dmoz.org/Sports/Martial_Arts/Karate/Shotokan/
What a wonderful site. Keep up the good work.

Johnny D. aka Azazel
Azazel@japan.com

Thanks a lot Johnny D. You are a prince among men. For those of you who do not know the good work of Johnny D. please go and check out his site at http://www.shokarate.org . Go and check his site, and if in New England, the dojo out. I have never really won much of anything in the past, let alone be ``cooled''. That is so... cool. Thanks!

Well then, enough about me and our groovy web site. Let's get on to the some of the more interesting letters that have come our way.

### Can't Stop Training: Help Now Please Help!

Dear Mark,

I was put onto the site via another gentleman by the name of John who recognized my situation. ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! is the only way to describe the site. I am a 36 year-old bloke who should have done this many, many years ago. I had often thought about it but never followed it through. Now, I just can't get enough. My problem is that I have a fear that it is taking over my control. I want to train all the time (even with extremely painful muscles). I do not want to become a black belt overnight, please don't get me wrong. What I want is to absorb so much information for the betterment of myself, but this has a negative effect in that I am concentrating too hard on one thing and forgetting about something else. This then leads to bad technique and therefore I change tack and over compensate. John has advised me to take my time and soak it in gradually, which is wise, however my keenness is overwhelming. I am trying & training so hard (possibly trying too hard). I feel so bad that I have thought about karate for so many years and did nothing, and now I feel like I cannot do enough. Please help!

Regards,

Dave.

Dear Dave,

I am glad to hear that you are enjoying the site. As for absolutely brilliant... well, KTJW has its detractors as well, and not everyone thinks I am such a brainiac. My mother has said to me on more than one occasion, ``Mark, dear, you may think you are funny... but you are not.''

Don't get me wrong here. I love my mom, but even she is not such a great fan of what I do, or maybe about how I mock Dutch people in general... Oh well.

As for over-training, try to just enjoy yourself as you go along. Karate is serious business, that much is true, but enjoy what you are doing each practice for what it is. Each time you go and train is a step in the right direction, even if it only feels like you are ``tripping up the stairs''.

One of the most common reasons people quit karate is from burn-out. I met this one fella once who, while sporting a lovely spherical mid-section, bemoaned the fact that he had wrecked his knee in Tae-Kwon-Do with some kind of spinning reverse back kick. Now, since he can no longer train, his knee is bad, he is overweight, and tells bad stories about what a tough-guy he once was. Go slow, pace yourself.

But karate is like a drug too. You get that adrenaline pumping and it is good stuff. We have to try to see that for what it is. Good karate is also based on the principles of temperance, prudence, and balance.

Thanks for such an encouraging note, Dave. Let me know how your training is coming along.

Best regards, Mark

### To Straighten or Not To Straighten: That is the Question

Hello Sensei Groenewold

My name is Alberto Testa and I am a second year sport sciences university student in London but first of all a ISKF shodan. I would like to know what you think about my dilemma:

In dynamic Karate (master Nakayama) and in another relevant Italian publication by Sensei Shirai is written that in the combination above cited the kizami tsuki is performed pushing the rear leg and straighten it, then the leg relaxed and then straighten again in performing the reverse punch.

In a very good video (EB productions), video invaluable for the information provided and the ability of the instructors in the same combination in doing kizami the leg is bent and it is straighten only in doing gyaku tsuki. I Tried both and I think the Shirai and Nakayama's kizami is strong.

what do you think?

regards,
Alberto Testa

Hello Alberto,

I think that the question is one that has multiple answers, depending on (of course!) who you ask.

First of all, I have the video that you mention by EB productions with Joel Ertl. I think that the video is excellent and when I first saw the ``bent rear leg'' I inquired with Joel Ertl and he had mentioned that this is how he has been instructed by Nishiyama-Sensei. Upon some reflection on this matter, and trying it out in the dojo, I think that whether or not the leg is ``bent'' depends much more on the circumstance in which you use the technique, much more so than the hard-and-fast ``rule'' of how you are supposed to do the technique.

With an extended rear leg there is a benefit of ``committing'' more fully to the technique. With the rear leg locked out, the full weight of the karate-ka pushes forwards into the target. This posture, coupled with the forward momentum of the attacker driving into the target, makes kizami zuki (or oizuki, for that matter) much more powerful than it seems. For a small person (100 lbs.), using their total body weight into any technique really allows for karate to help them in equalizing what could be very unequal situations with would-be assailants.

Keeping some flexibility in the rear leg has some merit too, however. If you consider a variety of fighting (or sparring) situations that you could be in, it is also a good idea to keep enough flex in your legs so that lateral movement is possible too. But this seems to have more of a defensive, rather than offensive, posture. So, it depends on what kind of kumite or fighting you are doing. Are you going ``all out'' against your attacker? By all means, drive into him with all you've got and extend that leg. Are you setting up a secondary technique, like a one-two combination? Or are you waiting for your attacker to come at you first before you turn them into silly putty? Maybe some rear-leg flexibility would not be a bad idea.

All in all, I think that as we go along in our karate education things that seemed to have a single correct answer become a little less clear. This is not because we don't know what we are doing or become confused, but rather, because we are seeing things more for what they are-complex, intricate, and having unexplored depth.

Lastly, now that Joel Ertl's excellent work has been mentioned again in this site, I hope that you might take a look at what he is doing at EB Productions and contact the man. He is an excellent instructor and may be someone that you can get some answers from.

Thanks for the letter!

Mark

### Kata: The Essence of Karate

Hello Sensei Mark:

I've just finished exploring your site. It took a couple of nights to get through it all (at an admittedly leisurely pace), and I have to admit I find it very refreshing to find a site which has well written, interesting content. I'm a Shodan in Canada Goju Karate (www.canadagoju.com) under Kyoshi William Hind. I loved reading your Shodan grading experience. I have to admit I didn't leave any blood on the floor during my grading, but it was still a stressful two day experience for me. I'm sure the language barrier just added to your stress level!

The Japanese insights are very interesting to read. The one really surprising statement, in my mind, is the strong kumite orientation in Japan, or at least in the JKA you're associated with. Being in Canada, the view seems to be that most ``quality'' dojos focus quite strongly on kata - my perception is that dojos that ignore, or trivialize, kata practice are perceived in a less than favorable light. As well, from what I've read about the history of karate (we were tested on our knowledge of the history of Goju as part of the Shodan grading) most of the original Okinawan masters, such as Chojun Miyagi emphasized that ``kata is the essence of karate''. And, current leaders in Goju such as Meitoku Yagi (Meibukan) and Morio Higaonna (IOGKF) certainly have a strong focus on kata and bunkai as an essential part of the training. In fact I believe there's very little, if any, jiyu kumite in certain sub-groups of Goju, such as Meibukan.

I'm glad I found your site. It provides excellent insights and has a nice informal tone throughout, and the occasional bit of comedy. It's quite obvious that you have a strong grasp of ``the way''. Best of luck on your Sandan grading!

Rolf Gitt
Shodan - Canada Goju Hombu Dojo
Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
e-mail: rolf.gitt@sympatico.ca

Hello Rolf,

Thank you very much for such a kind note. I am absolutely fascinated with how karate is done in the West. In the last ten years or so I have been back for only a few (and to do the unbelievably tedious and cumbersome job of getting my Masters degree done) so I have to confess my ignorance in terms of how many things work in North America in regards to karate and how it is taught there. I can just show you a little what goes on here, and I am delighted beyond measure that people are enjoying the site so far.

I have heard from a variety of sources in America and Canada that kata performance and knowledge are critical things for Western karate-ka. I think that this makes a lot of sense to me. Many karate instructors from Japan in the early formative years of karate in North America could use the kata library as ``homework'' that they could check on next time they were breezing through town. Here in Japan, the kata are more like ``Well, we will get to that soon enough. Just pay careful attention to your maai.''

Every karate-ka comes at karate from their own perspective, their own physical strengths and limitations, and their own sensibilities. We ought not forget that karate is a HUGE thing. There are also different kinds of karate-ka and different kinds of instructors. Someone who is proficient in kata is not necessarily very strong in kumite. The reverse is equally true. There are karate-ka who have excellent fundamentals, yet falter when sparring. We all have our blind spots, but we have strengths as well.

For me, I think that kata is one of the weakest points of my karate training, so that is where I am expending the most energy these days. I am working through kata I don't know and learning a lot in the process from people who are researching kata and experimenting with various bunkai. Today is an exciting time to be doing karate. There is much to do, and much to grow.

There is no doubt, that from a certain perspective, ``kata is the essence of karate'', but there is something even more fundamental than that-namely, fundamentals. It is true that kata is the ``house'' of karate, but if the bricks are made out of sandstone that house will not stand for long. This kind of thinking is also the reason why our instructors insist on doing A LOT of kihon (fundamentals) practice. Without kihon, there is no ``essence'' to discuss at all.

Thanks again for the encouraging letter. It is most appreciated.

Lastly, it's nice to be called ``Sensei-Mark'', but I like just plain old ``Mark''. You see, I really do just want to have a one-word name like Twiggy or Sting. That would be really cool.

Best regards,

Mark

### Shotokan Gradings: A Cut Above the Rest

Mark,

I found your site fascinating, the letter from the gentleman who was aged 40 and starting `late' hit home to me.

I am now 36 (37 in jan2002) and I have been a member of the Malvern SKC in Liverpool u.k. for two and a half years. I am currently a temp 4th kyu, so is my son (11) and my daughter (6) has just got her nice new orange belt!

I should have took up karate years ago when my two nieces and my brother started, they all now possess black belts, sadly I didn't.

I believe that the grading structure in Shotokan is second to none, the etiquette and discipline are amazing and should never be lost. Having seen a kick boxing grading I wouldn't swap it for the world, Shotokan is the one for me.

Thanks again,
John Bell

Hello John,

There is something about the Shotokan grading which to me seems remarkably efficient and fair. I have read a lot of criticism of how the JKA evaluates people during their exams as being ``too easy'' or ``too quick''. But I think if you look more closely at the grading system itself, as well as the training that necessitates it, we see that there is much more to it.

Now, I don't know anything about kick-boxing gradings so I cannot speak to that, but Shotokan gradings really do test one's ability and is quite well balanced, I think. First the students must demonstrate fundamental technique, moving up and down the floor for several of the same techniques in a row. If the first couple are weak or choppy, there is still room to show the evaluators what you can really do. The grading tests all the basics, both punches and kicks, while in motion. I like that. Here in Japan, students usually are evaluated two or three at a time so that there is the element of comfort in numbers, particularly good for those of us that can crack under pressure. Kata and kumite are also demonstrated with others too.

I have seen (and done during a year of Wado-Kai training) kyu gradings that are much more like an endurance tests, lasting a couple hours, and resulting in poor final technique, and a group of people who are lying on the ground, gasping out their final breaths like fish in the bottom of a boat.

Shodan is different though. I don't know why, but this is where we see some differences in how people grade and advance up the ranks. For some, it is much like an endurance examination, for others, just another kyu exam. For yet still others, it is a scholarly presentation on the various nuances of karate aesthetics and history. At any rate, I think that shodan exams should push you a little more than you are typically comfortable with in terms of being challenged.

Yes, Shotokan is groovy and cool, but other karate styles are not completely out to lunch either. The key thing for anyone who is new to karate is to find a good teacher, and to work with someone you can trust.

Good luck on your next examination. Enjoy the ride!

Mark

### Changing Horses in Mid-Stream: Moving From One School to Another

Mark,

I've really enjoyed looking around your site and expect to visit often. Since you invite letters I'm hoping you can answer a question for me.

If someone attains a certain rank in one ``style'' of karate and then switches to a school that teaches a different style, is the student's rank generally accepted at the new school, in the new style (assuming suitable demonstration of skill). I'm currently studying with a school that emphasizes ``American'' karate (which appears to be basically karate without any use of Japanese terminology, etc.). I'm happy with them for now, but I do have a strong interest in the spiritual and philosophical aspect of karate that gets more emphasis in a dojo that teaches one of the traditional styles. Unfortunately, they are few in my area, and those few are not particularly convenient for me to get to. (To my current instructors' credit, I believe they do stress the fundamental principles of karate. It's just that my tilt toward the spiritual and philosophical aspects runs deeper than theirs seems to.)

For now, I'm just happy to be studying karate again. I studied karate briefly as a teen-ager. Now at 41 with a 5 year-old son who's taking classes, I've finally found the perfect opportunity to get back into it.

Tim Hewitt
Columbia SC

Hello Tim,

I will try to address your question, but I think that there are many people in North America who have had a lot of experience in situations like yours who might be of some help as well. Check out the discussion groups on Yahoo, or some of the other gentler and kinder forums that are out there.

But for what it is worth, I am sorry to say that not all karate clubs are equal. But I find myself torn here are well. On my 3-year stay in Canada after my first ``tour'' of Japan it was suggested to me by one knuckle-head in particular of a large Shotokan organization that I would have to ``re-grade'' for shodan under his careful tutelage. Doubting that character's own ability to do karate, let alone evaluate others, I inquired with his seniors who said that such things are utter nonsense and ridiculously unnecessary. My prior gradings, with the karate organization that I am with (JKA Japan) would be sufficient and recognized at face value.

But that was one turkey out of a flock of very interesting karate people that I have met so far. So ask around and get information. You don't have to settle on the first response you get. Elmar Schmeisser had suggested in a previous discussion (I could be mistaken here so I will summarize carefully) that a potential way for instructors to get around this particular problem is to invite the new person from a different club or organization to train up until the next grading. At the next grading the candidate simply attempts the next level (kyu or dan) and if successful, continues merrily along. If the candidate fails, he keeps the level that he is currently at.

As for differing karate ``styles'' there are often some different emphasis on stances or technique, but for the most part karate training conditions the same muscles on the same human body. Boil karate down enough, and we are all doing the same things basically. You may need to learn new kata, and that should be alright. Consider yourself ``on probation'' or ``being re-tooled'' for your new karate environment. Good karate-ka, even if they have to start all over at 9th kyu in a different organization or style will rocket up the ranks in no time.

But then again, if I was told, upon returning back to fair and glorious Canada, that I must re-grade from scratch, I might just tell whoever was telling me this to kiss my sphincter.

It's a tough question, but there are organizations out there who are happy to work with ``orphaned'' karate-ka, and also major organizational clubs which are not short-sighted and welcome all quality people to train with them. Shop around, it is the best way to find like-minded folks.

Best of luck Tim!

Mark

### Karate and Spirituality: Getting to the Bottom of Things

Hello Mark, I just happened upon your web site. I am a 41 year old student studying Psychology, one year from graduating with my BA in Psych. I am hoping to work on an independent study in spirituality this coming semester. I have recently taken up a study with Cameron's Karate & Fitness Center in Ossippee, New Hampshire, USA. The form of karate is Uechi-ryu.

I wonder, if you were to offer any advise on spirituality and karate and how the two apply to one another, what would you suggest I focus on. Thanks for any direction you can offer. I feel this is a path that I should be concentrating on, but am not sure where to begin.

Sincerely,
Rebecca

Hello Rebecca,

We have been having a nice private email discussion about this, but your questions are of a nature that it might be useful for other visitors to the site to eavesdrop a little on my responses.

As some of my friends and comrades in the karate world may already gather, I have serious misgivings about combining karate and spirituality. I have even has some very interesting heated responses to some of the criticisms I have posted about such things on public discussion boards on the net. It is a discussion which is one that is eternally in process, but I think that in any democratized nation, it is ultimately unethical to combine these two elements into one.

Karate, as far as I can see, does not have a spiritual base on which it stands. Karate originated in Japan, but that does not mean that it is by nature a product of Shintoism or Buddhism.

Spaghetti comes from Italy, but that doesn't make all pasta a product of Catholicism. Do you see where this is going? Karate, like pasta, has become an international phenomenon. Just like when you order the lasagna from an Italian restaurant in Japan you get extra seaweed on it, karate is something that does not determine a culture, but rather, the karate will reflect different cultural approaches to it.

Karate has a breadth to it that, for lack of a better word, ``transcends'' spirituality. Buddhists do karate. So do Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Agnostics, Gnostics, Marxists, and atheists. Everyone can eat Italian food, and everyone can do karate. Whether or not your spirituality is linked to Zoroastrianism, Taoism, Confucianism, Seventh-Day Adventism, Bahaism, Islam, or Sikhism, those beliefs are personal, individual, and unique to each person. Karate has two feet in the temporal realm. Your soul is something that you must take into account for yourself.

``Ah...,'' you may begin, ``but what of Zen? Isn't Zen something that transcends culture too?'' Then your eyes may glaze over and you may say, ``Isn't karate like Zen because it is so... like... groovy... ?'' And then after I am able to keep my bile in check and halt the spewage that might usher forth, I would respond with this.

No.

Zen is religious. I don't care what the die-hard advocates of Zen may preach. In fact, the more they do preach the more they sound like Branch-Davidians as far as I am concerned. Zen is not ``organized'' like the Catholic church. There is no Zen-pope (not yet anyway), and there have never been Salem Zen-burnings of any sort (although that may come at some point too), but Zen is still a spiritual quality that has a strong influence on how someone might conduct their life, how they may envision the shape of the universe, and how they form opinions on things like the nature of the human soul, the after-life, and a Divine presence in a chaotic Creation.

There is no collection plate passed to you as you sit in a pew to support the Zen church and its ``outreach'' work. There is no ordination of Zen priests, and there are no confessionals for people who are not as Zen as they think they ought to be. But Zen, although ``mysterious'', ``nebulous'', ``unknowable'', and ``enigmatic'' does still possess elements of religiosity, yet escapes the temporal trappings that represent it-no churches, no structured clergy or congregational laity, and no soup kitchens to feed the poor.

I do not mean to be oppositional to people who believe in Zen, or any other religion for that matter. I have visited Zen temples and schools here in Japan. Zen is serious business, and not for the timid or faint-of-heart. Zen monasteries are for real, and the meditations these people do would melt my brain.

But you do not have to ``do Zen'' to ``do karate''. Karate is in the world of physical things and people. Zen, and spirituality of all walks of life and revelation, is something quite different altogether. Enjoy your karate, but also be true to the voice of your own soul.

Sorry to make this response so long folks, and thanks Rebecca for addressing this very important topic for us.

Best regards always,

Mark

Well friends and neighbors, that is the best of the letters I have received recently. I certainly enjoy hearing from visitors and am glad to get both nice mail and criticisms. I try to answer all the mail that comes my way in a timely fashion. And if I have inadvertently forgotten to respond to someone, I assure you that it was not intentional and hope that you will write again.

Next update will include some video reviews that have been on the backburner, a couple more books that need reviewing, and then some more groundwork for a major upload that will take place soon after that.

Thank you very much for coming by the site, and for making this a real work of joy.

Best and kindest regards,
Mark Groenewold

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