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Karate-Do
Breve Reseña Histórica
Las artes combativas sin armas han sido inherentes a los hombres desde
tiempos antiguos. Ellas son
el reflejo de la cultura de los pueblos y de su nacionalidad.
El KARATE (KARA= vacío adj. TE=mano sus.) es una de estas
manifestaciones combativas.
 En general el Karate tiene sus raíces en la China y entró en el Japón
a través de las Islas de Ryukyu.
En los primeros años del
siglo 17, la isla de Okinawa fue invadida y conquistada por los
japoneses. Durando más de
200 años esta ocupación, fueron prohibidas todas las armas a fin de
impedir cualquier tipo de rebelión.
Fue de esta manera que los
pobladores de Okinawa desarrollaron el Karate como una forma de
defenderse y protegerse ante la amenaza de bandoleros y propiamente los
japoneses.
El mayor florecimiento del Karate fue
durante este período sin embargo su práctica se realizaba en la
clandestinidad siendo hasta el siglo 20 en que fue abiertamente
practicado.
 Para el año 1915 un profesor
de Okinawa, llamado Gichin Funakoshi, introdujo el Karate a Japon,
durante una invitacion a fin de que demostrara el Karate, impresionando
a sus anfitriones quienes le persuadieron a permanecer en el país y ser
adiestrados en este arte marcial, hasta la muerte de su maestro en el año
1957 a la edad de 88 años.
Las
raíces del Karate se remontan a la India……
Las raíces del Karate se
pueden encontrar incluso más alla de Okinawa, esta mirada restrospectiva
nos fija en las técnicas de respiracion Yoga y en la meditación Zen , las cuales impregnaron las artes
marciales de la India y luego tuvieron gran influencia en todas las
artes marciales orientales, incluyendo a el Karate.
La primer expresión de lo que podríamos llamar Karate lo encontramos en la antigua
India como “Kshátriya” y era practicada por soldados al cuido de
fortalezas y palacios.
En el siglo 5, Bodhidharma,
un monge budista zen, en cuya infancia practicó las técnicas del Kshátriya,
quien introdujo las técnicas combativas sin armas de la India a la China, donde instruyó a los monges Shaolin a
fin de darles condición física y mental.
Combinando las técnicas
respiratorias con un estilo chino denominado Kempo, dio origen al
sistema Shaolin, el cual fue desarrollado en diferentes monasterios para
convertirse en lo que usualmente conocemos como kung fu o kempo chino.
Este
kempo chino a su vez, llegaría a combinarse con las técnicas desarrolladas por los
nativos de Okinawa y daria paso a una nueva forma combativa llamada Karate.
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Kyokushin
Karate
La
revolucion de las artes marciales de contacto…
Kyokushin
Karate es la madre de todas las artes marciales de contacto.
Es el producto de un exhaustivo estudio y la combinacion diferentes
artes marciales asiáticas, las cuales se combinan en un estilo donde su
rasgo caracteristico ha sido la competencia a contacto pleno y sin equipo protector.
La traducción de Kyokushin, evoca la fantasia y la capacidad de
contemplacion a fin de dar un significado y comprension a la “Ultima
Verdad”.
El
símbolo característico de este arte marcial es el Kanku, originado de la kata (forma) Kanku Dai.
En esta
forma se elevan las manos hacia el cielo, formando un símbolo, cuya
forma tiene varios significados intrínsicos: la punta de los dedos
significan “lo último” , “la cima”. La parte ancha representadas
por las muñecas determina el poder; el centro representa el infinito
implicando profundidad, la figura circular del kanku representa la
continuidad, el moviento circular.
Adicionalmente
otros aspectos relacionados con los desplazamientos, empleo del
movimiento circular y uso de la linea recta se representan a través del
estudio de este símbolo.
MASUTATSU OYAMA
1923-1994
El
Maestro Mas Oyama, 10mo dan cinta negra, nacio en el año 1923 en Korea
y falleció en el año 1994,en Tokyo Japón, a la edad de 71 años, víctima de cáncer de pulmón.
Su
inicio en las arte marciales comienza con la práctica del Kempo Chino a
la edad de los nueve años. A
los quince años fue enviado por su padre, a estudiar a Japón en el
Instituto Juvenil de Aviacion de Yamanashi. Allí empezó a entrenar Judo y posteriormente inicio sus
adiestramientos bajo la dirección de Gichin Funakoshi.
Su
progreso y dedicación lo hicieron merecedor del 4to Dan a la edad de 22
años, llevándolo a triunfar en el All Japan Karate Championship en el año
1947.
En el año
1948, atribulado por el período social que atravezaba Japón luego de su
derrota en la 2da Guerra Mundial , Mas Oyama decidió someterse a un
período de entrenamiento solitario en las montañas del Japon en el
Monte Kiyosumi en la provincia (prefectura) de Chiba, donde estuvo 18
meses en entrenamiento diario del cuerpo y espíritu.
Este tipo de confinamiento para entrenar bajo las mas rigurosas
condiciones fue repetido por Mas Oyama en una segunda oportunidad.
Asi
fortalecido y convencido de su misión como instructor de Karate, retorno
de las montañas y se enfrentó con su primer toro. Esto lo hizo famoso y
lo llevó a matar 3 toros sólo con sus manos, quebrándole los cuernos a
48, escapando uno de ellos , para un total de 52 toros.
En 1952
fue invitado a realizar una gira de demostraciones por los Estados
Unidos, donde brindó 32 demostraciones en varios estados y participó en
enfrentamientos con boxeadores y luchadores sin ser derrotado por
ninguno de ellos.
Retorno
a los Estados Unidos en el año 1953 y donde se enfrentó a un toro en la
ciudad de Chicago, donde se hizo famoso por cortar ambos cuernos.
Para el
año 1954 abre su primer dojo (escuela)
en Mejiro (suburbio) de Tokyo, junto a los instructores Mizushima y
Yasuda. En 1956 abre otro
dojo en la parte de atrás de la Univesidad Rikkyo, junto a los
instructores Mizushima, Yasuda, Ishibashi y Minamimoto, en el área de Ikebukuro.
Allí
Mas Oyama iniciaria su Honbu Dojo (actualmente convertido en Memorial
Kaikan en recuerdo a la vida de Mas Oyama) y la I.K.O. International
Karate Organization, KYOKUSHIN KAIKAN, actualmente bajo la dirección de
Midori Kaicho, con sede adminstrativa en Tokyo Japón y con sedes de
franquicias a través de sus Branch Chiefs (Jefes de país) en más de 120
países alrededor del mundo, para un total de 10 millones de practicantes.
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Otras reseñas
(English)
I'll Take a Bet On Fighting
Spirit!
By Oyama Masutatsu, Sosai
Take from tape recording by T. Kume
Translated by M.Yamane & C.Wilby
(Reprinted from the Kyokushin Karate English Quarterly Magazine)
(Vol. 1 No. 4, 1978, Vol. 2 No. 1 & 2, 1979)
On May 10, 1978, in Nara, the ancient capital of
Japan, Kancho Oyama gave a speech at a Public Seminar in which many
prominent people from throughout Japan were also invited to speak. As
in all Kancho Oyama's speeches, he spoke without the aid of any notes,
and without having previously planned anything. The speech was some
two hours in length.
I'm not the kind of person who usually gives speeches on such a big
stage, and I think perhaps I had better do a Karate demonstration,
rather than speak, so that you can all feel satisfaction. But I can only
talk about Karate, because I only know about Karate. I'm not a
politician, nor a good speaker, and I'm neither a businessman nor a
leader. I'm just a Karate-Ka. So I'll just talk about Karate. Karate
came from Okinawa 46 years ago. Mr. Funakoshi, who did much to make it
popular, brought it to Japan. But Japan already had a similar art called
Jujutsu, which developed from Koppo. Koppo became Yawara. Yawara became
Jujutsu. Jujutsu became Judo, Karate and Aikido. Judo has throwing,
strangles and ground holds, and originally was divided into 2 systems.
1) Kodokan Judo, specializing in throwing and based in Tokyo, and 2)
Butokukai, based in Kyoto and specializing in ground holds.
The Butokukai was, however, greatly influenced by the Japanese right
party and was consequently disbanded by General McArthur after the
Second World War. Before the war, the Butokukai and the Kodokan held a
yearly inter-competition. This was perhaps the best time in Japanese
Judo; it grew rapidly and became known overseas. I think most people
know of the development of Judo from this point. So how did Karate grow?
The Kyokushin-KaiKan now has dojos in 96 countries, but I didn't
originally have the idea to open dojos overseas. It was only when I
could no longer eat in Japan that I agreed to the suggestion of a
teacher of the Butokukai, and went overseas to the USA. If I had been
able to feed myself here in Japan maybe this would never have
happhappened and my life now (would be) quite different. Anyway, I
looked around a world that then did not know Karate, and in the 30 years
that have passed since that time, Karate has grown quite remarkably. Why
did Karate become popular so quickly? There are two reasons. One, though
of course Karate training is hard and takes a long time, it is still
easier to learn to use in a much shorter time than Judo or Aikido. And
secondly, there is no need to hold or grasp at your opponent in Karate.
When I was young, during the time of World War 11, I was attending
Takushoku University. I also went to a Karate dojo for daily training.
The teacher there told me that recently I had become very strong, and I
really had gained the confidence that I could beat anyone with my punch.
I had gained power in all the techniques of Karate, and when I punched
anyone, they would fly up 30crn in the air and then fall to the floor.
At this time my Sempai looked very small to me. Whenever you are in good
condition, you feel that others are small. But one teacher told me that
although I had become very strong in only one year of training, I had
also developed a very big head. I felt inside me at the time, that I
could easily beat this old teacher with one punch, and I eyed my teacher
with belligerence. The teacher told me that it takes 3 years to learn to
form the seiken, 3 years to develop stance and 3 years to develop a
punch, and that if you want to master Karate, it takes at least 9 years.
But I still continued to think that my Karate was best, my head was
indeed very big.
Soon after this, I was drafted into the army, and by the time I had
returned from the war, my teacher had already passed away. 30 years have
now passed and people call me a Master of Karate or "Karate
God". But I'm just human, and now I'm finding that I am questioned
by the things as seemingly as simple as how to form a fist; things I had
not considered before. It is almost like the case of, the more I study,
the more I realize just how much more there is still left to study. A
person who studies Karate for only 3 months can use it practically with
the same 3 months of training. Karate is very useful, but to MASTER it
is very hard. I'm now 55 years old, and I'm still wondering, what is
Karate? Now the world population is more than four billion, but I would
say a good half of the people have at least heard the word, Karate.
Karate is an International phenomenon, and is no longer Japanese.
Recently I have felt this realization very strongly. Japan has become
very famous in the economic world, but I believe the only real thing the
Japanese have got to show the world is Budo. But maybe I say this
because I'm a "Karate-Baka"(Karate-fool). If you have a Karate
Shodan you can consider your chances of one against five as being 50/50.
In the USA and Europe, Karate has become very popular because Europeans,
especially ladies, didn't like the holding in Judo. The charm of Karate
is that both can keep a distance, and that when forced to come together,
only one falls over. Karate training can develop a smart walk, as can
Kendo, and both Kendo-Ka and Karate-Ka walk the same way. In old Japan,
one of the Karate tests was to soak rice paper with water and walk on it
without ripping it. We think we can judge the strongest people by
watching the Olympics, that is; the Olympic Judo Champion is the
strongest.
But we can make better records and results by a type of effort that has
nothing to do with the Olympics, even though medical doctors may disown
such acts as nonsense. For example, a monk, who was dying by fire, said
that he could feel no pain nor any heat, so long as he kept nothing in
his head. I believe in this ability, I have seen and felt it. One kempo
teacher brought a hand being burnt. If you haven't seen this kind of
act, perhaps. You can't believe it, but the secret is to forget that the
hot water is hot. Scientist can't say how these things happen, but
nevertheless they happen. At this point scientific knowledge doesn't
cover everything. People ask me what is Kyokushin, Well, an old Budo-Ka
once said that 1000 days of Karate training makes a beginner, 10,000
days makes a master. Master = Kiwameru = Kyoku. Shin = truth, therefore
Kyokushin = to master the truth; to seek for the ultimate. Karate is a
very simple art, but in comics and movies it is always portrayed with
fancy movements. This is just business; the movies aren't always
truthful. It is just a case of "You have put flowers to the leaves
in order to make money". Actually Karate is a very simple thing,
but simple things are boring, so moviemakers and many dojo-owners have
to add spice to make it sell. Today many young people are chasing after
the flower. But I knew one young man, a university teacher, who took one
year's holiday and came to Tokyo to study Kyokushin-Karate. He felt the
training was very hard and simple, with the same techniques being
repeated 1000s of times everyday. To him it was not a fight against
others but a fight against himself. This is Karate. Sometimes people say
that Kyokushin-Karate is "Kenka- Karate"(street-fighting
Karate). At first people called Kyokushin-Karate "misconceived
Karate", then "street-fighting Ka- rate", and now they
call it "real-fight Karate". But I want to make my Karate
"soul spirit Karate". Today's Karate has undergone great
changes. Before when foreigners met Japanese in their countries, they
imagined Judo. However, if you practice Judo you develop a bad figure,
you injure you face and scars and your walking becomes very slow.
Judo-Ka cannot handle street-fights. I think you have seen Popeye
cartoons before, haven't you? In these stories, Brutus, who has a big
body always loses against the little Popeye. In the USA I saw many
people like Brutus. They were very powerful and strong, they could even
break cola bottles between their arms. If you are caught by this kind of
person, you will surely lose, but their movements are slow and in their
fighting they always try to catch and hold. Maybe they can work in
Pro-wrestling, but they are useless in street fighting. You can see many
guys around with big muscles on the beaches of Miami, but the true
strong ones have less showy form, slimmer figures. In the street fight,
the muscled type can't catch the thinner type because too many muscles,
which in fact they really don't need to have in order to fight
effectively, hamper them.
I first heard this saying when I was in the USA. Ballet Dancers are good
fighters. Oh I'm sorry, I?fm only talking about fighting, but anyway, I
hope it's interesting for you. You know, Ballet dancers have a very nice
walk and slim, strong bodies. In fighting they can fight very
rhythmically. I had one ballet dancer friend who liked to fight. Once
when I was out with this dancer, he started to fight against others,
eventually I had to help him out, but at first when I was just watching,
I was very impressed with his rhythmical movements, despite his funnily
formed fist. Our lives have rhythms. It means we are living rhythm.
Those that lose the rhythm of life become ill. A good musician can be a
good Karate-Ka. Even one who just loves and listens a lot to music can
be very good at Budo. Many famous people have also been musicians, and 1
think most Budo-Ka love music and can play some instrument. A person
with bad rhythm can't be good at Karate. Walking is a rhythm, waking up
and washing your face is a rhythm, and one shouldn't break these
rhythms. Sometimes people break these rhythms. Sometimes people break
their rhythm because of work, and some don't appear to have any rhythm
at all. For example, many years ago, I went to a town in New Jersey,
USA, to become the private teacher of a Bodybuilding teacher. In the
first week, I found that my student always moved backward when he was
supposed to move forward. I asked him if he liked music, and when he
answered that he hated music, I apologized and left, saying that you
simply can't learn Budo without rhythm. I have already talked about my
going overseas. Many Japanese are traveling abroad these days, but it is
not with- out some problems. For example, the President of the Brazilian
Japanese People's Organization, Mr. Fuji, said to me that many people
are beginning to feel antagonism towards Japanese because Japan has
become an economical animal. He told me of how some Japanese came to
Brazil, opened a Bank and collected money from the Brazilians, only to
escape half a year later, and how many Japanese sponsored companies are
paying small pitiful wages. He asked me how we could clear up the bad
feeling, and then answered himself by asking me to please send him many
Japanese Karate-Ka. At present many dojos in Brazil are unused, but if I
were to send instructors they would all begin again teaching Kyokushin.
Mr. Fuji, whose son is training Karate, is convinced that Karate is
truly the greatest discipline. Judo has a lot of throwing, which is a
nice feeling, but it isn't so nice to be thrown, and it can cause spine
injuries to youngsters. Today's Judo is just a lot of grabbing and
pushing, and in Kendo you need to have too much heavy and ex- pensive
equipment. At any rate Mr. Fuji said that Karate is wonderful because
you can train alone, and that it's very popular in Brazil. Actually,
Karate is popular everywhere. Because Karate comes from Zen years
before, Karate had a very bad image. Judo was the powerful might and
Karate was always the "bad". Karate was associated with
gangsters and always lost to Judo in the people's minds, in books and in
movies. Fortunately Karate doesn't have this image today, be- cause it
eventually became known that Karate and only Karate comes from Zen.
Karate starts from spirit training, from Zen. Other Budo may develop Zen
and spirit training, but Karate starts from spirit training. I studied
Judo in the Kodokan, and I know very well that only Karate starts with
and from spirit training. Karate's profound relationship to Zen has made
Karate popular the world over. Karate is Zen. European people are people
who don't believe anything without looking for evidence. If you say you
can break a whisky bottle, they say "Show me". I went to USA
just after the war and I received many insults of "Kill the
Jap." However, after I demonstrated my art to them, they could
forget their prejudice and follow my way. When I was in USA I broke the
tops off 12 bottles in one go. Long thin neck bottles are easy to break
and short, thick ones are hard, says physics. I demonstrated this to my
audience. First I adjusted my breathing (the most important thing in
Karate), and then I broke all the bottles continuously, sometimes two or
three at a time. Everyone saluted me and respected me; I had shown
evidence of my words. . Western people are big and Japanese are small,
but you can stop a person getting out of a chair with one finger; it has
nothing to do with size. In USA you have to prove yourself to be
believed, grid if you aren't believed you can't live. Fortunately, 1 was
believed. After this the fee 1 could ask for lessons tripled. Americans
are very interesting; when you charge a higher price the people feel the
lesson has better quality, and you gain more respect!
During my trip to France, things didn't go nicely with the promoter and
we split. I had nowhere to go, so I slept on a park bench. I couldn't
speak French and my English wasn't so good either. Actually, when I was
in the USA the promoter told me not to speak so much because they
believe great oriental men don't say much, so I unfortunately took this
ad- vice and never really learned much English. Anyway, I started
teaching in France to a company driver but when it failed, I took a job
in a cabaret breaking bottles as my act. After one week, however, I was
told that breaking wasn't so popular and could I do something else. An
Embassy's friend of mine suggested that I do walking on my hands, so I
did an act hand walking up and down a spiral staircase. It was very
hard, especially coming down! I was very afraid, but at the time, my
greatest fear was starving. The fear of starving really makes one
strong. When I returned to Japan, I told my wife that it was through
that hand-walking act that I had lost all my hair and gone bald! But
behind sport everyone is forgetting Budo. Now, here in Japan, baseball
is very popular, and all students seem to love the sport and dream to be
professional players. People who have big bodies or can run fast are
pulled into the baseball club. I'rn not saying that baseball is bad, but
too many people are crazy about it. Baseball, however, is only popular
In Japan and the USA, and this is why there is no world tournament. It
may even be why Japan can't win so many medals in the Olympics. I am
always asking the sports committees in Japan to put a bit more power
into some other sport beside baseball. Why do we forget Budo, which
incorporates old Japanese spirit? Budo is as good as sport. Now I am no
longer sure of the future of Japanese Karate. I am not sure if we can be
the strongest for much longer. 30 years ago it was new to everyone, but
this is not so now, and even the communist countries know Karate. Now in
Karate knowledge and Karate history, there isn't such a great difference
between Japan and other countries. Karate is changing from white
people's power Karate to Black people's jump Karate. If Black people
train more, one day Japan will lose to them. Today's Japanese don't pay
enough attention to Budo. Foreigners come to Japan especially to learn
Karate and they spend much of their life savings, but the Japanese who
can easily learn it, don't bother to do so. However, I am happy to note
that there are some younger people who want hard training. Sport means
to enjoy, but Budo means to be hard to yourself, and to make yourself
strong. Today most of our youngsters don't have any moderation, they
can't work within the proper limits, or change according to
circumstances. So many of them are doing things that go against Human-Do
(way). . But over the past 2 or 3 years, I believe the situation has
improved a little. Many new students are coming to Kyokushin daily,
because they really want a harder time, a stricter, more disciplined
life. Japan has many Karate styles, but Kyokushin is the strictest. Hard
to yourself, kind to others; this is Budo, and this is why I insist that
Kyokushin remains strict. Recently 88 out of every 100 of my students
wrote that they want strict training. 3 years ago most said that they
wanted to do Karate at their own pace, as a hobby.
People who study Karate also study etiquette and develop good and
pleasing manners. For many years the Japanese themselves were very
prejudiced against Karate, but Karate is the only Budo that studies
spirit. Even in foreign countries they make little shrines, and bow to
them in Japanese style. They place the Japanese flag in their dojos
along with their own country flag, and after training they clean up in
Japanese fashion. Maybe you (the audience) can't suppose this, but what
the foreigners want from Japan is not money or economic things, they
want Budo spirit. Budo spirit means Karate spirit, and Karate spirit
means Kyokushin. Kyokushin means 1000 days a beginner, 10,000 days a
master. By this we mean that you must be hard to yourself and kind to
other people. The way to study being hard to yourself and kind to others
is through Budo. Now I can see a number of students challenging all
hardships in training, and it is very pleasing to me. Of course
Kyokushin's training is hard, but it doesn't mean it's violent. We don't
kill anyone in training, as it often happens in some university cheer
clubs here. I always tell my instructors to be hard to themselves that
they should never order the students to do 1000 kicks until they
themselves have done it. I tell them they may only order 300 press-ups
if they too do it, and I stress that they shouldn't be lazy, shouldn't
be soft on themselves and hard to the others. Too many people these days
are soft to themselves and hard on others, they should study the way of
Budo, the way of Karate, Kyokushin-Karate.
Sometimes at midnight I have a period of self-criticism and analysis.
Who is Oyama Masutatsu? What am I? I'm not a person with great
leadership ability and I'm not a businessman or a politician. So what
and who am I? I'm a bugeisha, a person who fights everywhere, always. I
am a person who only trains Budo. But even a strong gunman becomes weak
when he gets old, and a good horse can't be a good horse forever. What
does a Bugeisha do when he becomes old and finds someone stronger than
himself'? At this time, he can escape. A long time ago I was talking
about Karate in front of a politician, and when he asked me what I want
to do next in my life, I answered that I think the destiny of my life
can only be one way; I will become a monk. When I was young I tried to
enter a Buddhist Temple, but unfortunately I couldn't join at the time.
I told them that when I became old I would come again, and they were all
much surprised. You see, I am a bugeisha, I'm not a leader. Spirit is
the most important thing. I wanted to be today's Miyamoto Musashi. Then
the war came. It just happened to be that I did not die in the war, but
after the war, and even now, I felt very sorry for my friends who did
die. So I started living for Karate, and I suppose I will even die for
Karate. I traveled around the world and became the Head of an
International Organization. I chose and set out on the left road, and
ended up walking on the right road. Me! Oyama Masutatsu, became an
organization Head. When I suddenly woke up and realized this and its
implications, it was already too late. Sometimes I am asked why I always
so deeply respect Miyamoto Musashi. It is because of his strength, He
could defeat anyone in a fight, even his parents, child, teacher and
friends. I could learn from him, that you have to win. When you fight
you shouldn't think of any other thing, you should fight and win. I also
have a Sempai whom I greatly respected. I so respected Mr. Kimura, the
Judo-Champion, that during the early stages of the war, I even went to
Takushoku University because Kimura was at this university. He was like
my God then, and I believed that he was the Miyamoto Musashi of the
present day. I tried to be like him in every way, as I wanted to be
every bit as strong. Unfortunately, I was soon drafted into the army.
After the war I kept contact. with Kimura and visited his house, and he
was always very kind to me. He taught me many things - judo,
pro-wrestling, and when I was in the USA, he was particularly kind and
helpful to me. After a few years however, Kimura changed to
pro-wrestling, but he lost many fights because of the pro-wrestling
business tricks. Once he had lost, people became cold to him. In the
fighting world, you simply have to be a winner. When you win everyone
listens to you, but no one listens to a loser. After you lose, no one
hears your excuse, even if it is a good and valid one. Winning is
"man's" way, and fighting is man's "romance?h.
I respect a person who shows his fangs in a fight. I feel a great
attraction and charm to any fighter. I despise those who try to cover
themselves even if they are rich and "great". I respect a
person who is always fighting in life. I respect all fighters, even if
they are my enemies. If I have such a student, I want to help him very
much in anyway I can. Today's young people are only thinking about
graduating a good university so that they can get a job in a big company
and have a beautiful wife and a prestigious car. They don't have any
fighting spirit, they don't try to fight in life. One University Medical
Doctor, Vice-President of his department, came to Tokyo just to train
Karate some years back now. He took a long holiday from his university,
and trained very hard. He was a fighter. If you don't have any fighting
spirit you are a useless man and your life has no value. You have to
fight, to challenge.
Oyama Masutatsu, have you ever lost a
fight before?Yes, I have lost many times. Just after the war, I
was bashed up by a group of blacks and was even hospitalized, but
man-to-man I have never lost clearly. I have only lost trying to fight
against five or six people, because I am no God or Superman. One
instance of "losing" even proved highly valuable for me. This
was during my meeting with Mr. Ching in Hong Kong. I loved the
personality of Mr. Ching, and I respected him very deeply. When I met
him I was 33 years old and he was nearly 70. I am now bald, but even at
that time, although he was very old, he had more hair then than I do
now, and he was only around 50kg in weight. Of course I had more power
and speed than he had, as I was young, but he was a magnificent man,
just like an old God. My head was bowed the whole time that I was in his
presence, as I couldn't look at him directly. I had lost to him without
doing anything. He asked me to show him my techniques, and I showed him
all that I knew. He said that it was wonderful and dynamic, but still
with an edge on it. He said I was like a rough diamond and I needed
polishing. I asked him to teach me but he answered that he didn't really
have anything to teach me, just that I had forgotten the definition of
Karate and my movements had become too straight. He said, draw a circle
and have a spot on it. A straight line is plus alpha. He said that
straight Karate was just gymnastics, but you only beat people when you
have power, true power that comes from the point and circle. Since that
time I have been teaching all my students the same thing, and this is
why Kyokushin Karate is different from other Karate styles. The life of
Kyokushin Karate is Kumite(fighting). The life of Kumite, fighting, is
in basics. You have to practice circle training. One should never show
ones back to the enemy, you must try to get him from behind. If you are
to the side of your opponent you can win 60% of the time, if in front
perhaps 50%, but if you can get to the back of your opponent you can win
70-80% of the time. Students must train how to come in from behind.
You can be strong by studying Karate. I think most people find a great
charm in the idea of becoming, strong. Every individual must be strong,
if you want to join Kyokushin, then I take it as my responsibility and
duty to teach you. But if you cannot get the secrets, the knowledge
about Karate and yourself', by yourself, then I can't help you. If you
train the same technique 100,000 times then suddenly you may understand,
"Oh, this technique is like this". Maybe one night you will
suddenly see the light, "Oh, this kick is this way". This is
the way to get the secrets, the knowledge about Karate and yourself.
Every country seems to have a saying similar to "you can lead a cow
to water, but you cannot make it drink", whether the cow drinks or
not, is over to the cow. Teaching may be the duty of myself or the
sempai, but whether you become strong or not is your own problem. Since
old times we have had the idea that secret techniques are given by the
teacher, but this is nonsense. The secrets, the knowledge can't be given
by any teacher, you have to grasp it yourself with your own hands. Can
you be strong if your parents give you money? It is over to you, as to
whether you can be happy and strong or not, it has nothing to do with
your parent's wealth.
Everyone must have water and air to live. If we didn't have enough of
these, then people would fight for them. Even if you are rich, have
money, power and food, you will die without air. Breathing is most
important in Karate. We have Ibuki breathing in Karate. It has an
outside and inside character: it is positive and negative. When others
are unaware that you are breathing, then this is negative breathing, and
the breathing that surprises others is positive breathing. Positive and
negative breathing is called Ibuki. Breathing in slowly is negative,
bringing up the air to the chest and breathing it out with a loud sound
is the positive aspect. It is very important breathing, for it calms the
body during any kind of stress. We also have another kind of breathing
called Nogare, and we have two kinds of it, a front and a back. When you
put power into your little fingers, extend your hands and pull, them
back to the chest while breathing in, and then open the mouth and
breathe out slowly again with the tongue between the teeth, then we call
this the front style of Nogare breathing. The ura style, back style, is
to bring the hands up from the side to the arm pits while breathing in
and push them out in front of you while breathing out slowly. The
importance of breathing can be illustrated by an old Chinese story. One
day a very fit man and a very fat man were walking along together, when
suddenly a bear appeared on the same track. The very fit man ran away
and climbed a tree, but as the fat one couldn't run or climb trees, he
decided to play dead. The bear came to inspect the fat man by walking
around him and sniffing for any signs of life. The bear sometimes
grunted in the ear of the man lying on the ground and it almost seemed
to the man in the tree, as if he was having a conversation with the fat
man. Eventually the bear went away, and the fit man came down from the
tree. He asked the fat man what the grunting bear was saying all the
time to which the fat man answered ?gDon't have friends who can't help
you". It is just a joke, but even in this very dangerous time, the
fat man could breathe in negatively, and thus he managed to save his own
life. Well, I seem to have talked for quite a long length of time. I
hope that you have enjoyed listening, and that you have come to
understand Karate and Karate-Ka a little from my speech. I thank you all
for your patience and attendance. Osu. |
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