A Reason to Embrace Difficulty

Several weeks ago, I was at a course in southwest England. After the course had finished, the black belts were kept behind for what must have been half an hour because the chief instructor of our association wanted to introduce Kaishu Ippon Kumite to the grading syllabus for 2nd dan and above-and for us to try it there and then.

For readers unfamiliar with Kaishu Ippon Kumite, it's like Jiyu Ippon Kumite, only when the defender blocks and counters, the attacker blocks their counter and lands another counter-strike.

Anyway, it was demonstrated to us, then we had to pair up and have a go ourselves. This was a kumite I had done before in training sessions back at my club, but not enough to feel comfortable with it (as comfortable as a person can be with something that unpredictable). I was paired up with an Instructor who was a  5th dan from another club. I attacked first, he blocked and countered, then I blocked and hesitated slightly while looking for an opening where I could land my counter. This hesitation repeated itself several times. I will admit improvising under that kind of pressure is something I need to work on.

After everyone had finished, we were told to go through it again. My partner suggested that, if the initial attack was, say, a mawashi-geri, then the final counterattack landed would be the same thing. I did as he suggested. After all, he was an Instructor with a great deal more experience than me, he was a higher grade than me so it was the polite thing to do.

But inspite of my inexperience, I find it difficult to see the effectiveness of this way of doing things. I mean no disrespect to the Instructor I was paired up with and this post is by no means a criticism of his views, as I'm sure he has a good reason for them. I am just writing about my opinion, formed as a result of not agreeing with him.What if the previous attack was not a suitable technique for where there was a gap in the attacker's guard? Surely, part of dealing with an attacker is adapting to their movement and learning to improvise under pressure. It's such a vital skill to learn as a karateka and to be able to, heaven forbid, defend oneself if confronted with an attacker out of the Dojo.

Furthermore, all that difficulty we face in karate is to help us improve. Holding a stance for ages is not comfortable, but we get strong legs which provide a strong foundation for techniques and enable us to kick with more ease. Sparring for a long time is exausting but it means , eventually, we can do it for longer. Those first few times teaching lower grades is hugely uncomfortable and highly embarrassing, but through trial and error, both teacher and student can gain immensely from the experience. That difficulty we have learning new katas all pays off as it becomes a thing of beauty and practicality. Therefore, difficulty in karate is something to welcome with open arms, not to be avoided, as we might do in the rest of our lives!