The Spirit of Karate

1.Rules for Learners

All learners and students of Karate, whether you learn it under your master, with your fellow comrades or alone, should always learn it with serious and earnest
mind. You should repeat practice and learn Kata with a prepared mind to fight with your opponents.

Any practice without a tense concentration of mind tends to end up as more like a sheer play or performance. So you will never be able to upgrade yourself in Karate, including the training of your mind and body, no matter how long you may try to learn it without this concentration of mind. You will find yourself and your body unable to move when you have to fight and you are destined to find yourself trapped with a big mistake. Therefore, your daily effort to repeat practicing Kata with a tense concentration of mind makes a big difference in time.

At the time of practice, you should lower your shoulder, open your chest, put in your power in your abdomen, open your eyes wide open and see straight, draw in your chin, and put in your power in the scruff of your neck. When you hit your fist, it would be best to do your practice with the mind of one deadly blow. When you do so, you can naturally train yourself both in your mind and body.

All learners and students of Karate should refrain from excessive intake of alcohol and sex. You should refrain from getting drunk and use your fist with a puzzled mind of yours. You should refrain from doing your practice without a prepared calm mind of yours. You should refrain from indulging yourself in sensual pleasure. You should refrain from all of them. You should get rid of them all.

Essentially Karate is not the tactics for offense. When you practice Kata, you will know that everything is there for receiving whatever comes to you first. You defend yourself by saving enough power of yours for offense.

In this sense, I sincerely hope that you will make the most of the spirit of Karate not only for the art of self-defense but also for the art of mutual cooperation in our world. You can cherish and preserve your power inside yourself and at the same time you can stay on good terms with other people. I sincerely hope that all students of Karate will hold this spirit in yourself for long.

Like Kendo is not for the art of cutting people in vain but for the art of refraining from being caught up with selfish greed, Karate is the way to control your greed and grow and nurture humble mind of yours.

It is not the main goal and purpose of Karate to wave and use your fists and legs to surprise people and fight with people.

I see some learners and students of Karate show the power of their fists by breaking roof tiles and boards for fun or as part of entertainment. I see them boasting what they do.

It is important to train and strengthen the fists. But it is no good for Karatedo to use these fists to surprise or threaten people by any means.

The essential goal of martial arts is the training of mind and body. It is for making and building fine and good characters. One noted person said this. “There is nothing so obnoxious to find men of martial arts who pretend to be as real martial artists”. There were many students of mine who showed the power of their fists by breaking roof tiles and boards in front of people and became self-sufficient and satisfied. But none of them succeeded in upgrading themselves
in Karate. They were not enthusiastic about learning Kata. It is important to build strong fists but learning Kata is far more important than that.

In old days, we used to learn or teach Karate in a secret way without being known by other people. Those who wished to learn any martial art were very humble and quiet and they were reluctant to show what they can do in the place where many people gathered.

This is the basic rule we must abide by and obey no matter how things may change. It is more so in today when everything is becoming wide open and public. As for my advice for practice, it is important to go to the lavatory before you start your practice. It is something very important for those who wish to learn the essence of any martial art.

It is important to trim and shear the nails of the limbs (the arms and the legs).

In many cases, long nails often tend to hurt yourself. The most important of all, needless to say now, is to take a good balance of your mind. I refer to this because I talked about the breaking of the roof tiles and boards by fists. What counts is your daily practice. You have to do your own practice punctually in the morning and in the evening. Your fists are far weaker and softer than roof tiles and boards. You should overcome whatever comes to you with these fists.
You can accomplish it by only controlling your mind and repeating your practice. Today everyone seems to place great emphasis on scientism as if it were almighty. I guess that what I am saying now holds some truth in it. I guess that what I am saying is going to be proved in a very scientific way some day.

I believe that many of you do understand the spirit of Karate and try to understand it more in depth. I believe that many of you are trying to study it more.

At my hometown in my country (Okinawa), we used to use the word “Kunshi” or “man of wisdom” and name it for our Karate and its learners in the old days. It means “Bushi” or a gentle person. It also means someone who can hold and maintain good character. Today we see many new happenings going on. Even the ways of thinking seem to be changing for the worse. In such situations, I sincerely hope that we will be able to produce more and more people who can be “Kunshi” or “man of wisdom”.

–the part from page 82 to page 84 is the excerpts from the book “Kobojizai Goshinjutsu Karate Kenpo” (Karate As A Martial Art— Ways of Offense and Defense for Protecting Yourself) written by Kenwa Mabuni in March, 1934

2.The philosophy of Kenyu Ryu Karate DO

-The philosophy of

Ryu Karate DO

The origin of

Ryu Karate DO

comes from “Shuri-Te” (Shuri Karate) founded by Master Anko Itosu and later from “Naha-Te” (Naha Karate) founded by Master Kanryo Higaon-na. Kenwa Mabuni, “Ryuso” (Founder) of Kenyu Ryu Karate DO, tried to combine many Karate groups such as Matsumura Group or Arakaki Group into one. Founder Kenwa Mabuni, in deep contemplation, named the style he combined and created as “Kenyu Ryu” after forming the first hieroglyphs of both Anko Itosu and Kanryo Higaon-na. It is after Kenwa Mabuni called his own style as “Mabuni Style” inheriting both styles of Shuri Karate and Haha Karate.

After studying and going through with all these stages and processes of “protecting, breaking and detaching”, Kenwa Mabuni scrutinized the whole of these spirits and techniques and named his new style as “Kenyu Ryu”.

Its main characteristics are as follows. First, the rule is to study thoroughly the contents of practice with the Kata as its fundamental basics. Then by practically and theoretically analyzing these skills and techniques, You have to go to your own practice such as “bunkai kumite” (analyzed kumite). As a result, it becomes possible for you to loosen your power, do practice with no major unnecessary movement, and do practice with no outstandingly showy movement of Kata. Eventually you will be able to perform Kata by understanding the contents of all the skills and techniques.

The “Ryuso” (Founder) did play a great role in leading his students in improving their skills and techniques. At the same time, he placed a big emphasis on developing the way of educating the minds of his students. The Founder advocated “Kunshi-no-Ken” (the fists of man of wisdom). What the Founder aimed at and actually taught his students is the making and upgrading of good characters of people who learn Kenyu Ryu Karate DO

 

-”Kunshi no Ken” (Fists of Man of Virtue)

Sensei Kenwa Mabuni learned the special barehanded martial art in the land of Ryukyu (old name for Okinawa) that has been secretly taught and inherited by its students from the old days for generations. Sensei Kenwa Mabuni wished to change it into the martial art that is not only for sheer ways for battles and combats. He wished to change it as the martial art that can help learners train their mind and body as its first goal. He learned it to make it as the martial art that can maintain the dignity and integrity of “Kunshi” or Man of Virtue. Therefore, Kenyu Ryu Karate DOadvocates “Kunshi no Ken” (Fists of Man of Virtue) and
is aiming at educating learners not only the techniques but the ways to seek to build good characters. The teaching of “Kunshi no Ken” should not be misled or forgotten by learners of Karatedo.