When getting your protagonist to a dojo, the first thing you do is bow in as you enter the dojo. Then depending on custom, you either walk along the very edge of the floor to the changing room, or stop and get your shoes off immediately to the side of the doors. It’s considered very rude to wear shoes on a dojo floor.
Go into the changing area, and get out of your clothes and into the Gi quickly. On the floor, the lowest ranking belts begin by taking a cloth and wiping the floor (or a broom). As they move across the floor, they’re interrupted by higher ranking belts, who bow to them, take the rag or broom, and continue on. Usually all of the students take turns. It’s not a surprise to see a black belt take over from a white belt this routine.
The class then warms up, usually with stretches first. Splits, then hurtle stretch, then “butterflys”. There’s a number of stretches. In the very old days, there were two man stretches that were done. Karate is returning to its roots lately, and we may yet see a resurgence of the old stretches.
The class is called to line up, and the command “mokuso” is usually given first. This is meditation. For those whose religious beliefs will not permit them to meditate, silent prayer is permitted.
The class is then called to order with the command, “Shomen Ni… rei”. The entire class bows to the front of the classroom. It’s showing respect to everyone who has studied Karate. You go from Seiza (kneeling), to the bow, both hands pressed flat on the floor, forehead between the hands.
The next command is “Sensei Ni… Rei.” The Sensei turns to receive the courtesy from the class, and returns it. IF the grandmaster of the style is present, the command is “O-Sensei Ni… Rei”. And Sensei is just out that day, sorry – Grandmaster takes precedence. Grandmaster is never introduced as “Soke”, unless it’s some American who’s started his own school many years before he is ready for it. Teryuki Okazaki is a legend in Karate, and I’ve only heard him introduced as O-Sensei. Sometimes a student teaches the class – in that case, the bow in is “Sempai ni… rei”. I was teaching classes only two months into my Karate training, so it does happen.
Okinawan styles usually do the bow standing, and the command instead is “Kyotsgae… Rei.”
In Japanese Karate, usually one does these bouncing loosening up exercises, involving hips, back, arms, shoulders, etc. Then in all styles of Karate there’s usually a ten minute practice of all the basic techniques. This is followed by moving techniques, usually combos of punches and kicks.
Followed is the lesson of the day, usually kata. So you could be learning Nijushiho, or Empi, or Gankaku, or whatever kata you haven’t learned yet. Kata are usually about a minute to perform and often are taught in two to three lessons. skipping classes is never a good idea. If the Sensei is there to train, the student should be there.
The last ten to fifteen minutes of the class is usually kumite, or sparring. Shotokan has pre-arranged sparring sessions, where you learn sanbon kumite (three repetitions of a technique, then counterstrike) or ippon kumite. Jiyu kumite is free sparring and the techniques are at the student’s discretion.
In classes that involve weapons, the weapons are done at the end. Basics are done, and sometimes weapons kata. Due to the length of the weapons classes, often dojo have two classes a 60 or 90 minute Karate class, and then another 30-60 minute weapons class.
Some videos to look for of course is the Shotokan Master’s Camp. O-sensei Okazaki is soft spoken and gentleman-ly. The second day is sometimes taught by Sensei Kanazawa, who is very gruff voiced and fierce. Between the two of them, they form the Shotokan ideal. And you get to see the fine details of how a shotokan class is run. Usually you have to be a black belt to attend the entire master camp. O-Sensei Okazaki’s master classes are usually something not to be missed. He usually teaches his “Karate-grams”, which are eight sided attack and defense scenarios – and then he’ll give a lesson on something unique. I found training with him an intimidating experience, since apparently he has eyes in the back of his head. I literally got reprimanded by him for not anticipating a wall during the class, and he demonstrated how I should have adjusted my step to still accommodate the full movement and stance.
I’d recommend three months of lessons before writing a novel featuring a Karate black belt, to avoid having Mr. Spock using judo chops from the 4th kata(?). At the very least, you need to watch a LOT of video on a style of Karate, and keep it consistent! Very few Karateka do what I’ve done and constantly learn from various other styles and arts – it won’t sound realistic if you write a protagonist whose done what I’ve done!
One last word – if you’re writing a Ninja book, get videos by Hatsumi and Stephen Hayes. There’s a lot of fakery out there, including one man who has a DVD on a style of Ninjutsu that died out in the 1890’s, and one man who was a movie star and actually was thrown out of the military for having an over-active imagination (read: A history of claiming things happened that never actually happened). This same movie star claims to have been promoted to a master Ninja while in the military, and has invented his own style of it – but the same actor never was stationed overseas before his discharge. Get reputable sources for Ninjutsu, if that’s what you’re writing.
