Our Passions Become Us

In halls far and wide people gather to train, sweat, and sometimes bleed. It is difficult to articulate to the non-martial arts practitioner what drives us to engage in the violent arts, but for those of us driven to learn budo (lit. warrior way) it is as natural and understandable as breathing.

For those who do not understand why multitudes of people get together in their white pajamas and inflict pain on one another with great regularity, let me not attempt to explain, but rather un-explain what we do.

The traditional arts of Okinawa and Japan were not intended for "cowards," as I have sometimes heard some ignorantly state. In fact, the older military arts of Japan were developed by and for the bushi (lit. warrior). After the Meiji Restoration of the late nineteenth century in Japan, the samurai were no longer the ruling class and the arts moved to a more mainstream arena offered to those not of the samurai class, or of samurai lineage.

In Okinawa, Te (lit. hand) was brought from mainland China and developed into what we now know as karate, or karate-do. Different family systems were created and passed down to the sons of those early masters. Eventually, western soldiers were allowed to train in the Okinawan and Japanese arts, which resulted in their propagation in the western world.

As with anything and any association, politics rears its head and system members leave and train alone. Karate is no different than other organized activities and multiple factions were created in the fifty plus years after its migration from the far east.

I was privileged to be a part of a reunification of sorts; a coming together of brothers and sisters originating from Dr. Tsuyoshi Chitose's Chito Ryu.  Family members sharing this lineage piled into a hall at General Butler State Park in Kentucky for four days to learn and train with one of the last great students of Dr. Chitose, Masaru Inomoto.

For decades Inomoto sensei lived next door to Dr. Chitose and trained in his brand of karate. He kept intact what he learned from his teacher and shared openly with those of us fortunate enough to attend "the gathering."

Men and women sweat, banged around on each other, broke bread, laughed, and toasted Inomoto sensei as a group sharing a common understanding of a karate system in dire need of unity. We are a strange bunch--those who share combative and lethal techniques then talk about how proud we are to brandish bruises and bloody knuckles.

I look forward to other gatherings and sharing of information, history, and combative techniques--for these are the things that drive the budoka (lit. person who studies the warrior way).

Banzai!