The ken-po Goku-i or the law of the fist where the eight precepts are those extreme meanings of that law which equates, to me, to the connection with the ancient texts.
Bushi Tatsuo Sensei and other masters of Okinawa Fighting Arts pulled these precepts from the complexities of the ancient texts from China. Okinawa was under China's influences most of their history and the history of Okinawa Ti is derived from that melding to local practices to the practices locals acquired from the study of Chinese boxing and the classics.
Extreme meaning alludes to the way they condensed many aspects of the I Ching and other mysteries of the past-present-future to provide a set of "keys" to open many doors to much more.
I believe that these keys were created in this fashion to provide the doorway to enlightenment but also to confuse the minds of those who were not serious about their training which I find evident in many of today's practitioners. A serious view of learning and practice means that we find equilibrium which in turn means study of both the Yang and the Yin of karate-do or the way of the empty hand.
After all, if they didn't want us to dig deeper then why call it the ken-po goku-i? If it were meant to teach us about the physical aspects of the way then they could have called it simply "ken-po" or "law of the fist."
When we take a look at the meanings behind the character we find that "goku" means "extreme" but also means utmost or exceedingly great, ultimate, ultra-, and hyper-. When you take a look at the character "i" we find both "MIND and MEANING" along with heart, thoughts, feelings, opinion and take something to heart. I am sure if you are a Isshinryu practitioner who has been exposed to the ken-po goku-i and its deeper meaning then all those adjectives will connect your thoughts to the many direct words in the eight precepts and more so in such books as the I Ching.
As an aside to this posting I can tell you finding the characters that represent the aspects of our karate tell us a deeper and more meaningful story. Why I devote a section in my web site to the meanings of the kanji characters (see picture on right side of this page).
My personal "Interpretive" Lens!
"One thing has always been true: That book ... or ... that person who can give me an idea or a new slant on an old idea is my friend." - Louis L'Amour
"Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider..." - Francis Bacon
"What is true today may be reevaluated as false not long after. Judgements are frequently based upon a set of "temporary" circumstances surrounding them. Conflicting ideologies can exist simultaneously. Antagonistic dualities are complementary aspects of a unified whole: are seen as mutually dependent mirror images of each other." - Nahum Stiskin
Warning, Caveat and Note: The postings on this blog are my interpretation of readings, studies and experiences therefore errors and omissions are mine and mine alone. The content surrounding the extracts of books, see bibliography on this blog site, are also mine and mine alone therefore errors and omissions are also mine and mine alone and therefore why I highly recommended one read, study, research and fact find the material for clarity. My effort here is self-clarity toward a fuller understanding of the subject matter. See the bibliography for information on the books.
Note: I will endevor to provide a bibliography and italicize any direct quotes from the materials I use for this blog. If there are mistakes, errors, and/or omissions, I take full responsibility for them as they are mine and mine alone. If you find any mistakes, errors, and/or omissions please comment and let me know along with the correct information and/or sources.
Kenpo Gokui
A person's heart is the same as Heaven and Earth while the blood circulating is similar to the Sun and Moon yet the manner of drinking and spitting is either soft or hard while a person's unbalance is the same as a weight and the body should be able to change direction at any time as the time to strike is when the opportunity presents itself and both the eyes must see all sides as the ears must listen in all directions while the mind must grasp all the tactile, olfactory and gustation data not seen on all sides and not heard in any direction
All Bottles are Truly Good
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