JUNRO - Mastering the Jiku Ashi

As stated in my last post, I’ve been focusing on Empi kata to address my jiku-ashi (pivot foot). Two days ago I switched this focus to the Junro kata, which I'm also wrestling with at present. I have moved Enpi into the same status as Gojushiho Dai, and have peered Unsu with Junro-shodan, Junro-nidan, Junro-sandan, Junro-yondan and Junro-godan (I finally moved onto Junro-godan this morning).
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The special jiku-ashi method Asai Sensei taught me (one of three major 'underlying themes' of the Junro series) is something I didn't teach to the JKS New Zealand people who joined me after I started the organisation, as I couldn’t get past the general kihon themes outlined in my 2003 article (click here for to read the article: http://andrebertel.blogspot/.com/2007/06/here-is-another-article-i-originally.html or here; for one translated into Russian by the Japan Karate Shotorenmei Ukraine: http://www.jks.com.ua/rus/main-frame-rus.html). Back to JKS New Zealand… I could not teach the people there any deeper than the ‘general themes’ due to ‘the instructors’ terrible kihon (and complete lack of technical understanding – no one learned from Asai Sensei before the end of 2003, and only ever experienced two or three ‘open seminars’ at most – and no private training!). Sadly these same people are now teaching the Junro kata and proclaiming to be students of Asai Sensei! It is no wonder the New Zealand standards are so low.

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Unlike the older kata (where there is little or no clarity about their creators original purpose), us, those from around the world who were personal students of Asai Tetsuhiko Sensei, practice these 'underlying themes' of the ASAI KARATE KATA as Sensei taught during one-on-one training, and other private times. This makes the Junro series and the other kata he devised extremely unique to his students. It also reveals that many people who teach them never got past simply learning 'the motions' or 'general themes'. Naturally these people can never teach others correctly, and thus produce students lacking the subtle skills which typify authentic Shotokan, and Asai-Ryu (Please refer to my 'Narrow River' article here: http://andrebertel.blogspot.com/2008/03/shotokan-karate-do-narrow-river.html).
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Anyone who experienced Asai Sensei’s training, even just in the group seminar environment, knows that Sensei often mixed up the moves of various kata. However, HE NEVER CONFUSED THE PRINCIPLES HE WAS TRYING TO REINFORCE. Sensei once said to me in an interview "all that matters is the foundational ideas of my kata. Knowing many kata means nothing." General themes in the kata such as spinning, kicking with the front foot etc.., (as described in my 2003 article) are fine for the 'relatively inexperienced with such techniques', but are just as well, if not, better learned through kihon. What is “really important” as Asai Sensei stated is to fully understand the underlying principles (and in the case of kata 'fluid transfers' and the practical possibilities that come from these). In the case of the Junro’s, Asai Sensei’s special jikuashi technique was a major influence in their creation.
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There are plenty of clowns teaching karate in the world, but the worst of these "karateka" are those people who proclaim knowledge, which in reality, they really do not possess. These are the people who merely ‘do the moves’ and hide behind paid affiliations via political maneuvers, but do not exhibit (nor comprehend) the underlying principles of karate. This really establishes if such people were, in actuality, students of Asai Sensei. Subtle points, such as his special jiku-ashi technique literally reveal everything. As a student of Asai Tetsuhiko Sensei, without formal organizational connections, I will continue to train daily with vigor as Sensei instructed me to do so.

© André Bertel, Japan 2008