That big one in the banner above is my Yondan (4^th Grade) certificate. It is from a template I made in 2009 for my Sandan (3^rd Grade). The design is relatively simple but has a very professional look. At the top is “Certificate of Merit” in English, mirrored by the larger kanji “Sho” on the right hand side. The left hand side is in English and explains that the recipient (me) has earned the above rank (Yondan) and all the rights that come from it. At the bottom is the name of my instructor’s organization (United Martial Arts Academy) and his signature and rank.

On the right hand side is the Japanese translation (I’m sure someone will notice I mistranslated something). To the left of “Sho” is my name in katakana. To the left of that is two lines saying that the previously mentioned person (me) has received the rank of Yondan. These lines are courtesy of Rob Redmond and his instructional article on how to read your black belt certificate.

The next line is the date (24^th year of the emperor on the 7^th month of the 20^th day). The last two lines say that this is signed by the head of the United Martial Arts Academy (Institute) and then my instructor’s name in katakana. Other interesting things on there are the certificate number on the far right (number two), my chop (stamp) in red on the far right, my instructor’s school chop to its left, my instructor’s chop to its left, and then a Shorin-ryu chop on the far left. The three pictures are arbitrary and purely cosmetic. I went with a koi fish instead of the dragon in the bottom left to make this certificate look different from my last one.

Price

Now for the important part – the price! I paid $1.06 USD to print my certificate at a local Office Max (they did a great job by the way) and another $11.30 USD for the frame at WalMart. I have heard of other 4^th Dan’s paying upwards of $400 to have theirs registered in Japan or Okinawa. That is six years worth of website costs! No thank you.

Make Your Own

If you run a martial arts school and are more concerned with providing a service to the people in your community than some big organization back in Okinawa or Japan, then please look into making your own certificates and saving your students a lot of money. They are the ones who end up paying to “register it”.

For those of you who want to make your own but don’t have any creativity – shoot me an email and I may be able to help out (rush delivery unavailable). I will send you the files for free and you just have to swing by somewhere like Kinkos, Office Depot, or Office Max and have them print it out for you on 17” x 11” paper. Save a few hundred dollars and help pay for classes for a kid who could use a positive influence in their life.

In my attempts to change the perception of karate from an old impractical form of fighting to a useful system combatives I often look to MCMAP to see how they train and what makes them more respected in the world of fighting. Some of the big things they do differently are more conditioning, more practical application, and fewer belts. The one I want to talk about today however is the difference between rank and years in training.

Belts Represent Knowledge

A trend that I think karate instructors should work to move away from is the practice of promoting students every so many months regardless of how much more they have learned. It is important to recognize how long a student has been studying karate (combatives), but belts are there to recognize how much of the curriculum you know. In my personal system of teaching, by 3^rd Dan you should know everything I have to offer. A brown belt will not only not perform kata as well as a 3^rd Dan, but they will also know less kata. That is why there is a different colored belt.

How Do We Reward Years in Training

As I mentioned, it is important that you reward students for their years in training. From a marketing stand point, if students are being rewarded for being a student for a year, it is an incentive to work towards being a student for two years. Kind of a like a rewards club. Looking at this from a karate perceptive and ignoring the business aspect, if new students can see who has been in longer regardless of rank, it helps them learn about the people in the class.

I am friends with a lady who started years before me, but I am now higher rank. If you wanted to learn things that we used to teach or hear stories about how class used to be run, she is the one to talk to – not me. It has nothing to do with rank or breadth of knowledge, she has just been around longer than me.

How to Implement This

Tossing out a couple ideas here:

In MCMAP, marines have special stripes for their dress uniform (kinda like a nice gi or a tournament gi) that show how many years they have been in the service. Their knowledge of combatives is tied to their colored belts.

When I played football as a kid, we had circle stickers for our helmet to represent achievements like sacks, fumble recoveries, and interceptions. It was to show how much impact you had on the team even if you were in a less popular position like left end instead of the quarterback. Karate students could have smaller patches for the back of their gi for participation in tournaments (one per tournament), for each year they were a student, for each demo they participated in, etc. I know this sounds kind of like the boy scouts, but I think some schools would enjoy this.

Another option is to have one patch on the shoulder that would have a number to display how many years the student had been learning karate. These patches would have a color scheme matching the school’s colors and a simple large print number in the center.

My final idea involves using colored gis to represent how long a student has been learning karate. All students start with a color of the schools choosing. I will use white for my example (but blue or black or anything is ok). All students are supposed to have white gis. After being a student for a year, you are allowed to wear blue, or white, or a combination of the two. Students can show off the colors they have earned, but don’t have to. Upon reaching two years of training you can wear black, blue, or white and any combination of the three.

Instructor Status

Last thing I want to mention is that I think there is a difference between knowing the curriculum and being qualified to teach it. I will save this for a later post though. Do you think that rank and years in training should be linked together? What is your favorite method of highlighting a student’s years in training? Do you have your own method?

There has been a pretty interesting discussion going on in the comment sections of my last two articles (Changing the Perception of Karate and Adapting Karate to the Local Culture) and I thought I would continue my thoughts in a full post rather than just a response to the comments.  The main comment I am responding to is from Dan Killingsworth:

“Why not celebrate Karate for what it is instead of trying to market it as something else? Why not strip out all of the parts added when it was brought into the schools, standardized the same way that Judo and Kendo, was commercialized for the Westerners as a way to earn money for a ravaged Okinawa after the war, and teach it with an emphasis on how the Okinawan military class learned it? Not only would it open eyes as to what is really there and the value that it has, it would also go a long way towards removing the stigma that has been brought to the word Karate by bad b-movies and snake-oil selling pseudo-sensei. My feeling is that would be better for Karate as a whole rather than trying to rebrand it into something else. Rebranding still stinks of snake-oil practices – Just think about all the MMA ‘masters’ out there schilling only the most rudimentary techniques that they learned from a few seminars, Youtube, and books. Snake-oil indeed.”

Selling Snake-Oil

I know Dan meant this with the best intentions, and it brings up an interesting point – I would never sell lessons in Open Hand Combatives (karate-do). If I were thinking of changing the name in order to increase my revenue, then I would have to agree with Dan 100%. What I am suggesting is a name change to help spread the good that Open Hand Combatives provides to people’s lives. In the same way that Funakoshi changed the name to help spread Karate, I would like to change the name to spread Open Hand Combatives. Most serious karateka know that karate was once called tuidi (tode). Why wouldn’t serious students of Open Hand Combatives learn that it is entirely based on karate. Based on? I thought this was just a name change? No.

How the Okinawan  Military Class Learned It

While my attempts to change how I teach application of kata are meant to “return” to the way karate used to be taught, the reality is that no one knows exactly how it was taught. We are not removing extra things and returning to our roots, we are developing techniques independently in an attempt to mimic what we think the Okinawan Military Class would have learned. This is a change to the curriculum to make karate more appealing and effective (both to ourselves and our perspective students).

Karate Changes

“Hoping to see Karate included in the universal physical education taught in our public schools, I set about revising the kata so as to make them as simple as possible. Times change, the world changes, and obviously the martial arts must change too. The Karate that high school students practice today is not the same Karate that was practiced even as recently as ten years ago [this book was written in 1956], and it is a long way indeed from the Karate I learned when I was a child in Okinawa.” – Gichin Funakoshi

I am hoping to see karate included in a list of  respected martial arts along with krav maga, brazilian jujitsu, and other popular arts. For that to happen, karate needs to change. The commonly taught application needs become more realistic, the sparring needs to become more physical, and this needs to happen fast. I am ready to make these kind of changes. The problem is that most instructors aren’t because they make the majority of their money from kids classes. Changing would mean going broke.

If this change isn’t universal, then any good we do will be overshadowed by McDojos. With all of this in mind, I am going to start doing open hand combatives (name pending) and if people want to make fun of the childish practices of McDojos teaching karate – I don’t have to care because open hand combatives will be just that – combative.

I look forward to the responses to this.

The Importance of Passion in Martial Arts

There are many reasons why someone decides to take up martial arts as a hobby and no two people are ever alike. Some decide to learn karate purely to learn how to defend themselves, others will learn it to understand more about the cultural traditions of learning unarmed combat and some people study as a way to get fit in a social environment. Some people just want to get a black belt because they feel it will prove that they are strong in character.

Learning martial arts is as much about mental development as physical fitness, For many people learning martial arts is a journey of self development and realisation. Not everybody achieves their goal though.

So what attributes lead to success in martial arts? Strength? Speed? Memorizing kata? In my opinion, it is none of these things. To be great at martial arts, to succeed where others fail, to overcome your fears to make yourself a stronger person, both mentally, physically and spiritually, you need passion.

Passion is what drives people to success. Total belief in yourself and the task at hand is a part of passion, as is a love for the art that you chose. You can be passionate about any individual aspect of training, or indeed all martial arts training.

 Passion For Fighting

Many people consider martial arts a violent hobby. Anyone that has spent any time training soon realises that martial arts really is an art and a science combined. To become a good fighter requires that you love fighting. If you do not love fighting you will never be able to win a tournament.

You may become skilled at applying what you learn in a self-defense situation, but you will not be able to take your training to the next level, as a lack of passion for fighting will hold you back.

 Passion For Detail

Many people train half-heartedly at best. They come to class and go through the motions and then by the following week they have forgotten what they were taught or why it is needed.

To learn the intricate details of karate, or any other martial art, you have to be passionate about the details. Why the techniques work, their limitations, their strengths, when to use them and when not to use them. You also need to practice, to make your technique perfect. Many techniques in martial arts require a great level of accuracy to be effective and only by fine-tuning your movements will you be able to effectively use what you learn in a real and dynamic situation.

 Passion For Virtues

Traditional martial arts teaching covers not only fighting but self-development. A key part of many karate styles is on following the teachings from Zen and Bushido, such as the development of humility, respect, compassion and patience as well as developing a high level of calmness and peace within yourself. Without a passion to develop these virtues you cannot achieve much of what it means to master a martial art. A lack of respect for the art and for others will ultimately lead to failure.

It is for these reasons that I believe that mastering martial arts is about passion. Through martial arts you can find peace and calmness, an abundance of self-confidence, awareness and improved physical and mental health.

What aspects of martial arts are you passionate about?

This past Wednesday I stayed after karate and participated in the first half of Mr. Street’s MMA class.  That night he was having us work ducking the jab and clinching up with an arm triangle, then transitioning to a high single leg takedown and going into side control or half guard.  I have trained all of these positions and techniques before, but never in that particular sequence so it was interesting and useful, even though my instinct when I achieve the standing arm triangle is to sweep rather than remove my grip to pick up their leg with my arm.

Sometimes when we went to the ground we would simply stop at the position we ended up in and stand up to go again, and other times we would roll a bit to see what we could get from that position.  I found that I had a tendency to stop striking and start grappling instead of doing both, so I did have to stop myself every now and then to get myself to strike.  I also was told, for the very first time in my martial arts career, that I should not immediately take a submission when it is given to me.  This occurred when Jason (my practice partner at the time and the body builder/metal worker who built our bag/makiwara/exercise stand) extended his right arm and I immediately grabbed it and dropped back for an armbar.  I had almost extended his arm but was too slow at turning out on my shoulder to go into a belly-down armbar and he was able to shove his shoulder past my legs so he could bend his arm and stop the lock.  It was explained to me that some people in MMA will bait the armbar so that you will roll and they can end up on top of you to start dropping punches on your head.  This makes sense, but at the same time I know that if I had been just a little faster my armbar would have worked, and what if that had been a fight and it had been my only chance to finish my opponent?  These are the kinds of things I will need to learn and adapt to, and I am looking forward to it even though it is sure to be humbling and, at times, frustrating.

This is the first of a few class notes taken while practicing at my home dojo in Elkhart Indiana. I have been at this school since I was eight years old and routinely visit when I am in the area. The school, United Martial Arts Academy, is run by Sensei Richard Hooven, a fourth degree blackbelt in Shorinkan Shorin-ryu.

Kata

While I was home, we worked on some Shorinkan Kata. It was interesting to see all of the new faces after not being home for a year. We went over most of the basic katas (Naihanchi, Pinan, Kihon) and two unique katas. The first was Shinpo Matayoshi’s version of Hakatsuru as it was taught to Tadashi Yamashita and then to us. The second was a kata my instructor refers to as “Heian Nidan”. It is a compilation of pieces from each of the Pinan Katas. It is my opinion that it was probably taught to his instructor by someone of the Japanese Karate lineage (Shotokan) and was originally meant to be “Heian Dai” (The Greater Heian). Since Heian is only the Japanese pronunciation of Pinan, if I ever teach this kata I will instead refer to it as Pinan Dai.

Teaching Other Instructor’s Students

Something that is worth keeping in mind if you instruct people at a different dojo, it is always best to do it the way they need to learn/perform it, unless the head instructor says otherwise. I am always in the unique position that I know how the students there are being taught and I also know how I perform the movements myself. I personally draw the line at black belt. Once an individual has earned their black belt, then I will teach them different variations of how to do something. Until then, I teach it exactly as the head instructor wants it to be taught.

Uniform Rules

Last thing I think would be worth highlighting is the difference in uniform rules at my personal dojo and my instructor’s dojo. At his dojo, during the summer months, it is acceptable to wear Gi pants and any t-shirt that is either Karate or Military related (he is a former Marine). At my school, I push for either our issued athletic gear (shorts and a t-shirt) or a full Karate Gi. I rationalize this as either a day to get used to fighting in normal clothes or a day to practice traditional karate, but never a day to simply feel more comfortable. This is not to say my instructor is wrong, he has to pay the bills, I do not.

Conclusion

It was great to be back home and working with a large room full of experienced karateka. Black belts need other black belts to help push them to learn and grow. When you are the only one in a room full of newer karateka, you have to look to outside sources for help and mentorship.

Sokon Matsumura, also known as Bushi (warrior) Matsumura and Shuri Matsumura, was born into a well-known shizoku family at Yamagawa Village, Shuri, Okinawa in 1809. This date is often disputed, but is based on Shoshin Nagamine’s account of his 88^th birthday in 1809 and Katsuya Miyahira’s claim that he died at the age of 92 (1901). Matsumura is one of the most renowned and skilled martial artists of his time. He was a master of both karate and kobujutsu (Okinawan weaponry). He was of noble birth and as skilled at literature, calligraphy, and the Chinese classics as he was at military arts. He organized the Shuri-Te style into a more refined system of the martial arts.

Martial Arts Training

Like many Shuri youth of his time, Matsumura learned the basics of “Te”. Later in Akata village, Shuri, Matsumura began the study of karate, under the guidance of Tode Sakagawa (1733-1815). Sakugawa was reluctant to teach the young Matsumura, but conceded to a promise he had made to Sofuku Matsumura, Sokon Matsumura’s father. Matsumura spent several years studying under Sakugawa. Eventually, Matsumura’s skill as a warrior became widely known throughout Okinawa and even in China. As a young man, Matsumura had already gathered a reputation as an expert in the martial arts. Many legendary stories are told about him in Okinawan folklore.

Official to the King

Matsumura was recruited into the service of the Royal Okinawan Sho family in 1816, serving the 17th Ryukyu King, Sho Ko. He received the title Shikudon, a gentry rank. Matsumura eventually became the chief martial arts instructor “Shihan Yaku” and bodyguard for King Sho Ko. He subsequently served in this capacity for the last two Okinawan Kings, King Sho Iku and King Sho Tai. Bushi Matsumura not only became the chief martial arts instructor but an official of the Ryukyu Kingdom. As such, Matsumura traveled as an envoy to China and Japan in the service of the Okinawan King.

Yonamine Chiru

In 1818 he married Yonamine Chiru, who was a martial arts expert as well. She is described as having qualities that most men would envy. She was the daughter of a rich Yonbaru merchant. Found of arm-wrestling, sumo, and weight lighting contests, she would often challenge and then best her suitors. Matsumura was the exception to this obviously.  Joen Nakazato told of a story where she was sweeping and a 60kg (132lb) bag of rice was in her way. She simply picked it up with one hand and continued sweeping.

Journeys for the Government

On his journeys, he sought out other martial artists and trained with them. In 1832, he went to Satsuma, Japan and stayed there for two years. While in Satsuma, it is believed that he studied the Jigen-ryu style of swordsmanship. This is a very aggressive style practiced by the Satsuma samurai. Stories say that, his sensei in Jigen-ryu was a samurai by the name of Yashichiro Ijuin. This is perhaps the time when Matsumura’s ideas about Bushido, the way of the warrior, and martial ethos were formed. Around 1839, he went to Fuchou, China and was able to study the Shaolin style of Chinese boxing and weaponry at several different schools. Legend has it that he actually trained at the famed “Shoreiji” or Southern Shaolin Temple at this time. It is not known how long Matsumura remained in China, but tradition has it that he stayed for some time.

According to Hohan Soken and Chozo Nakama, around 1860 Matsumura traveled to Foochow in Fukien Province, China, on one of two diplomatic missions. There he trained under Ason. In the 1860′s he brought back the Chinese Kempo Master Iwah and together they taught many Okinawans. He is also believed to have studied with the Chinese warrior Wai Shin Zan while in China. After his return from China he organized and refined Shuri-Te. His organizational efforts would eventually serve as the basis for the Shorin-ryu System of Okinawan Karate. Some authorities credit Matsumura with adopting the name “Shorin Ryu” while others say Anko Itosu, Matsumura’s student is actually responsible for adopting this terminology. Shorin is the Japanese pronunciation of Shaolin. Even though this style is a blend of native Okinawan techniques and Chinese Kempo, it is named after the famed Shaolin Temple of China, renowned for its fighters.

Matsumura’s Unique Style

A unique feature of the Matsumura style is the teaching of the White Crane or Hakutsuru kata. Although white crane techniques are contained throughout most of the kata of the style, and are especially evident in Gojushiho and Kusanku, the Hakutsuru kata is one of those elusive and esoteric kata of karate. According to the late Hohan Soken, the White Crane style was renamed by Bushi Matsumura while he was in China. He then brought the style back to Okinawa in the 1860′s. From then on, the system was a secret style only taught to immediate members of the Matsumura family. The White Crane style was passed from Bushi Matsumura to Nabe Matsumura, his grandson.

Generating Power

Bushi Matsumura was tall and thin with deep-set eyes. He was also extremely fast because of his constant practice. He also believed that speed was essential in order to develop power. Matsumura was an innovator and he practiced every technique so that it could be performed as fast as possible. Legend has it that he was able to generate enormous power in his techniques even though he was slender and wiry. The reason for this was that “torque plus speed equals power”.

The concept of twisting and rotating the hips when delivering a technique is the method he used. Matsumura is credited with developing this concept in karate. Matsumura simply knew how the basic elements of physics could apply to and enhance karate technique. He was known to have superb kicking skills and a great jumping ability. His expression was “as a warrior one must develop the speed of a bird and the power of a tiger”.

Legacy

Bushi Matsumura is credited with having originated or having developed important variations of many of the Shorin-Ryu katas practiced today including Chinto, Wansu, Passai, and Seisan. He is also credited with passing on the kata or formal exercises known as Passai Dai (Matsumura No Passai), Naihanchi, Chinto, Gojushiho (Fifty Four Steps) and Kusanku. According to the Matsumura Seito sect of Shorin-ryu, a set of Chinese kata known as Chanan in Matsumura time, had been modified by Matsumura and were the basis for Pinan I & II.  Interviews with Hohan Soken reviled that, while it is claimed that all of the katas were passed down directly from Sokon Matsumura, most likely Nabe Matsumura learned katas from other instructors. It is my belief that he learned of the Pinan katas from Anko Itosu, another student of Matsumura, and began teaching some of them on his own.

“A true Okinawan martial artist makes his living away from the martial arts. They should not concern themselves with the making of money out of teaching the martial arts. A martial person must make their living away from the martial arts so as not to contaminate it through the influence of ‘making money’ in order to ‘make a living.’ This is the Okinawan way.”

I wanted to start my disection of Sensei Chibana’s essay with this topic because I feel very strongly about it. Having personally seen the contamination of money in our art, I wanted to discuss the pitfalls of it and ways we can avoid it. Let me start this off with a story about an instructor who taught for money.

Story

There was once an instructor named Fred. Fred was very loyal to his teacher. Fred owned and operated his own personal school. After a while Fred realized it was expensive to run his own school and started teaching at other locations and using the money he was given at these other locations to pay for his own school. Fred had many loyal students at both his school and these other locations. These students had nothing to do with paying Fred, they paid the places that Fred taught at and then those locations wrote Fred a check monthly for his services. Fred, needing to keep making money to fund his own school and pay his teacher’s organization began charging people a “new member’s fee” and using that fee to pay his teacher’s fee for being part of his organization.

One day Fred stopped receiving pay for his services at these other locations. The students, still having nothing to do with paying Fred directly, were not sure why Fred was not teaching anymore, but remained loyal and worked on their own together hoping Fred would return and again teach them his style. After six months of waiting, the students then learned why Fred had not returned. Fred, still needing to keep his own school running, decided it was not worth his trouble to teach at that location without knowing he would be paid. His students slowly moved on to new teachers and other styles.

The sad part of this story is that it is true. The worse part is, no one did anything devious or inherently bad – except let money come between them and Karate-Do. The organization needed a fee to pay for its own expenses, like the main Hombo (head dojo) in Okinawa, the promotion certificates, and travel costs to teach at their local branches. The instructor was just trying to be a Karate instructor, but he needed to make money too. The students could not be blamed at all. How can we avoid situations like this?

My Instructor

One of the things I respect most about my instructor, Richard Hooven, is that he does not teach Karate for the money. We have had to move multiple times because the price of renting the dojo went up and we were not going to charge more to our students. There has been months when people could not pay – so he just told them to help with what they could around the dojo and not to worry about it. It was a place that there were often more parents and family gathering to relax than there were actual students in the class. It was what I grew to see as true Karate and as Bushi Matsumura described it – the essence of Bu. Bu, the concept we study as Budoka (Those Who Study the Way of the Martial Arts), is meant to make a community prosper. It is not about the teacher, but rather the students he/she influences.

When you decide it is your time to begin teaching on your own. You need to recognize that you are doing it to help your students and the community they live in. If you have the mentality that, “Karate is something I love, wouldn’t it be neat to make it my job too?” – then I ask you to consider what happens when no one will pay you to teach? Do you adapt your Karate to suit the person paying you? What if they just want a high cardio workout and ask you to stop mentioning philosophy? Do you? You may have to if it is your job. In a capitalist world, the consumer is always right. This is why it is so important not to make Karate a product you are selling. You teach it because you love to teach it and you charge nothing more than it costs to keep the school open. If your students can not afford to do that, you need to cut your costs – not increase your prices or find new students. If your students can’t pay the rent, find a new place to practice Karate. If gi’s and sparring equipment are too expensive, workout in shorts and a t-shirt and practice yakusoku kumite instead of free sparring.

Fees

Now let’s talk about fees. Fred used to charge testing fees. By the time a student got to black belt, Fred had charged them about $400 in testing fees. This was with an understanding between the other locations that he taught at, that students paid one fee to the location and Fred was paid one time by the facility. The belts themselves only cost about $4. Why then would Fred charge so much? He was testing students during the time he was paid to teach, so there was no extra time spent. It was again to help pay for his school, may his organizational fees, and the left over money paid his travel cost for seminars and such.

I do not believe in testing fees. I ask that my students cover the costs of their test. This normally amounts to buying a black belt, $6-$10, and printing their certificates, $3-$5. Normally, by the time someone is testing for a black belt in front of me, they have been a close friend of mine for a few years and I am happy to pay for their belt and certificate as a gift in recognition of their hard work over the past years. I do it in the same manner one of my Sensei bought me a book (Autumn Lightning – excellent book) at my Shodan test and it spawned my research on Karate. It is something you do because your students become your friends, not a means to finance your business ventures.

Someone once commented that they thought the rank system corrupted Karate. I say that people, who take advantage of their students willingness to pay, corrupted the rank system. I am advocating a push to do as Sensei Chibana advised and keep Karate and money separate. I will do it, who will join me?

Pros

Let us for examine reasons why it would be beneficial to have floor mats, as opposed to a wooden floor. The most apparent benefit is that foam padding feels much better on your body when you get thrown to the ground. In Karate-Do schools that practice take downs, sweeps, and throws, this is a huge benefit. When your fellow Karateka are not broken, they are more likely to come back and train with you again. Even with thinner mats, such as a 7/8″ mat, this is still significantly better for your body then falling on a wooden floor, or worse, concrete. I currently train in a former racquetball court with all wooden flooring. There are numerous times that we have to perform our movements at a slower speed or without actual completing the full movement for fear of hurting our training partner. This does not make a huge impact on our overall training, but it is a limiting factor and can be quite annoying at times. One of the benefits that I have taken advantage of at my Sensei’s dojo is that with different colored mats, we were able to define a space for sparing. While using duct tape or masking tape to make a square will work, it is not as apparent as two distinct colors on the floor. While you can find tape as you are trying to fight someone, it is hard to miss when the floor suddenly changes from blue to red. Another neat benefit is being able to track where you move during kata or exercises. The mats are normally either 20″x20″ or 40″x40″ and make distinct lines. These lines can be used to quickly line up a class of children or help you keep track of where you start and end a kata.

Cons

Now that we know all of the reasons a Karateka would want to train on these awesome mats, lets consider some of the pitfalls. The biggest one that I can remember is stubbing your foot. This normally the result of carelessness, and in retrospect the wooden floor may hurt more, but I have stubbed my toe on the mats and it leaves a pretty bad brush burn on your skin. Another problem is that, while a Karateka may be unwilling to try a movement for fear of hurting his partner on a wooden floor, that same Karateka may be willing to try a dangerous movement when they feel reassured that the mat will prevent any injury. Practice and proper instruction are the only things you need to prevent an injury, and more often than not, when you do not have proper instruction, no amount of padding will prevent the injury. The final argument that I can see against mats in a Karate dojo is one of nostalgia. If you compare photos of the Matayoshi Kodukan with that of an American Family Martial Arts school, you can quickly understand why people complain that using mats takes away from the look of a traditional karate school. If you however are in a racquetball court like myself, then you didn’t look like a martial arts dojo before and haven’t lost anything by adding mats.

Conclusion

There are many arguments for and against mats in a dojo. I am going to lean towards the side of safety over nostalgia. Although I think that every school should dream of having the kind of reputation that the Matayoshi Kodukan gained, there is no reason that this can not be done while providing all members the best safety equipment available. If anyone has differing opinions, please feel free to share them. Additionally, if you have a suggestion of a great mat/retailer, I have not placed my order yet for our new mats.

I think the easy answer here is that, like many things in Karate, the head instructor of the school will make this decision and everyone else will follow along. What if you work in your own house or apartment or you are the head of your school (or someone with a say in the matter)? Here I would point out that rarely will you end up in a situation when you need to defend yourself and you can’t find your shoes.

Differences with Shoes

This was my primary argument on why you should always practice karate either as much, or more often, in regular clothing as you do in a traditional karate gi. It is a very different feeling to be wearing shoes when making contact with an opponent. Things such as a toe kick suddenly are a little more reasonable then when you are barefoot. Coming from a military background, I am constantly in combat boots or leather dress shoes, both of which can cause significant damage to an opponents shins or ankles that my barefoot would never be able to. Because of this, I try to practice kata semi-regularly while wearing the clothing I am normally wearing. Now that we have a strong argument for wearing shoes, are there any reasons not to wear them?

The most obvious is that people will inevitably try to wear dirty shoes that will tract dirt into the dojo. This is a problem the requires common sense. You do not need to buy special shoes for Karate. A clean pair of sneakers (cross-trainers) will work just as well as any other shoe you can buy online “specially designed for Martial Arts”. I would recommend using shoes that you would expect to find yourself in on a regular basis (dress shoes on dojo mats is probably not a good idea though). Having trained in boots, if you have access to them, they work well as 5-10 pound weights on your feet for training.

Another Myth

Overall, this is kinda like the myths about turning your back to tie your belt or being disrespectful when you don’t wear a gi. It is all folklore. Think about what you are training for. If you are training to defend yourself, consider what you will likely be wearing. Shoes will often be on that list unless you live on the beaches in Hawaii. I think that traditional tournaments are a place for white gis and no shoes, but Karate-Do is not about tournaments.