Sensei Shoshiro Koyama

Relaxation, Balance, and Stress Management Through Basic Karate Training

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:35:09 -0700

The roots of karate were laid down over three millennia ago, during development of mind-body-spirit exercises such as yoga. Modern life in the 21st century is very different from that of 3000 (or even 50) years ago. Nonetheless, physical, mental, and spiritual discipline remain relevant, perhaps even more so in many ways than in the past. Of course, physical fitness is very important, and science is beginning to understand the full benefits of exercise for mental health, the immune system, and even in terms of “successful” aging. Participation in sports can be an important component of physical fitness, especially in youth. But as we age, our brute muscle strength may not remain at its peak regardless of how much we train our bodies.
When that happens, if we can learn to rely on use of joint leverage to augment muscle power, we may find that we can maintain more of our strength than we would if we relied exclusively on the muscles themselves. A balance between tension and relaxation and a reliance on the leverage provided by the skeletal joints is the key to maintaining this source of physical strength. Karate capitalizes on the physical power of the system of joints and levers that comprises the skeletal system, and harnesses the energy of relaxed focus and the rooted stances that ground the skeleton. This interplay between relaxation and tension combined with capitalization on the power of grounding engages the core energy that can keep a body strong and powerful from the bloom youth well into the golden years of old age.
Relaxation is, of course, an important component of health and well-being throughout the lifespan. Increasingly, medical science is acknowledging the negative impact of stress on mental and physical health and the relationship between stress and immune deficiency and disease. Recently, over the past few decades, there has been a growing recognition of the importance of neurotransmitters such as serotonin on maintenance of emotional balance and stress reduction. Studies indicate that rhythmic activity and exercise can naturally enhance serotonin levels. Such rhythmic exercise includes, for example, everyday karate training activities such as kihon (basics) and kata.
Proper practice of karate relies on natural movement and the principle of “mushin” or “empty mind;” in other words, the avoidance of internal “self-talk”. Most people find it very, very difficult to achieve the state of mushin. Don’t worry; spiritual principles generally do not advise us to “be perfect” but rather to “seek perfection.” Through consistent training and lifetime exercise, your body will begin to understand these principles of its own accord. Given that stress-related illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and others seem to be on the rise, the importance of engaging in activities that can help you combat anxiety and tension is quite obvious.
I think you will find that the karate that we practice in our dojo will provide you with a powerful tool to enhance your physical fitness as well as your mental and spiritual well-being. I encourage you to try out a free class, or, if you are already a student, to continue to train consistently. An experience that can touch the mind, the body, and the spirit in the way that traditional karate training does can be truly inspiring and “soul-making.” I invite you to discover these benefits for yourself by training in traditional karate-do.

The Roots of Karate-do and the Transformation from “Traditional” to “Modern” Training Styles

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:33:04 -0700

Today, there are many different styles of fighting “arts.” When I arrived in the United States in the early 1960’s, multiculturalism was at the forefront of American pop culture. Ethnic arts were a tremendous source of interest and inspiration and had been woven into all facets of American (and particularly, youth-oriented) society. As part of this wave of awareness and cultural appreciation, the Oriental arts had become very popular. Young people as well as many older individuals had taken an interest in Eastern styles and fashions. The “Oriental mystique” led, for example, to Asian influenced pop- and even sub-cultural elements. At that time, interest in the martial arts, especially those based in Oriental roots, took hold. This fascination was fueled by the success of popular martial-arts movies and the actors that starred in these Hollywood productions (e.g., Bruce Lee). Interest in the martial arts appeared to outlast the cultural revolution of the 1960’s, so that movies such as “The Karate Kid” continued to draw children and their parents into karate dojos in record numbers into the 1970’s and 80’s.
At the time of this initial Western infatuation with martial arts, one-hundred percent “sports-style” karate had not yet captured the attention of American consumers. Spectators continued to be drawn in to martial arts demonstrations by true Asian Masters. However, little-by-little, as sports-style competitive karate took hold, people’s attention was diverted by championship spectacles and tournament events. Americans were naturally more familiar with the competitive aspects of spectator sports, and tournament-style martial arts events grew ever more popular. The selection of taekwondo over karate as an Olympic sport, to some extent reflected the public’s growing fascination with the competitive aspect of the fighting arts.
When competition “sports” karate was first introduced, the one-point, two-minute match was the standard (as it remains in many traditional institutions such as the Japan Karate Association, our mother organization). There were many reasons for this type of point system, for example in terms of recognition of the importance of focused power, proper distancing and timing, and effectiveness of individual techniques. However, fans and participants sometimes became dissatisfied when they were disappointed by particular judging calls. An unpopular judging call was final and meant the difference between winning and losing a tournament. In part, as a reaction to this concern, “extreme” fighting mixed martial arts tournaments came on the scene. Full-contact and the “knock-out” as the ultimate victory reduced the chances of ambiguity in judging calls and made determination of a winner much clearer and less controversial. Furthermore, the eight-point matches adopted by some organizations generally eliminated the concern that one objectionable judging call would be the sole determinant of the match outcome.
In the context of the modern martial arts world, which in the United States and much of the Western hemisphere is focused on full-contact, “extreme” fighting (cage fighting, kick boxing, etc.), it is often hard to remember that karate is not merely another competitive fighting style. The roots of a traditional karate style such as Shotokan are grounded in ancient Asian traditions with very firm philosophical principles that have nothing to do with victory and defeat in a spectator sport or competition ring. For example, the earliest roots of karate may be found in the practice of mind-body-spirit exercises such as yoga, which were developed 3000-5000 years ago in what is now India. Later, monks and students brought these traditions to China, where they branched into arts such as kung fu. From there, these arts were adopted and transformed into the more modern ryu such as shorin, shorei, and others. Incidentally, on Okinawa, these arts were practiced in secret among a few selected and trusted students as a means of self-defense within a legal system imposed by occupiers who did not permit the local populace to own weapons or form a military. These modernized versions of karate were ultimately synthesized and developed into the art of Shotokan by Master Gichin Funakoshi, who brought them to Japan and taught them primarily to university students.
In the early 1960s, a group of Japanese instructors trained by Master Funakoshi and his disciples were sent by the Japan Karate Association to the West to spread the art of traditional karate. This wave of instructors coincided with the rising popularity of cultural icons such as Bruce Lee and Hollywood’s newfound fascination with the martial arts. While the popular allure of martial arts in the West enabled the ultimate transformation of the Asian-inspired fighting traditions into the “extreme” styles of today, these Japanese Masters remained true to the original roots of karate-do. These roots, based in the principles that inspired our own Japan Karate Association and the Masters that represent the art of Shotokan, are those that ground us still to this day. We follow these principles and remain inspired by these roots regardless of changes in commercial taste and popular culture.
Unfortunately, difficulties can arise when training emphasizes only the technical aspects of fighting. Without a core set of principles, karate training becomes just another sport and loses any connection to its traditional roots. In recent years in order to forestall the possibility of such a disconnection, our training emphasis has evolved to encompass aspects of Zen and bushido philosophy that formed the basis of the original Asian martial arts. This “new style” of karate training combines technical elements with educational, philosophical, and spiritual fundamentals that provide meaning and value beyond mere physical exercise. We must never forget that we are representatives of a long line of dedicated Masters inspired by the ancient and spiritually uplifting principles upon which traditional karate-do is founded. Please join us as we train in the spirit of those masters and traditions.

Important ingredients to a long and fruitful life

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:24:40 -0700

The focus of our karate training program is on lifetime exercise. Today in modern society, the human lifespan is quite long. However, biological survival is not enough to form the basis of a meaningful life. Mere animal existence is controlled by unconscious instinctual motivations. Thoughtful and satisfying living requires self-control, planning for the future, and often, postponement of immediate gratification that instinct would demand be fulfilled.
In Japan today, there are quite a large number of people who have passed their 100th birthdays. These people are not shells of their youthful selves, as some might imagine. Many are cheerful, thriving, contributing members of society, and many are in surprisingly good mental and physical shape! They maintain their vigor and sense of personal satisfaction by remaining involved in social, physical, mental, and spiritual pursuits. Among these individuals, matters of philosophy, religion, charity, and a hard-work ethos are accepted as important ingredients to a long and fruitful life.
It is very important to develop the ingredients of a meaningful and satisfying future in youth. One cannot wait until old age to recognize the importance of thoughtful, goal-directed living, of charity, self-control, respect, and dedication to a set of spiritual principles. Physical training and development is also an important part of life, from youth throughout old age. In particular, the period between the ages of 50 and 75 is a critical one in terms of the importance of maintaining physical health. In their younger years and early middle life, many people acknowledge the importance of exercise and healthy habits. Unfortunately, after the age of 50 people often to begin to neglect that aspect of their lives. Exercise, in particular, often goes by the wayside as people progress through middle age, begin to contemplate retirement, and see themselves as “no longer in the bloom of youth.” However, those individuals who continue to train their bodies as well as their minds are more likely to be able to look forward to an active, healthier, purposeful existence well into their retirement and the “golden years.” In fact, research shows that the mind and body remain healthier well past the age of 75 in those individuals who remain physically active.
The development of good habits in youth, and the long-term maintenance of these habits throughout the lifetime is the focus of my karate training program. The philosophical basis of my training program is rooted in the importance of lifetime exercise and the development of the tools to pursue a meaningful, purposeful, long life. Self-defense is of course important. But in modern society, many of the enemies that we will ultimately face come from within. These enemies come in many forms; boredom, ennui, depression, inactivity or hyperactivity, and a weakened immune system due to stress and lack of physical fitness. Come and investigate how the practice of the lifetime exercise of karate can contribute toward your own personal development and your physical and mental health, as you seek and find the beauty, truth, and goodness within yourself.
Yours,
Shojiro Koyama
Chief Instructor, Arizona Karate Association
Western Region Director – Japan Karate Association – World Federation America

Musings About The JKA WF America

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:17:00 -0700

As you know, the International Shotokan Karate Federation officially withdrew from the JKA earlier in 2007. As a result, Masters Mikami, Takashina, and I decided that we had no real choice but to withdraw from the ISKF. Our fear was that by separating from the Japan Karate Association, the ISKF would in essence be separating from its traditional cultural roots. Even though the ISKF is a good organization, we chose to resign because those cultural roots are so fundamental to what we do. To avoid the risk of deracination, we grafted ourselves back onto the trunk as a new branch, the JKA/WF America, which was officially recognized by JKA Headquarters on June 13, 2007.

Today, money is the most important motivating factor in our society. The same materialistic values have influenced modern karate so that dojo dues, inflated belt ranking, and trophies have become more meaningful than the bushido spirit that inspired the art of Shotokan long before it was brought to the Western world. The pursuit of material success has certainly become far more important than the cultural roots of the art for many karate instructors and practitioners. How is it then that we, as instructors of traditional karate, differentiate ourselves from this pervasive social force? In other words, how does traditional karate-do differ from the more materialistic practice of sports karate? I have been asked this question many times, and I have yet to articulate a comprehensive satisfactory answer. Perhaps the difference can best be understood through a very simple analogy. A small child learns the first three letters of the alphabet, A, B, C, before learning the rest. In fact, those first three letters form the label that a young child applies to the concept of the alphabet. It is only later that the child even begins to recognize the existence of the letters D through Z, even though the later letters are equally as important as the first three. Learning the art of karate is in many ways similar to the process of learning the alphabet. Young students initially focus on the ABC’s: competition and tournaments. As they grow older, they are faced with a choice: Either retire from the sport of karate or learn the rest of the alphabet of the art of karate | ethics, spiritual growth, physical and mental wellbeing, strength of character, and wisdom. The study of these latter letters, the D through Z of our art, can last a lifetime. Certainly they can last beyond the early glory days of tournament victories and trophies - the principle focus of sports karate.

Without the foundation of guiding principles, which for our own art are rooted in cultural heritage, karate becomes a mirror of materialistic modern society, focusing on the superficial and rejecting the more meaningful fundamental spiritual elements. Modern society has been molded by the global world economy which forms the structure within which individuals in society must survive. There is a growing gap between the material wellbeing of the rich and the poor who have been shut out of the opportunity to adapt to and benefit from the global economy. People are not stupid. Eventually they will come to realize that materialism is at the root of all of their problems. Throughout history, this realization has led to a rift that has widened until war, famine and starvation, disease, and despair completely undermine the social system. In the past, this process has occurred on a relatively small scale (for example, the French Revolution). But, in the context of a global economy, the repercussions could be almost unimaginable.

It would seem then, that a paradigm shift is essential to reestablishing the importance of non-material values such as beauty, truth, and goodness. These values, as you know, are the same principles in which the art of karate-do is rooted. Along with the other traditional Masters, I came to the United States over 40 years ago with a mission to spread the importance of non-materialistic ideals by teaching the Japanese art of karate to Western students. I view it as my responsibility to spread these values by remaining connected to the original cultural roots of the generations of my ancestors. In that sense, the Masters of the traditional martial arts are much like emissaries our mission is not to convert but rather to introduce Western society to these values and their expression through the practice of the martial arts. And the last stage in that mission, the Z in our alphabet, is to pass on the torch to the next generation of leaders whose calling it must then become. It is our final responsibility to ensure that the next link in this chain is sturdy and strong, and equally committed to retaining a connection to the cultural roots of the art.

The bushido culture that underlies the practice of traditional Shotokan karate forms a sound, basic, and very solid foundation upon which the structure of the Japan Karate Association rests. The moral values and ideals of that culture are strong guiding principles by which to live a long and healthy life grounded in truth, beauty, and goodness. Unfortunately, at this time, karate that is based on these principles is not as popular as sports karate. Nevertheless, Masters Mikami, Takashina, and I are dedicated to the importance of maintaining authenticity and commitment to these principles for those students who recognize their value and choose to learn the remainder of the alphabet of the art of traditional karate-do.

Thank you for your support. We are especially grateful to those of you who supported and participated in the first Annual JKA/WF America tournament in Phoenix which attracted about 500 competitors. As a result of your support, as well as that of the JKA Headquarters and Master Masaaki Ueki, Chief Director of JKA Japan who came to officiate, our tournament served as the highlight of a successful launch of our new organization.

Room for improvement

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:08:46 -0700

The great conductor Toscanini once said that he came to understand Beethovenfs 9th Symphony only late in his life. I have been training karate since I was 15 years old. I am now over 70, and I still do not understand everything about the art to which I have devoted my lifetime. Nonetheless, I believe that just recently, I have come to a greater understanding of the importance of certain fundamental aspects of the practice of educational karate.

People train karate for many different reasons. Some are interested in sports-style competition. Some are interested in self-protection, and some in physical fitness. It seems, however, that many young people have lost interest in training in the traditional styles that characterize educational karate. Older individuals seem to understand the importance of training the mind, the body and the spirit which is the foundational purpose of the practice of the traditional martial arts. Many instructors are so focused on promoting competition and tournament victory that they lose sight of the importance of the educational and spiritual facets of these arts. Among these important elements is the promotion of a strong immune system, emotional balance and mental health.

When I ask my American students how many times they have been physically attacked in the last year, very few of them respond in the affirmative. In other countries, this is not always so. Where life is more dangerous and conditions are less safe, certainly a focus on physical self-defense and basic fighting skills would be an important focus of karate training. The vast majority of American students, however, are much less likely to be threatened by physical violence than they are by the affects of stress, illness and fatigue and a sense of purposelessness. Such threats to mental and physical well-being call for a different type of training than one designed purely for competition-style sports or self-defense against violence.

Most adults work hard all day. Hard work relies on mobilization of the sympathetic nervous system, which operates in part through hormones and neurochemicals such as adrenalin. Adrenalin is a stress hormone. It raises blood pressure, and increases heart rate and respiration, which are necessary for effective response to tension or pressure. The sympathetic nervous system is also known as the fight-or-fligh system, which incidentally involves the physiological process that our body relies on in response to a physical threat. Aggressive, competition style karate (think of cage fighting) relies heavily on mobilization of the sympathetic nervous system and the stress-response.

Continual release of stress hormones results in fatigue, exhaustion, anxiety and, if left unchecked, eventually disease and even death. Popular medical articles emphasize the importance of moderating stress through practices that incorporate relaxation and release of tension. Such practices rely on mobilization of the parasympathetic nervous system which has the opposite effects of those of the sympathetic nervous system. Activities such as yoga and meditation emphasize the relaxation response by tapping into the parasympathetic system. Whereas too much stress is clearly unhealthy and potentially dangerous, balance is critical, and too little physiological arousal can result in fatigue, lack of mental alertness, negative thinking and depression.

Emotional regulation is a complex process that depends on many biochemical and physiological processes including proper balance of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. One of the key neurochemicals involved in positive mood states which are associated with psychological and physical health is serotonin. You may be familiar with modern antidepressant medications such as Prozac, which operate by increasing the amount of serotonin available in the brain and other parts of the nervous system. Such medications are often useful in treating serious depression and other mood disorders. Many people are less aware, however, that there are natural ways to adjust the body endogenous serotonin supply. For example, rhythmic activity and repetitive exercise are known to increase serotonin levels.

Well-being depends on a balance between physical, emotional and spiritual health. Exercise, training and other healthy habits such as good nutrition and sleep hygiene are very important in the promotion of physical and psychological health. Spiritual health relies on practicing acts of compassion, selflessness, generosity and contribution to the welfare of society. Modern sports-style karate emphasizes physical training and competition often to the exclusion of other aspects of personal development and spiritual growth. The Zen philosophy which underlies many of the more traditional martial arts highlights three important elements of existence: truth, beauty and goodness. Truth is ultimately discovered through the quest for completion and perfection, beauty is experienced through physical and spiritual balance, and goodness can be achieved through the practice of justice and fairness. These are the experiences that contribute to physical health, emotional well-being and spiritual growth. After nearly six decades of karate training I believe that I have finally come to understand the importance of each of these elements and experiences in the pursuit of meaning, health and joy throughout a lifetime. The practice of martial arts based on this philosophy represents, I believe, a fundamental paradigm shift from the sports-oriented mindset of modern karate training.

With hard training and years of mental and physical self-discipline, many students of karate come to believe that, like Toscanini, they truly understand their art. In these ahah moments, they may think that they have mastered all there is to know about karate. However, true mastery lies in the knowledge that although one may eventually achieve some degree of understanding, there is always more to discover and learn. The measure of real greatness lies not only in the recognition that one has obtained a modicum of ability, understanding or expertise, but in the understanding that there is always room for improvement.