The longer I’m involved in the martial arts, the more mysterious they become to me.

I’ve taken to reading bits and pieces of The Pinnacle of Karate again since summer has started.

On page 47, Robert Trias talks about the “Kata Mudra Code” and lists out the 11 mudras of the Okinawan Shuri-ryu system.

And I’ve just now made the connection that these hand postures are so much more than that.

In Anaku, both hands are touching with the palms turned toward your face, meaning, “a reflection of self and the desire to rise above ideals and discipline oneself by good thoughts, words and deeds.” (I thought I’d note for good measure that, at least in this particular section, Mr. Trias uses AP Style.) Mr. Trias is asking us to look at ourselves, pushing onward through what we think, what we say and what we do.

In Empi Sho, one hand clutches signifying that “I will uphold universal spiritualization (moral and spiritual uprightness) through adherence to all laws, justice, charity and honesty.” Here, Mr. Trias explains that we should be mindful citizens.

So that makes sense now. I had to memorize these for the oral portion of my black belt exam, but hadn’t really interpreted their meaning until now.

I’m not exactly sure why a particular hand posture has a specific meaning. Mr. Trias writes that the mudras in martial arts have “an apparent likeness to” esoteric Buddhism, Eastern Indian war-like dance scriptures and more.

Further, what do the postures have to do with the form as a whole? What does reflecting upon oneself have to do with a swallow pivoting on the beach? How come a form with an elbow smash starts off by upholding justice?

And then there is the issue of bettering oneself while, in theory, destroying a handful of attackers.

Great. I’m finally making sense of the symbolism of the mudras without a clue as to any element of practicality, how they came about, or what their significance is to the whole.

If there’s one aspect of martial arts training I don’t get enough of, it’s kata-based sparring.

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been reading Iain Abernethy‘s “Bunkai Jutsu.”  In one of the last chapters, Iain talks about kata-based sparring and methods on how to train for it.

It is often said that kata and kumite are the same.  If your kumite is kata-based then the preceding statement is true.  However, if your sparring is based on the rules of competition, then the statement is false.

Several times in the past, we’ve been challenged to employ only kata-specific moves in practice – say, for example, we can only use moves from Wansu or Anaku.  I found this really difficult to do because it’s hard to play tag using these moves.  And yes, I just referred to competition kata as tag.  It’s fun to do, you need to be in good shape to do it, but it’s really just a game of tag.

It’s taken me a long time to realize how close kata and kumite are, or should be, related.  After reading this book, I’ve realized that kumite is for practicing what we’ve learned from kata.  It’s our exam after reading the textbook, if you will.

I like to spar for competition, but I’d much prefer to spar for self-defense and real-life application.  I was at a tournament just before my black belt test and I decided to give sparring a try.  I lost both my matches.  One of my opponents would fly in at me, but I remember charging him all the way back to the edge of the ring and knocked him over into the crowd once.  I was confident that, in that case, I could’ve defended myself against that person if he was on the street.  He was playing tag, I was trying to fight.

Someday, I hope to get back into a position where I can do more sparring.  But instead of competition, I would like to use some of Iain’s methods of kata-based sparring.  I want to use the theory that kata teaches and use it in a realistic scenario.

I want to shy away from competition kata and kumite and get back to the kata practiced by the masters.

I’ve been reading Iain Abernethy‘s “Bunkai Jutsu.” I’m really enjoying it, as Iain provides a lot of thought-provoking ways to look at kata.

However, I can’t help but notice that I’m finding difficulty in my kata training. On the one hand, Iain and all of my instructors have made it clear that we should be working kata extensions. For the uninitiated, that means working applications beyond what is written or required. On the other hand, Iain talks about practicing one solid technique over and over again.

By working multiple applications of a particular kata segment, we lose response time since we have to filter through several instead of just having one that we work over and over. That time lapse could end up costing us our life.

But all of my instructors have stressed the importance of working numerous defenses for multiple attacks on just one kata segment.

Knowing the masters sometimes only knew one or two katas, it’s a sure bet they knew multiple applications. But I know over a dozen katas. How am I supposed to keep my kata applications in line with which form I’m doing and in what spot?

Maybe I’m not working hard enough. Okay, I know I’m not working hard enough. There is just so much material to filter through. The thought of trying to narrow things down when I’m trying to wade through the swamp that is being a college senior is a daunting task.

Five months ago, I began to cross-train.  Sure, I’ve taken tae kwon do for a year from some instructors who happened to be taking lessons from my karate instructors.  But they were still in my school and influenced, to an extent, by my instructors.

Reaching out to an entirely different art and going beyond my karateka has been the most beneficial learning experience I think I’ve ever had.  And I’m saying that positively – my instructors, peers and students have all shaped the martial artist that writes this very post.  But for me, venturing into another art was the next step that was missing in my pursuit of knowledge.

I understand I haven’t been training for the longest time in either art, but to this point, I’ve discovered four main reasons why I think every martial artist needs to cross-train.

But before even taking up another art, you may want to define your purpose.  Understand why you want to practice a martial art and what you’ll take away from it.

You’ll recognize movements from your martial art

It’s amazing to me what the human body is capable of doing.  I see new things all the time.  But there are only a certain number of ways that body can move.  Sooner or later, you’re bound to come across a move you’ve seen in your art.

In order to better understand the tai chi move being taught to me – and vice-versa – I try to run through my catalog of karate and see if I recognize it.  If I do, I can apply the principles of what I know to the new move.

You realize how much you really don’t know

That catalog has a lot of empty pages, though.  And there is a lot to be written in there about new moves, new philosophies and new ways to approach problems.

Karate has a lot to offer me.  But at this point in my life, I’m looking for something different.  Cross-training allows me to continue learning and seeking new knowledge to make me a more well-rounded martial artist.

You get out of your comfort zone

I come from a program that is mostly grade school and high school students.  Much has been written about Gichin Funakoshi and Jigoro Kano about how they – and others, to be sure – hid or eliminated some of karate’s and judo’s most brutal techniques so that school children wouldn’t abuse them.  Only as students get older do they realize how brutal some movements can be.  As I get older and train with martial artists whose experience range into decades, I’m realizing that my moves can cause a lot more devastation than I thought was capable.

I’ve also come to understand that karate keeps a pretty good distance between attacker and defender, if possible.  Tai chi, on the other hand, is very close-range.

I’m sure there are other examples, but these should show that cross-training gets you out of your element, exposing you to new ideas.

You get to meet new people

One of my favorite parts has been meeting other people – black belts, non-black belts, and non-martial artists even.  Some people are there for holistic purposes.  Other black belts bring their martial experience and can contribute.  I’ve said before and I’ll say again that one of the non-martial artists in the class has some of the most beautiful flow I’ve seen from anybody.  She really would fit well into the “artist” category of martial artist.

Plus, you get to study how different instructors teach.  Take some of these strategies with you and see how they work in your classes.

So those are my observations on cross-training so far.  What do you think about it?  Are there other bonuses I didn’t suggest?  What are the negatives of cross-training?  Leave me a comment!

I made the mistake of discussing religion with my parents the other night.

Among other things, I told my dad that I believe I’m a spiritual person because I’m involved in the martial arts.  He told me he doesn’t believe that.  I tried to tell him how the cultures who developed the martial arts I study (the Japanese and Chinese) are thousands of years older than when Jesus was born, but he shrugged it off.

I’m not going to tackle the issue of other cultures and religion.  That’s a whole other topic.  The issue is finding spirituality in the martial arts.

Spirituality, to me, means finding meaning in something in order for me to live a better lifestyle.  Whether I choose to believe in a god to become spiritual or whether I choose to treat my body as a temple to become spiritual is my decision.

I work out to make my body stronger and protective, and to keep myself satisfied.  Alternative kata interpretations or extensions keep my mind flexible and develop new tools, or enhance old ones.  I concentrate on where my body is, how it relates to somebody else’s and what I need to do to attain maximum efficiency in a technique.

I spent seven years training in karate, but my instructors never focused much on the spiritual aspects.  Having trained with an individual now who trains both holistically minded people and martial-arts minded people, I’ve come to appreciate the spiritual side more.  Dealing with energy, yin and yang – it’s new ways to look at concepts that I’ve been familiar with for some time.

If my dad wants to believe he’s spiritual in his own way, that’s fine.  But it’s completely wrong to believe that way is the only way.

So tell me, how do you believe the martial arts have helped you become more spiritual?