It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.

Edmund Hillary

7.23.2005

Meditation


From The Theory & Application of Tradition Kata:
An Art with a Thousand Faces
:
Moral Philosophy:
One mistake the modern karateka often makes, when trying to grasp conceptual origins, classical application theories and moral philosophy of karatedo, is to depend too much on contemporary assumptions. Knowledge taken for granted these days was originally locked in an ironclad ritual of secrecy known only by a select minority who had passed the arduous test of time. For the same reason one would never entrust a loaded weapon to immoral hands, so too did the early pioneers of this tradition believe that embracing a body of moral philosophy to govern the ethical behavior of those who mastered its brutal secrets superseded learning to fight.
My classes aren't in a traditional school, so this is the kind of lesson I only seem to get when I search for it online. I wonder how common it is for larger, more established schools to neglect these important lessons... and I wonder how the methods used to impart this information on adults and children differ.

I was just looking up the terms on my list of white belt (one stripe) requirements because I'll be testing at the end of August, and the list uses the Japanese names, which I'm not entirely familiar with yet. One kicking technique I haven't been taught yet is Kansetsu Geri, a stomping kick where you can break your opponent's knee. I looked it up to get a detailed description of it and found this fun video clip of Sensai Terry Lyon demonstrating it.

Comments:
Gee. Now how do I link to you?
 
May your Cow rest in peace.

Coffee after I get back from Canada?
 
of course i comment on posts back at the old blog before i notice you've moved. bah.

hi matt!
 
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