Training Vs Reality Vs Cheating

One issue that gets brought up over and again in training is - "Why would I do [x]? I feel exposed, I don't have coverage or guards, I'm out of range, or out of balance--"

For me, the difference lies in being aware of the fundamental distinctions between kata, and applications through henka or randori.

When working through drills or kata - the target is what should inform your movement. There is a clear target at the end of the sequence. It could be a specific technique - At the end of this, I want to have performed ganseki nage - or, depending on where you are in your training - At the end of this, I want to elicit a specific reaction.

So, in order to achieve that, I need to move a certain way, and strike from a specific angle, and move myself to a specific position.

The target - my goal - dictates all of my movements.

By comparison, if we are looking at henka, or sparring, or being faced with a real world scenario, the idea of going into that situation with a preconceived idea of an outcome comes with very real dangers. By pushing for outcomes that aren't viable under new and changing circumstances, you put yourself in danger, and obscure opportunities that might present themselves.

In these instances, your movement is going to be what informs your target. The nature of your evasion, the quality of your awareness, the input of the environment around you, is going to provide you with new opportunities and targets for technical responses, drawn from the toolbox of techniques you are comfortable with. Your footwork, your timing, your balance and angle and distance are going to be what allows you the privilege of surviving the encounter.

This ties directly into the concept of "cheating" and mental discipline as it pertains to intellectual honesty within your training. Within our training of the kata, we frequently throw around the idea of something being a cheat, entirely separate and distinct to the concept of kyojitsu within the Bujinkan. It has nothing to do with misdirection, or how well you can apply additional strikes or movements without being detected.

In this context, cheating is the use of the wrong ethic for the situation at hand. If you're going through a drill to work on throwing a strong and stable hook punch, and realise that it's hurting your wrist, and your response is to start throwing haymakers because it still makes it sound like you're hitting the pad well, that's cheating. If you are working through henka, and you find yourself unable to move from one technique to another, it's cheating of a different sort. If you're training omote-gyaku, and can only make it work by repeatedly injuring your uke, that's cheating.

But by the same token, if you realise that you are cheating, and can reflect on your method enough to identify the weak spot of your technique, then that's progression.

One of the core aspects of training - especially at pre-1st Dan levels - is developing the discipline and intellectual honesty in order to judge your own training, identify these moments of "cheating", and reset to the appropriate method. It should be something that happens at every level of training, and amongst instructors most of all.

Being able to understand your own thoughts, responses and limits is just as vital as understanding how long your arms and legs are, or how much weight your knees can bear, and every bit as fundamental. Nobody else should need to keep you honest in your training - it's discipline acquired through your shugyo.

When you can keep these modes clear in your mind, you can begin to develop the flexible mentality that can work in harmony between the trained reactions of the body and the mushin required to survive.