[Nix]

shinobijesus,

It is in my opinion that the best student is one who is competent in all aspects of karate, not just one thing. For each rank, there are certain requirements that needs to be met. If one was allowed to compensate for not meeting those requirements by excel in something different, then the grading curriculum would be worthless. And if it was, it would not be a very good motivation for the student, they would just disregard kihon/kata and just fight instead (or whatever their preferences would be). Thus, they might develop a good understanding of kumite, but they might never be great, since they don't know the fundamentals. Or in other words, I believe one who know the basics of karate, know how to put them into combinations and later apply that to kumite, will ultimatelly be much greater than the one who just concentrated on one thing.

Furthermore, the Ashihara shodan certificate says something along the lines of "the student has fully understood all aspects of Ashihara karate". A student who does not understand all aspects of karate, can therefore never become yudansha.

What about footballers? A player who has a fantastic shot, but is otherwise weak, frail, slow and is more likely to fall over the ball than anything else, is he a good player? I would say no. Just as in karate, a footballer need to be capable of many things.

It's not as black and white as this, of course. There are room for small compensations, but within the curriculum. The grading board might say "okay, the kihon was not great, but the kata was decent." and then allow the student to proceed, telling the student that they expect to see some extraordinary sabaki/kumite if he/she truly wish to pass.

At the end of the day, it's the instructors responsibility to keep the students motivated, and to arrange the practice so that it is balanced. The student should give his or hers 100% and be willing to learn and improve, no matter what they practice.

Osu!