At a
recent Muso Shinden Ryu Keikokai, I presented a brief explanation on what I had
learned from, primarily, Ishido Sensei but also from other prominent teachers
as well in terms of what is actually in a kata.
Most
of us I’m sure are familiar with the meaning of kata (形)
meaning shape or form of something. As Jock pointed out at the Keikokai, there
is a lot more content within the learning of koryu than just the easily visible
and physical shape of the form. Given that we all have a limited amount of time
available to learn and practice budo, the habit of “collecting” koryu kata is
in direct opposition to the ability of being able to develop “depth of
knowledge” of any kata. While we shouldn’t spend the rest of our lives learning
how to bow to the shomen, the learning of all aspects of a kata is what makes a
study of budo interesting and worthwhile rather than just a rehearsal of
choreography.
I
have heard Ishido Sensei explain how kata can fit into certain categories, how
it can be parsed into components and separated into variances. Furthermore the
performance of a kata should change as the exponent develops themselves. In
this way, while the koryu might be described on the surface as a set of
choreographed movements, it becomes something of a living and growing organism
that gets born when it is learned and develops and then dies with the exponent.
Anyway,
away from contemplating ones navel, being someone who relies on visuals and
patterns to describe and remember abstract stuff, I built my own appreciation
for a kata on a set of views and components of each kata. It goes something
like this (in fact it goes exactly like this).
1. Kihon waza 基本技
The
kata is originally described and taught by its kihon, its basic form. This
describes roughly what the techniques are, what is the scenario, what the
enemies are doing and where they are. It is what one sees when one reads a book
on the style and sees the kata, what one learns in the first few months of
studying a new kata. It is, unfortunately, what one can mistake for being the
important thing to learn. It is of course the basic architecture and is of
paramount importance to learn correctly and preserve. One shouldn’t think
though that because they have learned the choreography that one has mastered
the kata. It is the framework for further study and discovery, some via ones
teacher, some through solo training and research.
2. Teigi 定義
The
route to explaining this becomes a bit mixed up here so please bear with me. In
terms of deconstructing the kata, Teigi and Gainen should be explained in
parallel. However in terms of the order in which one learns and discovers the
depths of the kata, teigi is probably learned first followed by Oyo and then
Gainen.
Anyway,
teigi means “definition” and in this context it is the fine detail, like the
geometry or techniques and postures which go on to give finer and finer
information concerning the kata. It is important to understand the teigi as
these give vital information about how to deliver the kihon waza “correctly”
and thus preserve the koryu accurately. An example of this might be (and this
example was used at the Ishido Cup in 2018) how one defines hasso kamae, i.e.
·
Tsuba one fist away from the mouth
·
Kensen elevated to approximately 45°
·
Hasuji inclined forwards
·
Left hand at the centre of the body
·
Body slightly turned
·
Etc.
3. Oyo 応用
Oyo
means application, to put the kata into practical usage. For exponents this
means three things:
·
Through a volume of training, certain parts of
the kata become very fluid and natural. This leads to edges and corners
becoming rounded off both in terms of physical movement and timing. While the
overall shape of the kihon is still there and visible, this is how the form
should look when put into action.
·
That certain parts of the kata may actually be
omitted or changed. The kata looks almost the same as the kihon but the parts
which were originally included to explicitly train the body are now made so
subtle that the kata may look different.
·
That this may form another version of the kata
(a kaewaza) meant to show how the basic technique leads to a more fluid and
flexible version.
4. Gainen 概念
At
some point in the training, the exponent begins to learn that individual
techniques within, or the kata as a whole, is composed of one of more practical
concepts or ideas. These are different to teigi in that they rarely have
definitive qualities like dimensions or strict physical criteria. Instead they
have uses. The example that Ishido Sensei gave was, how would one define
Ukenagashi. Looking at its presence in Seitei and in Muso Shinden Ryu for
example, it is used in a typical flowing way with the sword declined to allow
the opponent’s sword slide off the defending
sword. However, the kensen may be elevated to make Ukenagashi or even flat. It
doesn’t have teigi (definition), it exists only as a concept. In ZNKR iaido for
example, it is used as a style of making furikaburi in the most efficient way
possible.
On
examination, a kata may be trying to instill a gainen to the student or it may
make use of concepts to construct the kata.
5. Kotsu 骨
Kotsu
is the Chinese reading of the Japanese word for “bone”. In this context, kotsu
means knack, skill, secret or know-how. In my opinion, it is the slightly
concealed kernel at the core of every kata which one has to search for and
master in order to really “know” the kata. I believe personally that a kata may
have one or several such kotsu but essentially they are the key skills that one
is aiming to develop through learning, researching and training the kata. From
Ishido Sensei’s explanations it seems fairly clear that the kotsu can be
divided into two main categories (which aren’t so strikingly different from
each other):
- Jokyo – situation, how to deal with one particular scenario
- Toho – methodology or swordsmanship, how to use the sword in a certain way
So
what’s the point of all this then? I should here point out that this parsing of
the kata into different aspects does not reflect the importance or priority of
one aspect over another. The kihon is not more or less important that the
kotsu. Without one or the other the kata makes no sense and has no practical
usage or method of learning.
6. Kaewaza 変え技
Ultimately
it is possible to make enough changes to the Teigi that the architecture of the
form is slightly different and takes the shape of “kaewaza” 変え技 or
alternative form. The gainen within and the main kotsu may be the same, it is
the outside form which is likely to be different.
As a close, I should point out that these aren't strict definitions or meanings. The order in which they are taught or learned may vary kata-to-kata, ryuha-to-ryuha, teacher-to-teacher, student-to-student. The importance, I believe, is that one shouldn't be satisfied with the learning of a kata until all of these aspects are assimilated. One need only then go onto master the various aspects until....one dies. Then let's hope one has written enough blog posts to accurately pass on this knowledge to the next generation.
LOL
LOL
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