Info and Life in the Crazy World of Martial Arts

Where People Outside our Realm Simply Don’t Understand

2015-12-03T07:01:00.000-08:00

It is one of those things that I think about very little, although it can be common, where friends and peers give you flack for training in the Martial Arts, I’m not really talking about fellow Martial Artists bashing other fellow Martial Artists, I’m talking about individuals, no matter what ethnic background, age, gender or creed they are, they come way short in understanding how our way our life is in the Martial Arts world. I’m talking to those that never in their life took up a Martial Art system giving Martial Artists flack. I heard words from my peers, it’s a waste of time, you have no life, Karate is not helping you etc. There are reasons that I would or would not understand, and I am completely baffled.

I never, in my life heard any of my family members give me flack for training in the Martial Arts. I never heard any negative feedback on what I love to do. In fact, almost 12 years ago, my mother and my older brother enrolled me in a Karate program. When I gone through my black belt test, my family was present to watch for love and support. Those are moments I will never forget. I’m proud of my accomplishments in my Martial Arts journey, and I will keep doing it for the rest of my life. I have family members that took Martial Arts, such as my older brother who did Judo for a brief time, my Aunt who came from Barbados and settled in Toronto took up Taekwondo and made it to green belt, and my young cousin who is 5 years of age is taking Taekwondo. Being a second-generation Martial Artists is not easy, I had shoes to fill by making to black belt whereas my Aunt never got a chance to.

Outside the Martial Arts world my intentions was to keep it a secret, but eventually it will come out. Since I’m a volunteer assistant instructor, I have a job on the side to support me. Many people who train in the Martial Arts, no matter what rank they are, have a well-paying job, no matter what geographical location they are in. the big myth that’s never been brought up is that all Martial Arts school owners only make their living off of teaching, including the assistant instructors who make at least part-time wage. It’s not always true, it depends how large the student body is or if the Sensei runs a black belt mill commonly called “Mcdojo.” I’ve been told by one person, and this issue was quite touchy and personal and that could have and would have drove a wedge in between me and the academy where I trained and help teach at for over 10 years. My friend told me that I was being taken advantage of. If that personal opinion directed at me got to me and if I ever gone with it; that would be 10+ years of loyalty being flushed down the drain. In my defense, I deny that I am being taken advantage of, and it is backed up by facts more than personal opinion. I was never forced to come to class, I had free membership because I volunteer to assist at black belt level at least once per week, I can take time off whenever I feel like it, I was never forced to clean the dojo every time I show up, It was never mandatory for me to participate and attend seminars, tournaments or any type of function related to Martial Arts being advertised in any way, shape, or form. I also been told by one person that Karate is not helping me. Period. It’s either people who don’t know how the system works, or simply ignorant. I know that he meant that it’s not helping me financially…that’s why I have a regular full-time day job. Now again, people believe that club owners and assistant instructors only make a living of teaching classes. The fact is that so few Senseis who run dojos (I’m not talking about Mcdojos) is the only career they live off of, depending if they have hundreds of students and have the dojo open 6 days per week, and maybe, if possible if the business provides day classes for adults who work evening shifts, and provide an after-school program to recruit more young students. In Okinawa, most club owners have a job on the side as much as their Western counterpart, because they prefer to have a few, well-disciplined students, while they have a regular job may it be fishing, selling products, law enforcement etc. There are universities in mainland Japan and some in the Western world that have instructors that teach Karate and other Martial Arts at campuses. It’s hard to get a full-time job doing that, you have to have a degree in Physical Education and Kinesiology/Anatomy or anything related to the human body. The best thing about that career, is that College students come to you, instead toiling away printing out Ads and distributing them around to various neighbourhoods. Now, furthermore about that ridiculous claim that Karate is not helping me, the person who said that to me completely left out other benefits that Karate can help me with, it gives me good exercise, it helps me increase my focus, it improves my health, makes me more disciplined, helps me learn self-respect, helps me improve my self-confidence, and I am getting my education in self-defence techniques. These positive benefits can take anyone to accomplish other things outside their Martial Arts training. If I didn’t find those things, I wouldn’t be training at all. I have trained many students that started out being introverted, I have trained students who had learning differences and they can be a handful, but overtime with patience and guidance they have improved, I can’t save everybody, so I can’t beat myself over the head about it. So it will silly to say to them that Karate is not helping them. It’s like saying that to an individual who likes to play golf as a hobby. I would like to use this analogy since my dad’s hobby is golf. Now, let us say that my dad decides to play golf as a hobby, and play a few local tournaments a year instead of playing in the amateurs and work his way up to the PGA. He had a well-paying, regular job that provide for him and his family. Now is it fair for anyone to say that golfing is not helping him? Will that imply for playing other sports as a hobby a waste of time and would not help anyone if one decides not to make money off of it?

Others ignorantly believe that self-defences is a waste of time and they don’t work at all and it only works in movies. Well, quite frankly we see action movies and the actors such as Jean Claude Van-Damme, Jackie Chan and others do flashy Martial Arts techniques to make their movies more entertaining. Those moves would not work in real life confrontation, and that making a fight scene is always choreographed. Now if one trains in the dojo effective self-defence techniques seriously and practices everyday, those techniques can most likely work in a real-life confrontation. Gichin Funakoshi said, “It takes one hit one kill.” Or what I learned at my school, “Keep it short and simple (KISS).”

Another thing is tournaments. Whenever I share my ups and downs to anyone who never took Martial Arts, especially if I bottomed out of the top 3 or didn’t make it in 1^st place, I’ve been told that I never win. I tell the truth about the Martial Arts world in order to preserve our respected arts for our generation and the ones to follow. My main focus in my journey in the Martial Arts is understanding effective combat techniques more than winning trophies. If I trained in a school that focuses on sport Karate and I expect to learn realistic combat that can save my life, then I would be wasting my time in that place. I’m not big on Karate competition, I only compete 3 or 4 times per year and I don’t expect to win. In fact, I have been consistently been placed in the top 3, and I’m not only talking about the small inter-dojo tournaments. It does happen that I come up short, and some judges may be bias, but I don’t whine about it because it’s not about winning, it’s about having fun and participating and those that never done any Martial Art are out of touch in that state of mind. Gichin Funakoshi said “The ultimate aim in Karate lies not in victory or defeat it lies in the participants of character.” Martial Arts is about spiritual fulfillment, not materialistic fulfillment. If I were to train only on the sport aspect of my Karate training and compete 3 or 4 times per month, then I would have a better chance of getting more wins, because training on that path would help me in the sporting side of it, but would not help me in a real-life confrontation. It’s very important to know the difference while looking for the right school for you. What I like about tournaments is that I get to meet new people, make new friends and add them to my Facebook friends list. Who is he kidding that I have no life if a train in Karate?

I don’t exactly know why those type of people give dedicated, passionate Martial Artists flack, maybe because the Asian styles and their philosophies are foreign to them despite that is has been in the Western world for seventy years. Keep in mind my fellow Martial Artists, wherever you are in your journey don’t treat your Martial Arts as just a hobby, or a job, make it a way of life, make it a part of your everyday life. I would not waste my time hanging around negative people. I would not waste my time hanging around with these losers who are ignorant, jealous, jerks who are plain stuck up trying to dictate my life thinking that they know everything and that the world revolves around them. Being able to teach classes as a living full-time is a dream for me. It’s a long-term goal for me to get there. I have no desire to make money being a prize fighter in MMA or be an action movie star, but who knows maybe I would meet my own goals. Never let friends be a negative influence on you.

Jonathan

Crispin Autumn Shiai 2014

2014-11-15T11:36:00.000-08:00

I was eight months removed from the DNBK tournament at Queen’s University. I was set to participate in Crispin’s annual Super Shiai in Georgetown, Ontario in May. Unfortunately, the week before that event, tragedy had hit my family, my mother passed away and I withdrew from competing in that event. I sacrificed time from private weekend training to spend her last days in the hospital with her. Even after her death, I took time off from the dojo, but I still found some time to train myself. I know deep down inside of me that my mom never wanted me to give up Karate, it is something I love, but at the same time, I know that family comes first. I will never forget that over 10 years ago, my mom and my older brother enrolled me in Karate as a Christmas gift. My mom supported me, showed up to a few of my gradings, and tournaments. In November 2009, I will never forget that my mom and the rest of my family were there to see me receive my black belt after performing a four hour grading. Many memories I had with my mom was at times she sewed up the dojo’s crest on my gi, and ironing my gi when it appeared to be wrinkly. Now my mom will be with me in spirit, always. I had the will to come back to the dojo as I promised everybody instead of leaving it all behind.

The year had been a dark cloud hanging over me, but it was a test from above to persevere through thick and thin. Going into this tournament as always, I knew I was the underdog loved and looked up to by many people. I was viewed as the man who would never give up and the man who is willing take on challenges. I didn’t want to think for one second to say to myself that I am going to win this tournament for my mother because I would put myself in that position to put all the pressure on myself and my mother don’t want that, she prefers more of me thinking of having fun and performing the best katas I can do in this tournament for her.

Later in the day, the black belt division began. My rival, Michael Toms was getting warmed up to compete, I was getting warmed up too, practicing my kata. In my mind I was saying “This man is going down.” When it is the 30-39 division’s time to compete, my only disappointment was that the audience has lessened, only a few of Michael Toms’ students and a couple other students and instructors, especially two hockey boys that walked in after hockey practice next door to check out the black belt division were left. It would’ve been nice that some more young kids that me and Michael judged recently that day would hang around and watch how we can steal the show, especially that little girl who came and asked me for advice on how to improve her skills after judging her weapons kata. However, most of the kids are tired after a long day and that it was on a Sunday and they needed to go home early and into bed for school the next day. Despite the regularly low crowd numbers in the latter part of the competitions, there is room for one fan in the heavens looking down on me performing at my very best.

The weapons division was only me and two other competitors, one of them was Michael Toms, he was doing an XMA style double Nunchaku kata, the other was doing a traditional Bo kata and I was doing a traditional Tonfa kata Matsu Higa no Tonfa. The judges was an elderly lady who is a Kung Fu practitioner, my Sensei as the center judge, and the tournament promoter Debbie Crispin. I was up second to perform before Michael. I did an intense weapons kata. Then Michael Toms did his kata performance which is not bad for a man in his late 30’s. While watching him perform I was hoping that he would drop his weapon (the small humourous part of it), but he didn’t. The scores for that was close, but Michael got 1^st place and I got 2^nd place. Several minutes later was the kata division. I was competing against 5 other black belts in the 30-39 division. I knew I had no sort of competition rust after a 9 month hiatus from competition, since training was always in my mind. Originally, I was planning to do Heiku, a kata that this territory hardly sees. However, within a few weeks prior to the tournament I decided to do a Goju-ryu kata Shisochin, 27 hands because I was working on that kata mostly with a fellow classmate. I performed a very nice kata with such intensity, with a determination to win or go out in a blaze of glory, if this was going to be my defeat…so be it. Michael Toms did Seiyunchin, Attack, Conquer, and Suppress, and in nearly midway through the kata I noticed that he bobbled a bit. The result was that me and Michael tied for 1^st, and Debbie decided not to have a sudden death tie breaker to determine an undisputed 1^st place winner maybe because she sees us as the biggest competitors in her division.

There is no doubt that Toms’ students were in awe of our performance, we tore the roof off. We told a story of a mere underdog Senior Student representing Durham Martial Arts vs. a regular competitor, dojo owner, and promoter from Orangeville. I am a well-liked guy by Toms’ and his students, they like seeing my traditional katas and the power I put into it. There is one thing in my heart that I do know, my mom who is in heaven would be proud of me for continuing his journey in the Martial Arts, and bring home some trophies this that night and bringing inspiration to my up and coming Martial Artist.

Kata - Dead or Alive (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

2014-09-21T10:04:00.001-07:00

Here is a Podcast Iain Abernethy explaining the how Kata should be lively.

Kata - Dead or Alive (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

In Defence of Combat Sports (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

2014-05-11T10:39:00.001-07:00

Here is a half hour Podcast by Iain Abernethy on the Pros and Cons of Combat Sports.

In Defence of Combat Sports (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

Facebook Post on African Martial Arts

2014-04-27T12:28:00.001-07:00

This post I found on facebook is written by brother Teanis Tillmon give good knowledge on the Africa's forgotten Martial Art system.

(1) Teanis Tillmon - Okay, so......I am I just imaging things or has...

Parents being too Controlling over their Children

2014-04-04T07:32:00.000-07:00

Throughout my ten years of training in Karate I have seen or heard of parents being too controlling of their children in Karate. This occurence is not only in Karate or any Martial Art that parents enroll their students into, it is also in recreational sports such as hockey, baseball, gymnastics all across the board. Especially in the field of performing arts such as acting, music, kiddies version of beauty pageants. I do remember hearing about a reality show about little girls not even in their teens being in a beauty contest and their mothers are being too controlling on their daughters, forcing them to go through such rigors from strict dieting and putting so much make-up on. Parents who keep pushing their children too hard in anything can discourage them from doing something that they have loved, or lead children too destructive means by simply being overly competitive. What children go through is hell, and their childhood can be extraordinary but also abnormal due to the parents pushing their children too much, I don't know if its for an everlasting financial security, therefore it is for their own good, or is it for the financial gain of the parents.

I remember doing some acting at a summer camp, and doing a few Christmas pagaent plays at a church I attended when I was kid, and I don't even recall having my parents forcing me into it, or putting high expectations on me to be the best actor that they ever hope to be. My dad was into the dramatic arts in his youth. I was never forced to follow in my dad's footsteps; never in my life I have been told that I have lots of shoes to fill. I did what I loved for a while. I was blessed to have a good childhood, which was never taken for granted. I was never treated #1 or #2 or lower, me and my siblings were loved equally. These days, or maybe for a number of years, parents who have multiple children can treat the eldest, the middle child, or the youngest child as #1 and the other as #2, although I wouldn't say #2 and I would say as the one who is overlooked, and all the expectations are put on the shoulders of the #1 son or daughter, and this is so tragic. In my opinion, in the long run it can cause a family dysfunction. The prime example of this is that your child gets the straight As in school while the other child tends to be coming up short the mother or father loved the child with the straight As more than the other child that is the struggling B or C student. When parents force their children to get better in any activity they do and put so much expectations on the child will suffer from psychological abuse. The child can be in so much under pressure to live up to expectations that are placed before them.

There can be so much drama in Martial Arts tournaments when parents can act like coaches and so many judges don't like that. I constantly end up hearing like, "Come on Timmy throw that kick in, score that point" and so on and so on. It can get so annoying that tournament promoters say before the tournament starts, "There will absolutely be no coaching at ringside from parents." I have been reminded a few times that Karate parents can come up to you and complain about unfair calls from the judges and so forth, or get accused of playing favourites. Thank God I did not have any yet, but I may have my day of hell. For those who run and managae a Martial Arts school can get complaints from parents about their child getting board of the training, not training hard or putting pressure on the Sensei or Sifu about putting their son or daughter into the grading to get a new belt rank, whether or not he or she is ready can be a fine line between do as the parents wish in order to keep the students long and hopefully make it to black belt or for the Sensei to put their foot down and explain to them the reason why he or she is not putting their best effort in classes or why he or she not ready yet to grade. For those black belts that wanted to own and manage their own school should think long and hard about it. It's not easy to run a Martial Arts school. It is not only obtaining knowledge of your art, it's also about inter-personal communication skills in order to handle these situations to the best of your ability along with being business savvy, and making and distributing flyers in order to draw in clients. Beware or be ready to confront the hot headed Karate mom/coach. It doesn't matter if the mom or dad ever donned a gi (uniform), walked into the dojo and trained for a long period of time or haven't took any Martial Arts at all.

The subject I write about is primarily about the Martial Arts world, but this is also for those parents who have children in any activity they are enrolled in. It is time to stop playing the parenting coach, it is time to stop putting psychological torment on your children, it is time to stop putting one child on a high pedestal and treating the other that he or she is worth nothing in life. The creator of the universe has called you to be a parent to your children not a heartless coach to your children, for we must put the positive frequency into our children in order to encourage them to pursue in anything they are passionate in what they are doing. They shall grow in time to be confident, to have integrity and to have honesty to others in the world. If you plant a seed in the ground, the plant would not grow overnight, it takes time, proper care and nutrients to let the plant grow. Now that's how parents got to be to their children, loving, caring and supportive.

Recommended Article:
How to be a Good Karate Parent be Jesse Enkamp
http://www.karatebyjesse.com/how-to-be-good-karate-parent-secret/

Ma'at Hotep,
Jonathan

Bodhidharma Shaolin Myth - YouTube

2013-08-18T11:33:00.001-07:00

I draw to the conclusion that the infamous Bodhidharma story is a myth. If you try to percieve this story a historical fact then it won't make sense for one individual to invent all styles of Martial Arts in the middle ages. If you use your critical thinking. Martial Arts originated in military battles. How many historical wars happened before this Tamil Monks time? China had many indigenous combative systems centuries before the dark ages.

Check out this video version, I recommend you pause the video here and there for reading purposes.
Bodhidharma Shaolin Myth - YouTube

Recommended Reading:

They Came Before Bodhidharma
Origin of Martial Arts: The Real History
African Contributions to the World
Who is Bodhirharma?

Jonathan Bynoe

Money and the Martial Arts (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

2013-06-02T11:11:00.001-07:00

Here is a good podcast which is worth the listening to.
Money and the Martial Arts (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

The Masters Speak! (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

2012-12-26T11:18:00.001-08:00

Here is a podcast by Iain Abernethy on different quotes from the Karate pioneers on their views and development of the ancient Okinawan art.
The Masters Speak! (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

Context! Context! Context! (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

2012-09-29T15:24:00.001-07:00

Here is a Podcast by Iain Abernethy explaining on the context in Martial Arts. What is the purpose of a particular fighting discipline and so forth.
Context! Context! Context! (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

“The Reverse Influence” An Obsolete Training Method?

2012-08-12T13:28:00.001-07:00

Most of us as Martial Arts instructors more specifically Karate have become too much modernize, especially those who had the program passed down to them. We got too caught up into the 20^th century format of Karate. For the price for our flaws in making the changes we need to have, students began to lose interest because of the limited amount of information given to them. Other Martial Artists from other disciplines are being critical on Karate saying that Kata training is useless; the “style” is not that effective for the modern age and other criticisms.

What we fail to do is to look back at our roots, the History of our discipline, then make the certain changes. Or we know the History, but we are unwilling to adopt the principles. Do I see a generation of thinking people coming along? Do I see a generation of open minded people coming along? It is a maybe. The origin of the unarmed combat system originated in the Ryukyu kingdom (Okinawan Prefecture). In the 1920’s the art known as Karate was introduced into Japan. Karate was changed into a sport for competition to compete against equally skilled opponents and adopting a belt ranking system. Its origins were meant for personal self protection against an unskilled opponent. Kata has many effective self-defense moves called bunkai or practical analysis that was passed down from teacher to student. In the early 1900’s a Karate master by the name Anko Itosu introduced Karate into the elementary school system. In order to avoid any accidents amongst the young school children, he did away with practical application/analysis and focus on teaching the children only kata, inventing 5 Pinan/Heian forms. After the second World War, westerners learned the contemporary format of Karate in addition to other Japanese and Korean Martial Arts. The Westerners have adopted the modern format of Karate from static, linear basics to kata with no practical bunkai.

The result was that the program that was adopted was obsolete for self protection. I quote Hanshi Patrick McCarthy, “The Reverse Influence”. That’s what it is, is it obsolete? If it is for sport, if it is to increase self-confidence, spiritual growth, self-esteem, etc., no, but if it is to understand the science, the principles, and the practical intricacies of the art yes the reverse influence is obsolete. The rigid traditional doctrines were being taught and learned are out of sequence, confined by the 3K training method, Kihon (Basics), Kata (forms) and Kumite (sparring). If you end up learning things backwards, you will most likely get confused and it has nothing to do with learning disabilities or differences, but the human mind while nurturing combative systems is designed to be taught in order to gain more sense in understanding the principles. Humans are animals, if you travel to Africa, go to the zoo, or visit a local Pet store you will see cubs or even kittens wrestling each other, therefore animals are designed to utilize fighting techniques by working with a partner instead of throwing a bunch of moves in thin air. The ancients developed grappling systems, boxing, and weaponry systems and passed on to other countries around the time that African people were moving throughout the Diaspora in the Prehistoric age.

While we get to Okinawa, the birthplace of Karate (formally called Tode), the order of learning the combative systems were passed down to the natives. The natives developed the fighting art into two-person drills, and then in order to store the effective fighting techniques or principles in their memory banks, they have recorded the techniques into dance and into prearranged set patterns called forms; in Japanese it is called kata. Kata are templates. Kata names such as Saifa, Passai/Bassai, Kushanku/Kanku, Naihanchi/Tekki, Seiyunchin, are templates of effective techniques that neutralizes the Habitual Acts of Physical Violence. Kata are not a set of moves to fight multiple opponents that is a big misconception to the Western people who adopted the modern Asian Martial Arts, specifically Karate. Hanshi McCarthy’s 36 Habitual Acts of Physical Violence have attack scenarios such as hook punches, bear hugs, full-nelson etc. where the defender needs to get out of. The unfortunate thing is that students do not appreciate kata training. It is not the fault of the students; it is the fault of the instructors for failing to upgrade their learning and not teaching them practical bunkai. Kata is used in the modern era of Martial Arts for gradings to give students a new belt rank, almost doing away of studying the practical applications/analysis, to these templates. Furthermore, the teaching structure is out of order. You will get questions of why do we do this? Why are you so picky on these stances? What does this do and that do? But don’t tell them specifically or withhold information until they reach a certain level. This is in my humble opinion, most of us these days are following the narrow dogmatic view of belt rank levels. The reverse influence of training is incompatible to the human body while training in a combative discipline. The development of Okinawan Karate had no belt ranks and training uniforms until its introduction to mainland Japan in the 20^th century called the dan/kyu belt ranking system. In my belief, an adult novice should be able to learn two-person drills may it be from one point sparring to the practical bunkai and reality-base role playing scenarios, do not hold back in teaching these things, teach the student to your heart’s content. There are no boundaries between what is basic and what is advance. True, certain self-defense moves can be confusing to the beginner, but that is no different from learning how to execute a low block on the very first day at the dojo, practice over and over to get better with it. Personally, I do not fully believe to say this self-defense move is reserved for blue belt level, if I feel it is too advance for the student, I won’t bother putting it in a grading, since more practice is needed. I’ll put more focus on the more simplistic self-defenses, the others are bonuses. Learning bunkai from a variety of templates to a novice can be a step above than an individual learning a Green belt kata, but haven’t gotten the bunkai yet.

Times have changed and many people needed a crash course in personal self-protection than just getting trophies and belt ranks, and it should be catered first instead of Kihon and kata to all ages. When it comes to kids, joint-locks, pressure points (kyusho), knife and firearm self-defense is too much for them and they lack control while doing these things in the dojo increasing the chances of injury, self-defense from grabs and Ne-waza (ground technique) is good enough. Every student in all ages shall appreciate the entire training curriculum of classical Karate, with no dislikes in any part of their training. Every student who wants to learn self-defense from bullies, thieves, rapists and killers would benefit greatly from training from a more comprehensive program. Karate students has a diverse range of individuals coming from different occupations, such as Law enforcement, military personnel, grocery clerks, bank clerks, and students needed self-defense strategies during these perilous times since physical confrontations can happen anywhere. The human mind has always been designed to learn two-person enactment then break off to solo enactment or the recording period to refine the techniques and understand the principles better. Learning two-person enactment at the start of training can help the student to react out of instinct instead of thinking, since thinking about technique too much can be the enemy. Altogether they will gain some knowledge in understanding what the blocks, strikes, and stances against the acts of physical violence to off balance, disable, and maim an attacker who is threatening your life before breaking off into Kihon and Kata.

Belt Ranks is a modern concept. The problem is that many instructors are too focused on the narrow dogmatic view of belt ranks and the ideal time periods they are supposed to grade for. I say that I care less about time when a student should get from yellow belt to orange belt. Keep in mind that every individual has learning style differences. Some people can soak things up like a sponge, while some pick things up slowly. For slow learners I believe that the proper order of training these individuals should not be change over to the reverse influence 3K training. Coordination will be decent if beginners learned two-person enactment before single person drills. Slow learners should be patient in getting things and fast learners should be patient in learning new things, since so many things need to be sharpened up, and to fully understand the principles.

Training in Karate can bring about self-confidence, self-esteem, self-discipline, holistic well being, etc., these are byproducts. Students in all ages should be able to grasp some practical bunkai for self-defenses and then learn Kihon and Kata, that way they can understand what these moves do to a certain level. Instructors in all titles should not be too focused on holding things back for self-defense drills, if you want to teach the novice ippon kumite, joint-locking techniques, grappling, knife self-defense based on katas they have never learned yet, go ahead and do that, do not worry if they forget most of it, as long as they are interested and understand the waza (techniques). Do not focus too much on belt ranks, on what they should learn in self-defenses, show them many things, and then give the important ones they need to know for their upcoming test along with their required kata(s). Kata shall in time be more appreciated to students. Knowledge is power; do not take it for granted.

Hotep,

Jonathan Bynoe

Study Guide of Goju-ryu Karate

2012-06-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

Translations:

Geri - Kicks Dachi - Stances

Mae Geri – Front Kick Heisoku Dachi – Attention Stance

Yoko Geri – Side Kick Heiko Dachi – Natural Stance

Ushiro Geri – Back Kick Kiba Dachi – Straddle Stance

Mawashi Geri – Roundhouse Kick Zenkutsu Dachi – Forward Leaning Stance

Mikazuki Geri – Crescent Kick Kokutsu Dachi – Back Stance

Fumikomi Geri – Stompin Kick Neko Aishi Dachi – Cat Stance

Kinsetsu Geri – Joint Kick Sanchin Dachi – Three Battle Stance/Hourglass Stance

Mae Tobi Geri – Flying Front Kick Shiko Dachi – Sumo Stance

Yoko Tobi Geri – Flying Side Kick Musubi Dachi – Formal Attention Stance

Nami Aishi – Inside Snapping Kick

Ashi Barai – Foot Sweep

Hiza Geri – Knee Kick

Miscellaneous

Sensei – Teacher Kiyotsuke - Attention

Sempai – Senior Yoi - Ready

Karate-do – Way of the Empty Hand Hajime – Go/Begin

Karate-Jutsu – Art of the Empty Hand Kime - Focus

Rei – Bow Dojo- Place of the Way/Training Hall/Place of Enlightment

Seiza – Kneel Makiwara – Punching Board

Mukso – Meditate Kiai – Shouting Spirit

Yame – Stop Obi - Belt

Gi – Karate/Judo Uniform Zuki - Strikes

Ippon – One point Oi Zuki – Lunge Punch

Karateka – Karate (Empty Hand) Student Gyaku Zuki – Reverse Punch

Kihon Kumite – Basic Sparring Morte Zuki – Two Handed Punch

Kata – Forms Seiken Zuki – Fore Fist Straight Punch

Jiyu Kumite – Free Sparring Ura Ken - Backfist

Ryu – School/Style Tetsui – Hammer Fist

Ippon Kumite – One Point Sparring Kazama Zuki - Jab

Goju – Hard/Soft Mawashi Zuki – Roundhouse Punch

Uke - Blocks Nukite – Spear Hand

Jodan Uke – High Block Teisho Zuki – Palm Heel Strike

Uchi Uke/Chudan Uke – Inside Middle Block Haito Zuki – Ridge Hand Strike

Gedan Barai – Downward Sweeping Block Shuto Zuki – Knife Hand Strike

Soto Uke – Outside Middle Block Empi Zuki – Elbow Strike

Mawashi Uke – Circular Block

Kake Uke – Hooking Block

Counting in Japanese

Ichi – One Ku - Nine

Ni – Two Ju - Ten

San – Three

Shi – Four

Go – Five

Roku – Six

Shichi – Seven

Hachi – Eight

Kata Training

Kata – generally translates as form, is a predetermined series of fighting techniques against an imaginary opponent. Kata are templates responding to the Habitual Acts of Physical Violence (HAPV-Theory). Kata is a summarization of effective self-defense techniques to neutralize the acts of physical violence. In these templates in what is called kata, they have blocks, strikes, takedowns, throws, joint-locks, Ne-waza (ground techniques).

The Kata allow the student to fully express the four basic tenants of Karate: Speed, Strength, Beauty, and Technique.

The Six Areas of Kata:

Eyes

Pace

Technique

Breathing

Kiai

Kime

The Kiai points in Kata usually fall on a finishing technique.

To understand and appreciate the solo enactment called kata, one must learn some two-person drills such as self-defense, Bunkai-applications, Ippon Kumite, and flow-drills first.

Basic Drills

Goju-roku Aishi Sabaki-Tai Sabaki – 56 Foot Movements

Sandan Gi – Third Level Training

Goju-ryu Kata Translations

Taikyouku Gedan – First Course Lower

Taikyouku Chudan – First Course Middle

Taikyouku Jodan – First Course Upper

Taikyouku Mawashi-uke – First Course Circular Block

Taikyouku Kake-uke – First Course Hooking Block

Gekisai Dai Ichi – Attack & Smash One

Gekisai Dai Ni – Attack & Smash Two

Sanchin – Three Battles/Conflicts

Tensho – Rotating Hands

Saifa – Smash & Tear/Destroy & Defeat

Seiyunchin – Attack, Conquer & Suppress

Shisoshin – 27 Hands

Sanseiru – 36 Hands

Seisan – 13 Hands

Seipai – 18 Hands

Kururunfa – Holding on Long and Striking Suddenly

Suparimpei – 108 Hands

Karate Titles:

Kyu – Boy/Intiate

Dan – Man

Sempai – Senior

Dai-Sempai – Great Senior

Sensei – Teacher

Dai-Sensei/O’Sensei – Great Teacher or Highest Respected Teacher

Shihan – Master or Expert Teacher

Seito Deshi – a student or disciple of Martial Arts

Uchi Deshi – a personal student who lives and trains with the Sensei or Master of Martial Arts

Renshi – Skilled Expert

Kyoshi – Master Teacher

Hanshi – Model Expert

Kancho – a title given to the head of a dojo or organization

Soke – founder of a system or a style

Meijin – Martial Arts Master

The Five Major Styles of Karate
Goju-ryu - Hard/Soft school
Shito-ryu - Higaonna/Itosu school
Shotokan - House of Waving Pines
Wado-ryu - Way of Harmony School
Kyokushin-kai - Ultimate Truth
General Translations/Definitions

Bunkai – Applications/analysis found in kata (templates) generally thought of as the most commonly attributed fighting techniques for any given movement

Oyo Bunkai – are most commonly viewed as the application principles upon which a technique is based on. Oyo is usually performed as a set of prearranged applications done between partners in a flow drill. It may differ from the single person drill (kata)

Okuden Waza – Secret techniques that have been intentionally concealed in kata. Most of the truly dangerous advanced techniques are deliberately concealed.

(from p.14 of The Way of Kata by Lawrence Kane and Kris Wilder)

The animal that represents the Goju-ryu system is the dragon
The five Karate animals: Tiger, Crane, Leopard, Snake, Monkey

4 Possessions of the Samurai – 1) Integrity 2) Honour 3) Time 4) Loyalty

*Time is more important because once you lose time, you cannot get it back!

The Kanji symbol for our dojo means Integrity or non-corruptive

Karate is the expansion and contraction of the human body, while in motion, in a state of total harmony with the universe to produce maximum destructive power while at the same time neutralizing incoming aggression with the least amount of energy, obtained through hard, physical training to unify the mind, body and spirit for the purpose of self-enlightment and to promote world peace. –Hanshi Christopher Diliberto

Mushin – No mind or detached mind

Fudoshin – Immovable mind

Zanshin – the remaining mind or the mind with no remainder

Mizu no Kokoro – mind like water

Tenets of Goju-ryu

1. We are proud to study the spirit of Goju

2. We shall practice courtesy

3. We shall be quick to seize opportunity

4. We shall always practice patience

5. We shall always keep the fighting spirit of Karate-do

History of Goju-ryu Karate

http://www.heritagemartialarts.com/about/history-of-goju-ryu-karate/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goju-ryu

Recommended Reading

An Introduction to Applied Karate by Iain Abernethy (ebook) available at http://www.iainabernethy.co.uk

Jissen Magazine available at http://www.jissenmag.com

Comprehensive Karate by Michael Rosenbaum (ebook) made available at http://iainabernethy.co.uk/news/free-comprehensive-karate-e-book-back-online

Jonathan Bynoe

Martial Arts View: S4:E4: TSW: Sensei Patrick McCarthy

2012-06-21T16:17:00.001-07:00

Here is a documentary on Hanshi Patrick McCarthy from Martial Arts view.
Martial Arts View: S4:E4: TSW: Sensei Patrick McCarthy

Jonathan

Understanding the Do (way) in our Lives

2012-05-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

I have watched Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith a number of times. I remember this scene where Anakin Skywalker was in the meditation room with Yoda. Yoda asked him, “Premonitions? What premonitions do you have?” Anakin responded, “They are about pain and suffering.” Yoda asked, “Someone close to you?” Anakin replied, “Yes.” Then Yoda said, “Be careful when sensing the future Anakin, the shadow of greed is the path of the darkside.” The Star Wars prequels have a message that simply says about fearing about losing everything. That fear, greed and attachments can lead to the darkside of the force. That leads to the development of dysfunctional families, and disastrous relationships. After reading this and grabbing this, you will say to yourself, “Hey, I got to improve myself in my everyday life.” The message I want to share with you is called Understanding the Do in our lives. I dedicate this message for all my classmates, past and present.

When we grow and develop, we are always faced with challenges. In the Martial Arts world we naturally strive to meet our goals and face challenges. Everytime you earn a new rank, it will get harder. In the real world we are faced with challenges, while going to school, getting a new job, going to a job, going into a relationship, starting a family, starting a business, etc. We evolve and change with the times. I’m not going to pick sides or be shovenistic. I’m here to speak my point of view. Training in the Martial Arts is not just a hobby or a job for those who run their own dojos/schools, it is a way of life and many of us in the Western world are missing it, not understanding that the Martial Arts are a part of your life. Many people that I have trained with are now gone simply because their personal problems and their busy lives caught up with them. In my personal opinion if you have personal problems, don’t quit on what you love to do because of certain excuses, just keep doing what you are doing, it’s ok to take time off, but don’t quit. The training is part of your life that’s the essence of the warrior spirit. Many western Martial Artists are far removed from grasping the concept of Do or the way. Every Martial Artist should balance their life between their busy life and their Martial life. You must persevere through your burdens in life if you love training in the Martial Arts.

One problem I can think of is the burden of relationships both in courtship and marriage. Now I’m not some sort of love Doctor or specialist or a marriage counselor, but I see that the problem lies in the lack of understanding and the perception of neglect. For me, I don’t have a big load to carry outside of the dojo. I am single with no kids, enjoying my training and other duties until it lasts. I must admit that I felt bad for others that had busy lives catching up to them. One thing that most of us both kids and adults don’t get is that Martial Arts training takes a lot of commitment and devotion, of course it depends if you are training in a legitimate dojo and not an over commercialized dojo. Furthermore, if you want to go to black belt level, you have to make sacrifices if you wanted it that bad. There are certain requirements that have to be made before grading for 4 or 5 hours. It is important to have support for your family and friends, it is important to have support from your spouse or significant others. If your girlfriend or boyfriend lacks that support and complains about spending quality time, call it quits in that relationship. I’m not playing, call it quits. Individuals in Martial Arts got the choice to decide; it has to be one or the other that is being emotionally attached. If your significant other is not understanding and unable to control attachments emotionally, then you must let go. Like Yoda said in that movie Revenge of the Sith to Anakin, “Train yourself to let go of everything you are about to lose.” Let me transliterate that, Yoda means that you must be prepared and accept to let go of the things and the people you love, if you are not prepared for things to come, you will be emotionally scarred. The choice is left for all of you, there are so many choices, so many paths in life, but in my humble opinion I find it silly to give up the things that are part of your life completely for a demanding boyfriend or girlfriend. We have been called by the spirit of our warriors ancestors that dwell within the cosmos to do a service in developing the Montu (Martial) Arts, and to do a service for the community. Don’t forsake your passion. Everytime I have the chance to talk to the young kids and teenagers in tournaments and seminars and connected with them. Telling them to keep doing what you’re doing, and keep up the great work, you can do whatever that makes you happy.

As a kid I have two older siblings, a sister and a brother being 13 and 14 years older than me. By the time they had graduated college and go out into the real world. They were hardly home, and before all that changed, I have spent lots of fun times with my siblings, and then I have almost felt I was the only child, and I began to miss them everytime. I was still in elementary school at the time. But overtime I was used to them not being home much, and began to understand that they are working to make a living. We are not prepared to let go of our attachments and accept the changes of our lives of us and the people we love. Or maybe we don’t like change, we like to keep things the way they are plain and simple. Iain Abernethy said, “If you keep doing the same easy things, then you are not challenging yourself, you are not progressing.” I felt for Iain, for all the years of work he has done for the Martial Arts community, he had recently went through a divorce. The man had obstacles, but it didn’t stop him completely for doing what he loves most. That is the “Do”, the way of Martial Arts training. I love the man’s works. The world can be cruel place, but if you work hard and put your mind to it, you can get rewards, not only financially, but spiritually, for spirituality is your highest savior. People who are reading this message may not do nothing to change the way they think and keep doing the same old thing. You folks sitting there would say, man, Sempai Jonathan is deep, woah buddy, brother Jonathan can drop a load of knowledge on us, and then don’t follow through to change things, and move along with times. Number 4 of the 8 Poems of the Fist from the Bubishi says, “Act in accordance with time and change.” How can we be so ignorant? How can we miss that train? We fail to understand that Martial Arts such as Karate-do should help improve our lives not only in the training halls but outside of it as well. If you graduate from high school or college, your life is going to change and you cannot fight it.

On the first day I walked into the dojo, I was an introverted young man, wondering if Martial Arts was for me, despite enjoying watching Martial Arts action movies and becoming a fan of Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly, Jason David Frank, Jean Claude Van Damme, and Wesley Snipes. Progressing in your Martial Arts training is no different than progressing in your life, going through school, getting a job, living on your own and raising a family. The journey is difficult, faced with setbacks, but little by little you make the effort to improve. I prefer to take baby steps instead of huge steps instead of rushing in head first to expect to let things happen overnight. As a wise man told me, “Small changes makes big differences.” After succeeding in earning my black belt, being in that rank is a hard life. I have to change from being a student only to a leadership role and a student at the same time. I had to admit that teaching children was not my biggest thing, but I believed that I have made improvements little by little everyday. The Do in Karate helped improve my life, my self-confidence and self-esteem, my social and communication skills had also improved. All this didn’t happen overnight, it took me time and work to make my life more productive. In the Martial Arts, patience is important, don’t worry about trying to be like this guy or that crowd, worry about improving yourself and don’t expect to possess an improved life overnight or to master some self-defense moves overnight. Remember, do the training for you and not for the other guy or that crowd.

In the name of the brotherhood of the Montu Arts, we must open our eyes and realize that Martial Arts training should be a part of our lives and let nothing stop you. That is the big problem we are facing in the Western world. We must keep in mind to balance our Martial Arts training to our lives outside of it and to have productive relationships and many other things in your life. We must expect to be faced with obstacles and overcome them to improve ourselves. We are warriors chosen by our warrior ancestors for we shall feel them working through us. We must come to the light of right knowledge in understanding the Do in our lives, know what is right inside you and let nobody dictate your life.

Hotep,

Jonathan

A Brief History of Kata | Iain Abernethy

2012-04-22T10:45:00.001-07:00

In addition to the Study Guide I have posted, here is an article written by Iain Abernethy called A brief History of Kata.
A Brief History of Kata | Iain Abernethy

Sempai Jonathan

Study Guide on the History of Karate

2012-04-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

This study guide that I have compiled includes page references from Hanshi Patrick McCarthy’s translation of the Bubishi: The Manual of Classical Combat.

Martial Arts definition & etymological study – Martial represents militaristic combat, military science, military strategy, warfare tactics or anything dealing with war. Martial comes from the word Mars. In Greco-Roman mythology, Mars is the Roman god of war. Martial Art is deifying the Roman God of war. Therefore, it is a European terminology.

Establishment of Okinawa and its fighting arts (references from the Bubishi)

- place of origin for the fighting system was the Ryukyu Kingdom (Okinawan Prefecture)

- outside influences of the fighting arts of Okinawa are Southern China, Kyushu (province of Japan), Thailand,

Taiwan

, Philippines due to open trade routes and military invasions

Hanshi Patrick McCarthy’s theories of how Karate developed in Okinawa

There are four common theories explaining the development of Karate (p. 78)

- The unarmed fighting traditions were developed by peasants

- The second claims the Okinawan fighting arts were primarily influenced by Chinese arts that were taught by the 36 families

- The third theory concerns the 1507 weapons ban by King Sho-Shin, which led to an increased need by wealthy landowners for an effective means of defending themselves and their property

- The fourth theory claims that the arts were developed primarily by domestic security and law enforcement personnel who were not allowed to carry weapons after the 1609 invasion of Okinawa by the Satsuma Clan

- In 1368CE Hong Wu liberated the Ryukyu kingdom from Mongol occupation, that brought the collapse of the Mongol Empire being the Yuan Dynasty, its last Mongolian Dynasty

- Emperor Hong Wu founded the Ming Dynasty in 1372CE and opened trading relationships with the Ryukyu Kingdom

- In 1393CE the 36 families migrated from Southern China to Kuninda, Naha (Kume Village, Naha, Okinawa)

- Important to note: Ryukyu Kingdom was split into three rival kingdoms Hokuzan (northern Kingdom), Chuzan (central Kingdom), Nanzan (southern Kingdom), until 1429CE King Sho-Hashi united the three kingdoms into one called at that time Ryukyu Kingdom

- King Sho-shin came to power in 1477CE, in 1507CE King Sho-shin banned private ownership of weapons

- In 1609 the Satsuma invasion (83-84)

- The ban of weapons resumed and the art of Kobujutsu/kobudo further developed

- Ryukyu Kingdom was oppressed by the Satsuma and constantly attacked

- The invasion has caused the ban of Toudi (Karate) however the Okinawan combative system was practiced in secrecy

Evolution of Karate (89-95)

- Karate was formally called Te trans. Hand Okinawan (Hogen dialect) spelling: Ti

- Other names over the periods of time was called To-de Okinawan spelling Toudi trans. China Hand

- In the 1800’s and 1900’s Toudi was split into three distinct systems named after the three Okinawan cities Shuri, Tomari and Naha they were called Naha-Te, Shuri-Te and Tomari-Te

- During the turn of the century, Toudi-jutsu was being modernized

- In 1868 Japan was westernized, abandoning feudalism and embracing democracy

- Japan was growing into an imperial power right into the 20^th century

- The Ryukyu Kingdom was renamed the Okinawan Prefecture or Okinawa and that kingdom is now a regional province of Japan

- At the turn of the century Toudi-jutsu was going to be put into the school system, this marked the modernization of Okinawa’s fighting art

- Anko Itosu, a school teacher introduced Karate to the school children in the early 1900’s

- However, seeing the art was too deadly and hazardous for school children, Itosu did away with the HAPV-theory (Habitual Acts of Physical Violence) and practical analysis to use as self-defense (bunkai) for only school children and made the art more of an activity to develop confidence, health, self-esteem etc.

- He (Itosu) invented the first basic kata series designed to teach children called Pinan series there are 5 Pinan katas

- The techniques are based off of various advanced templates such as Passai, Kushanku, Wanshu, Chinto to name a few Shorin discipline katas

- In October of 1908, Itosu written the 10 Precepts (94-95) *also sited in Okinawan Karate by Mark Bishop and Comprehensive Karate by Michael Rosenbaum

- Itosu’s student Gichin Funakoshi was the most fundamental for the modernization of Karate

- It was Funakoshi who made the changes

- Funakoshi introduced the dan/kyu ranking system along with a training uniform (Gi) influenced by Judo founder Jigoro Kano (88-89)

- Note: belt ranking system did not exist in Okinawa when Karate was developing; the natives trained in loin cloth, T-shirt and pants or shorts.

- Many of the Japanese Martial Arts were changing from battle effective arts to sport Martial Arts

- ie Jujutsu, Akijutsu, Iaijutsu, Kobujutsu, Kenjutsu, Karate-jutsu the suffix jutsu trans. As art or science

- The suffix for their fighting systems were changed to “Do” ie. Judo Aikido, Iaido, Kobudo, Kendo, Karate-do etc. the suffix Do trans. As way or path in order to make the Japanese Martial Arts a sport

- In the 1920’s Karate was introduced to mainland Japan, the most influential person to ever propagate Karate to Japan was Gichin Funakoshi

- In order to accept Karate into Japan he went about other changes in term of kata names

Okinawan Japanese

Pinan Heian

Niseishi Nijushiho

Kushanku Kanku (Dai/Sho)

Okinawan Japanese

Passai Bassai (Dai/Sho)

Useishi Gojushiho (Dai/Sho)

Wanshu Enpi

Rohai Meikyo

Chinto Gankaku

- These changes were made because the Japanese are prejudiced against the Chinese people, anything about China, their culture and so forth

- The katas that developed in the Okinawan Prefecture were either in the Okinawan dialect (Hogen) or the kata name was named after a Chinese person (ie, Kushanku, Wanshu, Chinto etc.) were eventually changed over in a different name in Japanese yet the versions of these templates are similar from one another to suit Japanese society

- The saying for the Okinawan system had been changed from Toudi or Te to Karate in order to abolish any Chinese resemblance or influence to the art that was being introduced to mainland Japan

- Toudi trans. As China Hand, Karate trans. As empty hand

- Etymological break down: Kara trans. Empty, nothingness and Te trans. hand

- Another change was the 3K teaching structure

- In order to have Karate-do become a sport like Judo and Kendo, the teaching structure was geared more to the student preparing for competition than the streets

- The Order is: Kihon, Kata, Kumite,

- The older ways of teaching Karate to students stood the test of time more than the Japanese and westernized format

- Based on the research from Patrick McCarthy, Iain Abernethy and Michael Rosenbaum I have modified the teaching/training concepts of Martial Arts to make it more comprehensive for all ages and also brought those concepts to the Afrocentric level

The Jonathan Bynoe Teaching/training Structure Concept

A) Two-Person Drills

- Self-defense/analysis/applications, flow drills, grappling, kumite/sparring

B) Single Person Drills (recording the self-defense techniques)

- Kihon/Basics/exercise drills, dance rituals, kata/forms, shadow boxing, bag work

- Four main Karate systems Goju-ryu (Hard-soft school), Wado-ryu (Way of Harmony school), Shotokan (House of Waving Pines), and Shito-ryu (Higaonna-Itosu school) have developed in Okinawa and exported into mainland Japan in between the 1920’s and 1930’s

- Goju-ryu was founded by Chojun Miyagi

- Gogen Yamaguchi opened a Goju-ryu school in Japan in 1930 and in 1933 it was the first Karate system registered into the Dai-Nippon Butoku-kai

- Shotokan was founded by Gichin Funakoshi

- Wado-ryu was founded by Hironori Ohtsuka

- Shito-ryu was founded by Kenwa Mabuni

- The other three Karate systems followed along being registered in DNBK

- Karate was changed into a sport, implemented as a tournament bounded by rules

- The embusen rule was heavily implemented, mainly in Shotokan

- Modern Karate was influenced by Western boxing

- Gogen Yamaguchi invented Jiyu Kumite (free sparring), it becomes to this day a popular division in Karate tournaments

- The Gekisai/Fukyu katas were invented by Chojun Miyagi of Goju-ryu and Shoshin Nagamine of Matsubayashi-ryu in 1940 meant to teach basic katas to kids and beginners

- The Taikyouku katas were invented by Gichin Funakoshi of Shotokan and there are different variations of Taikyouku Katas taught in various Karate systems basic katas to teach to beginner and kids in a more simplistic way

- The Pinan/Heian, Gekisai katas, and the Taikyouku katas are non-traditional katas, they are basic katas to introduce the beginner to simplistic katas
- After World War II, American forces who were stationed in Okinawa and mainland Japan trained in Karate, Judo and other Japanese Martial Art systems
- Somtime in between the 1950's (during the Korean War) and the 1960's Karate and other Asian Martial Arts made it's way into the U.S. and later to Canada and Mexico.
- This marked the golden age for Karate when tournaments were booming in the US in the 60's and 70's

Recommended Reading

The Bubishi: The Manual of Classical Combat Trans. Patrick McCarthy

Comprehensive Karate by Michael Rosenbaum (e-book)

Okinawan Karate by Mark Bishop

Jonathan Bynoe

The Corrupt Business of Martial Arts

2012-04-06T11:07:00.004-07:00

I would like to speak to you at the matter at hand for a moment, the many years of Martial Arts schools and organizations have been the cancer for the development and growth of the Martial Arts. What I am about to share with you is a continuation of a previous blog called Egotism: Our own Worst Enemy. This blog is mostly geared to high ranking instructors in their own respected system(s) of Martial Arts. Instructors should open their eyes to understand what they’re doing is wrong. Students should open their eyes and realize that this particular place is bad and finding someplace else to stay is a must. This message is what got so many of us messed up. Throughout my eight years of Martial Arts training, I have heard about the whole fiasco filled with backstabbers, scammers, and liars that can do anything to make themselves rich off of a business where you teach students to build self-confidence, self-defense, self-esteem, improving health, and many spiritual benefits abroad. Therefore there are certain individuals that care only about the business than just helping others improve their needs. I earned the title of Sempai in August 2011. At first it wasn’t a big deal for me, but down the road it sunk in. The reason was that I have done so much work and commitment for the Martial Arts community. I believed that I am great on the tournament floor, on the judging rows, in the dojo training, and on the dojo floor teaching. One thing is that a part of me says this is a burden; a heavy load to carry, but despite that, I love what I do. If I don’t, then I would have left it all behind. I would never forget what my dad said, “Everyone has their own cross to bear.” Although the saying is more to the religious mind, it can in many ways be symbolic to the reality of what we do in our everyday lives.

In the past, there are Martial Art masters that are legends, but little is known to us that they can have flaws as an average human being. Those in the Martial Arts community thought that Peter Urban was a nutcase and a loony, but one thing was that he was a great Martial Artist of his time, and I thought that he could’ve been the one to be the successor of the Goju-kai. I’ll say that the fault lied with Gogen Yamaguchi for telling his senior student Peter Urban that “a non-Asian can never achieve nirvana (enlightenment).” To add insult to injury he preferred to have his sons run the organization after he passes away, despite Urban being a higher rank than Yamaguchi’s sons. In my view, that is called nepotism. If Yamaguchi wasn’t playing favourites or being prejudiced, then there would be no such thing as American Goju-ryu. That’s just my little humble opinion.

I would generalize certain things at random on certain practices that can be a cancer to dojos. Many schools anywhere in the world can let so few students get an easy pass, special privileges or inheritance whether or not they are a Dai-sempai or sempai of the dojo. First off doing such practices too many times can create jealousy and another thing is that this special student would not learn anything about earning what you want instead of things given to you on a silver platter. Nobody in the dojo would get good benefit out of their training when a Sensei does that.

Although hardly mentioned within the Martial Arts community was that I heard stories posted by forum members I have interacted with are the infamous scandals within the schools and organizations. These members shared the articles of Senseis that practice child molestation, affairs with underage girls, and Senseis cheating on their wives committing adultery. Sometimes I gone about thinking that it is all a misunderstanding and a certain clique are trying to ruin this guy’s reputation and so forth, but who knows? It became apparent to me, overtime that the stories are true. We have so few role models left in this world. Scandals like these are everywhere, on the streets, in the classrooms, in the churches, in the recreational centres, all the way up to the celebrity realm. And I wonder if these Senseis and Sifus have a mental illness or something. You run a good business, teaching kids and adults Martial Arts and they look up to you. Then right behind their backs you engage in alcoholism and drugs. Starting fights in bars to better your skills and hanging out with prostitutes. That was the practice which Chotoku Kyan did in his time, and encouraged his students to do those practices as part of their Karate training. Don’t take my word for it, find that book Okinawan Karate by Mark Bishop, it explains it briefly about Chotoku Kyan’s life. I wonder what kind of role model does such a thing. Kyan was a great Martial Artist of his time, but not a great role model. How can you enjoy your life by living a life like a drunkard? How can you enjoy your life being a swinger? How can you enjoy your life fighting and hurting people almost every night? I see that the most joy you get in your life has to be something spiritual. Many Martial Artists in the western world haven’t grasp budo, Martial ways or warrior spirit, the mental aspects of the Montu (Martial) Arts. So I say wake up Instructors. You are the father figures of the community.

There are Senseis out there who are not only egotistical and tyrannical, but also manipulative, cultists, and conmen. Those certain individuals most likely built their empires through making shortcuts; incorporating high priced membership fees and expensive merchandises. Other scams I have recently heard of were those that tried to raise the funds so they can pay off for a trip to go somewhere; that is called “the Sensei tax.” That’s where you pay your monthly membership fee of lets say $60 per month plus one or two government sales tax of 5%-7%, and then add a tax that is not related whatsoever to your nation’s government, but your own. You’ll be wasting your hard earn money over a greedy Sensei to either make as much money to the point where he or she can go on that dream trip or to open a chain of dojos from town to town, building a franchise like McDonalds. With the outcome of opening multiple dojos around the province or state, you hire on your Black Belt students who are Shodans, more likely who are fresh in the black belt club. The traditional values of the Asian Martial Arts were overlooked or overshadowed since it got here in the Western World. We have messed it up big time. Why is that? We let ego and let greed get in our way. Some folks cannot let go. There are individuals that try to embrace budo, but they are not willing to let go of their luxury. Most of them take shortcuts like this because they don’t have regular 9-5 job of sorts. How they run their business, is that the Sensei’s teach their students hardly anything, hand out belts to students like a Christmas present. In simpler terms, they run nothing more than a black belt mill or a McDojo. You get students under 16 years of age as Jr. Black Belts or black belts with very little effective skills to show. They are more than posers than true Martial Artists.

Then there are imposter leaders of the Martial Arts that forge the certifications, went over to a Halloween costume store and bought a black belt, opened a school, making themselves Hanshi. It’s like this, “I’m a grandmaster…of Karate.” (And I don’t mean by the Japanese accent Karate), it is so pronounced in the American accent “Karatee.”

Then adding insult to injury, there is the bastardization of training uniforms. The late Sensei Richard Kim said, “Clothes cannot change the skill.” One of the many things that Sensei’s from different Martial Arts schools in the western world place too much emphasis on is training uniforms to suit a particular system of Martial Arts, and I find it way too overrated. It has been programmed into the student psychosis to such a degree that they think that wearing a black, red or a multi-coloured Gi (uniform) makes them higher in skill than the individual that wears a white Gi. Where did the classical mind of the Montu Arts gone to? I tell you Senseis, Shihans, Renshis, Kyoshis and Hanshis who are reading this message that you are misleading your own students! Change your habit which goes against your warrior ancestors.

I have attended quite a few tournaments and the thing which I begin to find humourous is that competitors obsess themselves about providing more than one uniform for tournaments. Now I don’t mind those that train in both Karate and Iaido let’s say, but the thing that can drive such folks crazy is that competitors change at least two times. They have a uniform for weapons, one for kata, one for sparring, one for self-defense (some tournaments have a self-defense division). I find it funny, but understand the program. You have to waste so much money on purchasing so many different uniforms to compete in tournaments, like come on. Understand the message people, “Clothes cannot change the skill.” I quote Richard Kim in his book The Classical Man, “More and more martial artists are adopting a tendency to appear in flamboyant dress during meets, exhibitions and demonstrations. Some argue that the flashy clothes they sport are meant to psyche opponents and dazzle the public, but all that is a matter of opinion. Clothes certainly cannot change the skill.” (p.55) One of the biggest scam in the Martial community is to sell the student on joining the demo team or to sign up to a tournament out of town and tell them that they have to buy a colourful gi that can make anyone who wears it look like a peacock for $500 or something plus tax and Sensei tax (if any other school I recognize do that practice scam), on top of that put down an expensive fee for joining the demo team. Think about how much money an instructor is raking in and being able to buy fancy clothes and drive a Corvette or a Lexus. I have no desire to have those luxurious things at the expense of what I love to do. I have the wealth of spirituality, the highest form of wealth that many of us are having a hard time to achieve. I rather walk as a warrior instead of driving in a fancy car to get my message across to all of you.

Before I even started training in the Martial Arts, I thought all of this was cool, but I knew little by little about the lies, and the scams. Students who are reading this message don’t be deceived, if you don’t like what the instructors teaches and what he or she does, leave the dojo and find a better one who knows of no ego, greed or arrogance; plain and simple. Find a Sensei who cares more about passing down the knowledge to the next generation. The three poisons of man is ego, greed and arrogance, let us get out of that mess and live right through Ma’at, live modestly through Ma’at, do justice through Ma’at, live a balance life through Ma’at, and be one with nature through Ma’at, live in the presence of the goddess of truth, justice righteousness, and balance through nature. We must be aware of the crooked scams and seek right knowledge that should benefit our training. We should put aside are petty differences, that is what separates us from the Montu Arts, for a Martial Artist should always learn to forgive and forget and hopefully we shall work together for the betterment of the next generation, that is the highest form of being a great Martial Artist. Let the Montu Arts bring us together into one community and one organization, put aside the petty politics and the egos, for we as Martial Artists should promote world peace. At the end of the day you can dig it. A quote from the movie The Warriors, “Can you dig iiiiiiiit?” We have so much work to do to rebuild our community which had fractured us for so long. It’s time to come home to the budo thought.

Hotep NTR,

Jonathan

Verbal De-Escalation (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

2012-03-24T11:16:00.001-07:00

Here is a podcast by Iain Abernethy called Verbal De-Escalation. A great message learning about mastering the highest form of self-defense in Martial Arts training.
Verbal De-Escalation (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

Kingston DNBK Tournament '12

2012-03-22T12:31:00.001-07:00

Kingston DNBK Tournament '12, a set on Flickr.

Here are some photos from February's tournament held at Queen's University, Kingston, On.

Sempai Jonathan

Ashra Kwesi Explains the African Origin of Martial Arts (Montu Arts)

2012-02-17T13:10:00.000-08:00

Funakoshis 6 Rules (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

2012-02-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a podcast by Iain Abernethy called Funakoshi's six rules.

Funakoshis 6 Rules (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

Jonathan

Ashra Kwesi Explains the Invasions and Battles of Kemet (Egypt) from the...

2012-02-02T09:44:00.000-08:00

Discipline and Defiance / Practical Karate (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

2011-12-31T10:34:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting Podcast by Iain Abernethy called Discipline and Defiance and Practical Karate. Two Podcasts into one so to speak.

Discipline and Defiance / Practical Karate (podcast) | Iain Abernethy

Egotism: Our Own Worst Enemy

2011-12-14T08:37:00.000-08:00

It is not uncommon in the Martial Arts world that many Martial Artists can have a big ego. No matter what age you are and what belt rank you are. Many of us are not able to control our ego. In my 7 years of training in the Martial Arts, I have met or heard about a few people that have egotism. When I received my black belt a year and a half ago, I vowed to be a humble person. My Sensei kept me in check and made sure that I won’t act like a big-headed big shot. Many Martial Artists who made it to black belt think that they are better than the kyu belts and know more than the kyu belts and the sad thing is that they brag about it, most likely teens act that way. In the Martial Arts world, egotism can be our own worst enemy. When I got my black belt I was offered some perks while I’m instructing and training. One of them is having a special change room for the black belt club. However, by my own personal decision, I turned down that offer and decided to still change with the kyu belts. The reason for making that personal decision is that I felt that I am acting superior to the kyu belts in a way, and I’m not like that. A big part of me says that I am more of a student to the art still, and that I’m still one of the kyu belts. I know more than them, I have more experience than them, but I’m not better than them, I keep learning things in my training and how I teach. Since teaching is not easy with all ages and with students with a range of learning style differences and types of autism, I am always willing to take advice from my seniors and my juniors. More importantly I have grown into a father figure or big brother-like figure. I have trained kids that don’t see their fathers often because their parents are either divorced or they never knew their father. It will benefit students more to learn discipline in that atmosphere order to avoid harbouring anger and hanging out with gangs engaging in negative activities. It is a privilege to pass on what I have learned.

Kids who have a high kyu belt ranking in the Martial Art system tend to change and have an ego or have an ego from the start. They’re more worried about belt ranks instead of building character, and improving their skills. More or less it can stem from the teacher who cares more about the money and less about educating their students. Young and old alike must come to the understanding that coloured belts is just an indicator of progress, it’s not like “yeah I’m the man now.” The old saying goes “The belt is just a piece of material that holds up your pants.” When Karate was developing in the Ryukyu kingdom (Okinawa), the natives their only trained in loin cloth on warm days. Belt ranks never existed back then until Karate was introduced to Japan. Gichin Funakoshi decided to adopt a dan/kyu ranking system in the art. He borrowed that idea from Judo founder Jigoro Kano. The thing that gets me is when students set a goal to get to their 1^st dan (Shodan) and end up reaching that rank with flying colours, they simply quit. I’m not saying they take a little bit of a hiatus or train at another dojo. They simply stop training altogether thinking that they have learned everything they needed to learn and that they are a master. Those that have done this simply don’t understand that Martial Arts training is a lifetime, when you get to Shodan; it is a new beginning of your training or just the beginning of your training. I can say if an individual cares only about obtaining coloured belts, you would know that if he or she reaches black belt they would retire completely from training.

In my personal opinion I think that kids shouldn’t be Black belts, or Jr. Black belts. This is a hot topic to discuss in the realm of Martial Arts. Many people would go against what I say, but through my own experiences, I say that kids under the age of 16 shouldn’t be black belts because it’s a big responsibility to set a positive example. And a majority of kids who are black belts are big-headed. Therefore they don’t have the mental maturity to carry the load of responsibility. The problem is that we lack an understanding in the History of our art. To understand how we got to do what we are doing, we have to go back to understand what happened in 1393CE Ming dynasty. To understand why we are training in our art we must go back to understand 1507CE, to understand why we are training in our art we must go back to understand what happened in 1609CE. To understand why we are training in our art we must go back to understand what happened in 1879, and to understand the history of our art we must go back to understand what happened in the 1920’s in mainland Japan. To understand our history of our art we must go back and understand what happened in 1945. That is my basic outline in terms of chronology.

When the Asian Martial Arts were introduced to the Western world by war veterans and some instructors from Japan and Korea it had flourished into its golden age. Then overtime, the arts such as Karate and Taekwondo became more of a commercialized sport, and the education of learning self-defense as a top priority was overshadowed. The reason being is that instructors just want to make lots money through commercialism and running a black belt mill (McDojo). In most tournaments you would see competitors sporting multi-coloured gis (Karate Uniforms) and all of that. Before I even donned a Karate uniform and walked into a dojo to give this thing a try, I thought all this commercialized hype was cool. When I was training in traditional Karate for a while, I begin to realize how a scam it can be while training in a McDojo due to pricy membership fees, merchandise fees, grading fees and tournaments fees, and instructors that use their political power by adding taxes to what instructors sell that don’t even relate to their own state/provincial governmental taxes, thus abandoning their path as a warrior scholar and taking up the role as being a con artist salesman to accomplish their goals to make themselves filthy rich and spend their money on something that may or may not relate to Martial Arts. Even those that engage in nepotism in their dojo is a cancer towards traditional Martial Arts. Individuals who are relatives and family friends to a Sensei can get an easy pass, furthermore, receiving a black belt on a silver platter. It is just simply saying, “Oh we like you young man, show me a few katas and I’ll give you your black belt and certificate.” How does that feel to others that had to work hard and pay their dues to achieve their goals than others? They can be envious. If that type of practice at the dojo where I train happens, I wouldn’t stay around. Those that expect to get an easy pass because they think in their minds that they are special in one way or the other; don’t have the heart to be successful in the Martial Arts or in life. You must earn it. As a scholar of the Martial Arts, I felt that following the old budo way was the best path, going back and understanding the roots of the art that I take through lineage and so forth. The sad thing is that many young students that train in Karate or Taekwondo lack the knowledge. All they know is to do this and do that and win lots of trophies. Also, receiving belt ranks very quickly until getting to Jr. Black belt at a young age. It is bad business for Martial Arts schools because students are not educated enough and they are unable to fully grasp combative principles. On one positive note, many Martial Arts students are becoming smarter, if their instructors are being corrupt; they are willing to leave and find a better instructor instead of blindly being loyal to him or her. However, in a bad economy we must be aware of Martial Arts instructors that have an ego and be desperately greedy because there can be more of those individuals out there.

In the brotherhood of the Montu Arts, now Europeanized term as Martial Arts, we have messed up really badly. I speak to those who have claimed titles in your system, Senseis, Sifus, Gurus, Renshis, Kyoshis, Shihans, Hanshis, we must lead by example or else we would lose our youth for the youth who are the future. Don’t put business matters before your students; do not let your ego get the best of you. Those that introduced military science to the world would be disappointed in us. Those that developed Karate would be disappointed in us. I ask these questions for those who are reading this. Do you still want to play politics? Do you want to be narrow minded? Would you sell out? Would you continue practicing nepotism? Would you continue to put your own students down? Would you continue playing the shady salesman/con artists? If so, your Martial Arts journey would be in vain.

HTP NTR

Jonathan

Who is Bodhidharma?

2011-12-05T08:13:00.001-08:00

Hotep/Ashashemalekim,

There have been more myths and legends than facts for a number of generations of Martial Arts origins and animal practices in the Martial Arts concerning where it originated and who invented it. More of it has sprung out of belief systems more than finding out the facts. However, more and more I see information written by field researchers and others related to the field of study are coming out during the time when everyone worldwide is using the internet. The reality is that right knowledge is easily accessible to us, and the new generation of people will be more intelligent than the previous generation. It is so true. My quest as a scholar of the Martial Arts is not only competing and collecting trophies at tournaments, teaching classes, attending seminars, improving my health, etc. My quest and my passion in the Martial Arts have been for right knowledge, finding out about my past in order to restore and preserve factual History that can bring my self-esteem to a higher level into African consciousness. In my previous blogs I have claimed that the Martial Arts were not invented by Bodhidharma, it was in development all away back to the Paleolithic age. It evolved out of hunting and gathering by early Homosapien Sapien peoples of Eastern Africa. I will discuss in this blog the accurate facts about Bodhidharma, and the actual origins of animal practices.

The Existence of Bodhidharma the Buddhist Monk

There are documentations of Bodhidharma’s existence that originated in Nepal, and in China. This Buddhist had made a significant contribution to the Asian Martial Arts so much that the Chinese writer made out that he was the originator of Martial Art concepts through animal imitations, but he really wasn’t. Bodhidharma (Chinese name was Da-Mo) was born from the warrior caste of Dravidians around the late 400’s or early 500’s CE. It is important to note that the Dravidians are the descendants of various Kushite (Ethiopians) tribes such as the Ta-Seti, Ta Nahesi, Mursi and Nubians. The Tamils of Southeast India descended from the Dravidians. The city and kingdom that Da-Mo was born and raised in was Kanchipuram, Pallava kingdom (modern day Tamil Nadu in Southeast India). He was the third son of a Pallavine King. Da-Mo was a student of Mahayana school under Prajnatara. After his studies, he traveled to China through boat, landed on Nepal and walked on foot across the snowy mountains of the Himalayas into China and settled at the Province of Honan c.525CE.

It was there that he spread the teachings of a new Buddhist sect called Chan (in Japanese called Zen). He was invited into Shaolin Temple to introduce Zen meditation. He noticed that the monks were unable to sit in meditation for a long period of time; they were falling asleep so often because the monks cannot attain the proper mental aspect. So Da-Mo left the Shaolin Temple and he meditated, trained, and ate in the cave for nine years. After nine years he returned to Shaolin Temple and taught the monks newer techniques that his disciples incorporated into their Chinese boxing stressing the importance of controlling breathing and introducing Yoga techniques. It is unknown that Da-Mo studied the animals in both his home country and in China, but maybe he did. The closest evidence I have found was that he studied Yoga and his native fighting arts Kuttu Varisai and Silambam and passed the techniques down to the monks. The monks called the forms Lohan Quan (monk fist boxing). I have been told that the 18 forms of the Lohan were fully developed 4 or 5 generations after Bodhidharma’s time.

Video of Lohan Quan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr3q4vhzr58&list=PLF4B8F10A97A0F288&index=83&feature=plpp_video

Was Bodhidharma’s Legacy fact or myth?

There had been many legends coming out everywhere on the internet and books related to Martial Arts. My goal is to present the facts and dispel the myth. Many attributes of Bodhidharma are questionable by many Historians. Unfortunately it has been widely accepted as Historical truth. Most Martial Arts schools are being misinformed about History and have been taught fables.

In one legend where I have been taught, was that Bodhidharma was the creator of all Martial Arts. That he was the first person to introduce Martial Arts to China in the 6^th century CE. He noticed that the monks were weak physically and were falling asleep. The monks were constantly being attacked by bandits. So Bodhidharma taught the monks physical exercises and Martial Arts, thus gave birth to Shaolin Kung Fu. After his death, he left a manual of exercises called Yi Jin Jing. Many historians discredited the authenticity of Yi Jing Jin.

Source: Traditionally Bodhidharma is being credited to be the founder of the martial arts at the Shaolin Temple. However, martial arts historians have shown this legend stems from a 17th century qigong manual known as the Yijin Jing.

The authenticity of the Yi Jin Jing has been discredited by some historians including Tang Hao, Xu Zhen and Matsuda Ryuchi. This argument is summarized by modern historian Lin Boyuan in his Zhongguo wushu shi:

As for the "Yi Jin Jing" (Muscle Change Classic), a spurious text attributed to Bodhidharma and included in the legend of his transmitting martial arts at the temple, it was written in the Ming dynasty, in 1624, by the Daoist priest Zining of Mt. Tiantai, and falsely attributed to Bodhidharma. Forged prefaces, attributed to the Tang general Li Jing and the Southern Song general Niu Gao were written. They say that, after Bodhidharma faced the wall for nine years at Shaolin temple, he left behind an iron chest; when the monks opened this chest they found the two books "Xi Sui Jing" (Marrow Washing Classic) and "Yi Jin Jing" within. The first book was taken by his disciple Huike, and disappeared; as for the second, "the monks selfishly coveted it, practicing the skills therein, falling into heterodox ways, and losing the correct purpose of cultivating the Real. The Shaolin monks have made some fame for themselves through their fighting skill; this is all due to having obtained this manuscript." Based on this, Bodhidharma was claimed to be the ancestor of Shaolin martial arts. This manuscript is full of errors, absurdities and fantastic claims; it cannot be taken as a legitimate source.

Another original source that proved that the Bodhidharma story to be mostly false:

The oldest available copy was published in 1827^[43] and the composition of the text itself has been dated to 1624.^[24] Even then, the association of Bodhidharma with martial arts only becomes widespread as a result of the 1904–1907 serialization of the novel The Travels of Lao Ts'an in Illustrated Fiction Magazine^[44]:

One of the most recently invented and familiar of the Shaolin historical narratives is a story that claims that the Indian monk Bodhidharma, the supposed founder of Chinese Chan (Zen) Buddhism, introduced boxing into the monastery as a form of exercise around a.d. 525. This story first appeared in a popular novel, The Travels of Lao T’san, published as a series in a literary magazine in 1907. This story was quickly picked up by others and spread rapidly through publication in a popular contemporary boxing manual, Secrets of Shaolin Boxing Methods, and the first Chinese physical culture history published in 1919. As a result, it has enjoyed vast oral circulation and is one of the most “sacred” of the narratives shared within Chinese and Chinese-derived martial arts. That this story is clearly a twentieth-century invention is confirmed by writings going back at least 250 years earlier, which mention both Bodhidharma and martial arts but make no connection between the two.^[45]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma#Works_attributed_to_Bodhidharma

Another source can be seen here: The attribution of Shaolin's martial arts to Bodhidharma has been discounted by several 20th century martial arts historians, first by Tang Hao on the grounds that the Yì Jīn Jīng is a forgery.^[12] Stele and documentary evidence shows the monks historically worshiped the Bodhisattva Vajrapani's "Kimnara King" form as the progenitor of their staff and bare hand fighting styles.^[13]

Huiguang and Sengchou were involved with martial arts before they became two of the very first Shaolin monks, reported as practicing martial arts before the arrival of Bodhidharma.^[14] Sengchou's skill with the tin staff is even documented in the Chinese Buddhist canon.

Records of the discovery of arms caches in the monasteries of Chang'an during government raids in AD 446 suggests that Chinese monks practiced martial arts prior to the establishment of the Shaolin Monastery in 497.^[15] Monks came from the ranks of the population among whom the martial arts were widely practiced before the introduction of Buddhism. There are indications that Huiguang, Sengchou and even Huike, Bodhidarma's immediate successor as Patriarch of Chán Buddhism, may have been military men before retiring to the monastic life. Moreover, Chinese monasteries, not unlike those of Europe, in many ways were effectively large landed estates, that is, sources of considerable regular income which required protection.

In addition to that, the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue, the Bibliographies in the Book of the Han Dynasty and the Records of the Grand Historian all document the existence of martial arts in China before Bodhidharma. The martial arts Shuāi Jiāo and Sun Bin Quan, to name two, predate the establishment of the Shaolin Monastery by centuries.^[16]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaolin_Kung_Fu

So the whole idea that there were no Martial Arts in China during the dark ages, until Bodhidharma’s arrival is completely untrue! First recorded history of Chinese Martial Arts existed approx. 1,500 years before Bodhidharma’s time. Even just before Bodhidharma’s arrival to Honan province, most of the monks were well skilled in Chinese Boxing such as Huiguang, Senghou and Huike, the disciples of Bodhidharma’s Zen Buddhism.

Therefore, Bodhidharma’s creation of Martial Arts is a myth which unfortunately until this day had been taught as truth and propagated through Martial Arts books, the internet and documentaries.

Another legend where I read for myself was his nine year meditation in a cave. After being disturbed by the monks’ poor conditioning and being unable to stay in meditation for long periods of time. He left Shaolin Temple and gone to a cave and meditated for nine years. He kept falling asleep, so he cut his eyelashes to stay awake. Once his eyelashes hit the grass it grew tea leaves. Bodhidharma had the ability to stare at the wall for so long that it burned a hole through the wall. These supernatural attributes are questionable.

Failing to make a favorable impression in Southern China, Bodhidharma is said to have traveled to the northern Chinese kingdom of Wei to the Shaolin Monastery. After either being refused entry to the temple or being ejected after a short time, he lived in a nearby cave, where he "faced a wall for nine years, not speaking for the entire time".^[18]

The biographical tradition is littered with apocryphal tales about Bodhidharma's life and circumstances. In one version of the story, he is said to have fallen asleep seven years into his nine years of wall-gazing. Becoming angry with himself, he cut off his eyelids to prevent it from happening again.^[22] According to the legend, as his eyelids hit the floor the first tea plants sprang up; and thereafter tea would provide a stimulant to help keep students of Chán awake during meditation.^[23]

The most popular account relates that Bodhidharma was admitted into the Shaolin temple after nine years in the cave and taught there for some time. However, other versions report that he "passed away, seated upright";^[18] or that he disappeared, leaving behind the Yi Jin Jing;^[24] or that his legs atrophied after nine years of sitting,^[25] which is why Japanese Bodhidharma dolls have no legs.

The reality is that Bodhidharma was human and that he didn’t posses god-like powers. If you meditate in a cave or anywhere for nine straight years, you will die of starvation. Bodhidharma did yoga exercises in the cave and his disciples or villagers sent him food. The nine year meditation in the cave is an influential story on the Japanese people that possess Bodhidharma (Daruma) dolls that feature the wide, bulging eyes with no eyelashes and these dolls have no legs.

Animal Imitation: The Cornerstone of Martial Arts

I haven’t found any proof that Bodhidharma studied different kinds of animals in India or in China to incorporate into his Martial Arts system. Animal imitation in the Martial Arts had been practiced formally since the beginning of early human history. African people, the first human race on earth were the first to possess God consciousness through nature. African people were not at all polytheist or a cult of that matter. They believed that the god Amen-Ra was present with the earth and other living things given animals a special God-given attribute that humans can imitate in a way. I have been teaching this to students on a few occasions. In Kilindi Iyi’s article called The Martial Arts of Africa:

Certain formulas were memorized, such as the transformation into the Crocodile god Sebak, which is as follows; “The Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, saith; ‘I am the Crocodile-god Sebak, who dwelleth amid his terrors. I am the Crocodile-god, and I seize my prey like a ravening beast. I am the great Fish which is Kamu. I am the Lord to whom bowings and prostrations are made in Sekhem (Letopolis). And the Osiris Ani is the Lord to whom the bowings and preparations are made in Sekhem.”

This is just one of the prayers of transformation which, when approached in the proper manner, would bring about the desired results in combat. The ancient Africans laid down the fundamental basis for self-mastery, with the warrior arts as one of the vehicles.

–Kilindi Iyi

The Africans were very advanced in medicine, science, mathematics, geometry, architect, music, agriculture, Yoga exercises, Martial Arts (Montu Arts) and Spirituality in their established civilization before Europeans ever got out of their caves.

On the subject of Spirituality and the Martial Arts, Bodhidharma’s contribution of his Buddhist teachings and his Martial Arts exercises were revolutionary (not whatsoever a new invention of that generation) which influenced Karate-do goes back to his African ancestors, the early developers of indigenous fighting systems. Kilindi Iyi stated in his article Martial Arts of Africa that the early writings of the Martial Arts goes back to the Hieroglyphs (Greek word meaning Sacred Carvings/Writings) of Kemet (Egypt).

The martial arts of Africa presented to the world one of the earliest forms of systematic combat. The use of weapons such as the spear, mace, sword, and the bow and arrow all have their origins in Africa. The unarmed forms of combat exemplified the movements of certain animals held sacred by the ancient Africans. They found early in their history that these animal principles could be isolated within the consciousness of man and manifested into an unconquerable fighting force. Of course, this was thousands of years before there was civilization in those areas commonly thought to be the “birthplace” of martial arts. It was the ancient Africans who first gave to the world military science. The martial beginnings started with mankind’s desire to preserve and organize combative principles in system that could be readily taught to subsequent generations.

On the African continent, the oldest remains, tools, and weapons of man are found. The oldest martial arts records in existence are in the form of hieroglyphics in what is today called Egypt. The ancient Egyptian priesthood taught systems of combat based upon history, legend, and myths about the gods and goddesses. As handed down by the religion, every great temple maintenance an armed force to protect its interests.

-Kilindi Iyi

Source: http://www.tamerrian.com/Articles.html

Kilindi also claimed that animal imitation had remain African in Origin before India, China or Japan ever came up with that idea, “Through imitating the movements of these animals, we seek to awaken their attributes within ourselves.” (Kilindi Iyi Martial Arts of Africa).Prof. Carroll also claimed that the Wrestlers of Nubia imitate the monkey and the dragonfly in wrestling bouts, “According to an oral tradition, the Nuba began wrestling in order to imitate certain species of monkeys which were abundant in the hill country. The young monkeys played by trying to overthrow each other. The Nuba wrestlers imitate certain animal and insect characteristics while wrestling. Like a baboon or monkey threatening its foe, the Nuba will rub his hands on the ground; (and it helps his grip). He stamps his feet and roars like a bull. Flicking his tongue and moving his fingers like a large flying insect, the Nuba dances into the ring, not as a man, but representing the spirit of his cattle herd, (Prof. Carroll). Until this day it is written on the walls of the many tombs of Egypt, Nubians and Kemites performing combative movements and wrestling holds that resembles that of Judo, Karate and every Martial Art system known to man.

Source: http://wysinger.homestead.com/nubiansport.html

I taught the breakdown to students of animal attributes that my ancestors admired in their MD NTR (Word of God or gods) such as the snake that can strike quickly as ever at a victim Africans would say wow I wish I had the ability to be quick with my hands the enemy wouldn’t see it coming. The falcon has the ability of strong eyesight, the falcon can see its prey from high above the sky and swoop down Africans say wow if only I had the ability to see far away, that is the eye of Heru (Horus) the original Messiah. They don’t worship the animals; they worship the attributes to see if it can rub off on them. The dog has the ability to smell things far away and can sense that someone is going to die. The dog has the ability to be the judge represented by the NTR (Neter) Anubis the Jackal. Approx. 50,000years BCE when Africans settled along the Yellow River of China they saw Cranes standing on one leg for long periods of time, and they only wish they had the ability to be balanced like the crane. They don’t worship the animal; they worship the attribute of the animal to see if it can one day rub off on them. Here is part of a video of Dr. Booker T. Coleman on what he said about animal imitation in his lecture called History and Science of the Moors:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8VaPIa4uU0

In conclusion, what Bodhidharma brought into China was African in origin. The Bodhidharma story had been turned into a fabricated story of the 20^th century. The Martial Arts practices existed long before his time and that every civilization developed their own Martial Art discipline before his time. A wise man once told me that, “The human body is universal the arm in Europe can break the same as in Asia.” I’m not trying to be unkind or cause any hurt to anyone whatsoever. I’m trying to be factual, encouraging all of you to be open minded in expanding our knowledge of the Montu Arts, which the term being Europeanized as Martial Arts. This is how deep it is when presenting real live history in order to detach the myths. My occasional conversations I had with my mother about our history had risen to a higher level of interest. Several years ago I didn’t have much interest, but now I have been doing my homework, doing critical thinking and spreading the wisdom to anybody. My mother told me “it is great to educate yourself and open your eyes to the knowledge in order to give your wisdom. Keep doing what you’re doing.” I saw that movie the Warriors a few months ago when Cyrus said, “Can you dig iiiiiit?” I am asking you, can you dig what I have presented to you? If not, do your own research, try to prove me wrong. Know your past and understand your past. Everyday I go on my quest for the light for right knowledge. As the saying goes, “The truth shall set you free.”

Here is an article I am currently reading called In the Shadow of Bodhidharma by Dr. William C.C. Hu and Fred Bleicher. This article is written in 1965 for Black Belt Magazine as the introduction says, “Black Belt’s research team verifies the Historical existence of Bodhidharma but finds no evidence to support claims that he was the originator of Karate.

http://books.google.ca/books?id=z9kDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA41&dq=bodhidharma%20intitle%3Ablack%20intitle%3Abelt%20intitle%3Amagazine&pg=PA37#v=onepage&q&f=false

Jonathan

Further Recommended Reading:

Origin of Martial Arts: The Real History

They Came Before Bodhidharma

African Contributions to the World (Facts revealed)
Kata and the Transmission of Knowledge by Michael Rosenbaum (book available on Amazon)