Empty Hand. Kenei Mabuni

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СКАЧАТЬ martial art developed to defend oneself against an enemy who could be assumed of being educated in the Jigen style and able to carry out the first strike on the “cloud-of-flames” level. It was a question of survival to correctly evaluate the first strike of the swordsman and at the same time to instantly perform the deadly strike. So it can be said that master Matsumura and master Itosu perfected the Shuri-te under the influence of the Japanese sword techniques, in particular that of the Jigen style.

Drawing a Circle With a Straight Line

      In Chinese kempō, the basic movement is the circle. In boxing and kickboxing, too, all kicks and punches are carried out as circular movements. Under the influence of these techniques in the post-war era, the karate movements have become circular, too.

      Some time ago a student showed me a book titled The Secrets of Okinawan Karate: Essence and Techniques written by Arakaki Kiyoshi. This author also had edited writings left by my father in the monthly journal Karate Dō as a series titled Karate Sankoku Shi. His book was very interesting to me. He wrote: “The essence of Japanese budō can be described as drawing a circle with a straight line.” I was very impressed by this sentence because it expresses with words what I feel with my whole body. In iaidō40 it can be well observed that the arms are drawing a straight line forward while the sword is carrying out a circle. That means that a straight line describes a circle. It is also true that the Jigen ryū “flame cloud” speed that is reached when the sword hits the target cannot be obtained with a circular movement alone. According to master Arakaki, the maximum energy generated by the circular motion is transferred to the target via a straight line that is the shortest possible distance. This technique of the Japanese budō represents the highest level of body perfection.

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      Photos 5 to 7: The execution of a punch. The fist is in the back position close to the hip (hikite) (5). It comes from the hikite position (6), and a thrust is carried out in an absolutely straight line (7).

      It is not the hardening of the hands and their transformation into weapons what makes the difference to Chinese kempō. It is the kind and perfection of body control in the moment of thrusting and kicking which mobilizes the whole body. When we observe the thrust movement of the fist, we can see that unlike the curved line in boxing, the thrust is carried out in an absolutely straight line by bringing the fist forward out of its back position (hikite) (see photos 5 to 7). Kicking too, is not carried out in wide curved lines or circles as in Chinese kempō or in kickboxing. The karate kick goes straight into the target. Therefore the energy is generated from a circular movement by bending the leg inwards and swinging it up. Then the circle is drawn with a straight line (see photos 8 to 10).

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      Photos 8 to 10: Execution of a kick. Taking the basic position or ready stance (kamae) (8). The leg is bent and then swung upwards (9). The kick is carried out in a straight line (10).

      It may be surprising, but in the traditional karate kata there is no roundhouse kick (mawashi geri) and no kick in the upper level (jōdan geri). However, there are jumped kicks (tobi geri), but they are only used as final falling or sacrifice techniques (sutemi). Kicking in wide, curved lines causes instability because it opens the own weak points to the enemy. It is too slow when fighting against a swordsman or other armed opponents and does not provide deadly first strike ability. Besides this, kicking may easily become ineffective if the opponent is physically stronger.

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      Photo 11: Mabuni Kenwa and his son Kenei practicing the exercise “falling tree” (tōboku hō).

      There is a special Japanese budō exercise called “falling tree” (tōboku hō) or “falling down” (tōchi hō). In the book cited above The Secrets of Okinawan Karate by master Arakaki there is a photo showing me doing this exercise. The photo has been taken from the book my father published in 1938, Introduction into Attack and Defense Techniques in Karate Kempō. It shows how my father is supporting or catching me, respectively. This exercise gives the experience of a tree falling down to earth using the energy of the free fall. The body does not try to resist gravity. Arakaki considers this exercise, which is peculiar to the Japanese budō, to be the top level of human body control. My understanding of this practice is not that much scientific and I like to use the name used in the Itosu style: “borrowing power from the earth”.

      The beginners in the Itosu ryū always start their studies with the kata of the Shuri-te. “Borrowing power from the earth” is one of the exercises of the traditional Okinawa-te, which is the kernel of the Shuri-te. All Shuri-te kata include the principle of the “falling tree”. Whether this principle is integrated into present-day karate is a point I would like to write about later in the context of the development of karate into a kind of competitive sport.

The Emergence of the Naha-te

      The Naha-te is said to originate from a village called Kume41. It was founded by Chinese who came to the Ryūkyū islands from the Fukien province in 1393. This was the time of the Ming empire. Many of their offspring were active in the China trade. From their home province they had brought along kempō knowledge that they obviously passed on to the Kume nobility. What they taught was probably not pure Chinese kempō but a style rather influenced by the Shuri-te and adapted to the conditions of the Ryūkyū islands.

      Aragaki Seishō (1840-1920) from Kume – he was later given the name “Aragaki the Cat” – is said to have been one of the greatest martial arts masters. My father, Funakoshi Gichin and Miyagi Chōjun were among his disciples. He not only practiced karate but also bō techniques.

      Higaonna Kanryō (1853-1916), too, learned karate from master Aragaki. Higaonna came from a Naha-based family of firewood traders. He learned kempō, which was normally taught only to the Kume nobility, from Aragaki. Higaonna seemed to have been blessed with a special fighting talent. At the age of 15 he traveled to the Fukien province, studied the local kempō and after his return created the Naha-te. That is why the Naha-te is younger than the Shuri-te and the Chinese influence is stronger. My father said about master Higaonna and his karate: “Master Higaonna had been to China and had studied the Fukien kempō. His lessons were different from the ones we are used to today.”

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      Photos 12 and 13: The hanging or laying hand (kake-te). Photo 12 shows the technique kake-te as practiced in the Shuri-te, and photo 13 represents the same technique as practiced in the Naha-te. See next pages.

      Typical for the Shuri-te is distance fighting presupposing СКАЧАТЬ