SHORINJI KEMPO MORE THAN A MARTIAL ART

Olá amigos!

O artigo abaixo foi publicado originalmente na revista Black Belt Magazine de maio de 1978 por Mike Liu. Numa recente pesquisa no Google, acabei encontrando este artigo e resolvi resgatá-lo e postá-lo aqui no blog, para a apreciação dos amigos.

Primeiramente digitei todo o artigo no original, em inglês, o qual estou postando abaixo. Mas logo estarei postando a tradução também.

Gasshô!

Guilherme Fauque

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Hi friends!

The article below was published in the first place on the Black Belt Magazine, May 1978, by Mike Liu. At a recent research on the Google, I run into this article and I decided to rescue it and to post it here on the blog, to appreciation of you my friends.

Gasshô!

Guilherme Fauque

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SHORINJI KEMPO

MORE THAN A MARTIAL ART

By Mike Liu

At a recent karate exhibition a high-ranking black belt demonstrated his “art” to a college audience. On command, his assistant lunged with a front punch.

“Now see what I do”, the instructor said, grinning. He twisted and threw an eye-gouge, then hurled the assistant to the floor and enthusiastically stamped on his solar plexus.

“We don’t mess around,” he boasted. Several members of the audience walked out. The demonstration was typical of the “terror of the street” attitude in much of American martial arts. Maybe sports and self-defense are all Americans require of the martial arts. Perhaps the spirit of budo isn’t relevant anymore. But fluctuating attendance at dojo across the country indicates that something is missing. If philosophy is that missing element, then shorinji Kempo may become popular.

Shorinji Kempo? You may have heard it mentioned as a legendary martial art of read of it in texts on judo and karate as an ancient Chinese temple style. But Shorinji Kempo lives, and, what’s more, it’s growing. Many thousands of Japanese practice shorinji Kempo in more than 800 training halls. It has spread through every major Japanese university and many of the high schools. The popularity is growing in Europe as well as question arises: When will it come to the United States?

“We are under strict instruction from headquarters about the promotion of shorinji kempo here, “ he said. “They have been very active and aggressive in Japan, but haven’t yet decided what to do in the United States. There are certain barriers in terms of culture”.

What barriers?

Karate came to the United States. Judo came to the United States. A host of other martial arts settled here and compete. But a difference arises in philosophy. Shorinji Kempo cannot be transplanted to America without its philosophy. America is a nation of fast-food chains and sensational media techniques. And Americans lack patience. We like to be entertained. Are we ready for a heavily philosophical martial art? The monks at the Shorinji headquarters wonder.

Yes, monks. Philosophy figures so powerfully in shorinji kempo that the Japanese government registered it as a religion. Doshin So, the founder of modern Shorinji Kempo, calls this philosophy kongo-zen.

“Kongo-zen is a philosophy that turns inward as well as radiating outward,” he wrote, “that combines gentleness with hardness and compassion with strength”.

Shorinji kempo represents the physical, active aspects of kongo-zen. To Doshin So, shorinji kempo isn’t just another empty hand fighting art, but a whole way of life. Ohashi described kongo-zen as a “revitalization of fundamental, original ideas of Buddhism. It is rational and as nothing to do with mysticism or life after death”.

They believe that in a ever changing universe, responsibility for man’s future lies with himself. He must be wise enough to know what’s right, and strong enough to enforce it. The ideas relate directly to early precepts of Buddhism.

Accordingly, Doshin So traces the philosophy and fighting techniques of Shorinji kempo to India 5.000 years ago. They were imported to China and eventually institutionalized at the famous temple at Shaolin-ssu in Japanese. The priests at Shorinji practice Kempo as a form of meditation. To them, kempo provided a means of spiritual training first and technique for self-defense second.

For this reason, philosophy and meditation remain central to modern Shorinji Kempo. Shorinji Kempo without the ordering principles of Kongo-zen would be an empty gesture. The fighting techniques and teaching methods themselves express the philosophy.

“all the techniques are constructed so they can’t be used aggressively,” said Ohashi. “They are geared to getting out of the way of an attack and then controlling the attacker.” Submission technique take precedence over killing techniques.

Like aikido, the wrist and arm twisting motions of Shorinji Kempo can paralyze an assailant with pain without inflicting permanent damage.

“We never talk about killing techiniques,” said Ohashi. “Killing somebody is the extreme opposite to our philosophy. It may be necessary to control somebody, but it should never go beyond that. Shorinji Kempo is  comunication. You can't communicate with somebody once he’s dead.”

The teaching methods illustrate this aspect for others. Practice revolves around embu, two-man kata. According to Doshin So, practice with a partner encourages respect and understanding for other people. Until you play the guinea pig and get on the receiving end of a technique, you will never fully understand effect.

“If a student becomes aware that he can’t develop without a partner, then he will also realize that he can’t exist without others,” said Ohashi.

Soon the Shorinji Kempo practitioners at Tadosu may decide to take action in promoting their art in the United States. If they do, they won’t abandon their philosophy along the way. Doshin So believes the philosophical aspect of Shorinji Kempo accounts for its immense popularity with the Japanese youth. And perhaps not so different from the American youth.

Shorinji headquarters probably will watch carefully Ohashi and their other stateside instructors to monitor American reaction to their art. If positive, they’ll promote Shorinji Kempo heavily in America.

Many people seem satisfied with the state of martial arts in the United States. Sports and self-defense are enough. But for those who are turned off by fighting method alone and look for something more, Shorinji Kempo may be the answer.