FEBRUARY 1, 1998

MOVING MEDITATION

This week the technique is "moving meditaion". Its' meaning and origins are described here by Hodes Sensei. "Moving meditation" is seen today in every class conducted in every dojo of Shorin-Ryu Karate USA. It is performed during the month of February in all of our Kyu tests. It is the most important aspect of the tests.

WHAT IS SHORIN RYU, AND WHAT CAN IT ACCOMPLISH?

Shorin Ryu Karate is an ancient Okinawan martial art that traces its origins back almost 1500 years to the Shao Lin Monastery in China.  There, a Buddhist monk named Bodidharma, established a sect
known as "Zen" or "meditation." Tradition states that Bodidharma found the monks in the monastery to be physically weak. They were not able to withstand the rigorous mental demands of Zen training.  Bodidharma created numerous exercises to both strengthen and unify the body and mind.  The practitioners performed the exercises to bring themselves to a state of "moving meditation." An ancillary benefit was that the exercises also provided a system of self-defense. This was
important when the monks sojourned in the countryside. Throughout the 14th century, the Chinese established supremacy over Okinawa. The Chinese introduced Buddhist monks to the Royal Okinawan Court that introduced "moving meditation" to the Okinawan monarch's bodyguards. The bodyguards trained in secret and passed on their martial art from father to son. This secret training continued for the next five hundred years. During this time, China was rife with discontent that finally led to the Boxer Rebellion and the virtual disappearance of the original Shao Lin style on the mainland.  The worldowes a debt of gratitude to the secret training of the Okinawan bodyguards. It was their persistence that has preserved the original "moving meditation" that practitioners of Okinawan Shorin Ryu continue to teach today.  In 1902, the Okinawan public school system introduced Shorin Ryu into the regular curriculum.  An Okinawan educator accomplished this when he recognized how greatly all children could benefit from practicing moving meditation. The non-religious Zen roots of the system foster a non-competitive spirit. It is precisely this non-competitive spirit that enables the teacher of Shorin Ryu to cause increased levels of self-esteem in all students. They learn that the movement is imperfect. In other words, no matter how beautiful an individual performance may seem, it is still flawed.  Once the student grasps this point there is no longer concern for "right" or "wrong" but rather a focus on process and improvement. Everyone, without exception, experiences the inability to do certain movements. The teacher encourages the students "not to give up" and to "keep on trying." The students see improvement in their individual
performance over time and come to realize that they can improve so long as they apply themselves. The compassion evidenced by the teacher eventually transfers to the students as they experience what compassion for themselves as well as others can accomplish.   Eventually the students are able to apply what they have learned in Karate to all the other areas of their lives. Sensei Hodes.  To add to this, Hanshi Ansei Ueshiro brought this art to the U.S.A. in 1962 and thereby we continue this cultural chain of "moving meditation". Arigato, Kyoshi Robert Scaglione.