The Golden Principles of the Jundokan
/For those who have trained at the Jundokan So-Honbu Dojo, you may have noticed the four black boards engraved with golden writing that hang vertically at the front (shomen) of the dojo.
I have long been interested in their meaning and significance to our training, so I decided to do some research of my own, combined with a number of long discussions with Higa-Sensei, and would like to share these unique golden principles that underline the spirit of the Jundokan for all to know.
It is worth noting that not all Japanese people can read these signs and immediately understand their meanings. It requires a solid understanding of the training principles involved and the ability to interpret the meanings through such a lens. I was incredibly lucky to be able to discuss these concepts, largely with Higa-sensei, but also with Gima-Sensei and Takako-Sensei, and based on their interpretations, I feel confident in what I have written here to share with you all.
Firstly, here are the writings, seen as they hang in the Jundokan from right to left (as Japanese is read) on the front wall:
To delve into their meanings, I will first split the messages on each board up to look at the individual meanings of each kanji character, and then put them back together based on Higa-Sensei’s interpretation to reveal their overall message…
1.) 法呑吐剛柔 身随時應變
The first board, hanging at the far right of the dojo, is unique in that it actually depicts two shorter principles on a single board. I will examine them both in separation for clarity.
The Characters:
The message on the top half of the board reads: 法呑吐剛柔 (hō donto gōjū). The individual meanings of these characters are as follows:
The message on the lower half of the board reads: 身随時應變 (shin zuiji ōhen). The meanings of these characters are as follows: (Note: in some cases, the characters are written in their old Chinese style, so I have also provided the modern Japanese equivalent in brackets)
The Meanings:
(1) 法呑吐剛柔 （ほうどんとごうじゅう, read as ‘hō donto gōjū’) means: “The method of inhaling and exhaling is both hard and soft”.
Particularly for Goju-Ryu practitioners, this one is fairly straight forward. The message is in-line with the origin of the name of Goju Ryu Karate, which Chojun Miyagi-Sensei based on the third line of the Eight Important Precepts of Kempo” (拳法之大要八句= Kenpo no taiyoku hakku). It is also found in the foundation katas Sanchin and Tensho, which combine various types of hard and soft breathing methods. This message therefore helps us to stay focussed on these foundational kata as we continue to grow in our own training.
(2) 身随時應變（しんずいじおうへん, read as ‘shin zuiji ōhen’) means: “Your body must always change in response (to the situation)”.
In this message, the second two characters (随時, zuiji) mean ‘always’ or ‘at anytime’, but can also be translated as ‘as needed’. Hence, the overall meaning here is to handle each case appropriately, according to the particular situation.
As Higa-sensei explained to me, this means being able to read the situation at hand and adapt to it in response. He added, in addition to your karate techniques, it may also require, for example, the use of tools (rocks, sticks, weapons, your own obi, etc.) to protect yourself, or perhaps even for you to run away if the situation calls for it. The key point in this message is to thus always be adaptable and willing/ready to change yourself and your techniques in accordance with the situation you are faced with.
I think this concept is also reflected in one of the precepts in Miyazato Eiichi-Sensei’s Dojo-Kun, which states:
Be calm in mind and swift in action = 沈着平静にして敏捷自在なれ (‘chinchaku heisei ni shite binshō jizai nare’)
Thus, only by keeping a calm mind and being quick in what you do will you be able to react in accordance with the conditions of each situation to defend yourself.
2.) 武道須有武徳義重藝不重
The Characters:
This message, hanging on the centre right, reads: 武道須有武徳義重藝不重 (budō sunawachi butoku gi jū gei fujū). The individual meanings of these characters are as follows:
The Meaning:
武道須有武徳義重藝不重（ぶどうすなわちぶとくぎじゅうげいふじゅう, read as ‘budō sunawachi butoku gi jū gei fujū’) means: “In budō , i.e., in martial virtue, technique is valued less than righteousness”.
In this message, the main idea is that the way of martial arts is to place more emphasis on your own morality and righteousness than on your technique or skill. Higa-Sensei was quick to point out that this does not mean placing no importance on your technique - the ‘art’ of your martial arts is still important, he said, just less so than on your own character and heart.
Higa-Sensei summarised this in Japanese as “義を重んじて、芸を重んぜず (gi wo omonjite, gei wo omonnzezu)”, which in English means: “Place emphasis on righteousness and not on the art”. In other words, righteousness is the most important thing; technique comes second to that, but is also still important and valued in itself.
The reading of some characters in this message are unusual, and had it not been for my discussions with Higa-Sensei, who has experience in Japanese calligraphy, it would have been impossible to know that the characters 須有 are read as ‘sunawachi’ (which means ‘namely’, ‘that is’, or ‘i.e.’). Using this information, I have therefore translated this message as “In budo, i.e., in martial virtue”… which views ‘budō’ (the martial way) and ‘butoku’ (the martial virtue) as being the same thing.
However, if we look at these two characters in isolation, we can see that 須 (su) means ‘must’, and 有 (yū) means ‘to have’. So, another interpretation of the message could, in fact, be: “In budo, you must have martial virtue, which places emphasis on righteousness and not on technique”.
Given my discussions with Higa-Sensei, however, I think both of these are perfectly valid interpretations of the overall principle embedded within this message, so I’ll leave the final interpretation up to you.
3.) 自知翎毛短不敢遠髙飛
The Characters:
This message, which hangs on the centre left, reads: 自知翎毛短不敢遠髙飛 (jichi shōmō tan fu kan en kō hi). The individual meanings of these characters are as follows:
The Meaning:
自知翎毛短不敢遠髙飛（じちしょうもうたんふかんえんこうひ, read as ‘jichi shōmō tan fu kan en kō hi’) is a complicated message with a lot to unpack. To poetically translate this, it could mean: “You cannot fly far with short feathers”, but the underlying principle is much deeper.
The first two characters in this message mean ‘know yourself’, and this, as Higa-Sensei explained, is the most important part. The fundamental aspect of this principle is that you cannot succeed in your training without knowing who you are. Here, “knowing yourself" refers to the Japanese concept of 謙遜 (kenson), meaning ‘humbleness’, ‘humility’, or ‘modesty’.
The metaphorical message here is that birds with short feathers cannot spread their wings to fly high. Thus, if your feathers are still short, that is, if you are immature and inexperienced in your training, you cannot expect to achieve more than what you are capable of. Rather, you must keep humility and modesty in your training, hence why knowing yourself, and your level of comprehension and ability, is very important.
In other words, this message means ‘know yourself and stay modest by not trying to fly higher than you can’.
Interestingly, I believe this concept can be found in three of the eight precepts in Miyazato Eiichi-Sensei’s Dojo-Kun:
Be mindful of your courtesy with humbleness = 謙虚にして礼儀を重んぜよ (‘kenkyo ni shite reigi wo omonzeyo’)
Live a plain and simple life = 質素な生活をせよ (‘shisso na seikatsu wo seyo')
Do not be too proud of yourself = 我心せぬこと (‘gashin senu koto’)
The fact that three of the eight percepts hold such similar underlying messages really shines a light on the importance of holding humility and remaining modest in our training of Okinawa Goju-Ryu.
4.) 尊藝必先尊師授輕學莫輕
The Characters:
This message, hanging on the far left, reads: 尊藝必先尊師授輕學莫輕 (son gei hissen son shi ju kei gaku baku kei). The individual meanings of these characters are as follows:
The Meaning:
尊藝必先尊師授輕學莫輕（そんげいひっせんそんしじゅけいがくばくけい, read as ‘son gei hissen son shi ju kei gaku baku kei’) is also a relatively detailed principle with two key points.
The overall meaning is: “Before respecting the art, you must first respect the teacher, and you must not take their teachings or your own study lightly”.
The message can effectively be broken into two segments, each possessing an important ideology of their own. To begin, the first 6 characters (尊藝必先尊師, son gei hissen son shi) hold the meaning that ‘you must first respect your teacher before you respect the art’. Your teacher, or 師匠 (shishō), is the first thing you must respect when you set out on your path of learning the art of karate or you will never be able to take their teachings or what you learn seriously.
In connection, the last 5 characters (授輕學莫輕, ju kei gaku baku kei) mean ‘do not look lightly on that which you are taught or learn’. According to Higa-Sensei, it also hold the nuance that you cannot look lightly upon the art/technique itself either.
Therefore, you must respect your teacher and consider earnestly and sincerely all of the art that you are taught and learn.
I believe this concept is also reflected in two precepts of Miyazato Eiichi-Sensei’s Dojo-Kun, which state:
Study and contrive seriously = 真剣に工夫研究せよ (‘shinken ni kufū kenkyū seyo’)
Continue training with patience and steadiness = 撓まず屈せず修行を永続せよ (‘tawamazu kussezu shugyō wo eizoku seyo’)
In Conclusion:
In summary, the golden principles that hang at the front of the Jundokan So-Honbu Dojo are:
“The method of inhaling and exhaling is both hard and soft”
“Your body must always change in response (to the situation)”
“In budo, i.e., in martial virtue, technique is valued less than righteousness”
“Know yourself and stay modest by not trying to fly higher than you can”
“Before respecting the art, you must first respect the teacher, and you must not take their teachings or your own study lightly”.
Overall, six of the eight precepts in Miyazato-Sensei’s Dojo-Kun can be found in these four golden writings.
The remaining two precepts are very similar in meaning, and are most likely represented as an underlying nuance in each of the four golden messages:
Train considering your physical strength = 体力に応じて適度に修行せよ (‘tairyoku ni ōjite tekido ni shugyō seyo’)
Take care off yourself = 摂生を重んぜよ (‘sessei wo omonzeyo’)
At the end of the day, we must recognise that all of these concepts are a set of interrelated principles written to help guide and mentor us through our own pursuit of training and understanding the art of Okinawa Goju-Ryu Karate.
I believe it is important, therefore, that we keep these golden principles of the Jundokan in mind each time we train, and use them as a model for the manner in which we should uphold ourselves both inside the dojo and out.
Blake Turnbull © copyright 2019