Using Kata Applications To Find The True Art

To resurrect Karate as True Art, and this would include Shotokan

, Goju, Uechi, or various other types of the art, one should always look to the techniques. The techniques are the kata made real, they are concepts made to work. They are the heart of the beast that is The True Art.

The first step, in making your art work, is to have a firm stance. The forms teach a variety of stances, and how to get into them from a variety of directions and previous positions. So one should practice the forms until this concept of transitioning from stance to stance is second nature.

The second step, if you are going to make the karate forms real, is to make sure your limbs are set in positions that are functional. There are many arm positions in the martial arts techniques where your limbs cannot support weight, and therefore can't really make the technique work. You must examine your patterns and altar arm positions until they become functional in real world situations.

The third step is to have proper body alignment between the feet and the hands. The body is a chain of muscles and bones from ground to strike, and you must make sure that every piece of the body is properly aligned. The old wisdom, a chain is as strong as its weakest link, comes to mind.

The fourth step if you are going to make karate moves become significant, is to work on your breathing. Breathing should be relaxed, but intent upon keeping the abdomen taut, especially upon striking, or getting struck. Breathing simply for the sake of breathing, as is done in the art of Goju Ryu Karate, must be inspected for real function, and possibly altered if you are going to have real martial arts self defense.

The fifth and final step, and ultimately the most important, is that you must have Coordinated Body Motion (CBM) when you move your body. You must synchronize all motion, taking into account the length and mass of every muscle and limb, and the entire body. You must understand how this all relates to timing, and you must make your body motions assume this harmonious timing.

Interestingly, martial arts fighting has very little to do with finding The True Art. As a matter of fact, fighting tends to interrupt the concentration of thought that is necessary to put the pieces together that will resurrect your martial art. This is something that the old masters knew, and not just because they were old.

Any art can be a great art, but it always requires a great sensei, and a great student. The purpose of this bit of writing has been to educate students to be their own great teachers. Ultimately, your progress is up to you, and if you understand that then it will be easy to use Karate techniques to find the True Art.

by: Al Case

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