Nagare Vs Kata: What are they & Why they exist...

Omoto Ryu Jujitsu has two ways of practicing techniques, well three if we include Shiai or Randori but, I will get to that later on.

Nagare means flow or current, it is a free form exercise where students flow between elemental strategies and styles of fighting. It is not limited to grappling or striking it is a an exercise in give and take. The Uke attacks and the Tori defends, ultimately "winning" the exchange. The Tori then becomes the uke and attacks with the former uke becoming the Tori.

This allows a practicers to apply the cycle of the five elements to attack and defense. For example, Bob attacks by using the Wood or Void strategy of feinting a punch to the face, Kata Tsuki as uke. Bill counters by using the Metal or Air strategy by stepping back to avoid the strike as Tori and delivering a low stop kick to Bob's knee. Bob now acting as Tori, with Bill as the uke, uses the Earth strategy of defense by taking up a fighting stance and waiting for Bill to attack. Bill moves forward to enter striking range and Bob responds with an Ashi Tai Tsuki as a step hit, meeting the threat head on as per Earth strategy. Bill then assuming the role of Tori counters by executing a Judan Uke into a Ura Ippon Nage, applying the water strategy. Bob, likewise applies the Water strategy reversing the Ura Ippon Nage into a Ude Gatame... And on and on it goes.

Nagare os always about flowing from one technique and tactic to the next. Nagare is also characterized by drills like Nagate-Te or flowing hands. Flowing hands is similar to the trapping found Jeet Kune Do or Wing Chun. Nagare- Te has three particular drills, drill one uses the back of the hand or forearm to practice redirecting an opponent's energy (this is done to in an "Aikido like" way) from the blocking motion, the second drill is similar to sticky hands in Wing Chun where one person (the Uke) practices striking at vital targets while another (Tori) practices blocking and redirecting the uke's strikes and the third drill aims as including joint locks and throws from the first two drills.

This is very similar but still different than the Kata practiced in Jujitsu. Kata refers to the application of techniques against a none resisting opponent. This can some times and especially at higher levels of training where strikes to vital areas are included with the application of various techniques. The Kata for many throws and joint locks does involve opening strikes to injure and open up the opponent for such grappling techniques, as well as strikes to vital areas to end the encounter once the joint lock os executed.

Now I have to stress something, classical jujitsu joint locks are not locks but breaks. They are intended to be executed with explosive power and dealing pain or injury from an opening strike, followed by a disabling break or joint destruction and ending with a follow up strike to a vital area that is intended to Kill, Cripple or Maim an enemy in battle.

This is only half of the conditioning of the mind and reflexes of the student. Because this brings up the third form of conditioning and practicing techniques. This third, form Shiai (contest) or Randori (sparring) is the application of techniques against a resisting opponent. Shiai means contest and it is the old term that duels were fought under. Shiai were little more then "street fights" without many, if any, rules. The term Randori comes from Judo to name competition fighting events with rules and limited application of techniques. This made competition safer and allowed students of judo to gain a much higher level of experience using their art without fear or risk of injury...

Omoto Ryu Jujitsu has likewise, adopted this type of free sparring. In addition Omoto Ryu also uses a series of Randori drills. Theae drills include sparring multiple opponents, as well as, other psychological conditioning drills used to strengthen the mind as well as the body.

This sets the stage for something I need to address about facing more then one opponent in a self-defense situation. There is a fallacy in martial arts that because many traditional systems are designed to face multiple opponents they are able to do so. This is a problem in thinking. These arts were designed for use on the battlefield and so in facing multiple opponents (which was a strong possibility) they do have training included in the traditional systems.

The thing is a master level fighter maybe able to defeat multiple opponents of lesser skill and ability, however not all of one's opponents will be of lesser skill and ability. This goes into the self-defense fantasy that all criminals are stupid, lazy and have no training or that one's own training some how gives one a greater advantage then the "average person" while martial arts often sell the fantasy of being an "elite fighter" to sell classes they often don't produce the level of skill they advertise and don't make a martial artist an "unstoppable killing machine" like you see in Hollywood movies.

In the real world if you are fighting one person, you will likely get hit & if you are fighting multiple people you definitely will get hit. Sparring multiple opponents, as well as the kata or nagare of such, may not make you the Hollywood martial arts killing machine but it will give you tactics and teach you what works and what doesn't. It will also teach you to take a punch and to understand the chaos of facing multiple people at once. Simply because it teaches you tactics and techniques does mean the art can promise success. That comes with one thing no art can teach, heart...

The Enlightened Martial Artist...

Yesterday I was talking about some events with the BDFS with a student of mine. I mentioned John Keehan/Count Dante and how he was training and thinking in 1960s. Specifically, how Dante had students drinking and smoking in class to simulate "bar room conditions" which was all part of simulating combat conditions. My student's reply was "That is like how you were training us, in street cloths and stuff..."

You see Dante was an influence on me later on in life (my 20's) and Bruce Lee was an influence during my teens. Both heavily encouraged cross training and as a Black Dragon Fighting Society member I have the benefit of doing exactly that, we aren't a single art organization. If you ever read any of Dante's writings on the martial arts you'll know he didn't want to create a "new art" but, he did want to improve existing one's. Much of Dante's philosophy and ideas mirror those of Jeet Kune Do creator Bruce Lee. Being an influence on me, I've always tried to find better ways of training. I remember getting in trouble when I was nine years old because I had this idea to swing the heavy bag to simulate a moving opponent; my instructor just told us to line up and practice jump kicks against the heavy bag & I found a way to improve to exercise.

Some might find that arrogance but it came from a simple thought I had, as a someone on the receiving end what would be my first reaction? To move out the way. So why not learn to hit a moving target? It all seemed common sense to me. You see to understand my frame of mind you have to understand my childhood, when I three years old my dad, high on PCP tried to kill my mom. I remember bits and pieces of it. Enough to know I wanted to be strong and being a child of the 80's I had a whole mess of martial arts flicks to convince me that learning martial arts would do that for me. Also consider that my mother was a black belt in karate and started teaching my at 2 1/2- 3 years old. A large part of my child was devoted to becoming stronger. Sure I had other influences like Dukes of Hazard, MacGyver and the A-Team that showed anyone with a brain could improvise weapons tools. Which lead me to studying the Anarchist Cookbook as a teenager, which lead me to Uncle Fester (of Chemistry Porn fame). All this shows the elements that came to my understanding of creates an effective system.

You see these elements & ideas stuck with me even though I was learning martial arts, and of course Bruce Lee's philosophy (which I was first exposed to) through his movies. My mom, didn't believe in limiting yourself to one style of martial arts. Most of all, my mom didn't believe in having me to learn from "Paper Tigers" people with rank but little actual application experience. So many of my instructors were not always highly ranked but had a good bit of experience using what they knew.

How you use your art is vastly more important then what your rank is. Allow me explain, I had 2 karate instructors who were both Sandan (3 degree black belts). One was a Vietnam veteran with a habit of mixing hand-to-hand combatives in with his martial arts classes (he taught more then one art) and other an outlaw biker. I don't know if Sensei Smalls even used his art in combat in the military however, he did use it in bar brawls and back alley fights as a younger man. Sensei Massey of course was an outlaw biker & used his art in much the same environment. Their knowledge earned from experience out weighed their rank.

Now do not get me wrong, I am not glorifying violence or criminality but your experiences, even the things you draw inspiration from like TV and music, shapes who you are by influencing your judgement. Think about how you have some people in your life who always tell you how pathetic you are compared to them or your "heroes" suck compared to their "heroes." These are the people who try to influence you to fail so that they can feel superior. There are people who try to make you feel you can do anything. What influences you becomes a part of who you are, because effects your actions and thoughts. Ultimately, you have to use your art and the conditions for which you use it influence how you define you art. Definition alone does not matter...

I come from a family of criminals, I've seen things many people are totally unaware of. The world is not as clear cut, black and white as people want to believe. Some would say that the apple doesn't fall from the tree, well guess what... I've seen apple trees in the woods alone in clearings, things change. That is the one constant in life, events, people, outlooks and understandings are mutable. My mom, before I was born had seen how mobsters taught their kids, how these people not only had kids learning boxing and wrestling, karate and judo but how they were taught about business and philosophy. So my mom having seen this tried to emulate by who she found as my instructors. If I were to be a criminal, I would be a very dangerous and influential one. This is not me bragging or pumping myself up... It is me saying that I know who am because of what I have done.

You see in my experiences, which do extend across the globe to South Korea, Beijing and Japan, people are very much the same... The people who have to pull out their rank of (enter martial art here) don't have a reputation or the experience to back up their hype. Martial arts brings many benefits: enhanced fitness, self-confidence, mental focus and self-discipline. So don't think I'm bashing martial arts, even the less combat effective arts have benefits for children and adults alike. The one thing not all martial arts do is teach you to fight effectively.

Now don't think I am bashing martial arts, I am not. What I am doing to simply laying out the facts, as I see them. I kind of got off track here, but the jist of what I wanted to convey was simply that one's applications and experience defines one's art. An enlightened approach is to know yourself and your art for what it is.

Understanding Kata

The term Kata means Dance, but it is not always used the same way. In Karate for example Kata are forms practiced by an individual such as Shodan no Kata, the first form taught in Classical Shotokan Karate. In Shotokan Waza (meaning technique or method) is drill performed by 2 people such as Ippon Kumite or one step sparring & Sanbon Kumite or three step sparring. The exercise of Ippon Kumite & Sanbon Kumite is to teach waza or technique. To help the reader I point to the video below, where one is perfecting technique such as a high block and counter strike. Sometimes in the term Waza is used to describe exercises such as Sanbon Kumite and Ippon Kumite in the west.

However, in Jujitsu, Aikijutsu, Aikijutsu or Taijitsu (all different terms for basically the same art of unarmed combat) Kata is a training method. Here Kata is executed by applying a series of waza or techniques against a non-resistant opponent. Below is a comparison of Shotokan Karate's Heian Shodan no Kata & a random Jujitsu Kata.
Heian Shodan Kata:

Jujitsu Kata:

The reason for the videos is simple, it makes the differences easy to understand, the term is the same, the kanji is the same and meaning is the same. But, the core principles are very different, as is the reason for the existence of kata in the two forms. In karate, Kata refers to solo practice drills in China and Okinawa these drills wee practiced much like the scene from Enter the Dragon, were each person is amassed and executes the actions in unison. This was an Asian form of Drill & Ceremony for older times, Western armies used marching. Likewise, the kata could be practiced by individuals alone and was a form of moving meditation, physical exercise and a "text book" for martial arts where Bunkai (literally "to disassemble") is used to analyze the form to discover alternative applications and techniques. Here a single form taught lower ranking soldiers might have a totally different meaning to the initiated higher ranking soldiers. Kata Bunkai has three ways of viewing Kata... Omote is literally "surface" so Kata Bunkai  Omote is the first form of initiation, the surface application of the form. At the Omote level what you see is what you get, a punch is a punch, a kick a kick and block a block. Here kata forms the process of exercise and teaching basic fighting techniques.

In our ancient Asian army we would call our "NCOs" (Non-Commissioned Officers) or "Sergeants" (if you are a civilian) would be initiated into the Ura Bunkai, Ura literally means "Behind" and it I what is behind the form. Here techniques are not just techniques, a Juji-uke (cross block) and pivot may be a trap and break or throw. This is the "secret" teaching of the Kata. And finally our last level of initiation is for our "Officers" this is call Honto Bunkai, Honto literally means "true" or "truth" for the largest part because few Karateka wrote down their teachings much of Honto Bunkai has been lost to history, but this is where the intentionally "hidden secrets" in kata are laid bare. 

Many times throughout history in both Okinawa and China this level of initiation was used due to armies having conscripted soldiers. Many of the documents which survived to present day are written in a form of metaphor that served as a code. Understanding these metaphors was part of the Honto Bunkai level of teaching though not directly related to Kata where strategy and tactics could be concealed in the form at the Honto level. One claiming to know the secret codes would have to be initiated at various levels. This of course is like a ancient form of security clearance. That prevented misuse of knowledge by those who would seek to overthrown their leaders.

By comparison, Feudal Japan during the Sengoku period when many schools were formed into codified systems. The primary differences in Jujitsu and Karate Kata, is the about Mid-Tokuagawa era the Bushi became a specific class and "migration" between classes was ended. Prior to the Tokugawa shogunate (bafuku) a merchant could become a warrior or a warrior could become a priest. Many farmers were conscripted to become Ashigaru (literally Light Feet) or Light Infantry, some becoming Warriors (bushi) or more correctly mercenaries. When after Oda Nobunaga the Ashigaru's position became fixed, making the Ashigaru members of the Samurai class, though this was not in all domains. Mainly in rural areas were Ashigaru could be "promoted" to the rank of Ji-Samurai or country samurai under a Kokujin. Such Ashigaru might still be farmers but considered Bushi was well, think of supply line soldiers who be drawn from the rear to fight on the frontlines. Meaning the Ashigaru were considered Samurai class & their primary role was warfare but they still supplied the army with other duties.

Bujitsu (to include jujitsu) became a skill only of professional soldiers (the samurai class) and as such teaching was more direct to produce warriors of skill compared to the conscripted warriors of the preceding era. As such a school could have branches among various classes because members of the same family existed in different classes. Families were locked in the position of being warriors, so techniques and application became more direct in study but also more closely guarded. A technique, waza, was practiced through kata, with the focus less on whipping a conscripted army into shape to follow orders through drill like the Kata of Karate and more on perfecting individual skill at arms. These direct but rote movements lead to an understanding of Ura, the principles of technique that work "outside the technique" and finally the Honto or "true meaning" of a technique.

In Jujitsu the Ura is understood by practicing Kata and testing one's skills in battle. Sometimes, Warriors would engage in duals called Shiai. Shiai is made up of two kanji Shi means literally "Test" or "To Test" and ai means literally "to gather" or "join" and one interpretation is "to test to gather" or perhaps "test each other." As such shiai can mean anything from a game or contest to a bout. Experience leads one to understand the principle behind the techniques, such contests were often limited by few rules meaning injuries were common. Honto was achieved only by understanding the higher meaning of the technique.

 What is this higher meaning you may ask? What is the Truth of Kata? The truth of Kata is found in doing, not reading. I can tell you the secret and you will never know the truth of it without training. You see the Honto, the Truth of Kata is that it is the beginning of wisdom and not the end result. This is the point when one can invent techniques, not by making things up and applying a name to it but by creating it in a moment of need in the Shiai of self-defense or the Randori of sparring match. This level truth is known as Mushin, the no-mind state of being without thought or emotion when one acts without knowing to act.

Mushin exists in Karate as well, in fact I wrote this blog to address the differences in the term Kata, for a friend. Its does not mean different is either good or bad, it means different paths to the same summit.