THE DOJO KUN
Spoken with pride. A Dojo Kun is a verbal affirmation that is recited by all of the students, usually at the end of each training session. The purpose of the Dojo Kun is to remind all of the students in the dojo, regardless of their rank, that the physical, mental, and spiritual growth that they enjoy as a by product of their karate training, must also extend beyond the dojo's walls. By that I mean, in order to derive the true benefits of Shotokan karate-do, each student must take the underlying principals of this art form and make them a regular part of their daily life. The following Dojo Kun is taken from the 20 Precepts of Master Gichin Funakoshi, it should be recited out loud one line at a time, first by the dojo's sensei or senior sempai, and then repeated immediately afterwards, in unison, by all of the students in attendance prior to the final bows at the end of each class.
SEEK PERFECTION OF CHARACTER
BE FAITHFUL
ENDEAVOUR
RESPECT OTHERS
REFRAIN FROM VIOLENT BEHAVIOUR
And when you leave your dojo, always be sure and take the meaning of those words out into the world with you. Because it is in the every day world that is outside of those four walls that you train behind each day, that the true meaning of the dojo kun is truly meant to be practiced.
The following explanations set forth the meaning of the Dojo Kun.
1. Seek Perfection of Character
Character
This means that the art of karate is more than just physical. All beginners, especially the young, should be taught the importance of character building through discipline and rigorous training. For the beginner, the character building process begins with perfecting techniques through repetition. The spirit to fight will be achieved as one gains more confidence through development of stronger techniques. Train to bring out the spirit, not only to fight but to overcome personal problems especially in times of sickness, domestic crisis or business problems. It is a long path to develop these spiritual values but once the concept is understood and experienced it will provide a lifetime benefit of inner strength and peace.
2. Be Faithful
Loyalty
To be faithful is a strong samurai tradition and an extension of the Confucius influence on the family and martial arts. The faith to be shown is in your sensei and dojo. The student must always be faithful to his sensei and follow in much the same way as a medieval samurai was bound to follow his feudal lord to the death without hesitation. While this may seem unusual in the present day, it is unreasonable to expect a sensei to teach all he knows to a student who is likely to leave for the slightest reason. The student must prove his loyalty over the years. The faith and loyalty extended to the sensei will be rewarded, in that a greater amount of knowledge and wisdom will be passed on to the student and this bond between sensei and student is extremely valuable and is the basis of the learning relationship.
3. Endeavor
Effort
To endeavor means complete dedication and commitment necessary to achieve mastery of the art. In no case is mastery possible without strenuous effort and sacrifice on the part of the practitioner. The endeavor must be of a sincere nature and not just superficial. Serious effort on the part of the student will be recognized by the sensei who will in turn spend more time with him or her.
4. Respect Others
Etiquette
Respect for others is an important part of the Japanese and Okinawan culture therefore common to the martial arts. Gichin Funakoshi stressed that karate begins and ends with etiquette. He also stated that without courtesy there is no dojo. This is a reflection of the formal nature of the Japanese people and may be observed bowing during training as well as at home or office. Dojo etiquette is well defined. You bow correctly and show respect in everything you do and everywhere you go. Respect is extended to all...senseis, parents, educators, law, deceased, nature, etc.
5. Refrain From Violent Behavior
Control
A trained fighter is a person with a fierce competitive spirit and great strength so it is unfair to use it against an untrained person. The karate-ka's spirit is unbeatable and must use his knowledge only for the sake of justice. A person of character can walk away from a fight because he is in control of his emotions and is at peace with himself. He does not have to test his abilities on the street. He wins without fighting and he will have no regrets because no one will be injured. Refraining from violent behavior is hard to explain to many Westerners because of their environment, or the attitude of winning tournaments, and they want to do it as quickly as possible which is against the principles of karate-do and dojo kun. It is therefore necessary for instructors to constantly remind the students of the importance of the dojo kun.
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The following is another example of a Dojo Kun, only this one has the Japanese terminology included and has been very kindly provided to me with the kind permission, and courtesy of, Sensei Charles Gidley, 6th Dan, of British Shotokan Kyogi in England :
Seek Perfection of Character
Hitotsu! Jinkaku kansei ni tsutomuru koto.
(To strive for the perfection of character.)
Be Faithful
Hitotsu! Makato no michi o mamoru koto.
(To protect/defend the paths of truth.)
Endeavor to excel.
Hitotsu! Doryoku no seishin o yashinau koto.
(To foster the spirit of effort.)
Respect others
Hitotsu! Reigi o omonsuru koto.
(To honor the principles of etiquette.)
Refrain from violent behavior
Hitotsu! Kekki no yu o imashimuru koto.
(To guard against impetuous courage.)
credits to: http://www.shotokankarate.ca/dojo%20kun.htm
On 13 Apr, 2010 by Iain Abernethy
The title of this article is ‘What is Traditional Karate?’ And that may seem like a strange question for a traditional karateka to ask! But it is my view that we often do not think what ‘traditional’ actually means, and how that impacts upon the art we practice. The dictionary definition of ‘traditional’ is, “adhering to a long established procedure.” To play devil’s advocate for a moment, I’d suggest that the majority of karate practised in this country today is not traditional! My reasoning is that much of today’s karate is not “adhering to a long established procedure” but is in fact only a few decades old.
There can be little doubt that karate does not have the same status it did in the past. To the wider martial arts community, Traditional Karate is often viewed as an out-dated relic and a wholly ineffective system. Karate is often criticised for its lack of realism, its lack of close-range techniques, its preoccupation with “looking good”, its omission of ground work, the unrealistic nature of its sparring, the impracticality of its techniques etc. And I have to admit that in many cases these criticisms are justified! However, it is not ‘Traditional Karate’ that is at fault, but its modern interpretation. The confusing part of all this is that modern karate is often incorrectly labelled as ‘Traditional’! Just to be clear, it is in no way my intention to belittle modern karate, merely to point out that the modern version of karate is nowhere near as effective in real combat as the karate of old.
If we go back to the dictionary definition of ‘traditional’ we can conclude that the longer a particular ‘procedure’ has been adhered to then the more ‘traditional’ it is. So to determine exactly what traditional karate is, we should look at how the art was originally practised.
As you’ll be aware, the people of Okinawa formulated karate in order to protect themselves from assault in a civilian environment (which is why most people start practising the art today). If we examine the older karate texts – e.g. The Bubishi – we can see references to the various aspects of koryu (old school) karate. Also remember that in the past, kata would never be studied without its applications (which is the most common way that kata is practised today). A study of the applications of the katas – which are in effect the DNA of karate – also reveals many aspects of old style karate. The karate of old included the following combative methods in its curriculum; Atemi-Waza (striking techniques), Tegumi (Grappling), Kansetsu-waza (Joint Locks), Jintai Kyusho (Weak points of the human body), Shime-waza (Chokes & Strangles), Nage-waza (Throws & Takedowns) and Ne-Waza (Ground Fighting Techniques). I’d now like to briefly look at each of these aspects in turn. If the karate of today is based upon a “long established procedure” and is hence traditional, we should find that the art is the same today as it was when the first records (texts & katas) were made.
Old-style karate was for use in self-defence in a civilian environment. For karate to be ‘traditional’ it should also be practiced for self-defence in a civilian environment. However, the vast majority of today’s karate is practised in order to win tournaments in a sporting environment. I’ve written before about the differences between the sporting environment and real fights, and I don’t wish to repeat myself unnecessarily. For now it is sufficient to point out that if your training is predominately focused towards counters against vertical back-fists, hook-kicks etc. which are delivered from ten feet away, then you’re not practising traditional karate. The reason being that you are very unlikely to see those techniques being employed in a civilian self-defence scenario. If you are practising traditional karate then your training will be geared towards defending yourself from a violent and untrained attacker at close range.
Old-school karate was predominately based upon the application of the techniques within the kata. Today, the applications of the katas are rarely practised and the emphasis is placed upon the kata being pleasing to the eye. And even when the applications are practised it is often in a non-traditional manner. Remember that old-school karate is about self-defence in a civilian environment. The great Choki Motobu – who was one of Okinawa’s most feared fighters – once said, “The techniques of the kata were never developed to be used against a professional fighter, in an arena or on a battlefield.” Hence, when you see bunkai (applications) that begin with the practitioners starting ten feet away from one another, and then attacking with an Oi-Zuki, or any other such ‘martial arts’ technique, you can be positive that the application in question is not traditional. True kata applications work best at close range against an opponent who is not another karateka (see my book “Bunkai-Jutsu” book for more details.)
Both old and modern karate includes striking techniques. Hence in this regard the karate of today could be thought of as traditional. However, closer examination shows that the striking techniques of the past and those of today are quite different. High kicking is practised today, whereas in the past all kicks were below the waist. In the past, the emphasis was on power, whereas today the emphasis is often placed upon control. In old-style karate all the strikes were aimed at weak points, however, today these weak points are ignored in favour of scoring areas. The skills associated with close range control & manipulating a predictable response (combative use of the ‘withdrawal reflex’) were considered to be a vital part of old-style striking, but today they are rarely taught. The biggest difference, however, has to be that of range. Old-style karate placed a heavy emphasis on close-range strikes, whereas modern karate places a heavy emphasis on long-range strikes. This is again down to the move away from effective combat skills (real fights are invariably close range affairs).
Grappling skills are a must in real combat and they formed a large part of old-style karate. Practice would have included general grappling skills (Tegumi), Joint Locks (Kansetsu-waza), Chokes & Strangles (Shime-waza), Throws & Takedowns (Nage-waza) and Ground Fighting (Ne-Waza). All of which are now totally missing from modern practice. In the book ‘Karate-Do Kyohan’ Gichin Funakoshi (founder of Shotokan) wrote, “…in karate, hitting, thrusting, and kicking are not the only methods, throwing techniques and pressure against joints are included.” A little later he writes, “all these techniques should be studied referring to basic kata.” Grappling was still a regular part of some karate groups even as recently as the 1960’s. In the 1967 book, ‘Karate: Beginner to Black Belt,’ H D Plee (who was one of the pioneers of karate in Europe) wrote, “One must not loose sight of the fact that Karate is “all-in” fighting. Everything is allowed …This is why Karate is based on blows delivered with the hand, the foot, the head or the knee. Equally permissible are stragulations, throwing techniques and locks.” I’d ask you to consider how “permissible” a head-butt, a blow with the knee, a strangle, a throw or a lock would be in the majority of today’s dojo’s? (My guess would be “not very!”). As an aside, it is vital to have an understanding of all of the various aspects of old-style karate if you are to understand your kata. This is because the katas are entirely based on old-style karate. If you do not understand throws, for example, you’ll never see them in the kata. Anyhow, we can see that in the past, karate was a complete system of fighting, but today it is often limited to just long-range strikes. (See the KGM Book & Tapes for more details).
In the past, the weak areas of the body were regarded as a vital area of study. However, whilst most of today’s karateka could probably tell you which areas they are prohibited from striking under the rules of modern competition, they would probably struggle to list the weak points of the body. Obviously, it is vital to know where the weak areas of the human body are if the karateka is to be more effective in a real situation (whilst always keeping in mind the fact that being accurate in the mess of a live fight is not as easy as some suggest).
By now it should be fairly apparent that whilst the modern interpretation of karate is found lacking in real situations, traditional karate is a highly effective system, that covers all aspects of fighting, and is very relevant to self-defence today. By studying your katas and practising the art in its entirety – just as they did in the past – you are ensuring that you develop the necessary skills to defend yourself in actual combat. And hence, by definition, you are a Traditional Karateka! So the next time someone tells you that Traditional Karate is an out-dated and ineffective art, ask them exactly what they mean by “Traditional”?
credits to:https://www.iainabernethy.co.uk/article/what-traditional-karate