The Bonsai Tree:
Published: 10-16-2015
By Spencer Sensei
Everyone that watched the old “Karate Kid” movie noticed that Miyagi sensei spent a lot of time grooming his bonsai trees. Many viewers simply dismissed this as a hobby of a quirky old man, or they believed it signified his ties to Okinawa. The bonsai tree is much more than that to the karateka. On one of my black belt certificates, at the very bottom, is a small almost unnoticeable bonsai tree. I began to wonder what the connection was between the little benign tree and the martial arts. To many karateka I spoke with, the connection was obvious, but sometimes I cannot see the forest for the trees…. pun intended.
The bonsai tree is representative of the karate student. The bonsai master is representative of the karate instructor. There is a symbiotic relationship between the two that is necessary to achieve the end result. A bonsai master clips, wires, and waters his/ her plants to bring them to his/her idea of what the tree should look like. A karate master grooms the karate student until he/she becomes the representation of what the karate master believes best represents him/her and their system of weaponless fighting. Okay now you know the metaphor, but we still have not fully explored the comparison.
Bonsai trees are very delicate. Karate students walk a difficult path to black-belt. I know because I’ve killed more bonsai than most and lost more promising karate students than I care to contemplate. Keeping students and growing bonsai are not always easy, and what works for one may not work for another. Becoming a good caretaker, of the bonsai, is challenging.
It would seem that something as simple as watering a bonsai should take no thought, but the bonsai has very specific needs as do karateka. Karate has been taught on Okinawa the same way for as long as the United States has existed. This course of training has been proven to work for centuries, yet modern karate instructors are always looking to improve it, and there is always room for improvement. New instructors are eager to place their stamp on the martial art they teach, and many times dismiss the old proven methods simply because they think they have a better idea. Experimenting with your art is like changing the patterns of water for the bonsai tree. Improperly water a bonsai and it will die.
The bonsai should only be watered once a week when the topsoil is completely dry. To properly water the tree, immerse the entire bonsai in a bucket of water. Before removing the bonsai, you must wait until all the air bubbles have risen to the top of the pail, signifying the bonsai has absorbed enough water to last for another week. Too little and the tree is under nourished too much and it could die of root rot.
How much information is too much or too little when you’re teaching a new student? Too little bores the student while too much overwhelms and frustrates them. Have you ever heard a student say in frustration, “I’ll never get this?” I know instructors that teach so much technique that the student’s head is spinning by the time a class ends. They believe that this shows the karateka that they have a long journey ahead of them, but many students see only the mountain and not the path that leads to the top and quit before their journey begins. One instructor at a seminar referred to this process as drinking from a fire hose. This is to be expected when you attend the intense short-term training like a seminar, but not everyday karate class. Some students like the bonsai can be overwatered. Conversely, there are students that are like sponges and absorb technique like the bonsai absorbs water, but most students will be overwatered and drowned in what was meant to nourish them.
In some Okinawan systems the basics are repeated over and over hundreds of repetitions each class until the basics are woven into the very fabric of the martial artist. I watched a film recently of an eighty-year-old karate master leading his class and performing the same basic technique endlessly. When the students were later interviewed, all stated that even as they grew weary, they did not stop because their sensei was still performing the technique with them, and so they willed themselves to continue to honor him. The American student does not have the discipline to train in this tedious manner. Most would become bored with this, tried and true process, which produces very talented karateka. Unfortunately, the patience needed to learn this system does not fit the average American student’s attention span. Modern students will try a technique a few times and feel they have mastered it. They do not see the value of trying to make the technique perfect through repetition or trying to perform the next iteration better that the last one. American students will go through a series of techniques as quickly as possible, so they can move on to something else. One hundred sloppy executions of a block are of less value than ten excellent ones. I have had the good fortune to train a few talented competitors that have done well in national forms competition. The secret to their success was practicing their katas over and over endlessly until I could no longer detect any error in their performance. This is a slow process. They won because they never tired of practicing their basic technique until it was as perfect as possible, and excellent basics translate into excellent kata. Patience is a virtue. It is prized in many cultures, but it is not something that American student’s value. Try not to under water your bonsai. Spend time on the basics.
Proper humidity is important to the bonsai’s survival. Many bonsai masters place a layer of pebbles covered with a mist of water to maintain proper humidity. Bonsai die quickly in the dry Arizona climate. The climate of karate class is also important for the student’s growth. The dojo must be a safe place to train and try new techniques. It also must be a place that is calm and welcoming. No one wants to be where they’re not wanted. No one can flourish in a climate of anxiety. Karate class is a place where both students and instructors must share respect for one another. An instructor should acknowledge a student when they’re performance meets expectation, but only when it is merited. Too much praise makes it meaningless, while too little and the student can lose direction. Too much or too little humidity hinders the bonsai’s growth.
Pruning the bonsai can be intimidating. The bonsai master cannot fear making a mistake or the tree will grow wild and never reach its true potential. Trimming the bonsai not only shapes the tree but is necessary to enable the plants growth. Cleaning off the top growth ensures growth in other areas of the plant. In the bonsai master’s mind, he/she sees what they want the tree to eventually become. The karate instructor does the same with his/her karate students. The bonsai master clips and ties the tree’s branches, so that it conforms to his/her original vision. A karate instructor repositions the student’s hands and feet and explains where they should be during their execution of technique. Some bonsai masters use wire to force a tree to comply with their vision, while others use string or tape. One way is ridged while the other soft and pliable. Neither method is right or wrong. They are simply different philosophical ways to bring the tree to the place envisioned by the bonsai master. Instructors do the same with their students. No two karate instructors absolutely agree on how to best teach their charges how to defend themselves. Some systems are hard core and teach their students to pound their fists and feet into weapons. They also believe that you must take punishment to enable you to dole it out. Others are advocates of quick movements and footwork, while still others are sold on locks, pressure point manipulation, and throws. Only the bonsai master knows what the tree should look like, and only the karate master knows when a student is meeting his/her expectations. Clipping here and tying there forms the shape of the tree. Karate instructors not only shape their students martial arts ability but should also try to mold their student’s character. To build character a good karate instructor may be forced to clip off a branch for the health of the whole tree. Doing this, may be the only way to force growth in other areas. A good instructor like a bonsai master does what is necessary to ensure proper growth.
Lastly… the soil that the tree is planted in is of great importance. The soil must allow the water to drain off quickly, but still retain the right quantity of water. It must also contain small rocks so that the roots receive proper aeration. Without oxygen, the tree’s roots will die. Karate systems have developed over several decade even centuries. The soil that grew these styles is Japanese, Korean, Okinawan, Chinese, and Pilipino, and each are a little different philosophically. My roots are Okinawan and can be traced back to Tode Sakagawa. Some trees do not have roots that are as deep, but regardless you need to understand the soil and what nuances it brings to you martial art. Okinawan karate is different from Japanese or Korean karate. Japanese karate utilizes deep stances and straight-line power movements. Korean karate emphasizes kicking techniques. Good soil does not mean your roots are deep, but without good soil the tree would have died long ago. The age of a tree is a good measure of how deep its roots grow. This is true of karate styles also. Goods systems tend to stay around while ad-hock styles by design go away. Karate organizations built on unstable soil will tend to fail. For a system or organization to grow it must breathe. For a karate student to grow they need soil that is rich in nutrients and will allow them to breathe.
The bonsai tree and the karateka have similarities. A bonsai master forms his/her tree, while a karate instructor guides his/her students to black belt. No two bonsai are exactly the same, and each need slightly different handling. After several years of working, to master the process, one learns what is necessary to make the plant thrive. It is sometimes a delicate balance finding the right amount of nutrients and nurturing needed help them grow. In the beginning it is easy to over water and if you become complacent it easy to under water your plants. Experience is the best teacher for the bonsai master and karate instructor. It is best to trust the soil, so the roots grow deep. Keep the humidity under control. This is of prime importance to all bonsai’s well-being. Experimentation is natural, but sometimes the old way is the best way. No one becomes a bonsai master without having failures during their journey. There are even more similarities between the karateka and the bonsai. My hope is you continue to explore those similarities and grow your roots deep.