I recently purchased this book, The Bubishi - The Classical Manual of Combat translated by Patrick McCarthy. This is the new 2008 edition by Tuttle publishing in which ALL of the articles in the original Bubishi are translated directly. Mr. McCarthy stated that in this edition is corrected a number of mistakes that he made in early works and he has added several chapters tracing the development of Okinawan arts back to their base sources.

You can find the newest version of McCarthy's work here (http://www.amazon.com/Bubishi-Classic-Manual-Patrick-McCarthy/dp/0804838283).

That said, I want to start a discussion on how this material could apply to Tang Soo Do. I personally think that this book might be one of the most important books the Tangsoodoin could read about the art they practice. You will be left with far more questions then answers. So, let us know what you think.

How do you think the material in the Bubishi applies or could apply to Tang Soo Do?

Here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubishi)is the wiki on the Bubishi. This entry really needs to be updated. There is not much info here yet.

If the book contains the ideas included in the wiki, I think that it is extremely important, first in its innovativeness. For that time period, I would venture to guess that a compilation like that had not been published to that point. The ideas themselves were probably not earthshattering, but putting them in the same place is. Of course, without reading the book *yet* I have a limited amount to say about it. It is on order.

The more I read in this book, the more interesting things I learn. One thing that struck is this...

"Bushi" Matsumura, the teacher of most of the modern karate teachers and the person considered the founder of "shurite" is said to have combined Chinese Quanfa with indigenous Okinawan martial arts, and Japanese Jigen ryu. Mr. McCarthy has tracked down sources to document Matsumura's training including a Menkyo certificate in Jigen Ryu.

When he asked the current Soke of the Jigen Ryu if the system had influence on Karate, the man replied, "Of course, but the real question is which influenced which!"

Wow.

This should give everyone a clue to the depth of the Tang Soo Do system. The depth carried in the hyungs that we practice.

One of the things that the Bubishi really focuses on is healing. Vital points and herbs are taught in order to give a martial artist a well rounded education in the healing arts. That said, how many of our Tang Soo Do dojangs require their students to learn healing arts? How about basic first aid and cpr? I see the wisdom in sending people out people who know how to hurt other with the knowledge also to heal. Perhaps this knowledge gives a better vision of the effects of one's skills.

I've never seen a TSD school that taught any type of Eastern medicine. In fact, come to think of it, I've not even seen verification that there was a certified CPR or First Aid person on site....although I am, so I guess if I'm there to see it, its ok!

My teacher required certification in CPR and First Aid for all assistant instructors. Of course, he's read the Bubishi...

I just received my copy and I must say....not exactly what I expected - in a good way. I'm very excited to read it. I thought that it may be more like The Book of Five Rings or The Art of War. The article set up is much different and seems to offer a much wider range of solid information.

Awesome! I can't wait to hear your thoughts. This is going to be a great thread!

Here's an excerpt on what I wrote on the Bubishi for my book.


Another element that was drawn into the development of the art that Matsumura taught were systems of kung fu imported from China. According to Patrick McCarthy, these systems of kung fu were passed from Matsumura’s teacher Sakagawa and were taught to Matsumura directly by a Shaolin Boxing Master Iwah when he visited Okinawa. In order to understand what these sources added to karate, we need to turn to our only known written record of these sources, the Bubishi.

The Bubishi is an interesting book, if it can be rightly called a book. It is more a collection of articles, thirty-two in all. No one knows for sure how the book made its way into Okinawa, but there are many theories and most of them surround some direct link with China. The importance of this text cannot be understated. Nearly every karate master on the island of Okinawa hand copied the book from their teacher’s copy. In my lineage, Gichin Funakoshi had a copy of the Bubishi and included some of the articles verbatim in his 1934 edition of Karate Do Kyohan.
There are also many theories about what, exactly, the Bubishi really is. As I said above, it can’t rightly be called a book because of the disparity of its articles and lack of coherent organization. The Bubishi is more of a compilation of articles on Chinese Kung Fu. A popular theory states that the Bubishi is actually a copy of a kung fu student’s notes that somehow made its way to Okinawa.

One can get a pretty good idea of the contents of this book by looking at the titles of the articles in it. That list is as follows.

1. Origins of White Crane Kung Fu.
2. Master Wang Reveals His Secrets.
3. Advice on Correct Etiquette.
4. Philosophy.
5. Waster Wang’s Observations on Monk Fist Boxing.
6. The Four Quan of Monk Fist Boxing.
7. Nepai Quan.
8. Discussions on Seizing and Striking Veins and Tendons Using the Hard Fist Method.
9. Twelve-Hour Vital Points Revealed.
10. Prescriptions and Medicinal Poems.
11. Twelve-Hour Theory Recuperative Herbal Prescriptions.
12. A Physicians Treatment for Twelve-Hour Injuries.
13. The Eight Precepts of Quanfa.
14. The Principles of Ancient Law.
15. Maxims of Sun Zi.
16. Grappling and Escapes.
17. Seven Restricted Locations.
18. Four Incurable Diseases.
19. Effective Twelve-Hour Herbal Prescriptions to Improve Blood Circulation for Shichen Related Injuries.
20. Six Ji Hands of the Shaolin Style.
21. Delayed Death Touch Twelve-Hour Diagrams.
22. Twelve Hour Green Herbal Remedies.
23. Crystal Statue Diagram.
24. Bronze Man Statue.
25. Shaolin Herbal Medicine and Injuries Diagram.
26. The Guardian Deity of Jiu Tian Feng Huo Yuan.
27. Zhengs Twenty-Four Iron Hand Applications and White Monkey Style.
28. Eighteen Scholars White Crane Fist and Black Tiger Style Fifty-Four Step Quan.
29. The Forty-Eight Self Defense Diagrams.
30. Valuable Ointment for Treating Weapon Wounds and Chronic Head Pain.
31. Ointment, Medicines, and Pills.
32. Shaolin Hand and Foot, Muscle, and Bone Training Postures.

All in all, six of the articles are on history and philosophy, ten of the articles regard various healing methods, five of the articles are on vital points, and eleven of the articles are on fighting techniques and strategies. This is an incredible array of topics and they were all originally included in the martial art that became Tang Soo Do. Also, it should be noted that there is no distinction between grappling, striking, and throwing techniques. All of the articles on fighting technique and strategies combine them equally.

Another thing that becomes apparent in the Bubishi is that a number moves in our forms are described in the self -defense diagrams. There are a number of takes downs, throws, and counters to throws and take downs that you can see in the postures of our forms.

The Bubishi is describing a martial art is capable of dealing with all types of violence and with the after effects of this violence. The Bubishi also gives a student of this martial art moral guidance as to when these skills are to be used. A lot of the philosophy we typically associate with karate originates here. For example, the articles on etiquette and philosophy were copied directly by Gichin Funakoshi in his book Karate Do Kyohan.

One last point about the Bubishi. The articles on healing dominate a third of the material in this book. In my opinion, I think that all practitioners of karate need to take a look at just how much information on healing was valued by the old karate masters. This, in my opinion, makes a powerful argument for including basic first aid, CPR training, and perhaps some restorative massage into martial arts training. This would help students deal with training injuries and better understand the workings of their own bodies.

The extensive material on healing, health and anatomy was the first thing that struck me about the book. I was shocked by the amount and array of material on these subjects. In thinking about it though, it does make sense, we as martial artists tend to not focus enough on this until a much later time in our training. But in depth anatomy and health should be taught from day one.

Actually, in Korea the FIRST THING that my instructor did was take a Sharpie and go down your body, hitting pressure points, then marking them. I ended up shirtless with something like 15 marks and in a great deal of pain.

I did eventually convince him to stop doing this because of the number of students he was scaring away! But it demonstrates a good point. Before even teaching stance or etiquette (which are typical first lesson topics), he started with his strange idea of anatomy....