Introduction of karate(part4) - Philosophy of Karate

Hello! This time I'll show you the philosophy of karate.  


 Karate is surely a kind of martial art but we can learn the philosophy or mind of karate
through practice.
Every schools has own 道場訓(Dojokun).Dojokun is the list of sentences which express important things on practicing karate and those who practice karate aim to observe or to achieve the Dojokun. 
 So I'll show you two examples of Doujokun. 
First is that of JKA(Japan Karate Association),second is that of Kyokushin kaikan.


1.JKA

JKA is one of the famous organization of traditional school.Then JKA's Dojokun says
5 things.


(from right to left)
1.Seek perfection of character
1.Be sincere
1.Put maximum effort into everything you do
1.Respect others
1.Develop self-control




2.Kyokushin kaikan

Kyokushin kaikan is the popular organization of full contact karate.
(from right to left)
We will train our hearts and bodies for a firm unshaking spirit.
We will pursue the true meaning of the Martial Way, So that in time, our senses may be alert.
With true vigor, we will seek to cultivate a spirit of self denial.
We will observe the rules of courtesy, respect our superiors, and refrain from violence.
We will follow our god, and never foget the true virtue of humility.
We will look upwards to wisdom and strength, not seeking other desires.
All our lives, through the discipline of karate, we will seek to fulfill the true meaning of the kyokushin way.




 Apart from these Dojokun,founders of schools left the instructions about practicing karate.


3.Funakoshi  Gichin(the founder of Shotokan school)


 The 20 sentences below are called 富名腰義珍翁空手道二十条(Funakoshi Gichin's 20 precepts on Karatedo)


一、空手は礼に初まり礼に終ることを忘るな。
  1.   Never forget: karate begins with rei and ends with rei (Rei means courtesy or respect, and is represented in karate by bowing)
二、空手に先手なし。
  2. There is no first attack in karate
三、空手は義の補け。
  3. Karate supports righteousness
四、先づ自己を知れ而して他を知れ。
  4. First understand yourself, then understand others
五、技術より心術。
  5. The art of developing the mind is more important than the art of applying technique
六、心は放たん事を要す。
  6. The mind needs to be freed
七、禍は懈怠に生ず。
  7. Trouble is born of negligence
八、道場のみの空手と思うな。
  8. Do not think karate belongs only in the dojo
九、空手の修行は一生である。
  9. Karate training requires a lifetime
十、凡ゆるものを空手化せ其処に妙味あり。
  10. Transform everything into karate; therein lies its exquisiteness
十一、空手は湯の如く絶えず熱を与えざれば元の水に返る。
  11. Genuine karate is like hot water; it cools down if you do not keep on heating it
十二、勝つ考えは持つな、負けぬ考えは必要。
  12. Do not think of winning; you must think of not losing
十三、敵に因って転化せよ。
  13. Transform yourself according to the opponent
十四、戦は虚実の操縦如何にあり。
  14. The outcome of the fight depends on one's control
十五、人の手足を劔と思え。
  15. Imagine one's arms and legs as swords
十六、男子門を出づれば百万の敵あり。
  16. Once you leave the shelter of home, there are a million enemies
十七、構えは初心者に、あとは自然体。
  17. Postures are for the beginner; later they are natural positions
十八、型は正しく、実戦は別もの。
  18. Do the kata correctly; the real fight is a different matter
十九、力の強弱、体の伸縮、技の緩急を忘るな。
  19. Do not forget control of the dynamics of power, the elasticity of the body and the speed of the technique
二十、常に思念工夫せよ。
　20.  Always be good at the application of everything that you have learned.




Again, these Dojokun and precepts are very important.After research about them,I think it is necessary for me to be more careful  about  them.


<reference>

http://karatenokotu.com/article/95662373.html
http://ooinarien.web.fc2.com/inariy-site/jka/index4.html
http://www.kyokushinkaikan.org/ja/about/spirit.html
http://bit.ly/zbUM9m
http://bit.ly/z4QRBe
http://www.jka.or.jp/english/karate/kun.html

Introduction of karate(part3) - Origin and history

This time I'll show you about origin and history of karate.

Karate is the martal art which was bagan in Ryukyu kingdom(it was in OKinawa).

Contents

 1.Origin

 2.The age of Ryukyu kingdom

 3.Crisis of Karate

 4.Development in the mainland of Japan

 5.Movement after WW2

1.Origin

 It is said that the origin of Karate is Ryukyu dancing,called 舞方（Mekata).

And the Mekata was often done by the person who leaded dancing procession. 

Then the Mekata developed to be 手(Ti ティー).

 http://ajima.ti-da.net/e3042560.html

2.The age of Ryukyu kingdom

 Ti was born for self defense because Ryukyu kingdom was easily attacked by foreign enemy in terms of geography.In 16th century,the 禁武政策(kinbuseisaku,'Policy of Banning Weapons) was enforced by 向真王(Shoushinou),and in 17th century,the Satsuma clan invaded Ryukyu kingdom and  put 'Policy of Banning Weapons, in force too.It is said that these events promoted the development of Ti becauseOkinawan people needed to defense themselves with out weapons(so they developed not only Tee but also the way of using things around them such as scythe and stick). 

  In early 19th century,佐久川寛賀(Sakugawa Kanga) mixed Ti and kung fu ,which he had trained inChina,and create 唐手(トーディー,Tudi).In that time,Tudi could be categorized 3 types in a viewpoint of the places where Tudi was practiced by a lot of people.Syurite(首里手),Tomarite(泊手)and Nahate(那覇手).

　　佐久川寛賀(Sakugawa Kanga) http://www.okinawabbtv.com/culture/karate/person/j_person001.html

  
And many of players of Tudi later contributed to develop karate by bringing karate to main land of Japan or by originating new schools(refer to part 5)

  

・Syurite（首里手)... Syurite was practiced by nobility in capital of Ryukyu kingdom.It emphasize speed ,flexibility,and attack by long distance.Sakugawa,Itosu Ankou(糸洲 安恒）,Motobu choki(本部 朝基),Funakoshi Gichin(冨名腰 義珍) and Mabuni Kenwa(摩文仁 賢和) are popular player of Syurite.

・Tomarite(泊手)  ... Tomarite was born near the Tomari port but is similar to Syurite. Most of Tomarite players wereSyurite player.

・Nahate(那覇手)  ... Not like Syurite and Tomarite,Nahate emphasaized power and attack by short distance. Popular player of Nahate was Miyabe Chojun(宮部 長順).

 In addition,Tudi was secretly taught from parents only to their children of Tudi players.

3.Crisis of Karate

 In 1871,Meiji government acted 廃藩置県(Haihanchiken,the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures).As a result,in 1879,Ryukyu kingdom was fell and nobilities or worriers of Ryukyu who supported tudi were ruined.Tudi was at a point of crisis but Itosu Anko made effort to continue tudi.In 1901～1905,he started to taught Tudi at school in Okinawa.Tudi became one subject of PE and the way of reading 唐手 was changed from Tudi to Karate.Karate came to be taught openly and can survive.

4.Development in the mainland of Japan

  Karate was introduced a little before Meiji era but it is after Taisho era that karate came to be known well. In 1922,Funakoshi gichin(冨名腰 義珍) was invited to Kodokan(講道館)by Kano Jigoro(嘉納 治五郎) and demonstrated karate in front of about 200 judo players who has black belt.He stayed Tokyo and taught karete there.On the other hand,in Kyoto, Motobu Choki(本部 朝基) joined the match in which boxing player and judo player fought from the outside and defeat the foreign boxing player at one blow.Because this event was featured by a popular magazine,he and karate came to be known much better.

  After these events,karate experienced some changes.In 1929,the kanji of karate was changed from 唐手 to 空手.And in 1939,karate was formally admitted as one of Japanese Budo by 大日本武徳会(Dainihon-butokukai),which generalized Japanese Budos such as kendo and judo and standardize martial disciplines and systems throughout Japan.With this admittance,some aspects of judo in karate was removed and  karate was specialized in attack with blow.

  In this development, 四大流派(yondai-ryuuha,the big four traditional schools)and 沖縄三大流派(okinawa sandai ryuha,The Okinawan big three schools) were originated.(see part5)

　　

(Left)Motobu Choki(本部 朝基),(Right)Funakoshi gichin(冨名腰 義珍) 

5.Movement after WW2

 After WW2,GHQ ordered the Ministry of Education to prohibit Budo like Judo and Kendo and GHQ broke Dainihon-butokukai up.But students who came back from war made efforts to revive karate. In 1950s,many competitions were held by organizations of karate such as 韓武館Kanbukan (present　全日本空手道連盟錬武会 Renbukai)and 日本空手協会(Japan Karate Association).

 In 1964, 全日本空手道連盟(Japan Karate Federation,JKF) was established and it held a large competition by 寸止め(Sundome,soft attack)rule. At the same time,Oyama Masutatsu(大山 倍達) originated 極真会館(Kyokushin kaikan)which emphasized full-contact attack(hard attack) because he doubted Sundome style of karate. 

 On the other hand,some Okinawan karate schools have been displeased with JKF because 

they wanted to join JKF but JKF told them to be examined for joining by the stranded and because they protested that it meant Okinawan karate would be ruled by karate in mainland.     

 Then Schools of karate was diversified and many styles of karate exist today.

I think you didn't understand some words about karate... :-/  

So,I'll explain later and next time I'll show you the philosophy of karate!

<Reference>

http://budoukarate.ninja-mania.jp/index.html　空手入門

http://www.geocities.co.jp/Athlete-Athene/9993/　空手の歴史

http://www.kyokushinkan-jyonan.com/History.htm　空手の歴史を求めて

http://bit.ly/zDmwoz wikipedia 空手道

Introduction of karate(part2) - What's karate?2

Hello!Oss!
Today,I'll show you about the way of training .


In karate practice(Keiko 稽古）,we practice 4 type trainings,Kihon (基本,means basic training）,Ido kihon（移動基本,means moving training),Kata （型,means training of forms),and Kumite(組手,means fighting training).


1.Kihon (基本）
  Kihon is the most basic training of karate.In kihon, we practice attack and protect techniques such as 突き(tsuki,punching) ,蹴り（keri,kicking),受け(uke,protecting) and 立ち方(tachikata,standing form). Through this practice we can learn basic techniques of Karate.In addition, we can also learn the way we use many parts of our body to do keri and tsuki effectively,which is very important.For example, learning how to twist waist helps us doing  uke and keri.

 ex)直突き（Tyokuzuki）,揚げ受け（Ageuke),前蹴り（Maegeri)


　　


2 Ido kihon(移動基本）
 Ido kihon is also important.While we practice techniques  on the spot in Kihon,we practice moving forward and backward.In Ido kihon,we practice more various techniques than Kihon.
We can learn the way we do tsuki and keri in moving and how we connect the power of moving with attack.
 ex) 追い付き（Oizuki),揚げ受け逆付き（Ageukegyakuduki),横蹴込み（Yokokekomi)





3 Kata（型）
 Kata is the training in which we do the techniques in order.Kata also means the forms of combination of techniques. There  are many types and differences of Kata between schools .But the aim of Kata is the same. The aim of Kata is that we learn the way we put those techniques to practical use . 
ex)平安五段(Heian godan),観空大（Kankuudai）,征遠鎮（Seienchin)
Here is the movie of demonstration of Seienchin.
 ⇒http://bit.ly/x9CjO2



4Kumite(組手）
  Kumite is the fighting training by two persons.This trainig has two types.Yakusoku Kumite（約束組手）and Jiyu kumite（自由組手）.While in Yakusoku Kumite, they attack and protect following an order,in Jiyu Kumite, they fighting practically.The way of Kumite  is also different between schools.


Kihon and Ido Kihon are the base of Kata and Kumite but the balance of emphasis between Kata and Kumite is different from schools. Most of traditional schools  put emphasis on both of them but some of schools put emphasis on Kumite.


　　　　


Ok.next time,I'll introduce origin and history.