Empty Hand. Kenei Mabuni

1 The Essence of Budō

       1.1 The Difference between Budō and Violence

       Taking Life, Giving Life

       Karate and the Spirit of Respect (Shurei)

       The Meaning of the Karate Techniques

       The “Superhuman Techniques” of Ueshiba Morihei

       The Main Principle of Karate: The Body Follows the Mind

       1.2 Beyond the Natural Movements of the Body

       Reacting to Natural Changes

       “God-like” Techniques, and the Falling Dewdrop

       The Magic Experience of the Control of Gravity

       Ambling, and the Parallel Punch

       The Release of Power in Budō and Sports

       The Crab Walk, and “Taking the Knees out”

       2 Victory or Defeat

       2.1 Their Famous Fights

       Ōyama Masutatsu’s Report

       A Lack of Heroic Stories

       Matsumura’s Fight with his Bride

       Matsumura and the Bull they Called “the Killer”

       Knocking down a Raging Bull

       2.2 Not to Lose Means Winning

       Victory Without Struggle

       A Victory by Running Away

       Matsumura Sōkon and the Big Guy

       The “Miyamoto Musashi of the Ryūkyūs”

       2.3 The Absolute Will to Win in the Yagyū Ryū

       Sword Fighting and “Mental Cleansing”

       The “Life Saving Sword”

       Mutō Dori and the Point of Origin of Karate

       Yamaoka Tesshū and the Mutō Dori

       Karate and the Yagyū Ryū

       2.4 The “Soundless Kamae”

       The Satori of Yamaoka Tesshū

       “There is no Kamae in Karate”

       The Simultaneous Withdrawal of Both Opponents

       The Utmost Spheres of Bu Are Beyond those of Zen

       A Sword with Blunt Blade

       3 Karate as “Zen in Motion”

       3.1 The Sphere of Emptiness (Kū) in Karate

       Karate as the “Fist of the Nobles”

       The Sūpārinpai Kata and the Worldly Desires that Cause Suffering

       Karate – the Hand Reaching into the Spheres of Emptiness

       The Enlightenment of the Novelist

       The Buddha Nature in the Depths of the Heart

       3.2 “Zen in motion”, and the Rules of Breathing

       “Zen in motion” – the Unity of Body, Soul and Technique

       Arranging the Soul

       Regulating Body and Breathing

       Types and Forms of Breathing

       Yin and Yang in Breathing

       3.3 Preventing Disorder

       Methods to Prevent Disorder

       The Story of the Marvelous Techniques of the Old Cat

       Theory and Experience

       The Spirit of Death Defiance

       Preventing Disorder

       Bu – Never Accomplished

       Afterword by the Editor of the Japanese Edition

       Footnotes