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I Understand (But Not Really)

October 21, 2009 | Author: Matthew | Filed under: Kata, Martial Arts, Okinawa Kenpo, karate, kobudo, mindset

Sometimes the Japanese language seems endlessly complex to me, especially the writing of it. One word can mean 5 different things depending on your inflection and emphasis, not to mention what kind of kanji (or katakana) you use to write it.

A perfect example is the term “karate”. Back in the really old days…well karate was called “ti”. But AFTER that it was called karate, and that meant “China Hand”. Later a fella named Gichin Funakoshi came along and went about changing it to “Empty Hand”. He did this for philosophical and political reasons that you can investigate when the mood strikes you.

When placed side by side the two karates look like this -

Despite the difference they are spoken essentially the same.

This brings me to an interesting concept that I encountered on the blog of Charles Goodin Sensei (An extremely reputable martial arts historian and writer). In it he asked his karate friend and senior Pat Nakata about saying “I understand” in Japanese.

Goodin Sensei was under the impression that there was one way to convey the concept of understanding, and that was with “wakarimasu”. Nakata Sensei informed him (and us) that there are actually two main methods instead of one.

The term “shirimasu” indicates a level of understanding that is shallow, or surface level. For example, if someone explains a series of directions to you and asks you if you understand, you might say “shirimasu”, because you do understand what they have said, but have done nothing in particular to internalize that information.

Goodin Sensei’s “wakarimasu” also conveys understanding, but on a deeper level. If someone gave you directions and you spent years following those directions, exploring every facet of them, you might be able to say “wakarimasu”.

What a strong concept this is! There is no natural terminology in the English language that can express these ideas as succinctly. And therein lies the strength of the Japanese language along with all of its mind tangling complexities – it can convey critical subtleties of feeling and intent with a single word or short phrase. That’s also why grasping a small amount of the Japanese or Okinawan (Hogen) language is so critical to improving your study of karate (this is true of any culture and language your art happens to come from).

In a Karate Context

In my style of Okinawa Kenpo Karate there are 20 open hand kata and 29 kobudo kata, making for 49 total forms (Seikichi Odo Sensei was a bit of a collector, to say the least). Of those kata I “know” about 42. As many of you have noticed through this blog and facebook, I am not an extremely old man. What this means is that I understand most of those kata in a “shirimasu” sense. There are very few kata in which I would use “wakarimasu”…in fact, there may only be a scant few moments in those few kata that I would consider using “wakarimasu”.

These two different terms make a world of impact when describing progress in your art, both to yourself and others. When analyzing your technique, kata, sparring, and self defense, how is your understanding? Shirimasu? Wakarimasu?

Goodin Sensei contends that most of our understanding is indeed shirimasu, and I couldn’t agree more. In fact, it’s one of those martial art subtleties wherein the more we believe we only have a shirimasu understanding, the quicker we progress to wakarimasu (even though, of course, that goal is always just a little further away).

As the old saying goes: a good karateka, when asked if he/she has attained mastery, always replies: “perhaps with one more year of training.”

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 and is filed under Kata, Martial Arts, Okinawa Kenpo, karate, kobudo, mindset. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

xygoxen
  • Interesting post. I think the main problem with a lot of martial artists these days is that they don't delve deep enough into their art in order to fully understand it. We have the phenomenon of "photocopy martial arts", as Peter Consterdine explained in a recent article. He said most martial artists learn just by watching how others do it, by memorizing the movements and the shapes. Not only does this lead to a shallow understanding of those movements and techniques but because of the method of learning the quality decreases over time and as it is passed on, just like a photocopy. Each copy is worse than the last. To relate back to your article, this is usually why most of our understanding is shirimasu.

    It's only when we break the techniques down into individual movements and begin to understand why those movements exist and how they relate to the other movements that we are eventually able to get close to wakarimasu. This is obviously a lot more work but the rewards are greater all round. We just need to engage our brains a bit more instead of behaving like automotons and copying what we see without question.

    I think this is a problem in a lot of dojos. You are just expected to accept what is being taught without question because "that's the way it is". This attitude is a cover up for laziness and an unwillingness to really examine the art on the part of the teacher. It's easier just to give commands than it is to answer questions and real concerns, like why doesn't this technique work on everyone? In my view, techniques have to be adapted to fit the needs of the individual. There is no one size fits all when it comes to technique and it took me years to realise this, mainly because I was lead to believe that what I was learning would work on anyone. Seems silly now, but the martial arts breed a culture a blind acceptance. Thankfully, that seems to be changing now and people are questioning things alot more. When you begin to really examine your art it's like going right back to the start again because you basically have to relearn everything again but this time with complete understanding of how and why things work. It's a disconcerting experience when you realise you don't know as much as you think you know but the experince is worth it if it makes you better in the long run and brings you closer wakarimasu.
  • excellent thoughts Neal! well said.
  • Interesting. I was not familiar with the terms Shirimasu & Wakarimasu. thanks for that Knowledgeable article
  • Hi, Matt :-)

    I read Goodin Sensei's post about the differences between shirimasu and wakarimasu yesterday - and the first thing I did was jot it down in my notebook so I wouldn't forget it. An important difference that I never knew existed - but there is so much I never knew I didn't know, LOL. That is what being a student of the art is about, I think.

    Thanks for sharing...
  • Hey Felicia - Yea I think you and I both reacted similarly to that post. His site is full of great stuff.
  • A humble article...and well put.
  • Thanks Steve! Appreciate you visiting. Also I wanted to tell you that your video on your 'about' page is kinda brilliant. It has these extended pauses that made me really tune in and listen to what you were saying.
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