"Genuine karate is like hot water; It cools down if you don't continuously keep it over heat."
If you have been practicing karate for any length of time you have undoubtedly heard the 11th of Gichin Funokoshi Sensei’s twenty precepts of karate. “Genuine karate is like hot water; it cools down if you don’t continuously keep it over heat.” It is a precept with an exceptionally profound connotation.
Several years ago I participated in a karate seminar out of southern Alabama that was sponsored by a nationally recognized Association. There were several hundred karateka in attendance for this annual event. Almost two hours into the training I noticed a large group of men standing in the back with their arms crossed conversing quietly amongst themselves as they observed the activities of the days training. Initially I thought that they were perhaps instructors waiting to trade out with the current instructor at the head of the class and begin a new topic of instruction as they were all wearing budogi and were apparently senior black belts. Once we finally broke for lunch I noticed that the karateka participating were all eight-teen years of age or younger and that the highest dan ranked participant was a yondan (4th degree black belt). The training resumed and the same group of senior black belts again assumed their positions along the back wall where they continued to observe.
The following morning of the two-day-long event the senior black belts were still not participating. This forced me to ask myself, “Why would anyone pay this sum of money to attend a karate seminar and then not participate in it?” That is like buying tickets to the big game and then not watching it. At the conclusion of the event I approached the group and asked why they had decided to not partake in the training. All were attentive during the lectures preceding each of the techniques to be covered but when the time for the training actually arrived they all retreated to the back of the room to merely examine. The most senior present became slightly put off by my apparent audacity for asking what I believed to be a legitimate question. He appeared to be of middle age (50-55yrs old) and in average physical condition, and based on what I observed from all of their ambulatory movements I saw no reason that they could not have participated in the physical activities. I was then told, “You know about 15yrs ago I would have been happy to participate and show all these kids how it’s done but I’m too old for that stuff now.” The other men all nodded in agreement then informed me that as senior black belt instructors they were above the need for regular training since their skills had peeked and it would be pointless as they could not get any better. Their skill had plateaued so to speak. That may be true but without frequent practice their skill level could fall.
When living a life of the way, one must understand that unless practiced regularly all techniques have a shelf life. When instructors let their personal training take a back seat to teaching eventually both teacher and student suffer. If the instructor slacks in his or her personal training the result will be a decrease in power, speed, fluidity, flexibility, and technique itself. Thus when teaching the same technique to a student he/she will likely learn bad habits and poor technique. Karate is a physical model and therefore one must be regularly physically engaged within its teachings and skills in order to keep it sharp.
With the exception of one I have never been able to best any of my instructors whom were at that time over the age of 45. My Sensei at that time freely admitted that his defeat was not do to my superior expertise or experience (because at that time in comparison to him I had none) but because he had not trained seriously in almost a decade. His technique had gotten cold, and his dexterity diminished significantly because of that. All of my remaining instructors are now well over 55yrs old and every one of them are still very much capable of making me look like a first day novice because they train and practice every day to keep their techniques fresh and warm.
To keep our skills warm we must regularly train our minds and bodies. It is true that a degree of wisdom and understanding can only be attained over the passage of time. Do not fool your self into believing that once a technique has been learned and perfected that further training with said technique is not required. Karate techniques are perishable. If you do not use them you will lose them. Keep your skills and techniques warm. Heat up the water and train regularly otherwise as Funokoshi stated your karate like a pot of hot water will go cold if you do not keep it over heat.
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