I’m frequently stunned and saddened at the number of videos on the web showing hopelessly unskilled, out-of-shape “Kurodee Masters” (i.e. ego maniacs) demonstrating kata or technique on hapless students.
I would like them to learn a new word in Japanese “Jadou” (邪道) which literally means heresy, but colloquially it means more along the lines of doing something incorrectly or wrongly from what is usually done. In other words, it’s not a complement!
Of course we have the tradition of shuhari in Japanese Budo, where a person eventually finds her unique interpretation of the art she practices after many long years of practice, but jadou is not a part of this at all. Jadou implies a complete lack of understanding of this concept. It means the exact opposite; a complete lack of understanding and proper instruction.
So please go back to your teacher, sifu, guru, sensei or whomever and have them polish your technique a little more. You and everyone else will be the better for it.
Unfortunately for the lay person just beginning to train, they have no idea what is correct or incorrect. As a result, those who do not stay with training long enough to figure out what proper training is quit before ever experiencing the benefits of receiving proper instruction. Even amongst experienced practitioners opinions of what is correct or incorrect karate varies greatly. Each practitioner is influenced by their individual experiences, research, and what they have been told is correct or good karate. I know of a school and system that requires all students to bring in at least two new people every quarter as part of their consideration for promoting! Sadly, the “majority” of karate dojo are operated by people who never received good instruction and or who should still be training with a teacher instead of teaching others. I once read somewhere that in Japan, students teach at their teacher’s dojo until the level of Godan. At Godan they can go out and instruct on their own outside of their teacher’s dojo. In many countries, Shodan’s and Nidan’s open a dojo and far too many of them seldom continue to receive regular instruction from their teacher because they are too busy teaching at their own school. Those who walk into a high quality school operated by a competent teacher are very fortunate. Those who do not choose a good teacher, sadly never experience all of the wonderful benefits that good training offers.
Couldn’t have said it better. Thanks for that.