Karate-do Gaisetsu

[Eboni Kleifgen]

Thisessay was written and prepared by Master Chojun Miyagi especially for club members when he gave the lecture About Karatedo which was supported by a subsequent demonstration at the lecture hall on the 4th floor of Meiji Shoten at Sakaisuji, Osaka on 28th January 1936.

When they see someone breaking five wooden boards or a few pieces of roof tile with his or her fist, they think it is a main part of karate. Of course, it is not a main part of karate but actually a trivial part of karate. Like other fighting arts, the truth of karate or Tao of karate can be understood and mastered at the ultimate goal which is beyond teachings and impossible to describe in words.

Karate originated from Chinese kungfu. We have few books on the origin of Chinese kungfu, so we cannot conclude immediately that this is true, but according to a theory, the martial arts originated in central Asia and the area around Turkey when the ancient civilization was developed.

When we consider how karate was introduced to Ryukyu (Okinawa), we have a variety of opinions but all are without the support of historical evidence. As a result we have not yet come to a correct conclusion on this matter. There are three main views, however, and these are commonly known as Thirty-six Chinese Immigrants, Oshima Notes and Importation in Keicho Period.

In 1762, a merchant ship of the Ryukyu Kingdom was caught in a heavy storm on the way to Satsuma (now known as Kagoshima prefecture), and cast ashore on the coast of Oshima, Tosa (now known as Kochi prefecture).

In 1609, the 14th year of Keicho period, the Shimazu clan of Satsuma (now known as Kagoshima prefecture) invaded the Ryukyu Kingdom and prohibited the possession of weapons by the people of Ryukyu. Some believe that karate was created spontaneously due to the cruel oppression by Satsuma. The others insist that karate was not a domestic creation but what was imported from China. I think it is reasonable to consider that karate was a fusion of martial arts from China and Te, the native martial art which had already existed.

Karate has developed remarkably and even today it is still being judiciously improved and developed. We have a few further different opinions on the origin of karate, but they are popular misconceptions and not worth listening to.

We also do not know origin of the name karate, but it is true that the term karate was created only recently. In the old days it was called Te. At that time people used to practice karate secretly, and a master taught a few of the advanced Kata out of all the Kata only to his best disciple. If he had no suitable disciple, he never taught them to anyone, and eventually such Kata completely died out. As a result, there are many Kata which were not handed down.

In about the middle of the Meiji period (1868-1912), prominent karate masters abolished the old secret ways. Karate was opened to the public, so it was soon recognized by society. It was the dawn of the development of karate. In accordance with a rapidly progressing culture, karate was also recognized as physical education and it was adopted as one of the teaching subjects at school.

According to oral history, in the old days, the teaching policy of karate put emphasis on self-defence techniques. With just a motto of no first attack in karate, teachers were said to have introduced their students to the moral qualities of karate. However, I have heard that in reality they tended to neglect such moral principles.

Gradually the teaching policy was improved with the change of the times. Now we have discontinued and abolished the wrong tradition of so-called body first and mind second and we made our way towards a Tao of the fighting arts or the truth of karate.

Gichin Funakoshi, Choki Motobu, Kenwa Mabuni, Masaru Sawayama, Sanyu Sakai, Moden Yabiku, Jizaburo Miki, Yasuhiro Konishi, Shinji Sato, Mizuho Mutsu, Kamesuke Higaonna, Shinjun Otsuka, Shin Taira, Koki Shiroma, Kanbun Uechi

There are various opinions about Ryu or the styles of karate in Ryukyu (Okinawa) but they are just guess work and without any definite research or evidence. With regard to this matter, we feel as if we are groping in the dark.

According to popular opinion we can categorize karate into two styles; Shorin-Ryu and Shorei-Ryu. Commentators insist that the former is fit for a stout person, while the latter for a slim person. Such an opinion has proved to be false through many studies.

In 1828 (Qing or Ching dynasty in China), our ancestors inherited the kungfu style of Fujian province in China. They continued their studies and formed Goju-Ryu karate. Even today, there still exists an orthodox group which inherited genuine and authentic Goju-ryu karate.

Nowadays karate-do has become popular all over Japan, where many people study karate-do very hard. Even outside Japan, karate-do is popular. There is a man who graduated from university in Tokyo. He is now propagating and studying karate-do in Europe. In May 1934, I was invited by Okinawans in Hawaii and a Hawaiian newspaper company to propagate and teach karate-do in Hawaii, U.S.A. Karate clubs have been established in Hawaii since then.

As each person has his or her distinctive character, the muscle development is different depending on his or her muscle use. Therefore, at first, we do Preparatory Exercise to develop our muscles so that we can practice karate exercises more easily, then Fundamental Kata, Supplementary Exercise, Kaishu Kata and Kumite Training. We teach karate in this way.

We exercise each muscle of our body in order to enhance its flexibility, strength and endurance, and then we practice the fundamental kata, namely Sanchin, Tensho and Naifanchi. We repeat this preparatory exercise after our practice of kata to relax our muscles.

Sanchin, Tensho and Naifanchi are the fundamental kata. By practicing them, we learn to develop correct posture. We can inhale and exhale correctly. We can harmoniously adjust, increase or decrease our power. We can develop a powerful physique and the strong will of warrior.

This exercise enables us to learn and perform Kaishu kata well. We exercise each part of our body with a particular movement. We also practice with various pieces of equipment to enhance our overall strength and, in particular, strengthen individual parts of the body.

Nowadays we have about twenty or thirty kinds of kata and their names are diverse depending on their creators. Kata has techniques for defence and offense which are connected appropriately. Kata moves in various directions and in this it is something like gymnastics. We should perform kata by using the power of mind and body in accordance with its technical purpose so that we can learn the principles associated with dismantling and putting the kata back together.

We take apart Kaishu kata which we already learned, and we study the techniques of defence and offense in the kata. Understanding its technical purpose, we practice the techniques of attack and defence with fighting spirit just as we would in a real situation.

I summarize as follows. We induce the interaction of mind and body from the fundamental kata, Sanchin, Tensho and Naifanchi. We develop the spirit of martial arts by acquiring fighting techniques through practicing Kaishu kata and Kumite training correctly.

Hasta donde llega el conocimiento de este autor, tres documentos fueron producidos por Chojun Miyagi (o al menos tres se han hecho pblicos): Goju-ryu kenpo, Ho goju donto y Karate-do gaisetsu (Esbozo del Karate-do) (1). Los dos primeros, escritos en 1932 y 1942 respectivamente, no contienen ninguna referencia a sente nashi. En Karate-do gaisetsu, Miyagi s menciona brevemente el principio sente nashi, pero no de forma que sea de particular ayuda para nuestra discusin. En la versin que aparece en Ancient Okinawan Martial Arts (Antiguas Artes Marciales de Okinawa), encontramos el siguiente prrafo:

El folclore sostiene que los mtodos de enseanza de antao se centraban principalmente en la defensa personal, prestando poca atencin al entrenamiento de la mente, o cultivando el precepto karate-do ni sente nashi (no existe el primer ataque en karate-do). He observado la falta de consideracin hacia este principio diligente, aunque, con el paso del tiempo, las polticas de enseanza han mejorado gradualmente hacia el punto en el que ese desequilibrio, en su mayor parte, ha sido corregido. Mi conviccin es que el puo y el Zen son uno y lo mismo (sic). Juntos, este equilibrio cultiva el intelecto por delante de la fuerza. La transmisin del precepto esencial del budo debe ser fomentada. (Miyagi, Karate-do Gaisetsu 50) (2)

Aparte de en este pasaje, Miyagi no hace ninguna otra mencin a la mxima sente nashi.

Choki Motobu, en su publicacin de 1932 Watashi no karate-jutsu (Mi karate-jutsu), expresa sus pensamientos sobre sente nashi de una forma que es directamente relevante para lo que estamos preguntando aqu. En una seccin de un solo prrafo titulada Karate ni sente nashi, l escribe:

Existe un dicho, karate ni sente nashi. Al parecer algunas personas interpretan esto literalmente y a menudo afirman que uno no debe atacar primero, pero yo creo que estn seriamente equivocados. Para que quede claro, ciertamente no es el espritu del budo entrenar con el propsito de golpear a otros sin una buena razn. Asumo que ya saben que el objetivo principal de uno debe ser el entrenamiento de mente y cuerpo. El significado de este dicho, entonces, es que uno no debe daar a otros sin motivo. Pero cuando una situacin no puede ser mejorada, en otras palabras, cuando, aunque uno intenta evitar el problema, no puede; cuando un enemigo est seriamente decidido a causar dao, uno debe plantarse y luchar con ferocidad. Cuando uno pelea, adquirir control sobre el enemigo es crucial, y se debe adquirir ese control con el primer movimiento. De este modo, en una pelea uno debe atacar primero. Es muy importante recordar esto. (Motobu 58-59) (3)

De hecho, en al menos una ocasin Choki Motobu demostr realmente su disposicin a golpear primero, si creemos una historia que le contaron al investigador de Karate Charles Goodin. Goodin cuenta que escuch la historia del hijo de Motobu, Chosei, quien a su vez la haba escuchado de Chozo Nakama, un antiguo alumno del viejo Motobu (4). Segn la explicacin ofrecida por Goodin, Choki Motobu, rondando los setenta en aquella poca, asista a una gran fiesta cuando un antiguo alumno irrumpi en ella y, blandiendo un cuchillo, desafi a Motobu. Goodin relata:

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