Maximizing Your Martial Arts Journey

At 19, I had all the answers; I had all the wrong answers. Either way, they were all mine.  Now, I can say this with a soft smile and a snicker at myself. Back then, I was quite an intense and driven individual. My father will tell you that I came into the world that way…apparently rattling my incubator.

In any event, I own who I was as much as who I became. I have no regrets because, one way or another, I learned to open my mind about martial arts. That was not easy, and it did not happen overnight either. Fortunately, I’m in great company.

Shimabuku Tatsuo founded Isshinryu Karate-Do in 1954. He combined what he believed were the best points of two other Karate styles in doing so. Did he socialize his idea with his contemporaries in Okinawa? According to the late Harold Long, yes, he did, and Shimabuku Sensei received support for his idea. That support did not last though, and yet, he kept going. Shimabuku Tatsuo knew what worked for him. As a sugarcane farmer, I imagine he was very pragmatic. 

In other words, a hypothesis proved out, or it did not. With so many of his students being United States Marines, known throughout history for being practical by nature, I dare say Shimabuku Sensei would have had a hard time retaining clients if he could not deliver results. Looking back, we now know that many a Marine became a sincere believer of the One Heart Way, and so the art lives today through the legacy of innovation that started it all.

Think about that for a bit longer. Shimabuku Tatsuo sought no stamped parchment from a governing body. He saw a need for evolution, and he stepped forward to do it. 

Reading this article, I will wager a Diet Coca-Cola that you and I attended different elementary schools. I will wager yet another that we were in school at different times. Did each of us learn to add and subtract numbers? Yes. Did each of us learn to multiply and divide them too? Again, yes. Math enables the quantification of science. The truth of these respective disciplines trumps those who taught us, where we learned, and when. The real question remains: what will we do with knowledge?

If your goal is to preserve the process for the sake of the art and/or its history, then that is of course a worthy pursuit. It can take a lifetime to accomplish, and quite frankly, it is a tough job. Just ask Dr. Hokama Tetsuhiro, curator of a renowned Okinawan Karate Museum sometime; I love what he does, why, and how he does it. I also love the positive change agents who live to evolve; after all, we live in a world of potential Shimabuku Tatsuos today.  Can you imagine where we can go from here?

Embrace the proud history and tradition of martial arts. I choose to do so the way I love and admire the astronauts of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. They were brave pioneers. Without today’s custodians of the truth, we run a very high risk of losing the knowledge for which these trailblazers risked (and in some cases lost) their lives. 

Had we stopped learning and growing after Apollo, though, there would have been no Space Shuttle. There would be no SpaceX today. Our frontier would have ended on the moon. Is that where you want to stay, or would you rather “reach for the stars?”

Pursue History, Biology, Geometry, Kinesiology, Language, and Literature of the martial arts. Will you find victory? Yes. Will there be frustrations and disappointments? Yes. Can you find what works best for you? Yes, and I assure you that the journey will be more than worth it. 

Dr. Hokama once told me that as we age, the nature of our training must change. After all, our bodies change. Alas, we can still find ways to deliver the results. Remember: we are the martial arts, and the martial arts are within us. You may already be great today in terms of capability; now, consider how much greater you could be tomorrow with new knowledge.  Do you need a stamp on a piece of paper to tell you that? Not at all. Like the late Shimabuku Tatsuo, you will know by the empirical results of your efforts. You won’t need anyone to tell you what works; hard science will stand on its own. Now, enjoy the journey of self-actualization; it belongs to you and you alone.