"The Author, it must be remembered, writes from his own standpoint!"
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


"Providing a first step on a path to self-reflection." - C. E. James

"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

The lines of the ken-po goku-i are set from an atomistic aspect simply because it is the manner in which the brain learns. Its nature is completely holistic and like the I Ching must be in a form that promotes learning and understanding so a person can see, hear and grasp the nature of a holistic system. The gokui is a method to teach us how to be holistic. Its terseness is the best that can be done to convey its holistic meaning.

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


Master Zeng said, "Am I preaching what I have not practiced myself?"

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Tsushingen [通身眼] and Ken-po Goku-i

The characters/ideograms mean, “Through-body-eye.” The first character means, “Pass through; avenue; traffic; commute,” the second character means, “one’s station in life; person; somebody,” the third character means, “eyeball.” 

This is used by Sensei Michael C. Clarke in his personal dojo down under and reflects one of his tenants of his philosophy, i.e. “To remind him to look beyond the superficial of karate, to apply not only common sense, but good judgment to when it came to things he was asked to do or believe.”

As a further explanation as to why Clarke Sensei chose this term for his philosophy the following quotes is presented, “I (Clarke Sensei) came to understand that the karate world is full of people with agendas, with beliefs and opinions: sensei was asking me to look beyond the words people use, and to pay more attention to their actions.”

I also liked his statement, “People today are all too quick to ‘Consume’ karate, but few seem able to ‘Digest’ it.” He goes on to comment about the necessary ingredient to achieve “Insight,” i.e., Emotional Intelligence. EI in that one must achieve the ability to monitor, critique and be open to their own emotions, to label them correctly and to use them to guide our thinking and behavior, i.e. Tsushingen.

When I contemplate Clarke Sensei’s term I can see why the title was, “When you look, what do you see..?" It smacks for many of the ken-po goku-i, i.e. the eyes must see all sides, where the literal meaning is just the cover for that book for it is about seeing beyond the “Cover” of the book that is karate. All sides is more metaphorical in nature where we must see the side of an adversary, the side we hold and the side that the tribe requires of its members and as they relate to others outside that tribe. 

It is about seeing all the sides of our socio-emotional self. The sides of the human, monkey and lizard for us and our adversaries let alone for all those we encounter in our lives. It is seeing things that are outside our cultural belief systems and learning to recognize, accept and learn those other cultural beliefs in an effort to create a balance, i.e. a person’s unbalance is the same as a weight.

When folks consider a person’s unbalance they tend toward taking a person down through disruption of their bodies stability regarding their weight and gravities influences. Little do they consider the weight of one’s mind or mental mind-set/state. You can unbalance a persons mind-set so that avoidance of violent conflict is achieved. 


This term and Clarke Sensei’s philosophical perspective regarding how we see when we actually look, i.e. like actually actively listening over just hearing, to achieve a fuller life and a fuller understanding toward that philosophy we gain from the practice of “True Karate.” 

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