The Concept of Justice in the Martial Arts
Justice is the process of deciding what is fair, what is right, and what is wrong. In the martial arts world, it appears that justice has taken a back seat to making money and appeasing the overblown egos of many so-called martial artists. In today’s martial arts culture, we see people being promoted in belt rank, not according to their skills and character development, but in an effort to maintain student enrollment numbers or simply for profit. There is little to no regard for the character of the student, and many times, no regard for the student’s actual martial arts skill set.
Since my style is Shotokan Karate, I will speak from a karate point of view. When Master Gichin Funakoshi was alive and teaching karate, it was not an easy task to be promoted to the rank of black belt. Master Funakoshi would actually not promote a student to the rank of black belt, even if he had all the necessary skills for the rank of Shodan, if he did not see that the student’s character had not also developed to a higher level.
Master Teruyuki Okazaki, who I am honored to been promoted by during my earlier days as a karate-ka, actually had to test with Master Funakoshi three times before he was promote to the rank of Shodan. He stated that even though he had all the skills necessary for the rank of Shodan, Master Funakoshi would not promote him until he saw more character development. Master Okazaki is regarded as one of the greatest martial arts masters of our time, and yet he had to train for years, and test for his Shodan three times, before he was awarded the rank of Shodan.
To Master Funakoshi, the main goal of karate was to seek the perfection of character, not simply the development of the physical side of karate. To many martial arts students today, this may seem like a miscarriage of justice. They would argue that karate is about self-defense and that rank promotion should be based on whether or not a student has developed the required physical skills for each belt rank. But that is not the way Master Funakoshi saw the issue.
The third of Master Funakoshi’s Niju Kun, or The Twenty Precepts of Karate, is: One who practices karate must follow the way of justice. Master Funakoshi saw justice as doing things the right way and felt that in order to do things right, one must be honest with himself. He felt that the person who is not honest with himself would not be honest with others.
Knowing the path is different than walking the path. Some people may know how a true martial artist should conduct himself or herself, but that does not mean that they actually conduct themselves in that way. If someone does not conduct himself as a true martial artist, then he does not meet the true requirements of being a black belt or of holding an advanced rank in the martial arts. This is the concept of justice in the martial arts.
Those who are promoting students to the rank of black belt or advanced ranks simply based on their memorization of katas or certain kicks, blocks, strikes, etc., without regard to the students’ character, are not enacting justice in their dojo. You cannot be adhering to the concept of justice if you are ignoring flaws in someone’s character, but promoting that student anyway.
Master Funakoshi stated that “spirit and mind are more important than technique.” This is actually the fifth Niju Kun, and this truism seems to have been forgotten in our current martial arts culture. I can give you example after example of so-called martial artists who have paid for rank that they did not earn and paid for honors which they do not deserve. If you are selling rank or fraudulent martial arts hall of fame honors, then you are not honest or just. Likewise, if you are deliberately buying your belt rank or hall of fame honors, then you are being dishonest with yourself, as well as others, and you know that you are not being just.
The martial arts community needs to get its house in order and get back to focusing on what is right and wrong, instead of continuing to promote hollow appearances meant to deceive new students and to increase marketing power. The martial arts were never supposed to be about making money; they were supposed to be about developing character and self-defense skills. Too many martial arts instructors and practitioners seem to have forgotten about the concept of justice and honesty, and are instead focused on money and marketing. Character and justice matters, and it is time for the martial arts world to realize that spirit and mind are indeed more important than technique or superficial appearances. Shihan Bohdi Sanders
Bohdi Sanders holds the rank of 5th Dan in Shotokan Karate and is an award-winning and bestselling author of 16 books which focus on wisdom and character development integrated with the martial arts. Shihan Sanders’ books can be found on his website: TheWisdomWarrior.com or on Amazon.
