Health is a treasure

Again, going AWOL and neglecting this blog, but this time, it’s more due to my busy days in the office rather than my laziness :-p Because of a new and very troublesome project, I couldn’t train regularly for these past three weeks. I have only been training in the dojo three times plus a couple of times at home. Not only lack of training, but irregular eating pattern and also the exhausting project almost brought me down. Yesterday I dragged myself to the dojo although the day before I only slept for 3 hours before I went for presentation in the morning and attending some meetings in the afternoon before I rushly left to have my dinner at 7:30pm, went back to my house to get my gears and straightaway went to the dojo. Lost concentration, poor performance, lack of stamina and almost faint during training.

Felt really lucky to be able to finished the whole session and promised myself that if I can’t attend my training, I will always spend at least 30 minutes to do my own training at home. I have lost so much for the past three weeks because of my negligence. And that’s not the only loss I had. Due to less training, irregular eating and lack of sleep, my body condition also dropped and I almost got myself into trouble before the project even finished. Now I know why the older generations always value their health and take care of their own health was always an important thing for them. With regular training, I didn’t really have any major health problem, so I didn’t really take care of my own health due to the inherent benefit of training to my own health. But the last three weeks taught me an important lesson:

1.Training regularly IS A MUST. No reason not to train myself at home!!!

2.Health is a treasure, without health, we can’t do all those fun activities we always love to do.

3.To fall sick is to waste all those training days. With just one day of sickness, we need to rebuild our stamina and condition again. This requires time and wasting our training days to rebuild instead of advancing. IT IS TOTALLY INACCEPTABLE!!!

Hopefully the burdensome project can finish soon and I can return to my good old training days!

My Small and Humble Training Room

Finally my training room has its own matts. So mirror is there, matts are there, makiwara, hojo undo, and some other handy stuffs for training. It’s a small 3×4 room, but I’m so happy that I can finally have my own room for training. Well, it will not be dedicated fully for training, but also for guests that might want to use the room. So most of the time the room will be empty and available for training. It will be suitable for up to three people training, more than that will be too much Although it’s small, many things can be done inside. With the matts, throws and submission can also be done. Thanks for my wife to understand my obsession on karate! Nowadays, I can’t imagine life without karate anymore So, no more excuses for being lazy, the training room is just a few steps away!!!

Why I Choose Karate?

Why not other sports? Why not other martial arts? In short, karate was my first dedication to physical exercise, I wasn’t quite good in sports or any other physical exercise, but just like some kids at my age that time, seeing Jean-Claude van Damme was always exhilirating. I took up karate during my junior high. My dojo only had less than 10 students maximum, so my sensei was able to watch the individual one by one. The training was hard and we were exposed to kumite from the beginning. Doing karate made my ability in other physical activity far better. Maybe that’s one of the cause I left karate also, besides some other reasons of course(my first sensei went on hiatus, friends leaving the dojo, bored, etc). I left karate after less than four years and pick up football until I moved to Singapore. I didn’t have any mates to play with, then the idea of picking up martial art again came to my mind. I actually kept practising on my own during my absent from karate, so I was able to pick it up again quite fast when I resumed my training.

All that talk, but still the question remains, why karate? I was always interested in martial arts, that’s my first reason. Of course I picked karate by chance, I was tagging along with my friend to his dojo, and although I was only intending to watch, but my sensei asked me to join the training, after that, I decided to join. If I was exposed to other martial art first, then I might not picked up karate. But, since I left karate and pick it up again, kept training until now, there must be some other reasons.

First and foremost, it has became integrated with my life, I read karate for my past time, I eat to practice karate better, I dream about karate from time to time, my circle of friends are karate related, I often think about karate, basically almost all aspect of my life became integrated with it. Secondly, karate can be practiced, practically, until I die. Unless I lost all my four limbs before I die, I will keep practicing it. Karate is different from other sports and some sports based martial arts that relies on physique. If it’s practiced correctly, the practitioner should be getting better and better regardless of age. Of course compared to sports based martial arts, the progress is longer to at least be able to defend oneself. Some people might say, why spending 10 years to be able to properly defend ourself? There’s a lot of martial arts out there that can transform you into a fighting machine in two years time. It’s really a valid argument, why should people wait for 10 years? They’d be lying on their back if they meet with trouble on the street. My answer is it depend on your own preference. Chinese martial art also take years to be called decent, tai chi practitioner might even take longer than 10 years and still not able to defend themself if they don’t understand the concept. So why people still practicing those traditional arts? I certainly won’t be able to answer for all the other practitioners, but for me, the pre-arranged form called ‘kata’ is the answer. The depth of information inside kata are enormous, mastering even one kata is extremely difficult, but if we can master the concept, understand the meaning of the movements(bunkai), integrate the kata to ourselves, then 10 years of training is considered short. Most practitioner that doesn’t practice kata, usually will leave karate. I didn’t like kata, and because of that, I got bored because the training becomes very one dimensional, nothing else to train except for competition style kumite. I wasn’t able to progress, and leaving was very much an option back then.

I understand that some martial arts practitioners are sceptical with kata or tao lu(in Chinese Martial Arts). Why do kata when we can just learn some kicking, punching, throws, submission techniques without it? Just learn those techniques, practice it with your partner, spar, spar and spar. The progress is very fast compared to traditional approach. Once again, these arguments are valid. But for me, kata or tao lu is the soul of the art. I will not talk about “do” or “the way” concept, but the kata the richness and depth in kata is worth the time to master it. There’s so much to learn in it, and practicing it is also some sort of a meditation, physical training, mental training blended into one. There’s a different kind of feeling when I do my kata, I feel like I am immersed into something that I don’t understand, and I always want to feel it again to understand it more. It might be an ecstasy to a practitioner. Of course kata is not equal kumite. The ability to fight is not only from kata, but it is from our kihon(basic), hojo undo(suplementary training), conditioning, kata and bunkai(application) as my sensei once said. Neglecting one of it, will result in a kumite without backbone. Meet a practitioner with a strong backbone, he/she will be pummeled easily.

And why is it karate can be practiced until we die, and we will still achieve progress? It’s because physically we have our peak physical condition. Most athletes will go down the hill very fast after 35 years old, even if they still train the same amount of excercises or even more. It is the law of the nature. That’s why we rarely see in competition sports that needs physical ability, athletes above 35 years old. The younger athletes has more to give physically, the older won’t be able to compete with their speed, power and agility. Karate is different, the older we get, the better we should be. One very good example is Higaonna Sensei of IOGKF, he’s about 70 years old by now, and I don’t think anyone will dare to challenge him to a fight. He’s still very much active, and still able to kick anyone’s ass. What is the difference, won’t karate also needs physical ability? Yes, but we’re building out body to be able to move economically, effectively and also in conjuntion to the concepts found in kata. Advanced practitioner doesn’t use to much power when delivering techniques, but with a proper body mechanic, correct posture and the ability to move the whole body without wasting the energy, even when the muscle power dwindling as he/she aged, it will not hinder the technique. Hmmm… why is it possible might be the question. Punching is punching, why is it different? To explain it will take a long time, but in short, all of it can be found in the bible, the kata itself, training will be the long answer from me, by training, we will understand those aspects a lot better than words can say.

Makiwara

Makiwara and sandbag, which one do you choose? For me, both! Most of karate practitioners, in my opinion, don’t really have an issue incorporating sandbag in their training regime. It’s considered modern, fairly easy to use and doesn’t punish the user as makiwara does. Makiwara, on the other hand, considered an antique, more difficult to use and punishes the user if he/she doesn’t know how to use it properly. It’s a general opinion in the world of karate. I will not be discussing about how to use the makiwara, since, the best way to use it is to see it yourself and do it on the spot. The learning curve is longer than sandbag, but it’s really worth all the peeled skin I got during learning. It’s not an easy training tool to use definitely. Usually it sits around the corner of the dojo, with most of the people ignoring its existance as if it is only a part of the dojo with a mystical presence on par with the pictures of the masters and the shomen. Some curious people, specially the beginners will try to use it, but since it’s more difficult to understand, most of them will not give it a second try. Some other people that continue to use it will stop after they feel the reverb, peeled their skin or feel the pain on their knuckles, only a few survivors left. These are true in dojos that has makiwara and don’t really require the pratitioners to use it. Of course it’s a different situation in dojos that requires their practitioner to embrace it. Many may be against the usage of makiwara, but for me, it’s one of the tools that really helps me to develop in karate. It teaches focus and correct posture. It also teaches us to respect our opponent by demanding good techniques to be delivered to its padding. Bad techniques will not do, it will hurt you instead. It also requires dedication and determination when using it, half-assed dedication got no reward when punching it. It is also very versatile, plenty of techniques can be practiced with it. With all those benefits, does sandbags still needed? For me, the answer is yes. I’m using makiwara to better my techniques, while I’m using the sandbag to develop the power. They’re complementing each other and really do wonders in my training.

Attending Training

The first and foremost beginning of the class is not when the class itself started. But it is actually starting when we starts to shift our mind to training, at any time. We might have training tomorrow, but when we think about whether or not to come for the training, it is already started actually. The decision making to attend our training is a very important measure whether our training will be fruitful or not. I have a regular job myself, and sometimes I feel very tired, or running on deadlines, or maybe just plain bad weather. Those reasons are usually becoming our consideration to actually go for the training or not and of course, subsequently, determines whether or not our training for the day is actually a failure or a success.

Maybe we have prepared for the training the day before, the next morning, we bring all the training bag and office apparels to our office. In the afternoon, suddenly the rain pours down heavily and make us thinking if the rain doesn’t stop, we will not go for the training. Eventually one hour before training starts, it still drizzles outside, we want to go to the training, but in the other hand, our comfortable bed feels like a better choice in this cold weather. Or maybe the rain has stopped, but our body feels tired after working for the whole day. These examples show that training doesn’t begin when we bow to the shomen, but it can even begin one day before, when we fold our gi and pack our obi inside our bag. Going for our training is always difficult for everyone, but we have to strive to attend the training. This is also karate training, a mental and spiritual one. I am really impressed with Goodin Sensei’s article about a woman that is recovering from cancer but already very eager to resume her training. Hopefully I can always remember the story whenever my mind roams away from my training. please read the article here.

Sanchin Seminar

Last Saturday was Tomiyama Sensei’s seminar. My expectation was high, due to his credentials and he is more or less a traditional karateka(although the term ‘traditional karate’ is of course debatable). I was certainly not dissapointed. He is a true traditionalist, at least in my own view. The seminar was about sanchin kata. He covered body mechanics, alignments, techniques and also breathing. There’s some minor differences compared to IOGKF’s sanchin, but the principle concepts is very much the same. He also gave us an unexpected bonus near the end. I was raising a question about Naihanchi kata role in his organization. He told us that it is also the core kata in Kofukan as Sanchin is. His Naihanchi doesn’t have emphasis on the koshi movement, but swift, explosive and rooting. When I asked for him to elaborate more, he actually gave us a bonus by demonstrating the kata. I can only say that it was a great demonstration. Anyone seeing the kata will shiver and think twice to challenge him to fight. It was a practical kata that can be used for fighting, not a posing kata that looks beautiful but can’t be used to fight. In the end, it was a thirst quencher that makes me even more thirsty of karate training.

Coming Late for Training

Approaching 6pm but the meeting wasn’t over yet, waited for another 30 minutes and the end of it still couldn’t be seen. Messaged my sensei that I would be late for yesterday’s session. Ten minutes past seven, act like I wasn’t in a rush to leave the office since I just joined the new company for one month Packed my things in an almost graceful manner, chit chat for a bit with my colleague, headed to the exit… empty cab ahead, got in, rest… Late for almost 40 minutes, rushfully climbed the stairs, reached the third floor and realized that it’s the wrong unit!!! Panting and numb legs due to lack of aerobic exercises but still ran down the stairs in a zip just to save some minutes, finally reached the dojo, saw my sensei training kata alone… whoopsss… Changed my clothes, apologized for being late and my sensei asked me to do quick warm up, prepare to work on Saifa. The last one hour I had was doing Saifa only. Working each movements, steps, techniques, body positioning, basically all the details, major and minor. In the end, although I was late, but it was a great session. Although my Saifa got corrected a lot, but I’m happy that I still have a lot of room to grow and improve my kata. Definitely a great kata, I specially like the body shifting principals in it, and  it also incorporate the method to get into opponent’s space. Definitely a fruitful session! Thanks for my current sensei also for being very patient although I came very late yesterday. A great session is a great stress relieve for us working people isn’t it?

Update on Upcoming Tomiyama Sensei Seminar

Another news just came from my sensei for Tomiyama Sensei’s upcoming seminar. Apparently he will conduct the seminar specifically on Naha-te basics and katas. I tend to favor more to the Naha-te side due to my first exposure to Goju-Ryu style in Jakarta, that’s why this news made me even more excited. I would like to know the differences of the principles that should be there due to the different lineage path compared to my current Goju-Ryu organization. For me, it is always good to know different principles, methods, and the mechanics of the techniques to enrich my karate. Usually different approach of some techniques might enchant our understanding of those techniques, it’s similar to understand something from a different perspective. Hopefully it will be a fruitful seminar.

Upcoming Seminar with Tomiyama Sensei

When the news that there will be a seminar in May to be conducted by Tomiyama Sensei, I googled for his name right away. To my amazement, he is practicing Tani-ha Shito-Ryu. Tani-ha Shito-Ryu history is very interesting. It was started from a karate club in Doshisha University in Japan, one of the oldest karate club.

The original style was Goju-Ryu, and the first instructor was none other than Chojun Miyagi Sensei himself!! As I also practicing Goju-Ryu, of course I felt very excited. But I got even more excited to read that after that Kenwa Mabuni Sensei was instructing at the club after Miyagi Sensei returned to Okinawa, and furthermore, he was teaching Goju-Ryu, not Shito-Ryu!! That means Goju-Ryu influence should be strong in Tani-ha Shito-Ryu, and once more, it proves to me that the Chojun Miyagi Sensei and Kenwa Mabuni Sensei was a very close friend. The two founders of the styles that I’m currently practicing were on a very good term.

But sadly, nowadays, people doesn’t really share their knowledge as extensive as before. Nowadays a lot of people only care about power and playing politics. It’s very sad actually. People should strive to gain knowledge and improve their karate through training, either by him/herself, by the guidance of his/her senseis or senpais, by sharing of knowledge with other practicioners, and by learning from others also. Anyway, I’m happy that my current dojo is actually open to learn from other people/styles. I can’t wait to attend the seminar in May and learn from Tomiyama Sensei.

Enjoy this articles about Tomiyama Sensei and Kofukan:

Kazokukai website – Interview

Shuriway  website – Hara to Koshi

OSI Karate website – Kofukan History

Concept of Circles

Circles can be found in almost every techniques in Goju-Ryu. For me it is one of the most important aspect of Goju. It might be considered as the Ju(soft) side of the style. It is either easily visible or very subtle, but if we analyze the techniques, it has at least one circle in it. The concept has a very deep meaning, and it always amazed me whenever I try to think about it. This is why I love doing karate, even perfecting one technique requires your mind, body, soul, dedication and determination. It’s visually simple, but if you seriously try to master it, it will even raise more questions. Definitely worth a lifetime study!