Yes and no.mhosea wrote:
Uechi Ryu practitioners have the same relationship with Sanchin. Suppose one sees a Goju Sanchin on Youtube. Nobody (rational) gets excited over that not being within the normal range of variation of Uechi Sanchin. It is accepted for what it is.
There is a "right" and "wrong" way to do some moves. The reason why I broke down and taped myself doing Kanchin is because I saw a performance of it online that bugged me. I chose to comment on it. Then felt like it was only fair to pony up and show my own kata.
If you've been in this business of kata long enough, you begin to see not just a vocabulary, but a grammar of martial art technique. One technique often follows another in a kata either because the energy flows best that way, or because the intent of a sequence is maintained. When you unravel the mystery of martial power and targeted sequential striking, it becomes obvious to you why the choreographer did things in the order that (s)he did it.
Believe it or not, I have a below-average memory. I remember things in martial arts either because my body learns to feel the flow of energy or I discover the original intent of the choreographer. Thus I don't really have to think right hand with left foot followed by side step, blah, blah, blah. It's as obvious to me as the way a clock or a radio works.
So then when I see somebody do something different, I try it on for size. When I see it doesn't make sense either mechanically, tactically, or aesthetically, then it becomes clear to me that it has absolutely nothing to do with "personal interpretation." Things can be clearly wrong.
To make my point with a student, I have an interesting technique. Rather than say "This is wrong; do this instead," I will instead stop them and ask them what they are doing and why. Soon enough in the discussion, common sense prevails.
Back to the kata...
Rick was astute to bring up this gentleman's versions of Kanshu (a.k.a Daini Seisan) and Uechi Sanchin. It makes the central issue much more clear.
There are a few things common to ALL Sanchin kata - no matter what style is doing it.
1) In the one-armed thrust part of the kata, you thrust off the back leg. This gentleman violated that principle on his initial thrusts going forward. It's a beginner's error, or one seen done by people who have "lost their minds" under the pressure of a karate exam.
2) When doing the circle blocks and thrusts, what starts down finishes down and what starts up finishes up. In other words, the arm doing the circle does the lower gate thrust in the morote tsuki (double thrust). This gentleman violated that principle in the second of his three circle/double-thrust sequences. It is a beginner's error.
There are most definitely embellishments in his Kanchin. God knows what he is doing in some places. However there are also places where for instance he does a crane leg lift off the "wrong" leg. That just hoses the whole dynamic of the original form. As an isolated technique it's fine. In the context of the sequence of techniques, it's clearly wrong.
Knowing these subtleties is why they pay us the big bucks.
- Bill
P.S. I'm a not-for-profit instructor, FWIW.
