Three Treasures

In long-established Chinese traditions, the "Three Treasures" are the essential energies sustaining human life:

    •    Jing 精 "nutritive essence, essence; refined, perfected; extract; spirit, demon; sperm, seed"
    •    Qi 氣 "vitality, energy, force; air, vapor; breath; spirit, vigor; attitude"
    •    Shen 神 "spirit; soul, mind; god, deity; supernatural being"

This jing-qi-shen ordering is more commonly used than the variants qi-jing-shen and shen-qi-jing. I can only surmise this is so because "jing" is related to that energy that brings breath to life and leaves when death occurs. The other two are a part of that life span which regulates how life is lived, etc.

When the ken-po goku-i, referred to as "gokui" for the remainder of this article, mentions a person's heart, blood circulating, drinking/spitting for hard/soft, body balance, and both the eyes and ears we can relate this to the three energies or treasures of the Ancient Chinese.

My theory, which remains fluid as I study, is that "Jing" is similar to the reference of the "one" or the "Great Tai Chi" which manifests into the duality of Yang-Yin  and so on as related by the I Ching and the tri-grams/hexa-grams.

The Qi and Shen make up the Yang-Yin of our bodies, mind, and spirit where a balance brings about health and well being which by their actions provide a longer life which is in direct relation to how much Jing we have at birth. It is believed that there is a finite amount of Jing in all of us yet through Qi and Shen we can extend it a bit.

When Jing runs out, death occurs. I would also have a theory that depending on how we manage Qi and Shen during our life spans also determines our Jing.

We promote a balance of these three treasures by such things as how we handle daily stresses, illness, the foods consumed, stimulation form such as exercise and meditations, etc. We begin to see the relations of the gokui in its inference of body and nature, i.e. Heaven, Earth, Sun, and Moon, etc.

If today's martial systems is truly the descendants of those passed down from the Ancient Chinese then the connections and relevance applies warranting a bit more effort to study this esoteric aspect of the Way.

Apologies

Normally, I like to respond when I have comments on blog posts but my only excuse is pure laziness ... apologies to those who comment; yes, I will reply sooner in the future! If you commented a while ago you may find a reply now.

Complexity Alert

Just an alert that any subject, martial or not, can be made just as complex as you wish. In study and academia go ahead with all the complexities necessary to understand and learn. In practice of a martial system don't allow those complexities to muddy the water of your training and practice and instruction.

KMSS: Like the KISS principle, keep martial systems simple. If you wish to use it in real life fighting situations then remain simple and direct. If you wish otherwise then it matters not. Complexity may be necessary to get you to the simplistic application.

If you instruct/teach then ask yourself, "Is my articulation of the subject complex because I am showing off my intelligence and acumen or is it necessary for understanding in this particular moment?"

Present Moment

"For most, there is the past, the present, and the future. The past is nothing more than memories, and memories are stale reminders of what has been lost to the present moment. The future is a vague promise - dreams and puffs of smoke. Only the present matters, because the present is the her and now of what we are, the happenings of life, the immediacy of death, and ti could be controlled as neither past nor future could. The present is an ever evolving chain of moments that living and dying forge, and you are always there to see it come." - Passage from the books written by Terri Brooks, i.e. The Heritage of Shannara: Book 2.

I read this the other day and it hit me that it says much as to how life should be lived, in the moment.

Past posts wrote about how I perceive present moment living by utilizing information from the past, when necessary or need, to find responses appropriate to present moments so that the past remains nothing more than a reference in learning about the moment.

I also believe contemplation of the future serves no purpose other then allowing the monkey brain to cause unnecessary stimulus that results in mental and physical adverse effects against health and well being.

It also goes to say that you can mine data almost anywhere that will enlighten and express thoughts and idea's in a way that stimulates thought, growth, and understanding as to our life here on planet Earth.

Open Eyes and Ears

The Ken-po Goku-i once again alludes to the use of "eyes" and "ears" having the ability to focus on all that goes on all around us, i.e. to all sides and in all directions, so we can attach a meaning that a karate-ka should be able to see or hear or both those moments and incidents that either require an application of karate waza or not.

A budo-ka/karate-ka cannot just close their eyes and ears to the consequences of utilizing karate in a fight. Closing your eyes and ears to the obvious for ego's sake is defeatist and should be avoided. This is hard.

Those who instruct must see and hear practitioners to determine the fundamental personality traits that may lead to misuse of karate. An instructor must remain observant by "seeing" all sides of a practitioner and "hearing" how they express themselves that may lead to missing the system.

In the same light instruction should provide a karate-ka lessons and understanding when engaging in any conflict so they may "see" and "hear" the others side and view on the subject of this particular conflict. It may be a verbal exchange so the practitioner needs to actively "listen (hear)" to this person and "observe (see)" their expressions and body language in running the gamut of Avoidance-Deescalation-Awareness-Manners before physical becomes involved.

See the person, hear the person and then act accordingly to resolve with mutual satisfaction of you both avoiding a fight. Bet you didn't think of this one when you read the ken-po goku-i?

Tendency to Number Things

Finally found one, looks like Tatsuo's penmanship, maybe! AJA is Advincula Sensei.

 Caveat: Not an indication that AJA Sensei approves this post, simply a photo found on Google images, etc.

The current translation of the ken-po goku-i is numbered from 1 to 8 but is that something Tatsuo Sensei applied in his English translation, i.e. when presenting early practitioners the silk kanji copy and its accompanying translated copy?

I am not completely sure that Tatsuo actually gave translated copies of the goku-i to those early practitioners as I cannot find one on the Internet but do not want to assume it was not done because of it.

I have a theory that it was the American practitioners who created the English version and then like a lot of military minded folks just numbered it. I can attest that there is no numbering on the silk kanji copies. I can also attest that the translation of the characters, simplistic, do not equal the entire English words in the translations.

I am guessing and/or theorizing here but when you translate the characters the terseness of the ken-po goku-i is more pronounced. It then muddies up the waters as to what they mean, may mean, or do mean as to Tatsuo Sensei's view of the document. This is where translations, especially by folks who have no real background in the Okinawan and Japanese philosophies, come into question. Then we have to view the present validations as coming from a variety of validated sources as also in question for they all seem to differ yet all seem to believe their version is the one true one.

Lets look at the start of the characters as translated literally, hopefully, where we start on the right side. It says, "person - heart - same - heaven- earth." Then Americans, theory here again, adjusted it to fit our needs and be more palatable to our minds and philosophies, i.e. "A person's heart is the same as heave and earth."

There seems to be a good deal of assumptions in the translations. Even when some questioned those closest to Tatsuo for a translation may have simply said yes, that is it due to language barriers and a lack of understanding, etc. between cultures.

I am not saying that Google translate is the official and fully vetted place to translate English-Japanese characters but as a way to test I put in the actual English and got a lot more in the translation to Japanese/Chinese characters than what appears on silk certificates, etc. I do see the characters within the totality of the translation but would not want to assume that it is correct yet do accept that it backs up the question as to both translation to English and the overall meaning Tatsuo Sensei was trying to convey to mostly foreign practitioners whose philosophies and cultures differed like night and day.

It does make for great discussion and research.

I personally can say from the more terse translation that it does seem to say that a person's heart is the same as heaven and earth but then again that is my American mind perceiving it literally and since characters can mean many things and also mean things depending on how they are used, where they are used, by whom they are written and used, etc. may not mean what I think they do.

Example is the reference to "heaven" when I found that in the ancient Chinese classics their interpretation or meaning of "heaven" does not come close to the one we use here, i.e. religious place all good people go to be with God, etc. I also found that the reference to "earth" does not necessarily mean the ground on which we all stand at this very moment.

A good deal of questions do jump up as this topic is analyzed, discussed, and studied. Regardless of its connections to karate or to some other philosophical connection. Who knows, Tatsuo Sensei may not have meant it to be connected to his system of Isshinryu but merely wanted us to have it so we may go on to fully understand Okinawan religious, philosophical and cultural beliefs and way. I have heard that stated many times that Tatsuo wanted Americans to understand and know Okinawans in this way.

If it is not truly connected with Isshinryu Karate practice and training then it must be something like I describe, maybe? Speculation will go on forever; Tatsuo Sensei is no longer able to provide us guidance or even answers, he is gone. So on we speculate!

Lastly, numbering them seems to be truly what was added by Americans or whomever translated it. I do know that in the many studies I have done to date of ancient classics that numbering them would put limits on it as to understanding and meaning to any one individual. I would tend to remove the numbers so the translations/characters would then stand on their own, alone, or can be combined in any number of ways as used by each individual in accordance with their practice, studies, beliefs, and overall philosophies.

Code of Isshinryu - Black Belt Magazine

I just thought it would be a nice contrast to read someone else's view of the Ken-po Goku-i. This article is on-line and from the Black Belt Magazine Archives, "Code of Isshinryu by Jason K. Martin."

The URL is to the page where you can print it which is a safer link. I would be interested in comments as to how this contrast is seen or interpreted by you the reader.

Fundamental Learning/Teaching

All of us adhere to the ken-po goku-i, the emphasis on "eyes" and "ears" as to "seeing" and "hearing." We tend to extrapolate meaning of the ken-po goku-i to that which is physical in relation to karate but it extends to guide us in understanding the "three fundamental concepts" of learning and teaching.

How do we learn? By what we "see," "hear," and "do." Information is processed by what we see; what we hear; and how we put that into an action or "doing" or to take the character for the "Way" as in following a path or road, etc.

Each of us has a lifestyle and personality traits that can provide us a means of discovery. Discovery in what it takes to bring about knowledge, understanding, and proficiency depending on how we "see," "hear," and "do."

The eyes must see all sides. We initially take this to mean actually "seeing" all around us spatially. We look and actively see left, right, forward, behind us, then in many variations such as up and down, and degrees between such  things as left-to-front, etc. We also must be able to "see" all sides of how events transpire both our own and any other person involved. The ability to "see" from the perspective of others teaches us and can guide us to avoiding conflicts and so on. When we teach we try to "see" all sides of how a person in receipt of our efforts learns. Whether they learn by doing, by the discussions, by combinations of perception and application. This ken-po goku-i provides us lessons to learn and teach far beyond the mere physical manifestations.

All I have said to "seeing" also applies to "hearing." We can hear what goes on spatially but to hear actively what a person is saying to us leads to understanding and understanding allows us to choose a means to mutual benefits thus avoiding conflicts. If we also hear the other voice, spoken and unspoken meanings, we can achieve a level of perception of the individual that translates into the ability to teach and they to learn.

The ken-po goku-i was meant to be more than simply how to apply karate to conflict. It can lead us to achieving more with ourselves and with others. It can lead us to see and hear and then do what is called teaching and learning; apply that to life!

Blog, What is It?

Compu-toon by Charles Boyce in today's comic said, "Bloggers are mostly struggling authors with a book nowhere is sight." I am still laughing on that one simply because it may be true for me, somewhat. That is not the purpose of this post. I wanted to clarify in my mind what it is that happens in the blog-sphere.

Blog: web log: a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies; (a contraction of the term "web log") is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order; website that allows users to reflect, share opinions, and discuss various topics in the form of an online journal while readers may comment on posts; An online journal, published frequently (often daily). Readers can post comments on each journal entry, and so on ...

Journal: a daily written record of (usually personal) experiences and observations; a periodical dedicated to a particular subject; a daily record of events or business; a private journal is usually referred to as a diary, and so on ...

Uh-hum, so what I see here is a blog, for me anyway, is a personal journal (guy term) which is no more that a dairy (gal term) that hold thoughts, ideas, comments, personal views, and so on with an emphasis on "personal."

I wanted to take the time to remind myself that this blog to which the subject is karate and sometimes a slight deviation but always connected to karate/karate-do so that I am "clear" that this is like me writing a journal where the only difference is that it is on the Internet where anyone, anywhere can read it and then provide me feedback.

My blog, my journal, my content ... your comments ... it is not a magazine, newspaper, or any type of official publication, electronic or paper-to-electronic like the New York Times has both paper and on-line publications. These types are not blogs, but publications, this is a blog, a journal, that is it.

Change

If nothing else comes from the I Ching and other classics then let it be that it teaches us that change is what makes things work.

The Meaning of Tao - XVI

The power of your eyes are exhausted by what you wish to see.

[Reality vs. the stories we tell ourselves to remain comfortable and away from the discomfort that life has along with its contorts. To see past the vales we draw upon ourselves to escape the trials and tribulations of our lives is truly "seeing."]