Kaminchu

 

Mark D Bishop

 

Attached are images of five deceased Okinawan martial-art masters: Sanda Kanagusuku, Tatsuo Shimbuku, Kafu Kojo, Seikichi Uehara and Seitoku Higa. All of them are recognised as being ‘kaminchu’ and hints to this often-hidden esteem are recorded in my books. But what exactly is a ‘kaminchu’?

 

To begin with, the word is of Shuri ‘hogen’ origin; this being a dialect of the Japanese language group once spoken by Ryukyuan aristocrats at the capital of Shuri and now widely spoken among family members on Okinawa. The word itself can be divided into three words ‘kami’, ‘no’ & ‘chu’. The noun ‘chu’ means person, as in ‘uchinaa-chu’ (lit. an Okinawan person); the preposition ‘no’ means ‘of’; while the abstract noun ‘kami’ is usually (but mistakenly) translated as ‘god’. Thus, the three words together can be translated as, ‘person (or man) of god’. However, there is a problem with this literal meaning, because ‘kami’ as ‘god’ does not generally have the same connotation in the Japano-Okinawan cultural mindset as it does in cultures more affiliated with the Judean- Christian concept of an all-powerful, all-seeing creator ‘God’.

 

In the context of ‘kaminchu’ (or ‘kami no chu’), ‘kami’ actually refers to a specific ancestral deity, or ancestral deities. However, ‘kami’ can also mean a spirit or spirits as determined by Shinto-type thought patterns, but are usually protective, once living, ancestors and should not be confused with so-called ‘spirit guides’. Usually though, a person who is deemed as being a ‘kaminchu’ by his or her associates, or is self-proclaimed as being such, is usually one who is believed to be in touch with their ancestral lineage and empowered by it on a metaphysical basis. In this respect, they are a sensitive or a seer – or both. This is different from being a ‘yuta’, or ‘sanjinsoo’, which is usually a professional necromancer, sorcerer or occultist of Chinese cultural influence. A ‘kaminchu’ is also detached from the former Ryukyuan state religion known as ‘ukami’, whereby priestesses, known as ‘nuru’ (or ‘noro’), had a certain influence over decision making processes at the Ryukyuan court. In brief then, a ‘kamichu’ can be viewed as a self-made ancestral medium, or sensitive, and/or a person who is in touch with the ancestors.

 

As in the real world of business and politics, any spiritual group, organised religion, or self-proclaimed spirit medium can also use their influence to manipulate and control others for their own ends; and a ’kaminchu’ is no different. However, the grounded, zen-type practices of exercise and relaxation that quantify Okinawan martial-arts' training, do tend to help ‘kaminchu’ be more stable in dealing with the sometimes over-stimulation that becoming a seer often involves; the road of the ‘kaminchu’, the WAY, being thwart with challenges. In conjunction with this, martial-arts’ training should provide a route, a path, to aid trainees into being more sensitive and eventually being able to ‘see’ in a metaphysical basis; that is to say with the proverbial third eye – thus attaining some degree of enlightenment.

 

Quite often though, as the mind and body begin to open up to the parallel universes that become apparent through correct zen-based martial-arts’ training, the overload can be too much for the normal senses to cope with and the potential seer, or ‘kaminchu’, might go through a confused mental period (or ‘breakdown’) known as ‘kamidaari’. Another point is that, after WWII, being a sensitive, a seer or a ‘kamichu’ became less readily acceptable in society and, in many cases, simply ‘bad for business’. So, among the younger generation, denial of (or even scorn toward) any such intuitive processes started to become the norm. Perhaps then the best way of illustrating the functioning of a ‘kaminchu’, that is to say at least how the attributes pertain to martial-arts’ training, is to refer directly to the five masters in question.

 

In pre-War times, being a ‘kaminchu’, thus having the ability to ‘see’ with the third eye and relate to the metaphysical, was quite acceptable. According to the granddaughter of Sanda Kanagusku (c.1841-1921), he told her stories about “ghosts” which he had actually seen. In a practical sense and as part of his royal guardian duties, he used his ‘kaminchu’ abilities “to disarm with the mind alone”, while he would teach “one has to counter/strike in a single action while the thought is still in the attacker’s mind.”

 

In 1955, contrary to this openness, the karate teacher Tatsuo Shimabuku (1908-1975) had a vision of a ‘megami’ (an ancestral ‘goddess’) rising from the sea. Consequently, in a meeting with his students the next year, he told them he was forming a new karate style called Isshin-ryu, as an emblem for which he would use a badge with a design based on the ‘megami’ he had ‘seen’. Following this announcement however, many of his Okinawan students reportedly left the group, but the style was to go on to world-wide acclaim.

 

Kafu Kojo (1909-1995) was also a ‘kaminchu’, but very discrete, even secretive, about his abilities. Some of these, as with other masters of his time, involved ancestral ‘kami’ in helping to know how and where to strike an opponent with the proverbial knock-out blows associated with Okinawan te. I am sworn to silence and shall say no more on this subject, other than they were formidable. I was in my thirties and Seikichi Uehara (1904-2004) must have been in his seventies when I entered his dojo, but age difference in the ever-incarnating, perceptive world of the ‘kaminchu’ has little meaning. One evening when I was sitting beside him, with us both in a meditative state, I felt his ‘kami’ take something from my palm that was of consequence to me. He looked at it, gave it back to me, then ‘gave’ me a metaphysical scroll and said verbally, “teacher’s licence”. I took this to mean approval to teach te, but shortly after that my full-time English teaching career took off big time. However, I did successfully begin teaching te in 1990 in the UK and abroad.

 

The most profound influence on my understanding of the world of the ‘kaminchu’, good and bad, came from Seitoku Higa (1921-2006). He made no bones about his abilities with the paranormal and held so much trust in this aspect and others with his peers that he graded and recognised the styles of (among others): Shinken Taira, Shosei Kina, Seikichi Uehara, Shian Toma and Tatsuo Shimabuku. By becoming an integral part of Seitoku’s informal ‘kaminchu’ group, I also personally witnessed the downside that such groups can foster through manipulation – a series of events that is recorded in my book ‘Zen Odyssey, An Okinawa karate & Martial Arts Journey’ - see the Facebook page for Q&I Publications for paperback and eBook links. However, the knowledge and understanding gained far outweighed the negative experiences and these have impacted on my martial-arts bodywork. Probably the greatest insight Seitoku Higa passed on to me was the consequence our ancestors have on our everyday lives, in as much as even affecting our aches and pains. This is not forgetting that, according to this teaching, our ancestors are, after all, constantly reincarnating, as are ourselves.

 

Yes, we all possess the innate ability to develop our sensitivities on various plains, “So where are you going in your training and life?” the masters might well be asking.