Monday, February 23, 2026
You Better Step Aside..
I still cast a giant shadow when I go out.
As Tenessee Ernie Ford sang,
"If you see me coming, better step aside,
a lotta men didn't and a lot of men ****"
A Day in the Life
I
believe information should be freely shared, providing there is access to that
information.
1.
For
several prior days I had been working on a series of blog posts from an
interview with Kinjo Hiroshi, who I find a fascinating person. I had run across
those quotes from an earlier article saved in my files, Reading them now after
so much time they took on greater relevance. So I prepared some blog posts on
Kinjo. https://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2020/06/hints-from-one-who-walked-walk-1.html
The one for this morning was on his
experience from the changes of kata execution.
2.
Then
serendipity intervened and on this morning first I noticed in my history of
daily Facebook posts a translation I had done on the Motobu Ryu site about
Motobu Ippon Kumite back in 2016. But instinct took over and I searched the
site to find last year they presented
their own English translation of that post. https://ameblo.jp/motoburyu/entry-12591751418.html?fbclid=IwAR2_3-0wDTClJ8tHhYT2NrCpSiFW2LqlOWI1TTr9A7Zbfwa-o0KQwpua0YI
Reading it gave me reason to look into
YouTube and I found a YouTube video that was very similar to the same material.
Motobu Ryu Secret teachings . Motobu Ryu
Moidi Shiroma Ha .
3.
But my day did not stop there for Joe Swift
posted a YouTube link for an Okinawan
folk tales video. It was all in Japanese. But a little work and I discovered
there was an English translation of part of that video. For it was about Chan-Migwa (Kyan Motobu), not about his
karate but legends that were told about the man. http://okic.okinawa/en/archives/news/p4192?fbclid=IwAR0N0Lzj7DAcC2Vdeuzo_H7SxQAGN5cdYp-zy-ZXKK36fwowejPKQVfSb48
4.
Of
course it did not end there for I also discovered a posting on FaceBook by Mark
Bishop about Senior Okinawan instructors who were also ‘Kaminchu”. Which in a
very real sense ties back into Shimabuku Tatsuo.
I
shared all of this across various FaceBook discussion groups.
As
I have found since I began participating in Internet discussion groups, none of
which gained much discussion. But I feel better people at least had the privilege
to see all of this and reflect on what they may have read.
Then
there is the other side to me, what I privately share with my own students.
Much of my personal analysis of many things, really only relevant to those who
spent decades with me. More to contemplate and perhaps use. The choice is
theirs.
I
really am no longer sensei for none come to train with me
I
am engaged with my own long term studies at best. The more I learn the less I
know. There is not one answer, one size fits all. Most often divergent ideas are extremely
workable. The idea is not to try and do everything. Rather to understand what
is out there and to work out how to disrupt that.
And
this was a slow day.
Hints from one who walked the walk 3
I
was just reading an article from the HUE Journal of Humanities, Social and
Natural Sciences, Vol. 22 No. 2, September 2019. It was titled ‘Talking with
the Senior Practitioners of the Martial Arts: Hiroshi Kinjo’ ,written by
Masatosho Taya and translated by Mark Tankosich.
The Meaning of Practice is found in its
Continuance.
Q:
Your karate career has spanned 77 years. Looking back at it, how do you feel?
“Oh, I don’t think I practiced enough. I regret that
I couldn’t reach the level of master. But I do think that maybe I can figure
out what sorts of steps might allow someone to become an expert, a master.”
Such candor, such honesty, something very rare in this martial
world.
Hints from one who walked the walk 2
I
was just reading an article from the HUE Journal of Humanities, Social and
Natural Sciences, Vol. 22 No. 2, September 2019. It was titled ‘Talking with
the Senior Practitioners of the Martial Arts: Hiroshi Kinjo’ ,written by Masatosho
Taya and translated by Mark Tankosich.
“From the Outside Inward” and “Toride”
Kingo
feels that with Sensei Hanashiro’s guidance his eyes were open with regard to
karate. After
that he pursued his training independently.
“I
felt that maybe I had finally begun to grasp the whole picture with karate. I wasn’t
sure, but I kind of vaguely thought, ‘There are stages.’
“First,
in all cases you block the opponent’s
punch in whatever way, without thought. Then you sweep it (it away). All such
sweeps in karate are from the outside inward. You always
sweep [the opponents’ limb] in such a way that you’re on his outside. After sweeping you seize. And then, after you’ve seized, you apply a joint reversal
technique. The use of such techniques is called toride.
“This
is the complete process of karate.”
I
find this an interesting explanation. I had worked up my own analysis of what a
complete karate technique was back in 1980.
I
referred to it as my unlocking principle:
I called it the Unlocking Principle
for me. Basically it stated that for any movement a block/strike
could have a strike following and whichever combination was used resulted in a
downing of the opponent (explosive striking, locking or takedown).
Apparently
we saw such in similar lights.
Or
as James Bond would put it 1) Happenstance 2) coincidence 3) Enemy Action.
But
I don’t wait to make light of this, just show that there is a similarity to my
own studies.
Hints from one who walked the walk 1
I
was just reading an article from the HUE Journal of Humanities, Social and
Natural Sciences, Vol. 22 No. 2, September 2019. It was titled ‘Talking with
the Senior Practitioners of the Martial Arts: Hiroshi Kinjo’ ,written by
Masatosho Taya and translated by Mark Tankosich.
Hiroshi
Kinjo began his studies in school in 2nd grade and then continued
for a lifetime. His training was in the the art created by Anko Itosu Semsei,
studied with Hanshiro Chomo Sensei. The art of karate 
as
combat technique-based physical education.
as
combat technique-based physical education.
In
particular this section caught my eye:
Q” Is there a
difference between kata now and kata in the old days?
“They’re
completely different. In the old days, kata,
were done faster than they are now. That’s because you didn’t adjust the [execution
of ] techniques to your breathing, you adjusted it to the opponent’s timing . Because
with kata, if you’re not conscious of
the opponent, it not [really] kata
you know? Tuned in to the opponent’s timing, after you knocked [his opponent’s
timing] away in a flash, you’d immediately throw a punch. If you set up
climatic places [in the kata], like
[people do] now, it was considered no good.”
That
change which occurred in so many karate systems, makes the question of the kata
being traditional a question to consider anew.
Sunday, February 22, 2026
The Spirit of Karate
Today
I am thinking about the Spirit side of Karate for I have found that without
developing one's spirit behind karate, it is far less likely to work.
My
own spirit was forged under the instruction of Tom Lewis at the Salisbury Dojo.
Just
to be clear I first became aware of the idea when I read an article about the
Isshinryu patch, it described the 3 stars in the sky as having multiple
meanings. The one behind my thoughts is the stars represented the Physical,
Mental and Spiritual attributes of karate.
Not that
Lewis Sensei ever gave us a lecture about spirit. In fact no instructor I have
trained with in any arts gave such a lecture. I came to realize how real this
was over time, much time. But it was a real component of my training none the
less.
In
the paradigm of training at the Salisbury dojo it was instilled into up by
being continually facing those better than us during kumite and continually
having the lesson knocked into us. Those that understood kept at it and worked
to improve.
Then
when Charles Murray took over my training those poundings continue at a higher
level. I never liked them but I continued to work to improve.
I
was never inspired at kumite, but there were occasions when I went beyond what
I could do, opening manifestations of my spirit rising to the occasion.
As
in any martial endeavor there is not one answer, but gaining the drive to move
forward is a large part of the key behind Spirit.
The
day when I started understanding how it worked came many years later.
I
was working with a group of my black belts on application potentials within
Seisan Kata. They were all over a decade working on Seisan and knew it quite
well.
As
I was working with them a new application potential for the movement series we
were working on came to me. I asked one of them to step in and strike at me
(just a tool to begin study with) and he did so. I applied what came to me and
I disrupted his attack the first attempt.
So
then I asked another to attack me, and again I made it work. I realized I was
on to something.
So
then I demonstrated what I did to the group. Then I went through it 10 times,
even in very slow motion to be sure they understood what I had done.
After
that I asked them to try and do it against slow attacks.
They
felt no pressure from the attack to interfere with their mind.
But
when the attack came, every one of them did something else. Even feeling very
low pressure from the attack, they switched to their favorite answer and did
that.
As
for showing effectiveness each one of them would have stopped a very vigorous
attach with what they did. It’s just what I wanted them to do was not what they
did, instead they did something else.
I
did not lecture them as I realized they showed me something. Exactly what that
was I would go to sleep still thinking about.
The Physical – with over a
decade of work on the kata, they all were proficient in their execution.
The Mental – I had clearly
explained what I was doing. Even to slow motion demonstrations.
The Spirit – This was where
the difference lay. I knew I could make the application work. When slightly
pressed with the punch stepping in, they did not believe in the technique so
they did something they believed in. The reality that I could do it had not
transferred to their spirit so they responded where their spirit led them.
I
am glad they could stop that attack competently. But I already knew that.
That
showed me I had to work harder to get across their faith in their own spirit to
make a technique work.
My
belief in myself was forged so long ago. I needed to work harder to help them
forge their own spirits.
An
example of where this applies goes to the crux of kata application studies.
Showing
what is possible is but a part of the journey. The study of Application
Potential. It can lead drills of course, but do they lead the spirit behind
what is shown.
Once
one grasps the Potential the real work begins The larger study to reach kata
Application Realization.
When
I hear many talk about ‘bunkai’ the discussions most often centers around the
use being shown. Almost never heard is the work to forge the spirit to actually
make that technique work against every potential attack. That is a much longer journey.
The
union of the Physical, Mental and the Spiritual involves far more than this
brief discussion. It involves each aspect of our arts.
How
you forge the Spirit is as important as how he forge the Body and how you forge
the Mind.
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