Niju Kun Part 5
by Dan Blackmore

31 Aug 2015

Welcome to my final piece in my continued investigation into Shotokan’s Niju Kun, or “Twenty Principles.”  Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 for the other 16 principles.  The Niju Kun were originally penned by O’Sensei Gichin Funakoshi to give guidance to his students as they continue to train.  Karate is about self-discovery, wrapped in self-defence training; you will develop both physically and mentally as you grow.  It is important for each karateka to reflect upon what training means for him/herself.  I think that some time spent delving into the meaning of the Niju Kun may serve as a good jumping-off point to help facilitate this self-discovery.  For this piece, I will look at the following principles:

• Ready position for beginners and natural position for advanced students.
• Kata is one thing.  Engaging in a real fight is another.
• Do not forget (1) strength and weakness of power, (2) expansion and contraction of the body, (3) slowness and speed of techniques.
• Devise at all times.

 

Ready position for beginners and natural position for advanced students.

To me, this principle alludes to the natural evolution that one should face as they progress in their training.  When we are first introduced to Shotokan, we are given a mold to fit into – our instructors and senior students tell us what to do and how to do it.  Kyu rank requirements are a series of basic exercises that are meant to train the body and develop coordination, flexibility, and strength.  Starting out, we might feel a little uncomfortable in our own skins as we learn this different way to move, but that is the norm.  We will receive a lot of correction and guidance from our senior ranks along the way!  At this stage we strive to perfect technique and form.  We may not have a lot of understanding, but so long as we endeavour to improve, we are doing just fine.  As we get more used to getting a feel for our stances and techniques, we begin to form understanding in the motions we make.  Over time our strength and skill increases such that we no longer need to think whether we are doing things right all the time; proper form has become built-in to our movements.  After years of training, working with fellow dojo members, receiving examinations, and practicing on our own, we have made some headway into understanding what the style is all about. 

As we gain good experience, we are not meant to be micromanaged as we were at white belt.  Instead, we must become increasingly responsible for ourselves.  If your instructor were to constantly adjust and correct you all along the way on everything, then the pressure is taken off you to get your own feel for it all.  Sensei is not going to be with you in a fight, controlling you as a puppet!  We need to be able to figure out our own bodies to progress with learning.  In following this natural progression of self-correction, “karate” is no longer a mode that the individual must switch to, but has become the normal state that he/she lives in.  To facilitate this evolution and learning of the core principles, beginner students are given “Ready Position” and a mold of techniques and stances to fit into.  The kihon and kumite exercises and focus in kata are kept simple so that students have less to think about, rather than having their minds flooded with all the different variations and applications from the get-go.  As students become more advanced, the need to keep lessons at the basic level falls away, allowing them more agency in the way they experience training.  “Natural Position” means that after years of being coached to fit the mold, the student more naturally maintains the core principles while developing his/her own signature stance/fighting style.  It is at this point when the student may begin to exercise their own understanding and interpretation when looking back at past lessons anew.  Returning to the basics certainly sharpens your sword, but your experience teaches you how to cut with it.

 

Kata is one thing.  Engaging in a real fight is another.

Let’s first review what kata is before comparing it to a real fight.  The kata of Shotokan illustrate all that the style is about.  This series of prearranged forms serve two main functions: to pass knowledge of the principles of Shotokan to the new generations, and to serve as a base to expand training for students.  Karateka must play the role of anthropologist and treat each kata as a skeleton that must be studied and preserved to form understanding.  As we gain knowledge, we can begin to put meat on the bones to get a more detailed picture.  This is done by developing applications and practical self-defence methods from the movements in the kata.  So long as we maintain the teaching of the original “skeletons,” we can do no wrong in proposing our own interpretations of each kata.  As in the science of anthropology, our findings are all subject for peer review, so we must ensure that they make sense practically, or in context.  In karate we collaborate with fellow students and instructors to experiment and physically hash-out our proposed interpretations; we cannot just imagine/visualize an application and expect it to hold water practically.  In short, kata comprise the framework that we need to train karate – all the principles are contained in their movements, and through collaboration with others, we can extract interpretation of the movements for use in training exercises. 

So, study of kata is good karate training and contributes to being prepared for self-defence, but kata training stems from the fact that everything is prearranged.  Both attackers and defenders working on kata application know the attack, the defences, and the end results to each encounter.  This foresight is not present in a real fight.  Even if you have trained a routine hundreds of times, a real fight is less predictable, and attempts to execute a more precise or complicated sequence may not always prove to be successful, especially when under stress!  You must not form a “plan” or routine in your head when faced with a real opponent.  If you do, you will find yourself constantly focusing for an opportunity to perform what you imagine, and ignore other options.  This will create hesitation, and failure to miss other opportunities as you think to yourself, “Oh, I should’ve gone just then!  Okay, next time he does that… ah missed it again!”  Further, as you distract yourself with your thoughts, you run the risk of getting caught off guard by your opponent!  Above all else, stay relaxed and in control of yourself in a fight – continue to breathe and fall-back on what you know from training. 

I believe a component of controlled kumite included in regular training will help develop a more well-rounded self-defence.  In kumite, the defender does not know what may be coming, and focus is shifted away from training what to do and towards training how to read your opponent.  Here we can further develop advanced self-defence skills such as our senses of distance, timing, and connection to our opponent in the safety of the dojo.  We learn how to properly perform technique through drills, but we will learn how to apply technique, as well as develop our perceptive skills, through experience in kumite. 

 

Do not forget (1) strength and weakness of power, (2) expansion and contraction of the body, (3) slowness and speed of techniques.

Slowness?  Weakness?  Surely karate is only supposed to be strong and fast, right?  No!  This principle says there can be just as much value in slow, contracting, or weak techniques as can be found in fast, expansive, or strong ones.  The key is in keeping an open mind to learn under what context something may be effective, rather than rejecting an idea at first glance.  Karate is not exclusively about developing the strongest, or biggest, or fastest techniques.  If it were, we’d all just train to master thrust kicks and reverse punches and call it a day.  Instead, we train a wide variety of techniques to be well-rounded and better prepared for when defending ourselves.  There is no need to strain ourselves in trying to go for the knockout and using overkill when blocking or striking.  Time and energy are precious resources in a fight, so we must focus on what is most efficient or economical.  A well-developed sense of distance and awareness of our surroundings will help us to know which approach to use.  In a real situation, it doesn’t matter how strong you are, just how effective you are at defending yourself and subduing an attacker, or escaping.  Survival is key.  As we train, we add more and more “tools” to our repertoire that may work best for specific jobs in offence and defence.  Some are powerful; some are not as strong.  Some are fast, and others need time.  Some require lots of room to execute, while others can be done in a small space.  The only way to develop a sense about where to apply each method is to train with partners in various circumstances. 

The lesson to learn in all of this is that we must keep an open mind, and not be so quick to dismiss something before we give it a chance.  Sometimes people like to argue or proclaim that the style that they personally train is superior to all others.  They may even attempt to attack or put down a technique/approach from another style, saying how impractical it is or that it would never work.  I’m sure we’ve all seen this around, or even participated in a little bashing of our own in the past – I know I did a little as a child.  If an individual is shown only one way to approach a problem, then he/she is likely to develop a bias towards that approach when later asked to suggest solutions.  For instance, if you’re told only strong techniques are important to incapacitate an opponent, then a short, little poke using a pinky finger won’t even be considered; probably seen as laughable!  It is true that the little poke won’t cause any bruises, or break any bones, or knock the wind out of an opponent, but if it is aimed at the opponent’s eye, it can do great damage.  If you’ve closed-off your mind to learning, then even if you make an attempt to learn something new, your bias will only prevent you from giving it a fair shake.  This type of willful ignorance won’t get you anywhere but deeper into the rut you’ve created for yourself.   Why even call it an “attempt to learn” if you were only looking to prove yourself right, and not to gain a new perspective?  It may come down to the quality of instruction – there is some truth in the idea that poor teachers produce poor students – but if something doesn’t seem right or is unclear, then the onus is on you to question it and seek clarity, especially if you are a higher rank.

By remaining open and allowing ourselves to see things from a different angle, we have the potential to create something new.  One important thing to remember here is that Shotokan karate is a combination of two different styles of Okinawan karate: Shorei-ryu, and Shorin-ryu.  Shorei-ryu is the root of Goju-ryu and Uechi-ryu styles that are practiced today.  The focus is on body conditioning, deep and rooted stances, and training in both the “hard,” linear attacks and “soft,” circular controlling techniques.  Shorin-ryu focuses on natural breathing, shorter, higher stances for mobility, and on the “soft” circular movements, rather than direct attack.  Neither style may train exclusively on its respective focuses, mind you, but we must appreciate that Shotokan is a compilation of techniques from these two different approaches to self-defence.  If O’Sensei had kept a closed mind to learning, then there would be no such thing as Shotokan, and we might all be doing something else.

Keeping the idea that Shotokan is comprised of two halves in mind, we can see that there is value in training a wide variety of techniques.  There will be times when we need to use brute strength, and times when finesse will win.  We must sometimes spring forth and expand the body, and other times draw in and contract the body.  Slower, more flowing techniques can be as effective as quick, darting ones.  We do not know what situation we will need to prepare for, so our training provides for us a full set of tools for self-defence.  The terms “correct” and “incorrect” have no meaning when defending oneself, only the terms “effective” and “ineffective” count.  This is why we must shed our preconceptions from time to time and put effort into reevaluating what we have been taught.  Perhaps we will find value in something that we didn’t see before, or find vulnerability in what we thought was unbeatable.  By doing this, we can remain more balanced in our skills, our attitudes, and our humility.

 

Devise at all times.

To devise is to contrive a plan; to build on existing principles.  This principle nurtures independence because it encourages us to be inventive and tells us not to constrict ourselves to precisely following the patterns learned in our training.  In the moment of a fight, you cannot stop to worry if you’re doing things just like Sensei, or like how you read in that book, or what you saw in that video!  Just do what comes naturally to you.  Everyone of us is different with our own strengths and vulnerabilities, our own areas of interest, and our own motivations to continue training.  Because of these differences, there is a lot of potential for creativity in training in groups.  Occasionally students will be invited to get creative and deviate from the normal drill when defending in an exercise.  This is important for discovering something new, or finding a new spin on something.  An intermingling of minds can produce several different adaptions of a principle that suit each individual’s understanding and goals. Also, partners can provide helpful constructive criticism where needed.  When you boil it down, this principle says that each one of you have the power to adopt your own flair to Shotokan and to create.  We train hard in class to condition our bodies and to learn the basic building blocks for strong self-defence, but to progress, we cannot limit ourselves by trying to fit perfectly in the mold all the time.  As we advance we must get comfortable with ignoring all the years of advice that may be buzzing around in our heads and surprise ourselves with what naturally comes out of us while in the moment.

Adaptability is an important skill when defending yourself.  It is impossible to predict what specific circumstance we may find ourselves in when we face an attacker, or group of attackers.  We cannot treat what we learn in class as a manual with answers on how to defend and dispatch every possible outcome that may arise in a fight.  Instead, we train to give ourselves building blocks for a good defence – a set of stances, blocks, strikes, kicks, grips, and throws and a set of guiding principles to knit them together.  Our training must leave us with experience to remain connected and strong for our techniques and stances while quickly and fluidly moving to adapt to a changing situation.  If we do not get comfortable with acting on the fly, and devising from our experience, we run the risk of getting stuck on ourselves, and being overtaken in a fight.  Besides, by devising on the spot, you will make yourself harder to be read by an opponent.  If you can surprise yourself, then you can surprise your opponent!

 

~ ~ ~ ~

 

Brief Overview 

When we start out as kyu ranks, we stew ourselves in the basics, and focus on maximum power, and full motion of limbs and body.  We use big movements that use full expansion and contraction as we step, strike, and block.  The purpose of the kyu ranks is to condition our bodies and give us a solid base of self-defence.  As we approach shodan, we must build on to this experience by developing advanced techniques and strategies.  Individual study and working with partners are both needed to help learn the pros and cons of one attack, block, or strategy over another.  Experience will help you to learn how to stay solid and connected, but fluid as you constantly adapt to the changing situation in an encounter.  You must develop a sense or feeling of knowing when to bolster blocks/strikes with dynamic and static body shifting techniques, and when to evade or disrupt your opponent with a quick technique to gain the opportunity to follow-up with more powerful strikes; you don’t have time to think about things.  I believe that it is important to both train to preserve the art/style, and to train under a looser set of restrictions for practicality.  For me, kihon and kata training would fall under the preservation category, while bunkai and kumite would fall under the practicality category.  Each one of us must train in both contexts to get the full picture of what karate training is all about.  Self-reflection is an important ingredient for personal growth and maturity, both inside and outside the dojo.  Your spirit is as much a reflection of your confidence in your abilities as it is a reflection of your strength of character.  We are told to show a strong spirit, especially in tournaments and examinations, but your spirit does not go away after you change out of your belt/karategi and into your regular clothes.  Instructors and senior ranks will always offer guidance and (hopefully) strive to be positive examples for students to follow, but ultimately you determine what karate means to you, what type of person you are, and what kind of spirit you develop.  Be strong, confident, and true to yourself. 

 

This concludes my investigation into O’Sensei Funakoshi’s Niju Kun and what they mean to me.  Thank you for reading!  I hope that you have been inspired to discover what the twenty principles mean to you, and to think about what significance karate training can become in your own life.  Until next time!