平安の日

I just completed what I loosely call a 平安の日 (Heian no hi) or ‘Day of Heian’. I periodically do this in my self-training. My basis for this practice is from Osaka Yoshiharu Sensei, who always references the Heian kata in regard to everything else in his teaching. Needless to say, since I first came to Japan—and even as one of Asai Tetsuhiko Sensei’s direct students—Osaka Sensei’s instruction and methodology has greatly influenced my karate.

 

So, what does Heian do for me? Well, the five Heian really ‘hit the fundamentals of karate’; that is, the core 技waza, 立ち方tachikata, 運足 (unsoku), and so on. I need to strongly emphasize that I’m not saying this lightly… This is brutal ‘raw practice’ where all weaknesses are vividly exposed. Aspects yet to be mastered, or even yet to be learned, are spotlighted. In these cases, we have the opportunity to face our true technical level and, in the case of ‘not learned yet’—mentors can guide us to understanding and a higher road of practice.

 

One high level aspect of technique, which I’ve written about so much in the past, is ‘technical moderation’. This, insofar as technical form is concerned, is really what defines ‘karate movement mastery’. Please note, I did not say ‘karate mastery’—as “…this requires both mastery of movement and functionality/effective application in a freestyle context”. Certainly, the years of my working in various security jobs (throughout my 20s, standing at the doors of pubs and clubs, and later as a professional bodyguard) really brought this to light in my karate.

 

That brings me to a quote by the founder of modern-day karate and the Shotokan style: Funakoshi Gichin Sensei. He stated, “With mastery of the five Heian kata, one can be confident that they will be able to defend themselves”. This statement was so strong in that it alluded to the fact that one must not only practice the ‘solo form's'. This by itself is clearly insufficient. Accordingly, besides the kata itself, one must work the techniques with and against opponents in both partner drills and in freestyle exchanges. In this way, “…when doing the kata by oneself, we are actually reviewing each action as a mnemonic routine for actual self-defense.

Anyway, here is some of my extra practice outside the dojo today. This is what is I call my DAILY HOMEWORK outside dojo training; that is, my review of my self-practice to achieve on-going skill targets.

Heian Shodan (Movement two): MIGI CHUDAN OI-ZUKI (MIGI CHUDAN JUN-ZUKI)

Heian Nidan (Movement one): HIDARI HAIWAN SOKUMEN JODAN YOKO-UKE DOJI NI MIGI ZENWAN HITAI MAE YOKO-KAMAE

Heian Nidan (Movement 24): MIGI JODAN AGE-UKE

Heian Sandan (Movement one): HIDARI CHUDAN UCHI-UKE

Heian Sandan (Movement 20): SAKEN MIGI KATA UE KOHO TSUKI-AGE DOJI NI MIGI USHIRO-ENPI

Heian Yondan (The first half of movement 11): HIDARI SHUTO SAHO GEDAN-BARAI DOJI NI SASHO JODAN-UKE

Heian Yondan (Movement 12): MIGI JODAN MAE-GERI KEAGE

Heian Godan (Movement 15): SASHO NI MIGI CHUDAN MIKAZUKI-GERI

Heian Godan (The first half of movement 19): TOBIKOMI

Immediately after posting this, I heard of the loss of SHIRAI HIROSHI SENSEI... IKS JAPAN and International members want to offer our condolences to his family and students in Italia and around the world. This is also very sad news for the world Shotokan community.

©︎ André Bertel. Oita City, Japan (2024).