Just returned from practice at Take's Dojo (^^). Taught a newbie and his mom who were just vacationing in Hawaii from Japan and wanted to try karate out. Before practice the mom was asking all sorts of questions about breathing, etc, muscle control, etc.,so I invited to practice along with her son. Don't tell Yachi, but she was very attractive........Gahahaha. Senseis are human. Anyway, an enjoyable hour teaching them. Hopefully when they return to Japan they will find a Dojo to continue karate. They will be back next summer. Sigh...nice to be rich....
Take brought up an interesting thing about AAU Kata competition and WKF. Up till now making snapping sounds brought points. The sounds were produced by deliberately slapping the Gi or body. Ibuki was done loud and dramatically. Now all that is being ruled as a minus factor. Hmmmm. Interesting.
The push behind this is that the WKF now wants to return to the roots of Kata. Easier said than done with the all the variations out there among styles. It seems that there is some discontent based on the fact that a certain style always wins the Kata competition. It makes me wonder if the ugly head of factionalism and ego? Rather than returning to the roots of Kata? Oh well, it doesn't affect me or my Dojos.
This means all the fancy choreograph of bunkai goes out the window too. Please don't misunderstand me.
It takes a lot of practice to get to the competitive level and I admire the karatekas who do this. When you have rules governing competition, a basic strategy is know what appeals the most to the judges. If the trend is making sharp noise then naturally you practice making sharp noises when doing the kata. In kumite, if the hikite pose gains you points then you practice taking poses that attract the attention of judges. Nothing wrong with that. Now with the rules changing, the winners will be the ones who can adapt to them.
If the changes are implemented, then we will probably see a more "drab" version of the katas. (^^)
I hate to be on the rules and standards committee for next years AAU. Mega headache! Interesting though.
Nao Morooka, Sensei Kanku dai, is not like any that I have seen. I am understanding speed of kata when I watch her. I have never seen the height she gets or the complete 360 done in Kanku dai. I know its competition but that is some athletic body she has developed. I have never seen kata done like that, I even looked twice to see that it was Kanku dai?? Would that be the WKF version. I understand the headache, I have tried to use my dogi snap as a training tool, and I have been taught that the snap is our dogi’s way of keeping our kime. Not sure what you think of that, seem it more a product of sweat, and heavy weight dogi. I am going to work on the speed elements on my Sunday morning backyard pratice. You are correct that my dachi is suffering from my back problem. I fear the students watch this will try and copy...I hope my leg heals for me, but more so these days, so that the students have a better dachi to copy...
ReplyDeleteTony,
ReplyDeleteJust got back from practice. Had a good session on Sanchin. More practice, more practice for me!
Don't forget ADAPT. You adjust according to your body. We can not avoid change. If it is fixable, then great, if not adapt.
My right elbow doesn't straigthen out so I cannot do a normal ukemi on that side, so, i adapt to dissipate the impact of a fall. Rather I do the darnest not to get thrown on that side. (^^) Gahahahaha. Students will understand, just show them the "proper" way using a someone without the disability, that's all. Don't sweat the small stuff.
OSU!
I feel like greasy cheese burger tonight!