Masayuki Shimabukuro - Karate as the Art of Killing: A Study of Its Deadly Origins, Ideology of Peace, and the Techniques of Shito-Ryu

Copyright 2022 by Masayuki Shimabukuro and Leonard J. Pellman. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout written permission of the publisher. For information contact Blue Snake Books c/o North Atlantic Books.

Published by Blue Snake Books, an imprint of North Atlantic Books
Berkeley, California
Cover art Elina Li/Shutterstock.com
Cover design by Jasmine Hromjak
Book design by Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Karate As the Art of Killing: A Study of Its Deadly Origins, Ideology of Peace, and the Techniques of Shit-Ry is sponsored and published by North Atlantic Books, an educational nonprofit based in Berkeley, California, that collaborates with partners to develop cross-cultural perspectives, nurture holistic views of art, science, the humanities, and healing, and seed personal and global transformation by publishing work on the relationship of body, spirit, and nature.

North Atlantic Books publications are distributed to the US trade and internationally by Penguin Random House Publisher Services. For further information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com.

PLEASE NOTE: The creators and publishers of this book disclaim any liabilities for loss in connection with following any of the practices, exercises, and advice contained herein. To reduce the chance of injury or any other harm, the reader should consult a professional before undertaking this or any other martial arts, movement, meditative arts, health, or exercise program. The instructions and advice printed in this book are not in any way intended as a substitute for medical, mental, or emotional counseling with a licensed physician or healthcare provider.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Shimabukuro, Masayuki, 1948 author. | Pellman, Leonard J., author.
Title: Karate as the art of killing / Masayuki Shimabukuro and Leonard J.
Pellman. Description: Berkeley, California : Blue Snake Books, 2022. | Includes
index. | Summary: A comprehensive exploration of the deadly origins of
karate-dand its accompanying philosophy of peace, self-sacrifice,
compassion, and serviceProvided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021036244 (print) | LCCN 2021036245 (ebook) | ISBN
9781623176617 (paperback) | ISBN 9781623176624 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: KarateHistory. | KaratePhilosophy.
Classification: LCC GV1114.3 .S465 2022 (print) | LCC GV1114.3 (ebook) |
DDC 796.815/309dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021036244
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021036245

To future budoka
We struggled for months over whom to dedicate this book to. We had already dedicated Katsujinken to Shimabukuro Hanshis Shit-Ry sensei, Mabuni Kenz and Hayashi Teru, so it would have been redundant to dedicate Karate As the Art of Killing to them as well. Another logical choice would have been Mabuni Kenwa, the founder of Shit-Ry, whose desire to unify karate-d, rather than splinter it into the many styles and factions it has become, was a major inspiration to the authors.
Following his untimely death, another excellent choice would have been Shimabukuro Hanshi, but as the coauthor of the book, it might have seemed self-aggrandizing to do so.
Eventually, the answer to a simple question provided the solution to our dilemma: who did we actually write this book for, and why? We wrote it for the future generations of karateka, hoping that it would inspire them to return to the roots of the art in their training.
So, it is to those future generationsthe karateka who are just now beginning their training, as well as those yet unbornto whom we dedicate this book. We do so in the earnest hope that the maturing karateka who are reading it now will devote themselves to nurturing those future karateka as their sempai and sensei to become generations who practice karate-d as the art and lifestyle it was intended to be.

This book would not have been possible without the support, encouragement, and assistance of countless people whose contributions were no less important than those we have named in these acknowledgmentskarateka on whom the techniques in this book were tested, beta readers who provided valuable feedback on its contents, and those who worked behind the scenes to create it. We are grateful to and for them all.

A special word of thanks is due to Shimabukuro Kanako sensei, widow of the late coauthor, Shimabukuro Masayuki Hanshi, for authorizing its publication and providing support and advocating its completion, without which it would not have been possible.

The photographs used in all the instructional portions of this book were taken by Bill Villarreal. He contributed far more than merely pressing the shutter button. His professionalism, his eye for lighting, layout, and presentation, and his appreciation for the concepts we were trying to convey were essential to the clarity of the information presented.

Mr. Samuel Mills, a student of coauthor Pellman shihan for over fifteen years, was the model assisting Pellman shihan in the instructional photographs. He endured hours in the heat and glare of studio lights to help make this book possible, and the authors are deeply grateful for his assistance.

The cover initially envisioned by the authors was austeremerely the title and authors names without any images in order to strike readers with its simplicity and uniqueness. However, the design created and proposed by Ms. Jasmine Hromjak so vividly captured the essence of the book and so greatly impressed the people asked to critique it that it was immediately recognized as visually superior. We are immensely grateful to Ms. Hromjak for her stellar contribution to this work.

When Shimabukuro Masayuki Hanshi and I wrote Katsujinken: Living Karate and the Way to Self-Mastery in 2006, we were not attempting to write a treatise specifically about Shit-Ry karate-d. Instead, as we emphasized in its Authors Note, Katsujinken was intended from the outset to serve as a generic overview of the principles, philosophy, and fundamentals of karate-d that would apply and appeal to practitioners of every style of karate and every form of fisticuffs. In that Authors Note we stated, You will find that the principles taught in this book will readily apply to any Japanese or Okinawan style of karate, as well as to tae kwon do, tang soo do, hapkido, soo bahk do, kenp, kung fu, American free-style, kajukenbo, boxing, and savate. Our goal in writing Katsujinken was essentially twofold: to provide a reference resource that would benefit practitioners of any form of hand-to-hand combative art, and to encourage them to adopt a peacemaking and life-preserving attitude and philosophy in their practice of those arts.

Even while we were writing and editing Katsujinken, we began discussing the need for a book specific to the Shit-Ry style. Almost immediately after the first printing of Katsujinken was released in 2006, Hanshi and I began work on the second edition of Flashing Steel: Mastering Eishin-Ryu Swordsmanship, which was published in 2008. Soon after that, Hanshi suggested that we begin work on the follow-up to Katsujinken with a specific focus on Shit-Ry. By that time it was clear that