Back to Basics

Back to Basics-
"Move from easy to difficult and from simple to complicated. More time is required to train longer and harder as you progress. Do not hurry or engage in senseless or reckless practice. Develop gradually"


Does anyone still read and follow the Guiding Principles? I know a few groups out there still do.
Years ago,  I tested for my Green belt and  had 3 Brown belt tests in front of Mr. Oyata.
(We had 3 degrees of Brown Belt)
I considered it a great honor to do so. I took it as a challenge, a means to rise.
You had to step up your game to a new level.
He would ask us to recite the Dojo Kun and would ask us
not only to recite the Guiding Principles, but would then make us explain individually,in great detail, what they meant to you . He was more concerned about your intelligence, ethics(or lack of) and understanding of his code than he was about your kata.
Of course he expected your kata to be worthy, it had to be-but in those moments it always seemed to me he was more concerned about what type of person you were, who was he training, he seemed greatly interested in each one of us as individuals and why we wanted to train in his system.

Our martial arts research group, Goshin Jitsu, has moved indoors with the approach of Winter.
With the change in seasons comes a  slight change in our  training regimen. We will be working more on basic and intermediate kata and concepts this Winter. Because we are a research group, we often work on advanced kata, weapons and technique. While we are working on advanced  concepts, we also keep this ideal-The core/root teachings of Ryukyu Kempo lie in basic/intermediate kata and exercises. I will argue this point with anyone until the end of time.
You must have strong basic and intermediate kata  first, before you can  have smooth, powerful advanced kata, technique and understanding of both.

Some karate  practitioners  want to learn and work on advanced kata all the time.
This can be problematic-If your basic and intermediate kata had no power, timing or precision,your advanced kata will reflect this and for practical purposes will be next to useless.
I have personally witnessed some supposedly high level martial artists with very poor  kata- they look like they are just going through the motions-no particular power, no spirit.
According to my teacher, Taika Seiyu Oyata, your technique and mastery of karate will always be a direct reflection of your  kata. If your kata is poor, weak or looks like you are just going through the motions, what does this say about your technique and mastery of karate? Remember, this is coming directly from my teacher, not just me.

Taika Oyata stated to us several times he could look at your kata and know if you could fight, had any technique. After 33 years of training, I am coming to understand what he meant.
One of the best (few) compliments I ever got from Mr. Oyata was after he watched me do a particular kata,he walked by and said-" kata ok,  like you  fighting, this pretty good ".
I strutted around for a few days until he told us in the next class we were all lazy-he gave us too much candy(was too easy on us, taught us too much), we couldn't do kata correctly, didn't listen, our kata was weak ...............some days you are the hammer, other days the nail.

At one point during Headquarters training, Mr. Oyata told our class that eventually we would not need to practice basic kata anymore. He should have explained in greater detail so everyone really understood what he meant. He did not mean at that moment, or 2 weeks later, he was speaking of years into the future! There were people that misinterpreted this and decided he had told them they were so good they never had to practice basic kata again. That is not what he said!
Mr. Oyata would tell us at times we were trying too hard to mimic him, trying to be him.
He felt we were trying to operate at a level that was beyond our physical grasp. He was giving us a lot of ideas, timing and techniques, but we had just learned them-we had not practiced them enough and really didn't completely understand what he had shown us. He wanted us to understand and accept we had to develop gradually- you don't just see something one time and instinctively/intuitively understand it!

As Mr. Oyata's personal students, we were expected to know basic, intermediate and advanced kata
and be able to do them as close to perfection as possible,  at a moment's notice. To be quite honest, there were only a handful of people I felt had exceptional kata and technique. This is not meant to take anything away from anybody, but you could always tell who trained all the time and pushed themselves, who took this seriously and who thought it was a social club/fraternity. I ask the people I am training with if they want to be good, or do they want to be great? You can be good with 75% effort, to be great requires a lifetime of study at 100% effort.

We now  have a world full of internet tough guys, instant experts, would be masters and seemingly very few of us actual students left.There are also a lot of people who went to 3 seminars with Oyata or trained for a few years that have managed to retain their extraordinary abilities even though they haven't actually trained hard for years-That's amazing! I wish I could remain forever awesome but not have to train anymore - What a concept -I'm just great because I used to train!!! I have no use  for people that sit around doing nothing, just talking about martial arts or even worse- talking smack about other martial artists but don't take the time to actually work on martial arts. You were a martial artist, it's impossible for me to take anyone seriously claiming to be a martial artist that does not practice!


I have trained alongside great martial artists and trained for many years with a real master.
I have only met and known one true master in my lifetime-have not seen another human being like him anywhere and don't believe I ever will. There is nobody  I have met that can fill his shoes, nobody with his skill and depth of knowledge. I consider myself to be truly fortunate, I am trying to pass on what I learned to a small, dedicated group of personal students/peers. At this time I am fairly satisfied with my efforts, but there is always much more work to be done.

For the record, I still work on basic, intermediate and advanced kata, ready to do them at a moment's notice, just as my teacher expected. I am content to continue developing gradually, always a student.