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The Heavenly Art of Kempo
Dr. William Durbin
If one looks at the history of Kempo from it's roots in China to it's development
in Japan and Okinawa, one sees not only a progression in physical skill and
mental development, but more importantly the creation, or recognition, of heavenly
skill. In our modern world where people tend to be more concerned with violence
than spiritual matters, the idea of skills rooted in heaven and that originate
from the divine, seem archaic or even superstitious.
But for those who have seen Morihei Ueshiba perform his incredible skill, or
the unthrowable performance of Kyuzo Mifune, who could easily defeat men twice
his size, the idea or concept of heavenly power is easily acceptable. From the
great masters of Tai Chi to the modern Kempo Karate mavens of Okinawa, the belief
in divine skill is not only acceptable, but essential.
The most ancient art of Okinawa, Bushi Te, is still taught today by several
schools which trace from the same basic lineage. Several styles of Kempo Karate
which exist on Okinawa can trace their lineage to the last truly great master
of Bushi Te, Choyu Motobu.
Choyu Motobu learned the family form of Bushi Te known as Gotente from his father.
The Motobu family was always the instructors to the emperors, because of their
exceptional martial arts skills. The Motobu family was founded by Sho Koshin
the sixth son of the emperor Sho Shitsu, who adopted the name Chohe Motobu and
established the Motobu family. From that time on, the Motobu family were known
as great martial artists and accepted the responsibility for teaching their
'cousins', the kings of Okinawa.
Choyu Motobu organized a Karate Kenkyu Kai, research society, hoping to help
preserve the ancient art. Most of his students were also taught by Yasutsune
Itosu, who revolutionized the art of Karate by creating a curriculum designed
for school children, based on prearranged Kata.
Some of the teachers of this modern form have, contained in their art, many
of the elements of Bushi Te, which in true form is a very spiritual art. The
ancient skill was a combination of the indigenous Okinawan art of Te, the Minamoto
Bujutsu, and Chugoku Kempo. The modern skill of Karate, especially when taught
as a sport, contains only the physical aspect of training, which many students
never transcend.
Originally the creation of the sport form of Karate was designed to promote
the art. Unfortunately, while the sport of Karate has benefited from this situation,
the art of Karate has almost ceased to exist. As one Karate master from Okinawa
expressed it, "Students in the Orient were meant to be introduced to the
martial arts through school programs. Once out of school, the hope was that
they would continue their training so that they could benefit from the mental
and spiritual aspects of the arts. But most young people stop training once
they can no longer compete, seeing the rest of the art as being archaic and
no longer of value."
The main reason that young people no longer find themselves attracted to the
martial arts as they age, is that they are taught only physical skills. At some
point they all realize that there is a limit to physical development. Those
who are competitive and athletic will find a great appeal in sport Karate (Judo,
or other combative competition), but people who have no desire to 'beat' another
person in competition, or who have only average, or even less, physical ability,
will never find joy in competitive Karate or sport martial arts training.
Most of all, many people begin to feel that martial arts training in worthless
for modern man. There are many other forms of physical exercise that are just
as effective as martial arts for improving physical fitness and health. But
the other forms of training do not require physical confrontation in any form
with another human being, making them much more acceptable to non-violent people.
Unless there is something different about the martial arts, then this attitude
is true.
But there is something different about the martial arts, there are the mental
and spiritual aspects which take them out of the realm of mere forms of physical
fitness, into total ways of life. First of all, there are people who accidentally
achieve the mental focus of the martial arts when engaged in other sports, but
the beauty of the martial arts is that they are designed to elicit the Zen mind
by individual effort.
True martial arts begin by trying to achieve the mental state of Mushin, which
translates 'no mind', and refers to the mental state of nondiscrimination. No
preconceived ideas exist in the state of Mushin, thus a person learns to see
life as it truly is, rather than as their preconceptions would lead them to
believe. Once achieving the Mushin, the person then strives to allow it to give
them Honshin, which means right mind. This is so that the right decisions can
be made, in self defense, but more importantly in life.
As a person begins to experience Honshin, the most motivating force in their
life becomes love. Morihei Ueshiba found this to be so true that he wanted to
emphasize it to his students, by noting the term Ai can be written with a Kanji,
which translates love. When a person has allowed their heart to be filled with
love, then their motivation for all their actions, from self defense to interpersonal
relationships, become expressions of that love.
Ueshiba noted that the Kamiwaza, divine techniques of Aikido, originated in
love, which meant that the skills derive from the power of the universe (God,
Void, etc.). Love, when developed properly, harmonizes a person with the universe,
in strength and understanding. This is why the power of the martial arts, when
developed along spiritual lines, is so great.
There is the story of a Judo practitioner, back in the 1970s who heard of Kamiwaza
when training from his instructor. He took the meaning as literally a list of
'divine techniques' and sat about to coheres his instructor, over a period of
time, to tell him what they were. Naturally, the instructor, being a good and
honest man, tried to explain to his student that there were no techniques that
were divine, but rather it was a level of ability the student reached which
made any technique divine. Unfortunately the student did not believe the teacher,
eventually leaving the Judo class, seeking the list of divine techniques. This
journey began with Aikido, because of the close connection between Judo and
Aikido in the early days, and the legendary skill of Morihei Ueshiba. With the
popularity of Kung Fu, due to the television show of the same name and Bruce
Lee's movies, the young man next entered a Fu Jow Pai school. He then tried
Shorin Ryu Karate, because of the incredible skill of such Shorin Ryu Karateka
as Joe Lewis and Bill Wallace. Yet when the list still remained elusive, he
moved on to Ryukyu Kempo, hoping to find the Kamiwaza list somewhere in the
Tuite or Kyusho. Where he is today, only God knows, but it is sure that he is
still looking for a special list of Kamiwaza.
If he had just looked he would have seen the truth, there is no one list, but
that which is in the heart of man. Bill Wallace has kicks that can be described
as divine, yet it is not because the kicks he uses are on some special list,
but because he has a true love of kicking. The pressure point knockouts of Seiyu
Oyata are so incredible, because he has a love of training. Joe Lewis hits hard
because he worked hard (Shugyo) with a great degree of dedication (Hotei) to
achieve such a high level of skill.
Morihei Ueshiba, in particular, was acknowledged, by many people as having the
most divine techniques ever developed during the last generation. When he practiced
there was a smile of pure joy on his face. His most fervent desire was for his
students to reach the same level as he. Most of all, his acknowledgment was
that the divine techniques were from spontaneous, free style, extemporaneous
practice. It is believed that he learned this from his training in the classical
systems of Kito Ryu, Yagyu Ryu, and Daito Ryu.
In Kiyojute Ryu Kempo Bugei this idea is preserved in the Jiyu Kata, free style
form. There must be some form of training that allows a person to develop complete
creative spontaneity. Unfortunately, if this is allowed in actual combative
tournaments, people tend to get hurt, simply because complete martial creativity
(Takemusu or Takeumu), includes all facets of combat, which range from grabs,
pokes, tears, and other such techniques that must be excluded from competition
in order for injuries to be avoided.
Originally, the Okinawans did not have a form of sparring, simply because their
skills were too dangerous to 'play' with. If they wanted to test their strength,
they engaged in wrestling, known as Tegumi, but serious self defense skills
were never practiced against another human being. Morihei Ueshiba taught that
one strike in Aikido kills, yet there are those today who claim there are no
strikes in Aikido and advocate the sport practice of the art. It is only because
they have eliminated the strikes from their form of Aikido, that this can be
done, but this takes away from the combat effectiveness of what they teach.
Both Aikido and the original Okinawan martial art of Bushi Te, derived from
the same source, Minamoto Bujutsu. The Okinawan art then received an influence
from the Kempo of China, merging the concept of divine techniques from both
sources, creating an unparalleled form of self defense. Originally, both of
the martial arts used free style, extemporaneous training, to develop their
skills. It is said that Ueshiba developed this idea based on his training from
Kito Ryu's Ranotoru, Yagyu Ryu's Muto, and Daito Ryu's Odori. Interestingly
enough, the only extant ancient system of Bushi Te on Okinawa, Motobu Ryu, teaches
this same concept in the main principle of Odori Te, once again indicating a
connection with the Daito Ryu, a system also derived from the Minamoto Bujutsu.
Kamiwaza may seem to be some type of archaic idea that is not securely grounded
in reality, but for those who have achieved any level of true mastery of the
martial arts can attest, it does exist. Even for some martial artists who have
not yet experience this level for themselves, but have had the opportunity to
witness the great skill of one of the top masters of the world, it is obvious
that there is a level of skill beyond normal human kin and simple physical ability.
Some of the truly great past masters of the last generation to have achieved
this level are; Morihei Ueshiba, Choyu Motobu, Kyuzo Mifune, and there are others.
Today, we still have examples of this level of skill in such individuals as;
Seikichi Uehara, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, and Teruo Hayashi. Will there be masters
of Kamiwaza in the coming generation? Only if the young martial arts students
of today are taught that such a level exists and are taught how to achieve it
by those masters of today who have touched it, will this be a reality.
Kamiwaza takes hard work, dedication, and a faith in the positive reality of
the universe. It is what separates martial arts training from mere exercise
or hand to hand combat. As a person manifests the exceptional skill of their
chosen martial art, they also began to exhibit a greater level of personal discipline
and faith in their ability as a human and that of the goodness of the universe.
Finally, as the love of training fills the heart of the martial artist, so too
does a love of life, people, and the world, begins to appear. It is this love
that makes the Kamiwaza appear and sets the course, not only of the physical
skills of the practitioners, but of their life.
It is believed that the Kamiwaza were first developed by the monks of China
and Japan, as they trained in their Ji Kempo, temple martial arts. Seeing the
ability of their martial arts training to aid in the achievement of enlightenment,
they passed these skills on to members of their faith, to help them survive
the harshness of the world in which they lived, and to help them on their path
to universal awareness. The same goal can be achieved by martial artists today,
if they chose to accept the reality of the Kamiwaza, training not to harm others,
but to improve themselves and aid their students.
