Instructing - Separation of the Individual Parts of a Whole

I have determined, my perceptual filter, that instruction has degraded to a version used originally for children. Fundamentally one is taught techniques of a system by the separation of the individual parts of the whole into separate and now understand stand-alone pieces. It is a method of instruction and it is valid. Like kata instruction the method gets you started and with practice you blend all of it into the whole. So much effort is given to getting fundamental basics done that it may be forgotten to instruct as to how you make a whole out of all the parts.

Today's understanding of martial systems like karate are now what Tatsuo Sensei stated once, "We do old man kata." Now I am of the belief that we not only do old man kata we do children's karate - school children teachings.

Traditional karate is school child karate teachings. We don't practice the core fighting techniques and fundamental principles. We practice moves that promote health and fitness, not fighting combative skills. We don't go past the basics taught to the school children of Okinawa and Japan.

What can be done? Open our minds to the possibilities. Recognize the flaws and work the kata and bunkai back into its original fighting form. Take note from such luminaries who are leading the way and study their methods. Use them to build on our basic children karate and help our system grow up to be a strong, complete, and capable adult karate.

Is this also how kata came to be misunderstood and discarded? The author of the Book of Martial Power in order to write about fundamental principles of martial systems to pass on easily understood information and then spoke adamantly on how it was only a way to convey knowledge and it was up to the individual practitioner to blend it all back into the whole as it applied to each technique, each combination, each kata bunkai or series of bunkai and so on.

Instruction is about breaking it down into its parts. It is also about re-creating the original. It is also bout restructuring and creating new from restructuring/rearranging, etc. those same parts. Like a great Chef, you can not create excellent entire meals with out combining all the parts/ingredients into a whole.