of social standing of that time, warriors were paramount, followed by peasants, artisans and, finally, merchants or traders. Under Tokugawa Ieyasu, the samurai cultivated intellect as well as physical skill and power in swordsmanship. The samurai combined kendo (way of the sword) with the butsudo (way of the Buddha) of Dogen; these two came into one, becoming bushido (way of the warrior). The samurai value system, incorporating Zen and a fighting spirit, is the foundation of karate’s value system.
We have seen so far that the precursors of the martial arts came not from a martial tradition, but from a monk’s quest for spiritual perfection. The Buddhist tradition went from India to China and to Japan, via Korea; along the way it was transformed, becoming Zen in the ground of Japanese culture. Along this way, the physical techniques and exercises of Bodhidarma were transformed also. The world looked on these powerful and effective techniques as useful and desirable, apart from any spiritual training. The initial and fundamental unity of Zen and the martial arts came to be broken, as it is in the twentieth century. In the samurai class, however, the Zen and martial art traditions were unified into a single way of being.
Developments in Okinawa
Parallel to these developments in Japan, martial arts techniques were being developed, for extremely practical reasons, in the Ryukyu Islands, on Okinawa. The islanders, having been forbidden to carry weapons by the ruling Japanese, developed self-defense techniques which they practiced in secret. These became known as Okinawa-te (hand techniques of Okinawa). In 1722, Sakugawa, who had studied kempo and stick-fighting techniques in China, systematized and developed the indigenous techniques to the point where the art became known as karate-no-Sakugawa (Chinese hand techniques of Sakugawa). This was the first use of the word “karate.”
In 1879, the Okinawa Islands were annexed by Japan. In 1916, a group of Okinawan masters, led by the renowned Gichin Funakoshi, gave the first official public demonstration of karate outside of Okinawa, in Kyoto, Japan. Master Funakoshi, an artist and philosopher, changed the character for kara from one meaning “Chinese,” to one which means “empty.” Karate then came to mean “empty hand.” This very significant change reflected his personal feeling for the deeper meaning of the art.
Karate: Path to the Present
Karate and Zen were inseparable elements of Bodhidarma’s search for spiritual perfection. The two were one, hence the historical basis for the old saying, “Ken Zen Ichi Nyo!” As the spirituality of the monastery mingled with the marketplace and the political arena, it was perhaps inevitable that the techniques be separated from the core of spiritual training and practice.
Today, martial arts are growing in popularity throughout the world. The face of karate today displays a variety of styles, teaching methods, goals and physical techniques. This variety ensures the vitality of the martial arts. However, Seido karate seeks to find the “original face” of the martial art, to take the founding tradition and apply and enrich it in a twentieth century context. Through the practice of Seido karate, every student should seek to discover what Dogen understood when he questioned the elderly Chinese monk.
Seido: History and Philosophy
Seido karate is a strict, traditional Japanese style of karate, into which I have tried to distill the essence of what I have learned about the martial arts in over 30 years of study, practice and teaching.
The World Seido Karate Organization officially opened its headquarters on October 15, 1976, in New York City. It is a worldwide organization, with thriving branches in such diverse places as Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of South Africa, England, and South America. However, within Seido, growth of the branches is not being pursued for its own sake. Quality of instruction and of the students is paramount.
The physical training in Seido is strenuous, emphasizing progressive development of strength, flexibility and aerobic capacity. One of the goals of Seido karate training is to develop strong bodies, which contributes to health and a general sense of self-confidence and well-being. In addition to developing students with the highest level of physical skills, Seido aims to develop individuals of the highest moral character, individuals who can then make significant contributions to a better life in the family, the work place, and in society at large.
This goal is achieved by the integration of Zen meditation into the practice of each and every student. Seido is unique, I feel, because it stresses the unity and inseparability of karate and Zen. This is not a new idea. Rather, it is a return to the origins of the martial arts. By returning to the roots of karate, it can be made extremely valuable for men and women in this century and the next.
Zen is not taught as a religion in Seido. It is a practice, i.e., seated meditation, which has no religious overtones or content. In my experience, however, it is an essential counterpart to hard physical training. The samurai, whose lives and values gave so much to karate, strived to develop bushido spirit. Today, our lives are much different from the samurai’s, but the bushido spirit can still be translated into our milieu. Seido seeks to develop in each student a “nonquitting” spirit. No matter what the obstacle or difficulty—emotional, physical, financial—I want my students to feel that, though they may be set back, they will never be overcome by any of these problems. The sincere practice of karate can impress this idea into the spirit. This is the modern interpretation of the bushido spirit of the samurai.
The Seido emblem is the five-petaled blossom of the Japanese plum tree, which is also my family’s emblem. It is my wish to carry over into Seido many of the things that I learned from my parents. I also wish to stress that all members of the World Seido Karate Organization are members of a family. No one in Seido trains as an isolated individual, no matter how good or skillful he or she is. Only by sharing and learning from others do we ourselves become whole and fully realize our human potential.
I founded Seido on three fundamental principles: respect, love and obedience. These are represented, incidentally, by the three circles within the center of the plum blossom of the Seido emblem. These principles represent what I have found to be essential to a healthy and productive practice of the martial arts. They also represent a way, or do, of being in everyday life.
If we truly have respect for others, it is inevitable that we treat them with courtesy and equanimity. It is when we do not have respect for others that we become angry with them, that we disparage them, that we find no value in what they say, and that we engage in destructive action. This lack of respect for others, oddly enough, is related to a lack of respect for ourselves. Karate, through the practice of zazen, makes us look at ourselves. If we do this sincerely, we inevitably find our beautiful, truly human core. To find this, however, we will have to wipe away many layers of dust and dirt, which cloud the bright surface of what the Zen masters call our “mirror mind” or “Buddha nature.” When we see ourselves clearly, not with a vain love or callous self-indulgence, but with a healthy respect, we shall inevitably see others the same way. The Zen master says we shall see no separation—there is no self, and no other.
It is easy to do violence to another if you see that person as separate and distinct from you. Our society encourages us to think in terms of the “other” country, the “other” system. When we think this way, it is easy to deny to others the respect they are due. In Zen, when you bow, you bring your palms together in gassho. This means “two into one.” There is no self and no other. Respect yourself and respect others.
Early morning training with Black Belt students.
Karate offers a means of building the principle of respect
