ADVANCING MIND AND SPIRIT
KARATE — THE HAND FROM THE VOID
Below is a note I wrote to my karate students and other interested parties a few years back. Although I talk about martial arts, a quiet mind is available to anyone.
If my other posts have not stretched my credibility, this one is likely to do so. Never-the-less, what I am about to relate regarding my experience as a karate practitioner is true. I’d also like to point out that while giving me the benefit of the doubt or believing me might be OK, it is much better to have had such experiences for yourselves. So, I am writing this post in the hopes that it will show possibilities to you and encourage you to practice your martial art diligently.
At this point, I have been practicing karate for 49 years. The particular style I practice is known as Matsubayashi-ryu. I hold the rank of 6th degree black belt, Senior Instructor for the World Matsubayashi-Ryu Karate-Do Association in Naha, Okinawa.
Most of us are familiar with the interpretation of the characters 空手 as empty hand. However, a great friend of mine and karate master Susan Budge reported to me that a mutual friend and sword master Takahashi of San Bruno, said that another meaning for the first character is emptiness or the void and the meaning of 空手 could be interpreted as the hand which comes out of nowhere (to save you). So, I now want to relate experiences that highlight this interpretation and to give you my interpretation as to their significance and importance in all our lives.
The first time I saw a karate class, I was awe-struck. It was in the middle of a semester in college in 1964. I had always been athletic prior to that. I ran, climbed, played football, played baseball, and rode bikes with my friends. I ran track and cross-country and even went to a state decathlon. So, I determined that I would start karate with the next class in the fall of 1965 which I did.
The training was rigorous, which I did not mind. At times my legs would shake from fatigue, but I would not ease up on my stances. For others the demand was too much. I started with a class of about 200 but in one month there were only about 30 of us left. Good karate is not easy, but it is rewarding. One day after several months of practice, a friend attempted to wake me from my sleep by tapping me on the shoulder. I awoke to see him trembling with his arm extended and realized that while I was sleeping, I had blocked his attempt to tap me. I thought “Man, I’m learning something here.”
After I had been practicing for about 10 years, I had recently taken a job with the State of Florida. My co-workers and I had gone to lunch together and, during lunch, they invited me to meet them after works for a drink. Reluctantly, I told them I could not meet them. When they asked why, I told them that I taught karate classes after work. Apparently, one of the more macho, athletic guys was bothered by what I had said and was determined to check me out.
We re-entered the building where we worked and as we started down the hallway, my experience of life went into slow motion. My right hand slowly drifted up in front of my chest with my palm out. I had the thoughts “What’s going on here? Why is my hand in front of my chest?” Then the gentleman to whom I just referred threw, what appeared from my perspective to be very slow, a surprise back fist strike to my chest — exactly where my hand was. I easily caught his strike and, still filled with a sense of wonder about what was happening, just looked at him curiously. He withdrew his hand and walked off. That was the last of it. My experience of life shifted back to what I would call normal.
Later that summer, I had the opportunity to train with my karate master, Chotoku Omine. I related this experience to him and asked him if he could explain what had happened. He told me that when I have what he called “everyday mind” that I could perceive another’s intent to do me harm before he could put it into action.
Many years later, I was with some friends in a lightly occupied restaurant-bar on a Saturday afternoon. One of my friends was a competitive kick-boxer. He and I were lightly teasing a mutual friend. Even though the teasing was good natured and light, it apparently irritated our mutual friend. So, a bit later, from a distance of about 2 feet, he attempted to lunge at me and grab me. Again, my experience of life went into slow motion. I easily deflected his attempt to grab me, grabbed his wrist, locked his arm straight and exerted pressure on the outside of his elbow that sent him flying, but did not harm him.
OK, one more experience and I’ll get to the point. While living in Florida, going to college and teaching karate, I lived on a horse farm outside of town. Part of the way I paid my rent was to take care of some of the horses. Early one morning, before heading for town, I carried feed out to a pregnant mare that was alone in a corral. After setting her food down in front of her, I turned around and walked behind her (I know now — not a good idea) to go back to my house. Without warning, and in an instant, I found myself bent way over and looking up over my right shoulder where I saw her two rear hooves passing above me. Her intent, obviously, had been to put me into the barbed wire fence.
Now some points.
The first two incidents literally show a hand coming from nowhere to save me. I was totally at ease, not in a combative mode at all, yet something my training had cultivated saved me.
In the case of the mare, the hand was not involved, but again something occurred in an instant, at exactly the right time, to save me from harm.
These examples illustrate what is available to us via dedicated martial arts practice. So please train vigorously and with dedication to correct execution.
The following are my deductions.
1. That ability I described above is in all of us already. What master Omine described as “everyday mind” is a mind that is calm and quiet. As we reduce mental noise, assets that exist within us are more accessible. (Based on this deduction, I have devised training techniques to help my students quiet their minds)
2. All living things are connected. How else could I have perceived another’s (including an animal’s) attempt to do me harm before they could act?
3. The more we can quiet our minds, the more favorable our interactions with life. This leads us to not worrying about the future, not wrestling with what happened in the past. Just pay attention to what is going on now.
