Principle 20: Swing the Hips
Principle 21: The Geometry of Bonsai I think my favorite principle of excellent kata performance is the one that most affects
the shape of basic technique postures when they are completed. I call it the Geometry of Bonsai because I learned this tip during my brief and failed attempt to grow and cultivate Bonsai trees. All of my little trees are dead, but they did not die in vain. Thanks to their sacrifice, I learned that there are certain principles of visual appearance that can be applied to Karate technique as well. There isn’t much to it, and you can apply it for immediate results. A good Bonsai tree is shaped like a triangle when viewed from the front. Have you ever noticed that? A bad Bonsai tree is shaped like a square or a circle and looks uninteresting and silly. But if the Bonsai master sculpts his tree carefully over time so that one branch on one side is lower than the lowest branch on the other side, and the entire tree has a single peak which is not necessarily on center, the tree will take on that famous look to which we are all accustomed. This triangle shape is universally appealing to the human eye. That being said, not all Bonsai trees are grown according to this basic principle, and neither will all Karate techniques fit perfectly into this pigeon hole, but the same can be said of why one person’s technical performance seems very beautiful and another person’s seems ugly. Some considerations: •
Straight lines are important for beauty. If you curve your fingers instead of making your hands flat or into straight fists, if your wrists are at funny angles when performing a technique like the sword hand block, the visual appearance will be unattractive. Maintain straight lines, and prevent your arms from
129