This past year I have been very, very negligent about blogging. I dare not call it a resolution but I will make the claim that I intend to put up more blogs here at this site in 2014.
One of the key reasons for my plans to blog more has to do with the success I have had in modifying my training procedures for my students. Since I train students out of my love for karate and not as a profession I have been able to have smaller classes and have had the time to try some new techniques in training. So far what I have discovered is that the learning curve with this new approach to training has significantly helped my students to progress faster in the skills in the art and has made them more “combat ready”.
I am not a fan of “sport karate” (in fact I believe this goes against the whole concept of what karate is all about). I believe karate is a way of life and a way of defense (or a way of death). I believe that karate is never progressed if all one is trying to do is to get a “point” in kumite or win a trophy doing a kata one may or may not understand. I want my students to be able to stop aggression when they encounter it, and to stop it with authority.
With this in mind, I place a great deal of emphasis on the application of the movements (the bunkai) and the adaptation of what many call the “secret” aspects of the application. I am having great success with this in more motivated students (I hold my students accountable for their own practice. If they are not serious about progressing I quickly lose interest in instructing and make that quite clear). I hope this next year to document some of the breakthroughs I find my students making in this approach.
Osu