The TRUE Purpose of Karate Katas that nobody will tell you about. | JKA Karate | Shotokan 

In Funakoshi's biography, he mentions Buddhism and religion a couple of times. But it is mentionned in a way that is culturally taken for granted. What he defines as religion is a way of life: Etiquette, respect for the tradition and rituals. Also never using karate for attack. A part of spirituality in karate can be as simple as not walking with your shoes on the tatami. It's being humble and grateful. Or fighting for justice. Being mortally right. Discipline. Strengthening the body and the mind. Concentration. It's all those aspects that do exist but that you can not touch nor see. You can only experience them. They are the things inbetween, or the results of actions or interactions.

The spiritual component of karatedo has been an integral part of my dojo. The physical aspects of karate training are the tools to understanding and feeling the esoteric dimensions of "do". "Do" and humanity are aligned. Progression in karatedo, is progression in self sacrifice for humanity, is one cog in the never ending pursuit for world peace. Never give up!

The spirtual part is disipline in the physical practice.self mastery of self through disipline. Kata done right will enable one to be more and more in control of fear anger and intention.

Great, inspiring thoughts and speech, thank you very, very much!

I have been studying Karate in Japan for a while now. I can tell you there is no real “spiritual” element in “sports karate” dojos. BUT there is in the “budo karate” dojos.

What I see is that the physical can lead into the mental which can lead into the spiritual. Like each circle encompassing the previous one. In order to teach this, one must have walked it. .

Personally, I think the spirituality comes from the sense of honor, discipline, and commitment that comes with the study of any Martial Art. A lot of people nowadays seek temporary pleasure whilst forsaking long term holistic health in mind, body, and spirit. To me, Karate and Kali-Arnis are not (just) hobbies but a way of life. They helped mold me into a person of integrity and keep me on the straight and narrow when the whole world around me is in turmoil and wants me to fall into that void of lawlessness. Perhaps such a mindset is really needed in trying times such as this. Much love and Mabuhay from the Philippines, Sensei. 🙏👊🥋🇵🇭

In most of my karate training and teaching philosophy/spirituality was there. You had bowing in and out of class with light meditation from japanese sitting. Various procedures including bowing and light meditation before kata was preformed. Also we would talk about philosophy and strategy to various degrees like in a class(notes,dry erase board, etc.).

Dear Sensei As Stan Schmidts Karate Representative for Brazil, i deeply reccomend your videos to all Karate enthusiasts. Amazing teachings. All the best in karate do. Oss

Great content. Please give us more!

I think the spiritual aspect referred to is that of Zen. This was a Japanese influence on karate and from what Ive read, seems to have been 'pushed' at the time where Yoshitaka Funakoshi was modifying his fathers Okinawan shuri te style, following a defeat of the Shotokan fighters by Goju karateka. In addition to the techniques being influenced by kendo (kokutsu dachi, and 'one strike kill' idea) the Zen 'empty mind' (had been put into kenjutsu turning it into kendo), also got introduced into the 'new' Shotokan. There was a general acceptance I think to embrace Japanese ideas by Funakoshi Sr and Jr and this altered alot of the original karate brought by Funakoshi from Okinawa. I dont think Okinawan styles (at least prior to Gichin leaving Okinawa) had this Zen element, though they did have 'spiritual' aspects of chi/ki developed through practice of sanchin esp in the naha te styles and the general idea of 'bushi' (warrior) in training.

Thank you for highlighting this excellent point. I have three comments. Firstly too many kata are being learned too quickly. The Japaneses say this is what westerners want and I am inclined to believe them. Performing Heian Shodan or Hangetsu 20 times will take you to the point where you can nearly watch your body doing the moves. For me this is moving Zen. It’s not how you look to others, it’s about how you feel inside as you perform kata and you should not be thinking. Secondly I hate the minor changes some Sensei make to kata. From now on I am sticking with the moves in the Best Karate series. Thirdly, have you ever asked yourself why you want to be second, third or fourth Dan? Yes, grades are a motivational tool but are they not more ego driven and this is far from Zen. Thanks again.

So, the old masters that founded all the styles were pretty much all some form of Buddhist, and most of them trained in the Chinese classics (i.e. Confucius). That being said, Sokon Matsumura, who pretty much started all this karate stuff, explicitly said the spirit of karate didn't come from either. Enough with the history though; two really good modern books that do dive into some of the spiritual aspects of it are Michael Clarke's Shin Gi Tai, and Kenei Mabuni's Empty Hand: The Essence of Budo Karate. Clarke describes "polishing the spirit" through practice of karate. And Mabuni makes statements like "Ken zen ichi nyo" (Zen and the fist are one.), and describes practicing karate as "moving meditation". This starts to make a lot more sense when we look at the Japanese concept of Shin Gi Tai, or Mind, Technique, and Body. This trio is at the core of most japanese budo arts. And in one of those fun cultural / language twist, "Shin" in Japanese can mean mind, heart, or wait for it....spirit. They do not differentiate these as different things, they are all shin. Do you train your awareness, and one-pointedness when doing kata or bunkai? Do you strength train and push beyond your own limits to grow without giving up? Are you open to learning new techniques, even if they might not agree with what you have already learned. Whether or not you learned them this way, these are all distinct Zen states of mind. So most diligent karate practicioners are in fact "training their spirit" without even realizing it, no blueprint required. 🙂

Get these 3 books to fill the void. The Bubishi,Book of 5 Rings, and Art of War.

The dojo kun is structure but most people don't recite or even teach them to the students, it makes me sad. Karate has became developing power and technical performance, but the spiritual aspect is an afterthought to most.

Kata is like the goose step in the military, which is a marching step used when soldiers were firing muskets at each other in a line formation. Why does the military still practice an obsolete 18th century tactic when we no longer fight that way? Because it builds discipline, coordination and efficiency. Same thing with the kata, it perfects your form.

As a Shotokan practitioner myself, even as the Spiritual aspect is very important, what Nakayama failed to discuss is that unless you learn the whole technology of Bunkai, two man drill, Kakie, hojo undo and toide plus the actual self defense techniques that the Okinawans did not teach the Japanese. Shotokan karate developed its own specialized way of fighting as the Japanese come from a Martial culture, however when have you seen a shotokan stylist use the moves of kata in fighting? The beauty and depth of kata can be discovered in Okinawa. Imho.

It's not just spiritual, it's also the bunkai too....that's the real essence of kata

Superb . Well said . God bless you.

Very informative video and well put together my compliments. Just wanted to add my take on the great question that is being posed in this video. Traditional Karate should be taught to strengthen the practitioner physically but develop their character mentally and spiritually as they train. Is this being taught in majority of schools and systems on Karate? Unfortunately no…. However when you have a good teacher that respects and teaches tradition they are not only masters of the development of the physical when you come to class they are masters of weaving into every lesson character developing moments that as you go from white to black belt (If you don’t quit) you’ve become a different person not just in how you look physically. But how you treat others around you the good ones and the bad ones. There is no class to teach the spirit or develop the character. The class to develop those things are through pushing through the hard challenges that classes bring, opponents bring and a great teacher checking your ego at every turn. The masters of the past already knew to develop spirit and they weaved it into the training through the kicking, punching and repetition of kata. The real challenge is that as Karate has become more of a business worldwide……people come to the dojo expecting a service b/c they pay tuition. Not coming to really empty their cup and develop themselves as people or martial artist. Just the physical part. You should be sweeping your dojo, cleaning the mirrors, helping your Kohais, respecting your Sempai’s, getting sent home if you come late, being told you failed a promotion if you really did, being told by your Sensei you’re not ready for your next degree exam even though you think you are ready, teaching for your school whenever your teacher needs you to help for free, etc. All these activities and many more develop your spirit that’s why their isn’t a special class or mantra you can say to go along with your training to make you a better person. It’s only through the training and consistently showing up ego free every class humbling yourself to your Sensei and Sempai’s and Kohais that you develop the spirit. Few dojos operate in this manner. That’s why you can have the whole world training “Karate” but if they aren’t maintaining traditions of respect in the dojo. You’ll graduate “Black Belts” that still act just as bad as people who have never trained. Just my opinion on the matter. “Seek Perfection Of Character” OSU!!

You're right. However, if you get in touch with Sensei Rajeev Sinha's interview at @t a number of your questions pertaining to structured model shall be answered.

So Nice Content

Interesting

I think that Master Funakoshi was trying to make Karate acceptable to mainland Japanese. My understanding is that, prior to Master Itosu’s introduction of Karate to the Okinawan school system, Karate was taught as a self defense system, not a spiritual system.

people talk about spiritual and physical aspects as if one doesn't affect the other. when in truth both touch, and could be the result, cause, or basis for the other. you can gain spirituality through hard physical work. conversely you can endure physical work through an improved mindset (or spirituality).

Spiritual development is your kindness not mistaken for weakness. Practicing meditation is also an essential part of spiritual and PHYSICAL development. Osu!

When you train eight hours a week as you do in the West, you don’t have time to do both.

Don't forget that crime percentage in Japan is also influence by the jails. Forced labor, no visiting, military system that is second to none in the world

Very Helpful video

You're right about the spiritual aspect. We all maybe just kind of quote spiritual things, maybe. I'm not even sure of a spiritual thing to quote off hand. In Japanese culture people are expected to be well behaved. That is part of karate. Well behaved and respectful.

The west did have a period where personal improvement was encouraged, there was amateur sport, were taking part was as important, if not more so, than winning. The Victorian age, which is frowned upon these days, did have important social and spiritual guidance. Those values are now put in one big box, along with poverty, inequality, war, etc and as such discarded. And we are left with the worship of fame and money. I think most if not all sports have spiritual enhancement, I include martial arts even though some might not class it as a sport. The one difference I would say about martial arts is it can be reasonably practiced at any age and uses the whole of the body and the mind, unlike running which concentrates on the legs, and boxing which is more for the younger person. Walking is good, swimming is excellent. I am happy doing katas

Sensei...this is something that I have been debating with myself ....been practising Karate since 1994. Can we have a talk about this topic? I am based in Malawi...running a JKA branch

The spiritual aspect I think is your contribution to the art (e.g. books, video or head of an association)

WELL SAID.. abd nicely explained

A starting point is the Dojo-Kun - then taking a deeper look at the 20 precepts - the first two alone are a path we should all be on ...

One must understand seishin

Thank you Sensei for this video, I feel I must say this however and I mean no disrespect by it, the spiritual aspect to our art progresses with the physical aspect at the same time, as everyone experiences spirituality in a different way, the spiritual side can not be written down in any book etc - it must be a purely individual thing, differenr for each of us. No matter what we do in Karate, Kumite, Kata or Kehon, we must allow the spiritual side to grow - Kehon is the basic moves - these must be perfected before you can effectively perform Kata or Kumite, Kata is a series of Kehon moves, Kumite is Kehon in practice.

Nice video, however let me correct something that is unfortunately misunderstood by Shotokan and other Japanese Karatekas about the true function of Kata as it was used in Okinawa. As a Martial Art that practiced jutsu not Do. Just ask Motobu what he thinks about this. Character development and spiritual training is a Do interpretation or modern performance requirement. Shotokan people never really knew the actual jutsu application of Kata and most interpretation are already for spiritual training, performance and sport. That is why Shotokan stylist does not know how to fight using Kata applications but use modern Japanese sparring techniques. And why modern Katas are performed like dramatic performances with over exagerated kiaa and over emphasis on Kime instead of Chinkuchi power. Why there are over dramatic pauses and slow movements that are not useful in a real fight. Why their center of balance is high even if the stances are lower than Okinawan Karate. There are so many technical mistakes learned in Sport Karate when doing Kata that teaches you bad habits. That is why, even winning several Kata competitions when I was young, hate watching modern sport Katas and bunkai. Kata was part of a system that involved Bunkai (not the bunkai Shotokan people think), Oyo Bunkai, Tuite, Kyusho, Hojo Undo and Gym (not point) sparring. All these things are what Japanese stylist do not know or understand because the Karate they inherited was the sport version. Saying that knowing the "secret" (which is secret only because they never really knew) as useless and not the point of Kata is disrespect to Okinawan Karate. That is why Sensei Naka of JKA made a pilgramage to Okinawa. To learn the original way Kata was used for training. Learning actual Jutsu does not stop you from cultivating Do. In fact learning the serious use instead of the imaginative performance leads you closer to Do. There are specific historical reasons for the shift from jutsu to Do in Japanese Martial Arts and unless you understand these, you will not understand why Shotokan or what people think as "Traditional" was a modern budo invention. Even Budo is misunderstood as being the samen with Bujutsu.

To me, it’s more of an Individual spiritual enlightenment, after the rigors of the three K,s. If you, the Individual is training the way Karate was intended to be trained, then spiritually you can feel what is necessary to become stronger physically!

Search a Great video

What does he even mean by "Spiritual Practice"? If there is no explanation on what that even means, then anyone can just make up anything they want.

awesome facts

Did i miss something here, he spoke of kata once and it has nothing to do with the subject he is speaking on." The true purpose of Karate Katas"is the title of this video but he never stated the true purpose." Kata a way to" train to "fight more than one person"

What is the difference between Karate and Taekwondo

I would like for you to see a larger perspective so you think 30 years is significant as if you seen it all and so you will say there is nothing being taught that way. well I've been studying and practicing and training actively constantly in martial arts only traditional by the way I have six godan level black belts I've earned and now I'm 79 and still training. began my martial arts experience at about 5 or 6 years old and then begin training formerly under instruction at age 11. and during that time I haven't had to train alone without instruction up until this 3 years of the covid social distancing. the only thing that you're right about in the claim that this stuff is not being taught is that in that entire time I've seen and been training in that aspect constantly. what this shows is that training in it is purely a matter of the person training. the forms are always there therefore the techniques are always there therefore the application is always there but how are you training..... if you can't see that it's up to you you're not getting it. and you're using your mind to train instead of learning something that will teach you the very thing that you are neglecting just like every other idiot human on this Earth always does. now I've only recently gotten to the place where I can see this stuff clearly clearer then I ever did before. the universal problem of human beings is they go through the backdoor every time and fail to even notice the front door that is standing right in front of them wide freaking open for them to walk right in. I first started to notice this and fighting. I've been training and ninjutsu for maybe 45 years or so now and that art helped me put together all of the older martial arts that I had studied and trained in for years. the ninjas always avoided my questions gave generalizations or said they didn't know but all of them were constantly showing stuff that looked absolutely magical but plainly when I learn to do what they were doing it was not anything but a physical action it always appears as if Magic. I've learned that that's the real magic. so they didn't have to explain enlightenment that's using the wrong tool. mind is one of our weakest smallest tools. everybody thinks that there's a $0.06 and that's absolutely bulshit all that fancy ESP stuff is something that I also trained in for all those years and I went through the back door many times able to experience see and do things that were mind-blowing but it was not something that you could rely upon or control to any large degree it would come and go and it was often not be reliable when trying to consciously to control it. a Flawless techniques that have been practiced over and over and over would fail and I would have experienced coming up against someone who just knew a little more than I did. when I continued training and gave up my mind chatter and focused on my purely five physical senses everything changed. eventually I saw I had now chosen the front door. enlightenment maybe a process that has a mind of its own. but remember that's only a notion that's human. what I've learned is that whenever you have fully developed your purely five physical senses by physical experience and training yu body and attitudes , ONLY THEN DO YU HAVE A WHOLE BODY OF FIVE SENSES WHICH IN TIME FREE OF YUR CONTROLING STUFF WITH YER THINKING CHATTERING MIND .....ONLY THEN WILL WHAT THE UNEXPERIENCED UNTRAINING UNEDUCATED SILLY PEOPLE HAVE A LIVE THAT JUST TAKES CARE OF ITSELF. this is the reason that in the classes of ninjutsu you will often hear said just train just shut up and freaking train and your life will take care of itself! Sehingfranciswinddragonschool@gmail.com Slice and Dice on RU-vid ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hz1_ISOVTQM.html

In my many years in the martial arts here in America, I have found more egotism, bragging, and non-spiritual behavior in the martial arts than anywhere else. If karate is a path to spiritual awareness and growth, it has certainly not been practiced or even held in high regards in what is being practiced! Tournaments are all about who can win the biggest trophy or gold metal, and who beat who! Too many so called "black belts" with superiority complexes, who intimidate others rather than displaying humility and compassion toward others. If true karate (or any martial art) is a practice of spiritual and physical balance, it has failed its mission in most places it is practiced!

Spirituality and karate has nothing in similaries. Sorry to say! 😔

The spirituel of karaté is the taoïsme philosophie of kung-fu.. So the all martials arts un gapon is from china.

The problem with spiritual guidance, is that the majority of the "Gurus" are complete crackpots. I would never study from someone who has set themselves up as a guide to "Spiritual" practice and teaching.

Bunkai

Lmao

I think political correctness is partially to blame for keeping karate from returning to spiritual development, formally.