Book Review: The Secrets of Okinawan Karate: Essence and Techniques

This is going to be a somewhat shorter book review than is usual for me ("Thankfully!" cry my handful of readers). What Can I say? Kiyoshi Arakaki's The Secrets of Okinawan Karate: Essence and Techniques is a short book.

Short, I say, but well worth the reading. It first attracted my attention when I flipped through it at a local bookstore. I saw in it what has to be the most interesting discussion of the Okinawan methods of delivering a punch I've ever seen in print. Only one other source has ever explained the mechanics of the punch to me in a similar way. That happens to be my RyuTe teacher, so Mr. Arakaki had my attention right away. This is not to say that What Mr. Arakaki has to say is identical to what I've been taught, but it is much more similar to what I've been taught in RyuTe than it is to the punching taught in any other system of karate I've seen.

I later bought the book used via the internet (money is an issue in the Man of the West household) and found myself well-rewarded.

Mr. Arakaki is a native of Okinawa. He studied Matsubayashi Ryu, a sub-style of Shorin Ryu, under the famous Shoshin Nagamine (and it is interesting to note that Mr. Arakaki's description of the Okinawan punching method is decidedly different from Mr. Nagamine's, as described in his book. An example of information being deliberately hidden?) and then Kyokushinkai, which, if you don't already know, has most of its roots in Goju Ryu, so he's able to approach the subject of Okinawan karate from both of its major perspectives (for those who don't know, at the risk of oversimplification, Okinawan karate is divided by most into two major branches, Shuri-te and Naha-te, and a considerable number of styles within each of those branches).

A person picking up this book looking for information on vital point striking or grappling--what I would usually be looking for in a book on Okinawan karate "secrets"--might be disappointed. It contains nothing of that sort. Instead, this is a book about power, how to generate it, and how not to dissipate it. There are other topics covered, but I don't hesitate to say that this is far and away the major concern of the book.

I don't recall having read any book that has gone into quite as detailed an explanation, at least from a largely Western perspective, of how to generate real karate power. Mr. Arakaki explains his conceptions of both of the major methods of delivering an Okinawan punch, going into particular detail as to why the punch of Shuri-te is delivered as a whip-like strike rather than the noticeably more linear acceleration taught in most modern Japanese and Korean systems (think Shotokan and Taekwon-do), and gives an exercise to help you develop that whip-like power (the exercise does help, by the way). In the following, where Mr. Arakaki explains the whip-like strike in contrast to the "waist rotation method" of modern karate, for tsuki, think "punch":

...instead of simply moving a solid object (the fist) from point A to point B, you consciously increase the speed of the fist as you punch. On television and in movies you have seen a cowboy crack a whip, making a sound that helps him move cattle into an enclosure. Some cowboys even use these skills in rodeo competition. It is so natural for them that they can produce the crack without thinking. ...The tsuki of Shuri-te is like this whip. Think of your entire body--waist, arm, wrist, and fingers--as a whip delivering a tsuki that exceeds the speed of sound.

...In Shuri-te, the energy point is the center of the body. This body center, the waist, is like the wrist of a cowboy cracking his whip. From this point you produce energy and transfer the energy to your opponent. Using the waist rotation method, you treat your body like a hard object. However, if you think of the body as a rigid object, you lose fluidity and cannot transfer all your body's energy to your target. If you use waist rotation as the key to producing power, the result will be more like using a length of 2 x 4 rather than a whip. The weight and mass of the 2 x 4 would be powerful but would lack the speed and explosion of energy delivered by the whip.

...This whipping motion...is completely different from the tsuki of modern karate, where a tight fist travels from the waist to a target in as straight a line as possible.

...The tsuki of Shuri-te will always quiver because the whipping motion of the body creates energy and transfers energy completely. If a whip does not quiver, it is not a whip, it is a stick. If your body is like a stick, you destroy the speed of the tsuki...There should be no moment when you see a punch stop in the tsuki of Shuri-te. Contrast this with modern karate, which uses the action-reaction method of pulling back the left hand to the waist so as to send energy into the right hand punch, much like a set of mechanical pistons.

I'd give you more of this section, but it's one of those things where if you're going to experiment, I think you'd better go out and buy the book. I would certainly agree that the punching method he describes, as well as RyuTe's, which I would describe in very similar terms (I didn't include all of Mr. Arakaki's material on the subject here, if you're wondering) is "completely different from the tsuki of modern karate."

Mr. Arakaki's discussion of how to form the Okinawan fist is fascinating--this section alone, in my opinion, is more than worth the price of the book--and I couldn't help but note some similarities to how Dave Lowry described the relaxed grip of the skilled swordsman (I've mentioned before that it seems very likely that Okinawan karate was influenced by Japanese swordsmanship) in Bokken: Art of the Japanese Sword. And of course, in RyuTe we certainly make use of the bokken as part of our training.

Just as interesting was his very lengthy discussion of how to manipulate your center of gravity, your "imaginary center of gravity," and those of your opponent in order to maximize power, and, perhaps most interesting of all, his positive identification of this sort of--shall we say--gravitational power as ki, which is so often, and so unnecessarily, described in mystical terms. Mr. Arakaki writes:

Try this with a friend. Face each other with hands at your sides. Bring your arms slightly forward, asking your partner to grab your wrists tightly. Without changing your arm level, lock your elbows close in to your body. Then just walk toward him. Amazing! You can lift up his body. Some people say this is due to ki (life-energy or vital force). If you move forward from this position and lift your arms a little, you can make your friend fly ten feet! This is called the aiki-age. People explain this as making the opponent fly because there is ki (vital energy). This is absolutely incorrect! As you can see from diagram 1, this is a situation where your arms control his actual center of gravity (CG) because you adjust his CG higher than his true CG and your CG, and, "Voila!" he loses his balance.

And in another place:

You can now understand that the so-called Universal Ki is gravity, and gravity is the key for the martial artist. Traditional Okinawan karate uses this principle for executing tsuki. Okinawan karate recognizes this balanced CG point and the gravitational energy that is created by putting your body weight downward to create tsuki which penetrate through the target.

And in another place:

The principle of the aiki-age is the same as in a fist that is using Newton's second law of motion. All Japanese martial arts are based on this principle.

And in yet another place, where he discusses the concept of ki in a more general way, he writes:

In today's martial arts world, everyone thinks ki can force an opponent down with no physical contact, or enable one to sense an opponent's thoughts. Ki is perceived as being a mystical power. Japanese martial arts view ki as a practical, even a philosophical concept, but not a mystical one. The Japanese language has many different words for different forms of ki. Kaki is the ki for the energy of combustion. Iyoki is the ki for the energy of vaporization. Aiki is the ki for the combined energies between you and your opponent. In old China, ki (or chi in Chinese) meant energy in general. Now ki is thought of in a more imprecise way. In today's martial arts world, we often use ki as a sales pitch, and little more. There has been no scientific observation, no attempt to analyze and understand this mysterious force. However, Japanese culture always took a more pragmatic view of this energy. After all, the concept of bu in budo includes systematic thinking. Traditional karate and Japanese swordsmanship never stressed the mysterious aspects of ki when they discussed it.

Moving on from discussions of ki, I was strongly interested in Mr. Arakaki's discussion of the Naihanchi Shodan (he calls it Naifanchi) kata (here is an expert performance of that kata, should you be interested),

which he flatly declares is Shuri-te's foundational kata, designed to teach the student how to use gravity power (among other things, some of which I've learned with some pain).

While learning Naifanchi, keep in mind that it is the zenith of the martial arts. Its meaning has been passed on only by oral tradition. It took thirty years for me to understand completely its technical concept.

I was also interested in some of the other exercises he recommends. One, wherein the student stands in a more or less natural stance and imagines holding a heavy ball between his hands, struck me immediately and forcefully as being identical to the famous tai chi ruler exercise, an exercise--chi kung--taught in the Chinese martial arts to develop ki. Mostly, they are exercises in learning to control your balance and mass--very similar, in some respects, to some that my own teacher has taught me.

Mr. Arakaki also discussed ki in some other ways, not all of which I would agree with, illustrating beautifully that ki is a word that can be translated in so many ways as to make it effectively meaningless.

As far as a downside to the book is concerned, I did find it curious in a book that dwells so heavily on the development of punching power that Mr. Arakaki did not discuss the use of the makiwara. No matter how you are throwing your punch, it seems to me, the makiwara is a useful feedback device if you want to develop real punching power. A hanging bag, while useful, just isn't the same. Perhaps Mr. Arakaki feels that the makiwara has been adequately covered elsewhere. (I should mention, for those with an interest in RyuTe, that my opinion is by no means universal. Taika Oyata has said that one should certainly be familiar with the makiwara, but at least one person has told me that he has also said that it is like lipstick on a woman--something used to impress other people. My own teacher has not used one for years, and he can certainly hit hard. Perhaps, in the end, it is just best for me to say that I find it useful.)

It also seemed to me that there may have been some language issues. Mr. Arakaki originally wrote the book in Japanese for the Japanese market, and I can't help but think that some parts of the book could be written a little more clearly--or at least, more clearly in the English translation. I do think that actually trying some of the exercises Mr. Arakaki suggests will clarify some of what he means.

Some of the terms Mr. Arakaki uses, such as "Imaginary Center of Gravity," seem to be unique to him, that is, I don't recall anyone else using them. It may be that that is the inevitable result of attempting to express what is usually couched in esoteric terms in clearer, more modern, more objective, more definitive terms, but it contributes to a strong impression left by Mr. Arakaki that he thinks he's one of only a handful of people to understand these concepts. While admitting readily that much of what he discusses never penetrated the confines of any of my old Taekwon-do classes (and I studied with people up to eighth-degree black belt, gang), my experience with RyuTe, and my reading, lead me to say that at least one association explains the mechanics of the punch very similarly to Mr. Arakaki. Likewise, I have read treatments of "gravity power" elsewhere, such as in Jonathan Maberry's Ultimate Jujutsu.

But these are relatively minor quibbles. Overall, the book is a gem, edifying and clarifying, and it is one of perhaps half a dozen books that I would say are essential reading for anyone pursuing excellence--or at least improvement--in karate. In my opinion, of course, you would do better to just go ahead and study RyuTe. But unfortunately, it's just not possible to find instruction in it everywhere, so if you're interested in taking your Taekwon-do or Shotokan or American Combat Karate a little deeper, this might be a good book for you.

Essential Karate Books

Some time back, I put together a list of books on karate--or on subjects I think are closely related to karate, or contribute to a proper understanding of karate. Here it is, for those interested. I'll tell you right up front that my recommendation of a book in no way means that I agree with every jot or tittle contained within it, and that with some, I have serious reservations. Nevertheless, something in that book is worthwhile.

First up: Masatoshi Nakayama's Dynamic Karate. In my opinion, this is the definitive work on how to do modern Shotokan, surpassing even Funakoshi's Karate-Do Kyohan. Despite the criticisms some make of the changes Gichin Funakoshi and some of his students made to Okinawan karate to produce Shotokan--which is probably the quintessential modern Japanese version of karate--such as that the method of forming the fist and generating power have been altered, many of the applications of the old forms discarded, etc., etc., etc., the reality is that enough of the basic material is left within Shotokan that with the old bunkai added back in (something that is happening more and more as this knowledge becomes more widely known and accepted), Shotokan can be a fiercely combative art. Shoot, even without some of the old bunkai, Shotokan is nothing to sneeze at. Those people have learned how to hit hard, even if their method of punching differs from Kiyoshi Arakaki's, and some of the modern bunkai are downright vicious.

This book breaks the movements of Shotokan down in detail. I think a person who, out in the sticks without a karate instructor, had this book, could at least get going on the basics and maybe not go too far wrong. That's saying something. Something important.

Bunkai, for the uninitiated, are applications drawn from the kata, which are the prearranged sets of movements you see karate practitioners doing.

Next: Patrick McCarthy's The Bible of Karate: Bubishi. The Bubishi is an old document that a number of Okinawa's old masters treasured. It has been copied and recopied and there are parts of it that are confusing and hard to deal with. Mr. McCarthy's translation and commentary, especially as regards history, are invaluable.

A caveat: It is clear from certain of Mr. McCarthy's words that his worldview is somewhat incompatible with biblical Christianity's. However, that does not impact the material in this book, nor its usefulness. It is just something to be aware of in your evaluation of some of the things he says.

Next: Yang Jwing-Ming's Analysis of Shaolin Chin-Na and also his Comprehensive Applications of Shaolin Chin Na. Chin Na is the corpus of close-quarter seizing and grappling techniques common to kung fu styles, and is very similar in some ways to the tuite practiced in Okinawan karate--practiced in Okinawan karate, that is, if you have an instructor familiar with it, which is not too common. Both books cover the subject well, with the former, much shorter book dwelling more on how the techniques work, while the second attempts an exhaustive catalog of the major techniques. The striking of vital points--or cavity press, kyusho-jutsu in Okinawan karate--is also covered to some extent.

Next: Javier Martinez's Okinawan Karate: the Secret Art of Tuite. An introduction to the close-quarter grappling and seizing techniques common to Okinawan karate. An eye-opener.

Next: Kiyoshi Arakaki's The Secrets of Okinawan Karate: Essence and Technique. A book almost entirely about how to generate and use power in karate technique. Invaluable especially for its discussion of how to form the fist.

Next: Shoshin Nagamine's The Essence of Okinawan Karate-Do, principally as a reference on the sequence of moves in many of the major kata. I will say that it is hard to "get" how those movements are performed solely from still pictures in a book. However, anyone reading this post has access to a major asset: YouTube. You can find almost anything on YouTube these days, including expert kata performances, and this certainly helps. I would caution you to look at more than one performance of any given kata you may be interested in, though, as some of the videos are clearly posted by proud parents, and others are posted by people with real skill. At any rate, you can learn the movement sequences of a number of kata from this book, and combined with the examples available via YouTube, you might have a fighting chance, so to speak.

I know that the Goju Ryu guys, Isshin Ryu guys, and Uechi Ryu guys might object that Nagamine's book leaves out their kata, some of which are quite famous and influential. Nolo contendere. That is true. The karate I practice seems to me more from the Shuri-te/Tomari-te stream than from the Naha-te stream, though I do practice (badly) the Uechi Ryu version of Sanchin, largely as an exercise. If I read an outstanding book that clearly delineates some of the Naha-te kata, I'll add it to the list.

None of the books mentioned, in my opinion, do a great job of how to deal with the makiwara. I'll do another post on that sometime. Even got it named: I'm going to call it The Forge of Karate.

Next: Zhao Da Yuan's Practical Chin Na: A Detailed Analysis of the Art of Seizing and Locking. If I had to limit myself to one book on chin na or tuite, this would be it. I'm told that years ago, Taika Seiyu Oyata wrote one for his students, but I have never seen a copy. Until I can obtain a copy of that highly-desired book, this will have to do. Very clear and logical explanations of the range of motion of each joint of the body, and how to lock them up.