Don’t think of the Bubishi as a book.
When I first started comparing the English editions of the Bubishi I was struck how many differences there were. It was not clear that there were different Bubishi being used.
The chapters were in different order among other changes. It was obvious the Patrick McCarthy Bubishi translation had been restructured to make the book fit a more logical form, but what the contents of the various Bubishi versions represent, the differences as well as the similarities hasn’t been discussed.
Certainly as the work was hand reproduced, some copyists may have dropped material because they weren’t interested, or other factors may have caused the changes (such as spilling one’s milk on a page so it ended up unreadable).
On Page 21 of his new edition Patrick has helped clarify this when he explains, “..the original document I received from the Konishi family was unbound and in random order allegedly as received from Mabuni Kenwa.”
Now I have something to work from, it is likely the Bubishi wasn’t preserved as a book to sit on the shelf, but it was a series of working documents to be used by the author.
In my own studies I have dozens of notebooks around me, with articles I’ve written, notes I’ve taken from studies, notes of technique application studies I’ve made without end, friends articles as well as other articles of interest. Personally I preserve each sheet in a sleeve protector, which allows me to pull various portions of different notebooks out and create new working tools as I require.
I save them to use not to sit on a shelf.
It helps understand the Bubishi a little more. It always felt as if was the personal notebook of an instructor or senior student, preserving notes for future use. The details behind the notes were unnecessary their own training was the key.
The Bubishi. a collection of articles that were used.
This is an important key for my new understanding on the Bubishi.
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