Guest Post: Naihanchi

This guest post is from Carol Strickland, Shodan, Tallahassee Karate Club.


Knowledge and skill are necessary elements for us to be able to understand. A student who really understands must be able to explain, interpret, and apply what they have learned.

We are taught the Niahanchi katas are known for teaching power. I have been told the only kata I really need to learn is Naihanchi Shodan to understand how to make this power. It is said Niahanchi must be practiced over ten thousand times to understand it. But what does the word understand mean? Understand means to be able to transfer what you have learned to new and sometimes confusing settings. After learning how to make the power we must take our knowledge and skill and use it in different settings on our own before we can say we understood what we have learned. We will have to learn to transfer our knowledge and skill from Niahanchi to other kata to fully understand how to use this power.

As students we must have knowledge and skill to be able to transfer and gain an understanding. When students transfer knowledge many times they misunderstand, and teachers need to remember that mistakes signify an attempted and plausible but unsuccessful transfer. This is why feedback is so important when students are trying to understand. The student must remember to accept the feedback and criticism without being defensive. This way they can gain the knowledge and skill they need to have a true understanding.

My Tai Chi

I learned Tai Chi a bunch of years ago. I was thrilled to find some videos of the form I learned on You Tube.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CPkGWNOlNA4

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ytQBOT_8Pq0

Cool!

Karate on the Beach

I like to practice karate on the beach. Besides being a totally different terrain to practice on, beach training allows me to get into the moment of the kata. If I close my eyes and listen to the surf crash and smell the salt air, I can almost create a picture in my mind of old Okinawa, practicing alongside one of the karate masters of old.

If you do practice on the beach, I would recommend a time that you won't attract too much attention to yourself. Early in the morning, around sunrise, the majority of people on the beach seem to be runners, a few fisherman and surfers. This is a good time to practice as most of them won't stop and gawk or ask quetions and interupt your training. They are too busy with their own activities to care what you are doing.

In general, I don't like to practice in public, because I don't like spectators. If people do stop and watch, I will generally stop doing karate and just stretch or walk.

The Kata we Practice: Fukyugata Ichi

The most basic of kata, but as advanced as you want to make it. This is how I usually describe Fukyugata Ichi.

Fukyugata Ichi is the first kata that brand new beginners learn at our dojo. As kata go, Fukyugata Ichi is very easy to learn. It follows a very simple pattern and the movements are easy and linear.

Beginning students learn to simply move from place to place and coordinate hand movements with foot movements. Fukyugata Ichi is an excellent tool for teaching this skill. The symmetry of the kata allows right handed students to learn how to use their left side and vice versa. The kata makes use of low (front stance) and high (natural stance) stances. The transition between these stances teaches the beginner to be flexible in their movement and begins to teach the basics of distance. Fukyugata Ichi also teaches beginners basic applications of blocking and striking.

As students progress and become more comfortable with the movements of the kata, the practice of the kata can progress to a more intermediate level. At this level, the student learns to coordinate the upper and lower parts of the body using exagerated koshi and big arm movements. By using rotational koshi movements and rising and dropping of the transitions between high and low stances, the intermediate student learns to make power in their techniques. Applications become more complicated and incorporate hikite and in-between movements. The student focuses on learning to isolate the practice of kata for speed, power and gracefulness.

There is no set time period for a student to move from the basic level to the intermediate level of practice. This is an individual thing and needs to be cultivated by the teacher.

Fukyugata Ichi offers much for the advanced student, as well. At the advanced level, use of koshi is much less noticable and internalized. Use of hand movement is whittled down from big motions to very short motions that are coordinated with foot movement. Applications are more subtle and natural. Speed, power and gracefulness are practiced together. There is no wasted motion and performance of the kata looks relaxed yet quick and powerful.

Again, there is no set time period for transitioning from intermediate to advanced practice of Fukyugata Ichi. This is an individual thing that depends on natural ability, diligent practice, careful introspection, good instruction, and personal choice.

I have included the last point, personal choice, because some students may not feel they are ready to make the jump from beginning, to intermediate, to the advanced way of doing kata. As the teacher, it is my job to oversee the student's progress and encourage them to make the transition at the right time. The actual transition is always up to the individual.

Fukyugata Ichi is the most basic of kata, but with practice, it can be as advanced as you want to make it.

Lunge Punch

This was from our recent promotion demo where 2 people demonstrated for green belt and 2 people demonstrated for their first stripe. It was a good promotion demo. I say "promotion demo" because, this is how I look at it. People pass and fail tests. Promotion demos, however, are only given to people who are ready. Unlike a test where people have a chance of failing, it is very unlikely anyone would fail a promotion demo, because they don't do it until they are truly ready.