The Secret Teachings of...

Bill Mattocks

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Last night at the dojo was a bit of an eye-opener for me. I'm still a white belt at isshinryu, and I'm still struggling to master some of the ultra-basics, like foot position. However, all of us, from white to black belt, do bunkai on our kata and our basic exercises.

Last night was chudan uke, the middle body block, followed by a seikan geaku tsuki, the lunge punch.

Our partner began with the punch, and we stepped back as he stepped forward, blocking with the middle body block, and throwing the opposite hand in a lunge punch, which our partner also blocked using the same technique. In this manner, we advanced back and forth across the dojo floor. We've been doing this for awhile, so it has begun to feel natural.

However, last night, Sensei Boman decided to toss some more information at my noggin. He has been a student of Sensei Holloway's for twenty-some odd years, but before Master Harrill passed away, he used to attend his seminars and get as much personal instruction as he could. He showed me what Master Harrill had taught him, which is that all of the blocks, punches, and kicks have multiple uses 'hidden' in them.

Sensei Boman tossed about 8 or 9 techniques at me, having me perform the exact same chudan uke each time, but used to counter whatever he was throwing. In some cases, the block was a block, in other cases it was a block/punch, and in some cases, it was a grappling entanglement move. I have to say, it blew me away! Sensei said "Now think about that - for every move we teach you, there are many possible applications - not just what you learn in the dojo as a white belt. I didnt' even learn some of these applications until I had been a black belt for awhile."

Sensei went on to explain that in many dojos, these 'hidden' applications are never taught in bunkai, as it has been assumed that as students progress, they will naturally 'figure it out' on their own. However, Sensei Boman said he was told by Master Harrill that such things should be taught as part of bunkai, and he agrees, so he showed me just a taste of things to come. He said "That's why people often think that karate has 'secret teachings'. It's not a secret, it is just generally assumed that advanced students will figure it out on their own after years of practice.

Have to say, I left the dojo last night with my head spinning, and not just from the elbow I got on the side of my neck that made me drop like a sack of potatoes (it was a riot, I took the hit, continued sparring, and dropped two seconds later - never had that happen before). I can't even remember this morning most of the applications Sensei showed me, but just that I know they're in there is amazing to me. Now when I practice basic exercises and kata, I'll be thinking about all the ways in which the blocks, punches, and kicks can be applied. Wow.

Anyway, pardon my gushing - I'm sure most of you are yawning and thinking "Yeah, so what else is new?" But for a newb like me, it was most enlightening, and I wanted to share my excitement.
:asian:
 

SFC JeffJ

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It is always exciting when you discover the depth of your art.
 

astrobiologist

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Having come from a Tang Soo Do school which taught little to no applications (those they do teach are pretty worthless), I too was blown away when I began seeing the depth to martial technique. Thanks to the help of Masters Jay S. Penfil, Peter M. Carbone, and Iain Abernethy I'm now on a more detailed journey into martial knowledge. Kudos to you for your new awakening.
 

just2kicku

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Yes, it's always nice to see the light go turn on when you explain something and the student goes " Oh that's why we do it like that." As my teacher always says, it's no secret, just be here and practice.

When you can snatch the pebble from my hand, Grashopper, .......
 

Drac

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Anyway, pardon my gushing - I'm sure most of you are yawning and thinking "Yeah, so what else is new?" But for a newb like me, it was most enlightening, and I wanted to share my excitement.
:asian:

Gush away Bill...We were all newb's at one point and have gushed to family and friends about these revalations...Remember you are at the beginning of the road, more good things lay ahead of you on your journey...
 

MJS

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Last night at the dojo was a bit of an eye-opener for me. I'm still a white belt at isshinryu, and I'm still struggling to master some of the ultra-basics, like foot position. However, all of us, from white to black belt, do bunkai on our kata and our basic exercises.

Last night was chudan uke, the middle body block, followed by a seikan geaku tsuki, the lunge punch.

Our partner began with the punch, and we stepped back as he stepped forward, blocking with the middle body block, and throwing the opposite hand in a lunge punch, which our partner also blocked using the same technique. In this manner, we advanced back and forth across the dojo floor. We've been doing this for awhile, so it has begun to feel natural.

However, last night, Sensei Boman decided to toss some more information at my noggin. He has been a student of Sensei Holloway's for twenty-some odd years, but before Master Harrill passed away, he used to attend his seminars and get as much personal instruction as he could. He showed me what Master Harrill had taught him, which is that all of the blocks, punches, and kicks have multiple uses 'hidden' in them.

Sensei Boman tossed about 8 or 9 techniques at me, having me perform the exact same chudan uke each time, but used to counter whatever he was throwing. In some cases, the block was a block, in other cases it was a block/punch, and in some cases, it was a grappling entanglement move. I have to say, it blew me away! Sensei said "Now think about that - for every move we teach you, there are many possible applications - not just what you learn in the dojo as a white belt. I didnt' even learn some of these applications until I had been a black belt for awhile."

Sensei went on to explain that in many dojos, these 'hidden' applications are never taught in bunkai, as it has been assumed that as students progress, they will naturally 'figure it out' on their own. However, Sensei Boman said he was told by Master Harrill that such things should be taught as part of bunkai, and he agrees, so he showed me just a taste of things to come. He said "That's why people often think that karate has 'secret teachings'. It's not a secret, it is just generally assumed that advanced students will figure it out on their own after years of practice.

Have to say, I left the dojo last night with my head spinning, and not just from the elbow I got on the side of my neck that made me drop like a sack of potatoes (it was a riot, I took the hit, continued sparring, and dropped two seconds later - never had that happen before). I can't even remember this morning most of the applications Sensei showed me, but just that I know they're in there is amazing to me. Now when I practice basic exercises and kata, I'll be thinking about all the ways in which the blocks, punches, and kicks can be applied. Wow.

Anyway, pardon my gushing - I'm sure most of you are yawning and thinking "Yeah, so what else is new?" But for a newb like me, it was most enlightening, and I wanted to share my excitement.
:asian:

Well, it sounds like you had your eyes opened to a huge number of possibilities. :) Of course, its always nice when the instructor is able to provide the student with applications of kata. Now, I know that he's not on everyones top 10 list of favorite people, but a few years ago, I went to a George Dillman seminar. Heard alot, good and bad about the man, but I wanted to form my own opinion. Fortunately, I knew many of the kata that he was using as a reference point, and I was able to pick his brain on a few things that he didn't cover, so needless to say, my eyes were opened as well. Things that I was told back in the day, compared to his application...well, lets just say his made much more sense. :)

I recall many times doing kata, with one of my old teachers. The conversation went like this:

Me: So, what exactly are these 3 moves doing? What are we defending or attacking?

Teacher: Well....................................its done this way because thats the way it is.

Me: Ummm....ok.

Fortunately, I had input from other teachers down the road. Now, while I don't think that the teacher should provide the student with every possible application, they should at least provide a few, and leave it up to the student to figure out more.

Its really amazing at how many things are in kata, that we never thought about. :)
 
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Bill Mattocks

Bill Mattocks

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I'm really thrilled with the great good fortune I had with finding the dojo I am training at. I can't imagine having found a better place to learn - I am so blessed.
 

shesulsa

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Bill, you have two legs up on your training, now; you are going into this from a mature perspective, so the entitlement age has likely passed you and you have the benefit of patience. The other is having a teacher who is willing to reveal the depth of your art to you from the beginning.

Unsolicited advice: Don't let this overwhelm you. Remember to not miss the nuances and don't try to skip ahead just because you have tasted the rainbow. This could now be a BEAUTIFUL journey for you. Enjoy!
 
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Bill Mattocks

Bill Mattocks

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Remember to not miss the nuances and don't try to skip ahead just because you have tasted the rainbow.

Not much chance of that! I still cannot put my feet down correctly more than 1/2 the time! I am naturally splay-footed - always have been. A seisan stance is difficult for me - a sanchin can be agony. I know that proper footwork is the basis of everything, so I put lots of effort into that. Might be years before I get it right!
 

Earl Weiss

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Try this on for size. The real purpose of the motion is not in the application(s), just like the real purpose for learning the letter "A" in the alphabet is not how to read "CAT" "HAT" or "Ate" etc.

The real purpose is to understand how to move in a certain manner with Balance, power, speed, and practical efficiency. This is like learning all theways a letter can be used to form words.

Once you learn the concepts about the element of the motion how you use it is only limited by your imagination and practical considerations.

That being said, teaching the standard applications is an ideal way for the student to learn how to perform the motion with balance, power, speed, practical efficiencies and how it may work against various targets and attacks from different angles and distances.
 

Sukerkin

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I like the analogy to writing, Earl :tup:. That's one I may be forced to borrow and use :D.

I've often tended to use the 'toolbox' analogy, with the progression from apprentice to journeyman to master craftsman determing what a person can 'create' with those tools as their understanding of their use increases.
 

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I had a similar epiphany about a year ago in BJJ. I had (and really still do) struggle under side mount. Getting to my hips, reversing and such was difficult. My coach mentioned that a lot of my problems were mental, and that I should try thinking of being under side mount as the same as being on top, just reversed. Same for half-guard. It's basically the same position, just a mirror image. Thinking about it like this made a huge difference in my game and helped me to stop thinking about side control as a form of torture. :)
 

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It's also great that you have an instructor who obviously does look deeply into the kata and evidently has a solid understanding of applications. Revelation moments like this don't come very often, but they can completely change the way you look at and practice your art.
 

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Those moments when things come together are what we train for -- and seeing our students reach them is why teachers teach.

Even if you only go back to documentable history on styles, they survived many years for a reason. Don't dismiss the training methods that worked... But on the other hand, don't spend too much effort digging through your drills and principles, either. Sometimes, a punch really is just a punch...
 
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Bill Mattocks

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It's also great that you have an instructor who obviously does look deeply into the kata and evidently has a solid understanding of applications. Revelation moments like this don't come very often, but they can completely change the way you look at and practice your art.

An additional aside - the two senseis who serve our main instructor have been with him since their teens - twenty-five-plus years. Both teach without any financial compensation whatsoever, one was recently laid-off from his job and is seeking work and still manages to come and teach for free. Very dedicated individuals, both say they do it for the love of karate. Wow.
 

Masshiro

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personally I don’t think an instructor should show you the application of the technique but should instead make you find the application. an instructor should be constantly ask the students what they believe each part is for, help the student to learn how to dissect a form, drill or sparing match. the faster an instructor can teach a student how to figure things out by themselves the better the student will be.
 

Nomad

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personally I don’t think an instructor should show you the application of the technique but should instead make you find the application. an instructor should be constantly ask the students what they believe each part is for, help the student to learn how to dissect a form, drill or sparing match. the faster an instructor can teach a student how to figure things out by themselves the better the student will be.

Maybe, but by demonstrating that there is more to what looked like a very simple, straightforward technique, the instructor now has his student looking at all the other techniques to see what he can find in them. An excellent teaching method, IMHO, and very different from spoonfeeding the "secrets" to your student.
 

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personally I don’t think an instructor should show you the application of the technique but should instead make you find the application. an instructor should be constantly ask the students what they believe each part is for, help the student to learn how to dissect a form, drill or sparing match. the faster an instructor can teach a student how to figure things out by themselves the better the student will be.
You can look at this two ways. Yes, the student does need to figure out the meaning or application of a particular technique but this can be an unreasonable expectation when the move is hardly ever used in the style you train. For example a lot of locking techniques taught in jujutsu or aikido are present in karate kata but not taught or trained in karate. What that means is that cross training becomes almost essential if you want to understand more of your techniques.
The other consideration is that to be effective in a confrontation any reaction needs to be almost instinctive. So if an instructor teaches a technique with a particular interpretation that is 'un-natural' to the student, they will not train it more than is necessary and as such will probably dismiss the technique as another 'useless' move. Much better that the instructor gives several examples of applications with the explanation that there are multiple explanations and that it is up to each student to determine how a particular technique works for them. In that way the student takes ownership of a particular application. That is not to say that the instructor can't work with a student to identify that application. :asian:
 

jks9199

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personally I don’t think an instructor should show you the application of the technique but should instead make you find the application. an instructor should be constantly ask the students what they believe each part is for, help the student to learn how to dissect a form, drill or sparing match. the faster an instructor can teach a student how to figure things out by themselves the better the student will be.
You have to open the door, so to speak, for the student somehow. You may do that by presenting the student with the technique, then having them work it against/with a partner until they figure it out... but they probably will end up getting smacked in the face a few times until they figure it out. Maybe it's me -- but I don't think that's the best way.

Or, you can try to teach every possible interpretation to the student. Probably not practical, because you'll probably (almost certainly!) miss the one where they're attacked by a one-armed midget or some other unusual application... Again, probably not the best way.

Another way is to present the student with a few examples of what the technique can be, and help them realize that there are more applications that they can find. Give them the tools to research and look for them on their own -- and support them as they look on into the techniques. Personally, that's my general practice.
 

chinto

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My style is from Okinawa as is yours. The rule of thumb is that there is a minimum of FIVE techniques for ever movement in every kata. ( this applies to the unmodified old style Okinawan Kata. NOT to something that some one put together for some XMA tournament or some such stupidity )

SO I would suggest that when you look at bunkai you look for not just one or two alternates, but for 5 or even 8 or 10.

but ya its cool to do bunkai. we do a lot of it too. what is sad is there are people out there who are in styles where for what ever reason they do not seem to teach Bunkai!
 

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