The past decade has seen a great increase in the popularity of karate-do throughout the world. Among those who have been attracted to it are college students and teachers, artists. businessmen and civil servants. It has come to be practiced by policemen and members of Japan's Self-defense Forces. In a number of universities, it has become a compulsory subject. and that number is increasing yearly.
Along with the increase in popularity, there have been certain unfortunate and regrettable interpretations and performances. For one thing, karate has been confused with the so-called Chinese-style boxing, and its relationship with the original Okinawan Te has not been sufficiently understood. There are also people who have regarded it as a mere show, in which two men attack each other savagely, or the contestants battle each other as though it were a form of boxing in which the feet are used, or a man shows off by breaking bricks or other hard ob-jects with his head, hand or foot
If karate is practiced solely as a fighting technique, this is cause for regret. The fundamental techniques have been developed and perfected through long years of study and practice, but to make any effective use of these techniques, the spiritual aspect of this art of self-defense must be recognized and must play the predominant role. It is gratifying to me to see that there are those who understand this, who know that karate do is a purely Oriental martial art, and who train with the proper attitude.
To be capable of inflicting devastating damage on an oppo nent with one blow of the fist or a single kick has indeed been the objective of this ancient Okinawan martial art. But even the practitioners of old placed stronger emphasis on the spintual side of the art than on the techniques. Training means training. of body and spirit, and, above all else, one should treat his oppo-nent courteously and with the proper etiquette. It is not enough to fight with all one's power, the real objective in karate-do is to do so for the sake of justice.
Gichin Funakoshi, a great master of karate-do, pointed out repeatedly that the first purpose in pursuing this art is the nur turing of a sublime spirit, a spirit of humility. Simultaneously, power sufficient to destroy a ferocious wild animal with a single blow should be developed. Becoming a true follower of karate-do is possible only when ane attains perfection in these two aspects, the one spiritual, the other physical.
Karate as an art of self-defense and karate as a means of im-proving and maintaining health has long existed. During the past twenty years, a new activity has been explored and is com ing to the fore. This is sports karate
In sports karate, contests are held for the purpose of deter mining the ability of the participants. This needs emphasizing. for here again there is cause for regret. There is a tendency to place too much emphasis on winning contests, and those who do so neglect the practice of fundamental techniques, opting instead to attempt jiyű kumite at the earliest opportunity
Emphasis on winning contests cannot help but alter the fun-damental techniques a person uses and the practice he engages in. Not only that, it will result in a person's being incapable of executing a strong and effective technique, which, after all, is the unique characteristic of karate-dn. The man who begins jiyű kumite prematurely without having practiced funda-mentals sufficiently-will soon be overtaken by the man who has trained in the basic techniques long and diligently. It is. quite simply, a matter of haste makes waste. There is no alterma-tive to learning and practicing basic techniques and move ments step by step, stage by stage.
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