What's On Your Mind?

My former Shito-ryu sensei, Keiji Tomiyama

Throughout the 1970's, when I was training in Japanese karate, Tani-ha Shito-ryu, most of my training was done in "thin air". Apart from sparring, in its various forms, much of the time was spent repeating, endlessly, the kihon waza of the system; and repetition after repetition of the many kata I was expected to commit to memory. It was a big ask to remember so many training patterns, and almost everyone I knew had trouble doing so once the kata count reached into the twenties.

Add to this, the constant changes in the kata that I was expected to keep up with, and I reached a point where it was difficult to remember what I was supposed to be doing at the time, let alone recall what I was doing the year before. After a few years, I began to wonder how anyone kept up with the constant changes, the new way of doing things, and the ease with which I was being asked to abandon certain techniques that had been considered important enough to be tested on only a few years earlier.

Since leaving Japanese training methods behind, I now understand that karate is based on principles, not techniques. It is brought to life through the spirit, not by developing extreme physical fitness; and it is absorbed by grasping something of the culture from which it emerged on Okinawa, not by harking back to the history of a very different society, Japan.

Where the mind goes, the body follows; that said, it's as well to know what's on your mind.