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SPRING 2003 somewhere off the coast of Mauritius……aahh,
“money is like a sixth sense without which we can’t make full
use of the other five!”
Couldn’t resist that quote after talking with
the editor of Shotokan World from the balmy shores of the Indian
Ocean as he explained that his travel plans were once more kaput due
to storms at JFK. Bless you JM for remaining in good humor.
I’ve been down here with some friends for longer than I’d care
to mention but have not been entirely inactive. Along with the usual
pretense of keeping up with the young pups on regular jaunts into
Port Louis for the nightlife, I have been practicing my kata on deck
everyday and even stretching! I was once urged by one of my
instructors to stretch both before and after class but I insisted I
was too stiff to stretch and refused. I thought I’d pushed my luck
(as usual) but sparking his curiosity we discussed whether I’d
uttered an oxymoron or a paradox. Anyway, I got away with my cheek:
one of the many reasons and advantages of why I choose to train with
younger instructors is that I’m always their sempai.
Anyway, on to the meaty part of my rambling.
In response to my last piece a great many of you generously gave me
tips on the top videos available and using my new and valuable info
as grist for my creaking mill I set to the task of the ordering of
them and their subsequent viewing. They were a mixed bag of
instructional, inspirational and documentorial (not in the
dictionary but you know what I mean) and my feelings after are still
struggling with each other. I learned from some parts of the tapes
(whether regarding brilliance at work or mediocrity - and everything
in between – we can always learn something) and got really
inspired by others while some made my (obvious and highly developed)
artistic sensibilities cringe.
One of the conclusions I arrived at (and I am
sorry to say this mes amis) is that the JKA just ain’t cool
anymore. This fact is revealed by a number of things:
(i)
Watching the All-Japans’ on tape for the umpteenth time I
find that the post Kagawa/Yamamoto era champions distinctly lack
character, flair and bravado.
(ii)
Seeing back-to-back, versions of the JKA kata tapes from the
Nakayama days (early 80’s) and then the naff ones done after his
death (the blue backdrop) I, with great puzzlement, ask to no one in
particular with shoulder-shrug and up-turned palm “Eh?”
(iii)
I found disappointing the sort of cheap political
spin-doctoring in their recent “Best 10 Matches” video where all
acknowledgements that there were any great clashes from those who
might have left the JKA in later years were erased.
(iv)
The most damning example. A horribly gaudy semi-re-shoot of
the great original Tanaka video Hasha that I had worn out with so
many viewings. The new version is now painful to watch and utterly
devoid of anything interesting. I wouldn’t pay $5 for it after
cringing through it once. DO NOT BUY THIS TAPE!
I deduce from this that Sensei Nakayama was a
phenomenally sharp and inspired pioneer among a bunch of simple
toughies: he alone seemed to understand what style and refinement
was. It could of course be put down to the times we live in where
cheap thrills are the order of the day and real quality is an effort
no one can be bothered with but as soon as the great sensei died
things got seriously miss-guided, evidenced no more vividly than in
‘89 when they introduced the new JKA logo. The old one of course
quickly made a comeback but that was a political maneuver because
the official logo had become the ugly laurel wreath thing that we
saw for a few years designed perhaps to appeal to foreign types or
to be more international or modern or something. Asai’s group kept
the wreath and I don’t think ever really trashed the lousy design.
And thus started the downhill trend of which
we have the video documentation although I do believe that outside
the main hub of the JKA there are still good things happening in
Japan. Anyone who has seen the coaching videos of Tsuyama will
testify to this. He uses some young sharpsters who I don’t know
anything about (except a very talented Naka) but am guessing are
what’s left of whoever went to Takushoku prior to its government
imposed closure (it’s what to be expected I suppose when kids
actually die during training. The club by all accounts is up and
running and has an English lad captaining it, which is puzzling as
Takushoku is famously right wing: the bloke must be either red-hot
or no one else joined). Anyway, I found these Tsuyama videos
to be well filmed and full of karate nobodies (read: those too young
to have any control over their lives) who were really, really
impressively good. They stormed through a lot of drills that were
imaginative and dynamic: great use of young blood (who I hope get a
look in sometime in the not too distant future) while Tsuyama
himself pretty stayed in the background and let them get on with it.
Another of my purchases was a couple of
videos put out, apparently independent of any association, by Asai.
These were bafflingly disjointed (both videos have a bit of
everything and zero continuity) but full of the weird archaic and
bizarre eccentric world of Mr. Asai. They confused the hell out of
me with various kata and nasty little techniques that as far as I
know have not appeared anywhere else. Aside from whether they have
any validity in anyone’s standard syllabus, the kata were fabulous
creations that leant themselves convincingly to the applications
performed well by Yamaguchi and Amos. Unlike the Tsuyama tapes, Asai
did a hell of a lot himself; perhaps too much as he tore through
both the familiar and unfamiliar with great haste. I’d have liked
the camera to have lingered longer in many parts, as Asai is surely
possessed of a certain genius. Inexplicably, 10 minutes at the end
of one tape was devoted to the acrobatics of his daughter, err…no
comment.
I won’t dwell on Tanaka’s “Son of Hasha”
experience but it was his fat Elvis in Vegas moment. How could
someone so cool have become so utterly awful? Obviously I’m not
going to question his karate skill but the whole clichéd “phoenix
rising from the ashes” script and the cheesy flames singeing his
gi (reminiscent of a naff car commercial) made me wince.
Going on to more pleasurable things, in the
way that we of a certain age find exquisite joy in watching Audrey
Hepburn movies as an antidote to the vulgarity of Madonna, I turned
to the footage of Nakayama judging Mori vs. Yahara, of Yamamoto vs.
Kagawa, of Tanaka vs. Shappoff and sigh. Watching these old fights
one can almost smell the tough reality of these boys. Yeah, once
upon a time man walked the earth with dignity, his art was not
compromised and gimmicks were unnecessary: is this lost? What a
shame that would be!
I’d like to close with a word about Enoeda sensei, of
whom in a previous article I’d written with characteristic
bluntness. I do of course regret making any criticism of this
charismatic and apparently invincible man who is now so suddenly
gone. My respectful condolences go out to his family.
T. T. Binkley |