When is Karate Karate?

There are many forms and styles of martial arts. I've been asked many times, what is martial art? What is karate? First of all, to be a martial art, there must be some esoteric and redeeming value - just like art. Any school kid can kick and punch and mimic ninja turtles, but does that mean they are karate practitioners? Take MMA for instance. I'm no authority on MMA (mixed martial arts), but from what I've seen, most are wrestlers or street fighters who add a kicks and punches. So how can this be martial art?

Kata training at a traditional martial arts school in Mesa, Arizona 

When karate was created on Okinawa centuries ago, it had lineage that progressed through time. It was originally taught to body guards of Okinawan royalty and later to peasants and kept secret from outsiders. Karate evolved from these Okinawan martial artists who traveled back and forth to China to learn Chinese arts and modified them to produce a more pragmatic combat system for the royal body guards. Probably early on, karate was blended with Zen which gave it esoteric value. The Okinawan people used karate to teach their offspring to be positive, self-confident, humble and respectful, which is still the main purpose of traditional karate today. Remember the scene in the Karate Kid?

Daniel San “All right, so what are the rules here?”
Mr. Miyagi “Don't know. First time you, first time me”.
Daniel San “Well, I figured you knew about this stuff. I figured you went to these before. Oh great, I'm dead. I am dead. You told me you fought a lot”.
Mr. Miyagi “For life, not for points”.

Karate was developed as a traditional art for self-defense and self-improvement. Those who trained in traditional karate could do unbelievable things.

Karate was not intended for sport. And just like Miyagi's statement, it was used to defend a person's life, not score points.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Okinawa began to open up and karate was introduced in the public schools on Okinawa. Some karate practitioners also offered demonstrations of the martial art to mainland Japanese. By mid-20th century, the Japanese began to change karate to sport at the objection to their Okinawan instructors, such that today, we have two types of karate: Sport Karate and Traditional Karate. Both are good martial arts as long as the instructors are legitimate.

Sport karate has two parts: kata which focuses solely on outward appearances and kumite which is about winning and losing”. Sport practitioners attend tournaments, wear protective gear, and fight for trophies.

Traditional Karate is different. There is no competition but instead classes focus on positive attitude and respect. In traditional karate, students typically train daily in kata, interpretation of kata known as bunkai (pragmatic applications), body hardening known as shitai kori, the basics known as kihon, exercises known as undo, and weapons known as kobudo. One learns to focus technique and power in traditional karate unlike sport karate where competitors are often penalized for power. In sport karate, contestants are disqualified when they hit too hard - not something you want to learn if you ever need karate for self-defense.

We can gain more insight into traditional karate from statements by various masters and grandmasters from Okinawa.

The father of modern karate, Gichin Funakoshi from Okinawa wrote: “The purpose of karate lies not in defeat or victory, but in the perfection of its participants.”

Grandmaster Shoshin Nagamine from Okinawa wrote: "Kata is the origin of karate. If there is no kata, there is no karate! Without kata, there is no martial art; instead it becomes nothing more than primitive street fighting."




And the late Chojun Miyagi, who was known to tear bark from trees and kick holes in gas cans with his big toe was quoted as saying, “Karate has the ability to train one's body to the point whereby you can overcome an opponent with one technique without the need for weapons.”

So when you pick a type of karate to learn in Arizona, you can pick either sport or traditional school. If the school has trophies in the window, it is sport karate. If the school has no trophies, and classes are hidden from the public, it is likely a traditional karate school. But just because a school advertises itself as traditional, does not mean it is traditional. Check the Internet for either Traditional Karate Classes or Sport Karate Classes depending on your interest.

Women's Self-Defense Clinics

We attended a self-defense clinic at the Chandler Public Library.  Few people (including martial artists) would have ever thought that so many things could be used for self-defense - magazines, books, credit cards, PCs, cell phones, car keys, spare change, pens, belts, staplers, chairs, cups, tote bags, purses, brief cases and even reading glasses. The instructor kept pointing out that we are surrounded by weapons in libraries, homes, restaurants, schools, etc. We just need to learn to use them. Any object of just about any size and mass can be quickly made into a martial arts weapon. 

(C) by Soke Hausel

The clinic focused on weapons because the instructor noted that few people taking such clinics will show the initiative or interest to sign up for a martial arts class, so by learning to use weapons, the librarians will have a better chance of survival from an attack on the street or in the library. In karate, one learns mushin, the art of muscle memory. This is one of the methods that gives martial artists such a great advantage over those who do not train. It is a form of repetition and training reflexes. So for those librarians not interested in learning karate, they can achieve a lower state of mushin by learning how to use the tools around them for self-defense, and then keep reminding themselves every time when they walk into the library, that they are surrounded by weapons. They should try to visualize how they used that magazine and car keys in the self-defense clinic. So if they are every attacked, their mind will not go blank with panic, but it will search for a nearby weapon of self-defense. The clinic also focused on teaching the librarians how to use their God-given weapons such as their elbows, knees, fingers and palms - things that require little skill to learn.

Color pencil sketch by Soke Hausel (C)

It is the same for women's self-defense clinics. These clinics are taught all over the Phoenix valley at martial arts schools, police stations, fitness clubs, universities and community colleges, but the only good any of these are to the students is that they may attract one or two women to sign up for karate classes. According to Grandmaster Hausel, who taught martial arts classes and clinics in karate, kobudo, iaido, jujutsu, samurai arts, self-defense, women's self-defense, martial arts history, etc for 3 decades at the University of Wyoming and has 5 decades of martial arts experience, a person cannot expect to achieve the self-defense abilities and awareness in a single self-defense clinic that a person who has been training for 5 or more years has. It takes considerable time to learn to react and block, develop focus, timing and power. But in todays society, many people want a quick fix, but it is just not out there - at least not until science comes up with a self-defense pill. So for now, if a person wants to learn self-defense - either sign up for karate, or learn how to use a gun. There are several indoor gun ranges around the valley that have a Ladies Night and will assist women in gun training.



Grandmaster Hausel demonstrates how to use
a library book for self-defense at the Chandler
Public Library

Both men and women who sign up for karate classes should look for schools that focus on adults, not kids. Adults will have a better time and also learn to defend against adults instead of 6-year old kids. Shy women should find a friend and join a class together - the classes will help them become more positive over time - its one of the side benefits of karate classes.

The purpose of the clinics is to provide attendees with a general introduction to self-defense and modern kobudo. One clinic attendee, an engineer from Boeing named Amanda exclaimed, "Wow, I'll never be able to look at another magazine or towel without thinking I'm holding a self-defense weapon - who would have guessed?"



Few self-defense clinic attendees will continue in martial arts education, so martial arts instructors have to be creative with clinics. So goes for a Master of Karate, Dr. Neal, who is also a professor at Grand Canyon University. He showed other martial artists how one can use protractors, rulers, pens, pants, glasses, suspenders, straw hats, corn-cob pipes, and even corn cobs as weapons. Other off-the-wall weapons include picture frames, flashlights, batteries, memory sticks, markers, and Duck Commander style duck calls.

Self-defense clinic attendees at the Unversity of Wyoming.

The World Health Organization reported recently that 420,000 murders occurred in the US. Sounds like a lot, but we have a very large population (>311 million). The report goes on to state 109 countries which have 100% gun bans (most with considerably smaller populations than the US), had a high of 9.16 million murders to a low of 420,000 murders during the same time frame. Imagine that, 109 gunless counties with murder rates higher than the US!

One country was a distinct anomaly – Switzerland. During this same period, Switzerland reported ‘zero’ murders. What makes Switzerland different is most adults in Switzerland are required by law to own a gun and required train and qualify as marksmen. So, would tighter gun control laws or banning guns altogether in the US lower the murder rate? Based on historical data, our murder rate would skyrocket. Sorry about the detour, the US Constitution is fine and guarantees Americans to have access to guns for self-defense. After all, this does not seem to be the problem.

Arizona Martial Arts Instructors

"No such thing as bad student. Only bad teacher." -Mr. Miyagi (The Karate Kid)

Just like any profession (except politics - where honesty seems to elude all), there are good instructors and there are bad; there are honest instructors and there are con-men. so before you sign up for classes at a local martial arts school, learn about the martial art and about the instructor.

Schedule a meeting with the owner of a martial arts school and meet the instructor or instructors and find out what qualifications (if any) they have. What is the instructor like - are you going to be able to get along with this person? How well does he or she teach? Ask to watch a class or two to see what goes on in the class and then ask to talk to some students to get their perception.

Master Gichin Funakoshi, Shorin-Ryu Instructor from
Okinawa, considered the father or Modern Karate (sketch
by Soke Hausel)

Ask about the instructor's lineage. This may be the most revealing information you will find. If you get a response like 'Lineage?" you might think about checking elsewhere. Ask the individual where he or she taught in the past and how long they have been training in martial arts and how long they have been teaching. If you are going to be taught by a child, remember this is going to be very awkward. We had one of our Japanese-American karate instructors who told us about her horror story learning taekwondo many years ago in Arizona. She was the only adult in the class and at the end of each class, the school would vocalize the schools philosophy. She would stand in a line with about 2 dozen 3 to 10 year olds and say together - "I will obey my mommy and daddy".

Ask about the martial arts style? Where did it originate? Ask about tournament requirements if any? Are there extra fees for training with weapons? Take notes to be sure that the information matches what you find on the Internet. And something that should be considered for most women is the type of martial art. I do not recommend judo, jujutsu or aikido for most women, as this requires using a lot of upper body strength. Look for karate, taekwondo, kung fu, tai chi and similar classes. But remember, tai chi is very good for your health, but of little value for self-defense., 

Tournaments are new to the martial arts - this is something that began in the mid 20th century. Many traditional martial arts instructors feel tournaments breed the wrong attitude and lessen a person's ability to defend. But at the same time, supporters of tournaments feel these provide good competition among students and also helps students to build good reflexes, especially if they are full contact tournaments.

And weapons? Weapons have been part of the martial arts training regimen for centuries. Only recently have some martial artists divorced themselves from weapons, or have found a way to require more fees to learn the weapons. Many traditional Okinawan martial arts schools start teaching weapons the first week beginners sign up for classes.

Shaolin Temple Guardian. Sketch by Soke Hausel.

Look closely at instructor certificates posted on the walls of the dojo. This could be a very important hint as to the qualifications of an instructor. Do the certificates have Chinese, Japanese or Korea symbols?  Find out what martial arts associations the instructor is listed with and check the Internet for information about the associations as well as do a search for the instructor's name and school. Ask to see old photos of the instructor. Write down the names of the individuals who signed the diploma and search them on the Internet.

Today, there is a problem. More than 4 decades ago, everyone knew everyone else in the martial arts in the US, and there were only a few legitimate martial arts associations. Today, there are all kinds of MMA (Mixed martial arts), Kickboxing, Sport Karate that have little evidence of legitimacy, but if you are interested in learning these, check out some classes and see if that is what you want to learn. Since most are not martial arts and there is little to go on - just like boxing schools. Many will teach you how to fight, but most will not teach you how not to fight.

Now that sounds pretty strange. But think about it and look back to the Karate Kid:

Daniel San: So, karate's fighting. You train to fight.

Miyagi: That what you think?

Daniel: No.

Miyagi: Then why train?

Daniel: So I won't have to fight?