The Kata Critics
Published: 12/9/11
By Sensei Spencer
Have you ever been bored on lazy afternoon and decided to go on-line and watch a few videos of other karateka performing kata. One of the great things about social media like Youetube is the ability to see other stylists performing the same kata. On one such afternoon I decided to watch other karateka’s versions of the Pinon forms. The Pinon katas are relatively new forms. They were created by Itosu Yasutsune around 1917. The Pinons are short katas that were developed for the Okinawan school system. Funakoshi sensei would later introduce similar kata into the Japanese school system. He would slightly alter the kata while changing the order in which they were taught as-well-as renaming them Heians. Versions of these katas can also be found in Korean karate as-well-as Okinawan and Japanese. The Pinons are great for children with short attention spans, and are great introductory katas for all beginning students as they prepare to learn more advanced forms. This series of kata are performed in many different systems: Shorinji-ryu, Kobayashi Shorin-ryu, Matsubayshi Shorin-ryu, Matsumura Shorin-ryu, Shobayashi Shorin-ryu, Shito-ryu, Rembukai, Wado-ryu, Okinawan Kempo, and Shotokan. These kata, although they’re relatively new, are all performed with subtle differences by each style and sometimes differently within the same style. It is the similarities that are important in these kata and not the differences. The similarities get us closer to the original kata. Watching these clips can be informative and a lot of fun. Normally I do not read the comments attached to these clips, but occasionally I do. I’ve been a black-belt in the martial arts for over thirty-years, and have seen jealousy, pride, and contempt for other karateka. These are things that are unbecoming of the true martial spirit. There are three types of people that make these cutting comments. The first group is the unskilled or ignorant. Second is the novice, and lastly the worst of the bunch is the black-belt that thinks their way is the only way, and if a form deviates even slightly from their way the kata is being performed wrong. This only shows the narrow mindedness of their karate. Their myopia is incredible since not one Okinawan master performed these kata exactly the same way. There is a place for constructive criticism, but personal attacks are unnecessary and petty. Attacks on other martial artists are counter to the real spirit of karate, and oftentimes smack of schoolyard bullying.
The first commenter I’d like to write about is the unskilled one. Some are simple provocateurs they’re usually profane and their intention is to simply illicit a response. Don’t respond and you’ve beaten them. They’re like a Chihuahua barking at the wind. They like the sound of their own voice. Their comments normally run in a pattern something like this, “Yeah… I could stomp him/her in a real fight. That kata stuff is useless man.” The truth is most of the guys, writing comments on a social network; hide behind their anonymity with pseudonyms like katamama2 or kickbuttkarate6. It’s kind of like poking a stick through the bars of a tiger’s cage. It doesn’t take a lot of courage, but it makes them feel like they’re brave and clever. Real bravery comes when you stare into the eyes of your enemy. The samurai would ride up and down the enemy’s lines before a battle, so the enemy could see their face. They shouted their linage in the process, so you would not only know who they were, but who their forefathers were. A failure, on their part, would disgrace their entire family. I’ve never seen a face, phone number, or address attached to their provocative comments. I’ve never seen a request asking you to pay a visit to their video, so that you can witness first hand their superior martial arts skills. Oddly enough… it is easy to find the karateka that put the clip on Youtube. His name and school are usually prominently displayed. It makes you wonder how tough these brave purveyors of fighting wisdom would be if you drove your shin into their crotch and stopped it at their navel. Most of these comments come from kids that watch too much professional wrestling and play karate video games. Others in this group might have a little boxing and some high school wrestling background, so they believe they’re real MMA aficionados. They have a little knowledge, and that can be a dangerous thing. I was privileged enough to help train some of the original UFC ground and pound fighters in the early days of the sport. Let me rephrase that, I was cannon fodder for these fighters. They faced combatants from a diverse group of martial arts, so they might be prepared for anyone entering the ring. You haven’t lived until you’ve thrown kicks to a UFC fighter’s head for a half-hour, so the fighter can learn to wrap your leg up and pile drive you to the ground. It stops being fun after you hit the tatami with your head and shoulders ten consecutive times, and becomes torture before the half-hour is up. Shin kicking them, so they can block with a knee and counter with a straight right has its drawbacks too. Funny… I can’t remember one of them correcting my stance, or talking about the weakness of their training partner’s style. They simply trained on their kicking, punching, and mat technique. They were serious about two things; training and winning. On one occasion I was hit so hard by a UFC fighter that he broke the head gear I was wearing giving me a black-eye. He apologized to me, and gave my wife an autographed tee-shirt. What he didn’t do was criticize my Cat stance, and claim he could kick my tail because of weak nature of my kata. He simply tried to take my head off. Training in traditional martial arts and full contact karate, helped the fledgling MMA combatants to become better fighters. They didn’t waste time pasting notes anywhere criticizing the height of my stances. They simply trained hard.
The other kata critics come from the novice karateka. These comments are normally supportive and appreciative because they don’t know what they’re looking at. They simply appreciate the fact that someone had the courage to place something on-line that could inspire or educate them on their chosen path. They watch black-belt kata at tournaments, so that they might grow in their forms performance. Novice karateka still hold the magic of learning new things. Old karateka tend to become narrow minded, but new students are open to all possibilities. Those that have trained for a long time tend become elitist and protective of their system. Beginners enter the dojo with eyes wide open to a new experience. At a karate tournament these students congratulate each other on their performance no matter how good or bad it might be. They understand the amount of courage it takes to stand before their peers, family, friends, and judges. It takes courage for them to show the world their skills. Of all the comments I have read or overheard it is the novice students, in most cases, that represent the true spirit of karate.
The worst of the worst comments are usually made by alleged back-belts on another black-belt’s performance. They’re usually sitting in the grandstands making negative comments and cannot be found on the floor during a competition. It is this group that normally has the most negative comments on Youtube. They truly disappoint me. Sadly, after their criticism, you never see a comment saying,”If you’ll look at my video you can see the differences between the way I was taught and the way you’re doing the form.” Of course it is implied that their kata is always perfect and everyone else’s is subpar, but you never see their performance. Mainly their belligerent comments are along the lines of how their instructor did it and you must be wrong because your pinky finger is not touching your other fingers or your rear foot is not on a true 45˚ angle. Making these comments only display their narrow mindedness and a desire to feel snobbishly superior.
“That’s not the way we do it,” is a reoccurring theme among black-belts when the voice criticism. Not one Okinawan master did the same kata exactly the same way, nor did they share the same bunkai. When an instructor tells you that their system is the right system and other styles are wrong… look for another instructor. If he/she tells you they have the only true meaning of the situational self-defense in kata (bunkai) find another teacher. No one except Tode Sakugawa knew all the original bunkai and he died around 1815. Even Sakugawa sensei’s forms came from China and were steeped in secrecy. It is unlikely he was taught the meaning of each move in every kata. It is also unlikely his knowledge was successfully transmitted to the first generation of Okinawan karateka, and is even more unlikely that it was fully transmitted to the third and fourth generation American instructors that trained on Okinawa. If a karate instructor tells you that their system is better than all other systems… run, don’t walk, as fast as you can and find another school. When a teacher threatens to boot you out of their school if you study or train in another system, ask yourself what do they fear you’ll learn elsewhere? Telling the novice student not to train in other styles is understandable because it is difficult to learn two styles at the same time, but at sandan (3rd degree black-belt) it is a different story. I want my students to train in other systems, after making black-belt, because their appreciation for what I taught them only grows stronger, and if they learn something new my hope is they bring it home and show me. Bickering between black-belts is counterproductive. Once at a karate tournament there was a debate going on between two different styles of Shorin-ryu on the positioning of the arm in the middle shuto guarding position. One group said the arm was held at a 90˚ angle to the ground and the other school claimed the elbow was supposed to be held a fist and a thumbs distance from the ribcage to protect the ribs. Both systems originated in Okinawa, but their American instructors had different Okinawan sensei. Both Okinawan senseis however had been trained by the same master, but one was much shorter than the other. Subsequently the shorter sensei’s block was 90˚ to the ground because he fought larger opponents. Now the Shorin-ryu group that had descended from the shorter instructor was telling the other group that their kata was wrong. A subtle change made to Okinawan karate in the past was not uncommon. In the past karate was tailored to the student’s body. This changed when karate was taken to Japan because their culture demanded a more regimented approach to the art. This cultural evolution made its way back to Okinawa and rigid karate philosophies were birthed. These philosophies created countless styles of karate. Unfortunately it also fostered an us-against-them attitude that can be found between different styles today. One of the criticisms that can be overheard at a tournament voiced by one black-belt group about another oftentimes concerns the performance of specific technique. Often it is about how high or low a stance is performed. Stance height is meaningless. Differences can be philosophical rather than technical. Some instructors believe the higher the stance the more mobile the fighter while others believe lower stances force the student to learn to transfer weight from the back leg to the front leg to maximize power when punching. Some styles argue with each other on the heights of the stances while being under the same master. One instructor trained with the master when he was younger and the other when he was elderly. As the master grew older his stances became higher. This also applies to kicking techniques. As one gets older in many cases your kicks get lower as you loose flexibility. Who is right and who is wrong criticism comes from the myopic perspective of the overtly critical instructor. In truth a punch is a punch and the delivery is a philosophical approach that could be right or could be wrong, but unfortunately these philosophies can only be proven in combat.
One of the saddest moments a student can witness is when two black-belts huddled together demining another black-belt’s kata while adopting that all knowing sensei smirk. A novice student believes that black-belts know what they’re talking about, and their opinion soon becomes the one they just overheard. It is even worst when this type of comment is written on a media like Youtube. In one situation I watched a kata performance that was not stellar, but it was adequate. The alleged black-belt commenter on Youtube was not satisfied enough to find fault within the kata he continued with a personal attack. He went on explaining how the guy on the film had allegedly failed his first attempt at shodan (First Degree Black-belt). He then continued to berate the karateka’s instructor. At first I was outraged by the commenter’s arrogance, but later I was saddened by the fact that this person may well have really been a black-belt. Unfortunately, he did not understand the true nature of karate. The depth of his karate was contained in his fists. Next I asked myself, why would a head instructor give what appears to be a pompous arrogant swaggering jerk like this a promotion to black-belt? He claimed to have decades of experience as he dissected the kata performance. A long time ago, one of my instructors told me that the only way I could lower what my black-belt stood for was with my own actions. He went on tell me that no one else’s actions could disgrace my rank. After reading and overhearing black-belts tearing down one another…I must disagree. Goons wearing a black-belt collectively water down what it means to hold the rank. They shame us all. They shame their immediate instructor and the founder of their system. We are examples to our students, and our actions are what they see and learn from. A bad black-belt’s comments when placed on a social network are carved in stone for all novice karateka to read for years to come.
I have never placed a video on any social network, and probably never will. During my competition phase, when I was much younger I won many trophies in the black-belt division. Today my students have copies of me performing kata that I made when I was a fourth-dan. These films are only to aid them in their learning process. I placed all empty hand kata and all but two weapons kata on film. There are mistakes in the kata. Students trained by me know the mistakes. Not one kata was filmed with more than two takes. All but one or two were performed consecutively and by the end of filming my intensity was waning. The purpose was not to win a prize for best acting, but to leave my students with a visual record of the kata they will continue to teach. I commend any martial artist for having the courage to go public with their forms, and I condemn any black-belt that slanders a kata performer. Granted some of the kata at tournaments and featured on the social networks is bad, instead of humbly suggesting improvements many black-belts choose to degrade their brother black-belt instructors. The only the one that knows if they’re following the right path is the one they call sensei. Hopefully if their kata is lacking, by watching others perform, they will be inspired to train harder or seek better instruction. If you’re a black-belt, let a karateka’s kata performance speak for itself, and if your opinion is not requested keep your comments to yourself. Helpful humble correction is always a good thing, but malicious attacks are not. If you find yourself criticizing another martial artist, do us all a favor and place your perfect kata on record so that we may all learn from your greatness. Anytime you comment on another martial artist’s ability be courageous enough not to hide behind a pseudonym.