Hokama Tetsuhiro Hanshi Explains ShuHaRi

This is one of my favorite conversations with Hokama Sensei. I tried my best to paraphrase what he is saying, as the conversation moves fairly fast. It is a bit of a niche conversation, but I think anyone who practices an art could benefit from his words. My questions focused on the what separates the student in the Shu (imitation) phase from the Ha (experimentation) phase. We went down a bit of a rabbit hole about the importance of instructor giving the student freedom, as well as the role of basics, and evolution of the art. I feel that most martial artists have a general understanding of the concept of Shu Ha Ri as it applies to any art. For those that don't, simple put, it represents the stages of learning one progresses along the journey in any given discipline. Essentially following the: Imitation, Experimentation, and Innovation model. My big take away from this was that the ShuHaRi model is essentially the scientific study model (my opinion). A student spends their time earning their bachelor's degree learning the established literature on a subject (Shu), then they move on to graduate studies (master's degree) where they conduct research and experimentation (Ha), and finally publish or produce some original research (PhD) (Ri). I will be flying back to Okinawa in a few weeks and will have much more to share. I hope you enjoyed the video and I thank you for watching. #gojuryu #karate #kenshikai #utahmartialarts #utahkarate #hokamasensei #shaundevoy #okinawakarate #shuhari #koryu #kuden #karatekid #karatejutsu #budo #shinkenkandojo #shinkenkan #utahgojuryu #martialarts #tetsuhirohokama