September 11, 2001 - Terrorist Attack America! Is it over? We don't know, but we must be prepared. We must be prepared to defend our lives and our nation. It is time to be realistic.
December 7, 1941 - A Day That Will Live In Infamy! America attacked. Beginning a war that America fought for four years. James Masayoshi Mitose decided to teach the people of Hawaii what they would need if the islands were invaded. The Kempo he taught was designed to be as effective and deadly as possible. It was realistic.
Today we need to be trained to deal with potential assault, just as our family members did during World War II. My father was a Veteran during World War II. He was in the Pacific Theater and in Japan at the end of the war.
My first lessons in self defense was from my father. He taught me how to hold my hands up, to punch, and to kick when faced with the greatest danger. What he taught me was based on the hand to hand combat he had learned in the Army. This was based on the teachings of Yoshiaki Yamashita, Henry Seishiro Okazaki, and Masato Tamura. The skills were based on Judo and Jujutsu primarily in those days, but the striking techniques were the Atemi Waza which came from the Kempo of such systems as Tenshin Shinyo Ryu, Kito Ryu, Kempo Karate, and other systems which influenced the development of Kodokan Judo and Kodenkan Jujutsu.
When Mitose started teaching he believed that Hawaii might be invaded at anytime. Thus he focused on the most dangerous techniques in the repertoire of the martial arts. He followed the concept of Shorinji Kempo which taught that the fist was the most dangerous weapon, followed by the open hand, then kicks (since kicks are harder to master), and finally ended with grappling (since these skills are harder to master and less effective in battlefield conditions).
Make no mistake, the potential for Americans to be involved in a violent situation has escalated. We always had the potential to be involved in street crime, or home invasion, but now we have to be prepared to deal with terrorist attacks, not just in the sense of jet highjackings, but also in potential random acts of violence. One perosn said that the scene in New York looked like a war zone, which is exactly what it was. We are at war with the terrorist of the world and that war could come home to any city in America and we must be prepared.
Keep in mind that we are talking about group assault, not one on one situations. On the four planes that we know about there were four or five terrorists. Terrorists squads are the norm. They battle in groups in order to watch each others backs.
For many years self defense experts have been telling women to travel in groups, since there was safety in numbers. But it wouldn't hurt for all Americans to be aware of this. If we travel with at least one partner, we have a better chance of fighting a terrorist squad if the situations arises.
Better yet, if we train in effective martial arts techniques, first and foremost, especially with our friends, we will have a much better chance at survival. Most of all, we need to understand that laying down to fight, as has been taught by some of the sport people is not an option in a terrorist assault, when you will normally face more than one assailant.
Thus it is time for the martial artists of America to put aside childish training that is geared towards games of tag or brutal wrestling, and start emphasizing realistic self defense training. This would include an emphasis on striking skills and common sense vital points.
Too much of what is being taught works well in sport situtions, but would be ineffective or dangerous if attempted in an actual assualt. In example, I trained in Jujigatame (cross arm lock) and Sankakujime (triangle choke) in my Judo and Jujutsu training. Before these skills were popular in Judo tournaments or ultimate fighting games I had been practicing them for nearly twenty years. Yet my teachers explained that these skills were not self defense skills per se, but rather skills useful in Randori or Shiai, and possibly in one on one, non lethal wrestling situations. Even then a martial artist should never enter into a grappling skill in self defense without first weakening the assailant through strikes or the application of Kuzushi, which can also involve strikes. Thus while grappling skills have their place as arresting techniques for police officers, control techniques for the personnel of mental institutes, and seizing techniques for non lethal self defense situations, it is striking techniques that should be focused on for real self defense.
But the strikes must be aimed at vital points. Beginners should focus their fist and hand strikes on the main targets of eyes, throat, and groin, while kicks should be focused on solar plexus, bladder, and groins shots.
As skill improves other targets should be added, but those of an easily remembered and practical nature. These vital points should include; temple, nose, chin, jaw, ears, larynx, trachea, carotid arteries, clavicles, ribs, kidneys, base of the skull, elbows, and knees. Theories of pressure point fighting which require knowledge of obscure, tiny points should be avoided, in that they are many times ineffective without years of training and even then questionable in actual rough and tumble fighting.
Practical vital points are targets which should be struck with all appropriate weapons; fingertips, heel palm, hand sword, elbows, ball of foot, foot sword, heel, instep, and knee.
At advanced levels the kicks can be used effectively to high targets, while the hands can turn some techniques into grappling skills. There are techniques at this level which should be studied, which include such skills as neck twisting and breaking, various throws, and damaging joint locks. At the mastery level, these skills should be studied in depth, but in the beginning it is important to be able to strike effectively.
Mitose had studied under the tutelage of many great masters, one of whom was reputed to be Choki Motobu. Motobu studied the Okinawan methods of Kempo and knew that one must first build up superior striking skills upon which can be developed all effective grappling skills.
One of the 'secrets' of the Okinawan arts is the concept of developing masterful striking skills so that the body is strengthened and a person has immediately effective self defense skills. Then progress goes from the focused strikes into powerful grappling skills where they are needed. This is the totality of the Kempo which James Masayoshi Mitose brought to Hawaii.
This Kempo formed the foundation for many of the arts which have come out of Hawaii. It was always an effective fighting style and a method which prepared the people living on Hawaii who trained in the art, ready for invasion.
Our government is going to do it's best to protect us, but we Americans need to prepare to protect ourselves. Just as James Masayoshi Mitose wanted to prepare the people living on Hawaii for invasion, the martial arts schools in America need to begin preparing our people for possible terroist invasion and urban combat.
We need to stop playing games with our martial arts skills and start preparing to battle those who would take away our lifestyle. Look to the past. Look at the training of the Samurai prior to the peace of the Tokugawa era, they practiced self defense and combat methods through the medium of Tandoku Kata (solo forms) and Sotai Kata (partner forms). Some styles used the term Kata for solo training and Embu for practice done with a partner, but basically the idea was there were two ways to train, by yourself and with a partner.
Prior to the Japanese learning Karate, the Okinawans kept their form of Kempo a secret. They trained in Kata and Kumite, yet Kumite was not a freestyle fight as we think of it today, but a form of Kata or Embu in which the Okinawan masters learned to apply the moves of their Kata. These Bunkai Oyo, analyzed applications, were practiced without any competition, but as cooperative methods of training.
The reason the Okinawan masters didn't spar with each other is that it was too dangerous. They learned how to strike so effectively and with such focused power, that even a light blow could cause serious injury or death. These are the kind of skills we need today.
Today, rather than having students waste their time sparring each other, which was not a traditional method of training, we need to go back to solo and partner training based on genuine self defense principles. We need to learn how to strike effectively. We need to learn where to strike for maximum efficiency. Most of all we must understand why we move the way we move.
There are seven principles in the martial arts that makes the moves efficient. As students learn effective self defense techniques, they need to learn the principles which will make these techniques effective.
Rather than learning to just punch or kick, the students need to learn the principle of Go. Rather than just learning to throw or joint lock, martial artists need to understand the principle of Ju. The element of surprise has always been emphasized in real self defense training and this is the principle of Nin.
The principle of Aiki makes it easier to get into position for either strikes or throws. The Okinawan principle of Shu, which has been the foundation of their grappling skills, is the principle of taking any assualt and turning it against the assailant. Shu, Ju, and Aiki all work well together to improve the throwing skills of a martial artist and when combined with the proper application of strength as in Go, makes for exceptional grappling skills.
The next to last principle is Buki, which is the method of mastering weapons. While many people think this just involves traditional weapons; such as Bo, Tonfa, and Nunchaku; Buki is about mastery of bodily weapons, such as those mentioned above and then environmental weapons. In dealing with terrorism, it will not be sufficient to know how to use a gun or a knife, since in many situations you will not have access to those weapons, such as on an airplane. What the American resisting terroist will need to know is how to use anything at hand as a weapon.
The principle of Buki teaches a person how to use a rolled up magazine, bag of peanuts, and a drink as effective weapons. These are items that can be found on an airplane, a needed bit of knowledge.
Finally, the ultimate advanced, sometimes thought to be a secret, principle of the martial arts is Toitsu. This means, unified. All arts are one, when practiced for self defense. As a young marital artist I was told by Judoka, Roberto Fuentes, that at the highest levels all Kodansha, senior black belts - those above fifth degree, could basicaly reproduce the skills of any art. Karate masters can throw effectively, while Judo masters have effective punches.
And while this seemed to be true in the 1970s, when I corresponded with Fuentes, it seems less true today. This is because most martial artists today spend their whole lives involved in training for a sport which disallows certain techniques.
Yet when the martial arts are taught as a form of self defense, whether Judo, Jujutsu, Karate, Kempo, or even Aikido, they teach both striking and grappling. Self defense has always been comprehensive, it is sports that are limited. In the 1970s, a Tae Kwon Do organization put out a book on it's art. It explained the sport of Tae Kwon Do and then said that in their organization self defense was taught as a separate art and was based on Kempo, which included advanced striking skills, as well as, joint locks and throws.
America has been attacked, hopefully it is over, maybe not. Yet even if it is over, there is still street crime that we must deal with. Keep in mind, James Masayoshi Mitose began teaching serious self defense Kempo after an attack on our country. Today we need the same training. If you are an instructor of sport martial arts, seek out someone who knows real combat martial arts and make the conversion, if you are an American concerned with genuine self defense, seek out a martial arts instructor who teaches that skill and begin to learn.
Let's make America strong and capable of protecting itself. This doesn't begin with the military, but with every single man, woman, and child who wants to continue to live in the land of the free. God bless America!