09/16/2025
On kamae (or, being ready to die)
One time after class, I asked Sensei about kamae and how to be ready in a fight. I asked if different poses from kata were ready positions. He said the kata only has a few actual kamae in the sense of a ready posture. He said pretty much everything in kata is “Already happen” so you didn’t wait or have a chance to “make ready”. He said the first move of kata (the yoi position) was really the only ready posture. Once again, he said that in Shorin ryu you attack as soon as you know there’s going to be an attack and you don’t wait for it. He said when he was young you had to always be ready because there were a lot of fights and especially if you went out at nighttime. He said most fights weren’t challenges but rather sneak attacks. So how you enter a room, sit, how your drink, turn a corner, carry objects; all was done bearing risk in mind. (One time we were at Panera’s for lunch and he asked me how many exits there were. I looked around and said “two”. “No,” he replied, “Three. The kitchen always has a door. You need to know.”)
I then asked about free sparring and he said that’s very different because you’re not trying to really hurt the other person or kill them and they are not trying to kill you. He said that is a different mindset because you don’t need to be ready to die. And he said this in all seriousness. He then went on to say that the way you look is different in each situation. In free sparring he says you can look anywhere you want and maybe even smile and joke. But in real fighting he said it’s serious because you might die and he gave a very solemn and grave expression on his face with a deep intensity in his eyes. He said sometimes if you just have a strong look, a person won’t fight you. He said they know that you’re okay to die and they don’t want to do that so they back off. He then told a story of Matsumura having done this to avoid a fight and said “it’s good self defense”.
There is also the time Gusukuma Shinpan was attacked by a mob and he lured them onto a path between the paddies. He said, “I know I can’t fight you all and you will kill me, but whoever attacks first I will certainly kill.” At that, the crowd dispersed.
