A long, long time ago, in a distant land….. All good stories should start that way.

The other day I was reading Mark Tankosich’s paper “Karate Ni Sente Nashi” and was entranced by the story about Choki Motobu.

 

Reading that story triggered a long lost thought of mine about me in another time. 

 When I studied Isshinryu we did not get lessons about Okinawan karate past. There was never enough time for our studies for that. 

Our karate studies were very focused on using our karate with the opponent standing in front of us. 

Then several years went by, I had been reading karate magazines (the internet of that day) and had picked up some information about Okinawan martial history. 

Of course I did not know then what I know better today. 

And in those tender years, I tended to believe everything written in those magazines. (o’ those days of lost innocence.) 

 So what I understood has little to do with the actual Okinawan history, with a huge boost from my imagination. 

I knew there were the current practices of karate, and a foggy idea that there was a karate before that time. I had no idea what the actual history was. 

 I knew Okinawa was conquered by Japan, and some idea karate was preserved for self defense. 

My imagination supplied the rest. I imagined that the conquerors were hanging around everywhere. 

What I worked out is that the best way to make karate work was to look like everyone else. Give out no tells of what you were capable of. Then you could walk past your oppressor not appearing you were going to do anything. This would allow you to strike where they weren’t looking, towards their back. 

For I had worked out the best answer was t strike from behind where they were not looking. 

 This is not far different from what Motobu Choki had done. 

 As time passed and I learned ever so much more about matters martial I never forgot that thought. 

So strikes hardened on the makiwara accompanied with correct alignment, with all the possible force enhancers are among the ways such a strike to the rear could do even more damage. (I have only suggested one answer where there a whole infinity of possible answers. 

 Of course I did not teach this, for I wasn’t interested at creating individuals who would study methods of attack. And what an individual is shown as an answer how a technique should be used, it normally takes great effort so see any other answer for their studies. 

The history was skewered but the inherent principle I worked out remains as sound today as then. Striking below the opponent event horizon.