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Before his students established the Japan Karate Association, Master Funakoshi Gichin laid out the Twenty Precepts of Karate, which form the foundations of the art. Within these twenty principles, based heavily on Bushido and Zen, lies the philosophy of Shotokan.
1. Never forget: karate begins with rei and ends with rei (Rei means courtesy or respect, and is represented in karate by bowing)
2. There is no first attack in karate
3. Karate supports righteousness
4. First understand yourself, then understand others
5. The art of developing the mind is more important than the art of applying technique
6. The mind needs to be freed
7. Trouble is born of negligence / ignorance
8. Do not think karate belongs only in the dojo
9. Karate training requires a lifetime
10. Transform everything into karate; therein lies its exquisiteness
11. Karate is like hot water, if you do not give it heat constantly, it will again become cold water
12. Do not think that you have to win, rather think you do not have to lose
13. Transform yourself according to the opponent
14. The outcome of the fight depends on one's control
15. Imagine one's arms and legs as swords
16. Once you leave the shelter of home, there are a million enemies
17. Postures are for the beginner; later they are natural positions
18. Perform the kata correctly; the real fight is a different matter
19. Do not forget control of the dynamics of power, the elasticity of the body and the speed of the technique
20. Apply the way of Karate to all things. Therein lies its beauty.
excellent post... it applys to more than just Karate.
i hope #2 was refering to street fighting, otherwise sparing would be a little difficult, just two people prancing around the ring in pjs
Hopefully sparing simulates street fighting, but I think where this comes from is that once you attack, you leave yourself open for attack, so it is best to wait in a good defensive stance and be ready to counter.
(By the way, I have had sparring matches that have become two people pracing around in pjs )
#2 actually should apply to every situation. Samurai had an almost identical ideal. The first person to attack is more likely to make a mistake.
Many samurai duels took many, many minutes, yet there were only two actual attacks that lasted a total of less than a second. The rest of the duel was the samurai slowly circling, perhaps taunting each other, with either words, gestures, or just the eyes. The one to become enraged or unnerved first made the first move, usually the wrong one, and the other, if he was in the moment, would easily take victory.
There are, of course, exceptions. What I outlined above would be considered poor sportsmanship in the ring, so karate-kas should probably keep the posturing to a minimum before actually attacking.
As a last note, I would like to put forth a personal theory. I do not consider an attack to mean specifically a completion of an aggressive physical action. Intent of aggression that cannot be dissuaded is, to me, the same as hauling off and punching someone. The martial artist is in the right if he/she senses this intent and "steps on the sword," cutting off the opponent's physical attack before it even begins.
#2 actually should apply to every situation. Samurai had an almost identical ideal. The first person to attack is more likely to make a mistake.
Many samurai duels took many, many minutes, yet there were only two actual attacks that lasted a total of less than a second. The rest of the duel was the samurai slowly circling, perhaps taunting each other, with either words, gestures, or just the eyes. The one to become enraged or unnerved first made the first move, usually the wrong one, and the other, if he was in the moment, would easily take victory.
There are, of course, exceptions. What I outlined above would be considered poor sportsmanship in the ring, so karate-kas should probably keep the posturing to a minimum before actually attacking.
As a last note, I would like to put forth a personal theory. I do not consider an attack to mean specifically a completion of an aggressive physical action. Intent of aggression that cannot be dissuaded is, to me, the same as hauling off and punching someone. The martial artist is in the right if he/she senses this intent and "steps on the sword," cutting off the opponent's physical attack before it even begins.
I was going to mention that bit about the Samurai. Good job beating me.
+Rep points for you.
20 rules of karate
im a bad boy !
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