A Working Definition of Kobo

how not to think of kobo

First, I want to write a few words about what kobo are not. Kobo are not answers to var­i­ous tech­niques. The way I see most peo­ple prac­tic­ing kobo is based on this idea that they are algo­rithms for defeat­ing var­i­ous high-percentage tech­niques. Thinking of kobo in this way will make your jis­sen mechan­i­cal, and skilled oppo­nents will always be able to fake you out. Taido tech­niques are made to adapt, so if your reac­tions to those tech­niques are pre­dictable, you will be easy to hit.

If kobo aren’t answers, let’s dis­cuss what they actu­ally are. Simply: they are exam­ples designed to build good habits.

A Working Definition

To help put you in the proper frame of mind for using kobo drills as a frame­work for build­ing jis­sen skill, I want to pro­vide a work­ing def­i­n­i­tion of kobo. In Japan, this kind of prac­tice is some­times called “yaku­soku sotai,” which could mean “combative-engagement under agree­ment.” Yakusoku lit­er­ally means a promise, and the promise is that both part­ners are work­ing together to help each other improve. When you prac­tice kobo (which trans­lates as “offense/defense”), you must make a new promise at each work­ing of a par­tic­u­lar drill to keep your partner’s best inter­ests in mind. If your part­ner is injured, or even if he just doesn’t improve, you are both responsible.

This promise is real, and it’s one of the things that allows us to keep the emo­tional stress lev­els very low. Knowing that our part­ners are work­ing with us and keep­ing our inter­ests in mind allows us to relax into the process of devel­op­ing our skills. Make sure that your part­ner knows that the promise is real to you. Keeping the mood of kobo prac­tice sup­port­ive and friendly will allow you both to get the most out of each prac­tice, even though this is not eas­ily quantifiable.

Discomfort Forces Adaptation

Another impor­tant point in kobo prac­tice is the level of speed, power, com­plex­ity, etc. that you chal­lenge your part­ner with. Keep in mind that you are prac­tic­ing for his ben­e­fit, and then let him worry about your improve­ment — mutu­al­ity makes for much more effec­tive prac­tice. This requires a very sub­tle mind-shift for most peo­ple. Don’t try to win — try to teach and learn.

And please, if your part­ner does not move, hit him. You do no favors to your part­ner if you only allow him to prac­tice defend­ing against half-assed attacks. I’m not say­ing “don’t be care­ful.” I’m say­ing “don’t be a pushover.” You have to chal­lenge your part­ner in order for him to progress. You want to make sure that you press toward your partner’s lim­its, but not beyond.

Your part­ner will not learn unless he is uncom­fort­able. Comfort pre­cludes adap­ta­tion; dis­com­fort neces­si­tates adjust­ment. You must make your part­ner a lit­tle uncom­fort­able in the drill, but at ease in the train­ing envi­ron­ment. The key is to work to your partner’s level of dis­com­fort. Push your part­ner to the point of slight dis­com­fort, as mea­sured by their feed­back to you. Communication is vital to safe and effec­tive kobo practice.