No, the
title of this article isn't a typo. It means what it says. It is an
introduction into my thoughts about how and why the Japanese,
Okinawans, Koreans, and Chinese practice their various martial forms.
With
the unification of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate, civil war in
Japan came to an end. The once highly-independent lords now served
Tokugawa and had no need for the maintenance of large private armies.
They “downsized” their military forces considerably and many
samurai suddenly found themselves unemployed. A number of them
opened their own dojos in an effort to keep food on the table and a
roof over their heads. They had been taught, practiced, and still
taught the “jutsu” forms of their respective disciplines. These
arts are focused exclusively upon practical combatives without any
concern for the student's spiritual development or anything else.
They were, after all, originally developed to ensure the survival of
the clan.
With
the passage of time and the relative disintegration of the “clans”,
many of these arts morphed into “do” forms; martial disciplines
that focus not only on developing fighting skills but also on the
development of character and ultimately, spiritual awareness.
The
Japanese have always been a highly-disciplined people and their
culture has always had a militaristic tendency. The samurai of days
long past were, and still are, held in very high esteem. And
although no one carries swords nowadays, feudal Japan is still very
much alive. Ball-point pens have replaced swords. And almost all of
the CEO's in modern Japan are descended from samurai families...which
means that they are, in fact, samurai themselves.
And so
they have continued to hold their traditional martial ways in the
highest regard although they are now considered as being somewhat
old-fashioned. For a time, the numbers of practitioners of the budo
dwindled but their numbers are once again on the rise. They are,
after all, a very large part of what has kept Japan Japanese! Many
executives of various corporations bow to their teachers and engage
in the practice of martial arts such as kendo, karate, and aikido in
dojos that are maintained inside the buildings where they work! It
is thought that the regular practice of these arts helps employees
stay healthy, reduce stress, improve focus, and ultimately, improve
productivity in the workplace.
Many
martial forms have been modified for the competition arena in Japan.
These include kendo, karatedo, and of course, judo (which was
originally developed from jujutsu as a sport method). There are
numerous Japanese instructors who feel that the “sportification”
of their arts has contributed to an overall degeneration and I would
have to say that for all intents and purposes, that's true. However,
the Japanese strive to maintain the spirit of the budo (even in
competition) and this has helped prevent their arts from spiraling
downward, out of control. It's a site better than what we see in the
West, that's for sure!
Unlike
the Japanese, the people of Okinawa never developed much of a
militaristic culture. Although they did have a warrior class, it was
a far cry from that of Japan. The warrior's first obligation was to
protect his emperor and country. After that, his loyalty was to his
family. In some ways, much of early Okinawan culture mirrored that
of its closest ally; China. Many Chinese visited or moved to Okinawa
and numerous Okinawans spent a good deal of time in China, so it's
only natural that they learned Chinese forms of martial arts. This
is especially true of southern Chinese martial arts systems. And
although most of us were taught that the Okinawans didn't learn
Japanese martial arts, the truth is far different. Several
well-known Okinawans traveled to Japan and became top-notch adepts at
swordsmanship; several were even awarded menkyos (license to teach)!
Okinawan
martial ways seem to focus primarily on self-defense. They do engage
in competitions but rarely do they train primarily for sport. In the
past, the emphasis was almost wholly on combat practicality. This
matches up with the “jutsu” forms of Japanese martial arts, which
were intended to preserve the safety and perpetuation of the “clan.”
With the passing of time the Okinawan forms, like the Japanese
disciplines, were gradually transformed into “do” forms,
emphasizing not only combative practicality but the development of
character and spirit as well.
Korean
martial arts were, like all other martial arts, originally focused on
self-defense. The Koreans didn't develop a warrior culture as did
the Japanese although for a time they were served by the “hwarang”,
which means “flower boys.” I saw several of you smile... and
yes, they did use make-up and perfume but they also trained
assiduously in horsemanship, archery, and swordsmanship. Comprised
largely of young men from the kingdom of Silla (when Korea was
divided into three kingdoms), very little was known about them until
the end of WWII in 1945. Following the unification of its three
kingdoms (the fighting was won by the kingdom of Koryo...thus, the
name, “Korea”), people turned away from appreciating their
military. In fact, there was a saying that perfectly expressed their
attitude; :One does not make nails out of the best steel, and one
does not make soldiers out of the best men.” This kind of feeling
contributed to the eventual demise of many Korean martial forms.
The
original Korean martial arts were heavily influenced by their Chinese
neighbors and almost none of them. such as cha-bi, survived to the
present day. Current Korean martial ways include arts such as
taekwondo, tangsoodo, and a handful of other spin-offs. Their
founders were military men, so it was only natural that the arts they
learned (mainly from the Japanese) were taught to their troops.
Training was extremely rugged and could be said to have been quite
brutal.
Following
the war in Vietnam (in which several ROK units were deployed), Korean
instructors saw the huge demand for Asian martial arts in the West.
They were only too happy to accommodate. And as tournaments became
more and more popular in the West, the majority of Korean martial
arts teachers modified their arts to better suit them to the contest
arena. This was done to such a degree that it is now very difficult
to find a Korean martial arts school that isn't almost wholly
sport-oriented.
China
has never embraced a warrior culture. On the contrary, the Chinese
seemed to place great emphasis on other arts such as painting,
calligraphy, poetry, music, and dancing. Certainly, martial arts
teachers were highly respected but they weren't held in the same
esteem as, say, a well-known painter or poet. Martial arts were
practiced as forms of self-defense. A number of styles were
developed for teaching to military troops as well. Although there
were occasional contests of sorts, they were rather rare and never
became very popular.
Very
rarely did members of the upper class participate in martial arts
practice. This is still true today. Such rigorous activities were
only marginally popular with the middle class as well. However,
member of the lower middle class and lower classes enjoyed this kind
of vigorous practice. Many of them had had only minimal educations
(if any at all...a good number of them were illiterate), so the odds
of getting a decent job were rather small. However, if they could
become skilled at martial arts they might well land a job as a
bodyguard or convoy escort.
During
WWII, martial arts instruction was all but impossible to find. China
was in a state of total upheaval and after the end of the war, things
only got worse in so far as martial arts are concerned. The
establishment of the People's Republic of China ended the open
practice of any martial discipline; such things were strictly
forbidden until the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976. China
realized that its martial arts were, in fact, a great treasure and
they sought to find ways to popularize it. Among other things, this
led to the development of contemporary “wushu” (which means
“martial arts”) that combined martial arts movements with
gymnastics and Chinese opera. However, although modern wushu did
become quite popular both in China and the West, the traditional
martial ways entered a headlong dive.
Currently,
there are very few teachers of the traditional martial ways left in
China and almost none of them possess all of the information
regarding the system that they practice. Soccer and basketball are
the most popular sports and “real” kung-fu is something that
youngsters read about in comic books. China's entrance onto the
world stage at the beginning of the 20th
century and the direction it took afterwards mortally wounded the
once-legendary traditional martial arts. Their energy and spirit
bled out, leaving behind an empty corpse, which has now been reduced
to little more than a skeleton.
