When I first started karate, I did not know this world and now I am learning karate, as the performance and also life.
For a place with as bloody a history, Okinawa is today noticeably more laid back than the mainland, but that does not mean everybody has forgotten their warrior traditions. When the feudal Satsuma Empire from the Mainland invaded Okinawa in 1609, they banned the carrying, manufacturer or use of weapons of any kind.
The ban was later reinforced in 1979 when Japan formally annexed the island. It is believed that these prohibitions led directly to the development of a new style of martial art, indisputably born in Okinawa, karate, or empty hands technique.
Its even more vicious cousin, Kobudo, a form that uses arm and fishing tools for lethal effect. Hard and soft balance. For everything soft, there must be something hard.
For a place with as bloody a history, Okinawa is today noticeably more laid back than the mainland, but that does not mean everybody has forgotten their warrior traditions. When the feudal Satsuma Empire from the Mainland invaded Okinawa in 1609, they banned the carrying, manufacturer or use of weapons of any kind.
The ban was later reinforced in 1979 when Japan formally annexed the island. It is believed that these prohibitions led directly to the development of a new style of martial art, indisputably born in Okinawa, karate, or empty hands technique.
Its even more vicious cousin, Kobudo, a form that uses arm and fishing tools for lethal effect. Hard and soft balance. For everything soft, there must be something hard.
Goju Ryu, is one of the main traditional styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. "Go" means hard linear attacks, closed hand strikes and kicks. "Ju" means soft, open hand, circular, blocking, sweeping, and takedown moves.
The basis of Okinawan karate is that it was used primarily as defensive art. In other words, being able to control and subdue the opponent. Usually, if you could in a humane way, but then if you had to finish them, then you had the ability to finish them.
There is a saying in the old days: if there was a fight happening somewhere in town, people would go and have a look and they would say, "Are they fighting with fists or open hands?" And, if they are fighting with fists, they would say, "Oh, do not bother, it is an amateur fight." If they were fighting with open hands, then they knew they were masters.
Everything is all about love. And, karate is showing you that if you have this kind of power and the ability to protect yourself and your family, you can be really kind. That is about Okinawa. Okinawa people, I think, always have this love toward everyone.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1510/11/abpu.05.html
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