Get Real!

What is Kata to you? First, we have to ask "What is Kata in general?". A kata is a predetermined set of defensive and offensive moves, almost always beginning with a defensive move. Kata utilises blocks, strikes, body movements, hip movements and leg movements.

With this sort of a definition, you could look at Kata as a dance of sorts. An artistic series of moves, used to express the feelings of the performer. While this is somewhat true, it is not what Kata is.

To truly understand what Kata is, and what Kata means, you have to understand the times that they were created in, and why. In Feudal Japan, warriors would train in flat valleys, and were constantly watched by the enemy. In order to not be predictable on the battle field, they put the techniques they would use into Kata. Within Kata, there are obvious techniques, and hidden techniques. Moves that look like they wouldn't work in combat are used to hide certain techniques from the enemy.

With all of this said, we use Kata for the same purpose. We train Kata to sharpen our techniques, and increase speed and power, focus and movement. Even so, some of us become laxidasical in our Kata, simply viewing it as a fancy dance, or some cool moves. The techniques are sloppy, or weak, because we just see Kata as a destination, rather than a journey. Something to learn, rather than something to perfect. We just want to get it over with, and move on. This isn't what Kata is. Every move should be crisp, powerful, and concise. Every part of the sequence should be performed as if you are defending yourself from a dangerous attacker, whose aim is to kill you. If you don't block, you will get hit. If you don't attack, you will get attacked first. If you don't throw, you will get pushed to the dirt.

Kata should be done strongly, but not in anger. You shouldn't visualize somebody you dislike attacking you, or the techniques will become angry, and while, may become more powerful, will become sloppy, and technique will fade. It will turn out more like a brawl, than a controlled offense.

The next time you do Taikyoku Shodan, remember this. It's not just down blocks and punches, or wrist releases and counterstrikes. It's You defending yourself from a malicious attacker. Make it strong, make it fast, make it concise, make it efficient, make it real. If it's not real to you, it's not real to anyone watching.

Until next time, stay blessed.
~Alex

Chado - The Way of Tea

Tea was first introduced into Japan in the 9th century, when a Bhuddist monk returned from a trip to China with it. Since then, it has become somewhat of a staple of what we think of when Japan comes to mind.

While to some of us, tea may just be a good drink, a way to calm the nerves at the end of a long day, or something you drink with honey and lemon when you're sick, it is serious business to the Japanese. The art of Chado (The Way of Tea) is a very involved, intricate art. While some may not see it as a true martial art, it involves physical, as well as spiritual and mental training. Just as with Karate, Kung Fu, and many other arts, it also has kata.

The tea ceremony was also practiced by Samurai, the warriors of Feudal Japan.

Chado flourished during Japan’s centuries-long civil war, the age of the samurai. You may have read that the warrior class embraced it because it offered a moment of peace and contemplation amid the chaos of battle. That’s mostly nonsense. The samurai studied chado because it was a concentrated form of the interactions, on and off the battlefield, that gave them critical insight into life. It wasn’t an escape from their everyday lives; it was, and remains, a direct confrontation with life.

Source:Black Belt Magazine Online


The way of tea experienced its' prime in the sixteenth century, when the aristocrats of Japan would use tea as the center of large parties to show off wealth, drink large amounts of Sake(Japanese rice wine), and generally just live it up. The Zen monks "rescued" tea from this. The monks would rather use tea as a way to enjoy finding beauty in ordinary life.

Cha-no-yu, literally "hot water for tea", is the name for the actual tea ceremony. To begin, the host kneals at the door of the tea house, while his guests remove their shoes and weapons, washing their hands before entering. The guests enter, and kneal before a tokonoma, which is a sort of a shelf, which serves as Shomen for the ceremony. The host comes, bearing simple teaware, displaying it. The guests may leave to prepare while this is being done. As soon as the water boils, a gong is sounded, calling the guests back to the room, and given food. The tea powder is put into a bowl, and covered with hot, but not boiling water, and beaten with a whisk until it is frothy. The bowl is passed to the most important guest, and he pours his tea, passing it to the next, and etcetera. Sometimes, the head of the ceremony would give away all of his teaware at the end of the ceremony, except for the bowl, which was broken, to symbolize the end of the ceremony.

This all seems very formal, and very straightforward. You may ask "Alright, so where's the art in this?". The art is in the preparation of the tea. At least, a good bit of it is. The idea of Chado is to see beauty in every day life, to calm the mind, as well as to think and act efficiently. One of the ideas is to make as high quality tea as possible, with as much efficiency as possible.

Chado is an obscure art, that few have heard of, but a very interesting and useful one, nonetheless. If you are interested, I encourage you to research it more.

I hope that you enjoyed reading about Chado, and as always have a blessed day.

~Alex

P.S.
If you feel that there is an article I should write, let me know. If you'd like to give it a stab yourself, by all means, do. If you send me an article that I like, I will post it, giving you full credit.