"There is no first attack in karate jutsu."
The twenty karate jutsu Niju kyokun |
"Second twenty rules of Gichin Funakoshi, one of the most famous, engraved on his memorial stone at high Enkakuji temple in Kamakura." There is no first move (attack) in karate " . This award (Kaisetsu) sums up the attitude that needs to be basis of the practice of karate like martial arts (Budo) in general. "
Master Funakoshi Gichin insists on this notion in his book Karate-do My Life My Way :
" I have always insisted, in my teaching, the essentially defensive karate. It should never be used for offensive purposes. "Watch your words," I wrote in one of my first books, "because if you're bragging, you will create many enemies. Remember the old adage that a strong gust of wind can uproot a large tree while the willow bends and passes the assault of the wind. The cardinal virtues karate are humility and prudence. "That's why I teach my students to always be alert but not aggressive. (...) Some of the younger, I must say, do not understand my attitude: they believe that karate should be used when circumstances require. I try to point out that this is totally despise the true meaning of karate. This is not just a game It poses a mortal danger. Can we afford to risk a life without thinking already so short? "
The details of the Master kyokun show that this is far from being a pacifist precept, but it must understood in a sense of efficacy research ( "always be on alert" ), in a context that is not the sport of karate ( "not a simple game" ), but well that the preservation of life.
We find this notion of preserving life, not pacifism, in The Book of Family Traditions of Yagyu Munenori (1571 - 1646), Shogun's master of arms, which begins by quoting a saying inspired the Tao -Te Ching: "According to an old saying," Weapons are instruments of evil, that despises the Way of nature: from the Way of Nature, we should use it when we can not avoid it. "(...) Why weapons are instruments of evil? Because the Way of nature is the Tao, which gives life to beings, therefore, an instrument used to kill only can be that evil. "
No pacifist idealism indeed when one reads the following:
"However, it is also said that the use of weapons to kill - at least when it's inevitable - is also part of the Way of nature. What does that mean? The flowers bloom and the greenery thrives when the spring breeze blows, but at the onset of autumn frosts, invariably, the leaves fall and the trees wither. It is the law of nature. It may therefore come a time when we must break down what needs to be. Some benefit events to commit evil. When evil occurs, it must be fought. Therefore, it is said that the use of weapons is also part of the Way of Nature. "
The Soul of the Samurai by Thomas Cleary : a contemporary translation of three classic Zen and Bushido which The Book of Family Traditions of Yagyu Munenori.
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