We explored this topic on the old Forum, under the title "Can a Westernern learn/possess Budo?" Someone posted a definition of Budo, as created by a Japanese committee, that you may find interesting and may provoc some interesting "Points of View!:
I'm reposting The Budo Charter which I have posted several times before. This short document
contains the Official Definition of Budo, which has been agreed upon by the representatives from all
major budo disciplines in Japan. This Budo Charter is throughly studied by all budo researchers in
Japan, and is taught in all Budo Theory courses in Japanese universities, including the Budo
University in Chiba.
BUDO KENSHO (THE BUDO CHARTER) was create on April 23, 1987 by Nippon Budo
Shingikai (Budo Charter Committee) which was an ad-hoc committee put together to create the
official definition of Budo. The Committee included the representatives from Judo, Kendo, Kyudo,
Sumo, Karatedo, Aikido, Shorinji Kempo, Naginata, and Jukendo. The Committee also included
well-known budo researchers, famous scholars, and historians. The Charter defines budo, and
states the purpose and the meaning of budo training.
Each word and phrase in this document was carefully chosen, and contains profound meanings. A
careful reading and studying is recommended.
Akihiro Omi
Associate Professor, Monterey Institute of International Studies
THE BUDO CHARTER (BUDO KENSHO)
Established on April 23, 1987
by Nippon Budo Shingikai
Budo, rooted in the martial spirit of ancient Japan, is an aspect of traditional culture that has
evolved from "jyutsu" to "do" through centuries of historical and social change.
Following the concept of unity of mind and technique, budo has developed and refined a discipline
of austere training which promotes etiquette, skillful technique, physical strength, and the unity of
mind and body. Modern Japanese have inherited these values and they play a prominent role in
forming Japanese personalities. In modern Japan the budo spirit is a source of powerful energy and
promotes a pleasant disposition in the individual.
Today, budo has been diffused throughout the world and has attracted strong interest
internationally. However, infatuation with mere technical training, and undue concern with winning is
a severe threat to the essence of budo. To prevent this perversion of the art, we must continually
examine ourselves and endeavor to perfect and preserve this national heritage.
It is with this hope that we establish the BUDO CHARTER in order to uphold the fundamental
principles of traditional budo.
ARTICLE 1: OBJECT
The object of budo is to cultivate character, enrich the ability to make value judgments, and foster a
well disciplined and capable individual through participation in physical and mental training utilizing
martial techniques.
ARTICLE 2: KEIKO
When practicing daily, one must constantly follow decorum, adhere to the fundamentals, and resist
the temptation to pursue mere technical skill rather than the unity of mind and technique.
ARTICLE 3: SHIAI
In a match and the performance of kata, one must manifest budo spirit, exert himself to the utmost,
win with modesty, accept defeat gracefully, and constantly exhibit temperate attitudes.
ARTICLE 4: DOJO
The dojo is a sacred place for training one's mind and body. Here, one must maintain discipline,
proper etiquette, and formality. The training area must be a quiet, clean, safe and solemn
environment.
ARTICLE 5: TEACHING
When teaching trainees, in order to be an effective teacher, the budo master should always strive to
cultivate his/her character, and further his/her own skill and discipline of mind and body. He/She
should not be swayed by winning or losing, or display arrogance about his/her superior skill, but
rather he/she should retain the attitudes suitable for a role-model.
ARTICLE 6: PROMOTION
When promoting budo, one should follow traditional values, seek substantial training, contribute to
research, and do one's utmost to perfect and preserve this traditional art with an understanding of
international points of view.
------------------------------------------
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BUDO CHARTER
1. OBJECT
By 1981 interest in budo had become international and the need to establish International Budo
University, where people from all over the world could study budo, had become evident. Because
of international influences budo had begun to function as a sport. School budo had become more
popular because of championships and their promotion. At the same time, the Japanese Budo
Association was aware of a growing interest, nationally and internationally, in budo as an
expression of traditional Japanese culture.
In response to these trends, Goro Yamanaka, a standing Trustee of the Japanese Budo
Association, presented a proposal to the Board of Trustees for the creation of the Committee to
Establish the Significance of Budo (a tentative name). The proposal was approved on April 16,
1981.
The mandate of the committee was to investigate and resolve the question "What is budo?" They
began by agreeing to try to clarify what spiritual principals regarding the development of the
individual are unique to budo and shared by each "do." The next step would be to compare these
fundamental budo principals with sports from abroad.
2. PROCEEDINGS
The Budo Charter Committee was established by the Board of Trustees of the Japanese Budo
Association. They held more than twenty discussion sessions from July, 1981 to March, 1984, and
the representatives from each "do" expressed their opinions and made speeches. The process of
clarifying the principals of budo was one of information gathering and consensus building.
Four budo scholars gave speeches at various lecture meetings supported by this committee. Eiichi
Eriguchi lectured on "Internationalization of Budo and Its Problems," Dr. Yoshio Imamura on
"Changes in the Meaning of Budo," Katsumi Nishimura on "Changes in Budo in School Education,"
and Shinichi Oimatsu on "the Fundamental Significance of Jigoro Kano's Judo (a founder of
Kodokan Judo), and the Object of the Austere Training."
In March, 1983, the Board published an additional issue of a journal, A Report on Modern Budo
which summarizes the progress of this research.
Meanwhile, in preparation for drawing up the Budo Charter, the members of the committee
obtained cooperation from each "do" to search for areas of agreement among the "do." Beginning in
May 1982, a series of articles entitled "An Overall Explanation of Modern Budo" were published
by Nippon Budokan in the monthly journal, Budo.
In addition, three sub-committees to the Budo Charter Committee were established to study (1) the
origin and history of budo, chaired by Tatsuo Saimura, (2) the outlook for unifying budo, chaired
by Shinichi Oimatsu, and (3) the image of the ideal human being, chaired by Kisshomaru Ueshiba.
In June, 1983, Hiroichi Tsujihara, who had taken office as a standing Trustee of the Board after
Goro Yamanaka, took over the responsibilities of researching the Budo Charter. Thus Hiroichi
Tsujihara was added to this Committee of Four to Create the Budo Charter. These Chairmen
agreed to make a definite plan on the content of the Charter and hoped to make a charter that
would become a concrete guideline for austere trainers.
In October, 1984, the Special Committee To Draft The Budo Charter was formed and Hiroichi
Tsujihara was elected Chairman (Kihei Kijima took over in July, 1986). Members are Dr. Yuzo
Kishino, Katsumi Nishimura, Goro Hagawa, and Shinji Nakabayashi. The committee has met
sixteen times.
In order to reach agreement about the principals of budo the Committee studied the papers
presented at the conferences of the Japanese Academy of Budo and other symposiums. They
presented a proposed Budo Charter to the Japanese Budo and other symposiums. They presented
a proposed Budo Charter to the Japanese Budo Association which was responded to by the "do"s
and revised. On January 19, 1987, the Board of Trustees of the Japanese Budo Association
approved the Budo Charter.
3. APPLICATION
The Budo Charter was established by the collective will of the Japanese Budo Association to
encourage the appropriate development of budo. Each "do" has affirmed the charter, but applied its
guidelines subjectively, according to its own requirements.
--------------------------------------
NOTES:
1. The Chinese character (kanji) for the character "jutsu" is composed of gyo, which means road or
way, and shutsu, which means stick to the stem. Jutsu is the indication of the road that people stick
to for a long time. As a result, jutsu means the method or way that people have stuck to since
ancient times, namely, traditional way. Jutsu has the following meanings: (1) art, skill; (2) traditional
discipline; (3) teaching or instructing as one was taught.
2. The Chinese character (kanji) for the character "do" (or "michi") is composed of shinnyu, which
means foot movement, and shu, which means head. The head faces toward the direction that one
intends to go. It should be the road or way that one can go through. From Chinese character, "do"
means the way of thinking, the discipline, and the method that one must follow.
(Notes 3 through 8 omitted)
(Names of the committee members omitted)
The following was posted on the old Forum unter the topic "Can a Westerner learn/teach Budo?"
budo:
I find this question really facinating.
I would like to put out these questions:
1. What does Bushido have to do with a CHINESE/OKINAWAN art?
2. Why would a freedom loving westerner want to study and adhere to a code that taught total
obdience to a MAN and a GOVERNMENT.
It seems that some keep trying to read this into our art. This is not a JAPANESE art, any
practicioner of Bugeishi will tell you that, so why do we keep on confusing and confusing this?
Kenjutsu is a samurai art, and contrary to what Mark Bishop "found" on Okinawa, every other
source that I have seen or spoken to has stated that this is an Okinawan peasant art. Karate
(happily) is not part of the Kobujutsu nor Bushido.
Keith Jakle
Replies: 1 [Table View]
3.1. Modification (Kjakle)
Well, after rereading my comments, I would offer this question.
Why study Bushido at all? What are its merits?
Also, If you look at all warrior cultures, many of them have the same ideals that Bushido does.
Why Bushido?
Lastly, back to my original concerns.. Bushido has little to do with Karate. Karate is not a samurai
art and hence, not part of the Bushido. What relevance does it have to our training in Karate?
Can a Westerner learn/teach Bushido? Is like asking if a Japanese can learn/teach baseball. Of
course I suppose you need to be admitted into a club---or do you.
There is a differencem between baseball and Bushido, baseball is still alive- we know the rules of
the game whereas Bushido ( to paraphrase a contributor to the Cyberdojo) is as "real" to the
Japanese as French Chivalry is to us. Bushido-what is it in the modern world? What has been
constructed from the past? What is "real" and what is fantasy? What issues does this question really
raise? I think they have to do with the conditions that some place on obtaining entry into their
exclusive club! The conditions are nearly absolute.
The absolute preconditions that I have encountered in the study of martial arts are usually based on
race or lineage. Race is that you have to be Japanese/Okinawan or Korean to "really" understand a
specific art to practice or teach it. Lineage is that unless you study with a Japanese/Okinawan
Master OR someone who studied under a Master you are really missing out and can never learn
the True art let alone be qualified to teach it. I actually believed these things when I was younger,
and the discovery that they were tools for exploitation and control came later with maturity.
I don't need to provide details on how in awe I once was of people who were lucky enough to
have studied on Okinawa or accepting of that "special" something they had that I coveted. It was
only after I realized that martial arts is but a part of one's overall life that I began to see how many I
held in awe were, well, losers. All they had, sadly enough, was their martial art. The people who
thumped their chests and claimed to be studying true Bushido were no more than lost souls -
Samuri Wannnabees who lived in the same sort of fabricated world of the Society for Creative
Anachronisms. The Okinawans who smirked at our feeble attempts to speak their language or do
THEIR kata, may have mocked us, but they did not mock our money. It wasn't until I was able to
admit that even people who studied for years under Master Uechi could be really have nothing to
offer. All they had was an opportunity many of us wish we had and what was really important was
what they did with their knowledge (or perception of knowledge) after their experience.
I have seen to many of my associates overtly in some cases subtly in other define their status and
power by an Okinawan experience. I have seen weak willed people eagerly follow those that had a
"true" lineage permitting all sorts of verbal, emotional and physical abuse just to have a chance to
learn that "special something." Of course it is all part of the Martial arts mystique-it has commercial
marketability and it is a very powerful tool for controlling others. How can you live Bushido in a
non-feudal world? Better, many who define themselves as students of Budo, more than likely
would have been its most unwilling victims.
The values and skills we take from Bushido or any other martial arts discipline are really
transcultural. They exist independently from style and culture. We live in a very exciting time
through our awareness of history and exposure to so many arts we can choose that which works
for us from a "martial arts" buffet and make it our own-while discarding those things that simply do
not fit. I think a cultural or racial identity can be a powerful motivater for an individual's study of any
art. However, I have met as many fine, in fact superior, martial artists who never set foot in
Okinawa or Japan, as I have those who have. On the flip side I have met and trained with men who
squandered the many years they spent under the mentorship of history's most noted Masters.
Unfortunately, the latter always have a cult of followers who define their lives by their association
with the "lineage" and whose meaning in life comes from basking in the shadow of "The great One."
These people will sacrifice much in the hopes of being admitted into an exclusive club, a club that
exists in the mists of history and the fantasy of their own minds.
Do you have to be immersed in Okinawan/Japanese culture to really be appreciative of martial
arts?-no, because what we study transcends specific cultures and lives within each of us regardless
of race, color, creed, national origin or style.
ron klein
Replies: 2
1.2. RE: This is still a question? (ugotaprablm)
Only if he can snatch the quarter from my hand before I close it!
1.1. RE: This is still a question? (StevieD)
Ron,
Well Said.
I'm a prototypical white man, well then I guess the answer is no. It's also true that I cannot have
brown eyes, survive a tropical sun, and make my hair stand on end (without chemicals).
What I can say about myself as a typical white male is that I do have unique athletic skills, and can
find my own niche. In team sports one often strives to find participants whose individual abilities
contribute to the whole. The same can be said of academic pursuits and even about relationships.
Even the mention of ethnic or sex-linked uniqueness is scary for most to deal with. No wonder -
one has to fight generations of misinformation and the heavy pressure placed on us by those who
wish to remind us of past transgressions. But one cannot escape this arena when dealing with this
topic.
I too once believed that my best bet for learning bushido was through connection with an Asian
practitioner. My first contact with martial arts was an Asian experience I'll never forget. Because I
have mixed feelings about the experence and because I do not like making disparaging remarks
about anyone if I don't have to, I will leave names out of it.
This first experience was with an extremely talented, well bred (from a line of samurai), well
schooled, emotionally mixed-up, hard-driven, uncompromising, son-of-a-bitch Japanese. In his
class I witnessed both physical and psychological abuse. While I studied the abuse at least fell into
the arena of being for a reason. You did not get beat up (and I REALLY mean beat up) unless you
had done something "wrong". If you were beat senseless with a shinai, well it was only to make you
strong and learn to look death in the eye. In my two years plus of experience with this instructor, I
can say that I did learn to fear little else other than sensei. If I could endure him, I could face
anything. I did manage to keep my individuality, although I kept it quietly in store for later use. A
move to University of Virginia meant an end to this chapter of my live.
The remaining chapters were strictly American experiences. For a long time I felt my native
experience was inferior, but opportunity left me little other choice. I did, however, avail myself of
only those experiences which seemed to be the most stimulating. In those years I found many who
had discovered meaning to practicing martial arts: a Harvard magna cum laude, a lawyer, a native
American and former green beret, a former Navy man and present business leader, etc. All these
individuals had unique experiences to offer me, and none of them involved intentional abuse. All
along my experience with my Japanese sensei remained a rosey memory in my mind.
One late winter weekend I went back "home" to a camp. Now when I say camp, it has nothing to
do with the experience that our Uechi folk are speaking of. I'm speaking of three days of pure hell.
Kneeling in 37 degree ocean water for 20 minute spells while punching, crawling on my belly over
sand dunes, 3 on 1 sparring sessions where I was the "outsider" who needed to be kept humble,
half hour sessions of legs being held six inches above the floor, etc., etc. Yea, it was an enlightening
experience alright. But what was more alarming was that this school had grown to a point where
the students treated the master with a cult-like reverence. It was no wonder. The least severe thing
I saw done to someone not "measuring up" was that they had their hair cut off with a sword.
Yes, the experience was something I survived! Survival was a big learning experience there, and I
guess it has its lessons. However the experience also taught me very clearly that there was a
HUGH difference between the messenger and the message. By then I was already making great
gains in my martial experience outside this group, and the physical/psychological torture were not
necessary tools. My experience with the Native American/green beret in particular was one that
taught me much about primal instincts and real applicaiton, and this man is one of the most gentle I
have known. He too had an endless urn of knowledge but it was void of any direct Asian
connection.
There were several other experiences which opened my eyes to a more univeral nature of what I
was working with. One was a more complete understanding of information that my great
grandfather McCarthy was passing down our family line. This man was an Irish immigrant who
fought in the Union army at age 14 to feed himself, and continued his service on the western frontier
where he saw the best and the worst of what war and carnage are about. My final paradigm shift
was in the summer of 1993 when I visited the Kremlin in Moscow. There my guide showed me the
rows and rows of French military equipment that had been left behind when Napoleon invaded
Moscow. There was also much there in memory of those that saved Moscow from Nazi invasions.
Here was a country that had been beat on again, and again, and again, and they SURVIVED. And
they actually WON their war in the fourties - with great human sacrifice.
Want a Japanese or Okinawan experience? Then you should definitely go there and immerse
yourself. Each culture has something unique to offer us all about the human experience. However
the more I see about the many human experiences around us, the more I see the common threads
that unite us all.
Bill Glasheen - Bill Glasheen
Replies: 1 [Table View]
2.1. Flaming poles (BGlasheen)
Oh, I forgot one element in the 3 day Japanese martial arts camp that I described earlier - flaming
sticks. On one night of the camp all the students stood in horse stances around a bonfire and
performed high blocks with kiais in unison. After the group was really sweating and rocking, the
sensei would then grab a flaming pole out of the fire and start wacking at peoples' heads with it.
Funny how this one slipped my mind. Actually with all the other stuff happening combined with
sleep deprivation, this performance ended up appearing as comic relief. A man in black with a
crazed look in his eyes raining flame down on my head...
And yes, it was an enlightening experience.