Jeff Reach

This is an excerpt from a book that I have been in the process of writing.  This particular section comes from a section on titles used in the martial arts.  These titles are typically separate from rank.  I am also not including all the titles covered in the book, but instead selected a few that are used by organizations that I am affiliated with.

I have removed much of the narrative and only included the translations which were gathered from Jim Breen's site, my personal library & personal notes.

Phrases in italics after the Japanese term is the English translation (my personal selection of terms used to translate) of the kanji used.  The phrase placed in () give the more commonly used definition.

Enjoy....


Jyoshu – Assist Hand.  (Assistant)

助 help; rescue; assist

手 hand

FUKU SHIDOIN – Assistant put in charge of guiding. (Assistant Instructor)

副  vice-; duplicate; copy

指  finger; point to; indicate; put into; play (chess); measure (ruler)

導  guidance; leading; conduct; usher

員 employee; member; number; the one in charge

SHIDOIN – One put in charge of guiding. (Instructor)

指  finger; point to; indicate; put into; play (chess); measure (ruler)

導  guidance; leading; conduct; usher

員 employee; member; number; the one in charge

TASSHI SHIDOIN – An accomplished instructor put in charge of guiding.(Senior Instructor)

達  accomplished; reach; arrive; attain

指  finger; point to; indicate; put into; play (chess); measure (ruler)

導  guidance; leading; conduct; usher

員 employee; member; number; the one in charge

RENSHI – Polished/tempered gentleman. (Senior Instructor) {More modern usage.  Replaced Tasshi by the DNBK in the early 1900's.

錬 tempering; refine; drill; train; polish

士 gentleman; samurai; samurai radical 

SHIHAN DAI – Substitute master model. – (Assistant Master)

師  expert; teacher; master; model; exemplar; army (incl. counter); war 

範  pattern; example; model

代  substitute; change; convert; replace; period; age; counter for decades of ages, eras, etc.; generation; charge; rate; fee 

SHIHAN – Master Model - (Master)

師  expert; teacher; master; model; exemplar; army (incl. counter); war 

範  pattern; example; model

HANSHI – Model Gentleman. – (Senior Master)

範 pattern; example; model

士 gentleman; samurai; samurai radical

Kyoshi – Gentlemen Teacher – (Senior Master)

教 teach; faith; doctrine

士 gentleman; samurai; samurai radical

People often ask, why did I create a new style i.e. Shintaiwa when you could simply teach Chi Gung (Qi Gong)?  My stock answer has always been:

It was created to fill the needs of a niche group of individuals who desired to learn a non combative art form that would enhance their physical and mental well being without being constrained or forced into a situation where their personal spiritual beliefs where being compromised.

Today a friend sent me an article from the National Geographic and in that article was this quote by the head Abbot Yongxin, of the Shaolin Temple in China.  

"By registering the Shaolin brand name in other countries, promoting Shaolin traditional cultures, including kung fu, we're having people around the world know better and believe in Zen Buddhism." Yongxin

Wow!  I was shocked, it was something that was whispered in the kung fu circles, and something I had experience with as well, but I never thought I would read it in print.  Especially from the head Abbot of the Shaolin Temple.

 Please understand it's not that I am anti-Buddhist, but as a Christian I always felt uncomfortable learning a martial art, whether internal or external, where there was an overt effort to push a religion different than my own.  I always believed that learning a martial system should be and can be completely separate from any specific religion.  It was this driving force that caused me to re-evaluate the current methodologies I was training in and teaching and to condense and re-formulate them into a completely different system of study with the aim of improving health and well being without pushing a particular spiritual ideology.  

I love the Martial Arts and have dedicated my life to the study of many styles of arts.  I appreciate and recognize the differences in the various styles and relish in what they offer to human existence.  That said, I am also aware of their limitations and in my opinion the integration of religion into a martial discipline is inappropriate and can lead down a dangerous path.


For the full article in National Geographic, click here.
For more information on Shintaiwa, click here.

With the popularity of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and Cage Fighting its becoming more and more common to have prospective students inquire about training at our school for these types of events.  Recently I responded to one of these inquires and I thought I would share a portion of what I sent in reply.


The areas that are Italics are direct quotes from my reply.  The areas that are using normal font are where I expand on my explanation for the purpose of this blog.


The martial arts although a wonderful sport, whether that be MMA, Olympic Judo, amateur Jujitsu, Olympic Karate, or any other martial art sport, should not be the primary focus for ones training.  The true purpose of the arts are twofold.  First, and foremost the arts exist to prepare one for battle, whether that be self-defense or true combat.  Second and quite honestly more important is the integration of the life building principles that improve our lives through the rigorous training and study of the methods of combat.  Now, many of the modern practitioners of the arts including many of the modern gyms for MMA and Boxing have lost sight of both of these principles. 


As an example, many countries around the world are now selecting top level athletes to be members of their countries Olympic Karate Team and teaching them a handful of kicks and punches.  Because they are a good athlete they can be trained to compete in just about any sport and will likely have some success, but their ability to understand the principles of real combat situations are skewed.  It is skewed because of a lack of deeper understanding.  In Dojo training we will often learn to defend against knife attacks, gun attacks, club attacks, multiple attackers etc... none of which exist in the sport world because they are not allowed according to the rules.  Unfortunately in the world of combat there are no rules.  


In addition because of the focus on sport they lose sight of the tremendous benefits that a more traditional approach to learning can bring to their life.  Instead of life being about winning only,  students of a traditional approach will learn the tremendous benefits that are held in ideals such as compassion, courtesy, integrity, discipline, humility and honor.  Sure, some of these can be learned in a sport environment but unfortunately in most cases it is not.  A quick look at the NBA, NFL or just about any professional sport will quickly show how fast people trade values and morals for money and fame.


When one compares the amount of time we spend in competition and or combat to the amount of time we spend as a citizen, a son, daughter, brother, sister, mother or father etc.... it pales in comparison.  Therefore if your willing to spend so much time preparing yourself for something such as combat or sport wouldn't it make sense that it would have a far reaching impact on your daily life which will ultimately grant you greater rewards than that which you will achieve in the ring?

Now, with all that said, I love sport.  I think sport aids us in our understanding of certain combat principles and can have a great impact on our ability to deal with stressful situations.  The main issue I have had with MMA and other full contact no protection style sports is the damage that is done to the body.  If my ultimate aim is to be able to protect myself and my loved ones, my sport should have the smallest impact on my ability to do those two things.  If the sport I choose damages my body to the point that I am unable to protect myself or others it inhibits my true goal which is self protection and preservation of those I love.  Because of this I have not openly taught an MMA style sport program to this point, but things are changing and the rules of MMA are evolving to take athlete health into consideration.

Do I teach mixed martial arts?  You bet; but I require that my students learn them as individual components as opposed to just learning a bag of tricks without the full benefit of understanding. We run a traditional martial arts training facility where respect, courtesy, humility and perseverance are among the most highly regarded traits.  We do not operate a gym atmosphere where people come and go as they please and work on whatever they want to work on.  We have a structured curriculum, formal class plans and instructors who have been trained by me personally and are not hired for a job.  

Fact:  Tae Kwon Do (no matter how you spell it) has its roots clearly in Japanese Karate (which came from Okinawa and China before that).

Fact: Tae Kwon Do - IS NOT 2,000 years OLD!

Fact: General Choi Hong Hi, Won Kuk Lee and others studied Shotokan Karate.  

Fact: Byung In Yoon studied Shudokan Karate under Kanken Toyama

Fact: Both Kanken Toyama and Gichin Funakoshi where students of Anko Itosu in Okinawa.

Fact: Gen. Choi's first book on Tae Kwon Do showed Japanese Forms.  His second printing of this book showed the new ITF forms but also showed the Japanese Shotokan Forms.  It wasn't until a later printing that the Shotokan Forms where removed and fully replaced by the Chang Hon forms.

As we explore this idea that Tae Kwon Do and Karate at one time where the same, it is important to understand some history.  According to WikiPedia Japan occupied Korean from August 22, 1910 - August 15, 1945.  This occupation built strong feelings of betrayal and hatred of the Japanese from the perspective of the Korean people.  When you consider that the person given credit for founding Tae Kwon Do, Gen. Choi Hong Hi was part of the military of Korea and was also a very political figure one can see why there was a desire to de-Japanese the karate that was being taught in Korea in the early 1950's.  

Did Tae Kwon Do incorporate aspects of Taekyon or Kung Fu into  karate??? To be honest that is a question that is still looming.  Some instructors may have had other martial arts experiences which where incorporated into their personal teaching of Tae Kwon Do/Karate but what is for sure is the foundation of the art is rooted in Shotokan or Shudokan karate.

In modern times there have been attempts to radically change Tae Kwon Do to further separate itself from Karate such as creating new forms in the 1960's and 1970's and changing the rules of competition for sparring to make it more appealing to watch and thus gain more interest by IOC officials.

As with every art that exists, evolution or change will occur and that is true of Tae Kwon Do.  Today when viewing Tae Kwon Do it is clear to see that it has become a separate martial art discipline.  That said there were instructors who where caught in the middle of this change.  Many of the older Korean instructors continued to teach the older Japanese forms.  Some taught  students both the Japanese and the newer Korean forms and others simply gave up on the Japanese forms and switched over to the Korean standards.

The thing I find amusing about this is that what Tae Kwon Do did (especially early on) was no different than what Funakoshi did when he brought Karate to Japan (removing the Chinese connections in the art of Te).  This is clearly a double standard of practice and is rooted in a lack of understanding of the historical context by which these arts where all formulated in.  

Finally, I think its important to address another area of confusion.  Not all Tae Kwon Do is the same, just like not all Karate is the same.  Though we have a clear understanding of the lines that existed with the historical connections between Shotokan and Shudokan karate and Tae Kwon Do but there are also the lines that existed between Judo and Korean Yudo.  Many of the instructors who taught Tae Kwon Do where also very formidable Judoka as well.  The influence that Judo had on their understand of the applications of the forms and techniques they studied also had an influence on how they passed that information on to others.

Today, we live in a culture where we believe that in order to study the martial arts we must study only one system...this is crazy.  If the MMA movement has taught us anything it is to embrace the diversity that exists in our own styles.  Don't ignore the throws, locks and immobilizations that exist in our forms and simply pass them off for simple blocks and strikes.  Study the history of the arts and you will find that combining concepts or styles and forming new styles or combinations is the norm and not the exception to the rule.  

For more information I recommend some of the early internet writings of Scott Shaw and of course the book A Killing Art by Alex Gillis.  

Not one to be a polarizing figure, nor one who enjoy's bad mouthing anything or anyone else, but as I continue to enjoy this thing called the internet I am faced with continued ignorance in the area of the martial arts.

First, let me start with a brief definition to help clear the air.

According to www.merriam-webster.com
ig·no·rance noun \ˈig-n(ə-)rən(t)s\: the state or fact of being ignorant : lack of knowledge, education, or awareness

So, I am not saying that anyone is stupid, but what I am suggesting is that there is a tremendous lack of knowledge in the historical contexts of the martial arts.  In addition there is still quite a bit of debate due to the quality of much of the information that currently exists.  All that said, its time to increase our knowledge and educate ourselves in a few areas.

I plan on using this blog space to cover the historical contexts of a few of the arts I feel are seriously misunderstood.  Hopefully with some simple facts and some expanding of our knowledge we will glean new insights into old ideas that continue to permeate the web by people who simply do not understand what they are speaking about.