Simplicity

 As I look and read about the various methodology's being taught today, it makes me wonder what the “real” agenda is? Should not a system be both, as simple and effective as is possible? What I am (more) commonly seeing, is an ever expanding collection of motions that are far more complicated than are (IMO) necessary to accomplish the same results.

 It's not as if this is a “new” occurrence, it's been happening over the past 40 years (that I've been practicing the defensive arts). What I've observed (and seen being practiced) for defensive motions, have the appearance of being performed in an increasingly more involved (complicated?) manners.

 This tendency is counter-productive to how Oyata taught defensive applications to be performed. This was part of his motivation to his separating himself, and his system from the (old) “Ryukyu Kempo” methodology (that he used to teach over 20 years ago).

 The majority of student's have no intention of making their study be the sole pursuit of their lifetime. The average student only seeks to learn the ability to protect themselves from the most common of physical assaults.

 That ability need not be (overly) “complicated”, but it is a pursuit that requires a level of committed study and practice. The belief that acquiring this ability is limited to the young, the physically strong and being the student with a lifetime's study of the instructed applications (and of course, the implication that they be male), is a myth. That myth is (actively) perpetuated by those individual's seeking to making a living through the instruction of (their) increasingly complicated motions and methodology's.

 To believe that the early practitioner's (master's?) would strive to develop a confusing methodology for their practitioner's to learn and practice, is (itself) being ridiculous (and a little elitist).

 Many of these newer methodology's are perpetuating the idea that the study of (various) abstract and convoluted concepts are (supposedly) what those original practitioner’s relied upon to perform their applications?

 Though I have observed the (sudden) occurrence of many of these systems beginning to (recently) teach “Tuite” (though having never included it in their agenda previously, LOL), it does lend the idea that they are only attempting to capitalize on it's recent popularity.

 Having been a student of Oyata's, it is somewhat odd to see these systems utilize the term (“Tuite”) to described what they are teaching. From what I've observed (and been physically subjected to), those techniques are being applied in a (distinctly) different manor.

 That doesn't (or shouldn't) imply that they are ineffective, only that they are different. The same could be said of many of those applications. Most of what I've been seeing, consist of (overly) physical defensive motions (that could obviously only be performed by young and/or strong males).

 This is (often) being promoted by the recent rash of European touring (self-proclaimed?) “master's”, most of which have immigrated there from the U.S. Though America (still) has it's own contingency of these types of (seminar) “instructor's”, they (the American version) don't tend to be emphasizing the physical aspect of their applications (more often stressing their own mystical abilities).

 I find these tendency's to be odd, considering the age group that is most commonly attending these types of classes (according to the reports that I found on the internet). According to that survey, the most prevalent student group/age is 35-45 year old's, followed closely by 12-15 year old's (?).

 The most common altercations that include injury, are between person's of an age between 21 and 31 year's old. Seeing that the most prevalent group to be involved in an altercation is 15-30 years my junior, it would be ridiculous for myself (or someone my age) to attempt to utilize the types of (defensive) manor(s) that are being popularly emphasized.

 What can be gleaned from these newer instructional method's, is that those (presently) younger students of these methodology's, will be without a useable method when they become older. The “blessing” (or curse) of youth, is that you often fail to look ahead (in your life).
 The methodology that Oyata taught, was never complicated (to perform). That didn't mean it was easy either, just not complicated. But it does require "practice". In our Instant-Gratification society, that requirement (alone), is often too demanding for the average student.