Interviews with Kenji Tokitsu Sensei
Part 4. This is the fourth in a series of interviews granted by Kenji Tokitsu-sensei to the French magazine Arts Martiaux.
According to your analysis, the current trend of making the katas more spectacular began almost a century ago.
There used to be karate performances in ancient times too. For example, each time a new king acceded to the throne of Ryûkyu (Okinawa), delegations from the Emperor of China were received because the Chinese Emperor was the one who granted the throne. Such occasions occurred 23 times in 6 centuries. Each time it happened, it meant that several hundreds of Chinese delegations had to be received at enormous expense for the kingdom of Ryûkyu. So sometimes the news of death of the king was kept quiet or delayed. In short, the last time the event was held was in 1866. The document recording the event tells of the festivities organised by the Chinese delegations and includes the programme of a demonstration festival. There were arms demonstrations, kata demonstrations, karate demonstrations etc. Demonstrations were also held during the celebration of local festivities. Clearly therefore, karate performances existed prior to contemporary times, but their purpose was not the same, mainly because not everyone was allowed to practice karate, even though it was demonstrated occasionally.
If I understand correctly, when someone wants to practice karate to raise his level, he should, or even must, focus especially on rinto (combat) and tanren (strengthening) exercises. In any event, if the rinto (combat) and tanren (strengthening) elements are seen as a fruit, hyoen (presentation) corresponds to a flower, doesn't it?
That's right.
But how can a practitioner learn these elements and choose the katas that will enable him to make the most progress?
If you're a beginner or an intermediate practitioner, it's practically impossible to choose for yourself, because you still don't have an objective view or the necessary detachment. You have no way of comparing either the katas or the different schools. Most people don't stop to question the value of a kata that they've learned. Even at later stages, most people are content with the practice of their school and never dare to think of their school's katas as something whose validity is open to examination, because they are conditioned beforehand into thinking that the value of a kata is something beyond their ability to judge. Many people train religiously, confusing moral value with respect for the master, faithfulness to tradition, etc.
In addition, for a long time now you've thought that the katas are untouchable, that the karate you practice is the best one, and that the other schools are all mediocre. An objective view is impossible. Consequently, you can't examine what you practice objectively. This, in my opinion, is one of the main obstacles confronting most people in the martial arts, because to persevere in practice, you need a certain amount of conviction, and this keeps you from having an objective view of things. If you are convinced that something is lacking, you'll find it hard to examine your practice in the light of others.
The first requirement will be to step back from your own practice and view it with a certain detachment. Few people are able to do so, because it requires that you question your practice, holding it up to scrutiny. This undermines your system of values, your pride, your beliefs, and you run the risk of feeling suddenly powerless and cast at sea. The more seriously and passionately you've trained, the greater the jolt this produces. So there are people who shut their eyes and prefer not to acknowledge what they've seen. There is an unconscious attitude of defence against this kind of blow. It's a problem that is not easy to overcome. And I say so from experience.
Even if we manage to distance ourselves from our own practice, will this enable us to understand the rinto and tanren elements?
I think that if we truly manage to detach ourselves, the rest is relatively easy because now it's a matter of working logically and empirically. Effort is still required, of course, but the most difficult thing is to detach yourself from something you have considered perfect or the best.
I say that it is easier, because you can examine rinto and tanren with specific parameters. As I said earlier, the constituent elements of efficiency in martial arts are technique and energy. Rinto directly affects the pragmatic and rational aspect of body techniques. To imagine a rinto-kata, all you have to do is to eliminate the technical elements from a kata, which you can justify by saying: “in the kata you do this, but when applying it, you do that”. But then, of all the katas that you have learned, how many will be left after you have applied this test? Rinto-kata techniques have sprung directly from their utilisation in combat. I'll develop this thought further a little later on.
Next, to understand the tanren-kata, you have to be familiar with qi gong (or kikô), because dynamic qi gong, or the dynamic exercise of energy, is the basis of the tanren-kata. This is what breathing exercises are. But within qi gong, there are a great many methods and you can't learn them all. In this field, it's equally difficult to gain a sufficiently broad and objective view if you only know a single method. So the best thing is to become familiar with a number of methods, learning one or two well. This will enable you to see that the tanren-kata tends to develop your gestural structure and sensations, which in turn will enable you to examine and judge the meaning of the movements of karate or tai chi from the standpoint of qi gong or energy. But it must be made clear that there are no absolutes in this field.
If you use these guidelines to examine katas such as the Sanchin, Tensho or Hangetsu, and also the (tao lu) katas of tai chi, you will have reference points for drawing up your assessment in a concrete, objective way. It will no longer be a question of believing or not in the validity of a kata. The Sanchin kata is considered essential in the Goju-ryû system, but I think that in most currents of this school there is confusion over the way in which a kata is executed. It has to be recognised that within the school there are discrepancies over the way it is to be executed. Personally, I can't see the value of tensing the body to the point of bursting capillaries in the eye when executing a kata, nor the importance of breathing noisily. I think the tanren-gata requires detailed training, but the instructions are lost sometimes in mass diffusion and the rapid teaching of karate. Tai chi chuan is excellent as a form of tanren-gata, but in most cases there are problems in the field of rinto (combat) - i.e., its technical application to combat.
To return to the rinto-kata, if you apply the criteria outlined above, I think you'll find that no contemporary kata of karate fits the category perfectly. If you do know one, so much the better for you. An ideal kata from the martial standpoint is one that simultaneously fulfils the characteristics of the rinto-kata and of the tanren-kata. That is, by executing it, you manage to develop both your technique and your energy. I think that the classical Naihanchi kata did this to a large extent, but as I said earlier, the Tekki series of katas has become a martial gymnastics, while the Naihanchi of certain schools still preserves aspects of rinto and tanren to a lesser degree. This is not an emotional or controversial judgement, but one arrived at through logic and practice. Regarding what I have just said, I am willing to debate this, and if someone can show me that my reasoning is incorrect, I'll be happy to rectify it, as this will enable me to progress. I say so clearly, because in the world of martial arts, there are many people who are incapable of distinguishing between emotional and rational thinking, between wishes and reality, between imagination and reality. To me, however, martial arts belong to the tangible world. I do not engage in critical thinking as an intellectual game, but to understand the reality of martial art and to progress in my own practice.
You're right, there are people who practice their martial art like a religion; or even worse, they practice religiously without being aware of it. They project on their martial art what they don't find in religion, and that's why they confuse logic and emotion. You can even offend these peoples since you don't think like they do and your discourse is different from theirs. In this regard, the world of martial arts is not very tolerant, despite everything they say to the contrary. You are one of the few people who practice with devotion but know how to think objectively.
I think that in the martial arts, you have to keep a cool head. You can train with guts and passion, but since your martial art also includes tactics and strategy, you have to develop objective thinking. To my mind, it is in this regard that a martial art is a culture. You can fight effectively by making yourself grow furious, artificially or not, secreting adrenaline profusely and bringing out the animal inside you. There are methods that make this possible, but personally, I don't investigate this kind of martial art.
Returning to the rinto-kata, let's take for example the Tekki or Naihanchi kata, which you are well familiar with. Examine the first movements of this kata. An open-handed block to the right, followed by an elbow strike. What do these movements mean? Does the first movement really enable you to block an actual attack? Is the course of the gesture valid? Aren't you a little far from the adversary to execute an elbow attack? Why is this kata executed with the feet kept parallel, with steps only to the sides? If you can find technical moves that respond to all these questions rationally, then you are constructing a rinto-kata.
Although it's difficult to describe or explain gestures through words, could you explain this further?
I'll try to using this example of the beginning of the Naihanchi kata.
The first movement consists of a block accompanied by a nukite aimed at the eyes. A. Itosu eliminated this passage as dangerous for school children. To perform a block and a nukite attack efficiently, the right hand must travel an even more linear course than is usual in shotokan. After this gesture, before delivering an elbow strike, there is a fist strike. You execute this kata in kibadachi or Naihanchi-dachi, with the feet kept parallel. This is an essential point. Some people interpret this as meaning that the kata trains you for combat in a corridor. This can only be the interpretation of an elementary school child.
In executing the Naihanchi, the pelvis always has to be tilted forward. When, in these conditions, you deliver an elbow or fist attack to one side, your trunk is always going to be well protected. Also, if you execute the attack with your left elbow or left fist, always keeping the right hand side of your trunk in a defensive position, the central line of your body will always be very well protected. Your back broadens and your chest closes inward. This movement increases the mobility of the back and chest, at the same time activating the front and back meridians, the basis of Shoshuten in kikô (qi gong). As you have to execute your movements in this way throughout the entire kata, this enables you to increase the mobility of the trunk based on the centre line, strengthening the gestures that arise there while simultaneously improving the defensive angle of the body.
As you said, the meaning contained in the gesture is difficult to explain in words. In any case, in Naihanchi, the particular position of the legs and the pelvis fosters strengthening (tanren). Using this as a basis, you can activate the upper part of the body in a realistic way in combat (tanren). Through the particular stance of the lower part of the body, you activate and strengthen the technical mobility of the upper part of the body in a realistic way. Thanks to the peculiarity of the stance, you can strengthen technique. This is why the kata is considered essential. However, due to this very position, the combat element (rinto), is only partial. You can train the upper part of the body very well, but the position of the legs and pelvis is the one best suited for strengthening (tanren).
Classically, strengthened techniques were exercised through katas with varied positions of the legs and feet.
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