Insights
Kata Hitetru Sannen
Each Kata requires at least three years of constant practice to understand and
perform properly.
What impact does this concept have upon the ‘modern’ western-
style of ‘instant’ access and learning?
To me, it means that very few people
will ever learn one of the most important and time-consuming aspects of Martialarts.
The most popular aspects of Karate, for the westerner, will mainly comprise
of bag-work, fighting, fitness, etc. (all the normal aspects that can be achieved in
most ‘health-clubs’ and ‘sports-centres’, etc.). ‘Real’ karate, especially Wado Karate,
will rarely be found by this type of person, as it requires a different type of
attitude - The mind of patient meticulous progress!
Karate is a ‘progress’, not an achievement. All Karate must be done as a slow
progression of understanding and
learning. Both the physical & mental
aspects are being nurtured in the individual
over a long process of time.
A lifetime’s study for a lifetime of
personal creation. Nothing in Martial arts
is quickly understood or
‘mastered’, hence the lack of popularity
for Budo in the West. This is
because, in the West, we live in the
world of the ’all-winners McDojo
mentality’!
Gary E Swift Kyoshi.