Less is More (More or Less)

 

On my desk sits a multi-purpose folding pocket knife. It’s Swiss Army style and a fascinating gadget. It has a variety of appendages; I’ve counted 15 in all: pliers; scissors; saw blades x2; magnifying glass; can opener; screwdrivers x4; blades x3; corkscrew; and tiny screw driver concealed within corkscrew! It doesn’t stop there; many of these appendages are designed to have more than one use!

 

But as a matter of inexorable logic none of these functions are worth a jot if I have no understanding of the mechanics required to use the knife and am unable to manipulate it properly. If I haven’t mastered the basic principles required to handle the knife and use it as a tool it will only ever be a curiosity sitting on my desk.

 

So it is with karate techniques. You can learn all the moves in the book. You could teach a white belt Gojushiho Dai, arguably the most advanced kata in the syllabus, (which interestingly contains more fascinating components than my pocket knife), but the knowledge would be purely academic without an understanding of fundamental combat principles: speed; distancing; timing; how to move; generate power etc.

 

There is also this enduring and delightful paradox: if you understand these fundamental principles, and can apply them, you don’t need to know too many techniques! The beauty is, you only need a certain number, which you adapt according to the situation however unusual or unexpected it might be. You can even improvise and make up a few of your own spontaneously.

 

Do you know what? I’ve only ever used the main blade of my multi-purpose, many splendoured pocket knife – and that was as a pencil sharpener!