日体大「エイサッサ」

Here's the Ei Sassa!

団体形 Team Kata! (^^)

A great example of group coordination. If I am not mistaken the group is from NittaiDai 日体大、Japan Physical University. They are also well known for its
[Ei Sassa] エイサッサ
You can imagine the amount of practice they have to put in! Individual Kata seems
pre-school compared to this! 努力有るのみ。

A Moment of Prayer

Let us all take time to pray for peace and that people on earth can someday live in harmony regardless of race, creed or religion.  I hope that all leaders on earth lead their people by example and show the path towards world peace so that we never have to experience the tragedy of 9-11 ever again.

Let us also pray for the safe return of all our men and women who are currently serving in violent hot spots through out the world in the effort to bring about peace and stability to areas rife with hate, violence and death.

Let us teach our children peace and love not violence and hate.

Kata 形、型

Kata

Or is it 形? One means form or appearance , other  pattern or sample. So is it 空手の型 or 空手の形。In Judo it is 投げの形、柔の形、捨て身の形、護身の形、etc. Most Karate organizations go with 型。Why? I really can't answer that. Perhaps the Karate Sensei's wanted to stress the difference between karate and Judo. In the height of Judo's popularity, karate was the "Bad Guy". (^^) Did you know that? For reasons unknown to me, the Karate character was always a mean and dirty character, wearing a black Gi. Definitely should of being going to AA meetings. The Judo character was always clean and pure wearing a white Gi.  Fufu. Which makes me gray since I do both arts.

Back to Kata. Just as there are two ways to write kata in Japanese. There are countless ways in performing the same Kata. In some cases, especially in Kyokushin lines, the Katas do not resemble the original Katas taken form Goju and Shotokan. Perhaps Oyama arranged the original Kata in his own style and vision of the kata. No problem.
Kata even differs within the same system depending on the Dojo. Add to that competition Kata! The varieties are countless just in "traditional" katas. Now we have "free style" kata, influenced by Wushu with lots of acrobatics. All that is fine also. We must remember that no matter what "form" we take to do a Kata, the basics are the same. Balance/Coordination, Concentration, and execution of the technique.
One national level Japanese Kata competitor made an interesting comment. She stated that should she perform Kata as it is done in her style, she could not win. She had to do the Kata in line with competition requirements. In short, competition Kata was a different animal. Hmmmm. I am still pondering over her statement.
There are many karatekas that scoff or completely reject Kata as being useless. Many of these people are into the "reality" and "aliveness" mode. But wait a minute, they do prearranged drills as well, don't they?
The usual is"If this type of attack comes, then you do X, Y, and Z." Isn't that just a shortened Kata?
Kata is a series of movements which is repeated over and over. How is it any different from these "reality" "aliveness" training? Proponents like to say that they do not use compliant partners. So I say "What's new?" Nothing as far as I'm concerned.  Traditional kata is always broken down into smaller patterns, some call it one step sparring. You practice a certain move that is in the Kata until you can use it. Depending on the Dojo, the severity of the attack changes. At least that is the way I was taught in Okinawa. (^^). My right elbow is still out of alignment. Fufu.
One "reality based" or "aliveness" seminar is not going to make anyone invincible nor is anyone going to be able to effectively use the techniques that are taught. So what do you do? You go back to your own space and practice what you learned over and over. Repetition after repetition. Wait! Doesn't that sound like Kata? (^^)

　　　　　　　　

We got Daikon 大根

Ohayou Roushiichi and William, Shihandai.

Jen has done it! We now are growing, for the first time Daikon in our garden. We wanted it for several Japanese dishes Jen wanted to make. Daikon was hard to find in our markets for several months of the year. I never thought it be so large! Best I learn my Kanji...大根!! It would of help here. I like to learn how to make Takuan Pickles. We seem to have an abundance of the Daikon, and not sure if it can be stored for cooking. We are looking to the experts for help...smile. We are enjoying the learning...Thanks!

Kanji for the Month!

Kokoro

Darn, I am a glutton for punishment! (**;) I have chosen one of the most complicated and difficult kanji to introduce. But I chose this Kanji because in my humble opinion, it is the core and pillar of martial arts or Budo.

So what does Kokoro mean? It means a multitude of things. Some of more general translations are are heart, spirit, soul. And essence. Now I do not have a degree in linguistics, so I will stay away from any more translations as it would be impossible to explain the "why?" (^^)
Let me steal from Shohaku Okumura's article on the word Kokoro. Shohaku Okumura was ordained as a Soto Zen priest in 1970 by the late Kosho Uchiyama Roshi. He is the head of the Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, Indiana. An excerpt follows.

"The Chinese ideogram for xin (Chinese for heart) depicts the shape of the heart—the actual organ in the human body. Since ancient Chinese people thought the heart was where psychological function took place, the character conveyed a range of meanings including the heart organ, heart generally, mind, feeling, intention, center, and core.
Originally, kokoro refers to all human activities affecting the outside world through intention, emotion, and intellect.
Kokoro, then, has three basic meanings: the heart and its functions; mind and its functions; and center, or essence. "

Now, can you see the Kanji looking like a heart?

So what does "Bujin no Kokoro" 武人の心conjure up? The answer lies in how you practice your martial art whether it is karate, judo, aikido or Iaido. We may all be practicing karate but our "souls" maybe different. To simplify, take the movie Karate Kid, the hero and Miyagi presented the "good kokoro", if you will while the antagonists presented the "sullied kokoro". One was on the correct path while the other on a misguided one. Both possessed the "Kokoro" that they trained in.

Each one of us should reflect upon our Kokoro.

押忍！

Traditions

Sorry! No can let u see.

Aloha kakahiaka (Good morning in Hawaiian) all! Rainy morning in Hawaii, but that's OK, it keeps everything nice and green.  I woke up and lo and behold, what awaits me on the Internet?!? Yes, a photo of  our beloved Yokohama Dojo Instructor in a "seira fuku" (^^). Hmmm not exactly the best of ways to start off a morning! Gahahaha. I was tempted to place the photo on this blog.....but my "wiser" self prevailed. Just imagine if you will Tony in a mini-skirt (Sorry Tony, couldn't think of a better way to put it).

But on the other hand you New Yorkers are probably used to such sights. (><;) I recall seeing similar sights when I visited Broadway many moons ago.

Now this "seira fuku" thing is like a tradition among the adults at Yokohama Dojo. I cannot exactly recall how and when this "tradition" started. I believe it started at a birthday party the students threw for me one year. (^^). Two of the mommies decided to wear their daughters school outfits as part of the      festivities. It was rather impressive that they could fit into the uniforms without busting the zipper! All in good fun. Other Dojos have its own unique traditions as well. I'll leave that for another time.

There are naturally formal traditions as well. For Kimura Dojo it is the New Years Day practice. We gather at the local park (Negishi Shinrin Koen for Yokohama and Ala Moana Beach Park for Hawaii) and greet the first sunrise of the year with meditation and a good practice. At Yokohama we made a pot of hot oshiruko (sweet bean soup) and mochi (rice cakes) to eat after the practice. It is cold on New Years Day at Yokohama. The picture on Kimura Dojo Blog is one of the New Year Sessions.

In Hawaii, I greet the sunrise on the beach. Why "I" ? Fufufu. I'm the only one so far that has shown up.

Da Boss remains curled up underneath her blanket with Yuta. (^^) As a matter of fact, I don't recall her being at any of Yokohama's New Year Day practice????? Hmmmm. Oh well.

I think traditions are good to have for building esprit de corps. Formal and Non formal traditions are excellent methods of reinforcing our commitment to the activity we are involved.

Unfortunately, there are some traditions that go beyond good common sense and is just a tool for Senpais to "bully" Kohais. One of these is the abuse of the word "Osu". we all know that "Osu" is an expression used to show our commitment to hard training. That is all it means. I sometimes think that "Osu" is used too often and like anything else the "quality" of Osu diminishes. "Osu" is not to be used to accept irresponsible tasking and or acts of bullying. Sadly we see some of this in Japanese High School and college activities, not just limited to martial arts. Even more sad is to see the senior advisers to these activities allow it to continue as part of "tradition". Now that is really wrong.

There is another Yokohama Dojo tradition called "Hansei Kai" [Critique Session] 反省会which follows every Saturday night practice. For obvious reasons it is held at a location closest to the homes of the Senior members known as the "Sounenbu Toku Toku Sei Gundan" 壮年部特特生軍団. To be fair to the group, discussions are held with regard to Dojo activities and future plans and scheduling are duly made while consuming liberal amounts of sochu and beer. (^^)