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tony leith
6th September 2002, 13:52
There's been some light hearted discussion of the howa talks given by Aosaka Sensei on another thread (those interested should go to 'Why Shorinji Kempo, some of them are classics..)

Giving howa talks is on one level fairly straightforward, if you're basically relaying the textbook or syllabus gakka, as the actual content is predefined. I think it's legitimate to offer your own reflections as well, as long as they're fairly clearly signposted. One thing that's quite difficult to manage within the confines of a normal class is discussion, but this can sometimes be really valuable as a means of clarifying thoughts on a topic, as well as a fruitful exchange of ideas.

I'd be interested to hear about different approaches to howa/gakka in the context of classes. For my part, I believe that kempo without chinkon and howa in the end isn't going to remain Shorinji kempo, and the history of other martial arts suggests that the philosophical content can be one of the earliest casualties of their translation into new cultural contexts. How do we avoid this happening to future generations of kempo practioners? Can we?

Gary Dolce
6th September 2002, 18:14
I often find that giving howa is a bit of a struggle. In general, I think the worst ones I give are the ones where I am just relating the textbook lesson. In those cases, I usually end up feeling that it might have been more productive to tell every to read the appropriate text in the Fukudokuhon and get back to practice.

The ones I feel best about are the ones where I can relate the lesson to a personal experience or to some recent event. Of course these are just my impressions - my students are probably bored to tears by my endless ramblings. :)

While I agree that chinkon and howa are important, in the end I think it's the way we train that matters most. I was struck by Tony's quote from another thread:


I felt the philosophy was embodied in the training ethos - to be frank when I first
started at Glasgow University dojo chinkon and howa were - ahem - not over
emphasised, but the fact that this activity was intended to be more than just a
fighting system or means of physical exercise still came through.

I can't agree more. It is too easy to just talk about philosophy - the real test is whether you put it in action when you train.

Gary