Certain topics will come to my mind here and there, and this is one of them, especially when I get a wave of newer monteis, it’s almost always asked of me where one can go to get reference materials like videos and books, etc. And true, there is a plethora of stuff out there and navigating it all can be tedious and difficult to find exactly what you’re seeking. I have mixed thoughts and opinions when it comes to martial arts mediums such as books, videos, and social media. Each has a place, however, that place often gets too much attention and emphasis, which potentially detracts from the art itself.
We must bear in mind that in the early 1900s when a lot of martial art styles were still being formalized to the point they are at today, printing wasn’t that widespread. There are some scrolls and such artifacts that would decipher specific techniques, but nothing that was a real reference for kata or bunkai subjects. Monteis learned their art the old fashion way, through a sensei and, of course, practice!
Traditionally speaking, the subjects of any martial art are taught by the sensei to the monteis, who train hard and in turn become a sensei who then teaches more monteis. This process has always been by a sensei working with a montei, not from reading a book or watching a series of videos. Once mediums started becoming more widespread, and after martial art styles were more established, we started seeing more and more literary or videographic materials being released. Then came social media, which has evolved into a cavalcade of social groups, fan pages, library pages, blogs, and various combinations of the like. It gets messy a lot of times.
I never discourage my senior students from researching more about karate, it’s history etc. But generally, for my newer students, I tell them not to worry about it. There’s so much junk out there, and until you’ve trained under a proper sensei’s dojo for some time, you really don’t have the insights to be able to depict the junk from the real. In many cases, especially in our style of Goju-Ryu, every Kan (organization/school) out there has subtle nuanced differences from one to another. In all honesty, if it isn’t a medium created by a practitioner from the Shindokan, it is probably different in some way from the Shindokan. At the end of the day, you can’t get better instruction than from your sensei at your dojo! But for senior student who have a good grounding and can discern the Shindokan way from others, there isn’t an issue in exploring and doing your own research. Keep an open mind and an open heart when pursuing the martial arts.
I myself have even used old video footage of Kimo-sensei and Mekio-sensei for revitalizing some kobudo katas. I even went so far once to research videos on YouTube for a specific kata, which took me over 50 videos to find someone doing the subject closely to how I was taught. Seeing that video jogged my memory for what I needed, but I kept in mind that the kata itself wasn’t being done the exact same way I learned it. But because I have trained the kata as long as I have, I knew where the differences were. This is why I encourage monteis to get some experience and real training under their belts before starting to explore beyond their dojo. There is value in waiting and not using faulty material as your reference.
Kimo-sensei and Matayoshi-sensei often times would do katas differently if they knew they were being filmed, so even when looking at video footages of them doing the same subject, but at different events, you can see alternate ways of doing a subject. So even in cases of one’s senseis offering reference materials, it might still not even be consistent.
I have also read books from some martial artists that the Shindokan has relations with from back in the Kodokan days. This was mainly just to read something a fellow Goju-Ryu practitioner wrote, not necessarily to learn anything. Within his books the things I found the most interesting were just his personal stories of what his experiences in traveling to Okinawa and training were. The parts where he discusses kata or technique seemed a bit off at times; not because his interpretations are wrong, but because reading about how to do a technique makes very little sense versus having a sensei guide you through the execution of techniques. There’s an apparent lack of instructional value.
I saw a video clip the other day of a person taking a kata from Goju-Ryu and doing it with a pair of sais in her hands. Though some of what was done isn’t exactly how I would have interpreted things, it was still an amazing thing to see. Her technique was wonderful and I learned something. She was taking the two styles I practice and combining them. I can honestly say that I have never thought of that. This doesn’t mean I’m going to go off and start training in this way; the point is that I saw something new that I would never have put together on my own, and that opened the door for a greater understanding of my kata and kobudo. In moments such as these I think media martial arts is great. Again, it boils down to what it is, who the audience is, and how all of it gets interpreted and absorbed. There is a level of integrity and diligence associated with viewing or reading about the martial arts.
I think the biggest opposition I have to using media as a way to learn martial arts is centered on the wide-spread usage and availability of it all. If I were to record myself doing the subjects the Shindokan way, I would really only want Shindokan monteis to ever see that. And even then, they would need to be somewhat higher ranking. If someone is recording a demonstration or something, that’s one thing, but as far as an instructional reference ‘for the records’ medium, I would be hesitant to just broadcast that all over the place. Even this blog that I’m writing somewhat frequently is only intended for my students. Anyone is welcomed to read my thoughts, but my target audience are my monteis. I want my students to know who their sensei is and how their sensei thinks about the various subjects I write about.
One final point to touch upon, social media groups/pages. There is a wider martial artist community out there, and it can be a wonderful thing to interact and learn from one another and share philosophies and technique interpretations; however, be cautious with the audiences you choose to affiliate with. I’ve seen so many comments on posts from people that I can’t even believe are fellow martial artists sometimes. It goes back to the open mind/open heart concept. It’s amazing how many schools out there don’t instruct that concept to their students. Respect, Honor, Integrity, and Vitality are character traits that all dojos, regardless of style, should be instilling into their monteis.
In summary, there are tons of mediums out there with information about martial arts: books, magazines, blogs, websites, social media, videos, etc. But one should never believe that any of these are a replacement for having a sensei teach a style to them. Sometimes, these mediums might be helpful to jog one’s memory of a subject, but one should have trained and learned that subject from their sensei previously. There’s a quote out there that I know I’ll probably bugger, but it’s along the lines of “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.” It’s important that a sensei explains, demonstrates, and then guides a montei along the path. Media can’t do that. It can really only provide such nice quotes as that.
I hope this post has been instructional and insightful. I do realize the paradox of writing a blog as a form of media while criticizing the very act. But I do enjoy sharing my thoughts to my monteis and my blog serves as an outlet for me to formalize those thoughts.
Train Hard, Train Often!
Goju-Ryu Shin Do Kan 