World Technical Director - Okinawa Shorin Ryu Karate-Do Kyudokan Federation
EVOLUTION IS NOT INCOMPATIBLE WITH TRADITION Material extracted from the magazine Yudo Karate Nº 262, September 2003
This interview of Master Oscar Higa has made by Yudo Karate Magazine, when he
visited Argentina in August (2003). Master, Oscar Higa explains and deepens the
Kyudokan concepts like the Makoto, Kyudo Mugen, Myo Mamoru and Kokyu, that is very
valuable to any Karateka.
Oscar Higa: “Evolution is not incompatible with tradition. Everybody knows that we do a traditional kind of karate. Even more, without presumption, but with pride, we claim that Kyudokan karate from Okinawa is genuine, since it was protected on that island by its masters, who were reluctant to spread it off their shores. In a way, they were right, as in many cases we can see that the essence has been distorted. Obviously, throughout the times karate has changed, but not so much the techniques, many of which have remained unchanged throughout the centuries. It is true, though, that some movements have been incorporated, others have suffered modifications and updating, but times are different, and as I have always said, there is a direct relationship between the historic moment that a civilization lives and its disciplines. Originally, it was conceived to kill or die, it was not thought as a formation instrument for people, on the contrary, it was the empiric, pragmatic extreme: it had to be used and with good results.
Where does the trend lead today?
Oscar Higa: I think there is a return to the sources, a cultural mentality through which people seek to practice traditional karate in order to work their insight and spirit, more than to become champions. The relationship between Europe and South America is obvious, but there is also a relationship with Okinawa, because the Okinawan culture is stronger here in South America than in Europe. That is idiosyncrasies affinity; therefore, international karate here is more developed.
But you have never denied the sportive aspect
Oscar Higa: Of course not; as my father, Jintatsu Higa would say “the sportive aspect is an experience in your life, but real karate is for ever”. That is what has to be spread, a traditional school which is in accordance with the modern era of karate as well as with the times we are living. I think constantly of how to develop my karate, and it’s not style or techniques what change, but dynamics. I think it is a matter inherent to practice; my uncle always said “one begins to do real Karate after turning 40”
And how do you balance evolution, competence and tradition in training?
Oscar Higa: I focus on two ideas: unintentional and detachment. Therefore, although I respect competition, I try to make people detached from it. More than one student approaches me asking “How am I going to improve my Karate and become better if I don’t commit with the practice and don’t give it intention?” And I explain to them that if I were to go in for a tournament, I would obviously put my heart, my spirit and my body in training. My detachment is regarding success: I should not worry about winning or losing, getting a trophy or not; my commitment is only to Karate. All what I have achieved in Karate was as a consequence, not as an objective, so, if you do a conscientious work throughout time, a training with your heart, goals are achieved naturally. There is a beginning, a course and an end. Many people obsessed by the end forget the beginning and the course. That’s why it is said that in last instance the target is the way itself. It is pure Zen: live the moment, here and now. The future is a concept, when tomorrow arrives it will be today, the past is gone. I am all for living the moment.
With this objective, which other aspect do you emphasize?
Oscar Higa: On the realization of Kata, for instance, which are the excellence of
corporal expression. My father used to say: “I see someone doing Kata and I get an approximate
idea of the kind of person he is.” In the same way each person writes in a different way,
I think each of us has a body calligraphy that distinguishes us from the others. We express
and write through our bodies what lies in our interior. So, respecting and enriching it is
fundamental for the development of the calligraphy of each body, which is the essence of
traditional Karate.
We have inside two kinds of Kata: internal and external. The more you improve your
internal part, your sensitivity, the external Kata will be more beautiful. I learnt this
from my father; he thought all these things but could not express them in words,
so, in his poor Spanish, he would say them not so clearly, but after so many years
I now realize how right he was, and although he is no longer with me, he is still teaching me.
I always say this full of pride.
To Oscar Higa the passage of time and the changes it implies in Karate do not mean a problem, as the very martial art has come up of what has been learnt from Okinawans during many generations. “During the Japanese invasion to Okinawa” he remembered “the use of weapons by the islanders was forbidden, so, their conception was to turn their own bodies into weapons. From here “Karate-do” makes reference to Way of the Empty Hand, making clear that the practitioner has no other weapons than his own hands and body.”
But in order to avoid unstoppable evolution and its respective knowledge to go against the discipline, he advises to always bear in mind the philosophical statements on which it is traditionally based and which are of a timeless richness, as “Makoto’s” idea: You must show yourself authentic and transparent to everybody, but most importantly, to yourself. This is a fundamental concept for every martial artist. (Makoto)
He who has no “Makoto” sense, Okinawans say, cannot do Karate. It is the starting point for the transformation of the mere technique to become a martial art, since through disciplined practice you reach the concepts “empty hand” and “turn your body into a weapon”, taking into account that this emptiness is out of any bad intentionality in the philosophical Zen sense, and making reference to the fact that in your mind no thought should stop action. Nowadays, it is commonly said that these traditional concepts have been lost, and that only success in the sportive aspect is pursued. I want to make it clear that I do not criticize it, as I myself have taken part in tournaments, as well as my students and the school in general, but I am convinced that competition is not the essence, but a complement.
Which other principle of this kind do you work with?
Oscar Higa: “Myo Mamoru” or protecting your body. In a way, this is a matter of natural instinct of defense. Even a person who has never done Karate will enclose and not open himself when being attacked. I am also using the Taoist idea of Yin-Yang. These two elements do not act as opposite poles, but as complementary elements; and this duality is present in everything around us. That’s why, on its basis, I say that there can’t be a martial school which is always tension and another one which is always relaxation, there must be a balance between these two feelings and states. When one speaks about speed, slowness is implicit. In the understanding of this balance is the key to what is called “Rhythm of technique”.
What you say breaks with the old classification of soft and hard, internal and external schools.
Oscar Higa: “Evolution”
It is no use keeping on defining it. There was a time in which I was myself much more “explosive”, I sought speed, power, strength of movements, but now I let myself be carried by the rhythm of the practice itself and save much of that energy that I used to spend out of time. I didn’t take into account the continuity of the techniques nor did I understand that movements are part of an energy which is better not to interrupt but to let flow. When we stop it, something is interrupted. It is necessary to learn to feel the moment in which “Kime”, which is the explosion of energy in the technique, takes place, because applying an initial tension blocks the development of the movement, which is a mistake. On the other hand, it is necessary to control our breathing, or “Kokyu” with our diaphragm abdominal zone, breathing as if we had no lungs. This is very important in order to feed the “hara”, the point where “ki” is born, allows the reflect inhaling-exhaling to be shorter as it is managed by the upper part of the thorax, and contributes to a better performance in combat considering that this zone must be contracted when hitting or being hit. Besides, breathing with the upper zone and then, all of a sudden having to lower all the air to the stomach to contract it is a nuisance. Another benefit is that you work with the gravity center in a lower position, closer to the support basis. By all what has been said, rhythm in technique is continuity, dominating “Kokyu” is synchronization between positions, turnings, sight, attention focus and the technique to carry out, it is the contrast between speed and slowness, between “Kime” and relaxation.
Maturity and art
There is a physical, mental and spiritual maturity according to which the training is perfected and refined until becoming an art, position which Oscar Higa has reached and from which he comments. “But this state does not result only from the practice through the years, as a logical consequence: not always time and evolution, as improvement go together. When we start to master all these factors, one realizes that one thing is physical skill, which we sometimes show when we are young, and another thing is art, when there is no interference or intentionality to do something. This is not invented by me, even great masters say so. And if the practitioner reaches a certain stage and is not able to conceive it, it means he has not understood anything. Being open to new lessons implies being humble at every moment and realizing how much is left to work and improve. Not as those who believe they know everything and there is nothing to learn. That’s why I return to my uncle Yuchoku Higa’s words, who set the motto for our school “Kyudo Mugen” saying “The road of studying is endless” principle, he one day reaffirmed with this phrase: “Karate’s way is high, deep and huge as the sky itself which continues endlessly”. When he came to Argentina in 1977, he said in a meeting with students and teachers: “I have been doing the kata Naifanchi Shodan as a basis for over 50 years and I still have to work harder on it”. And it was a kata he mastered. These are words of humbleness and wisdom, which once assimilated offer an infinite world of knowledge. It comes to my mind the famous phrase by Socrates “I only know that I know nothing”, whose deep meaning is in harmony with this other one”.
