Addressing today’s reality

 

 Daily as I follow the news I see ever increasing violence in our streets.

 

Guns being used for assignation of Police Officers and others.

Continuing drive by shootings, very often shootings of innocent bystanders.

Totally random stabbings where the victim, often selected at random, is totally unaware of the attack.

Random beat downs of unsuspecting targets selected at random.

Random hammer attacks where the perp. is dressed only in underware making the target distracted from what is happening.

Attacks in crowded subway cars, or random intentional shoves down to the train tracks.

…..and of course the list goes on and on……

 

Realistically almost none of it capable of being stopped by karate.

 

 

I taught Isshinryu to students young and old. Just taught the art never claimed it was for any special purpose. Such as self defense, such as for training, such as for sport. Just Isshinryu.

 

I do not claim my karate was better than others. It was after all just my karate.  However after so many others advertising their training was useful for self defense then comparing that training with the above listed events currently in the news,  I begin to wonder what the self defense usage people are training for.

 

And at that I consider all Okinawan karate fair game for these puporses.

 

I really do not recall Okinawan instructors who trained their students to face the above attacks.

 

Let’s step back to when the art training was private in Toudi/Te. The Bushi families who taught those arts, were likely not preparation for their eventual total family roles using their Toudi/Te.

 

Most likely their training in Toudi/Te was just the opening study for their later roles. Then when their Toudi/Te skills were adequate for them to move onto their family roles, they were likely brought around by other family members already in those roles.

 

 

The closest I might consider were the Bushi families that guarded the king. Were constant awareness of possible violence was always present. IMO this might not be part of the initial Toudi/Te training, considering the weapon must first be forged before it can be trained for execution.

 

You might think this somewhat similar to what the Secret Service has to develop in keeping the President safe.

 

Perhaps also akin to skills the military might develop, or skills required by a police officer.

 

IMO it would require training  above the normal skills developed in a karate system.

 

Makes you think of 1). The eyes must see all sides. And 2.) the ear must hear in all directions. Which goes far beyond the training of most karate skills.

 

The closest I can remember when I met a brown belt of Frank Van Leten back around 1983. He described how working in NYC at that time, he would move through the streets always carrying a rolled up newspaper to drive into an opponent if attacked on the street.

 

Of course it is not a simple as the flip answer that “I will carry a gun (or  other object)”, as most of the attacks are when someone is unaware of the attack.

 

And moving a student into constant hyperawareness is much more difficult and it itself does not take into account the toll it will take on the individual so trained. For there would be no ‘off time’.

 

I see much to think about and no simple answers.

 

I am thinking about this these days.