Download Student Guide - North Wind Martial Arts & Fitness

Section ThirteenTHE BUILDING BLOCKS OF KARATEHEIHO NO KATA--STRATEGY THROUGH PATTERNThe patterns of free fighting will reflect the Kata pattern of the traditional student. This doesnot mean that the traditional student is not inventive in either attack or defense. It does meanthat the higher a student progresses in this art, the more knowledge he acquires and the moreinvolved in pattern, movement and strategy he becomes. Higher strategy does not necessarilymean that the pattern and movement will become more complex, however, it does mean that itwill become more subtle in execution. The execution of combative motion is nothing morethan the basic patterns done within the strategy teachings of the Kata themselves.The teachingof strategy within the Kata is a new thought to many of us. However, strategy is the projectionof a movement in order to control your opponent in either attack or defense. As we learnedour basics and then the Kata, we learned to move our bodies along certain lines withoutconscious thought. This is the beginning of learning strategy. Strategy is not just a blendingof mind and body, it is beyond that thought into the realm of being one with one's opponent.All of the students who have learned in a traditional school have heard the following sayings atone time or another:RELAX THE MIND AND YOU RELAX THE BODY.LET THE MIND FLOW LIKE WATER.THE WIND IS A FORCE LIKE THE MIND.SWAY WITH THE WIND AND THE BODY WILL NOT BREAK.FAST HANDS, FIERCE GAZE, CALM MINDHOLDING AIR IS EASIER THAN BECOMING ONE WITH YOUR OPPONENT.SEEK PEACE AND ANGER IS ALWAYS PUT OFF.HARDER, YOU MUST TRY NO, DO NOT THINK.INSTINCT, ALWAYS YOUR INSTINCT, NEVER WITH YOUR THOUGHTSIt is possible that I could fill up a book with what I remember from my first Sensei, and all theSensei since him. They all seem to say the same thing. Different words maybe, but the samething. The search for the underlying truths of shito-ryu will take a lifetime. This truth(s)will be individual. I do know that if you pursue the physical, then you will have a glorious bodyand a dull mind. Reach into the underlying principles of what has been taught to you and tryto understand the physical motion on a philosophical plane. The antipathy of traditionalKarate is the presence of Ryu that only punch and kick. They will be the harbingers of the ageof a purly physical art, that is studied just for the sake of exercise. Traditional Karate can bea motivating force in anyone's life at any age. This force can be taught whether or not theperson is of sound body. Karate is designed to be done by people who may have somephysical defect as well as people who are physically sound. It is the nature of Karate to enhanceone's mental and physical abilities to peak efficiency. To many traditional Karate teachers, thereis a difference in Jutsu (science) and Do (way or path). This is taught at a beginning level as twodifferent approaches to the Martial Arts training. After training for a number of years, theJutsu becomes a way to find the Do. The Do will then become the teaching vehicle for perfectJutsu. This seemingly never ending circle is what Karate, or even any other Martial Art, isabout. The person who understands Jutsu as the way is also the person who will perfect theJutsu to such an extent that he will never have to use his "Do" to hurt someone. In his