Psychology In Defence And Attack

By Bruce Lee

(Bruce Lee's handwritten essay from his pocket journal, circa 1961.)

Size is never a true indication of muscular power and efficiency. The smaller man usually makes up for the imbalance of power by his greater agility, flexibility, speed of foot, and nervous action. Bear this in mind once you go into action and grapple with an opponent: strive to keep him off balance, regardless of his size. So keep moving faster than he and pay absolutely no attention to his size, fierce facial contortions, or his vicious language. Your object is always to attack your opponent at his weakest points, which are mainly gravitational, throwing him off balance, and applying leverage principles so that his body, and the limbs of his body, are used to work toward his own defeat. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

In combatting a man with your bare hands, you must learn to use your head, knees, and feet as well as your hands. The "crowding"act gives you every opportunity to use these parts of your body, especially your elbows. Another simple method while crowding with your opponent is to step on his foot. It has unexpected results. The one point to bear in mind when you are being attacked by a thug is the fact that the thug has but a one-track mind. He thinks but in one groove, which is bent on your destruction, barely considering what you can do, in which case you always have the psychological advantage on your side. With efficiency comes confidence and self-reliance.

Reflections On Gung Fu

By Bruce Lee

(An article written by Bruce Lee that was never published, written on December 21, 1964,to illustrate the different techniques used by the different schools of gung fu.)

Gung fu is so extraordinary because it is nothing at all special. It is simply the direct expression of one's feeling with the minimum of lines and energy. Every movement is being so of itself without the artificiality with which we tend to complicate them. The closer to the true Way of gung fu, the less wastage of expression there is. Gung fu is to be looked at without fancy suits and matching ties, and it remains a secret while we anxiously look for sophistication and deadly techniques. If there are really any secrets at all, they must have been missed by the "seeing" and "striving" of its practitioners (after all, how many ways are there to come in on an opponent without deviating too much from the natural course?). Gung fu values the wonder of the ordinary, and the idea is not daily increase but daily decrease.

Being wise in gung fu does not mean adding more but being able to remove sophistication and ornamentation and be simply simple, like a sculptor building a statue not by adding, but by hacking away the unessential so that the truth will be revealed unobstructed. Gung fu is satisfied with one's bare hands without the fancy decoration of colourful gloves, which tend to hinder the natural function of the hands. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity while halfway cultivation runs to ornamentation.

There are three stages in the cultivation of gung fu: namely, the primitive stage, the stage of art, and the stage of artlessness.

The primitive stage is the stage of original ignorance in which a person knows nothing of the art of combat. In a fight he simply blocks and strikes instinctively without concern as for what is right and wrong. Of course, he might not be so-called scientific, but he is, nevertheless, being himself.

The second stage, the stage of art, begins when a person starts his training. He is taught the different ways of blocking and striking, the various ways of kicking, of standing, of moving, of breathing, of thinking. Unquestionably he is gaining a scientific knowledge of combat, but unfortunately his original self and sense of freedom are lost, and his action no longer flows by itself. His mind tends to freeze at different movements for calculation and analysis. Even worse, he might be "intellectually bound" and maintaining himself outside the actual reality.

The third stage, the stage of artlessness, occurs when, after years of serious and hard practice, he realises that, after all, gung fu is nothing special and instead of trying to impose his mind on the art, he adjusts himself to the opponent like water pressing on an earthen wall, it flows through the slightest crack. There is nothing to "try" to do but be purposeless and formless like water. Nothingness prevails; he no longer is confined.

These three stages also apply to the various methods being practiced in Chinese gung fu. Some methods are rather primitive with basic jerky blocking and striking. On the whole, they lack the flow and change of combinations. Some "sophisticated" methods, on the other hand, tend to run to ornamentation and get carried away by grace and showmanship. Whether from the so-called "firm" or "gentle" school, they often involve big, fancy movements with a lot of complicated steps toward one single goal (it is like an artist who, not satisfied with drawing a simple snake, proceeds to put four beautiful and shapely feet on the snake).

When grasped by the collar, for example, these practitioners would "first do this, then this, then finally that", but of course the direct way would be to let the opponent have the pleasure of grasping the collar and simply punch him straight on the nose! To some martial artists of distinguishing taste, this would be a little bit unsophisticated; too ordinary and unartful. However, it is the ordinary that we use and encounter in everyday life.

Art is the expression of the self; the more complicated and restrictive a method is, the less opportunity there is for expression of one’s original sense of freedom. The techniques, although they play an important role in the earlier stage, should not be too complex, restrictive, or mechanical. If we cling to them we will become bound by their limitations.

Remember that man created method, and method did not create man, and do not strain yourself in twisting into someone’s preconceived pattern, which unquestionably would be appropriate for him, but not necessarily for you. You yourself are "expressing" the technique and not "doing" the technique; in fact, there is no doer but the action itself. When someone attacks you, it is not which technique that you use, but the moment you’re aware of his attack you simply move in like sound, an echo without any deliberation. It is as though when I call, you answer me, or when I throw something, you catch it. That’s all.

After all these years of practice in the different schools I have found out this: that techniques are merely simple guide lines to tell the practitioner that he has done enough! Of course, different people have different preferences and therefore I will include different techniques of both the Northern and the Southern schools of gung fu. Observe closely the differences as well as the similarities of utilisation.

A Moment Of Understanding

By Bruce Lee

(Bruce Lee's handwritten essay from one of his courses at the university of Washington.)

Gung fu is a special kind of skill, a fine art rather than just a physical exercise. It is a subtle art of matching the essence of the mind to that of the techniques in which it has to work. The principle of gung fu is not a thing that can be learned, like a science, by fact-finding and instruction in facts. It has to grow spontaneously, like a flower, in a mind free from emotions and desires. The core of this principle of gung fu is Tao - the spontaneity of the universe. After four years of hard training in the art of gung fu, I began to understand and felt the principle of gentleness - the art of neutralising the effect of the opponent's effort and minimising the expenditure of one's energy. All these must be done in calmness and without striving. It sounded simple, but in actual application it was difficult.

The moment I engaged in combat with an opponent, my mind was completely perturbed and unstable. And after a series of exchanging blows and kicks, my theory of gentleness was gone. My only thought at this point was "Somehow or other I must beat him and win!"

My instructor at the time, Professor Yip Man, head of the wing chun school of gung fu, would come up to me and say "Leung(Lee's Chinese nickname was Lee Siu Leung), relax and calm your mind. Forget about yourself and follow the opponent's movement. Let your mind, the basic reality, do the counter-movement without any interfering deliberation. Above all, learn the art of detachment."

"That was it!" I thought. "I must relax!" However, right then I had just done something that contradicted against my will. That occurred at the precise moment I said, "I must relax." The demand for effort in must was already inconsistent with the effortlessness in relax.

When my acute self-consciousness grew to what the psychologists refer to as the "double-blind" type, my instructor would again approach me and say, "Leung(pronounced Loong), preserve yourself by following the natural bends of things and don't interfere. Remember never to assert yourself against nature; never be in frontal opposition to any problems, but control it by swinging with it. Don't practice this week. Go home and think about it."

The following week I stayed home. After spending many hours meditating and practicing, I gave up and went sailing alone in a junk. On the sea I thought of all my past training and got mad at myself and punched the water! Right then, at that moment, a thought suddenly struck me; was not this water the very essence of gung fu? I struck it but it did not suffer hurt. Again I struck it with all of my might, yet it was not wounded! I then tried to grasp a handful of it but this proved impossible. This was water, the softest substance in the world, which could be contained in the smallest jar, only seemed weak. In reality, it could penetrate the hardest substance in the world. That was it! I wanted to be like the nature of water.

Suddenly a bird flew by and cast its reflection on the water. Right then as I was absorbing myself with the lesson of the water, another mystic sense of hidden meaning revealed itself to me; should not the thoughts and emotions I had when in the front of an opponent pass like the reflection of the bird flying over the water? This was exactly what Professor Yip meant by being detached - not being without emotion or feeling, but being one in whom feeling was not sticky or blocked. Therefore in order to control myself I must first accept myself by going with and not against my nature.

I lay on the boat and felt that I had united with Tao; I had become one with nature. I just lay there and let the boat drift freely according to its own will. For at that moment I had achieved a state of inner feeling in which opposition had become mutually cooperative instead of mutually exclusive, in which there was no longer any conflict in mind. The whole world to me was unitary.

Gung Fu : The Centre Of The Oriental Martial Arts

By Bruce Lee

(Bruce Lee's handwritten essay on gung fu, untitled.)

Gung fu, the centre of the Oriental arts of self-defence, is a philosophical art that serves to promote health, to cultivate the mind, and to provide a most efficient means of self-protection. Its philosophy is based on the integral parts of the philosophies of Taoism and Ch'an (Zen) - the ideal of being harmonious with and not against the force of the opponent. Just as a butcher preserves his knife by cutting along the bones, a gung fu man preserves himself by complementing the movements of the opponent.

The word gung fu means "discipline" and training toward the ultimate reality of the object - be it health promotion, mind cultivation or self-protection. There is no distinction to make between the opponent and the self because the opponent is but the other complementary (not opposite) part. There is no conquering, struggling, or dominating, and the idea is to "fit" harmoniously your movement into that of the opponent. When he expands, you contract; when he contracts, you expand. Expansion then is interdependent with contraction and vice versa, each being the cause and result of the other.

Gentleness/firmness is one inseparable force of one unceasing interplay of movement. If a person riding a bicycle wishes to go somewhere, he cannot pump on both the pedals at the same time or not pump on them at all. In order to move forward he has to pump on one pedal and release the other. So the movement of going forward requires this "oneness" of pumping and releasing. Therefore, gentleness alone cannot forever dissolve away great force, nor can sheer brute force subdue one's foe. In order to survive in any combat, the harmonious interfusion of gentleness and firmness as a whole is necessary, sometimes one dominating sometimes the other, in a wavelike succession. The movement will then truly flow, for the pure fluidity of movements is in their interchangeability.

So neither gentleness nor firmness holds any more than one half of a broken whole which, welded together, forms the true Way of martial art. The tendency to guard against is from getting too firm and stiff. Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind. This is why a gung fu man is soft yet not yielding, firm, yet not hard. The best example of gung fu is water. Water can penetrate the hardest granite because it is yielding. One cannot stab of strike at water and hurt it because that which offers no resistance cannot be overcome.

In actual application, gung fu is based on simplicity; it is a natural result of four thousand years of exhaustive experimentation and is of highly sophisticated complexity. All techniques are stripped down to their essential purpose without wastage or ornamentation, and everything becomes the straightest, most logical simplicity of common sense. The utmost is expressed and performed in the minimum of movements and energy.

The method for health promotion is again based on water, as flowing water never grows stale. The idea is not to overdevelop or to overexert but to normalise the function of the body.

The Tao Of Gung Fu : A Study In The Way Of The Chinese Martial Art

By Bruce Lee

(Handwritten essay by Bruce Lee dated May 16, 1962.)

Gung fu is a special kind of skill, a fine art rather than just a physical exercise or self-defence. To the Chinese, gung fu is the subtle art of matching the essence of the mind to that of the techniques in which it has to work. The principle of gung fu is not a thing that can be learned, like a science, by fact-finding or instruction in facts. It has to grow spontaneously, like a flower, in a mind free from desires and emotions. The core of this principle of gung fu is Tao - the spontaneity of the universe. The word Tao has no exact equivalent in the English Language. To render it into the Way, or the "principle" or the "law" is to give it too narrow an interpretation. Lao-tzu, the founder of Taoism, described Tao in the following words:


The Way that can be expressed in words is not the eternal Way;
the Name that can be uttered is not the eternal Name.
Conceived of as nameless it is the cause of Heaven and earth.
Conceived of as having a name it is the mother of all things.
Only the man externally free from passion can contemplate its spiritual essence.
He who is clogged by desires can see no more than its outer form.
These two things, the spiritual (Yin) and the material (Yang),
though we call them by different names, are one and the same in their origin.
The sameness is a mystery of the mysteries.
It is the gate of all that is subtle and wonderful.

In Masterpieces of World Philosophy: "Tao is nameless beginning of things, the universal principle underlying everything, the supreme, ultimate pattern, and the principle of growth." Huston Smith, the author of The World's Religions, explained Tao as "The Way of Ultimate Reality---the Way or Principle behind all life, or the Way man should order his life to gear in with the Way the universe operates." Although no one word can substitute its meaning, I have used the word Truth for it---the "Truth" behind gung fu; the "Truth" that every gung fu practitioner should follow. Tao operates in Yin and Yang, a pair of mutually complementary forces that are at work in and behind all phenomena. This principle of Yin-Yang, also known as T'ai Chi, is the basic structure of gung fu. The T'ai Chi, or Grand Terminus, was first drawn more than three thousand years ago by Chou Chun I. The Yang (whiteness) principle represents positiveness, firmness, masculinity, substantiality, brightness, day, heat, and so forth. The Yin (blackness) principle is the opposite. It represents negativeness, softness, femininity, insubstantiality, darkness, night, coldness, and so forth. The basic theory in T'ai Chi is that nothing is so permanent as never to change. In other words, when activity (Yang) reaches the extreme point, it becomes inactivity; and inactivity forms Yin. Extreme inactivity returns to become activity, which is Yang. Activity is the cause of inactivity and vice versa. This system of complementary increasing and decreasing of the principle is continuous. From this one can see that the two forces (Yin-Yang), although they appear to conflict, in reality are mutually interdependent; instead of opposition, there is cooperation and alternation. The application of the principles of Yin-Yang in gung fu are expressed as the Law of Harmony. It states that one should be in harmony with, not in rebellion against, the strength and force of the opposition. This means that one should do nothing that is not natural or spontaneous; the important thing is to not strain in any way. When opponent A uses strength (Yang) on B, B must not resist him (back) with strength; in other words, B does not use positiveness (Yang ) against positiveness (Yang), but yields to A with softness (Yin) and leads A in the direction of his own force, negativeness (Yin) to positiveness (Yang). When A's strength goes to the extreme, the positiveness (Yang) will change to negativeness (Yin), and B can then take him at his unguarded moment and attack with force (Yang). Thus the whole process is not unnatural or strained; B fits his movement harmoniously and continuously into that of A without resisting or striving.

The above idea gives rise to a closely related law, the Law of Noninterference with Nature, which teaches a gung fu man to forget about himself and follow his opponent instead of himself; he does not move ahead but responds to the fitting influence. The basic idea is to defeat the opponent by yielding to him and using his own strength. That is why a gung fu man never asserts himself against his opponent, and never puts himself in frontal opposition to the direction of his opponents force. When being attacked, he will not resist, but will control the attack by swinging with it. This law illustrates the principles of nonresistance and nonviolence, which were founded on the idea that the branches of a fir tree snap under the weight of the snow, while the simple reeds, weaker but more supple, can overcome it. In the I'Ching, Confucius illustrated this: "To stand in the stream is a datum of nature; one must follow and flow with it." In the Tao Teh Ching, the gospel of Taoism, Lao-tzu pointed out to us the value of gentleness. Contrary to common belief, the Yin principle, as softness and pliableness, is to be associated with life and survival. Because he can yield, a man can survive. In contrast, the Yang principle, which is assumed to be rigorous and hard, makes a man break under pressure (note the last two lines, which make a fair description of revolution as many generations of people have seen it):

Alive, a man is supple, soft;
In death, unbending, rigorous.
All creatures, grass and trees, alive
Are plastic but are pliant too,
And dead, are friable and dry.
Unbending rigor is the mate of death,
And yielding softness, company of life;
Unbending soldiers get no victories;
The stiffest tree is readiest for the ax.
The strong and mighty topple from their place;
The soft and yielding rise above them all.

The way of movement in gung fu is closely related to the movement of the mind. In fact, the mind is trained to direct the movement of the body. The mind wills and the body behaves. As the mind is to direct the bodily movements, the way to control the mind is important; but it is not an easy task. In his book, Glen Clark mentioned some of the emotional disturbances in athletics:

Every conflicting centre, every extraneous, disrupting, decentralizing emotion, jars the natural rhythm and reduces a man's efficiency on the gridiron far more seriously than physical jars and bodily conflicts can ever jar him. The emotions that destroy the inner rhythm of a man are hatred, jealousy, lust, envy, pride, vanity, covetousness and fear.

To perform the right technique in gung fu, physical loosening must be continued in a mental and spiritual loosening, so as to make the mind not only agile but free. In order to accomplish this, a gung fu man has to remain quiet and calm and to master the principle of no-mindedness (wu hsin). No-mindedness is not a blank mind that excludes all emotions; nor is it simply calmness and quietness of the mind. Although quietude and calmness are important, it is the "non-graspiness" of the mind that mainly constitutes the principle of no-mindedness. A gung fu man employs his mind as a mirror---it grasps nothing and it refuses nothing; it receives but does not keep. As Alan Watts puts it, the no-mindedness is "a state of wholeness in which the mind functions freely and easily, without the sensation of a second mind or ego standing over it with a club." What he means is, let the mind think what it likes without interference by the separate thinker or ego within oneself. So long as it thinks what it wants, there is absolutely no effort in letting it go; and the disappearance of the effort to let go is precisely the disappearance of the separate thinker. There is nothing to try to do, for whatever comes up moment by moment is accepted, including nonacceptance. No-mindedness is then not being without emotion or feeling, but being one in whom feeling is not sticky or blocked. It is a mind immune to emotional influences. "Like this river, everything is flowing on ceaselessly without cessation or standing still." No-mindedness is employing the whole mind as we use the eyes when we rest them upon various objects but make no special effort to take anything in. Chuang-tzu, the disciple of Lao-tzu, stated:


The baby looks at things all day without winking, that is because his eyes are not focussed on any particular object. He goes without knowing where he is going, and stops without knowing what he is doing. He merges himself with the surroundings and moves along with it. These are the principles of mental hygiene.

Therefore, concentration in gung fu does not have the usual sense of restricting the attention to a single sense object; it is simply a quiet awareness of whatever happens to be here and now. Such concentration can be illustrated by an audience at a football game; instead of a concentrated attention on the player who has the ball, they have an awareness of the whole football field. In a similar way, a gung fu man's mind is concentrated by not dwelling on any particular part of the opponent. This is especially true when he deals with many opponents. For instance, suppose ten men are attacking him, each in succession ready to strike him down. As soon as one is disposed of, he will move onto another without permitting the mind to "stop" with any. However rapidly one blow may follow another he leaves no time to intervene between the two. Every one of the ten will thus be successively and successfully dealt with. This is possible only when the mind moves from one object to another without being "stopped" or arrested by anything. If the mind is unable to move on in this fashion, it is sure to lose the combat somewhere between two encounters. The mind is present everywhere because it is nowhere attached to any particular object. And it can remain present because, even when relating to this or that object, it does not cling to it. The flow of thought is like water filling a pond, which is always ready to flow off again. It can work its inexhaustible power because it is free, and it can be open to everything because it is empty. This can be compared with what Chang Chen Chi called "Serene Reflection." He wrote: "Serene means tranquillity of no thought, and reflection means vivid and clear awareness. Therefore, serene reflection is clear awareness of no-thought." As stated earlier, a gung fu man aims at harmony with himself and his opponent. Also, being in harmony with one's opponent is possible not through force, which provokes conflicts and reactions, but through a yielding to the opponent's force. In other words, a gung fu man promotes the spontaneous development of his opponent and does not venture to interfere by his own action. He loses himself by giving up all subjective feelings and individuality, and he becomes one with his opponent. Inside his mind, oppositions have become mutually cooperative instead of mutually exclusive. When his private egos and conscious efforts yield to a power not his own he then achieves the supreme action, non-action (wu we). Wu means "not" or "non" and we means "action," "doing," "striving," "straining," or "busyness." Wu we doesn't really mean doing nothing, but letting one's mind alone, trusting it to work by itself. Wu we, in gung fu, means spontaneous action or spirit-action, in the sense that the governing force is the mind and not the senses. During sparring, a gung fu man learns to forget about himself and follow the movement of his opponent, leaving his mind free to make its own counter movement without any interfering deliberation. He frees himself from all mental suggestions of resistance and adopts a supple attitude. His actions are all performed without self-assertion; he lets his mind remain spontaneous and ungrasped. As soon as he stops to think, his flow of movement will be disturbed and his opponent will immediately strike him. Every action therefore has to be done "unintentionally" without ever "trying." Through wu we, a "reposeful ease" is secured. This passive achievement, as Chuang-tzu pointed out, will free a gung fu man from striving and straining himself:

A yielding will has a reposeful ease, soft as downy feathers, A quietude, a shrinking from action, an appearance of inability to do. Placidly free from anxiety, one acts with the opportune time; one moves and revolves in the line of creation. One does not move ahead but responds to the fitting influences.

Establish nothing in regard to oneself. Let things be what they are, move like water, rest like a mirror, respond like an echo, pass quickly like the nonexistent, and be quiet as purity. Those who gain, lose. Do not precede others, always follow them.

The natural phenomenon which the gung fu man sees as being the closest resemblance to wu we is water:

Nothing is weaker than water,
But when it attacks something hard
Or resistant, then nothing withstands it,
And nothing will alter its way.

The above passages from the Tao Te Ching illustrate to us the nature of water: Water is so fine that it is impossible to grasp a handful of it; strike it, yet it does not suffer hurt; stab it, and it is not wounded; sever it, yet it is not divided. It has no shape of its own but moulds itself to the receptacle that contains it. When heated to the state of steam it is invisible but has enough power to split the earth itself. When frozen it crystallises into a mighty rock. First it is turbulent like Niagara Falls, and then calm like a still pond, fearful like a torrent, and refreshing like a spring on a hot summer's day. So is the principle of wu we:

The rivers and seas are lords of a hundred valleys. This is because their strength is in lowliness; they are kings of them all. So it is that the perfect master wishing to lead them, he follows. Thus, though he is above them, he follows. Thus, though he is above them, men do not feel him to be an injury. And since he will not strive, none strive with him.

The world is full of people who are determined to be somebody or to give trouble. They want to get ahead, to stand out. Such ambition has no use for a gung fu man, who rejects all forms of self-assertiveness and competition:

One who tries to stand on tiptoe cannot stand still. One who stretches his legs too far cannot walk. One who advertises himself too much is ignored. One who is too insistent on his own view finds few to agree with him. One who claims too much credit does not get even what he deserves. One who is too proud is soon humiliated. These are condemned as extremes of greediness and self-destructive activity. Therefore, one who acts naturally avoids such extremes.

Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.
Stop your sense, let sharp things be blunted,
Tangles resolved, the light tempered and turmoil subdued;
For this is mystic unity in which the wise man is moved
Neither by affection nor yet by estrangement,
Or profit or loss or honour or shame.
Accordingly, by all the world, he is held highest.

A gung fu man, if he is really good, is not proud at all. "Pride," according to Mr. Eric Hoffer, "is a sense of worth that derives from something that is not organically part of oneself." Pride emphasises the importance of the superiority of a person's status in the eyes of others. There is fear and insecurity in pride because when a person aims at being highly esteemed and achieves such status, he is automatically involved in the fear of losing his status. Then protection of his status appears to be his most important need, and this creates anxiety. Mr. Hoffer further states that: "The less promise and potency in the self, the more imperative is the need for pride. One is proud when he identifies himself with an imaginary self; the core of pride is self rejection." As we know, gung fu is aiming at self cultivation, and the inner self is one's true self. So in order to realise his true self, a gung fu man lives without being dependent upon the opinion of others. Since he is completely self-sufficient he can have no fear of not being esteemed. A gung fu man devotes himself to being self-sufficient and never depends upon the external rating by others for his happiness. A gung fu master, unlike the beginner, holds himself in reserve, is quiet and unassuming, without the lest desire to show off. Under the influence of gung fu training his proficiency becomes spiritual, and he himself, grown ever freer through spiritual struggle, is transformed. To him, fame and status mean nothing. Thus wu we is the art of artlessness, the principle of no-principle. To state it in terms of gung fu, the genuine beginner knows nothing about the way of blocking and striking, and much less about his concern for himself. When an opponent tries to strike him, he "instinctively" parries it. This is all he can do. But as soon as his training starts, he is taught how to defend and attack, where to keep the mind, and many other technical tricks—which makes his mind "stop" at various junctures. For this reason whenever he tries to strike the opponent he feels unusually hampered (he has lost altogether the original sense of innocence and freedom). But as months and years go by, as his training acquires fuller maturity, his bodily attitude and his way of managing the technique toward no-mindedness come to resemble the state of mind he had at the very beginning of training when he knew nothing, when he was altogether ignorant of the art. The beginning and the end thus turn into next-door neighbours. In the musical scale, one may start with the lowest pitch and gradually ascend to the highest. When the highest is reached, one finds it is located next to the lowest. In a similar way, when the highest stage is reached in the study of Taoist teaching, a gung fu man turns into a kind of simpleton who knows nothing of Tao, nothing of its teachings, and is devoid of all learning. Intellectual calculations are lost sight of and a state of no-mindedness prevails. When the ultimate perfection is attained, the body and limbs perform by themselves what is assigned to them to do with no interference from the mind. The technical skill is so automatic it is completely divorced from conscious efforts. There are big differences between the Chinese hygiene and the Western hygiene. Some of the obvious ones are Chinese exercise is rhythmic, whereas the Western is dynamic and full of tension; the Chinese exercise seeks to merge harmoniously with nature, whereas the Western dominates it; the Chinese exercise is both a way of life and a mental cultivation, while the Western exercise is merely a sport or a physical calisthenic. Perhaps the main difference is the fact that Chinese hygiene is Yin (softness), while Western is Yang (positiveness). We can compare the Western mind with an oak tree that stands firm and rigid against the strong wind. When the wind becomes stronger, the oak tree cracks. The Chinese mind, on the other hand, is like the bamboo that bends with the strong wind. When the wind ceases (that is, when it goes to the extreme and changes), the bamboo springs back stronger than before. Western hygiene is a gratuitous waste of energy. The overexertion and over development of bodily organs involved in Western athletics is detrimental to one's health. Chinese hygiene, on the other hand, throws its emphasis on conservation of energy; the principle is always that of moderation without going to the extreme. Whatever exercise there may be consists of harmonious movements calculated to normalise but not excite one's bodily regimen. It starts out with a mental regimen as a basis, in which the sole object is to bring about peace and calmness of mind. With this as a basis, it aims at stimulating the normal functioning of the internal process of respiration and blood circulation.

Teach Yourself Self-Defence

By Bruce Lee

(Bruce Lee’s handwritten essay dated 1962)

What would you do if you were attacked by a thug? Would you stand your ground and fight it out? Or, if you will excuse me, would you say that you would run like hell? But what if your loved ones were with you? What then? That’s the all important question. You have only to pick up a newspaper to read of attacks made, not only on lonely commons, but also in built-up areas, to understand the need for self-defence. "To be forewarned is to be forearmed" is an old, reliable proverb, and the purpose of my notes on self-defence is to not only forewarn you, but to forearm you with practical knowledge about meeting any foe, regardless of his size and strength.

Some tips on Self-Defence
Self-defence is not fun. You are liable to find yourself fighting hard to avoid serious injury and so you must expect to be hurt. The method of self-defence I am going to describe will not prevent your being hurt, but it will give you a very good chance of emerging the victor without sustaining any severe injury. You will have to accept this, and should a blow from your opponent break through, it is essential, at least for the time being, to ignore the pain and, instead of giving up, use it as a spur to counterattack and victory. (Bear this in mind: when being attacked by a thug the fact is that he has but a one-track mind, which is bent on your destruction, rarely considering what you can do. If your acts show him that he is up against something he did not expect, it will cut down his attacking ego over 50 percent and will neutralise his attack, in which case you always have the psychological advantage on your side.)

This may not sound very encouraging, but the chances of attack can be very greatly reduced when you are walking, especially alone at night or in lonely places, if you are always alert. Keep an eye on any person who appears to be following you or who approaches. Keep to the outside of the path or in the middle of a lane. Listen for approaching footsteps and watch shadows; that is to say, as you pass a street lamp you will see the shadow of anyone behind you thrown up on the ground in front of you. The same thing happens as a result of lights in houses and the headlights of passing cars. As soon as you see a shadow in these circumstances, immediately glance around and see who it is. Always, of course, avoid patches of deep shadow.

In made-up but quiet streets, I repeat, walk on the outside of the pavement. This obviates the chance of anyone jumping out of a house or garden entrance at you to snatch your purse, handbag, or briefcase or worse. For exactly the same reason I suggest walking down the middle of a lane where there are no made-up paths and perhaps no street lamps. If you consider it advisable, you may even cross the road to avoid a person of whom you are suspicious. If he follows, he at least makes his intention fairly obvious. Although I am again repeating myself, I must emphasise that the success of an assailant’s attack depends on surprise, and if you’re sufficiently alert to prevent a surprise, your counterattack is already halfway to being successful. The main thing is to see the attack coming, which enables you to shout, scream, or just concentrate on dealing with the attacker. Make as much noise as possible as this naturally tends to frighten off lawbreakers.

I hope I have not frightened you and made you think it is not safe to walk along the streets. That is certainly not my intention, but newspaper reports lead one to believe that attacks on innocent people are increasing.

The Basis of Self-Defence
There is only one basic principle of self-defence: You must apply the most effective weapon as soon as possible to the most vulnerable point of your enemy. Although I say there is only one basic principle, it is better to break it into sections and look at it more thoroughly:

1 --- What is the most effective weapon
2 --- Speed
3 --- The point to attack or couterattack

The Weapon
Given a chance I would always choose the leg. It is longer than the arm and can deal a heavier blow, and it is much more powerful. So, should anyone approach you, your kick would make contact before his punch, if both commence at the same speed.

Speed
There is no time to consider the type of defence or weapon to use. Obviously, if your kick does not commence, his punch will land first, and your defence is useless. Only training can produce results (I can help you with this). If you do not consider a few minutes training worthwhile, and you think the chance of assault is small, you are one of those people who encourage thugs to attack, and no one can help you should an emergency arise.

The Point of Counterattack
Among the most vulnerable points for your counter if you are attacked by a man are the groin, eyes, abdomen, and knee.

Bushido - Way of The Warrior

INTRODUCTION

Bushido, literally translated "Way of the Warrior," developed in Japan between the Heian and Tokugawa Ages (9th-12th century). It was a code and way of life for Samurai, a class of warriors similar to the medieval knights of Europe. It was influenced by Zen and Confucianism, two different schools of thought of those periods. Bushido is not unlike the chivalry and codes of the European knights. "It puts emphasis on loyalty, self sacrifice, justice, sense of shame, refined manners, purity, modesty, frugality, martial spirit, honor and affection" (Nippon Steel Human Resources Development Co., Ltd. 329).

ORIGINS AND INFLUENCES

Bushido comes out of Buddhism, Zen, Confucianism, and Shintoism. The combination of these schools of thought and religions has formed the code of warrior values known as Bushido.

From Buddhism, Bushido gets its relationship to danger and death. The samurai do not fear death because they believe as Buddhism teaches, after death one will be reincarnated and may live another life here on earth. The samurai are warriors from the time they become samurai until their death; they have no fear of danger. Through Zen, a school of Buddhism one can reach the ultimate "Absolute." Zen meditation teaches one to focus and reach a level of thought words cannot describe. Zen teaches one to "know thyself" and do not to limit yourself. Samurai used this as a tool to drive out fear, unsteadiness and ultimately mistakes. These things could get him killed.

Shintoism, another Japanese doctrine, gives Bushido its loyalty and patriotism. Shintoism includes ancestor-worship which makes the Imperial family the fountain-head of the whole nation. It awards the emperor a god-like reverence. He is the embodiment of Heaven on earth. With such loyalty, the samurai pledge themselves to the emperor and their daimyo or feudal landlords, higher ranking samurai. Shintoism also provides the backbone for patriotism to their country, Japan. They believe the land is not merely there for their needs, "it is the sacred abode to the gods, the spirits of their forefathers . . ." (Nitobe, 14). The land is cared for, protected and nurtured through an intense patriotism.

Confucianism gives Bushido its beliefs in relationships with the human world, their environment and family. Confucianism's stress on the five moral relations between master and servant, father and son, husband and wife, older and younger brother, and friend and friend, are what the samurai follow. However, the samurai disagreed strongly with many of the writings of Confucius. They believed that man should not sit and read books all day, nor shall he write poems all day, for an intellectual specialist was considered to be a machine. Instead, Bushido believes man and the universe were made to be alike in both the spirit and ethics.

Along with these virtues, Bushido also holds justice, benevolence, love, sincerity, honesty, and self-control in utmost respect. Justice is one of the main factors in the code of the samurai. Crooked ways and unjust actions are thought to be lowly and inhumane. Love and benevolence were supreme virtues and princely acts. Samurai followed a specific etiquette in every day life as well as in war. Sincerity and honesty were as valued as their lives. Bushi no ichi-gon, or "the word of a samurai," transcends a pact of complete faithfulness and trust. With such pacts there was no need for a written pledge; it was thought beneath one's dignity. The samurai also needed self-control and stoicism to be fully honored. He showed no sign of pain or joy. He endured all within--no groans, no crying. He held a calmness of behavior and composure of the mind neither of which should be bothered by passion of any kind. He was a true and complete warrior.

These factors which make up Bushido were few and simple. Though simple, Bushido created a way of life that was to nourish a nation through its most troubling times, through civil wars, despair and uncertainty. "The wholesome unsophisticated nature of our warrior ancestors derived ample food for their spirit from a sheaf of commonplace and fragmentary teachings, gleaned as it were on the highways and byways of ancient thought, and, stimulated by the demands of the age formed from these gleanings a new and unique way of life" (Nitobe, 20).

Jujitsu History

It has been said that the origin of Japanese wrestling dates back 1,960 years when two men stood up face to face and kicked each other, one kicked the other in the ribs and stamped on and crushed his waist and killed him, this has been regarded as the origin of jujitsu.

About 400 years ago the Takenouchi school of jujitsu was systemized. Sixty years later a Chinese came to Japan aand taught the art of boxing. And forty years later another Chinese visited Japan and introduced an art of seizing one's opponent. Through the process of elimination, and harmonization, a new art known as Yawara was created and popularized. This is the origin of the present day jujitsu.

Jujitsu is the term which has been applied, at different times, to the whole of the ancient Japanese national art of unarmed self-defense practiced by the Samurai or "warrior class" of Japan. The basic principle of this art is to avoid or give way before an opponent's superior weight and strength in order to overcome him by using his weight and strength to his disadvantage.

The older term JUJITSU, or gentle art,gave way in later years to the word JUDO, or gentle way,which stressed the ethical and philisophical concept of DO or a way in harmony with natural law. When the Japanese Ministry of Education adopted a limited form of the national art (Kodokan Judo) for sports instruction in the secondary schools, JUDO came in time to denote only the sport based on JUJITSU, and JUJITSU remained the only word to denote the entire art.

Henry S. Okazaki, Ju-Jitsu Master, Father of American Jujitsu

The founder of Kodenkan Jujitsu, was born in Fukushima Prefecture, on the island of Honshu, Japan, January 28, 1890. Okazaki went to Hawaii when he was 17 years old. He studied under various masters in Hilo, Hawaii where he mastered the YOSHIN, IWAGA, and KOSOGABE schools of jujitsu by practicing diligently six nights a week. In addition, he studied OKINAWAN KARATE, CHINESE KUNG-FU, HAWAIIAN LUA, and FILLIPINO KNIFE PLAY as well as American boxing and wrestling. In 1924, he toured Japan, making an exhaustive study of the SHIBUKAWA-RYU, YOSHIN-RYU and NAMBA-SHOSHIN RYU, as well as KODOKAN JUDO, in which he was ranked sandan (3rd degree). During his tour of Japan, he visited more than 50 dojos and acquired 675 different kinds of techniques or forms. He made a special study of KAPPO and SEFHUKUJITSU (restorative massage), because he recognized the virtue of jujitsu lay in the possibility of reversing the effects of deadly or disabling arts by restoration and treatment.

Gradually, Professor Okazaki evolved a system of jujitsu comprising courses for men, women, and children, and including methods of defense against the knife, sword, club, gun and bayonet. In this system, called DAN ZAN RYU (Cedar Mountain Style, cedar mountains was the Chinese term for Hawaii. Prof. Okazaki chose this name out of respect for his Chinese martial arts instructor), Professor Okazaki stressed the ancient systems of philosophical and moral training while retaining the best of the arts of self-defense and of restoration together with the system of physical culture and mental cultivation now known as sport judo. Thus, he achieved a true synthesis of ancient and modern elements, a complete system of judo and jujitsu.

In 1930, Professor Okazaki opened the Nikko Sanatorium of Restoration Massage in Honolulu, where he subsequently earned an international reputation for his skill as a physical therapist. That same year, he opened his school, now known as the American Jujitsu Institute of Hawaii. His life from that time forward was devoted to instructing worthy Americans without regard to national origin, the arts and sciences of judo and jujitsu and to developing disciples who would introduce his system throughout the United States.

It is safe to say that when Professor Okazaki died in July 1951, thousands of students had studied in his school. His system - DAN ZAN RYU, REMAINS TODAY THE MOST WIDELY TAUGHT SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES.

On the mainland over the years, a number of disciples who Professor Okazaki had initiated into the highest arts of the DAN ZAN RYU system began to teach and attempted to make a reality of Professor Okazaki's dream to have a school teaching his system in every state of the Union. One of the first, Professor Ray L. Law had established the Oakland Judo School in 1939, and had been followed shortly by Professor Bud Estes (Chico), Professor Richard Rickerts and Professor John Cahill. Others followed and taught over the years, and today, there are a variety of organizations, founded by different Okazaki students dedicated to perpetuating their interpretation of his system.

KODENKAN, the name of Professor Okazaki's physical school, may be translated as The School of the Ancient Tradition, and in fact the Kodenkan system is a synthesis of the best arts of the ancient Jujitsu schools. However, KODENKAN may be rendered as THE SCHOOL IN WHICH SENIORS TRANSMIT THE TRADITION. This translation describes the Kodenkan method of instruction, senior students teach junior students in the spirit which Professor Okazaki declared was inherent in the Hawaiian word Koku, to help another.

Dan Zan Ryu Jujitsu

The basic katas and the course titles of the advanced and secret courses encompass a complete system of combat jujitsu, directed toward PERFECTION OF CHARACTER THROUGH PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND MORAL TRAINING. PHYSICAL TRAINING - The sequence ofinstruction begins with strenuous exercises to condition mind and body and to prepare students to learn safely. Each art must be mastered to the point that its correct execution becomes a mind-body reflex. MENTAL TRAINING - All training, basic and advanced, lays emphasis on training the mind by applying the principles of jujitsu derived from ancient philosophy. Volumes have been written to explain these principles, their meaning can only be suggested here - BY CULTIVATING A RELAXED, MIRROR-LIKE STATE OF MIND WITHOUT PRECONCEIVED IDEAS OR THOUGHTS, THE STUDENT LEARNS TO REACT SPONTANEOUSLY AND NATURALLY WITHOUT EFFORT OR PURPOSELESS RESISTANCE GOING AHEAD WITHOUT HESITATION TO MEET WHATEVER LIFE HOLDS IN STORE FOR HIM.

MORAL TRAINING - By example and precept as well as in the routine of class instruction, a foundation is laid for the development of those character traits which Professor Okazaki set forth in his Esoteric Principles.

Perfection of Character may be regarded as the ultimate claim of the Dan Zan Ryu system, and promotion through the grades is as dependent upon character as upon technical mastery of the basic arts.

THE INTERMEDIATE ARTS

Intermediate instruction aims at training each student to teach. Senior students must not only master and teach each course in turn before being taught the next, but MUST KEEP A NOTEBOOK IN WHICH THEY WRITE UP THEIR OWN DESCRIPTION OF EACH ART. The intermediate arts properly include OKU NO KATA (Oku means deep or advanced) and KIAI NO MAKI (the scroll of Kiai). KIAI NO MAKI includes several subsidiary courses in weapons defense TESSEN fan arts, DAITO sword arts, TANTO knife arts, BO stick arts and TANJU, gun arts.

SEFHUKUJITSU, the famous Okazaki system of restoration massage is taught concurrently with the basic arts, but instruction beyond fundamental stages is restricted to those who have both the HANDS and the PROPER ATTITUDE for the work.

THE SECRET ARTS

SHININ NO MAKI, SHINYO NO MAKII and SHINGIN NO MAKI are the advanced arts. The initial syllable SHIN represents a character denoting HEART in the sense TO TAKE HEART or act with confidence, signifying that confidence gained by mastery of the basic arts is prerequisite to success in these arts.

Confidence, therefore, represents the ultimate attainment of self-knowledge, and the ultimate objective of the Kodenkan Dan Zan Ryu system for WHEN ONE TRULY HAS CONFIDENCE, HE WILL ALWAYS BEAR HIMSELF WITH HONOR AND HUMILITY.

Kissaki-Kai Karate

Dave Hague 6th Dan © 1998

Martial artists in all over the world – and especially those who read his regular column in ‘Traditional Karate Magazine ’ - will not be unaware of the name "Vince Morris" thanks to his many books and videos and his frequent seminars promoting a better understanding of Kata bunki all over the world, from China to Europe, from Malaysia to the USA and now even in Moscow.

Most know of his work through his Kyusho-Jutsu seminars all over the world, and of his commitment to the training of Law Enforcement Officers in the USA and in Europe where he instructs regularly at Police Academy.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, however, as in the background, however, Vince has been quietly working away at establishing a karate association that incorporates all the valuable aspects of the strong sporting Shotokan schools combined with deep research into the close-range often-neglected Kyusho-Jutsu & Tuite elements of traditional karate.

Never previously really advertising this new group, Vince, with the help of senior Dan grades, is now happy with the balance of the training and agreed to give a brief interview before leaving for seminar tours in the USA and Russia.

Hopefully the readers will enjoy this insight into what lay behind the formation of his association.

The name of the association: Kissaki-Kai has a great significance, as have the Torii (Gate) and Yin-Yang symbols in the Badge.

The sword was considered to be the ‘Soul’ of the Samurai, and the blade itself a venerated object of both beauty and deadly efficiency; a fusion of harmony and function.

The Kissaki is the term for the deadly sharp cutting edge of the very tip.

The use of this term as a name for the karate association was carefully considered and deliberately chosen as representative of those qualities which distinguish the manufacture of such a blade.

Just as it is forged in fire and water, hammered, pounded and beaten until all the impurities disappear and it is shaped into perfection, just so is the spirit of the martial artist forged in the flames of challenge and adversity, tested and reworked time and time again in the intense workshop of the Dojo until such time as it stands, a new creation, straightforward, bold, keen and flexible, functional yet something more than it once was, stripped of the impurities of ego and falsehood.

The Torii symbol of the gate signifies the concept of entering deeply, not being concerned with the amount of things known, but more with the depth of learning and knowledge to be gained by a constant striving to reach to the heart.

A gate is something which is an entrance, but one which demands total commitment. It requires that one must go through to the other side, not merely peer in from the sidelines.

No ‘half-heartedness’ but bold endeavour, this courage will often be called upon to bolster the spirit in its journey, as pitfalls and setbacks will continue to test the traveller.

The Yin-Yang emblem denotes the concept of balance and harmony. A constant reminder of the need for clear-sightedness, of temperance and of an understanding of the wholeness of a situation, a problem or even an enthusiasm.

So much for the name, but the ‘Why’ is another matter!

Throughout his long martial arts career, Vince had never either envisaged, nor even considered that he might one day be the head of his own Ryu.

A long-time student of Shiro Asano 8th Dan, chief instructor of the SKIEF, he was a constant member of the Honbu successful ‘A’ team and the SKI European squad in both Kumite and Kata.

He developed, along with one or two other notables from this stable, a formidable reputation for spirited fighting, but at the same time he was also active on the political front, representing first the SKI, then eventually helping to establish the then governing body for English Karate, (EKF) which in turn led to his appointment as the Chairman of the Martial Arts Commission.

Vince was also instrumental in introducing renowned karate-ka such as Aidan Trimble (the first westerner to win the SKI open-weight kumite world championship in Tokyo) into the national squad and into contact with Ticky Donovan the then English national coach.

Eventually a disagreement between Vince and Asano sensei made it impossible for Vince to continue as his student, and (in a scenario very similar to that shared by more than a few other contemporaries in the Honbu) he left and continued training in his own University Dojo.

Soon he was asked to join Toyakwai, a London-based group, which he was happy to do.

A few years later, Vince’s old compatriot Aidan Trimble was also forced to sever his connections with the Honbu and the SKI.

At this time he approached Vince to ask his help in establishing a new karate group, to be named ‘The Federation of Shotokan Karate’.

This turned out to be successful, and Vince was happy to accede the position of Chief Instructor to Aidan.

Sharing the presentation of courses and the coaching, Vince’s University Dojo continued to amass a notable number of championship successes and when the FSK were asked to represent England at the JKA World Championships in Dubai Vince was the team coach.

For many years Vince had been interested in researching the origins of modern techniques and in the applications of the Kata.

In his first book, ‘The Karate-Do Manual’ published in 1979, we first see the use of the phrase "Kyusho-Jutsu" (Vital Point techniques) which signified a shift of focus away from the relatively ‘new’ sports oriented style of karate exemplified by Shotokan to a deeper study of the original concepts and practical effectiveness of traditional karate. This was long before such concepts became public knowledge through the work of others like George Dillman.

Developing his connections with Military and Law Enforcement training he continued to research and refine his teaching with the emphasis equally divided between the promotion of the health-giving and character-building sporting side and that area devoted to developing the pragmatic and reliable control and protection techniques for which his Law Enforcement Training is well known.

One citation from the Antwerp Police Academy that regularly retains Vince’s services pays compliment to his "Professionalism" and "Amazing Skills" and many an attendee at his Kyusho-Jutsu & Tuite seminars has testified to the effectiveness of his methods.

Just very recently one American student emailed Vince to thank him for saving his life!

He had been studying techniques on some of Vince’s videos, little thinking that he might have to make use of them, but he was attacked by an ex-special forces Vet wielding a knife. Within 3 seconds he disarmed the attacker and knocked him out! He was unscathed, but the assailant suffered 2 black eyes, loosened teeth and had to wear a surgical support collar!

There are many other similar testimonials from others who have had occasion to rely upon the techniques he teaches, which support him in his efforts to develop powerful and effective bunkai, but at the same time to propound a moral philosophy intent upon creating a society in which such techniques would be unnecessary.

In spite of the friendship still enjoyed by Aidan and Vince, it was inevitable that there would come a parting of the ways, as the shortcomings of Shotokan as an all-round method of self-defence were becoming all too apparent, in the form in which it was frequently taught.

In March 1993 the new Kissaki-Kai Karate-Do was formed, with Vince as the head.

In conversation Vince revealed his feelings about establishing a new body, and about the proliferation of ‘splinter’ groups in general.

"In principle I’m against the way there are now so many groups all purporting to teach more or less the same art.

It’s a free country of course, but it seems a shame to me that the long-term efforts of reputable teachers are undermined for what are often the shallowest of reasons!

Naturally if an individual or a group of students really believe that their sensei has taken them as far as he is able, then of course go and study under another. Is this any reason to abandon the former, however? Wouldn’t it be far better to bring this extra knowledge back into the Ryu?

There are other reasons why it must be necessary to break with a sensei, but all too often I see that the only real reason is ego; the desire to be ‘The Boss’ or maybe it is the financial considerations.

I would ask all who consider going this route to consider carefully if they are actually going to become students of a sensei who knows more than the current one, or are you supporting baser reasons?

If the karate is going in a different direction, or there are demonstrable differences in the manner and the content of the teaching, then that is another matter all together."

What then, briefly, distinguishes the Karate practised by Kissaki-Kai from that of most other Shotokan schools?

Conceptually Kissaki-Kai works from the basis of recognising Shotokan for what it is, and undeniably exciting and powerful combat sport.

There is nothing wrong with this on one level, however study and the rigours imposed by confronting the reality of the problems encountered in the real world soon reveal the shortcomings of a style based upon long range techniques and a system of rules which preclude the use of the more effective and dangerous Waza.

Real combat situations rarely occur at distances which allow the defender much chance to employ the most practised techniques, which are favoured in competition, such as mawashi-geri jodan, for example; the other perennial standby - chudan gyakuzuki - is often less than successful in the street than it is assumed to be in the Dojo and Shiajo.

History demonstrates just how much both the techniques and the practice of karate have been modified in post -1930’s Shotokan to develop a relatively safe combat sport.

This has happened at the expense of the extremely effective short-range techniques that are now seen only in the Kata, and then usually misunderstood. So, although the modern karate-ka has indeed developed a new repertoire of powerful techniques at long range it has been at the expense of in-depth training in the methods of self-defence contained within the Kata.

In itself, perhaps it could be argued that:

It doesn’t matter because an attacker can be stopped at long range.

Or:

The purpose of Karate is to develop the character rather than to serve as a method of self-defence

Unfortunately statistics show that in more than 60% of combat scenarios the protagonists end up grappling on the ground. And in answer to the latter, this type of view could well be applied to almost anything, and to uphold it in the area of martial arts is to do a severe disservice to the old masters who built their concept of character-building upon the bedrock of reality.

In fact, of course, it is not necessary that one element precludes the other, as the vast majority of original Waza can be found within the Shotokan Kata, albeit often in a form latterly modified to form a more dynamic and athletically challenging Kata.

Kissaki-Kai forms a synthesis of the old and the new - not throwing the baby out with the bath-water, it continues to teach Shotokan basics, but it includes in the training many concepts and techniques to be found within the Kata but frequently overlooked. Kissaki-Kai forms a synthesis of the old and the new - not throwing the baby out with the bath-water, it continues to teach Shotokan basics, but it includes in the training many concepts and techniques to be found within the Kata but frequently overlooked.

Early versions of the Kata are also studied to help understand the common combat concepts that underlie them, so emphasis is placed once more upon making the techniques work in real situations.

Common Shotokan exercises such as Gohon Kumite, which is fine for beginners and inculcates spirit, a strong attack and so on, is transformed into Shin Gohon Kumite, in which the combat ineffective practice of stepping directly backwards in the face of a frontal attack and then blocking at unreal distances with techniques which are never used as blocks in reality is replaced by tai-sabaki and real defences at every attack.

Thus the pattern is maintained but the form becomes much more vital and meaningful, allowing practice in Kata Bunkai as it used to be in the pre-sporting form.

Another Kissaki-Kai concern is to ensure that training is geared to each individual, whatever age they happen to be.

Expecting a 50-year-old to train in line at the same intensity and with the same techniques as an 18-year-old is frankly ridiculous.

Different ages - different needs: Kissaki-Kai is attempting to encourage effective and productive training right up into a healthy old age.

The senior students are encouraged to develop their own particular objectives, and together with this shift in over-all concern the philosophical and mental side of training is also strongly featured.

Unless one might think that this would adversely affect those who were just interested in the sports side, note that in the 1997 All Students Championships a Kissaki-Kai black-belt from the Honbu Dojo won the heavyweight women’s event, and a week later only three Kissaki students entered the senior EKGB English National Championships, and of the three one won silver, one won bronze and the third got through to the quarter finals! This competition success continued in 1998.

There is an important place in Karate training for the concentration upon kumite competition and basics, and Shotokan basics are undeniable excellent for developing certain strengths.

On the other hand, most Shotokan Dojos continue a type of training in which the only difference between techniques performed by relative beginners and Black Belts is that the latter are able to execute them harder and at greater speed.

This is fine, but not when speed and power are the main criteria in themselves. The aim of higher grades is not just to train in the same fashion all their lives, but to go beyond the basics and use them appropriately according to circumstances.

To do otherwise is to confine karate to the level of the basics, and is much the same as continuing to recite the alphabet all one’s life whilst refusing to create words, sentences, prose and poetry!

It is as senseless in that situation as it is in the practice of a martial art.

Shu, Ha, Ri is otherwise impossible. One cannot eventually transcend anything that one refuses to transcend! Shu, Ha, Ri is otherwise impossible. One cannot eventually transcend anything that one refuses to transcend! Shu, Ha, Ri is otherwise impossible. One cannot eventually transcend anything that one refuses to transcend!

In a nutshell, although Kissaki-Kai teaches Shotokan Karate, it does so in a depth that leads the student into a consideration of the roots from which it sprang, which in turn unavoidably demands that many other aspects are practised than those usually emphasised.

It emphasises ‘core principles’ such as: correct combat distance, body shifting, unbalancing, deflecting, controlling and finishing, in a manner in accordance with the ancient ‘rules of combat’ rather than in terms of ‘sport’ karate, and thus for the student the art is richer and life-long, with the concomitant that karate reverts to the very effective self-defence system it always was, and individual development of character and clarity of perception is constructed from a more solid base.

Some other notable teachers (Trad’s own Harry Cook for example) have come to understand the shortcomings of modern Shotokan and have added elements from other styles (Goju) to their regular training.

In Kissaki-Kai however we prefer to research the original forms and meanings and find with Itosu sensei’s karate – before its further transformation in the later years of master Funakoshi’s life and thereafter (although not discounting the good elements of competition) almost all that is necessary for a balanced and effective martial art.

So Kissaki-Kai Karate-Do is entering its 6th year, and the basis is there for all to see; good strong Shotokan karate and coaching methods which are already producing National Champions, and at the same time an emphasis upon the individual needs of all students based upon the old values and methods dating back to the days of the Shaolin.

Martial Arts in Nepal No Longer Illegal

We faced a lot of problems at its beginning,' said Taekwondo coach Sitkar Raj Bhandari

Demonstration of a kata




Martial art schools of taekwando karate and kung fu now wildly popular in Nepal have come a long way since the days of being an outlawed activity in the country.

These martial arts arrived in Nepal in the 1970s. Participants had to practice in secret or risk punishment if they were seen by the police. Instructors and classes went underground, much like training for Maoists these days.

"We faced a lot of problems at its beginning," said Taekwondo coach Sitkar Raj Bhandari. "I used to give training to players escaping from the police. So we didn't have proper place to practice. We did keep moving so they wouldn't find us."

"The society of that time also treated us badly. They thought we were criminals. So it was quite difficult," said chief master of Nepalese kyokushin karate Jagat Gauchan.

"But we never stopped and as a result, martial arts in Nepal is now enjoyed by everyone," he said.

Slowly and gradually martial arts became accepted by society and people became interested. Also, authorities felt pressured to make it legal.

Gauchan was instrumental in making it legal. In 1983, the Patron of National Sports Council His Royal highness semi-crown Prince Dhirendra Shah gave the green light to make martial arts legal.


Karate, now famous in Nepal




After it was legalized, many people were interested. Parents also forced their children to practice. Slowly martial arts became part of people's daily life.

Today more than 14 karate associations are functioning. Thousands of players from different parts of Nepal are playing different karate. Taekwando is also very famous among Nepalese as well as other marital arts

Nepal has very bright future in martial arts. Nepalese players are performing very well on the international level. The Nepalese government needs to continue to support martial arts so its competitors can boost the nation's reputation.

My Martial Arts Disaster

BY ALEXEI SAYLE

Jane Fonda inspired our correspondent to get fit. Then Roger Cook ruined everything.


At a party recently I ran into a woman who used to come round to my house to teach me yoga. I’d had five or six sessions with her and then, growing bored, had found some excuse not to do any more. “Are you still doing the yoga?” she asked. “No, I’m afraid not,” I replied. “I just did it for a bit, then lost interest. I’m a bit of a dilettante I suppose.”

“Yes,” she said, “they all say that about you.”

As she said this I had a sudden vision of all the many people who have come round to my house over the years to teach me stuff; the woman from the library who gave me salsa lessons on my living-room floor, the t’ai chi teacher who for hours on end had me doing Master Hwang’s Five Loosening Exercises until I was loosened right out of the lessons, the meditation guy, the Pranayama breathing teacher, the tap-dancing woman and the personal trainer.

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I imagined that all of them used to regularly meet up somewhere — possibly a tapas bar on the Holloway Road that had a broad range of vegetarian options — where the main topic of conversation would be my deficiencies as a student. One of my teachers who definitely would not be there, though, dipping into the patatas bravas and dissing me, would be my karate sensei.

The central character in my new novel is a woman whose life is transformed by becoming adept at a martial art called Li Kuan Yu (invented by me), and it was partly my experiences learning karate that inspired me to write the book. It was early on in my various exercise fads that I came to this man. I used to have this bit in my stand-up comedy act where I’d say “ ‘Alexei?’ People often ask me, ‘why are you drunk all the time?’ and I’d reply ‘ ’Cos I can afford to be!’ ” Now this wasn’t completely true — I was drunk only a fair amount of the time — but once the money started rolling in after I became a successful comedian, the glutton in me was unleashed and I did seem to be eating all the time. I remember my wife and I would have a proper three-course tea, including a pudding with custard, in our council flat, then go to the pub for six pints, then have a Chinese takeaway afterwards.

So it was no surprise that, at the age of 35, I became very fat. This fatness of mine coincided with the first fitness boom when Jane Fonda was continuing the work she’d begun in North Vietnam for the international communism conspiracy. She was helping women across the world to discover muscles they’d never known they had, and in Britain neighbourhood gyms were springing up on every street, like Tesco Metros are today.

To lose weight I began to attend such a place in my local shopping precinct. Soon I discovered that though I had satirised the fitness craze I loved to work out — and before long I was attending the gym three or four times a week. Apart from the improvement in my physical condition, it also gave me a new way of having relationships with other men.

Despite the hard-case image of my stage character, in real life I’ve always been a bit of a girl, with most of my friends being women. I had never before been able to form those brusque male friendships with mild homoerotic undertones that a proper man is supposed to have. Yet here at the gym I was at last able to be a bloke. As Flaubert said: “Inside every revolutionary is a policeman.” I deduced that inside every ex-revolutionary there is a frustrated fitness instructor, since it was mainly these authority figures towards whom I directed my new-found blokeish persona.

It was one particular instructor, a short, muscular dark haired man, to whom I became closest, partly, it must be said, because he was the only instructor that I ever saw twice. The entire staff of the gym, including the receptionists, the office personnel and the cleaners, seemed to change entirely between each of my visits. He’d had an incredibly exciting life, had served in the British Army and the French Foreign Legion, had worked in the Belgian film industry and, most excitingly of all, was an adept at a particular type of long-form Shotokan karate.

I didn’t like to ask. But one glorious day, seeming to read my mind, this man asked if I’d like to become his pupil and learn karate myself. My mind flooded with a vision of people doing the things I wanted them to do — not like in the past, because I was crying and they felt sorry for me, but because they were frightened of me, which would be much better. Sure, the lessons were expensive, but as I was learning from an accredited fourth Dan professional, I’d be getting the good stuff.

Over the following months in the basement practice room of the gym my teacher instructed me in the ways of the warrior. I progressed with astonishing rapidity; almost every week I would kneel at his feet and receive a new and better belt, indicating my swift rise towards the ranks of the Ninja. And, of course, my behaviour began to change outside the gym. With my new karate skills, I was no longer afraid of dark streets and rough neighbourhoods; indeed, I’d seek out dangerous-looking pubs, where I’d outstare the hard men at the bar, secure in the knowledge that, if push came to smack, I’d be able to take them out with no trouble at all. They seemed to know it, too: anybody who had ever been in a fight could see I wasn’t to be messed with. In media drinking holes the tough-guy actors recoiled from me while their expensively educated girlfriends threw themselves at my feet.

Then, one black day, I was practising my killer moves at home listening to Radio 4 when a trailer came on. Back in the 1980s there was a fat man called Roger Cook who had a programme, perhaps called Checkpoint (or perhaps not), where he regularly got beaten up by dodgy builders and sleazy conmen as he exposed their duping of what I always dismissed as the gullible, idiotic public. “Today at 12 on Checkpoint (or perhaps not),” Cook intoned, “we expose the conman who’s selling teaching certificates to his martial art where the teachers qualify in half an hour!”

Tuning in one unhappy hour later, I learnt with horror that my sensei had bought his qualifications, and that what I had thought were my deadly blows, kicks and strikes were in fact a random sequence of flappy hand gestures and Come Dancing leg movements that in no way would render an opponent helpless (except, perhaps, with laughter). I broke out in a cold sweat when I thought of all the genuine tough guys I’d challenged with my unwavering stare, then barged out of my path on the way to the bar.

Of course, when I went round to the gym my sensei had vanished. All he left behind were some nice, colourful, meaningless belts — and unpleasant rumours about just what it was that we’d been doing together in that subterranean room, grappling and making sissy hand motions at each other.

Weeping Women Hotel by Alexei Sayle, Sceptre, is published on February 27, £12.99. Available for £11.69 from Times Books First, 0870 1608080, www.timesonline.co.uk/booksbuyfirst

How to find a qualified teacher

To find a licensed instructor in your area, contact Karate England, the sport’s governing body (01628 487555; www.karateengland.org.uk). There are 6,500 registered clubs in England, with 130,000 members. Philip Don, the body’s development director, says: “Students should ensure that they are training with a registered instructor who holds a certificate recognised by Karate England. They can contact us and we will do our best to verify that their instructor is a recognised one.”