The Meaning & Philosophy Of Our Karate Style
World Oyama Karate is based on the ancient traditional system of training. Our style is quite different from most modern styles of Karate. Modern Karate is arranged for education. This academic approach is not bad, but it misses some important basic points. In most modern Karate styles, the student just punches the air, kicks the air and blocks the air. There is no contact. Without contact, the student cannot really understand the connection between basic training, KATA training and KUMITE training. Too much emphasis is placed on the mental and spiritual aspects of Karate. Many modern Karate instructors fear that students will be hurt if they train with contact. But this results in too much emphasis on blocking and self-defense. The result is that the fundamental purpose of Karate training is lost.
In other styles of modern Karate (not World Oyama), blocking is taught first. In World Oyama Karate, you first learn how to kick and punch. You cannot understand even the basic blocks without first understanding the offensive kicks and punches that require these blocks. You cannot separate defense from offense. They are opposite sides of the same coin.
In Karate styles other than World Oyama, it is normal to teach all basic techniques simultaneously right from the beginning. This is very different from the teaching approach in ancient times. In those times, the master would choose one student and teach him only one or two techniques until the student had totally mastered those techniques. The master would never try to teach everything in one shot. It was very important that that one technique absolutely fit into the student’s fighting style because his life depended on it. It is not good to teach everything at once. The teacher should teach one simple kick, punch or block technique and then go on to the next level only when that technique is mastered. This is our style of teaching.
We first teach basic attack techniques, not block techniques. By learning an offensive technique first, you can understand the importance of the block that is necessary for its defense. You understand the defense more deeply. Also, in the World Oyama style, we always teach each technique with contact. Without contact, you will never really learn that technique. Without contact, you only learn the technique in your head. You can only imagine using the technique, and it doesn’t really fit you. It is very important that you train to make contact with every technique. Then you can feel it – mentally and physically. This doesn’t mean that you must injure your partner, rather you just need to make enough contact for your partner to feel the impact.
Most people think that they can properly learn Karate by training constantly in one spot. They think that proper training is to practice a technique over and over again in a stationary position and to just punch or kick the air. This is a big mistake. This style of training became popular because people were absorbed with the mystery of Karate. They believed Karate was so powerful that actual contact would be dangerous for students in the modern dojo. They thought that it was sufficient just to practice the punches and kicks repeatedly in the air while standing in one spot. This is not enough. It takes much more to properly understand Karate. It is through your sweat and hard training that your mind becomes open to understanding. Only then can you connect the mental with the physical and truly understand the point of Karate. This is our philosophy.
