Have you ever thought that a fetus practices
Kyudokan? Of course, moms might have
felt some hard kicking and punching from their unborn babies. But, do you believe that an unborn baby
practices the first technical principle of Kyudokan, Mi o Mamoru?
You might have heard the famous quote ‘Karate
Ni Senti Nashi!’ of Funakoshi Gichin Sensei.
‘There’s no first strike in karate!’
This quote verifies karate as a defensive martial art. Defending yourself can be described in a much
simpler way as protecting your body.
But, what is ‘Mi O Mamoru’?
A verse from Nagamine Shoshin sensei’s Karatedo
song (Karate do sanka) might come to some of the Okinawan karatekas mind. Remember?
Kokoro o Mamoru - Mi o Mamoru, Aa Okinawa No Karate-do…
Literally ‘Mi o
Mamoru’ means covering or protecting the body, which is taught as the first
technical principle of a Kyudokan Karatedo school.
But, all martial arts teach you to protect your
body, don‘t they? What is so special in
Kyudokan’s principle?
We can protect our bodies from an opponent’s
attack using two main ways, that is blocking the attack or moving away from the
attack. Blocking can be classified as diverting
the attack outside the body or grasping an opponent’s hand or leg, while you
can move away from an attack by turning the body, ducking or jumping, or by
using Tai sabaki (by moving).
You have
to defend yourself against the attacks coming towards your body by using any of
these methods. Conversely, the attacks
that land away from your body do not harm you. (Except from an attack from a KIAI
MASTER!!!! :-)).
Think about the natural reaction of a man to an
unexpected attack. Unintentionally he
covers his body using his hands and legs.
He seeks protection through the fetal position.
Wikipedia explains the protection given by the fetal position (Figure 1) as follows;
This position is used in the medical profession
to minimize injury to the neck and chest. Sufferers of anxiety are also
known to assume the fetal position during panic attacks.
“Sometimes, when a person has suffered extreme
physical or psychological trauma (including massive stress), they will assume
the fetal position or a similar position in which the back is curved forward,
the legs are brought up as tightly against the abdomen as possible, the head is
bowed as close to the abdomen as possible, and the arms are wrapped around the
head to prevent further trauma.” (Wikipedia)
Figure 1:
Fetal position
This proves that the ‘Mi o Mamoru’ principle of
the Kyudokan school is entirely a natural reaction to protect one’s body and
consequently developed as a technical principle through the lifelong research
of Kyudokan masters.
Close the elbows!!! You often hear these words
during seminars of Oscar Higa Sensei.
This regular correction of Higa Sensei, emphasizes the importance of the
Mi o Mamoru principle in his karate. By
closing the elbows towards the hip bone and covering the body using hands while
softly contracting the trunk muscles provides an extra protection to the
body. One might not find the ‘Mi O
Mamoru’ principle in the techniques while watching the Kyudokan kata the first
time. But, by understanding the Mi o
Mamoru principle and its applications allows you to find the ‘Mi O Mamoru’
principle in the performances of a trained Kyudokan karateka.
Figure 2 illustrates preparation positions of 4
basic blocks in Kyudokan. You can see that in each posture elbows are closed towards
the hipbone and the body is covered providing an extra protection to the body.
Figure 2:
The preparation postures of the 4 main karate blocks in Kyudokan provide
extra protection through the Mi o Mamoru principle.
A similar concept can be seen in the Chinese
close range martial art, ‘Wing Chun’. In
Kyudokan the ‘Mi o Mamoru’ principle is blended with other technical principles
such as Marumi Muchimi, Yin Yang, Work of ‘Hara,’ etc.
Some kata consist of symbolic movements or
postures (kamae). You can find an
interesting kamae at the end of Kyudokan’s Sochin kata. You make an Indian style greeting or a
praying posture at the end of the kata in cat stance (neko ashi dachi). Today many people misunderstand this posture
by thinking it is a greeting posture added to the end of the kata for
beauty. Sadly, due to the lack of
understanding of the meaning of this movement, many practitioners perform it
incorrectly. This posture has two pauses
followed by a third posture (Figure 3).
Figure 3:
The ending movements of Kyudokan’s Sochin kata
These three poses symbolize covering and protecting the central part of face (eyes, mouth, nose…), protecting the throat and
protecting the middle of the chest and groin area respectively. Simply, this
symbolizes protecting the vital areas of the central part of the body (on the
axis of symmetry of the body)
representing a symbolic ‘Mi o Mamoru’.
It’s important to know that a technical
principle cannot be understood through an article or a video. It requires the
guidance of a good teacher and regular practice. However, other karatedo schools may not be
using the ‘Mi o Mamoru’ principle in their training. Do not worry.
You should follow the teachings of your teacher and perfect the
principles of your own school while adding ‘Mi o Mamoru’ to your personal
knowledge library if you are from some other karate school.
I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Ms. Ingrid Rowden for proof reading.
I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Ms. Ingrid Rowden for proof reading.
