Karatedo no Kokoro e

In his latter years, as he took more and more to calligraphy, Chibana Choshin began giving away some of his work to friends and students. Jokingly, when he gave a copy of "butoku" to Mr. Masahiro Nakamoto, he commented, "I want you to have this. It is not worth much now, but when I die it might have some value."

To my sensei and three others, Chibana gave a document he penned in shoudo entitled "Karatedo no Kokoro e." A rough translation is "To the Heart of Karate" or "To the Essence of Karate." It was first translated into English by Mr. Sam Kitamura, an American linguist who worked for the United States-Ryukyu Relations before the reversion of Okinawa to Japan in 1972. It is Chibana's five precepts of karate. All begin with hitotsu, indicating that all five carry equal importance. It is brief, and all precepts are terse fragments, some just single words.

Karatedo no Kokoro e

--Courtesy

--Through physical training one can cultivate the mind

--Maximum effort

--Avoid unnecessary fights; martial arts are to defend against unexpected calamities

--Chivalry