Attached is an essay I recently wrote with Mr. George Rego of Florida regarding Kime no kata. フロリダのジョージ・レゴ氏と最近書いた講道館柔道の「極の形」に関するエッセイを添付します。
The “Form of Decision” is one way to translate the Japanese name, 極の形, which indicates that the kata focuses on decisive techniques, methods to finish engagements quickly and, if necessary, in a deadly fashion. 「決断の形」は、日本語名「極の形」を翻訳する方法の 1 つであり、この型が決定的なテクニック、つまり交戦を迅速に、必要に応じて致命的な方法で終了する方法に焦点を当てていることを示しています。
Kime no kata is unique in that Kanō Jigorō shihan (master) wrote that it is the heart of jūdō. But it is also arguably the oldest of the several formal Kodokan kata, drawing upon techniques from 2 koryū jūjutsu (“ancient schools” of hand to hand combat) nearly 200 years old when he and his senior students assembled a number techniques to create a “new” kata in the 1890s. Those schools in turn had adopted techniques from older schools, some documented to be as old as the 16th century. 極めの型は、嘉納治五郎師範が柔道の核心であると書いたという点でユニークです。しかし、それはまた、ほぼ200年前の2つの古流柔術流（「古代の格闘流派」）の技法を利用しており、1890年代に彼と上級の弟子たちがいくつかの技法を集めて「新しい」型を作ったもので、いくつかの講道館の正式な型の中ではおそらく最も古いものです。それらの流派は、16世紀にまで遡る古い流派の技法を採用していました。
What can today’s judoka (judo practitioner) learn from such after 500 years? Of what practical utility are such techniques today? 今日の柔道家は、500年後のそのようなものから何を学べるでしょうか？今日、そのような技法はどのような実用性があるのでしょうか？
Please take a look and let me know if you have questions or comments. This one is a bit of an experiment, so constructive comments welcome! There are more essays on a range of jūdō and martial arts topics here at www.kanochronicles.com ぜひご覧になって、質問やコメントがあればお知らせください。 柔道と武道のさまざまなトピックに関するエッセイは、こちらにあります。www.kanochronicles.com Please subscribe below to get email updates of new material.
This is a bit of an experiment for me – a narrated PowerPoint presentation regarding some portions of the life and times of Kanō Jigorō shihan. (If it doesn’t work I’ll have to pull this message and delete it.)
Please note that I intentionally read it very slowly to allow my non-native English speaking friends time to digest the slides if my words don’t make sense. If you wish to speed it up, you can speed it up to 2.0x or simply hit the <SPACEBAR> to proceed to the next slide.
Topics include: – Kanō’s childhood home in Kobe – Kanō’s activities in the government as lifetime member of the House of Peers – his contacts with the Yamaguchi Prefecture (former Choshu clan samurai) oligarchs of the new Meiji government – Kanō’s short career as student radical and political thug / yōjinbō bodyguard – Kanō and Keiko Fukuda sensei – Kanō’s travels in and commentary on America
<<<Click on the link below to start the presentation>>>>
I hope you find it of interest! As always, you can sign up for new content notifications below. For comments, you can email me at Contact@KanoChronicles.com or on the commentary links on this page.
Regards,
Lance Gatling ガトリング•ランス The Kanō Chronicles 嘉納歴代 Tokyo, Japan
Kanō Jigorō’s calligraphies are well documented. He was fairly prolific, writing various sayings he adopted for jūdō instruction, usually in a very distinct hand with a block-type script.
Recently I found a heretofore a calligraphy unmentioned by Kanō scholars and archivists in an obscure book published in the 1920s. I found it interesting enough to research it a bit and translate it from the original Chinese over two millennia old.
While Kanō wrote top to bottom / right to left, the original text can be grouped left to right top to bottom as:
道雖近 不行不至 事雖小 不為不成
Even if the Way is near, not going – you cannot arrive;
even small matters, not doing – remain incomplete.
A possible alternate translation:
Although the Dào is near, it cannot be traveled without traveling; although a matter is small, it cannot be done without doing.
My interpretation is that Kanō creates an admonition to action – to move, to do, to practice in pursuit of self-cultivation. Don’t just consider the Way, move yourself to travel it despite the hardships involved (the chapter cites many hardships).
The text is an extract from the writings of Xunzi 荀子 (JA: Junshi, 3rd century BCE), one of the most famous Confucian philosophers. The specific context is the book 脩身 Xiūshēn “Self Cultivation”, which emphasizes that a “gentleman” (i.e., a well-educated, moral, upstanding person) should act according to 礼 rei (CH: li).
“Wing-tsit Chan explains that 礼 rei / li originally meant “a religious sacrifice, but has come to mean ceremony, ritual, decorum, rules of propriety, good form, good custom, etc., and has even been equated with natural law.”[1] (English Wiki: “Li” Confucianism )
In the middle of the text for Chapter 8, Xunzi cites the Dàoist binaries 「堅白」、「同異」and「有厚無厚」.
「堅白」Jiān bai – hard / white.
「同異」Tóng yì – Alike / unalike
「有厚無厚」Yǒu hòu wú hòu – Profound / superficial
Jiān bai hard / white is a strange couple, one that is not the normal statement of opposites (e.g., Yin / Yang, hot / cold, hard / soft). It is a couple used in earlier Mohist, Dàoist (including Zhuangzi) and even ancient School of Names texts to both introduce sophistry and to criticize sophists who would argue what is hardness, what is white? What is sameness and not sameness? But it apparently over the ages it eventually became a sort of shorthand for “Speaking directly and clearly / speaking to obfuscate” or wasting time and effort in sophistry.
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Xunzi 荀子 (third century BCE) was a Confucian philosopher, sometimes reckoned as the third of the three great classical Confucians (after Confucius and Mencius). For most of imperial Chinese history, however, Xunzi was a bête noire who was typically cited as an example of a Confucian who went astray by rejecting Mencian convictions. Only in the last few decades has Xunzi been widely recognized as one of China’s greatest thinkers.
While Xunzi is not included in the normal, basic Chinese classics education that Kanō began at 6 or 7 years of age, which focuses on the 四書五経 Shisho Gokyō The Four Books and the Five Classics, he later studied at what is today Nishogakusha University, at the time a juku private school focused on ancient Chinese texts. (The Five Classics: Book of Odes, Book of Documents, Book of Changes, Book of Rites, and the Spring and Autumn Annals. The Four Books: the Doctrine of the Mean, the Great Learning, Mencius, and the Analects, the core books of the Confucian canon.)
As always, I use the fabulous Chinese Text Project http://www.ctext.org to research the ancient texts. “The Chinese Text Project is an online open-access digital library that makes pre-modern Chinese texts available to readers and researchers all around the world. The site attempts to make use of the digital medium to explore new ways of interacting with these texts that are not possible in print. With over thirty thousand titles and more than five billion characters, the Chinese Text Project is also the largest database of pre-modern Chinese texts in existence.”
On this calligraphy, Kanō shihan’s pen name is written by the three small vertical characters on the far left of the scroll, 進乎斎 followed below by two seals stamped in black ink (this may be a black and white photo with the original seals in red, the normal convention).
「進乎斎」Shinkosai, used in this calligraphy, was Kanō’s pen name in his 60’s, namely 1920 to 1930. 進乎斎 Shinkosai is thought to be a reference to certain writings of 莊子 Zhūangzi (Chinese for “Master Zhūang”, Japanese: Sōshi), one of the most influential philosophers of the Dào (Chinese: Dào 道 , Japanese: Dō, often earlier in the West as Tao), “The Way”, active during China’s Warring States period [350 BC-250 BC]. Shinko 進乎 (progress) appears in two noted passages of his most important text, the Zhūangzi, one of the two foundational Daoist texts along with the Dào De Jing. The sai 斎 of Shinkosai is an old Japanese variant of the traditional Chinese character 齋 zhāi (simplified today as 斋) which means “to fast” or “study”, so Shinkosai means something like “progress through fasting”. In this sense “fasting” means the Dàoist discipline of focusing the spirit to learn the Way and the true nature of things by isolating the spirit from the distractions of perceptions of the physical world (represented by “hearing”), emotions and thought. (Handler S, 2022 communication).
The Zhūangzhi chapter thought to be the source of Kanō’s pen name is the 2500 year old Dàoist tale of a master butcher. Lord Wen-hui, captivated by the evident skill of the Butcher Ding (in some translations Ting), asked how Ding can so effortlessly butcher entire oxen.
Cook Ding replied that he only cared about the Way, which exceeded skill. But when he first began butchering oxen, all he could see was the ox. After three years he no longer saw the whole ox. Finally, he said, he proceeded by spirit alone and didn’t even look with his eyes. His skill was so effortless and insight so powerful that he never even had to sharpen his blade, using the same one for years, and the ox carcasses simply fell apart under his blade. Perception and understanding had stopped and he had proceeded to the point that his spirit moved where it wanted (Watson B, 2013), meaning it was in accordance with the Way of the Dao.
What I think Kanō meant by adopting such a pen name in his 60’s was that he was proclaiming he, too, had progressed beyond mere perception and thought and had learned to only seek the Way through his spirit. Even though Kanō paid tribute to Japanese tradition and nearly 2500 year old Dàoist thought by his choice of a pen name rooted in an ancient text, for Kanō the Way he sought to follow was not the Way of the Dào, but rather the Way of jūdō, which means “The Way of Flexibility.” Kanō defined that Way in part through the phrases 精力善用自他共栄 Seiryoku Zenyō Jita Kyōei, Best Use of Energy / Mutual Benefit, the modern jūdō philosophies he derived from the late 19th century writings of Herbert Spencer and other English Utilitarian philosophers he studied at the then new Tokyo University in his youth. (Gatling L, 2021)
Kanō was saying that he no longer needed perception of the physical world (hearing or seeing) or thought (knowledge or emotion) to employ the techniques that initially guided his pursuit of his Way, but now sought to proceed through the understanding and learning of his spirit alone. Having practiced for so many years, he could proceed simply by keeping his spirit focused on the Way. Without conscious thought he could accomplish the smaller things addressed by his perceptions and mind, honed by years of constant training and attentive practice of the Way of jūdō. He no longer saw people and situations, but looked beyond them to see the Way. In this he equated his understanding and skills with that of the estimable Butcher Ding.
This is not a surprise, given Kanō’s belief that dedicated study of jūdō could provide a level of 悟 satori enlightenment equal to that to be gained through intensely practicing 座禅 zazen seated Zen mediation for a decade or more. (Gatling L, 2022)
Examples of the calligraphy of Kanō shihan are abundant. Beyond a number of apparent fakes available (some pretty accurate simulations of a number of his different writing styles), Kanō offered to and did brush any number of calligraphy 掛け軸 kakejiku hanging scrolls and other materials for jūdō dōjō opening ceremonies, decorations for established dōjō and individuals (most often when overseas), and for other occasions. The overseas calligraphies of Kanō are notable in that most lack the red-inked seals he normally used while creating calligraphy at home in Japan.
I find one in particular very striking. In it Kanō shihan speaks of the importance of education and its ability to affect a “thousand far generations”.
「教育之事天下莫偉焉徳教 一人徳教廣加萬人 一世化育遠及百世」
The difficulty of roughly dating Kanō’s calligraphy, as they are seldom dated, is considerably eased by his use of pen names, names he changed over time at significant ages. On this calligraphy, Kanō shihan’s pen name is written by the three small vertical characters on the far left of the scroll, 進乎斎 followed below by two seals stamped in read ink.
The three pen names Kanō shihan used were: 「甲南」・「進乎斎」・「帰一斎」. This is marked with the second, which is a reference to a tale 2500 years old……
(to continue reading, click on the READ MORE link below)
Or, more often cited in the West, but less correctly ‘Softness overcomes strength’ [3]
This saying is used to describe the core philosophy of jūjutsu – do not fight strength against strength, but rather deflect or avoid to neutralize the power thus wasted in attacking you.
But that is only the introductory line of the Upper Strategy, a portion of a much longer text. The complete primary text of the Upper Strategy of The Three Strategies of Huang Shingong (Chinese: 黃石公三略: Huang shigong sanlüe) from nearly 2250 years ago reads:
The primary purpose of the strategy was to cultivate effective interpersonal relations for leaders and rulers, how to deal with their own people. In the extended commentary it is clearly about dealing with subordinates first. The extension of the strategy since then was how to deal with non-subordinates, including enemies.
As one of China’s Seven Military Classics, this work has been studied for over 2000 years as one of China’s most important traditional schools of strategic thought.
Regarding its use in describing jūdō, apparently Kanō shihan thought it was insufficient to capture his vision; therefore, he developed his own explanation of the basic principles of jūdō that went through various versions, but eventually he settled on:
Seiryoku zen’yō Jita kyōei
This is typically translated into English as:
Best Use of Energy / Mutual Benefit
The origin of Kanō’s jūdō philosophies is complex, a tale that is explored in The Origins and Development of Kanō Jigorō’s Jūdō Philosophies by Lance Gatling, International Judo Federation Arts and Science of Judo , Vol. 1, No. 2, December 2021, pages 50-64, available at
[1] Japanese and Chinese use thousands of four character ideograms called yojijukugo in Japanese. These are used as in a wide array of situations from sayings to mnemonics to short hand for long stories or legends. Many are thousands of years old.
[2] 柔能制剛 Jū nō sei gō is Chinese. It is rendered in Japanese as 柔よく制剛 jū yoku sei gō the quality of flexibility / softness controls rigidity / hardness.
[3] The author contends that the typical translation of jū into English as ‘softness’ is neither correct nor appropriate in historical context and for the purposes of understanding jūjtsu or jūdō.
[4] “San Lüe 三略 (Three Strategies) is divided into three parts: Shang Lüe 上略, Zhong Lüe 中略, and Xia Lüe 下略. The first two parts quote from military writings of the past, Jun Chen 軍讖 (Military Prophecies) and Jun Shi 軍勢 (Military Power) and elaborates them, while the third part is the author’s own discussion. Some attribute the work to Huang Shigong 黃石公, but in recent research, it is said that this book was written by an anonymous person between the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). “
From: The Governing Principles of Ancient China, Volume 2 – Based on 360 passages excerpted from the original compilation of Qunshu Zhiyao (The Compilation of Books and Writings on the Important Governing Principles), pg 508. Seri Kembangan, Malaysia: Chung Hua Cultural Education Centre, 2014.
Author note to FN 4: It is also entirely possible, indeed, perhaps likely that the Military Prophecies is in fact a fabrication added to imbue this work with more gravitas by “quoting” a much more ancient text than the newer work itself would import, as it seems there are no indications outside the Three Strategies that the Military Prophecies ever existed. Such a fabrication is not unknown in ancient Chinese texts (and those of other cultures).
Notes:
The entire work’s name in English is usually rendered as the The Three Strategies of Huang Shigong.
The Shang Lüe 上略, Zhong Lüe 中略, and Xia Lüe 下略 are respectively the Upper Strategy, the Middle Strategy, and the Lower Strategy.
The exact date of the Military Prophecies seems unknown but appears to be around 2400 years old.
The Kanō Chronicles: The Untold History of Modern Japan® (嘉納歴代史:知らず近代日本史®) is the result of over 15 years of research into the life and times of Kanō Jigorō, 嘉納治五郎 (1860-1938), the founder of jûdô 柔道. In traditional jūdō texts and by today’s jūdōka 柔道家 (judo practitioners) he is normally addressed as ‘Kano shihan’ 師範 (Master Kano).*
No English or Japanese language biographies of Kano shihan capture the complexity of the man and his times. Even the best Japanese biographies are often narrow, typically focused on Kano’s jūdō, education, sports, or Olympic activities, or some combination thereof. There are exceptions, but they are rare and difficult to digest, even for native Japanese, and have escaped the attention of Western researchers.
Context is important, and detailed historical context is not part of Western biographies of Kano. One example can be seen below, in a rare English explanation by Kano shihan of the ‘True Spirit of Judo’.
When I was still young, I learned various types of “jujitsu”.** However, I found it difficult to discover the fundamental principles that decide as to which is the correct method because the teaching of each type was different. Thereupon, in order that I might find out the fundamental principle somehow or other, I began to study seriously. And, in the course of time, I was able to succeed in discovering it. What is this fundamental principle? It is to let our spirit and bodies work most effectively in order to accomplish our purpose, whenever we wish to throw others down, or cut, push, or kick others.
— Kano Jigoro, ‘True Spirit of Judo’, 1938
Rather than the ‘true spirit of jūdō’, a more complete context of the article reveals this to be only the lowest, simplest definition of jūdō espoused by Kanō shihan, meant only as the beginning of a much more complex discussion. As the rest of his discussion is thought not pertinent to today’s sports judo, it is typically discarded, thus lost to generations of judoka who are left with the notion that the epitome of his philosophy is physically controlling your opponent effectively.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Kanō Chronicles™ provides the history of Kanō shihan in the context of his times. He lived in a unique period of history, namely the development of Japan from an isolated, feudal backwater to one of the largest empires in history. His patrons, peers, and pupils included princes, prime ministers, politicians, philosophers, prophets, priests, political puppet masters, puppeteers, paupers, oligarchs, generals, admirals, academics, assassins, the assassinated, mandarins, revolutionaries, counterrevolutionaries, reactionaries, samurai, spies, spy masters, sumotori, strike breakers, chancellors, commoners, Christians, Chinese, Confucianists, Communists, women and Class A war criminals.
Kanō shihan personally participated in the initial formation and subsequent reforms of Japan’s education, language, sports, ethics, teacher and moral training, indeed the development and dissemination of its very culture. He thus left an indelible mark on the nation, indeed much of the Empire through the education of thousands of teachers, judoka and their millions of students.
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* In keeping with the tradition, Japanese names are given in the order LastName FirstName. Note that in the era under study, Japanese often changed their first / given names in recognition of phases or changes in their lives; becoming an adult, reaching 60 years of age, or at any age to designate some eventful political or personal event. Sometimes, frequently; sometimes, in accordance with the stages of life, or simply whimsically. Some phases were chronological: 50, 60, 70, or 80 years old. Nicknames or pen names if known are given in single quotes, ala ‘Konan’, Kano shihan’s penname for calligraphy until his 60th birthday.
** The transliteration of Japanese into Western characters has changed over more than 100 years of use to settle on the current system. This site and associated works use older, nonstandard terms such as jujitsu, jiujutsu, jiudo, Kodokwan, etc. only in direct quotations. Today the rendering of these Japanese terms in Roman letters is unequivocal and universal; judo, jujutsu, Kodokan, etc.
Lance Gatling Author / Lecturer The Kanō Chronicles Tokyo, Japan Contact@kanochronicles.com – please send a note to give us feedback. Thank you!
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