In Memoriam: Nick Adler (1939–2026)

It was just a few days ago when I was viewing an interview of Nick Adler that a friend and fellow karateka emailed me to tell me Shihan had just passed away. Shihan Adler, tenth dan in Isshinryu karate, also held rank in Matayoshi kobudo (a weapons system), judo and jiu-jitsu. The master cross-referenced with many styles, and I took a number of workshops (and tournaments) that he hosted that included a myriad of styles with other masters to whet one's appetite in controlled mayhem. As an Isshinryu karate instructor spanning over sixty years, Shihan had trained thousands of students.

It was Shihan Adler that tied a black belt around the waist of my blood speckled gi all those years ago in a Long Island dojo. After I left that school shortly thereafter (which had nothing to do with the master) I trained under other teachers. Though competent and qualified as they were, none could compare to the encyclopedic knowledge and pedagogy of Shihan.  

Shihan Adler began his Isshinryu training with Ed McGrath, and later Don Nagle. Sometime during this period, as a brown belt, he made a trip to Okinawa to receive tutelage from Tatsuo Shimabuku, the founder of Isshinryu. In his telling of that trip one particular story stood out:

 

We're hanging out in the dojo waiting for the soke [Shimabuku] to arrive when this older gentlemen walks in wearing a bowler-style hat. He looked like a drifter. I'm leaning against the wall with one arm, and he was so short he just walks right under my arm and past me. It was him! He was so inconspicuous hardly anyone else even knew he was there. Later he comes out and calls me up to demonstrate something. "Punch" he says while motioning to his chest. I'm almost six foot, he's like five foot nothing, in his fifties or thereabout, so I halfheartedly throw this uninspired punch. "No, no...punch." Okay. So I wind up with this fireball, but just before it reaches his chest, he steps back and middle blocks like a whip, landing his knuckles into the belly of my biceps. Dead arm, useless. And painful. "Try other arm?" he quips. No thanks!  

 

All my advanced karate and kobudo forms I learned from this man. Aside from his technical prowess and affinity for karate tradition, he was pragmatic and philosophical. He once said "the more you know how to fight, the less you'll want to fight." To that I would add an old kendo saying (to paraphrase), "Though the best sword need not be drawn, does not mean it cannot be drawn." Power is a choice, but sometimes a necessity.

Rest in peace Shihan.

The Harder They Fall

We used to do push-ups on our knuckles in karate class, a practice of which I do not have fond memories of. It didn't matter where I trained, the knuckle push-up was a time-honored staple. I think from a physiological perspective aligning one's wrist vertically (as opposed to hands flat on the floor) is better for the sake of the wrist joint. I've done my fair share of push-ups, I've had no aversion to hard training in the past, but pressing knuckles into a hardwood floor can be trying. The idea is that it conditions the fist for sparring, but I'm skeptical. Routines that include focus mitts and the heavy bag are more practical and sensible. 

 

A traditional karate dojo has a hardwood floor. Isshinryu's founder, Shimabuku, had an outdoor training area that was surrounded by a brick wall that supposedly had shards of glass glued to the tops to dissuade the local Okinawan youth from climbing atop to peer in. Photos from that time reveal what looks like a concrete floor. Years later, Angi Uezu built a dojo with a concrete slab that had springs underneath, presumably to absorb shocks from jumping and landing. Great for the spine, I guess. Not so much if you land on your head.

In combat sports such as karate, tae kwon do and amateur boxing (some organizations), head gear is mandatory. The head gear is primarily designed to protect the user, not from getting hit in the face, but from falling. I've seen boxing matches where professionals (who don't wear head gear) get knocked out on their feet, then fare worse from landing  on their heads. I cracked a wisdom tooth at a tournament years ago when I was dropped with a side kick onto the hard gym floor of a local high school. This despite wearing head gear and a mouth piece, the latter of which is designed to keep the jaw from breaking, while no consideration is shown for the dentition.

There is a circuit of underground fight clubs such as King Of The Streets where combatants fight on a hard surface, no-holds-barred. Illegal and absolutely insane. Street fights can turn fatal when someone falls and hits their head on the pavement. 

 

Head trauma from years of boxing, kickboxing, MMA, and other sports have shown that dementia, Parkinson's Disease, and other neurological disorders associated with CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) can manifest themselves, typically long after retirement.  

Whatever style you practice, do it on mats if you can. When sparring, move your head and protect yourself at all times. Loving your art shouldn't mean you have to pay for it later.

In Memoriam: Angi Uezu (1935-2024)

While I was researching traditional karate in anticipation of writing a post, I stumbled upon the sad news that Master Angi Uezu of Isshinryu karate passed away a few days ago at age 89. Uezu Sensei was the son-in-law of Tatsuo Shimabuku, the founder of Isshinryu. Originally studying to be an accountant, he began training under Shimabuku starting around 1955. It was about this period that Marines stationed on Okinawa began their training in Isshinryu in accordance with a contract that the US military had with Shimabuku, paying him 300 USD per month. Despite suffering a stroke a while back, Uezu rehabilitated himself enough to return to karate training and teaching. Somewhere I have a collection of VHS cassettes from the 1980s featuring the master's rendition of kata and their applications that are truly awe inspiring. They were my cheat sheets when I couldn't get to the dojo.

It's just as well I didn't post my response to this well-written piece by Tim Shaw on defining traditional karate; there's not much I could add anyway. Though Isshinryu is considered a style of traditional karate here in the US, it is a recently created system that is considered a "maverick" style on Okinawa. Although I never met him, Uezu Sensei was one of Isshinryu's finest exponents. I would also like to direct those interested to a video uploaded by longtime instructor, Michael Calandra, who delves into the master's life and his influence on Isshinryu karate.

Deconstructing Seisan

 

Here's a fine demonstration of Seisan, the first kata taught in Isshinryu karate. Seisan is not unique to Isshinryu, but is an ancient form found in many systems of karate. Kata is typically practiced as a solo form, but eventually the student is taught how to deconstruct the kata itself (bunkai) and how to apply the self-defense moves within (oyo). Later upon testing, students are asked to show (with a partner) sections of various kata and their proper application. Here we see this particular kata in its entirety in a theoretical matchup versus multiple assailants. The guttural breathing you hear adds power to the technique.

The master featured in the video (the defender at the center) is Arcenio Advincula. He trained directly under the founder of Isshinryu karate, Tatsuo Shimabuku, during his US military hitch on Okinawa starting in 1958. Years ago I took a workshop given by Advincula-sensei that was attended by at least two dozen Isshinryu karate teachers and students on Long Island. One of my instructors got into a rather heated exchange with the master over a stupid technical issue that did not end well for the former. Pro tip: never argue with a Marine giving a karate demonstration.

Legend of the Fist

Just came across a fine work by the renown karate historian and philosopher Patrick McCarthy, Legend of the Fist. With help from his wife Yuriko, McCarthy Sensei has painstakingly translated dozens of newspaper and magazine articles from Okinawa and mainland Japan beginning in the late 19th century to modern day. More than thirty years in the making, this collection of essays and interviews not only reveals the true spirit of karatedo, but also the social mores and customs of Okinawan and Japanese culture that served as the impetus in the development of karatedo⁠—karate as a way of life.

The book is full of axioms and advice from the early masters about fighting techniques and decorum when outside the dojo. One interesting account depicts the intense rivalry between Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan in Japan, and Okinawan street-fighting expert Choki Motobu. Motobu's views on his aversion to using kicks in a real fight, his pursuit for drinking and having fun, and his time spent with a certain crime lord make Motobu an outlier in the chronicles of karate history.

Translated from Japanese to English, articles include stories about mixed matches featuring exponents of karate and judo, commentary on Western boxing, and a brief discussion of the classical text, Bubishi. The author has written a previous book on the "Bible of Karate."

Patrick McCarthy (Hanshi, 9th dan), a true devotee to the traditional fighting arts, believes that the way of karate transcends the mere physical; that the training and cultivating of mind, body, and spirit form the triumvirate essential to the development of the aspiring karateka. At just over 300 pages, Legend of the Fist is a worthy, concise read, and the author promises a Volume #2 is in the making.

Olympic Karate and The Okinawan Karate Kaikan

Earlier this year, a multi-purpose training hall and exhibition center — The Okinawan Karate Kaikan — opened in Tomigusuku City, Okinawa. A multi-purpose venue, it's a training facility for karateka that includes a museum, classrooms for teaching seminars, a general dojo and a "Special Dojo" featuring red tiled ceilings and traditional adornments used exclusively for testing high ranking black belt candidates. The creation of The Okinawan Karate Kaikan coincides nicely with even bigger news: For the first time, Karate will be an event for the Summer Games in the 2020 Olympics to be held in Tokyo.* This is both timely and appropriate, as the art of Judo made its Olympic debut in the same city in 1964.

In advance of the upcoming Olympics to be held on the mainland, Okinawan businesses are anticipating an economic ripple event from the expected rise in tourism. There are a number of attractions on the island to attract martial arts enthusiasts from abroad, including some 400 karate schools. For nightlife, there's even a Dojo Bar in Naha City that features old style karate memorabilia and decor. As an enticement to come to the island, The Dojo Bar, in collaboration with KARATEbyJesse, is running a Okinawan Karate Nerd Programme that's a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for two young Karate Nerds between the ages of 18-35 to fly to Okinawa and live there for 6-12 months and experience the Way of Karate at its source."

As for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, there's no doubt there are purists who will deride the idea of karate in the Games. Indeed, when Gichin Funakoshi introduced Okinawan karate to the Japanese mainland in 1922, he was diametrically opposed to the idea of karate tournaments; in his view, competition was antithetical to the true spirit of karate. Compare this notion to that of the founder of Judo, Jigaro Kano, who set out to promote his martial art specifically with the Olympics in mind. In Kano's vision, the Olympics would be the perfect vehicle to spread judo to the world. For him, judo-the-sport and judo-the-martial way were both compatible and complimentary to each other.

So far Olympic Karate will feature two events for individual competition: Kumite (fighting) and Kata (forms). Scoring will be based on World Karate Federation (WKF) rules. Therefore, for senior men and women (over 21) there will be five weight classes each. Kata will be the empty-handed variety, no weapons. Although this is sport, the WKF is still intent to preserve the tradition in karate. Nothing gaudy like camouflage belts; the gi (uniform) must be white. Vital area shots are prohibited, as are low kicks and strikes delivered with excessive contact. So much for tradition.^† Strikes to the head, face, and neck are allowed but must be delivered like a "touch" (or as one instructor I had wryly put it, 'touch one side of the face to the other'). Hand guards, mouth-pieces, shin and foot protectors are mandatory, but curiously, groin protectors are optional.

Through the years sport karate has had to endure its share of problems and politics. I'm not certain karate can avoid the scandals and controversies that have been pervasive in Olympic competition for so long. Perhaps Funakoshi was right.


* This was actually announced last year.
^† That's a joke. Heavy sparring usually provides a good metrics for handling pressure, among other things. An astute ref can determine when "excessive contact" can be regarded as what Mike Tyson used to call "bad intentions." Not very sportive.

Iron Fist Training

Let me state that this is not a tutorial on how to develop manos de piedra - "hands of stone" - which is the famous moniker of prizefighter Roberto Duran. My use of a provocative title may be misleading. For the record I don't subscribe to the idea that hands can be conditioned into something akin to an anvil . Hands did not evolve to break open body parts and certain traditional training methods to toughen them can wreak havoc. Actually, this post was inspired by an impromptu sparring session I had this past weekend (my first in quite a while) that resulted in the first two knuckles on my left hand to swell to frightening proportions. I wore cotton hand-guards that leave the fingers exposed, and while my striking force was left in reserve for the most part, apparently, that wasn't good enough. This is really the result of chronic damage from years of sparring. (Note to readers: When you feel pain from an activity, stopping said activity is advised.) A colleague told me I should perform pushups on my knuckles to avert future injury. Another suggested training on a more time-honored method: The makiwara. I don't think so to either one.

A grandmaster of Matsubayashi-ryu once told me that any respectable dojo should have a makiwara on the premises. A makiwara is a wooden striking post designed to develop punching prowess and accuracy, not to put callouses on knuckles. Karateka that have knuckles that look like they're jacked on steriods may look impressive and could be held as a perverse badge of honor. Ego trips like this can go either way as one Okinawan karate historian tells:

Arakaki's father often warned him about making large black callouses on his knuckles. One reason was that, as his father was a merchant, customers would, on seeing the swollen and deformed hands, be easily frightened away. Another reason was that local ruffians would often try to pick fights on the pseudo-karate-ka who flouted such grotesque trophies. 'After practice on the makiwara,' Arakaki told me, 'it is a good idea to wash one's hands in salt water (or urine) and then alcohol; if the skin is cut, always carefully sterilise the affected area.'¹

There's a market that offers a wide range of liniments with names like "Iron Hit Wine" and "Tiger Balm" that, while pricey at roughly $20 for a 2 oz. dose, provides a more sanitary method of treatment than urine. Once during an Isshinryu karate demonstration held for US marines on Okinawa, Tatsuo Shimabuku cut his hand while driving a spike through a slab of wood. There was no liniment or any first-aid handy, so in a pinch he applied some dirt to the wound to stop the bleeding.

I've never trained on a makiwara, which is supposedly of Chinese origin, not Okinawan as many believe.² Indeed, the Chinese method of "Iron Bone Hand" training, developed as a method for maiming and killing, appears in Article 20 of the Bubishi stating:

The Iron Bone Hand technique can only be developed through relentless training. After thrusting the bare hand into a container filled with hot sand on a daily basis for many weeks, the fingers gradually become conditioned enough to initiate the secondary stage of training. After thrusting the bare hand into a container filled with gravel on a daily basis for many weeks, the fingers will become even more conditioned so that the final stage of conditioning can be initiated. The final stage of conditioning requires one to thrust the bare hand into a container of even larger stones. This special kind of conditioning will lead to hand deformity and the loss of one's fingernails. Alternative training methods often include thrusting the bare hand into bundles of wrapped bamboo in an effort to condition the fingers for lethal stabbing and poking.³

There's a tenet of unknown origin that advises to "attack soft tissue with a hard-surface hand-strike, and a hard area with a soft-surface hand-strike." Hammerfist, shuto (blade-hand), and palm-heel use the fleshier part of the hand that tend to be less injurious than a closed-fist if your target area is someone's head. In boxing, heavy hitters occasionally break their hands delivering the KO punch, this in spite of wrapping their hands in plenty of gauze and donning 10 or 12 oz. gloves. You'll also never see a boxer hit any kind of a bag without gloves. And some karate men, such as Isshinryu's Angi Uezu, have been known to doggedly hit that makiwara bare-handed. Somebody's wrong here.



1. Mark Bishop 1999. Okinawan Karate: Teachers, styles and secret techniques. Tuttle Publishing.
2. Ibid.
3. Patrick McCarthy 1995. The Bible of Karate: Bubishi. Tuttle Publishing.

Anko Itosu's Ten Lessons of Karate

Anko Itosu (1832-1916), an Okinawan Shuri-te master, was a progenitor to what would eventually develop into one of the major systems of modern karate: Shorin-ryu. Shorin is the Japanese pronunciation for the Chinese Shaolin (small woods). Itosu's most famous students were Choshin Chibana and Gichin Funakoshi, the latter who brought karate to mainland Japan (c.1920) and adopted the colored belt system from the indigenous art of judo. Hitherto there was no 'ranking' system in karate, but it would take some years before the belt system caught on in karate's birthplace of Okinawa. Funakoshi was especially interested in developing karate as a budo form -- a life skill as it were. Actually some of his ideas, such as teaching karate to children and to sedentary adults for exercise and health, were likely taken from Itosu.

In 1901 Itosu introduced a modified version of karate to the Shuri Jinjo Elementary School. He removed some of what he felt were risky techniques and developed new, short practice forms that kids could pick up easily known as pinan kata. Within a few years Itosu secured teaching jobs at colleges and in 1908 wrote a letter to the Education Department on Okinawa which summed up his philosophy on karate, or as it was more commonly referred to at the time as To-te (lit. China-hand) or tode:

Tode did not develop from the way of Buddhism or Confucianism. In the recent past Shorin-ryu and Shorei-ryu [a forerunner to Goju-ryu] were brought over from China. They both have similar strong points, so, before there are too many changes, I should like to write these down.

1. Tode is primarily for the benefit of health. In order to protect one’s parents or one’s master, it is proper to attack a foe regardless of one’s own life. Never attack a lone adversary. If one meets a villain or a ruffian one should not use tode but simply parry and step aside.

2. The purpose of tode is to make the body hard like stones and iron; hands and feet should be used like the points of arrows, hearts should be strong and brave. If children were to practice tode from their elementary-school days, they would be well prepared for military service. When Wellington and Napoleon met they discussed the point that "tomorrow’s victory will come from today’s playground."

3. Tode cannot be learned quickly. Like a slow moving bull, that eventually walks a thousand miles, if one studies seriously every day, in three or four years one will understand what tode is about. The very shape of one’s bones will change.

Those who study as follows will discover the essence of tode:

4. In tode the hands and feet are important so they should be trained thoroughly on the makiwara. In so doing drop your shoulders, open your lungs, take hold of your strength, grip the floor with your feet and sink your intrinsic energy to your lower abdomen. Practice with each arm one or two hundred times.

5. When practicing tode stances make sure your back is straight, drop your shoulders, take your strength and put it in your legs, stand firmly and put the intrinsic energy in your lower abdomen, the top and bottom of which must be held together tightly.

6. The external techniques of tode should be practiced, one by one, many times. Because these techniques are passed on by word of mouth, take the trouble to learn the explanations and decide when and in what context it would be possible to use them. Go in, counter, release; is the rule of torite [lit. releasing hands].

7. You must decide whether tode is for cultivating a healthy body or for enhancing your duty.

8. During practice you should imagine you are on the battle field. When blocking and striking make the eyes glare, drop the shoulders and harden the body. Now block the enemy’s punch and strike! Always practice with this spirit so that, when on the real battlefield, you will naturally be prepared.

9. Do not overexert yourself during practice because the intrinsic energy will rise up, your face and eyes will turn red and your body will be harmed. Be careful.

10. In the past many of those who have mastered tode have lived to an old age. This is because tode aids the development of the bones and sinews, it helps the digestive organs and is good for the circulation of the blood. Therefore, from now on, tode should become the foundation of all sports lessons from elementary schools onward. If this is put into practice there will, I think, be many men who can win against ten aggressors.

The reason for stating all this is that it is my opinion that all students at the Okinawa Prefectural Teachers’ Training College should practice tode, so that when they graduate from here they can teach the children in the schools exactly as I have taught them. Within ten years tode will spread all over Okinawa and to the Japanese mainland. This will be a great asset to our militaristic society. I hope you will carefully study the words I have written here.

— Anko Itosu. Meiji 41, Year of the Monkey (October 1908).

In spite of some bold claims such as making the body like iron, taking on ten attackers and references to militarism it is said that Itosu never had to use karate in a real confrontation in his eighty-three years. This is either a product of immense luck, especially during his time, or more likely his virtue and character that were forged from his life of training, perfecting, and teaching karate.

SOURCES:
Mark Bishop 1999. Okinawan Karate: Teachers, styles and secret techniques. Tuttle Publishing.
Shoshin Nagamine (trans. by Patrick McCarthy) 2000. Tales of Okinawa's Great Masters. Tuttle Publishing.

Isshinryu's Heritage Called Into Question

In a recent Classical Fighting Arts magazine (Vol. 2, No. 23) an article was written from the viewpoint that Isshinryu founder Tatsuo Shimabuku never trained under the Okinawan masters he claims to have had. (I haven't seen the article; I've learned about this mostly from online forums. My understanding is that the article was penned by David Chambers, the magazine's publisher. Other sources say the author is unknown.) Classical Fighting Arts is a respected periodical, which, on the surface, makes this piece on Isshinryu and Shimabuku difficult to dismiss.

This story reminds me of Donn Draeger's section in Modern Bujutsu & Budo on the Japanese martial art of Shorinji Kempo. Its founder, So Doshin (b. Nakano Michiomi, 1911) claims that the transmission of the art was bequeathed upon him by a Chinese master of I-ho-chuan, a style of Shaolin boxing.

Draeger begs to differ:

While Nakano's claim to be a disciple of Wen is plausible given the hectic conditions of those times, history refutes his claim that in 1936 he was honored by the aged Wen and named the twenty-first leader of the Shaolin tradition, and therefore he is "the only true successor to the Shorinji [Shaolin-ssu] tradition." This false claim greatly detracts from Nakamo's integrity, for no Chinese, historian or wu shu authority has ever heard of him in this role. So it must be assumed that Nakamo's claim is but a fabrication made to enhance his personal prestige and position of his Shorinji system in Japan.

I don't know if Draeger's fact-checking skills were ever challenged by the Shorinji community. So Doshin (Nakano) was alive and well at the time of Draeger's writing, unlike the CFA article on Shimabuku, who died in 1975. However, Shimabuku, who is credited in Isshinryu lore as being a "leading practitioner of Goju on Okinawa" and cites his formitive training with Chojun Miyagi, the famous founder of Goju-ryu karate, is apparently never mentioned in Goju-ryu history, or by any of his Goju contemporaries. In his formation of Isshinryu, Shimabuku did take the kata Seiuchin and Sanchin from Goju-ryu, as well as the text the Kenpo Gokui (The Eight Precepts of The Fist).

Okinawa is not a big place as it approximates the size of about two US counties. Shimabuku's assertion that he trained under the likes of Chotoku Kyan, Choki Motobu and Miyagi does not seem far fetched. While he never recounted his experiences with these individuals (nor do any photos exist with him in their presence), I find it unlikely that Shimabuku would have a need to pad his resume with falsehoods. To impress whom? Most of his first students were US Marines stationed on Okinawa. Isshinryu karate was and is not a very popular style there, and as one longtime instructor speculated may be in its death throes on the island. None of this really matters to the essence of the art here or abroad where it still flourishes. For Isshinryu, the way is in the training, not to be found in gossip, slander, or a scandalous history lesson.

Cultivating Wisdom

The classic Chinese text, the Bubishi, was passed down through numerous generations of teachers to students of quanfa (kung fu) until it finally arrived in Okinawa in the mid-to-late 1800s where it had a profound impact on the development of karate. A diverse tome, the Bubishi covers an array of subjects on martial arts such as fighting techniques, healing methods, and philosophy.

I'm not an advocate of gleaning self-defense methods from a book, and traditional Chinese medicine is commonly viewed as snake oil by even modern Chinese physicians. But the following portion of this ancient text, ideas clearly inspired by Daoism, Confucianism and Zen, are timeless tenets to live by for anyone in any culture.

Laws of Wisdom

1. Let anger be your enemy.
2. Remember, an empty vessel makes the most noise.
3. Patience is the foundation upon which security and long life rest.
4. Know well your station in life.
5. Trustworthy reputations are only gained from virtuous merit.
6. Success is the fruit of the strong and wise.
7. Delay is the best remedy for anger.
8. Those who will be enlightened are the ones who live moderate lives, have simple tastes, consume natural foods, and pursue the wisdom of the sages.
9. Remain honest in your heart, true to your discipline, and refrain from overindulgence, and you will enjoy great rewards in life.
10. Mind your manners and your own business.
11. Discretion is the better part of valor.
12. The barriers of human achievement lie only in the mind.
13. An idle mind is a demon's workshop.
14. Justice exists for those who live according the Way, as these are one and the same.
15. Be happy without cause and make the best of what you have.
16. True friendship knows no boundaries.
17. It is a humble virtue to be wealthy and not affected by it.
18. Cause and effect are mutually consistent.
19. Despair is the conclusion of fools. Tomorrow's success is built upon yesterday's failures. Live in the here and now. Do not seek more but learn to enjoy less.

SOURCE: Patrick McCarthy 1995. The Bible of Karate: Bubishi. Tuttle Publishing.

My Journey With The Grandmaster

Good resources on traditional martial arts, let alone Okinawan karate, are a hard find these days. With the influx of sportive and new fangled modern systems devised by self-appointed "masters" it seems the techniques and values of karatedo have been lost, or worse, misunderstood by one generation after another with the administering of so-called "improvements" leading to an aberration of the survival arts of Okinawa that have been passed down through antiquity.

In his book My Journey With The Grandmaster, retired Major Bill Hayes recounts his experiences in karate training while stationed on Okinawa as a US Marine following a tour of duty in Vietnam from 1966 - 67. There, at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, he encounters Eizo Shimabukuro, 10th dan in Shorin-ryu karate. Hayes Sensei describes in fascinating detail his metamorphosis from a slightly full-of-himself "jarhead" to a dedicated and humbled student under the Grandmaster. While he was awed by the unbelievable skill and deadly proficiency of his teacher, the OSensei nonetheless possesses the compassion and wisdom one would expect from a master of any stripe.

The book is filled with thought provoking, mystical, and at times amusing tales relating to the maturation process necessary for one to embark on the karate path. The author explains that an in-depth understanding of Okinawan culture and history is imperative to appreciate karate's original intent as a bugei system (combative or "life protection" art).

In summation, Journey's formula for karate mastery as a way of life requires nothing less than a strong moral character, duly recognized high skill level and optimal health through proper training and nutrition.

For Hayes Sensei, the way of the empty hand is a never ending path, as he still regards himself an "Old Student" under the Grandmaster.

*For those interested in purchasing a copy of "My Journey With The Grandmaster", kindly contact the author at oldstudent1@cox.net.

Tell It To The Marines

The US Marines. The few and the proud. And what better icon than the Corps to infuse the ideologies of karate with? If you think about it, there are some striking similarities between Marine Corps life and certain aspects of karatedo: rank, title, warfare, elitism, etc.. It's ironic that the island that was so ravaged during the Pacific War (about half of Okinawa's population was wiped out) would later have its inhabitants teach the hitherto secrets of karate to the very forces that nearly destroyed them only a decade earlier. It took three months for the Allied powers to capture the tiny Okinawa in 1945, an island barely the size of two US counties. By the 1950s some of her indigenous karate masters began instructing American military in the art of self defense. At this point, karate was just a word. There was also a great deal of mystery and cynicism at the time regarding Asians, and in particular, the martial arts. When one young recruit wrote home to tell his fiancee that he was taking karate as part of his military hitch on Okinawa, his girl freaked. "Stop taking that stuff, it'll turn you into a killer!"

The time was right for Okinawans to teach karate to US troops. The mid-to-late 50s was a period of rare peace in American history. The martial ways tend to thrive during peacetime in many cultures because of its philosophical core values. American boys growing up during the 40s listened with rapt awe and admiration to the great battles that were waged for the sake of global freedom and justice. World War II was strongly depicted as the epic fight of good vs. evil. War is full of glamor and romance to the dreamy macho neophyte. So what is a young recruit to do during otherwise boring and unglamorous peacetime? Enter the martial arts.

Tatsuo Shimabuku was one of a handful of karate instructors contracted by the US government to teach Marines stationed on Okinawa. Okinawan sensei, most of them diminutive in stature, must have had their work cut out for them when they first started instructing these young bucks. At 5'2, 125 pounds, Shimabuku was hardly an imposing physical presence to the average 18 - 21 year old American Marine. More than once, karate's effectiveness was put to the test because some jarhead thought he could one-up the master. For Shimabuku, many techniques had to be instantly adjusted and modified to work with trainees that were nearly a foot taller than himself. All in a day's work, as he was compensated for his services with three-hundred American dollars per month starting in 1955. One could only imagine how that figure would translate into today's economy. Teaching karate to the Marines - not a bad gig for the retired farmer who survived one of the bloodiest battles in history.

The American Way

I used to have a gi with the American flag sewn on the sleeve. The caption read Martial Arts - USA as if this were some new paradigm. Maybe it is. Somewhere along the line the martial arts became a bona fide American institution, like baseball, apple pie and labor unions. But do American budoka measure up to their Asian originators? Has the US or anywhere in the West produced the likes of a Kano, Funakoshi or Shimabuku? Donn Draeger, who studied for many years under Japanese sensei, felt that for a classical martial system to be preserved justly, it must include the manners, customs and beliefs indigenous to that style's nation of origin.

So then what aspects of American culture influence our interpretation of the martial arts? Are we doing them any justice? Draeger had doubts about this, defining The American Way as ultimately "lazily convenient." We like to think we all train hard. And we're accustomed to the formal etiquette practiced in nearly all dojos, especially the all-important aspect of rei (respect). Respect is apparently lacking in our culture, certainly more now than in the past. One only has to witness the disrespect that is present in the workplace and public schools.

Gichin Funakoshi felt that a karateka should at all costs be a decent citizen and a role model for society. To that end most schools adhere to a special code of conduct called a dojo kun which outlines a list of goals and behavior a good practitioner should strive for. Here's two precepts from Chuck Norris' code taken from his chun kuk do system:

• I will maintain respect for those in authority and demonstrate this respect at all times.
  
  
• I will always remain loyal to God, my country, family and my friends.

Notice how religion and nationalism come into play in the second one. Should these icons be included within the context of martial arts training? When Okinawan karate first arrived in Japan around 1920 it became infused with Japanese ideologies, which included militarism, Zen, and yamato damashii - the "Japanese spirit". Some Okinawans were unhappy with these changes, but karate's move to mainland Japan was but a prelude to its worldwide acceptance and popularity. Equally, when the martial arts arrived here in the US they became Americanized to a degree. Did this necessarily devalue them? I don't believe so. If you're a sincere, committed student in the right school then coming to terms with these cultural infusions can be transcended, if they matter at all.

Human Weapon: Road to Okinawa

Once again Human Weapon hosts Jason Chambers and Bill Duff take it on the road in their quest to train and scrap with some of the world's best martial artists. This is the episode we've been waiting for - Karate - the Okinawan art of empty-handed combat. As usual, our trusty guides are bemused, abused and amused by the rigorous training regimens they endure during their brief stay on the island of Okinawa.

Some of the training methods displayed on the show are rarely practiced anymore, especially in the West. True karate entails turning parts of the body into viable weapons, as some of the Okinawan masters demonstrated with board breaks utilizing nukite (fingertips strike) and an impressive baseball bat break using a special back-wrist technique. Also explained was kyoshu-jutsu - vital point striking which included a palm-heel technique delivered to the chest that is capable of stopping the heart.

I especially liked the segment on the traditional hojo undo karate equipment that many karate practitioners may have never seen or heard of: Kongo ken - oval metal weight. Tou - bamboo bundle used for nukite strikes. Nigiri game - gripping jars filled with sand or water (see photo). And of course, the makiwara - the striking post.

I've already written about some of karate's iron-body exercises, so I won't go into that here. But I had to laugh when Duff quipped that it was "hard to not hit back" when he was being struck about during a body toughening routine.

And speaking of tough guys, our man Duff went up against an Okinawan karate champ in the showdown. All I can say is that karateka are notorious for holding their hands way too low in kumite. Check it out:

The Natural

Chuck Norris once remarked that he preferred to coach a student with shortcomings in ability, as opposed to the trainee who is inherently talented. Some are more inclined to do martial arts than others, and this is true with all endeavors. On the average, it takes five to seven years to achieve a black belt in most systems, but there are those who can do it in considerably less time. Norris tested for black belt after a year, but it should be pointed out that his tang soo do sessions lasted five hours and were held six days per week. Paying dues through arduous training is part of the martial way. Woody Allen's rule that "80 percent of success is just showing up" really applies to just about anything one wishes to pursue. Sometimes discipline is just being able to arrive at the dojo.

Should someone be allowed to move up through the ranks quicker than the next person just because they're more naturally inclined? The idea of having a novice around who gets techniques down pat on the first try, and can whip most of the people in the school (regardless of rank) doesn't always go over big. Don Nagle, as a white belt stationed on Okinawa during his US military stint, routinely razed local black belts in kumite. This gave tremendous credibility to his teacher and the maverick style of Isshinryu, but truth be told, Nagle probably would have excelled in any karate style.

There's no guarantee that innate ability will carry you far in the martial arts. The opposite is also true: Perceived liabilities cannot hold anyone back. We all have talents and special abilities that are meant to be realized and shared. Even if we're not the best at what we do, we each have a distinct way of expressing that which makes us unique. But being prodigious at something usually comes at a cost. Nagle's sensei, Shimabuku, advised him to stop visiting other dojos to issue challenge matches. He wasn't welcome there anymore.

Know Your Environment

The dojo - the training hall - is an austere, plain structure: unadorned walls, smooth floor, matted and well lit. For these reasons, the traditional dojo doesn't accurately represent a realistic setting for a confrontation. Maybe some schools should include bar stools and pool tables as part of their training equipment. If "combat effectiveness" is what you're looking for in your art, then concepts besides developing techniques that only work in a pristine, flawless martial arts school need to be considered.

Have you ever trained outdoors or in an unfamiliar environment? Obstacles can and do get in the way, such as an alley wall or a depression in the ground. Having to defend yourself on the side of a hill or during inclement weather is not only challenging, but could get downright ugly. Attacks can happen in the most unlikely surroundings. Most robberies and confrontations take place at night. During Okinawan karate's formitive years, secretive training took place after sundown. As such, fighting techniques were developed with only the aid of moonlight. These same practitioners trained on the beach with eku (boat oars), and used their makeshift weapons to flick sand into the eyes of their adversaries. The master duelist Miyamoto Musashi would make it a point to keep the sun to his back during his bouts of mortal combat. If fighting indoors, he would plan the possibility of escape if necessary, previewing the area for doors, windows, or other avenues of exit. Musashi felt that escaping from overwhelming circumstances was compatible with warriorship, and was simply a part of effective strategy (heiho) . Live to fight another day.

Use everything to your advantage at all times.

Examine your environment...

Fitness Was The Way

Gichin Funakoshi had an idea. Upon arriving in Japan from his native Okinawa, he would demonstrate his brand of karate only before intellectuals. He reasoned that learned men, relying on brainpower as opposed to brawn, had come to neglect their bodies. Doctors, attorneys, university students, and artists of every stripe became the hand selected audience for Funakoshi's inspiring demonstrations and lectures. Funakoshi asserted that anyone who put in the time and effort could develop a karate physique, as he called it. That was one of his main selling points; to get in shape, and to reap the benefits of health and physical well-being through rigorous training in karate. Japan (c. 1920) was beginning to catch up to the West as a nation of advancement and technology. The white collar class there had begun to emerge, and thus Japanese men of that time had become less physically active than their predecessors. Karate, it seems, found a new home in Japan, and had arrived in a timely manner.

Funakoshi was hardly the first to advocate a fitness oriented regimen for a scholarly group. According to legend, the Zen master Bodhidharma arrived in China around 500 AD, settling at a Buddhist monastery known as the Shaolin Temple. Dismayed and surprised at the poor health of the residing monks, he prescribed exercises to strengthen and condition their atrophied bodies. Over time, these exercises became more structured and systemized, developing into self-defense applications. This gave rise to chuan fa, or more popularly known as kung fu. Tai chi, one of the world's oldest martial arts, is generally practiced today for its health benefits. Ultimately, the purpose of martial arts training is to strengthen all three human components: mind, body, and spirit.

One Strike, One Kill

Many practitioners don't realize, or forget, that weapons came first in the martial arts. Jiu-jitsu, one of the forerunners of the empty-handed systems, was actually developed much later than the classical choice of weapon of feudal Japan: the sword. The sword (ken) was considered the soul of the classical warrior in both the East and West. Almost any cut delivered during a medieval swordfight was lethal and final. It should go without saying that both the kenshi and chivalrous knight took their training quite seriously.

Weapons are taught alongside most modern martial art systems. On Okinawa, customary weapons were banned on and off for centuries by various invading kingdoms. Ingenuity became the way of strategy and deception and kobudo was born. Since farming was a way of life there, its implements could be used as authentic weapons if the need arose. Kobudo, while considered as an integral part of traditional karate, is really a system unto itself. In Japan, kendo (the way of the sword) is actually regarded as the quintessential budo form, in part, because of its roots to kenjutsu (swordfighting). In iaido, practice involves removing a live blade from the scabbard as quickly and efficiently as possible. This idea brings to mind the gunslinger drawing his revolver from the holster during the wild shootout days of the Old West. Weaponry is yet another aspect of the martial arts that remind us that traditional training's original focus was about life and death.

Street Fighting Man

The late Lyle Alzado, the football legend from the 70s, once quipped to an interviewer that he never met a man he didn't want to fight. The same could be said for another legend - one who didn't hone his skills on the gridiron, but initially on the streets of Okinawa. His name was Choki Motobu. Motobu (b. 1871) was not your ordinary karate-ka; he liked to field test his learned abilities in Tsujimachi - Okinawa's infamous red light district, against thugs and anyone else who had the misfortune to cross his path. Because of his reputation as a troublemaker, he resorted to using an assumed name to gain entry into prominent dojos, only to be thrown out once his real identity was learned. He would often pay his tuition with the unlikely offering of awamori (rice liqueur) when he couldn't afford any other means. Money was something he had no real understanding or appreciation for - a common trait for men of Motobu's ilk.

Motobu defeated a European prizefighter in a boxing ring when he was in his fifties, bringing him much popularity, and eventually students. Some of his disciples went on to create their own ryu (feudal term for school), but Motobu himself was never affiliated with any particular style, as he himself was never anyone's disciple - truly a modern day ronin. Motobu's approach to karate flew in the face of the conventional wisdom of the day, and like Sinatra, he did it his way.

Breaking The Kata Code

Trying to decipher kata (solo practice forms, usually of Chinese origin in karate styles) is akin to interpreting the Bible, and often can get you in as much trouble. Bunkai officially translates as kata's application, although explanation is probably a better word. In kumite, fighting full bore all the time has its obvious drawbacks. Employing true martial waza during sparring is definitely not socially responsible behavior. So to maintain the original fire that a traditional art was forged in, we have kata. Kata, specifically bunkai, reminds us that the martial arts are of a very serious nature. When Okinawans were denied the right to bear arms at various times throughout their violent history (including the US military occupation following the second World War), the practice of kata became a stealthy option. Karate's earliest training sessions were shrouded in secrecy, and often took place after dark. So it should come as no surprise that kata was created, in part, to conceal its real purpose.


Attack/defense scenarios are presented in the kata one after another. Since the human brain is hard wired to retain information more efficiently by rote (like the telling of an old story, or learning a dance sequence), kata makes a superb training tool. Although it's rarely done, the bunkai should be revealed along side the teaching of the kata right away, for clarity's sake. Many of these ancient forms are so old, their meaning has been lost. Traditional practitioners should be aware that kata is not universally accepted in combative systems. Muay Thai kickboxing, for example, which has a history that actually pre-dates Okinawan karate, does not include forms in its teachings. The relevance or need for kata is largely questioned in martial arts circles, and remains as one of the more controversial topics of discussion amongst practitioners today.