We strike, with speed and power, to a target. We turn, deflect, advance, seize and release. We always act with ki-me – 決め – with commitment and clear intention.
Training maximum tension and instant release at contact we habituate to commitment, not hesitating or hurrying on. But that is an exercise. It can be deceiving.
In real threat contact we do not stop at the end of a technique. We do not stop until the threat is stopped. We do not know when that will be.
Effective tactical movement is continuous. The old posture dissolves, the new one arises in respone to conditions and your intentions, and it transforms into the next one, without ceasing. The posture we use to land a punch does not lock or stop. In contact with an opponent it transforms. There is no detectable end point of one technique or starting point of the next. In boxing, grappling, throwing, this is the same.
There is a pivot point between moves. Like the center of a wheel, we can conceive of it, make reference to it, use it. But like the center of the wheel, no matter how carefully you look, you can always move in closer. It is there, but we can only locate it in reference to what is around it. Our technique transitions never stop. They arise and pass away. New postures, new permutations, new techniques, appear. Like winter to spring, fall to winter, life to life.
We can speed up and slow down, but the process does not stop. Between moves, between classes, between kata, we do not stop. When we finish a kata, the command is “Kyotske” 気をつけ – “Stay alert”. Not “Take a break”.
Lives are like this. We appear and disappear. Moments appear and disappear. Our conditions change. Around us and within us, nothing stops, everything is in motion. The effects accumulate. Our habits of body and mind create the pathways we follow, in combatives, as in everything else we do. Our habits form the channels in which our lives flow.
We will encounter changing terrain: obstacles, opportunities, wilderness and home. How we proceed is up to us. As it is in a period of training. In a challenge. A confrontation.
The way of the world is cluttered with ambitions, opinions, clashes and confusion. We may not be able to straighten that out. But we cannot submit to it. What we can do is find a good path and follow it, with commitment, focused intention and skill. Nothing will be fixed and rigid. It cannot be. All will adapt to changing conditions. But through it all our virtue and purpose will persist.
In kata, in a single, technique, a series of techniques or a lifetime, our habits of body and mind – our training – will be our guide, our vehicle, our sword and shield, as we continue. Transforming, moment to moment, with ki-me, without ceasing. Until our work is done.
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Post copyright © 2025 Jeffrey Brooks, MountainKarateNC.com, Yamabayashi Ryu, Mountain Karate, Saluda, NC
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read True Karate Dō by Jeffrey Brooks
“One of the best books I’ve read in years, inviting and compelling. Jeff Brooks moves effortlessly from martial arts to Buddhism to consciousness studies, self-transformation, and related fields in this wide-ranging and Illuminating study that has much to offer both novice explorers and veteran practitioners. A splendid achievement.”
— Philip Zaleski, Editor, The Best Spiritual Writing series