Traditional + Analysis = Modern

Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)

Remain true and dedicated to the traditional past, that is how it was meant to be, to learn from that past and to allow it to lead you toward the future through your analysis and synthesis of the present training, practice, applications and experiences of this process. 

In the past I have written and spoken of how I perceive shu-ha-ri and shin-gi-tai work. Traditional martial arts are a part of the Shin and Shu processes. These are the very foundations on which gi-tai and ha-ri are about, to take the traditional, authenticate and classical ways of the ancients to synthesize the present and set the new traditions for the future to analyze and synthesize to another creative and new way while still connected, dedicated and in honoring the ancient traditions of the beginnings. 

In one system the practitioners mistakenly came to believe that the creator, the master, of said system meant for the practitioner students to be faithful and to adhere to the exactness of his creation while missing the true message the master sent through his deeds and actions. It never occurred to them that the very master to whom they dedicate their dogmatic adherence to his original static system was actually evolving his martial arts on a daily basis as indicated by his actions and deeds in the way he practiced, often never done the same way, kata, etc. He tool the traditions of kobudo, gojuryu and shorinryu and synthesized his studies of those authenticate and traditional systems into his new synthesized system of karate. 

He was known for his continuous and constant innovations up to the very day he retired and later died and yet those dogmatic adherence oriented practitioners in a honor driven faithful belief remain steadfast in their original practices with only a few venturing forth to create a more traditional modern way. 

The best way to honor and remain faithful to a sensei is to excel and exceed his efforts and contributions while giving them credit for setting us on the path to the proverbial enlightenment of karate and martial arts as “The Way.” Show your faith and honor your sensei by creating, practicing and living a martial path that is applicable and appropriate to us, our culture and our times and needs. 

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