The Dojo of Karate

So, in the past we’ve had students ask for our katas to be posted online so that they can refer to it as a guide.

I’ve been hesitant on this for many reasons.

The most obvious one is that students should take the time to practice what is taught to them, in order for them to actually KNOW the kata.  Not just go through the movement of the kata and say you “know” the kata.

The other reasons have to do with requirements at certain levels.  The kata is not the same as it is for an Orange belt as it is for a Brown belt.  There are certain movements that need to be executed, and usually it can’t be explained in a video — because it makes no sense unless you’ve been training in our dojo for a regular basis.

The thing to understand is that Wado Kai Karate is a never ending learning process.  You learn one move, then you learn a better way to execute that particular move.  From there you then refine the movement to make it even better.  Sometimes you add other body parts to do the actual movement and that helps a certain move go faster, smoother, with more power.

Then, you continue to train, and learn something else while you’re practicing your kata and you realize there’s a more efficient way to perform the kata or a certain move in the kata (hopefully you’re lead by your sensei before you start doing this).  So, you remove what you learned previously and start using the “new” version.

See, Wado, when it became what it is, never really had a “finished product”.  Things were always changing and continue to change.

Why do they change?

Half the time I have no idea…

While other times is the actual time spent in the kata that one needs to search and start mining for more information.  And, the only way to figure that out is by simply spending time in kata.  Spending time in actually learning what the kata means.

Since Wado is sort of like a living, breathing organism, it continues to grow and improve.  While other styles of martial arts are “pre-packaged”.  Thus, they don’t change what was in the book that was written 25 years ago, because it’s their “bible” for training.

The dojo (where you train) is where you make the changes and adaptations that is being taught to the sensei.

What is taught to one student will not necessarily be the same for another student.

Wado has a way of making everyone the same, yet different at the same time, while other styles — everyone looks the same.

So, instead of having me do a video of wado kata’s, I decided to actually use video from Otsuka Sensei – our Grandmaster of Wado Kai Karate.  Keep in mind that this was filled in the mid 60’s with a 8mm video camera.  So, it’s rough.  And what he is doing is different from what we do — at times because he’s older and may have been “hiding” movements that he didn’t want other outsiders to learn and know.

Finally, every time I go train with my sensei, I learn new things, which then makes me change my basics and katas — specifically my 5 pinan katas.  I tell my adult students to learn to adapt and accept that there are always going to be a “system” update.

Again, my main hesitation when it comes to placing videos online of our kata.

Anyways, enjoy the Wado Katas from Otsuka Sensei.