“In the old days, underlying strength would be established. This was the way. Techniques were not taught at first. It was about persistent basic things, building the body, getting to know the character and teaching perseverance. Perhaps such discipline is necessary, until you have the motivation to train.” – Kenyu Chinen 9th dan Oshukai Okinawa Shorin-Ryu
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It is also interesting to note that many other prominent Okinawan karate teachers tell us that it was ‘makiwara’ practice, combined with other elements of ‘hojo undo’ (traditional resistance or strength exercises) and ‘junbi undo’ (preparatory exercises) that actually came before all other practice.
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The most advanced thing you can do, are the basics, consistently…… How often do you hear this in your dojo? ….. Do your ‘basics’ involve any hojo and junbi undo?
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“You can’t have a strong house without a strong foundation. The stronger the basics, the stronger the house – it’s as simple as that. Unfortunately a lot of practitioners don’t understand.” – Fumio Demura
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Most practitioners come to understand that the basics involve some form of standard ‘kihon’ practice. ‘Kihon’ (基本, きほん), meaning ‘basics’ or ‘fundamentals’, is the term used to refer to the basic techniques that are taught and practiced as the foundation of the karate we all practice.
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However, at the foundational level, it is important to realize that kata are in fact kihon. That is, functional kihon, which is simply the repetitive practice of kata’s basic elements broken down and stripped away for individual or partner practice.
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If you consider the kata as a whole, then the kata consists of kihon and connecting elements in terms of principles, movement, speed and rhythm etc… our basic and advanced drills.
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Of course there are other elements to kihon too, all taught (at least initially) as separate elements. But if you are to have any chance of using karate to its potential as the real fighting system, which it undoubtedly is, you need to be able to piece all of these separate elements back together to make the whole….. and functional kihon is part of that whole. 
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Photo Credit: Travel67 Chris Wilson Photography – with thanks to Paul Enfield