Karate/Kanji Training

I tend to explain the danger of trying to use kanji yet at the same time you will see that I provide examples of kanji, related to MA, with explanations that mostly promote the difficulty. I see my efforts at attempts to understand the kanji characters as another way to understand my karate.

First, when you start to study the characters you find that much like karate practice, any martial system falls under this same example, that you have to really study the fundamentals. This takes memorization and that means repetitive practice. Like karate and other martial systems this is important.

Second, you will notice that within those fundamentals you find kata. I mean loosely you find that you must follow certain patterns much like embusen of kata. In that foundation you have for use "strokes" that must connect to "form" the character. Think of the fundamental principles of martial systems, i.e. body alignment, economical motions, efficiency, natural action, posture, breathing, structure, etc.

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Viewing an example of the forming of a character by the stroke patterns you find it like kata. There seems to be kata in all that is done including writing those characters called kanji in its various forms. This promotes good technique, like karate, and active movement, like karate, positioning of the strokes, like karate, timing, rhythm, mind, mushin, etc. much like karate or any martial system.

Third, then you achieve a complexity that is unique to that character yet changes as it is used with other characters much like the varying and various systems of the martial arts. There are principles to everything done and kanji provides another way to "see" how it applies to not only MA but to all things in nature and life. When you couple the characters or string them together you find that the patterns are important if you wish to have "meaning" which if you wish your kata and the techniques/strokes to have meaning in application then you realize that simply stringing them willy nilly does not work. It requires many steps, many strokes, and lost of fundamental principles to make any of it work.

The study of kanji characters even if you don't "get it exact or accurate" still has much to teach us and it is easily connected to our practice of MA. Think of the art of calligraphy in Japanese arts. That art system has many fundamentals that govern the ability of the participant to create great characters much like karate-ka use the same fundamentals to create great karate. This is why I ask anyone using them to do so carefully yet at the same time pursue learning about them so as to "see" how it relates and benefits my understanding of my system of Martial Arts.