How do your Students grow?

 

In my previous blog Kata, what is it Good for, I contrasted how kata are taught and used between "Traditional" and what I would call "Modern" dojos, such as the one in which I learnt.  Now I want to contrast how students develop in the different environments.

Traditional

In traditional dojos, students start off with the basics, improving their understanding of these and honing their techniques as they progress. Kata or forms are not introduced until the higher grades, when basics have been mastered.  Techniques are practiced at full speed, not slowly.

There are no separate Children's or Cadet classes, however from the age of around 8 upwards, children can take part.   They do exactly the same syllabus as the adults, and grade in exactly the same way.   Concessions are not made for the age of the student in what they have to learn.

Regular grading examinations are held, with students choosing when to participate, not instructors. Students are allowed to succeed or fail on their own merits.

Concessions are not generally made for a student's medical or physical limitations, but might be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Modern

In modern dojos, as with traditional, students start off with the basics.  However, Kata are introduced at an early stage, along with their interpretation.    Paired and solo drills, along with pad work and light sparring are also included in lessons.

There are separate Children's and Adult classes.  A typical split might be Shisa (4-6 years). Junior (7-12 years) and Senior (13 years upwards).   Where I was taught, the Shisa had grades of a kind, but these did not carry over into Junior.  The proper grades started from Junior classes onward.

As with Traditional dojos, regular grading examinations are held, but these are by invitation only, when the instructors believe you are ready to grade.

 Concessions are made for medical or physical limitations, including adaptations of drills or kata where necessary.   Some dojos run classes specifically for people with disabilities and limitations,

Since Covid-19 especially, some dojos now offer online training to students as well.  

Comparison

It can be argued that the traditional methods are more rigorous, and certainly would only allow technically proficient students to progress.  They probably produce good physical conditioning for those that stay the course, and their training methods and results will be more satisfactory to the purists of the martial arts world.  However, such dojos may not offer much in the way of financial reward to the dojo owners, and the wastage rate among students is possibly quite high, due to the demanding standards expected.

The more modern dojos tend to be more inclusive and attuned to the differing ages and level of ability of the students, if well run.  However, the risk of more dubious practices is higher than with the traditional dojos, as has been evidenced in the past with exceptionally young "black belts" being produced and more than a few, myself included, have scepticism about training that is non-contact that professes to be a form of karate for example (I personally exclude the likes of tai-chi from this categorisation where is non-contact expressly taught for physical well-being, relaxation and meditation).

That said, anyone who has seen or invested time in working with handicapped students for example, cannot doubt the efficacy of the confidence building and improvement in physical well-being that it can offer.  Here I would cite the works of John Johnston’s Adaptive Karate and Les Bubka.  But this is specifically tailored and makes no outrageous promises about what is being delivered.

In the middle of this sit most modern dojos, who offer some tailoring to meet the needs of their students and are not aggressive in their gradings.  Some traditionalists may look down on these dojos, citing their lack of rigour, and money orientation.  However, for the likes of myself, who would never have taken an interest in martial arts otherwise, they open a preciously closed door to a level of personal development we would otherwise have never experienced.

Thank you if you have taken the time to read this.

REY 29/01/2023

Notes on The Martial Arts of Ryukyu - a Nerd blog

These are my recollections of the online lecture given by Andreas Quast to Karate Virtual on 22/08/2020.  This lecture was given against the timeline given in:

Peridization of Ryukyukan History

Pre 1609           - Old Ryukyu
1609-1879        - Early Modern Ryukyu
1879 onward    -  Modern and Present Ryukyu

Old Ryukyu, according to the lecture, was a very martial place, but not by way of open hand martial arts.  There were originally a number of distinct early kingdoms which were unified at the start of the Sho dynasty (The Ryukyukan Royal family from 1429 or 1470 to 1879).  The Ryukyukans of the time prided themselves on their prowess, and with the Royal family being invested by the Chinese, they had a monopoly of trade with the mainland.

The Satsuma clan from Japan, a part of the Shogunate, had tried to come to arrangements with Ryukyu for access to trade and intelligence, but weren't exactly met with approval.  On a least one occasion, the severed head of an emissary was sent back to the Satsuma clan.  The final straw was when an army from Ryukyu attacked the Satsuma holdings in Japan itself.  This resulting in the Satsuma clan's army invading Ryukyu and subjugating the country in 1609.

The Satsuma clan allowed the Sho Dynasty to keep the throne of Ryukyu (presumably to maintain the links with China), but gained access to trade and information, and took control of the protection of Ryukyu, with the arrangement to defend the kingdom if needed.  They instituted an uncontrolled Fire arms ban, but access to swords and other weapons was never removed.   At this time, Japanese martial arts would have also started to feature in the culture of Ryukyu.

The martial aspect of Ryukyukan culture was not removed, but rather reflected into internal security.  Duties such Coast guard duties, defense of official shipping against against pirates, local law enforcement, protection of property and noble families, etc.  became a major feature of their culture.  Local officials started to be trained accordingly and eventually three "schools" were established for this function.   These were in Shuri, Naha and Tomari (sound familiar?) with (if I remember correctly) the School in Naha concentrating on Coastal and Shipping protection and the one in Tomari on Law Enforcement.

The use of fire-arms was permitted, but only under license from the Satsuma clan.  There was an arsenal maintained in Naha, from which were signed out Cannon and other firearms, for use in the protection of shipping against piratic activity.  Once the duties were finished, the weapons had to be returned to the arsenal and accounted for.

Apart from swords, naginata and the like in the hands of nobility and their protectors, two other weapons that were in use at the time, for things such as law enforcement and property protection were probably bo and sai.  The sai of the time were not stabbing weapons but were blunted, possibly used for prodding, weapon and limb trapping and control.

Martial arts of the time were not just limited to security, coastal protection and law enforcement; they took the form of dance, physical exercise, sport and cultural events.  The use of bo in village festivals is well established, there are dances which draw heavily on martial influences and demonstrations of martial prowess formed a part of things such as building dedications. There are definite local roots to sports such as wrestling (Shimi is an old local form of wrestling similar to Sumo) in Ryukyu as well.

Where do kata feature in all of this?  That there was a long established Chinese trading enclave in Ryukyu is long established, and the practice of forms as part of Chinese martial art is also well established.  However, there were also Chinese settlers in Ryukyu. Most of these lived in the area known as Kume village.

For many years, the earliest known demonstration of kata took place at the Ochayagoten in the East garden of Shuri castle on March 24th, 1867, for the visit of the Chinese Sappochi, as part of a three part demonstration of folk dance, drum music and bujutsu.  The kata performed at the event were seisan by Aragaki Tsuji. and suparinpei by Tomura Chikudon.  This is event has become known as "The 10 items of Bugei" 

10 items of Bugei - Jesse Enkamp (P. McCarthu)

What is less well known is that the performers were not from Shuri, Naha or Tomari, rather they came from the village of Kume.

However, more recently an earlier demonstration has come to light, from an interview carried out at the start of the 20th century with one of the participants.  The demonstration to place in the late 1849 for the renewal celebrations for one of the wooden palaces at Shuri Castle.  The kata he recalled being performed were Passai and Kushanku, again by the people of Kume village.

In conclusion (these are mine, not Andreas')

The Meiji restoration of 1879, dismantling of the Kingdom of Ryukyu and militarization of Japan all probably helped trigger the foundation of what we know as Karate of today, but what it is made up of is a melange of all the things that went before, during the Early Modern period.  What individual styles teach now is more likely a result of who the originators were taught by, and trained with, rather than the place they came from.

Kata similar do not belong to any particular style, as labelled Shuri, Naha or Tomari te in origin, but are again a function of what specific masters learnt from others around them.

A video of the full lecture can be found by following the below link:

Martial Arts of Ryukyu Through the Centuries - Andreas Quast /Karate Virtual

You can always watch and drawn your own conclusions.