Sensei Nakayama was the Saint Paul of Shotokan Karate; he was the rock on which it was built. And like Saint Paul, he built for the future. For instance, he wanted to greatly increase the number of people studying Shotokan Karate, so he turned it into something a little like Kendo with empty hands.

It was a stroke of genius in many ways, but, as always, it was better to be lucky than smart during the U.S. occupation of Japan. So when McArthur wanted to know whether this was like Judo, a martial art that developed warriors, the official answer from Shotokan Central was “Of course not. These are just simple native dances. Beautiful, neh? Much nicer than those mean boys who throw and choke, or the guys with their bad bamboo sticks, always hitting each other!”

When asked whether Shotokan Karate practiced with weapons, the official answer (which subsequently became the actual answer) became, “Not us, boss. We’re practically pacifists! We meditate a LOT! If we train the next generation of Japanese, imagine how docile we’ll all be!”

So Shotokan Karate got a head start in a country starved for martial arts during a period that Shotokan’s natural competitors, Judo and Kendo, were being suppressed during the occupation because they were actual fighting arts.

The other smart thing that Sensei Nakayama did was to take Shotokan Karate to school. To the University. Because people will actually die for recognition. And you could get recognition by getting a TROPHY or a CERTIFICATE or a RIBBON or a BELT!

But Okinawa had developed a version of karate such that the techniques could get you seriously killed. So Sensei Nakayama made sure the karate taught to the University students let them get their recognition without the risk of dead karate students, because dead students tended to make University Deans dump your authorization to teach on campus.

The techniques that Shotokan (for purposes of tournament) came to focus on were front punches that didn’t connect, and front kicks that didn’t connect. And University students could get recognition without a pine box into the package.

Mind you, as Rob Redmond has pointed out, Shotokan Karate took the package of technique that it specialized in and drove that technique to amazing heights. The speed and power of a properly executed Shotokan punch and kick are pretty amazing. And so is the learning curve!

But because Sensei Nakayama took a lot of the danger out of Shotokan Karate practice, I get to practice Shotokan without worrying TOO much about whether I can talk to clients tomorrow. If I were studying Western Boxing, my learning curve would be shorter and my face would show my progress better than my belt. And by the way, Western Boxing is a heck of nifty martial art, with a short learning curve! And I’m told that it’s useful to study a martial are in which your opponent is trying with enthusiasm to turn your lights out!

I’ve been back in training a couple of years now, and I just had my first “injury”, if you want to dignify it with that word.

During the kata Bassai Dai, a student smacks his own open hand with his foot and his elbow during one phase of the kata.

I smacked a little too hard and a blood vessel took offense, and my ancient, withered finger swelled up a bit.

Note to self: if, God Forbid, you get in a fight, don’t hit back! You might hurt your pretty hands!

Postscript: if you’re a University karate student, and you’re training three hours a day, and you’re training for sparring, you’re probably going to get popped now and then. If you happen to get popped in the stomach, you may lose your breath and need to sit down for a while. Happened to me at Phoenix College once, and gosh, that guy was big! Gigantic foot! If you get popped in the face, you’ll have a temporary Heidelburg fencing scar (okay, bruise, but who’s counting?).

You may also get a bloody nose, or a broken nose, or a cracked bone in your face. You might lose a tooth, although if I know I’m going to be sparring, I’m going to wear a cup and a mouth guard.

There are also cool eye guards made of polycarbonate which also protect the nose. I ought to get me one of those, when I get a tuit that’s round!

While there are few injuries in most sorts of karate, Shotokan included, they can happen, and can be serious, and can even lead to your death. For instance, if the guy who’s trying not to make contact with you does so, and hits your chin just right, your head could hit the floor and you could die. It could, in theory, happen. But you’ll have to decide how much risk you want to accept. And there are risks in any sport.

Final, Final, Really Final Note: at some point I’m going to compare injuries from Racketball and injuries from Shotokan Karate. I’ll bet that Racketball wins!