03/10/2022
Over the years, I have observed people enter the Dōjō, be it in Japan or Tasmania, and fail to maintain the heart of Shoshin 初心 (origins resolution/beginners heart). The repetition and practice of Kiso 基礎 and Kihon 基本 is a test to see who has the right mind for discovery and development. I observe some students literally ‘switch off’ upon being asked to practice basics again. As a result, they fluff around and return to old habits, rather than treating it as a chance to evolve. After 35 years of training around the globe, I still love practicing the Kihon and Sanshin. I’m pleased that they are two of the six treasures of the Bujinkan Dōjō. Over the years in Japan, I heard people state that they don’t go to some Shihan classes because they always do the same thing. I laughed and said, “that’s because we can’t do what they teach us correctly yet!” There was never a reply from them after I said this 😉
Even Soke constantly said that he wasn’t teaching and that students must go to the Shihan to be corrected. This is an important statement to think about well. Unfortunately, some never listened.
I remember Nagato Sensei after hearing I was travelling one year, telling me to teach Kihon as people weren’t doing it anymore. Many years later upon returning to Japan for the first time since leaving as a resident, one of the Shihan said to me, “ Your Kihon has improved!” I was so happy to hear this. As a result, I continue to practice and work at understanding the foundations while back in Tasmania with my students.
The following is written by a Japanese Karate Master - Taiji Kase.
“One of the most important aspects in the practice of any Budo art is the repetition of techniques or combinations. But, these should not be done just anyhow. Thus, when someone often repeats a certain technique or movement, for example, 500, 1000, or 10,000 repetitions of Tsuki (direct blow of the fist), he must look inward and perceive his sensations, because there is one surely had only two or three of the Tsuki which were correct (speed, power, location), in other words effective. And only those two or three repetitions are important, those are the only ones that we have to remember. To do this, you have to be very receptive and feel the moment when the movement has been done well, look within and register this feeling with the mind and body. Then you have to ask yourself: why at this time did I do it better than the other times? It is the leap from quantitative (quantity) to qualitative (quality). This is what is really important in the learning process: how to move from one level to another. The next time you practice this technique or another, you must try to remember these sensations so that these techniques can be performed successively with this sensation. In this way, in perhaps only one hundred repetitions, you will manage to achieve two or three. Thus, you move faster and faster and you can extend the correct and good feelings to a greater number of techniques. This is one of the keys to moving forward. It is not enough to carry out for 30, 40, or 50 years always the same movement, thousands of repetitions without perceiving or without realizing what is happening in our body, without improving the quality of our techniques, and without trusting exclusively in the repetitions. That's not enough, you have to find out what was the correct technique, what you feel, and work with that feeling."
