Thoughts are simply identified and let go by returning the mind to the point of concentration without punishing oneself.
This is a primary practice of Zen, however, this method still remains subjective, personal, and solitary. The alternative method of Moving Zen, in this case training between pairs, was devised from the brilliant clarity of Zen practice. This practice consisted of 'rolling hands' and 'pushing hands' drills, which are unique forms of contact training. Using these methods, a training partner's movements could be read or felt with the body through arm contact. With the arms acting in the same way as an insect's feelers, the type, direction, and magnitude of a force (be it a push, punch, grab, etc.) could be determined and dealt with instantly and without thinking. In this way, practitioners would be engaged in a kind of two-way meditation.
The Shaolin monks were not intending to fight as such, though their methods were undoubtedly effective. However, their intentions could easily have been misconstrued by lay members of the community, non-Buddhists, or anyone with a wish to fight. To all intents and purposes, this kind of moving meditation between pairs of trainees was never meant to be a way of overcoming anything other than the aspirants' own delusions. Bias, fear, and aggression were left behind as one learned to break free from the trap of self-limitation. By transcending both virtue and vice, one was put in harmony with the great Void.
From the Zen point of view, when aggression and fear arise in the mind and we act upon them, we are being controlled by our emotions and the urge to fight and dominate others will replace the watercourse way. Although Shaolin training began with the programming of prearranged drills, during the more advanced stages of study free practice was used. Experienced monks and nuns must have presented an impressive, even formidable appearance as they neutralized and countered all manner of attacks during their martial arts practice.
In the early Ch'ing dynasty, the empty-hand arts became divorced from their original, underlying philosophy. Shaolin Temple guests, rebels, and refugees from the Manchu armies tried to adapt Shaolin empty-hand arts to mundane utility in warfare. Tales about fighting monks and Buddhist warriors are highly suspicious. A warrior monk, referring to a fighter ordained as a Buddhist cleric, is a contradiction in terms and a violation of office. Any monk bearing arms would be immediately disgracing his vows of ordination and violating the Buddha's noble precepts. Most stories of warrior monks are found in popular Chinese fiction, dealing with the late Ming through the Ch'ing dynasty (1644-1911). They are, in general, tales about marauding rebels dressed as monks. This helps to explain why the Manchus found it necessary to burn the Shaolin Temple, a supposed religious place, to the ground. From a military point of view, the confusion of the times left them with no option.
Later still, corrupted versions of the Shaolin fighting arts filtered down to the common people of China through organizations with political purposes, the forerunners of the triads. By that time, they were inexorably linked with fighting and the formal ties with Zen were all but severed as popular ignorance threw away the wheat and kept the chaff. Street peddler kung fu (a Cantonese name for theatrical empty-hand fighting) became popular as crowds were drawn by its display of elaborate kung fu forms and mock combat. These forms even found their way into Chinese opera and touring theatrical groups. Even so, some of the true forms were passed down. A good guide to these original forms is the previously mentioned Zen hallmark of simplicity. The central philosophy behind these forms is still Zen.
During the last three hundred years, other theoretical elements have been attached to the practice of the fighting arts, but these do not constitute the roots of the practice, and are merely a reflection of the practitioners themselves. Any art, be it music, painting, dancing, etc., may reflect the culture in which it is practiced. In the West, where competition and achievement are important elements of that culture, it is not surprising that the fighting arts are practiced competitively. Similarly, in Japan, where the warrior spirit was for centuries central to Japanese culture, we find that modern writers have associated karate with bushido, or the way of the warrior.
It is not my intention to denounce either bushido or martial arts competition, but I do believe that we must recognize these as cultural influences that have been attached to the Shaolin empty-hand arts. They are not central philosophies that govern its practice.
Okinawan Karate History
Our search for the origin of modern karate-do takes us from China to Okinawa, the main island of a group known collectively as the Ryukyu Islands. These islands, which were a tributary state and trading partner of China, are situated some four hundred miles east of the Chinese mainland and three hundred miles south of the Japanese islands. The Okinawans had frequent contact with the Chinese mainland, and Fukien Province in particular. It is through this contact that the Okinawans learned Chinese empty-hand forms.
The three states that originally made up Okinawa were unified by King Sho Hashi in 1492. Soon after taking power, he banned the possession of all weapons. In 1609, Okinawa was invaded by the Satsuma clan from Kagoshima, which continued the weapons ban. After the initial Satsuma occupation, peace was soon restored and the garrison left behind was only a nominal one. Some popular legends claim that karate was devised in order to combat the Japanese warriors, either bare-handed or with primitive weapons, but the Satsuma samurai were well-equipped, well-trained, formidable soldiers, and it is highly unlikely that unarmed techniques could prevail against these armed warriors. These popular legends also fail to account for the Chinese names of kata and the Buddhist names of some of the postures that can still be found in Okinawan karate.
It is much more likely that the Okinawans initially learned the Shaolin empty-hand arts from traveling monks, traders, seafarers, and those fleeing in the wake of the Manchu conquest of China. By blending and synthesizing many styles and techniques, and adding their own ideas, the Okinawans came up with several unique empty-hand schools. These were characterized by three major recorded approaches: Shuri-te, Tomari-te, and Naha-te, each giving rise to their own distinctive ryu, a martial tradition.
Karate, as such, was practiced in Okinawa but its kata are primarily derived from Chinese forms and its methodology originally included t'ui shou (pushing hands). The various schools of karate each used different selections of kata as the basis for their style. It is not surprising, therefore, that the same forms appear in different styles. There was inevitably some crossover. Some kata have been modified and others have been invented fairly recently, but most were practiced for many years in and around the villages of Shuri, Naha, and Tomari. These three villages are all within a few miles of each other and collectively influenced the development of Okinawan karate.
These three basic approaches to karate were taken to the Japanese mainland during the 1920s. As the worldwide popularity of karate has come about since its transmission to Japan, we will now turn our attention to its development there.
Japanese Karate History
The development of karate in Japan is a fairly recent phenomenon. One of the most prominent and enthusiastic early teachers of karate in Japan was an Okinawan named Gichin Funakoshi. Often called the father of modern karate, Funakoshi began to introduce karate to Japanduring 1922. He was not the first Okinawan to do so. It is recorded that Choki Motobu had moved from Okinawa to Osaka in 1921, and was engaged in teaching karate in that area. However, it is quite clear that Gichin Funakoshi exerted the most influence on the development of karate. He transformed Okinawan karate into a Japanese art by infusing it with concepts taken from Japanese budo (literally, martial ways). Funa koshi further changed the names of the kata for reasons of his own and he reorganized karate terms in conformity with kendo, Japanese fencing.
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