I have recently had a "breakthrough" in my Karate training. It may seem like a small thing, but I have been training for some time, teach, and write at bit, so I thought that I would share it.
The proper poster for Shorin-Ryu is the posture of Goju-Ryu.
That is the short version of my "breakthrough" but says it in a nutshell.
I am a member of the Hawaii Karate Kenkyukai. Before that, I was a member of the Hawaii Karate Kodanshakai. During my years with these groups, I have had the pleasure of training with Sensei Alan Lee, the senior student of Sensei Tomu Arakawa. Lee Sensei is an amazing Karate person, one of the very best I have ever had the opportunity to meet.
Well, over the years, as I have had the opportunity to watch his kata and basics, I have come to appreciate his posture. And as I have had the opportunity to learn and teach the Kishaba Juku form of Shorin-Ryu, and hopefully improved over the years, I have realized that my posture is becoming more and more like Lee Sensei's. And I do not believe that it is because I am copying him. I am still trying hard to move like Sensei Katsuhiko Shinzato. It just happens that as I copy Shinzato Sensei, I am developing a posture that is closer to Lee Sensei's.
How can that be? He is Goju-Ryu and I am Shorin-Ryu.
Another thing that I have learned from my contact with Lee Sensei is that Goju-Ryu places a greater emphasis on posture in kata such as Sanchin and Tensho than most Shorin-Ryu do with similar kata. Posture is really important in Goju-Ryu. It is not just a matter of leaning many techniques -- basically moving your hands and feet. If the posture is wrong, nothing will work. And if your posture is correct, everything will probably work.
I will write more about posture. If you search this blog, you can see what I have already written on the subject.
But my breakthrough is a realization that my Shorin-Ryu posture is (or should be) the same as Lee Sensei's Goju-Ryu posture... which came from the Higa Seko line via Izumigawa Sensei.
Respectfully,
Charles C. Goodin
