The Wrong Path

We are on the wrong path. 

Selfishness, carelessness, ignorance, laziness, thoughtlessness, and greed are the traits we exhibit as a species. Not absolutely everyone behaves like this. There are innocent tribes dotted in various parts of the world. Our modern way of living is unnatural. We are impatient and stressed out. We need to change, as a collective. Like fighting a war or a sudden disaster, we need to ban together and each do our bit. I have not experienced a war, but I have experienced urgency, for I am South African and lived in Zimbabwe in the late 1990s when the government started expelling ethnic Europeans. The media elsewhere have noted the time as being the early 2000s, but I can assure you that it began in the ’90s. We had our bags packed ready to leave at a moment’s notice, and we went to England with no more than about £600. So I know difficulty. We, humans, are on the wrong track. And why? Simple, really, when you think about it. We are our own worst enemy. As in Chinese and Okinawan boxing, the real battle is with ourselves. We need to see our problems as us being at war with ourselves so that we take it deadly seriously with an absolute sense of immediacy. 

The Art of Okinawan Boxing

To fight effectively you have to relax. This is a point I struggled with for years. I eventually came to understand what it means, though I of course always continue to try to understand it better. It’s one of the key basic points that contains some of the secrets of boxing. Speed, mechanics and dynamics contain further secrets. All of these elements affect the effectiveness of the techniques executed. Additionally, whether you tense or not for the impact into your opponent is relevant but does not affect the mass that you deliver. Strength is useful sometimes, but speed which is increased by the correct muscular development is more important. You can be very strong and very slow and that’s no good. Applying strength in your blows is sometimes useful but naturally tensing is always effective as swift speed and the right amount of strength are most useful. Accuracy, aiming for vital points, is also necessary for the greatest efficiency. Following through your opponent is the mindset of complete intent applied to the highest degree for the most effective application. Your great energy must be delivered smoothly directly through the target. The technique should be a relaxed flicking twisting wrist with exact and conditioned form. Certain techniques and methods benefit from strength, such as grappling in certain instances but certainly not all, and gripping techniques. Above strength, harden your body, but remember that speed is everything. Practise striking a hard surface softly so you can strike a soft target hard but with speed over tensing and strength. Timing your correctly-distanced actions & reactions, waiting for the last moment, remaining ready, poised, calm and composed, when the attack comes you must have courage and no thought, and somewhat single-mindedly move in accordance, sharply, like lightning. 

Passai nu Bo

Funakoshi passai [sho] gata interpreted as a bojutsu gata. This is updated from the version which appeared in Origins of Shotokan produced in 2013.