“Better men than I” or so the saying goes built what we now consider as martial arts. If we consider that the original construct(s) are based on actual field (combat) experience that the first teacher of the ryu/system survived, and then additionally consider that subsequent teachers added teaching drills and forms over successive generations also based upon their field experiences or overall knowledge of martial arts acquired over their lifetime, then the system and the order of learning it has value and should be closely adhered to as it comes from a “proven” standpoint and not one of theory.
As a quick example, what is a logical teaching progression? Warm-up drills which in many ryu contains basic physical movements that appear in the kata forms and that begin the process of neurological programming. Then would be drills and kata that teach the fundamental and most important operating principles and movements. Then basic forms of combat and self-defense. Then increasingly complex intermediate kata that would be considered advanced but likely without any of the secret propriety advanced or hidden ideas or the heiho or martial strategies. Then advanced kata containing the “secrets” of the ryu and that teach the prospective and future teachers how to teach the basic, intermediate, advanced, and secret ideas to their future students and perpetuate the system. In effect it is a construct of learning, then doing, then teaching and then preserving; and to be and remain as such all should be learned in the proper order and at the appropriate time.
Anyone who has ever run a dojo has been confronted by the problem of deshi who, after reaching a high rank but who have not yet learned the system, have essentially jumped ahead and have “picked” the kata they like the best. By making those choices of “likes” and “not like as much” and even “don’t like that one at all” they start to train those favorites and ignore the rest which has the effect of interrupting the flow of learning and potentially leaving large gaps in their knowledge base, translating to a lack of functional and combative ability.
In the classical Tomiki Ryu that we teach and that is not “focused” or “as focused” on competition, the kata and drills are set up in a teaching/learning sequence that is designed to work (in a sense) on a simple linear scale of basic to most advanced; or if you like from “most” important of the basic fundamentals that make it all work, to the “least” important kata, waza, and drills that may only look at one or two arcane ideas at a time, or that are simply enhancements of the basic forms that show how to teach or or simple variants.
In a very real sense the intermediate and advanced kata and drills are also set up as “links” to the basics or as “branching points” that show the failure of one technique, thereby leading into another or said otherwise, a branching point such that you learn “if he does this then I can do this” or “if he counters this movement then it shows me an opening to do this movement”.
In Tomiki Ryu the first true kata of any import taught is known as Ju Nana Hon or “The 17”. Another name is “The 17 Attack Movements” (self-defense applications) or “Randori no Kata” (forms of randori and of competition). Many of these forms which are taught in four sections in the order of striking/sesparation, elbow and shoulder locking, wrist locking, or floating/throwing, can be considered branching points. The first two striking techniques for example can be reversed into sutemi waza or sacrifice techniques should the strike fail and the aggressor pushes back against the defender; therefore a complete study of the first two strikes should at some point include at least an elementary study of sacrifice throws. Additionally, a failure of the first strike puts the defender in a perfect position for an entry into a strangulation from the front so neck locking should also be explored as part of the overall study.
The fifth waza in “The 17” is Ushiro-ate or strike from behind/reverse strike. Because the entry for this technique puts the defender directly behind the aggressor then a study of strangulations from behind is called for as an expansion on the possible ideas and applications for being behind the aggressor. A failure to learn those possibilities could result in a brain-lock if the basic Ushiro-ate fails and an immediate action must be taken, but the defender has none since those possibilities have never been studied; the defender having limited his actions to only one technique.
In both these examples, the branch point provides an opportunity for exploring techniques and principles that are beyond the basic and intermediate study levels and they should be advantaged by the serious student once reaching the appropriate level of knowledge since some of the ideas are either very advanced and requiring physical coordination and intuitive movements beyond that of a beginner, or they may be dangerous should the student not have the adequate level of self-protective knowledge especially that of break falling.
All well-founded old flow martial arts are structured similarly with the same basic idea of teaching by steps and levels (absolute beginner, basic, intermediate, advanced, esoteric, etc.). However, the idea of teaching within the order has a larger idea behind it.What does the teacher do with an intermediate/advanced student who is lacking ability in specific areas that overall are important in that students’ full development?
Some students as they rise with the ranks may not have spent enough time working on a specific kata. This could be a relatively unimportant issue unless that kata is the precursor to other, more advanced kata or unless that kata contains specific ideas, fundamentals, and physical movements that will correct inadequacies in other areas. For example within the Tomiki Ryu is an intermediate kata that is in three sections. The first two sections show variations first seen within the beginner syllabus but the third section is a radical departure and begins the process of delving into advanced ideas of off-balancing the aggressor and learning hand exchanges; a critical issue for effective self-defense and further advancement. If the student makes the personal decision to not study other kata that further explores those two ideas, instead deciding that the other additional kata are boring or not needed, then the overall development of the student will be retarded.
So in effect, by the Sensei allowing the student to decide his or her own course of study and what they will and will not learn and by not insisting that the student learn the kata that the Sensei deems important (or even critical) to the students growth and understanding, then that could permanently stop the students learning process, seizing their development, and locking them in place.
The student is not truly able to see what is needed for their own development, in much the same way as no one is able to see who is ready for promotion. My old Sensei and I once discussed this idea and he like my description of it as the “Look Back”; if you don’t know all the kata and what each one will teach you then you don’t really know what you need to study “right now”, and if you are only a Yondan then you can’t recognize who else is ready for promotion to Yondan, much less any higher rank because you haven’t done the work and don’t have the understanding of what your own rank really means.
Bottom line and said a little more bluntly, don’t assume to tell the Sensei what you do and do not what to train in because you really do not know what you know or how well you know it, you don’t know what is important to your development right now at this moment, and you don’t know what your shortcomings may be that could be corrected in other areas by a study of that kata that you think you don’t like.
Once you make it through the material you can always “Look Back” from a higher perspective and know what you needed (or didn’t need) because at that point, you understand how it fits together and how much understanding (or lack of) you actually have (or had) so if Sensei says go work on this material or that material just accept it as part of your total learning package and development in mastering the ryu.
L.F. Wilkinson Kancho
The Aikibudokan
Houston, TX
September 21, 2020
Good points! Thanks.
Posted by: Rick Matz | September 21, 2020 at 03:36 PM