(This article was written for the official newspaper of Shorei-Kan USA in 1982)

 

How do you even begin to write an article on Okinawa Shorei-Kan? We should first say that the words are not enough for a correct description. That said we proceed.

First: at its most simple and most obvious level, Shorei-Kan is a martial art; a system of defense and attack. After a few years of practice, however, it becomes clear that it takes decades and decades of training to be able to respond to an attack instinctively fighting back simultaneously.

Second: it is a system of exercises that develop strength, speed, coordination, flexibility, balance and resistance

Third: it is a wonderful set of movements that involve grace, style and expression. The movements, similar to a dance, intricate and increasingly complex produce both a sense of calm and excitement.

Finally: at its highest level, more abstract and more difficult to observe, is a system of meditation and control of the body and mind. This aspect, which takes a long time to be explored is the one that characterizes the true Shorei-Kan.

After studying for five years I can only begin to suspect what this meditation promises.

Shorei-Kan is simply the best education system I've ever seen. As a teacher I am perfectly aware of the many shortcomings of modern education in our country. The entire curriculum of Shorei-Kan is wonderfully structured: from its non-competitive basis, to its gradually increasing sophistication of the techniques up to the frequent skim. The Masters have realized that learning involves constant skim. They also knew that the most important competition is against yourself.

As any student of any subject knows, ultimately a school grows or falls with the quality of the teacher. Master Tamano reaches almost the perfect balance between a consistent and constant encouragement to one side and an energetic pressure to advance the students on the other.

I think it is obvious that the Shorei-Kan was and is a positive experience for me and I intend to do of this wonderful art my lifetime study.

 

Michael Kahn

(Professor at Columbia University in New York)