18/08/2026
I remember one Sunday when Sōke Hatsumi came into Honbu and walked to the middle of the Dōjō.
He said:
“Today we are filming. If you have a keikogi top, wear it! Sit like martial artists, stand like martial artists… and no sloppy taijutsu!”
Ed and I just looked at each other and smiled, thinking, YES!
Quite simply, around the world we see a lot of half-baked training and what Sōke himself called “sloppy taijutsu.”
I feel many people have misunderstood teachings about not using power, not needing technique, allowing things to flow naturally, or henka being more important than fixed form.
Unfortunately, people often hear and see what they want to hear and see, without properly considering the level from which the teaching is being given.
Sōke was speaking from the standpoint of someone who had already mastered and transcended the fundamentals through decades of correct practice.
He was not suggesting that the fundamentals were unnecessary.
There is a great difference between letting go of technique because you have embodied it and having no technique because you never properly learned it in the first place.
The same applies to power.
Removing unnecessary strength does not mean becoming weak, structurally poor, disconnected or ineffective.
Natural movement does not mean careless movement.
Flow does not mean sloppy taijutsu.
Henka is not an excuse for being unable to perform the kihon.
We should also remember that although Sōke allowed people of all ranks to attend his classes, he repeatedly said that he was teaching to the Dai Shihan.
That point is extremely important.
A person with decades of correct training hears something very differently from someone who has not yet established solid fundamentals.
As Nagato Sensei said:
“It’s not about how often you practice, but how you practice. If you practice the wrong movement, repetition will only reinforce it. You have to recognize and find the correct way of moving, and then reinforce it through your training.”
There is no shame in discovering that something you have been doing is incorrect.
The shame is recognising it and refusing to change because your rank, reputation or ego has become more important than your training.
Sōke has even said that some instructors should be embarrassed about what they are doing.
Sometimes we need to be honest enough to start again.
I have had Jūdan visit my Dōjō who could not perform basic kihon better than some of my kyū ranks.
Most often, they do not come back.
Why?
Because returning to fundamentals can be uncomfortable when rank has convinced someone that they have already moved beyond them.
But no one moves beyond kihon.
The fundamentals simply become deeper, smaller, more natural and eventually less visible.
You have a choice.
Continue living in denial and protecting the image of what you think you are—
or recognise what needs correcting and rectify your training.
That is, of course, if you are still a student. 😉
南虎
