Michigan Ryusyokai Karate Club

We had some fun today at the Meijer State Games of Michigan Karate tournament. Big thanks to Mark Lester for talking me into competing. I haven't done that since 1993. Last year, Mark sensei wouldn't let me put video footage of him competing so I'll follow suit today. Hope to see some of my students compete next year, not as a measure of skill but just as what I like to call a "comfort challenge"! Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Big congratulations to Elly chan and a Happy 16th Birthday today as well! You did great on your 9th Kyu test and it won't be long before you test again. Keep up the great work! And thanks to all who made it to class on a snowy Michigan winter night!

Wish I had had more opportunity to spend time with this teacher. This one is worth sharing!

On Catching Karate (Or, the secret karate handshake)

After a pretest for black belts, Iha Sensei gave the following advice.

“Don’t ask what I am doing. Ask what is my feeling in my body, what I am thinking, and then where that feeling is in my body.” Why? Because that is what drives the “doing”. Then the secret will suddenly reveal itself, that Iha Sensei is not teaching more than a few common principles, and the rest is the variables of the attack.

Sensei went on to say that the older Okinawan karateka were not interested in the names of techniques as much as words that gave a feeling: muchimi, kankaku, chinkuchi, kukuchi, atefa, and so on.

Moreover, he said, when you will begin to learn through your body and not just through your ears or eyes you will be able to “catch” techniques by feeling, with just a handful of exchanges and maybe even only one. This is “most important” he said.

This also shows us that the meaning of things is always before us, but we must have the ability to perceive, to digest. “When the student is ready the master appears.” This is the higher level of learning. It will be like a musician hearing a piece once and then being able to mimic it in its entirety, or play upon its theme, like the precocious Mozart at the Vatican as a child.

Another time Sensei said that he can watch someone walk, sit and stand, or open a door and from that know if they have karate. (It’s good he didn’t say “drive a car”, because that wasn’t his forte.) “But”, he continued, “if I can feel their technique, I can copy it right away.” He said in the old days people didn’t shake hands like in America, but that now everyone does. Rather, they would simply bow. He said in America everybody shakes hands, and you can tell someone’s personality from their handshake and sometimes their power. He said he doesn’t ever shake a hand tightly. “Just enough to match.”

This “just enough” feeling is that the heart of his art. He almost never grabbed us when he was doing a technique; it was always at most more of a hook with his pinky and thumb. This made it very difficult to understand his intentions until it was too late. But he was always listening to our bodies’ overreactions.

Side note: I can only think of one time when he actually grabbed me at the wrist and squeezed. He put me to my knees.

Big congratulations to Luana Maria Santos on passing your 7th Kyu test! Hard work is paying off and the dojo is getting a lot of color on belts these days! So great to see, well done! Green belt, here we come!

This is as much for me to reflect on as it is for anyone else.

No one pursues mediocrity. It's not a goal. But many people live without goals or pursuits, so it's just what they become. Normal. Average. Mediocre.

Greatness however must be pursued. It's a constant battle. You go to sleep with it on your mind. You wake up with it on your mind. It consumes you, but you wouldn't have it any other way. Because the chase itself is often more rewarding the goal.

Personally, I wouldn't live any other way.

Send a message to learn more

Kudos to Mark Thompson, Kyoshi 8th Dan in Uechi Ryu, and instructor at neighbor Kalamazoo dojo, Okinawan Karate Academy. Thompson sensei has shown that you can accel as both a traditional practitioner and on the competition circuit. So happy to see this!

Kalamazoo’s Sensei Thompson brings home three medals from championships – NowKalamazoo In his third appearance at the World Karate & Kickboxing Commission championships, the Okinawan Karate Academy instructor won a silver and two bronze medals as part of Team USA’s second-place finish.

Hats off to Joseph Prenkert on officially being recognized and certified as achieving the rank of 3rd Dan. This certificate is directly from Senaha Kaicho and was brought back from Okinawa, Japan in October. Joe San tested this summer in front of Paul Babladelis Hanshi, Perry Campbell Kyoshi, James Edwards Renshi, Mark Lester Renshi, and myself. Well earned, sir!