Dear CD Members,
Itosu Anko stated that Okinawan karate was not influenced by either Buddhisim or Confusianism but based on the principles of moral behavior. The brutal methods of fighting that was developed by the Peichin Udon ( the security guards of the Ryukyu Kingdom) transcended into Uchinan Di that adopted the principle of " to win without fighting" and the premise that karate does not teach attacking first. The Ryukyu Kingdom enjoyed 700 years of peaceful existence which allowed them to focus on accepted moral behavoir between their ciizens even during the periodic occupations by the Satsuma. Therefore Okinawan karate had no organized religious influence as part of the development of their cultural development of karate.
The Chinese fighting methods had as a whole had minimal influence by Buddhisim, Confusianism or Toaism until the 17th century when the Toaist elitely educated began to embrace the physical arts to enhance the "Tao". While, the Shaolin methods had strong religious influence the majority of fighting methods were based on martial needs.
The Japanese had more influence on the religious thought to karate through the previous influence of Buddhisim on their indigenous fighting methods.
In the 47 years I have been involved in karate; (7) in Shotokan and (40) in Shorin Ryu and having spent a considerable amount of time on Okinawa, I have never heard or been exposed to religious teachings.
IMHO karate is an adjunct activity than an be a compliment to any spiritual belief system. While I am a Christian and my belief is that God has provided the study of karate for me for several purposes with the primary purpose being to enhance my joy of life and to help others enjoy life as God intended. Similarly, I believe that karate as the Okinawan’s intended can provide value to other belief systems.
Okinawan karate was created to be ubiquitous or the value would be limited to only those that have belief system that similar to the Okinawan creators.
Gambatte
Dan Smith
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