Karate is More Like Math Than History

Those who know me well know that I double majored in mathematics and history. I enjoyed them both, for different reasons. Recently, when trying to explain how one learns karate, I’ve come to the conclusion that karate is more like mathematics than history.

On paper, the requirements for completing degrees in math and history were fairly similar. Each degree required a certain number of credit hours in that discipline, with a certain number being from “upper division” classes, etc. However, the strategy for completing each degree was quite different.

History was a bit of a “pot-luck” major. You could take any history classes you liked, so long as you met the required number of hours at each level. There was little crossover between classes, so your grade in “Latin American History” had little bearing on your ability to succeed in “Medieval Japanese History.”

Mathematics was very different. You had to “plan your route” because many of the courses formed a sort of chain of prerequisites. If you didn’t pass Algebra, you weren’t going to pass Calculus, and if you didn’t pass Linear Algebra, you were going to have a rough time in Discrete Mathematics.

Even those who didn’t major in math or history understand this difference from their experiences in secondary school. If you fell asleep in history class while the teacher was discussing ancient Rome, you might miss a few questions on the next test, but once the class moved on to early Medieval Europe, you’d never hear about the Gracchi again. However, skipping Algebra on the day they explained the quadratic formula would continue to impact your grades until you learned it.

In this way, karate is more like mathematics than history.

• A punch is only as strong as the stance beneath it.
• If your performance of Heain Yondan is weak, your Kanku Dai will suffer.
• Good hip rotation is a prerequisite to making power with hip vibration.

Two groups of students seem to suffer from this more than others: Frequent absentees, and those always wanting to hurry on to the next thing.

Frequent absentees don’t understand why they’re not able to put the pieces together because they assume what they’re missing is the opportunity to improve the same skills every time. That’s certainly part of it, but they’re also missing out on learning new and additive content every time. (Then again, of course they don’t realize it … they’re not there.)

Similarly, the people who want to move on to the next thing (the “teach me Unsu” crowd) don’t understand that they need to achieve a certain level of competence in prerequisite skills before moving on to the next set of skills. This usually comes up in the first few weeks with new beginners who want to learn to kick before they’re even able to stand on one leg without falling over.

Of course, if you’re reading this, you probably already know all of this. The trick is communicating it to beginning and intermediate students who may not have grasped this yet, and this analogy to history and mathematics may help explain it to them.

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