"What if..?"

Practicing sanchin at the Higaonna dojo, Kiyosei, Tokyo, 1987

There have always been a lot of "What if's" in karate. It's a situation that you don't get so much in other schools of fighting. In Judo, if you do things well, there is no 'what if ' because your training partner is on the floor. In Kendo too, if you move well, you make the cut. But for some reason, karate people like to talk incessantly about the 'what if '. "What if I hit you like this?" "Yeh, but what if I did that instead?"....and so it goes. This is the kind of thing that happens when people don't have a good understanding of what they're doing....so they talk about: "What if ".

You can't train to deal with a 'what if ' because no matter what kind of a response you come up with...'what if ' I think of something better? You can't know all the options open to you, because 'what if ' I change the rules of engagement? The idea of 'what if ', is based on stuff you don't know, but your karate and kobudo is based on the stuff that you do know, and it's because you 'know it' that the 'what if's ' fall away and the question becomes irrelevant.

Here's a few 'what if's' that might help you with your training...

What if I'm lazy?
What if I'm too sure of myself?
What if I'm fine with the way I am?
What if I'm not?
What if I want stuff?
What if I don't?
What if it's his fault?
What if it's mine?

Like a map reference, we need three things in order to get a sense of location; we need to know the 'what' the 'where' and the 'when'.  So rather than focus so much on the 'what' in your karate, try putting equal emphasis on the 'where' and the 'when' and see if that helps you any....you might be surprised by the results.

Then again...what if ?

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