The last chapter contains a selection of short lectures that I have delivered to my students on a weekly basis over the years. The lectures deal with the simple, basic truths that form the moral foundation of true karate-do. This moral and ethical foundation is also something that has been ignored. A true karate-ka is a person who takes his or her training in the dojo and applies it in the outside world, using the highest moral standards. Thus the karate-ka strives to be the best student, worker, husband, wife, parent or child possible. I offer these lectures to you, the reader, in the sincere hope that you may find some value in them.
I formed the World Seido Karate Organization in 1976 because I felt strongly that if karate was to survive into the twenty-first century, it must first rediscover its fullness and true essence.
In Seido, I emphasize strict discipline, respect and courtesy, and sincere practice, along with hard physical training. While each student trains with a common body of technical material, it is my belief that the individuality and uniqueness of each student must be encouraged and respected. Though individual development is emphasized, in Seido karate I want all students to train with a feeling of “togetherness” rather than isolated individualism. A sense of togetherness and belonging is one of the vitally important things missing in angst-ridden, modern society. I value togetherness very highly, and I hope that the pictures convey this feeling to you.
I hope that you will enjoy reading, studying and looking through this book. I offer it to all readers with gratitude for my experience in karate-do and for the opportunity to share what I have learned with you.
KARATE WAY OF LIFE
Opening a class in the dojo.
Seido students training at zendo.
At the Seido dojo, students come together to train the body and the mind. The atmosphere is formal and respectful at all times, which requires concentration and discipline. The physical training is hard, but closely supervised. At every class, the idea is to give one’s absolute best physical and mental effort. Little by little, the student inexorably improves and can then unlock his or her true potential.
At the zendo, Seido students come together to do one thing with total concentration: that is, to sit. Again, the atmosphere is serious and purposeful. Physically, the student must master a strong seated posture and the proper breathing. At the zendo, as at the dojo, the purpose of training is to go deep inside the self and to unlock one’s higher nature.
Karate is a martial art, with its own unique history, philosophy and set of techniques. Karate can be practiced in the dojo, or, as the photos demonstrate, in the outdoors. It can be practiced in the hot sun or in the deep snow. Each season gives its own flavor to karate training, and each season imposes its own challenges to our physical and mental abilities.
Karate is also a way of life, a way of being. A karate-ka deals fully with the present moment, being totally absorbed in one action only. A true karate-ka seeks balance and harmony in his or her life; the karate-ka develops a strong body and spirit so as to better serve others.
The principles and values of karate, such as patience, concentration, respect and courtesy, are completely transferable and universally applicable to our daily affairs in business and at home.
Sei has several meanings. It can mean “calm” or “silent.” Modern life emphasizes endless activity. The constant pressure to be “doing something” creates fatigue and stress. Calm, silent periods of “active inactivity” help to create a harmony in our lives. Meditation puts our activity into proper perspective and helps us to make it more enriched.
Although do can mean “way,” it also conveys the idea of activity and energy. Karate practice is full of energetic, active movement. So, too, are our daily lives. Calm periods of meditation help to make our activity more focused and more meaningful. Calmness and energetic activity must be balanced and in harmony. To emphasize either one or the other is not correct. In Seido we strive to find the right individual balance.
Karate can be practiced in the outdoors, with nature. Meditation in a calm forest (left), and basic practice (above).
Beginner’s Mind
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities. In the expert’s mind, there are very few.”
Shunryo Suzuki
Sho Shin, or beginner’s mind, is something which is a key to karate and, indeed, to living. A beginner’s mind, like that of a child, is open and trusting. Knowledge can be fully absorbed into the consciousness and becomes part of our own understanding. When we gain a little knowledge about someone or something, then the mind puts up barriers; it forms opinions, preconceptions, and judgments, which inhibit true knowledge.
In Seido karate, we wear plain white cotton uniforms, with no personal decoration or adornment of any kind. White is symbolic of the beginner’s mind. It is pure, simple, and empty. It reminds us to always be ready to discover and to learn.
The beginner’s mind is something which we hope to meet along the Way. We cannot fix on the beginner’s mind as an object of our search, however, for,
“When one first seeks the truth, one separates oneself far from its environs. When one has already correctly transmitted the truth to oneself, one is one’s original self at that moment.” Genjokoan
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FOUNDATIONS OF KARATE
Historical Background
Origins in China
Bodhidarma, whom the Japanese call Daruma, was an Indian patriarch, the twenty-eighth in the line of succession from Shakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. Bodhidarma left India for China, arriving there in 520 A.D., and he established himself at Shaolin Monastery, which had been founded by the Indian monk Batuo some three decades earlier. Shaolin Monastery is nestled on the barren slopes of Song Mountain in the Henan Province of central China.
Bodhidarma left India in order to plant Buddhism in the new soil of Chinese culture. In India, Buddhism had evolved into a complex philosophical system, and the core of its practice was eroding. Bodhidarma sat in silent meditation (zazen) in a cave on Song Mountain for nine years. Through this solitary, ascetic practice, he reached enlightenment. However, he did not feel that the training of the body was to be neglected. While doing zazen, he practiced a series of physical movements, both for exercise and for defense against wild animals.
Bodhidarma passed on his physical training techniques to the monks at Shaolin, who integrated them into their spiritual