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Karate-do Philosophy

 

1/ Koroshi no Mei - This is important for all martial artists. It directly translates to mean killing or death stare. This is the proper attitude when practicing Karate-do. If you have weak eye, then you will have weak spirit, weak mind, and weak body.

 

 

2/ Ikken-Hisatsu - Meaning one strike / one life. You must keep this in mind when practicing your techniques. In Karate-do, you do not attack with lots of weak attacks. You must practice in the dojo to attack and finish the encounter with one decisive attacking technique. You must understand that you might only have one chance to save yourself.

 

 

3/ Do Kan Ki Tai - Baby face, hard body. Sounds like Goju. This entirely means hard inside, soft outside. When you go into battle, you must look calm and relaxed, and at the same time your body must be hard and strong.

 

 

4/ Gokui waza - This represents a certain technique that best fits a given situation. All battles have a different outcome, and are ended with different techniques. To perform Gokui waza, one must have a clear mind, absence of conscious thought.

 

 

5/ Zanshin 残心- Awareness, a ready state of alertness; one must be aware of their surroundings, especially in a fighting environment.

 

When practicing kata, at the end come up slow to Yame position. Be aware of what just took place, and what could of happened.

 

 

6/ Shu Ha Ri - Shu means to listen and obey your teacher, Ha means try to be better than your teacher, and Ri completes the circle as it means that the student can be better than the teacher if the student faithfully follow the first two philosophies.

 

Here is some updated info I managed to find on Wikipedia………

Shu ha Ri roughly translates to Learn, Detach, and Transcend.

Shu 守 "Protect", "obey" — traditional wisdom — learning fundamentals, techniques, heuristics, proverbs

 

Ha 破 "Detach", "digress" — breaking with tradition — detachment from the illusions of Self.

 

Ri 離  "Leave", "separate" — transcendence — there are no techniques or proverbs, all moves are natural, becoming one with spirit alone without clinging to forms; transcending the physical.

Shu ha Ri can be considered as concentric circles, with Shu within Ha, and both Shu and Ha within Ri. The fundamental techniques and knowledge do not change.

During the Shu phase the student should loyally follow the instruction of a single teacher; the student is not yet ready to explore and compare different paths.

7/ Karate dojo no soji – Ritual cleaning the dojo is very important. You should always show respect for your Dojo through cleaning it. Even if it is clean, clean it again.  The purpose is just not to polish your character through the cleaning process of the Dojo, but Soji also acts as a preliminary exercise of mind purification

 

 

 

All of Karate-do's Philosophies can be used in all aspects of your life. Your job, family life, etc... And it is very important that these are always practiced in the dojo.

 

 

 

The true meaning of Bu 武

 

Bu is a Kanji which we see quite frequently in the Martial Arts (BuJitsu / Budo). For our style, Bu is most often heard in the word, Meibukan, which reads in English House of the pure minded warrior, with Bu meaning warrior. Here is a break down of the Kanji’s etymology.

 

Lower left part of the kanji (SHI 止, tomeru) originally meant foot, while upper right part of the kanji 戈 represents a halberd or lance.  Thus... advance on foot with a halberd, is a reference to a warrior.

Though, in modern times the lower left character, SHI (止), means to stop.  Therefore the character BU is interpreted to mean... To stop the spear or fight / conflict, the context here now implies a warrior with the means to avoid a fight.

This later meaning is important to understand the true meaning of Modern Karate-do or Budo in general.

 

Uses of the kanji Bu.

 

Budo                                      martial way                           武 道

Bujitsu                                   martial art                             武 術

Bushido                                 way of the warrior               武 士 道

Bushi                                      warrior                                  武 士

Kobudo                                 Old Martial Way                    古 武 道

Meibukan                             Pure Martial House              明 武 館

 

Philosophy

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