The phrase “Onward Thru the Fog” originated at a 60's head shop in Austin, Texas called Oat Willie's (a comic book character) not far from the University of Texas campus. No one really knows (at least I don’t) what the "fog" refers to; hint .... it is a "head shop" but even that is a guess. Oat Willie's is still open today some 60 years later continuing to do what a head shop does, but the question remains, what is the "fog" (other than the inability to see clearly to the other side)?
In our journey into the martial arts and the mythos of what is called "Bushido" there is so much information out there that one can become lost in the "fog" or put another way, you begin to be unable to see the forest for the trees. Either way you care to describe it, you sometimes find yourself lost in your study and not certain which path is the best one for you; remembering that other than the requirements of the ryu you study there is no "correct" path per se, only a path that fits you, your personality and character, and your goal (assuming you know what your goal even is).
And I am assuming here that you have found a true martial pathway and are not training at a "McDojo". And I am also assuming that you have chosen the old flow koryu path of you “becoming” the ryu and not doing the modern or gendai idea of “making it your own”.
This "being lost in the fog" can manifest itself in several forms. One is that you decide what kata/work you like the best (because you can actually do it and it feels good) and then spend your entire life doing only that, leaving out the broader work. In the Tomiki Ryu that broader work is all 7 of the advanced koryu kata plus all the randori work and all the drill sets AND the work from Kano's Judo that was the basis for both Judo and Aikido (that work from Kito Ryu Jujutsu and Tenjin Shinyo Ryu).
Thus, we sometimes we see deshi decide to only work on one or two of the advanced kata which results in both a loss of the system because they never see or do large parts of it, and a growing lack of understanding the underlying realities of the work (esp. when we consider that older and wiser heads than ours put that work there for a reason).
Years of this entropic attitude can keep the deshi active in the dojo but no real advancement in deeper knowledge may be realized and they become stuck in place.
In my martial career I have always tried and looked for other areas of study to look at. While I began in MA in Tae Kwon Do, then Kodokan Judo, then to Aikido and at one point even took a brief side-trip into BJJ to improve my newaza from Judo, I was always looking for an enhancement of my studies. Once I was able to involve myself with a koryu combative weapons study (SMR Jojutsu) I found (and indeed continue to find) that at some point the psychological aspects of a true koryu weapons/dueling system begin to manifest and bleed over into my hand-to-hand work.
While each of these areas are of interest and are a welcome change of pace from doing the basic Randori no Kata over and over again (no matter how much that work is still important) the real value in branching out into all the work comes from the realization that at its most basic level, true principles (sen, seme, musubi, metsuke, ma-ai, riai, et al) are universal regardless of what may or may not be in your hand, or whether you take ukemi or not. The real issue here is that in order to fully understand all the facets of each principle you must study and internalize all the work. In other words, understanding sen, sen-no-sen, sen-sen-no-sen (for example) depends on more than one kata such that each kata teaches only one aspect of any one principle. All the kata must be studied to fully understand and more importantly be able to utilize that principle; each kata covering only a small aspect of it.
L.F. Wilkinson Kancho
The Aikibudokan
Houston, TX
July 4, 2023
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