deadly beauty

The deadly art of Isshinryu Karate is encased in beauty. The physical expressions that enable devastating power in self-defense are arranged in aesthetic patterns that contain a harmonious flow of movement and power.

Few potential students take up karate training with the thought present that they want to learn how to maim or kill other humans. Indeed, such a candidate would be very suspect to a responsible teacher. In most Isshinryu schools that I am familiar with, the lessons are structured to ascertain a student's character, then foster their development. A demented person would learn appropriate behavior, or leave the class out of fustration - before deadly skills were developed. But, sometimes people slip through the cracks.

I'm not saying anything that hasn't been said before. In Richard Kim's classic work, "Weaponless Warriors," he remarks that it is most difficult to convince people of the morality inherent in karate practice.

It falls on the shoulders of the instructor. What is his personal background, and his training background. There is the benefit of having good geneological history. It's the test of time. That is why the Okinawan masters are held in high esteem. The have endured to develop the skills and character worthy of samurai. The samurai placed equal value on developing deadly martial skills and learning to express beauty.

This represents the yin and yang of the human experience.

Being Exact

Exact. The pursuit of being exact instills the discipline required to execute effective karate technique.

Thats a mouthful. Read it again. Break it down into three parts. Look at it backwards - to execute effective karate - discipline is required - pursue exactness. Remember my story about the movie "The Magnificient Seven?" The knife thrower was exact. In karate, that can mean the difference between success and failure.

In Isshinryu Karate, exact training begins with basic karate technique; fifteen specific upper body techniques (strikes & blocks) and fifteen specific lower body techniques (kicks). Each of the techniques puts the body in a unique position to accomplish martial intent.

This is foundation. These are the building blocks. Every body part is placed in a specific position. It takes discipline - it takes patience - it takes determination - it takes perseverence. Do you begin to see a pattern here? If you succeed at acquiring the physical skills of karate, certainly you will have acquired the mental skills also.

But only through the pursuit of being exact!

The Workout

Okay, you go to karate class. You receive a lesson. You practice. What is it, exactly, that you do? Exact! That, is a key word to remember.

Isshinryu Karate emphasizes three areas of practice; basics, kata, and kumite. Therein lie the movements, techniques, and strategies, that define karate.

There are general exercises that help prepare a student to meet the unique physical demands of karate. All students progress at their rate, according to their own ability, and should be taught how to perform the exercises properly and safely.

Calesthetics, stretching, and strengthening exercises that you might find in a high school gym class are most popular: push-ups, running in place, squat jumps, yoga type flexing, twisting, bending, loosening the joints.

The routines may vary, but the exercises are performed in every class. The amount of time spent on the preliminary exercises usually lessens as fitness levels increase. This allows more time to be spent on the execution of karate; the stances, blocks, strikes, kicks, throws, takedowns, and manipulations. Developing theses skills thus becomes the workout. A student may begin with a 50/50 ratio of preliminary exercise to karate execution; then gradually evolve to 40/60, 30/70, 20/80, 10/90. Even the most skilled practicioners find it prudent to warm up before beginning their karate workout.