Spirit Training

From Masters Magazine

Karate, as well as other traditional martial arts, clearly builds a personal arsenal of physical skills designed to create deadly force. With proper instruction and serious traditional karate training you can also stimulate your intellect, acquire an ability to control emotions, improve your integrity and the quality of your character. You successfully animate your own “life forces” at will; spirit training.

Karate is not easy; nobody said it would be. The masters were insistent in stressing that being a good karate student means far more than the just being the big dog on the block. As Funakoshi said, karate is a never-ending process, and “there are no limits.”

For example: There is the spirit that is explosive and highly physically animated in karate technique, and there is the spirit that is calm, contemplative, and educated. We are required to learn to move freely around from each appropriately using control; benefiting from the wide range of mental and physical skills. In the literature, training is to attain a mentally balanced, intelligent, karate spirit, with strong technical skills and enthusiasm for making the most of life.

As far back as Sun Tzu, non-violent mental strength and ingenuity is valued higher than violence and conflict. He is famous for stressing that defeating even one hundred enemies without fighting is supreme. His principles have been historically valued and quoted often throughout traditional martial arts. In Shotokan as many other styles of karate, the proper karate spirit, the very comprehensive karate spirit can be traced through the written “Dojo Kun” (the dojo codes of ethics and behavior) as far back as the 1700s (and probably further) to Sakugawa; a diplomat and body guard for the Okinawa royal family. A student of Sakagura, Sokon “Bushi” Matsumura, in the 1800s, was head of security and chief body guard to the king(s) for 50 years. As minister of the royal family he had to be extremely intelligent, courteous, and a master of proper etiquette while performing his duties, at least in his “day job.” He was, at the same time, one of the most respected and feared fighters in Okinawa. Among others, he mentored and taught Yasutsune Itosu and Yasutsune Azato, who are famous in Shotokan as Funakoshi’s instructors. Matsumura wrote his own precepts of proper behavior for his karate students and countless others who can still peruse them today.

Funakoshi was amazingly prolific writing and teaching the “proper karate spirit” for his students and generations to come around the world. Not only did he stress daily training in karate technique, but he was adamant that karateka have a quality mind. He stressed humility, courtesy, gentleness, self-composure, education, courage, health, well-being and much more. Violence was something to be avoided if at all possible. But as a karate student, don’t be overwhelmed by the challenges. Embrace them. Funakoshi’s karate “spirit training” process was always a work in progress that meant long-term accumulated skill sets. Remember that he said, “There are no limits.” He meant karate as a gift for all ages, men, women, and children, to reach out to realize their true potentials and to be highly productive people.

The concept of “karate spirit training,” that is, the virtuous, gentle, modest, being, with the depth of character that also includes the strength and skills to make “wild beasts tremble,” is often emulated and validated in modern times in places you might least expect. Think of the popular early 1900’s President of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt whose popular slogan was “Speak softly and carry a big stick!” If you are familiar with US history, behind the statesmanship and warm popularity of this leader, his “big stick” was the full might of his country’s war machine.

We are so very fortunate to have had an outstanding wealth of karate masters who have been instructive in shaping the correct karate spirit through strong and passionate teaching, inspiring statements, and colorful reflections of their own experiences. This past century they have inspired millions of students world-wide. We have been able to train under first generation of incredible instructors who trained directly under Master Funakoshi and his peers. We owe it to this wealth of dedicated energy, knowledge, and instruction, to persevere in the traditions of training in the karate spirit.