Also Seminars are not the same, as classroom drills and practices. different goals and aims.
I agree with this. So, why then would someone who doesn't understand the drills and practices of a Kosho class (not seminar) be given a license to teach and authority to promote if they don't have this stuff? Why give (charge a $300 fee for, actually) the license and then require them to know their stuff?
It's the same as someone saying you can be a shihan if you just pay $500. Then, after you get the rank/title, they say "and now you have to learn all this stuff so you don't look foolish." Isn't that backwards?
Can you imagine if a doctor was given a license to practice medicine before actually having the knowledge to help patients properly? Or how about a high school teacher getting in front of the classroom without having been taught the subect?
The beauty of Kosho principles and philosophy is their universal nature. They can be applied to all arts. The idea of all the different studies is to ingrain the principles by looking for them and applying them to the different areas of study as well as other martial arts (in What is True Self Defense?, Mitose stated that the Kosho Monks would study all MA) leading ultimately every area of your life. One could very well take the Kosho principles and apply them to any art. For example: One could apply the principles to wing chung techniques and in the end they would be doing a form of kosho that retains a wing chung flavor or a form of wing chung with kosho flavor. They could do that. But by extracting what they want from kosho rather than embracing the full art, doesn't that display a retention of prejudice? Doesn't retaining prejudice violate the core of kosho philosophy?
Not studying something doesn't mean that you're being prejudice - in the bad way. Saying to others that you wouldn't study something because it sucks would be showing prejudice. If you don't eat a certain food you are "retaining prejudice" based on the fact you don't care for it. Is that really so bad? Well, maybe it is if you eat only unhealthy food and end up getting really fat.
According to the Kai website, Kosho or Kempo for that matter is the study of understanding one's self. If you understand that your life is leading you in the direction of a focused practice - then you should do it. Spreading yourself out so thin that you can't really become proficient in any aspect is foolish, I think.
I view it as a jack-of-all-trades and master of none.
Let's go back to the curriculum of Kosho. What did Mitose teach as a curriculum? He certainly didn't teach all of the 27 forms in the Kata no Michi text. Or the numerous sword katas that are taught. In fact, not a single form in the Kata no Michi book is a Kosho only form that comes from Mitose or earlier. The Kosho only forms were created by Hanshi Juchnik. And we certainly can't claim them as being part of a 750 year old art... right?
So what is the art that's 750 years old? Certainly not what Mitose taught. I think most people now agree that Mitose didn't train in Japan at the Chaka In temple and he "borrowed" ideas from other martial artists to teach Kenpo Jujitsu in Hawaii.
Even Hanshi Juchnik has said publicly on several occassions that Mitose was either a saint or the devil and he didn't know which. Well, if James Mitose was the devil than I don't think we should be following his teachings or examples.
Anyway, I have to get to classes. I like to teach my students the things they need to know for rank promotions. It's kind of whay they expect from me.
Take care,
John
P.S. Jesse Dwire said it should be manditory to have a sarcasm meter. Some of what I said really should be metered at a 3 or 4. If you are offended by any of my statements just realize that I might be saying it with the sarcastic tone. It's kind of what I like to do!
