Training for TechniqueMany martial art practitioners may not understand the importance of proper technique and training. Karate men and woman must practice their basic techniques day in and day out. If they don't their basic techniques will become weak and sloppy. In a real conflict technique is essential, a proper basic technique can end a fight in a moment. This is not the only reason to train in karate, though with practice the body becomes relaxed, toned and flexible. Practice may be taken to extremes; by doing this practitioner gains great control over his body and mind. Masters of the old day would take their karate to extremes. There were about to perform amazing feats, all because of their training. This is a story by Yukio Togawa, witnessing a karate masters training: The sky above was black, and out of it there came a howling wind that laid waste to whatever stood in its path. Huge branches were torn like twigs from great trees and dust and pebbles flew through the air, stoning a man's face. Okinawa is known as the islands of typhoons, and the ferocity of its tropical storms defies description. To withstand the onslaught of the winds that devastate the island regularly every year during the storm season; the houses of Okinawa stand and are built as sturdily as possible. They are surrounded by high stonewalls, and the slate tile on the roofs are secured by mortar. But the winds are tremendous, with velocity of up to 100 miles per hour; despite all precautions the houses shiver and tremble. During one particular typhoon that I remember, all the people of Shuri huddled together within their homes, praying for the typhoon to pass without any great damage. No, I was wrong, when I said all people of Shuri huddled at home; there was one young man up on the roof of his house in Yamakawa-cho, who was determinedly battling the typhoon. Anyone observing this solitary figure would surely have concluded that he had lost his wits. Wearing only a loincloth, he stood on the slippery tile of the roof and held in both hand, as though to protect him from the howling wind, a tatami mat. He must have fallen off the roof to the ground time and again, for his nearly naked body was smeared with mud. The young man seemed to be about twenty years old, or perhaps even younger, he was of small stature, hardly more than five feet tall, but his shoulders were huge and his biceps bulged. His hair was dressed like that of a sumo wrestler, with a topknot and a small silver pin, indication that he belonged to the shizoku. But all this is of little importance. What matters is the expression on his face: wide eyes glittering with a strange light, a wide brow, copper red skin. Clenching his teeth as the wind tore at him, he gave off an aura of tremendous power. One might have said he was one of the guardian Deva Kings. Continued on Page 3 |
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