Valuable Advice for Karateka & Martial Artists, by Henri Plée
Advice for karateka, by Henri Plée
Henri Plée was one of the pioneers of karate in Europe. In his book Karate: Beginner to Black Belt he included a long list of short maxims, which he called a "mine of secrets" for those who read them. His point was that you'll understand them one way at first and differently as you progress.
The list is his, and it's worth reading in the book. Here's what it covers, grouped by theme, with a few of his lines quoted.
Mind and attitude
Plée starts with the mind. An opponent should always be present in your imagination, even when you train alone, and your attention should never drift. A scattered mind, he says, breaks the coordination between your physical and mental strength. He values hard training because it sharpens concentration and shows you the truth about yourself.
Two of his lines are worth quoting:
"Karate cannot be understood just by looking at it, but by work from the inside."
"It is the body and not the head which should remember the order and the development of a Kata."
Posture and power
The biggest group of maxims is about stance and how force travels. A defective posture (raised heel, shoulder pulled back, incomplete hikite) means the force of your own attack comes back on you. He recommends training very low so you can be fast and supple at middle height, keeping the hips at one steady level, and never putting strength in the shoulders. What lies on the axis of the body is strong; anything that pushes the shoulders forward is weak. He also gives concrete details, such as how to close the fist with the little finger first.
Attack, block and reaction
On tactics, Plée stresses unity over speed: eyes, foot and fist should arrive together. When you block, you should gain stability while your opponent loses his. He advises mastering the middle-level gyaku-tsuki before moving on to other counters, being aware of your own weak points as well as your opponent's, and never letting your breathing show.
His shortest maxim may be the most useful:
"The important thing about an attack is . . . to strike."
Kata and quality
Finally, kata. Treat every kata as if it were a matter of life or death, Plée says, and care about quality, not quantity or beauty. He also notes that many 2nd and 3rd dan black belts end up going back to basic karate because it's quicker and stronger.
If you're a beginner, you'll get something from this list now. If you've been training for years, read it again. That was exactly Plée's idea.
Sources
- Henri Plée, Karate: Beginner to Black Belt, W. Foulsham & Co. Ltd., London, 1967. The quoted lines are from Plée's list of advice in that book.
