And so, another Okinawa trip has come to an end. Never having any expectations, each trip has always surpassed the previous one. The last two visits involved us bringing a handful of students and participating in events where training was not priority. This time however, we thought it’d be nice to really reconnect with our sensei and Okinawan Dojo members, in addition, get a little bit of me/us time. Such a short trip yet packed with so much quality and value. Many things occurred, various conversations and thoughts transpired, and plenty to write about. However, due to the mass population suffering bouts of ADHD, instead of one long report, I’d thought I’d break it down into subtopics for your easy reading - Cheers.
Training & Feedback
When it comes to private morning sessions with our Sensei, kata is done individually while other seniors present may watch on. Feedback and corrections provided at the end of each. In this past decade of yearly to biannual trips to Okinawa, corrections seem to be getting fewer and fewer, with only finer miniscule details provided. Is that a sign of improvement and progress? Maybe. On the other hand, our sensei may simply be getting sick and tired of correcting the same things over and over haha – who knows.
The 3 of us having been training together for several decades now, know what each can and can’t do well– thoroughly understand each other’s karate & kobudo strengths and weaknesses back to front like a nasty rash. Over time close relationships have been built, close enough to put shit and laugh at each other whenever the chance arises without anyone being offended. Who wants to deal or train with the over-sensitive when life is already stressful enough right! So, when my sensei dealt the hard truth, it was kind of weird (someone outside the 3 of us telling how it really is), a little surprising and maybe even soul destroying for the delicate ones out there. What was mentioned had already been brought up in the past years but to hear it again and in a more direct manner…..well, yep it’s time to really listen. So you want answers?? I want the truth!! You can’t handle the truth!!
Imagine being told you’re a slow dawdling sloppy ass kaiju (A Japanese term referring to Giant Monsters) who has no hope and will never be able to do kata “correctly” because of it. Slow, no contrast in speed, looking half asleep, always one step behind the others, anything else………….? Soul crushing yeah? Or how about being told not only are weird digressions strongly present in your kata but add in a splash of regression too. Living in the boonies with no one to train with certainly the cause – or an excuse?
We all get dealt different cards in life - some simply can do, maintain, and/or learn things easier than others. While getting hung up on a negative situation is easy and may feel like our heart is being ripped out like a cheating ex-partner, what we do with the feedback and how we deal with them is so much more important. No one can ever be perfect or completely right. Different size butts, bodies & brains, injuries carried, athletic ability and so on. So many karateka often become obsessed with being that exact 45-degree angle stance man that the bigger picture is lost. Hence, any feedback and advice received from our sensei was exactly what the three of us were looking for….the truth is always a lot more welcomed (unless being called a fat bastard) than what the majority of tourist karateka prefer – being told you are good.
I much prefer finding what it is that causes us to be incorrect, adapt along the way, and make subsequent changes. Kata inaccuracies and errors not only brings about the possibility of change, but it too can contribute to growth, something we all hopefully seek in our training.
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