Karate and the Art of War

 

Translated with Bing Translate

https://note.com/motoburyu/n/ndda9b9d6d71c

 

June 1, 2023 7:42 AM

  

 

The following is a story I heard from my relative, the late Mr. Asakatsu Motobu.

 

Once, Motobu Tomoki was ambushed and attacked at the playground of Chiji. He may have been the one who lost to Motobu Asaki in the trial. Perhaps thinking that he could not win alone, the person called his comrades and plotted to attack Motobu Asaki with multiple people.

 

As expected, Motobu Tomoki was outnumbered by multiple enemies, and he saw this as a disadvantage and ran away like a rabbit. Then they shouted, "Headquarters Zaloo has fled! Don't run away, chase!" While shouting, I divided into four directions and searched for Motobu Asamoto.

 

At that time, Tsuji surrounded the building with a high stone wall and the road was narrow and intricate like a maze, so if you lost sight of one end, it was quite difficult to find.

 

Tsuji town before the war. Source: Naha City Museum of History.

 

"Where has Saaru gone!"

 

"I'm not here, are you there!?"

 

I thought I shouldn't miss it here, but the enemy is also desperate. I divided my hands and searched all over the labyrinthine promenade.

 

Now, what Motobu Tomoki was doing was actually still hiding in Tsuji. He secretly hid in the shadows and watched the situation. Then, when he saw that the enemies were scattered, he emerged from the shadows and defeated the enemies who were alone one by one. In this way, he succeeded in getting out of the predicament without difficulty.

 

What is the moral of this episode? That is, "Karate (Kara-te) is a military art." Hyōhō also has the meaning of martial arts, but it also means "military studies".

 

In the Motobu Chōkyō dictionary, there is a saying, "Battle is a strategy." In the above case, Motobu Asaki deliberately fled at first to disperse the enemy's forces and create a situation where they could be defeated individually.

 

In karate, the outcome of karate is not decided simply by the difference in body or arm strength, or the difference in the number of people in the game. This episode teaches us that there is a way to win even if we are inferior depending on the strategy and tactics.

 

Of course, karate here is not karate as a sports competition regulated by rules. It is Koryu karate as a martial art.

 

Motobu Tomoki is often thought of as a karateka with a focus on power, but he was also adept at using his wisdom in this way. Incidentally, the official name of Motobu-ryu includes the characters Japan 傳流兵法本拳法 拳法 and "Hyōhō" because he also emphasized fighting with such wisdom.

 

(Motobu Asatsu, November 18, 2010)

 

Source:

"The Art of War" (Ameblo, August 12, 2016).