Complexity vs. Simplicity in Karate

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“High rank doesn’t always mean you are good. It means that you need to work harder because people will look to you for guidance.”

“The student mistakenly thinks that the more complex a movement or technique is the higher the level. Then the student starts to complicate things.” 

I would venture to say and believe that complexity is the necessity of the novice but simplicity the hallmark of mastery. To understand simplicity you have to learn the complexities of things but the key then is to “Let go” of the complex and allow the simplicity to manifest in creative ways. Modern practices simply fail to let go of the complex to allow for simplicity much like letting complex thoughts dominate when allowing for being in the moment is more balanced and productive in living properly. There is a time to think of complexities and a time to allow the mind to let go of such complex thoughts and allow for the simplicity of things to naturally and creatively to manifest - in the moment. 

In order to allow simplicity to manifest you have to remove the unnatural such as unnatural movements, thoughts and actions so that the natural simplicity of it takes action but to do this you first have to know and understand all those seemingly complexities that underly all the myriad things of our world then “Let go” so they fall into the deep mind to be trigger from necessities of life - naturally and with creativity and unencumbered by the thoughts of the logical mind allowing the faster, deeper mind, to act (think of the OODA here too).

It should be, in my mind, a requisite to master and higher ranks because simply passing along the first novice levels due to a misconception and perception that complexities mean mastery and high rank is to stagnate the evolution and  progression of the arts and systems, you have to learn the complex and let go to achieve the simplicities of mastering of the arts. 

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“In order for any life to matter, we all have to matter.” - Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal (ret)

Hat tip (Ritsu-rei) to <The Budo Bum> as the inspiration for this post.