The Kimochi: So, if explanation is not enough, what is? No rational person would perform Niseishi attempting to “think” about the complexities I have described. The form exists not for speech but for action. The kata is action; the action leads to feeling; the kata matures. The important issue is our own start, continuity, pause,…
The Theme of Niseishi Sho: There is something stupid about trying to explain a kata in words. Niseishi is. I can only defend my discourse on kata as a means of bringing awareness to the critical components of a kata so that a student may explore the kata more thoroughly. This is an effort to…
Niseishi Niseishi means twenty-four in the Okinawan dialect of Japanese. Arakaki Seisho, a karate master, created Niseishi over period of time extending through the last two decades of last century. His extended study into the theme resulted in two very distinct kata; Niseishi Sho and Niseishi Dai. The oral tradition recollects that Arakaki recognized an…
Dear Karate-ka everywhere; Ron Marcus of the UCSD dojo asked the following thought provoking questions: “I was wondering; is the community-building we do unique to our karate school, or do other schools do it too? Is it an integral, yet perhaps sometimes overlooked component of martial arts? How did past generations of karateka do it,…
Ninjutsu as Stealth Techniques Bujutsu as Warrior Techniques First a Quote from the Hagekure Takeda Shingen once said, “If there was a man who could kill Lord Ieyasu, I would give him a handsome reward.” Hearing this, a boy of thirteen entered into the service of Lord Ieyasu and one night when he saw that…
Dear Deshi, I was sitting having coffee with ten or more students at a favorite haunt of ours in Yucaipa about a month and a half ago when Julie Evans of the Redlands dojo asked the following question; “Well, Sensei, you talk about the 16 generations of Takeda in our heritage. Who were they?” I…
Dear Karate-ka, This essay is not like any other I have written. This essay is about Christianity and martial arts. Many of you are not Christians and may not be interested in any of the following. This paragraph is just a preliminary warning that this essay was sparked from a set of questions asked by…
Interdigitation; I believe martial artists need a construct to help clarify circles of responsibility, influence, concern, and THEM. The martial artist needs to be able to differentiate who she/he is responsible for, who she/he influences, who she/he is concerned about, and….yes, even who she/he blames as THEM. In addition, the martial artist wants to be…
Circle of THEM; Beyond our circle of concern is the circle of THEM. Mr. Kim often talks of THEM. You would be wise not to blame anything on THEM at least while in the earshot of Mr. Kim. He will prove to you that THEM is your problem, not THEIRS. Who we don’t know in…
The Circle of Concern; Beyond our circle of influence is a circle of concern. The circle of concern includes many people. And the degree of concern varies from one person to another. We are vaguely concerned about the mail-woman who delivers our post. But most of us don’t really know her name let alone that…