Inside
• Duck V-ballers
challenge Chinese
See story Page 2B
• The local sport
of footbagging
See story Page 8B
Emerald Sports Supplement"
J\uira” was taken from the Zen word "ku,”
which means ‘‘inner dilemma or the emptiness of
the inner soul.” In Japanese. ”te” means hand,
art or any activity done with the hand or body. As
a martial art and an increasingly popular sport,
karate is a combination of physical movement
and psychology, and the study of karate has been
University instructor Bob Craves’ discipline and
recreation for the last twenty-seven years.
In 1957, he began training in japan under the
schooling of Kawaguchi. While still in the
military, he also studied in Kaohsiung. Taiwan
and later moved to Oregon to begin teaching at a
dojo (training school) in Salem. He finally came
to Eugene and started instructing University
classes through the SEARCH program in 1969. As
well as teaching at the Eugene Dojo. Craves works
with the University of Oregon Karate Club, of
ficiates at student examinations, coordinates
seminars, and evaluates teaching methods at do
jos throughout the Northwest region.
"My mission when I came up here was to
educate the Northwest in karate.” he says. "My
main effort is teaching and running the judging
seminars. I'm an official and I have to continually
keep training officials.”
He also teaches quarterstaff or “bo” fighting
which uses long bamboo sticks. His classes at the
University are oriented toward students at the
beginning level. Students begin by learning the
basic movements and philosophy of karate and
are tested at the end of the term by demonstrating
the stances and kata, or routines, they have learn
ed. For those who want to pursue more rigorous
and formal study at the Eugene Dojo, dedication
and a serious attitude toward the art are expected.
Karate is taught progressively at levels 1, II and
III, but "it’s all beginner’s training for the first
nine months to one year,” he says. More inten
sive study for the first-degree black belt comes
after that.
In spite of the stereotype that martial arts are
only for those with wiry bodies and incredible
speed, students of all shapes, weights and sizes
take part in Graves’ classes. The basic foundation,
he says, is supposed to be applicable to anyone
capable of normal body movement. “As in all
Budo arts . . . individuals have to start to deal
with what they have for equipment. If they’re a
big, heavy person, they may find it comforting to
know that they're difficult to damage, but they
may have problems in maneuverability, stamina
and quickness. . .on the other hand, a person
that’s very small may find themselves to be ex
tremely fragile physically, but on the plus side of
it, they may find they have extreme speed
available to them. . .of course, there’s the small
people who aren’t fast and there’s the big people
who are extremely fast. You have to satisfy all of
these and it's difficult.”
The first and second degrees of the black belt
are earned when the student can demonstrate
basic movements and their combinations.
Through the third, fourth, and fifth degrees, the
the student essentially conducts an in-^
dividualized research project on the
"capabilities of his body and then goes
before judges for testing. “You’ll get up there
in front of a panel and you will show what
you have found you can do .best;” Graves
says. “You may pass or not pass, that’s not
important, but the feedback (is). . .they may
say. ‘1 think you’re on the right track, but try
this.’ but that ‘try this’ may take another five
years of work.”
From first to fifth degree, physical development
is emphasized, and from the fifth to tenth, the student
begins conducting personal research. A person of tenth
degree status is virtually expected to work at an inter
national level in extended research, projects and seminar
coordination, he says.
From his experiences in working with men and women.
Graves says he has found that women can train as ag
gresssively as their male counterparts. Women’s martial arts
have existed for thousands of years in japan, he adds, and to
day, many women are finding that in addition to the hard ex
ercise and personal defense skills that karate offers, it can
also help increase self-esteem.
“W
V V hether the women survive in the classes,” he
says, “depends on the instructor. An instructor can make
or break the spirit of the class and set it up to be so
masculine-oriented that women just don’t feel
comfortable in it, or there are some instructors who
in all honesty simply don’t know how to train
with women.”
“I think the challenge is in matching up the
students so that (they) don’t kill each other off in the
course of training, because there’s always people
who are bigger or stronger, or have a more ag
gressive nature.”
The men and women who stick with the discipline
are able to develop a great deal of respect for each
other, he says, and stresses that motivation is one of
the key elements. ”1 think anyone can train, if
they’re motivated... Nishiyama says it’s eighty J
percent. He says without motivation, nothing
else follows.”
he University, most of Graves’ students are in the
18-25 age bracket, but the range widens at the Do
jo. Many as young as eight come to the children’s
classes, and people in their forties participate in
the adult classes. Graves has worked with
students in their fifties and sixties, and
remembers a sixty-four year old woman at the
downtown dojo who fit the description of
“grandma sunshine.” “She was a trip.” he says.
“She was just the most positive person.”
Lea
earning continues even beyond these levels,
and the minimum age for 10th degree candi
dates is seventy.
Initially, students learn punches, blocks,
kicks, stances and the first kata, called “hei
anshodan,” which means “early or dawn
ing.” They are taught fundamentals of bio
mechanical movement and force as well as the
rSSS-SS
strengths and weaknesses of the human body.
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i
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. .
Through progressive months and years, the
psychology of the art is incorporated into the
physical aspects. Karate derives many of its
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