A Rose by Any Other Name

Some of my earlier posts have caused a bit of a backlash against me. 

It seems that some of you readers (and we all know who you are) are upset that I am still using the old name for our type of karate: “Renbukai”.  This is despite the fact that I am still a proud member of both Shoko-Ryu Renbukai kan and Zen Nihon Remmei Renbukai.

I have identified the type of karate I teach as simply Renbukai because that is what it is.  The fact is, I am teaching the same basics, the same kata, and the same approach to sparring as was taught to me many years ago.  I am not naïve enough to say that what I do this week has not changed over my almost 40 years of training… I know it has changed.  That is the nature of the beast when the ‘style’ is not necessarily a style at style at all (see my earlier post).

However, I do take offense when some of my old friends think they and their current cadre are more legitimate than anyone else.  Really?  I see that there is a real push on converting dissatisfied dojo’s into Renbukai clubs by simply introducing the armor.  There are many examples, you just have to look closely:  a Shotokan group here, a Kyokushin group there, are all calling themselves Renbukai with arms wide open acceptance.  Everybody loves the new guy!  Are they really more legitimate holders of the Renbukai name than any other group?

To paraphrase that old saying “if it looks like Renbukai, fights like Renbukai, and trains like Renbukai, it is Renbukai”.

The Question

Not long ago, I was asked what makes our style of Karate different than any of the others.  For years, my standard response was to explain how Renbukai was not like Shotokan or Kyokushin or any of the rest.

I started to think that through.  I wouldn’t describe my house the same way.  “It isn’t a double-wide trailer” or “I don’t have vast front lawn that needs a riding tractor in the summer” doesn’t seem get the idea across!

So, what is it?

In my view, Renbukai is a loose collective of Karate schools that agree (mainly) on one thing: full contact fighting in protective armour.  There are a number of other groups that use very similar gear (Chito-Ryu and Koshiki come to mind), so the armour itself doesn’t make Renbukai unique.  It is the way this type of fighting permeates its’ way into everything we do.  

Rather than keep with a syllabus, or guide from a single point authority, Renbukai has adopted a very Darwinian approach to fighting. Renbukai dojos have kept what works, and discard the rest.  This is why everything is focused on a balance between power and speed.  Techniques are built to achieve the maximum damage with the fastest delivery time.  But the best part is that you get to actually see if it works.  I am certain that someone somewhere was teaching their students some flipping high wheel kick (probably with a half twist for style).  That kick looked fantastic, and was unstoppable in non-contact sparring, and won the student a 3 foot high trophy from the All Area Open Challenge.  

But when tried in the armor, when your opponent is looking to knock your block off, it’s not so good.  Too risky, and even if it does actually hit, it doesn’t deliver that ‘crack’ you’re looking for!  It just makes the other person mad.

So that kick was dropped.  So was anything that has “snap” in the name.  If it don’t work, don’t do it.  Renbukai should adopt the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) motto in our official letterhead.

Next time you’re training, ask yourself if the technique has the potential to be both fast and punishing.  Can you make the shield or the bag “pop”?  When you see the advanced students, do they use it?  

Best of all, when you use it against a quality opponent, does she laugh?