Original Remarks: This essay was written and prepared by Master Chojun
Miyagi especially for the club members when he gave us the lecture "About
Karatedo" and its demonstration at the lecture hall on the 4th floor of
Meiji Shoten at Sakaisuji, Osaka on 28th January 1936.
1. Preface
What is karate? It is the art we exercise mind and body for health
promotion in daily life, but in case of emergency it is the art of self-defence
without any weapon. In most cases we fight with our bodies - hands, feet,
elbows etc - to defeat opponents. However, in some cases, in accordance with
circumstances, we may also use weapons (such as Bo, Sai, Nunchaku, Tonfa,
Weeku, Kama etc).
People often misunderstand karate. When they see someone breaking five
wooden board or a few pieces of roof tile by his or her fist, they think it
is a main part of karate. Of course, it is not a main part of karate but 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 by words.
2. How the martial arts was introduced to Ryukyu (= Okinawa)?
The name "karate" is a special term in Ryukyu. Karate originated from
Chinese kungfu. We have few books on origin of Chinese kungfu, so we cannot
conclude immediately, but according to a theory, the martial arts originated
in central Asia and the area around Turkey when the ancient civilization was
developed. And then it was introduced to China gradually. However, we still
another theory. It says that about 5,000 years ago Chinese kungfu originated
at the age of Yellow Emperor (= Emperor Huang) who built the brilliant
culture at the Yellow River basin. Anyway, it is not difficult to imagine
that the prototype of martial arts was born by fighting spirit for struggle
which human being possess by nature. For example, most styles of Chinese
kungfu were created by mimicking fights of animals or birds. You can see it
from the styles' names such as Tiger Style, Lion Style, Monkey Style, Dog
Style, Crane Style and so on. In the age a little later, Chinese kungfu
split into Southern school and Northern school. Moreover, each school split
into Neijia and Waijia. The characteristic of Neijia is mainly softness, and
it is a defensive fighting arts. Wudang kungfu (= Taichi for example) is
typical of Neijia. The characteristic of Waijia is mainly hardness, and it
is an aggressive fighting arts. Shaolin kungfu is typical of Waijia, which
was created at Shaolin Temple in Songshang Mountaion, Henan province.
And later, in the ages of Tang dynasty and Song dynasty, we can find many
kungfu warriors at the height of their success.
When we consider how karate was introduced to Ryukyu (= Okinawa), we have
various opinions without any historical evidence. We have not yet come to a
correct conclusion on this matter. There are three main opinions, namely
"Thirty-six Chinese Immigrants", "Oshima Notes" and "Importation in Keicho
Period". Simple explanation of each opinion are as follows.
(1) Thirty-six Chinese Immigrants
In 1392 (Ming dynasty in China), thirty-six Chinese immigrants came to
Ryukyu from Fujian province. At that time karate was introduced to Ryukyu
by Chinese immigrants from Fujian province.
(2) Oshima Notes
In 1762, the merchant ship of the Ryukyu Kingdom was caught in a heavy
storm on the way to Satsuma (= Kagoshima prefecture now), and cast ashore
on the coast of Oshima, Tosa (= Kochi prefecture now). Shiohira Pechin, a
high rank official of the ship, was an intelligent person. He was helped
by Choki Tobe, an intellectual who lived in Oshima. Tobe wrote down
Shiohira's interesting stories about the Ryukyu Kingdom. His notes was
called "Oshima Notes". The 3rd volume of "Oshima Notes" says "Koshankun, a
kungfu warrior, came from China to Ryukyu (= Okinawa) bringing his
disciples with him." According to the Notes, at that time people called
the martial arts "Kumiaijutsu" instead of karate. This notes is the most
reliable literature on karate.
(3) Importation in Keicho Period
In 1609 (14th year of Keicho period), the Shimazu clan of Satsuma (=
Kagoshima prefecture now) invaded the Ryukyu Kingdom, and they prohibited
possessing weapons by 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 a
martial arts from China and "Te" a native martial arts which had already
existed, so karate was developed remarkably and even today it is still
improved rationally and developed. We have a few different opinions on
origin of karate, but they are popular misconceptions and not worth
listening.
As mentioned above, so far we do not have any definite and convincing
opinion yet. Anyway, karate has been developed, modified and improved for
so many years.
3. Karate circles in the past
We also do not know origin of the name "karate", but it is true that the
name "karate" was made recently. In the old days it was called "Te". At that
time people used to practice karate secretly, and a masters taught a few
advanced Kata out of all the Kata only to his best disciple. If he had no
suitable disciple, he never taught them anyone, and eventually such Kata
have completely died out. As a result, there are many Kata which were not
handed down. In about middle of Meiji period (1868-1912), prominent karate
masters abolished the old way of secrecy. Karate was opened to the public,
so it was soon recognized by society. It was dawn in the development of
karate. In accordance with the rapidly progressing culture, karate was also
recognized as physical education, and it was adopted as one of the teaching
subjects at school. Therefore, at last karate has won the social approval.
4. How we teach karate at present.
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 showed their students the moral aspects.
However, I heard that in reality they tended to neglect such moral
principles. So gradually the teaching policy was improved with the change of
the times. Now we discontinued and abolished the wrong tradition of
so-called "body first, and mind second", and we made our way toward Tao of
fighting arts or the truth of karate. Eventually we have obtained the
correct motto "mind first, and body second" which means karate and Zen are
the same.
Those who are engaged in teaching karate in Okinawa prefecture and
outside Okinawa prefecture at present are as follows. (in random order)
In Okinawa prefecture:
Kentsu Yabu, Chomo Hanashiro, Chotoku Kyan, Anbun Tokuda, Juhatsu Kyoda,
Choshin Chibana, Jinsei Kamiya, Shinpan Shiroma, Seiko Higa, Kamado
Nakasone, Jin-an Shinzato, Chojun Miyagi
Outside Okinawa prefecture:
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
5. About karate styles or Ryu
There are various opinions about Ryu or styles of karate in Ryukyu (=
Okinawa), but they are just guess without any definite research or evidence.
With regard to this matter, we feel as if we are groping in the dark.
According to a popular opinion out of them, we can categorize karate into
two styles; Shorin-Ryu and Shorei-Ryu. They insist that the former is fit
for a stout person, while the latter for a slim person. However, such an
opinion proved to be false by many studies. In the meantime, there is the
only opinion we can trust. It is as follows: In 1828 (Qing or Ching dynasty
in China), our ancestors inherited a 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.
6. The feature of karate Some good points of karate are as
follows.
(1) A large place or a spacious area is not required for practicing
karate.
(2) You can practice karate by yourself. You can also do it together
with other karate members by forming a group.
(3) You don't have to spend many hours in practicing karate.
(4) You can choose Kata suitable for your physical strength and
practice it regardless of age and gender.
(5) Without spending much money, you can practice karate with simple
equipment (such as Makiwara) or without it.
(6) Karate is very effective as a means of health promotion. There are
many karateka who are healthy and live long.
(7) As a result of training in mind and body, you can cultivate your
character and acquire indomitable spirit.
7. The future of karate-do
The days when karate was taught secretly was over, and has come the new
age in which we practice and study karate publicly and officially.
Therefore, the future of karate-do is bright. Taking this opportunity, we
should stop advertising karate as if it was a mysterious and magical
fighting arts in a small island called Ryukyu. We should open karate to the
public and receive criticism, opinions and studies from the other prominent
fighting artists. In the future, we should invent complete protectors for a
safety karate tournament like other fighting arts, so that karate become one
of Japanese fighting arts.
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 to propagate and
teach karate-do in Hawaii, U.S.A. by Okinawans there and a newspaper
company. Karate clubs have been established in Hawaii since then.
As mentioned above, now karate-do has become not only a Japanese martial
arts but also an international martial arts.
8. The teaching method of karate
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 easier, and then "Fundamental Kata",
"Supplementary Exercise", "Kaishu Kata" and "Kumite Training". We teach
karate in this way. Each outline is as follows.
(1) Preparatory Exercise
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 do again this preparatory
exercise after practice of Kata to relax our muscles. And we take a
breathing exercise and take a rest quietly.
(2) Fundamental Kata
Sanchin, Tensho and Naifanchi are the fundamental Kata. Through
practicing them, we can take a correct posture. We can inhale and exhale
correctly. We can adjust increasing or decreasing our power harmoniously.
We can develop a powerful physique and a strong will of warrior.
(3) Supplementary Exercise
This exercise enable us to learn and perform Kaishu Kata well. We
exercise each part of our body with a particular movement. We also
practice with various equipments to enhance our outer whole strength and
particular part strength.
(4) Kaishu Kata (= Kata except Fundamental Kata)
Nowadays we have about twenty or thirty kinds of Kata, and their names
are various depending on their creators. Kata has techniques of defense
and offense which are connected appropriately. It has various directions
of the movements and it is something like gymnastics. We should perform
Kata by using power of mind and body in accordance with its technical
purpose so that we can learn the principle of untying and tying.
(5) Kumite Training
We untie Kaishu Kata which we already learned, and we study techniques
of defense and offense in Kaishu Kata. Understanding its technical
purpose, we practice the techniques of attack and defense with fighting
spirit like a real situation.