Support Notes - Netherlands Course March 2024.
Intended for the course attendees, but also for the casual reader.
Currently, I am in the Netherlands twice a year and have been running courses over there for nearly a decade. Because I try to pass along concepts, ideas, technical points I have realised that attendees probably need a recap of points covered; hence, these notes.
Kihon.
At risk of sounding like a graduate of the ‘University of the Bloody Obvious’, I have to say that because everything has to be built upon secure foundations then the regular training in the fundamentals, the core techniques, cannot be ignored. I have said before, I am reluctant to translate ‘Kihon’ as ‘basic’, because there is nothing ‘basic’ about them; this is where the English language lets us down.
Like all secure foundations, NOTHING of any real value can be built on insubstantial footings. Advanced paired or solo kata without secure fundamentals end up looking like a complete sham, and as for actually applying the techniques… forget it. Without these essentials, the so-called ‘advanced’ techniques of Wado karate are just academic exercises or museum pieces.
Fundamentals about ‘engaging with the dynamic’.
All that stuff we talk about in Wado, the bits that are cloaked in Japanese terminology, all about ‘timing’, ‘distancing’, ‘anticipation’, ‘intent’ and ‘binding to the opponent’s energy’. (see – I did that without using one Japanese term), for those, I tend to use the phrase, ‘engaging with the dynamic’, in paired kata this is the step beyond just making the shapes and congratulating yourself that you are positionally correct.
In Anthony S’ excellent Substack post about his own experiences of the differences in karate systems, he has a neat description and appraisal of his time working to Dan level under the second grandmaster of Wado Ryu while training in Japan:
He talks about Wado’s refined skill in ‘managing the interval’, it’s a good way of describing some of the things I was trying to put across over the weekend.
(I would encourage you to follow Anthony’s Substack project. Click on the above link).
Speed.
A couple of times the idea of training for speed came up. Speed and reaction are often just taken for granted.
Rather cruelly I have to admit, I demonstrated on Martijn Schelen de Vries an ‘action/reaction’ exercise (one of those ‘don’t try this at home’, things, it won’t make you any friends – sorry Martijn. I am not going to share it here).
I also mentioned a book from which I stole some of my ideas about speed training and speed awareness, many years ago. For those interested it was, ‘The Amateur Boxing Association Coaching Manual’, 1980 by Kevin Hickey. Although it’s a bit of an antique now and methods have been considerably updated.
For speed awareness and finding what they are capable of, in the book, Hickey talks about taking young boxers to the nearest steep hill for running training; not for running up the hill, but for running down it at full speed! If your legs aren’t moving at full and total speed you end up pitching face first into the ground. A quite dramatic lesson to learn, and one you’d never forget; but at least you’d realise what speeds you were capable of.
Kicking techniques.
Largely, for the kicking techniques, we stayed on-syllabus.
Often, we make assumptions that everyone just knows this stuff; but really, they need frequently restating, a reminder about really fundamental things.
My intention was to present these techniques in a new light – often, an oblique angle, or a carefully selected anecdote will trigger lightbulb moments.
For Ushirogeri (the back kick), the initial ‘get the ball’ rolling footwork (Okuriashi) slides your base into a deceptive positional advantage, relative to the opponent’s location. I mentioned a famous British Shotokan fighter who took advantage of a similar strategy to drive in a back kick that his opponents struggled to defend against; their mistake was that they were watching his body position, not where his feet were. The technique was on them before they knew what was happening.
Speed also came into this as well, as I was asking the students to examine what the slowest part of the kick was liable to be. Usually this involved the initiation of the kick and the activation of the larger muscles, which, compared to the finer muscle structures, involve the longer levers and the most energy commitment.
The origin of the kick should not be the floor; instead, it should comprise of the core muscles in collaboration with hip flexors and supporting structures. Again, we did very simple exercises to look at that aspect.
Pinan Godan.
In solo kata, the target form was Pinan Godan. My records told me that I had never taught this kata in the Netherlands, so it was worth spending some time on it.
This seemingly condensed form has so much to unpack; the dynamism of the kata is a logical step towards the complexity and athleticism of Kushanku.
In Pinan Godan, the double hand moves were interesting as they needed putting through Wado filters. For two limbs to so overtly commit to covering one limb does not match up with our Wado mathematics; it appears as an overinvestment of available resources to deal with a single threat.
However, this can be picked apart in two ways. Firstly, as a mashing together of two tasks into one, purely for expediency and the demands of the form. Secondly, there are instances where the two hands are ‘in flow’ and rapidly exchanging; a manoeuvre so fluid that it appears to be one action (difficult to explain here, but for those on the course, they saw it in action).
For my last comment on Pinan Godan; I explained that in certain sections of the kata Wado performers have to resist the temptation to add stylistic ‘flourishes’, and other embellishments, (my apologies for references to Spanish kata champion Sandra Sánchez for that part of my explanation, but you know what I mean). Remember; Wado as a system is trimmed to the bone, there is no space for ‘extra’.
Paired kata; the Kihon Gumite and Kumite Gata.
The paired kata always prove to really stretch the students, as the details tend to get very granular, and rightly so.
The Gedan series of the Kumite Gata, working the inside and outside lines are worth exploring in detail, as they are a solid way of understanding the access routes as they apply to a flowing and dynamic timing.
Any of the paired kata that involve responding to kicks are always going to add an extra challenge as, unlike dealing with the formal punch responses, nobody is going to conveniently leave their leg out to enable you to practice doing your thing.
Bear in mind that each form is like a fractal microcosm of Wado’s most important principles. They are particularly helpful in accessing the ‘Riai’ of the Wado method (‘Riai’ = fundamental Principles of the Ryu, as applied to the technical content, as well as the philosophical corpus).
As a final point for those who attended; please try and experiment with the body tension lines I mentioned. Those that apply to the opening moves of Pinan Shodan, Pinan Yondan, Kushanku and the middle section of Seishan, in fact, the more you look for them you realise they are everywhere.
I could have included more in these notes, as we covered so much content across the weekend. But the idea was to produce these jottings in condensed form – though I fear I have already failed in that respect, despite my best intentions.
I am next in the Netherlands at the end of 2024 (dates to be finalised). These are courses that are not exclusive to Shikukai members. But numbers are limited so, if you are interested and in that part of the world, book early to avoid disappointment.