Apparently, the organizers had forgotten to enlist the services of a very good interpreter. They relied upon the mother of a young student, pulling her in at the last minute to interpret Asai sensei’s more complicated verbal instructions. She was a Japanese national but probably knew next to nothing about karate, and her grasp of English was severely limited, so her translations were garbled and left out some key points.
So, for example, Asai sensei noted that, “You are all very good at what I would call Level 1 karate. Level 1 is basic form. Kihon. Step. Punch. Kick. Step. In Level 1 you are just trying to do each movement right. You exaggerate the stance to build muscle. But that is Level 1. Level 2 is Step-punch, same time. Kick, move, same time. Level 3 is freedom to move smoothly, without any break. You are good in Level 1 but that is like forever staying with elementary school lessons. You need to go to high school in Level 2, and then college in Level 3.”
The mother translated all that as, “You are all very good!”
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With knees flexed, the strength should feel like it is coming from the hips, the koshi, or more succinctly, the seika tanden. Asai sensei chose a little girl and had her do a horse stance. He asked her to practice punching. Then he said, “Very good. But now, just relax. You don’t have to use strength. Just relax all your muscles in the upper body and snap out your punch, like it is nothing. Think of just going as fast as you can, first without putting any strength in it because if you do, sometimes you tighten up too much.”
The translator said, “Very good! Punch faster!”