Basic Skills are the Highest Skills

Neal Martin from Urban Samurai has been writing recently about the importance of practising basics and why he thinks people sometimes neglect to do this (Why the fundamentals of Martial Arts are neglected). He e-mailed me and asked if I would write a post on the same subject.

As I mentioned in an earlier post (A Drive on Basics) we have been having a drive on basics in my dojo and so this is a subject in the front of my mind at the moment.

Neal specifically asked me to address the question of why I think many martial artists neglect the basics of their art. I think there are several reasons:

Wrong language. The use of the word basic gives the impression of something being simple - something that is for beginners or less able people. When I worked as a nurse we had the same problem. The core skills of nursing were referred to as Basic Nursing Care and as soon as many nurses were past their initial training they often didn't want to be involved in giving patient's basic nursing care, feeling this was the domain of lesser trained care assistants or junior student nurses.

Yet these core skills formed the backbone of good nursing practice, enabling nurses to assess progress, prevent complications, identify problems at an early stage and make appropriate interventions. This required a high level of skill that junior nurses and care assistants don't have leading to mistakes and missed opportunities to hasten a patients recovery or prevent their decline As a Nurse tutor I advocated a change of the word basic to fundamental to emphasise how important these skills were to good nursing practice. The basic nursing skills were also the highest nursing skills.

I think the same is true in martial arts. Many people clearly don't realise that basic skills are fundamental to good martial arts practice - they are core to it, forming its back bone. But words are emotive aren't they? If the word basic makes you feel 'babyish' then it's time to change the word not the activity. And if the ego is too big to do basics then maybe it's also too big to be a good martial artist. Why don't we just refer to basic skills as core skills or fundamental skills or just kihon if you're practising a Japanese art.?

Lack of understanding. Drilling basics is a very indirect way of training for self-defence. Direct training would involve learning actual techniques such as escapes from strangles, grabs, headlocks, knife attacks etc. Punching and kicking the air, pad or punchbag; practising stances and turns; drilling combinations or practising 'sticky hands' techniques seems a very indirect way of learning self-defence. Yet it is through this constant drilling of indirect training methods that we gain the necessary control of our muscles, balance and timing, and develop our mental tenacity. We become masters of ourselves. This then feeds into the development of good direct training techniques - it forms the glue that holds our techniques together. Without it, all we learn is a collection of disconnected techniques. Indirect training offers us education that unites our minds and bodies and enables us to eventually function intuitively in all situations. Direct training methods merely provide us with technical level training. Do you want to be the 'Professional' or merely his 'Technician'?

Wrong mindset. I think many people shy away from basics because they have adopted  the wrong mindset. They are impatient - too much in a hurry, to eager to learn the direct things. This impatience seems to be mainly an affliction of youth (not just in martial arts!). I greatly get the impression from reading many martial arts blogs that many 'mature' martial artists now were inflicted with this impatient mindset when they started their martial arts training as boys or young men but have since come to realise that there is no escape from practising basics. However, not all young people have this impatience and with good guidance from a good instructor I'm sure many will be persuaded that drilling basics is essential.

I think that to be a good and 'rounded' martial artist we have to see ourselves as more than just bio-mechanical instruments that can learn to push, pull, lever, throw and strike. The manipulation and control of body mechanics is important but is only half the picture. Mental and spiritual strength is as important as physical ability. To be able to drill basics consistently in every training session (and in between) month after month, year after year as well as train in direct methods requires mental discipline and enriches the spirit. If you lack this spirit you will not be able to sustain this type of training.

Training in martial arts is circular not linear. It is always necessary to return to basic skills training now and again because the basic skills are also the highest skills.

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Why do we.........say 'Osu!'?

Do you 'Osu!' in your dojo? Generally speaking, we do not 'Osu!' in ours except for one of our experienced black belts who regularly osus! I find it quite alarming (and intriguing) to hear him shout 'Osu!' up to 10 or 15 times a session. He osus when he bows announces a kata, starts a technique or whenever the instructor asks or tells him something. I presume his use of this word is related to his karate 'upbringing' over 30 years ago.

So what is this 'Osu!' thing all about? I decided to do some research:

First, let’s just say the correct pronunciation is 'oh-sss' rather than 'oo-sss', which is a common mispronunciation in the West.

Osu is a Japanese greeting word (aisatsu). It is a contraction of other greeting words such as Ohayossu or ohayoosu, Ohayo or even just Oh. The more contracted the word the less formal the greeting. It's a bit like going from 'Good Morning', to 'Hello' to 'Hi' depending on the context and company you are in.

In general parlance in Japan 'Osu' is a very 'rough' male greeting between friends in an athletic setting. It is a very male word - an expression of masculinity, something men may greet each other with in a football or baseball club. It is generally only used by children and 'macho' or rough men! In Japan, a woman would never use such an impolite word and a man would be considered rude to use it to greet a woman.

So why do we use it in martial arts?

It is a word mainly used in karate clubs, though some judo and taekwondo clubs have been known to use it too (possibly because the instructor has a karate background). It is not an Okinawan word so Okinawan styles of karate generally don't use it. The origin of the word is not entirely clear but it is thought that the use of “Osu!” first appeared in the Officers Academy of the Imperial Japanese Navy, in the early 20th century and later became common with karate students. This helped establish the rough masculine nature of the word.

What is its purpose in the dojo?

In some dojo's 'osuing' is a standard part of the dojo etiquette and all students are expected to use it, whereas in other dojo's it is actively discouraged because it is not considered very polite, preferring more polite expressions such as “Onegaishimasu.”!

However, if you consider another translation of the word, which is also a contraction of the two kanji symbols used to write the term “Oshi Shinobu” it means "to persevere while pushing oneself to the absolute limit.” The strength of character that develops from hard training is known as “osu no seishin” (the spirit of “Osu!”). It implies a willingness to push oneself to the limits of endurance, to persevere under any kind of pressure. This is the context in which it is being used in the dojo.

The word 'Osu!' has many purposes in the dojo. It can be used to greet fellow students instead of saying hello (at least among the men); to respond to a question or instruction instead of saying yes; if your instructor thinks you are weak or injured you can reply 'osu' to reaffirm that despite your weakness/injury you are willing to still try your best; you can say it to remind yourself that despite the pain you need to carry on i.e. show your 'warrior spirit' or you can use it to acknowledge your opponents skill at a technique or in a tournament. It seems like a very flexible and versatile word!

And finally! Some general 'Osu!' etiquette:

• "Osu!" is primarily a greeting.
• You use it toward other people, not toward an empty room when you bow onto the mat or before you perform a kata.
• You cannot really use it for "goodbye."
• It is never a question and does not mean "I understand."

So do you 'Osu!' in your dojo?

Click here if you want to read a comprehensive article on the use of 'Osu'.

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A drive on karate basics

Since returning back to karate classes in the new year we have had a real drive on returning to basics, and I mean basics. I think that Sensei, refreshed from his month long holiday in New Zealand and with a new found tan (do I sound envious?) whilst we have shivered in sub zero temperatures and 6inches of snow, has decided to rid us all of bad habits that have crept in over the months.

He has checked that we all know how to make a proper fist and that we do actually make a strong fist with every technique requiring one (or a rigid and strong open hand for open hand techniques). It is surprising how many people have become a little slack with this most fundamental of techniques.

We have been through the mechanics of  how to punch properly - twisting the fist right at the end, pulling the other arm back, relaxing the arm and shoulders and putting tension on right at the end etc. Again it is surprising how many people twist the wrist too soon or are too tense during the technique. The same with blocks. With each block we have covered the direction of movement with the block, the positioning of the block and the twisting of the hips and fist. I didn't realise that I twist my fist too early with an age uke block. Other people discovered different errors with their blocking or striking techniques.

Then we have moved onto stance training - not just the correct positioning for various stances but more practising the transitions between stances. This is quite hard to do, particularly avoiding bobbing up and down when moving between stances.

Using mainly pinan nidan, we have practised some of the principles of good kata performance - look, prep, turn. I have found that preparing my foot and hand positions properly before making the turn is enabling me to turn more sharply whilst maintaining my balance better - my wobble is disappearing!

This focus on some very fundamental principles of karate has been extremely valuable. We have become aware of our 'bad or lazy' habits and know what to do to correct them. We are learning to move more flowingly between stances and inject more power into our blocks and strikes by twisting the hips and fist correctly.

We are the senior class - mainly purple belts to 2nd dans. One is never too senior to return to basics, we all discover something new about ourselves and improve when we do.

Keep practising your basics!

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Juroku no kata

This has been a hard kata to research! There has been little information recorded about it but this is what I have been able to find out:

The word Juroku literally means '16' or '16 hands' and refers to the 16 different steps in the kata. There is no other meaning to this kata. It is a relatively modern kata developed by Kenwa Mabuni (1889 - 1952) with some help from his good friend Myiagi Sensei (1888-1953) founder of Goju Ryu karate. Mabuni Sensei is the founder of Shito-ryu karate which is the parent of Shukokai karate.

The kata has some elements from the ancient kata Wankan (Matsumora version) also known as MatsukazeIt also includes an interesting technique using a double blow with the palms of the hand  which is possibly extracted from the kata Jitte.

In our system of shukokai karate (SSK) the juroku kata appears on the 3rd kyu syllabus.

Here is the kata:



Here's another video of it:




Sources:
http://www.angelfire.com/sk/budokai/Katainfo.html
http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fshitokai.iespana.es%2Fjuroku.htm:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenwa_Mabuni

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What is your martial art's mindset?

Do you have a 'bugei' or a 'budo' mindset?

Since I have been blogging and reading other martial arts blogs I have been struck by the different 'mindsets' that people have in relation to their martial art. By 'mindset' I mean their approach to studying martial arts - their aims, focus and priorities. It seems to me that people fall into two broad camps - those with a mainly 'bugei' mindset and those with a mainly 'budo' mindset.

Bugei simply means traditional martial arts, i.e. those of the samurai. Budo means martial Ways and is a more modern concept, where the definition of 'modern', in Japanese martial arts, refers to the period after the start of the Meiji Restoration in1866, i.e. post samurai era. Of course that doesn't mean that the concept of a Japanese Way is modern, just its application to the fighting arts. Indeed the idea of seeking self improvement through the pursuit of mind, body and spiritual harmony is an ancient Japanese and Chinese tradition based on Zen principles going back to about the 7th century. Once the samurai were disbanded after the Meiji Restoration, applying these self-improvement principles to their fighting arts was a way to retain a purpose to continue to study them now they weren't needed on the battlefield.

The traditional bugei arts such as jujitsu, kobujutsu, ninjutsu, sumo, kenjutsu, and others together with the more contemporary combat arts such as krav maga or reality based systems are very much about learning practical defensive fighting skills and training mainly involves working with a partner to perfect skills. Modern budo (karate-do, aikido, judo, kendo, iaido, kobudo etc), on the other hand, use the art of learning to ‘fight’ as a means to master control of one’s body and mind with the lofty aim of achieving ‘self-perfection’. In other words budo becomes the medium through which one strives for self-improvement. In Japanese terms one could just as easily achieve this through the medium of ikebana (flower arranging), chado (tea-ceremony), shado (calligraphy) or any other of the Japanese Ways.

In order to follow a bugei or contemporary combat art it seems that a very pragmatic mindset is needed. The primary aim is to learn effective self-defense and this is valued above all else. This means that training methods become direct and technique driven. Indirect techniques such as ippon kumite or kata are generally much less valued, particularly in contemporary combat arts. In my jujitsu/kobujutsu club the training is very syllabus focused. Students work on the syllabus for their grade, generally with the same training partner. There is very little whole class teaching or 'off syllabus' stuff introduced. Once you have graded you start on a new syllabus and learn some new techniques - the training is very linear. However, progress in achieving the aim of learning self-defence is fairly rapid.

The mindset of the budo practitioner appears very different. Indirect training methods are valued very highly because the primary aim is mastering control of ones body and mind rather than learning to 'fight'. Thus in karate-do the student sees merit in drilling kihon, practising kata and perfecting distance and timing through sparring practice. This does not mean that the budo practitioner does not value the self-defence aspects of martial arts it's just that they are not necessarily the primary focus.

In my karate class, training is not so syllabus or technique focused. Obviously each grade has a syllabus for grading purposes but these are often not looked at until a grading is coming up. Instead, most of the time is spent in 'whole class' teaching. Even when working with partners everyone will be working on the same thing whether it be from the red belt syllabus or the black belt syllabus.
The emphasis is much more on learning to move properly, react quickly and have proper control of your limbs.The only time we break into grade groups is to practice kata, which is grade specific. Working in this way means that techniques, combinations and various other exercises are met again and again - training is much more circular. However, this method of learning self-defence is clearly the slow route and requires much patience.

I am not for one minute suggesting that one mindset is better or worse than the other - they are just different and drive us to persue the style of martial art that suits our aims and needs better. However I do think that one should be cautious in judging a budo art with a bugei mindset or vice versa because they will always be found wanting. Of course we are not all so easy to categorise and many of us may change our mindset as we progress along our martial arts journeys or even weave back and forth between the bugei and budo arts in search of a more fulfilling and complete experience.  I expect our backgrounds, jobs and life experiences affect our needs and determine our priorities when it comes to choosing a martial art so it is fantastic that there is such a plethora of different arts and Ways to suit every conceivable mindset.

So do you have a 'bugei 'or a 'budo' mindset?

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