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Karate Philosophy

In common with most other art forms, Karate is a martial art that involves the quest for perfection. Serious practitioners of the art may have started for reasons of fitness or self-defence, but many continue their striving for perfection via the practice of Karate-Do, i.e. using Karate as the way to try and achieve individual enlightenment. Whilst Karate means ‘empty handed’ and practice has connotations of aggression, its history is one of spiritual enlightenment and much of its development is attributable to Buddhist monks. A basic and very essential part of Karate training is Karate ni Sentenashi. It means that karateka must never attack first – mentally or physically. To understand this fully, years of hard and correct training are needed. In principle, as the karateka grows in stature so also will grow his good manners and etiquette, outwardly and, even more important, inwardly.

Notes on BSKA Karate Training:

All Karate training must be intense and with purpose. Correct etiquette during practice is essential.

Respect for our fellow students and Instructors is paramount in our dojos. Attitude during training is important, as a poor spirit will render the training useless, breed discontent in fellow students and finally respect for the art and instructors will disappear. Mostly the last person to notice this is the student with poor spirit and bad attitude. Always strive to be keen and attentive and prepared for discovering the new in the old and to see your own faults first.

Karate is not primarily a spectator sport and is not practiced for flashy reasons, yet the observation of an advanced student training worth seeing. The etiquette is important not just because it is of Japanese origin, but it is useful to have true respect for your teachers as they will show you more and also the risk of offending with the obvious repercussions is reduced; a good idea in Japan and not such a bad idea in England.

Much of the Karate training these days appears to the new observer, never to go beyond basic punching and kicking without thought of the needs of real use effectiveness and the strategy and tactics for surviving an unprovoked attack by unarmed or armed assailants. This happens sometimes if a club has an instructor who has not become quite advanced in his own training. It can also happen if the club has a steady flow of beginners. A prospective student should research the history of the instructor he wishes to train under and also the background of the style he is about to invest his time in. Karate is a life long study and one should be careful not to get involved with a system which is superficial and has no depth beyond that which can be seen immediately.

Sport Karate is mistakenly seen as the end goal for Karateka and the casual observer wonders at its effectiveness in real life, when there is no contact allowed in practice, as can be seen in many other arts such as kickboxing where flurries of punches and kicks are landed to head and body with no apparent effectiveness, it just looks good to the audience.

If these disparities are looked at closely, with the help of high grade karateka, it will be seen that the training for karate is to deliver one punch or kick to end the contest. This is to save energy and reduce the risk of being hurt during a free for all as the more time it takes to subdue an opponent, the more risk there is of the karateka being injured, especially if the assailant is armed. This kind of training needs a very special attitude since not only does the Karateka need to learn the techniques, he needs to learn how to deliver them with full power, fast, fluidly and effortlessly. Styles such as Shukokai and Shitoryu concentrate a lot of time to this effectiveness.

In sport karate the pads are worn to mainly protect the user (cuts from accidental contact with teeth or the pain associated with shin contact to hard bone). Other contact arts wear thicker padding to protect the opponent. Much of the focus of the attack is lost here as the punches or kicks have to be followed through in order for them to be felt and that extends the dissipation of energy over a longer time, whereas Karate teaches to expend all the energy in a very short space of time in a short distance for maximum effect.

With this in mind it can be seen that real contact sport Karate would be out of the question, otherwise the hospitals would be full of concussion patients, nursing broken ribs.

So the Karate basic training can look stilted at first as the beginner battles with new postures and stances, trying to remember to ‘keep his ribs covered at all times’, ‘protect his groin when kicking’, ‘keep his head up to avoid it getting punched on the top’. High elbow, hunched back stances are fine in the right circumstances but should never be considered the only way to fight. The basic training is the foundation for all the other training however advanced it seems. In fact it could be said that the basic training is the most advanced of all and is taught at the very beginning as it is so difficult to master. What appears to be a flashy technique is useless unless it is backed by years of hard training at the basics.

It is to be remembered that engaging in a sporting contest is necessary from time to time especially in the early years, in order to remind you of the need for constant alertness, speed and stamina. The points in karate contest, especially for the high grade are only awarded if the technique is correct, fast and expertly delivered. The trained Karateka will know how to extend the punch or kick, or to move in fractionally closer in order for his attack to make contact. His mindset at the beginning of a sport fight will be different from normal everyday life. It is a mistake to engage in free fighting without a sound knowledge of techniques and application, otherwise bad technique habits are formed which reduce the effectiveness and give the user a false sense of security.

Therefore it can be seen that sport fighting and tile breaking are tests that the Karateka may want to put themselves to in order to see their own progression. They are not primarily shows for the fight culture audience nor should they be promoted as such.

Shitoryu karate includes all the tools necessary to make a well rounded fighter. Joint locks and throws are just as important as all the many and various ways of hitting and this is why it takes so long to progress up the black belt ladder. This progression should not be seen as the goal either but just a marker for the karateka’s own use as to their achievement so far. It also means they have to keep up their training in order to warrant the grade. The first Dan Black belt is just the start of advanced training.

Karateka should never crow at success nor cry at failure. It is a personal thing and success or failure is irrelevant since the passage through Karate training is merely a learning process and success only comes with the experience of some failure. Expect that and the training will be easier.

Gambatte kudasai.