Isshinryu: Myths and Legends

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In Isshinryu, as in any other belief or thing, myths are traditional stories, especially concerning histories and people, that explains some natural or social phenomenon that is widely held but a false belief or idea - mostly. A legend is a traditional story popularly regarded and factual and authenticate but actually is unauthenticated and it also applies to people, especially in a particular field or in this case a discipline. 

Over the last forty or so years I have, in all probability, heard all the myths and legends regarding Isshinryu and its creator, Shimabuku Tatsuo-san, that are held as gospel yet when you consider some other factors in the research toward validation and proof to be somewhat mythical and legendary in nature rather than true facts and proof. 

In Scott Adams’ most recent post he makes a few statements that when tweaked point toward the why and how such historical facts as true beleifs are more myth and legend than otherwise. 

“No matter how much research I do on my own, a real climate scientist will still know things that I don’t know I don’t know. If I do my own research on climate science, all I will know in the end is what I do know. And that’s not enough for any kind of credible evaluation. The stuff I don’t know could easily be more important than the things I do know. One would need to live in a particular industry, the way a climate scientist does, to have any confidence that all the important variables are being considered.” - Scott Adams, What if Climate Change Causes more CO2?

Let me rewrite it a bit to better provide my reasoning as an example. 

“No matter how much research I do on my own, a real karate professional/expert will still know things that I don’t know I don’t know. If I do my own research on Isshinryu’s history, etc., all I will know in the end is what I do know. And that’s not enough for any kind of credible evaluation. The stuff I don’t know could easily be more important than the things I do know. One would need to live in a particular discipline, culture and belief system, the way a person who lives in that discipline, culture and belief system does, to have any confidence that all the important variables are being considered.”

So, to start, I have lived and breathed the discipline of Isshinryu for a bit over forty years. I have also studied it and its associated disciplines of martial arts and karate for that same period of time with greater effort and emphasis in the last decade or so. I consider myself an expert and professional practitioner, sensei and philosopher of karate, martial arts (in general) and philosopher, etc. Even with all this I still only know the things I know and there are always going to be things I don’t know and that I don’t know I don’t know. In Isshinryu particularly there is only one source of definitive source that knows it all and he has long since passed away. 

None of the students of the discipline whether they studied under the creator or not can truly know it all. Providing what I believe are facts and by demonizing anyone who may refute, discuss or argue against my version just makes me less credible, even if I am right and that is the crux of most proverbial facts of Isshinryu regardless of the sources. 

Every one of the first five original Isshinryu first-generation students who brought Isshinryu to the America’s in the late fifties and early sixties, all have their own versions of what Tatsuo-san wanted of his creation and students. No one, and I mean no one, did any real in-depth digging to find the true facts of all that transpired with Tatsuo-san before we came, while we trained and studies and after we left to bring it here to the good ole US of A. 

Everyone has the true history; everyone has the true teachings of the creator; everyone teaches and studies the traditional and traditions of Isshinryu, Tatsuo-san and Okinawan karate and YET they all disagree and you have to wonder, since they all are of solid integrity, honesty and of moral standing, who has it right. 

This began the long time effort of an attempt to gather in what ever form that meets the needs, beliefs and proofs that would finally and irrevocably refute the beliefs, etc. of those others that has not gotten the job done yet in over fifty plus years of American Isshinryu. 

What happens, especially since there is NO written documentation by the Okinawans or the karate community that includes Tatsuo-san, is each faction leadership will work hard to resolve the issue by providing more, “Facts and proofs” along with vehement refutation of others views, opinions, proofs and beliefs. All this does, in the long run, is systematically reduce the credibility of those professing the truth and facts over time, outside their respective groups of course, even in the face of right or wrong on either side of the dojo. 

What is the cause, well in my feelings it is both “Cognizant Dissonance and Conformation Bias!”

p.s. I am guilty of this as well, after all I have given and written a great deal on the subject that smells of more facts on why I believe what I believe I know even knowing that I don’t know of things I don’t know and so on. 

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