[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Theyboth have similar strong points, so, before there are any changes, I shouldlike to write them down.1 - Tode is primarily for the benefit of health.In order to protect one sparents or one s master, it is proper to attack a foe regardless of one s life.Never attack a lone adversary.If one meets a villain or a ruffian one shouldn tuse tode but simply parry and step aside.2 - The purpose of Tode is to make the body hard like stones and iron;hands and feet should be used like points of arrows; hearts should be strongand brave.If children were to practice tode from their elementary schooldays, they would be well prepared for military service.When Wellingtonand Napoleon met they discussed the point that tomorrows victory willcome from today s playground.3 - Tode cannot be learned quickly.Like a slow moving bull, that eventuallywalks a thousand miles, if one studies seriously everyday, in three or fouryears one will understand what tode is about.The shape of one s bones willchange.Those who study as follows will discover the essence of Tode:4 - In tode the hands and feet are important so they should be trainedthoroughly on the makiwara.In doing so drop your shoulders, open yourlungs take hold of your strength, grip the floor with your feet and sink yourintrinsic energy to your lower abdomen.Practice with each arm one or twothousand times.5 - When practicing Tode stances make sure your back is straight, dropyour shoulders, take your strength and put it in your legs, stand firmly andput the intrinsic energy in your lower abdomen, the top and bottom ofwhich must be held together tightly.32Comprehensive Karate - Michael J.Rosenbaum6 - The external techniques of Tode should be practiced, one by one, manytimes.Because these techniques are passed on by word of mouth, take thetrouble to learn explanations and decide when and in what context it wouldbe possible to use them.Go in, counter, release; is the rule of torite.7 - You must decide whether tode is for cultivating a healthy body or forenhancing your duty.8 - During practice you should imagine you are on a battlefield.Whenblocking and striking make the eyes glare, drop the shoulders and hardenthe body.Now block the enemy s punch and strike.Always practice withthis spirit so that, when on the real battlefield, you will naturally be prepared.9 - Do not overexert yourself during practice because the intrinsic energywill rise up, your face and eyes will turn red and your body will be harmed.Be careful.10 - In the past many of those who have mastered tode have lived to a ripeold age.This is because tode aids the development of the bones and sinews,it helps the digestive organs and is good for the circulation of the blood.Therefore, from now on, tode should become the foundation of all sportslessons from elementary schools onward.If this is put into practice therewill, I think, be many men who can win against ten aggressors.The reason for stating all this is that it is my opinion that all students at theOkinawa Prefectural Teachers Training College should practice tode, sothat when they graduate from here they can teach children in the schoolsexactly as I have taught them.Within ten years time tode will spread allover Okinawa and to Japan.This will be a great asset to our militaristicsociety.I hope you will carefully study the words I have written here.Anko Itosu 1908 (Bishop, Okinawan Karate, 90)When reading Itosu s ten precepts, the reader observes that he was establishing guidelinesfor karate s practice through which Okinawan and Japanese youths could develop healthybodies and a militaristic mindset.The irony of this, however, is that although a veryintelligent man, Itosu, in all probability, never fathomed the killing power armies of hisday had.And he most certainly never envisioned the military might that would be used toquell Japanese aggression during the Second World War.Itosu understood the role a strong martial ethos played during hand-to-hand combat, butby the time karate gained nationwide popularity in Japan, hand- to- hand combat was arare occurrence on the modern battlefield.Unfortunately, this quasi-martial spirit, as nobleas it may have been, often led to tragedy when used during combat.Gichin Funakoshidescribed the fate that befell many of his students:33www.iainabernethy.comSensei , I would often hear a young man say as he knelt before me, I havebeen drafted, and I m off to serve my country and my emperor. Every dayI would hear my students, often more than one, report to me in this fashion.They had been strenuously practicing karate day after day in preparationfor hand-to-hand encounters with an unmet enemy, and they believed thatthey were ready.Indeed, I was told that some officers instructed their men,if they were unable to carry a rifle or a sword, to charge the enemy withtheir bare hands.This came to be known as a karate charge. Of coursemany of my students died in battle-so many, alas, I lost count of them.(Funakoshi, Karate-Do My Way of Life, 88)Had the Japanese government not become so ultra-militaristic then karate may haveremained a practice which, despite worldwide popularity, embraced a spirit similar to thatfound in Tai Chi or Aikido, instead of the militaristic overtones it did.This was not thecase, but it does leave one wondering whether Itosu Anko would have chosen the path hedid, had the future been predicted to him
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]