Miyagi Chojun's Karate-do Kun

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At the rear of the Jundokan dojo in Okinawa hangs a long, horizontal framed work of calligraphy that depicts the words of Miyagi Chojun-sensei and his thoughts on what karate is.

It is entitled Miyagi’s ‘Karate-do Kun’, meaning something along the lines of “the spirit/principle of karate” (similar to how a ‘dojo kun’ is the spirit or principle of a given dojo).

The above picture from the Jundokan reads as follows:

宮城長順先生

空手道訓

空手とは何ぞや

曰く、身に寸鉄を帯びず、平時に於ては心胆を練り、寿康を計り、急に際しては身を護るの術也。即ち多くの場合肉弾を以て敵を倒すことを原則とす。然りと雖も機に臨み変に応じ器物を併用することに亦無きに非ず。

(Miyagi Chojun Sensei

Karate-do Kun

Karate to wa nani zo ya.

Iwaku mi ni suntetsu wo obizu, heiji ni oite wa shintan wo neri, jukō wo hakari, kyū ni sai shite wa mi wo mamoru no jutsu nari. Sunawachi ōku no baai nikudan wo motte teki wo taosu koto wo gensoku to su. Shikari to iedomo ki ni nozomi, hen ni ōji kibutsu wo heiyō suru koto ni mata naki ni arazu.)

I have translated this into English as follows:

Miyagi Chojun Sensei

Karate-do Kun (the principle/spirit of karate)

What is Karate?

In ordinary times, it is an art in which to cultivate one's spirit and physical health, and in times of an emergency, it is a way of protecting oneself without carrying a weapon. That is, in many cases, we principally fight with our bodies to defeat our opponents; however, according to the timing and circumstance, it is not impossible to use implements as well.

There are a few important things to note here.

After a long discussion with Higa Kazuya-sensei of the Jundokan about this message, one of the key points he emphasised was the double negative at the very end (i.e., “not impossible”). Here, 無きに非ず (naki ni arazu) (a shortening of 無きにしも非ず (naki ni shimo arazu)) means ‘it is not the case that it is not’; namely, it is not the case that you cannot use weapons (thus a double negative). In other words, although it is not the first choice (to use tools in a fight), is it also not out of the question.

Another important point that Higa-sensei explained to me is that the term ‘implements’ or ‘equipment’ (器物, ‘kibutsu’) here could refer to anything, not just  ‘weapons’ as we know them such as ‘sai’ or ‘bō’. it could equally refer to whatever you can get your hands on at the time of an ‘emergency’, including things such as stones on the ground, the belt around your waist, a branch from a tree, etc. This is also a part of the Jundokan’s 「身随時應變」 (read as ‘shin zuiji ōhen’) golden principle (meaning “your body must always change in response to the situation”), that hangs at the front of the dojo (see here for more details).

Although this Karate-do Kun hangs in the Jundokan dojo (see photo above), it is actually the start of the introduction to an essay written by Chojun Miyagi-Sensei and presented at the Meiji Shoten in  Sakaisuji, Osaka, on January 28th, 1936. The original title of this essay is “Ryukyu Kenpo Karatedo Enkaku Gaiyo” (琉球拳法唐手道沿革概要), which means “An Overview of the History of Ryukyu Kempo Karatedo”, although it is often shortened to just “Karatedo Gaisetsu” (唐手道概説), meaning “An Outline of Karate”. 

Although only the above message hangs in the Jundokan, the second half of of Miyagi’s Karatedo Gaisetsu introduction reads as follows:

世人往々にして拳骨に依り五分板を重ねて割り、或は数枚の瓦石を砕くを見て唐手の本体と誤想するものあり。これ術修練の一端にして寧ろ末技のみ。道の妙諦は遥かに一般武道と相通ずる教外別伝、不立文字の極致に於て会得せらる可きもの也。

(Sejin ōō ni shite genkotsu ni yori gobuita wo kasanete wari, aruiwa sūmai no gaseki wo kudaku wo mite karate no hontai to gosō suru mono ari. Kore jutsu shūren no ippashi ni shite mushiro matsugi nomi. Michi no myōtei wa haruka ni ippan budō to ai tsūzuru kyōgebechiden, furyūmonji no kyokuchi ni oite etoku seraru yoki mono nari).

And here is my English translation:

People often see the breaking of five wooden boards or the smashing of roof tiles with one’s bare fists and misunderstand this to be the true form of karate. However, this is only a minor part of karate. Like other martial arts, the essence of karate can be understood as the ultimate goal of enlightenment that cannot be experienced with words.

In short, the overall message that we can take away from Miyagi-sensei’s words here is simple: while one will fundamentally fight an opponent with bare hands, but it is also possible to use equipment depending on the situation, and the true essence of karate is enlightenment, not the mere display of exhibition techniques.

Blake Turnbull copyright ©2020